Hannibal BarcaHannibal's birth name was Hannibal Barca. He grew up with his father, Hamilcar Barca, his brothers, Hasdrubal and Mago, and his brother-in-law, Hasdrubal Le Bel. He married “the daughter of a Spanish chief” (Green 20), Imilce, then left for the Roman Empire. and I never saw her again. Hamilcar made Hannibal swear before a Carthaginian god to be an eternal enemy of the Romans and after Hamilcar died in war, he passed his power to his son-in-law Hasdrubal in 230 BC (Green 59). After Hasdrubal's death in 221 BC, Hannibal took command of the Carthaginians (Green 17). He won the Second Punic War by instilling fear in the enemy and then defeating them. Hannibal was a strategic commander, a fearless fighter, and a no-nonsense leader. Hannibal used strategic military tactics to defeat his enemies and survive on his journey to the Roman Empire. For example, Hannibal had to cross the Rhone but the Volcae, a violent warrior tribe, were in his way, so he sent a small force upriver at night to cross the river and hide behind the enemy line. Then, in the morning, the small force that crossed the river during the night attacked the Volci from behind, while Hannibal's army attacked them from the front (Mills 46-47). This proves that Hannibal was smart because he had to cross the river to get to the Alps and thus he defeated the Volcae tribe. Additionally, Hannibal besieged the Romans in the Po Valley. His tactic was to let the Numidian cavalry reverse the Roman charge and then surround the Roman regiments. The Numidian cavalry was very fast and quickly surrounded the Romans (Mills 63-64). This proves that Hannibal was very strategic in battle because he knew that if the Roma...... middle of paper...... a small army to protect him (Green 59). Hannibal committed suicide in 182 BC in Bithynia by drinking a cup of poison to escape capture by the Romans (Green 58). The Romans destroyed Carthage during the Third Punic War in 149-146 BC (Green 58-59). Works Cited “Hannibal the Great”. Encyclopedia of World History. Ed. Alfred J. Andrea and Carolyn Neel. Flight. 6: Era 3: Classical traditions, 1000 BCE-300 CE. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2011. 510-11. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Internet. January 23, 2014. “Hannibal the Warrior [BC 28o BC 28o]”. Hannibal the Warrior. Np, and Web. January 23, 2014. Mills, Cliff W. Hannibal. New York: Chelsea House, 2008. Print.Green, Robert. Hannibal. New York: Franklin Watts, 1996. Print.