Hannibal Barca Of Carthage History’s Greatest General...
Coin bearing the image of Hannibal and his famed battalion of elephant........
In 247 B.C.E, the year Hannibal Barca was born, the Carthage empire was about 500 years old. Known as one of the greatest strategist in military history, the battles of Hannibal would strike a turning point in the history of the continent that would be called Africa.
Carthage had been settled by Phoenicians in North Africa near the current Tunis. In his 1961 work, French Historian Gabriel Audisio comments that he considered “Hannibal to be neither a Phoenician, nor a Carthaginian, nor a Punic, but a North African… The majority of the Punic populace seems to have had African ancestry.”
The Carthaginians, according to Audisio’s research, mixed freely with the native populations of North Africa. The Punic of North Africa seem to have been a mix between the Phoenicians and native North Africans, the Berbers. The Phoenicians were a Semitic people said to have migrated from north of Palestine into Northern Africa, spreading their dominion throughout the Mediterranean regions. They were primarily known as merchant traders with an economy tied to the sea trades.
There is no picture of Hannibal in existence today. The coin above is frequently presented by commentators as a representation of Hannibal and his legacy of tamed elephants. While this writer was not able to find authority that the coins were made contemporaneously during or near the life of Hannibal — which was more than 2,000 years ago — the existence of such coinage during some point during our common age is no surprise in light of Hannibal’s historical legacy.
What we do have are descriptions of Hannibal by commentators of his time. According to the Roman historian Levy of the first century of our era, Hannibal was “fearless, utterly prudent in danger, indefatigable, able to endure heat and cold, controlled in eating habits, unpretentious in dress, willing to sleep wrapped in military cloak, a superb rider and horseman.” He was the son of the Carthage general Hamilcar Barca. There is no knowledge of his mother in the history records, not even her name. He had two brothers: Hasdrubal resided in Spain and Maharbal was captain of Hannibal’s calvary.
Carthage and Rome were at war during the First Punic War (264-241 B.C.). Both empires were seeking supremacy over the Mediterranean. Hannibal’s father, Hamilcar Barca, general of the Carthaginian arm, was infuriated about the western Mediterranean losses of Sicily and Sardinia. When Hannibal was 17 years old, however, his father was killed in an ambush in Spain, which was primarily under the rule of the North African empire. Hannibal would son step fully into his military career
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