Hannibal's first battle took place when he was only nine. He went on an expedition with his father, Hamilcar Barca, to conquer Spain. From the beginning Carthage's push into Spain, Hannibal vowed eternal hatred for Rome; Hannibal became Commander in Chief of Carthage's army when he was 26 after his father was assassinated. His conquest of the Roman town of Sagunto in Spain led to a new declaration of war by Rome; which started the second Punic War and Hannibal's promise to visit Roman injustice back on Rome a hundred fold. For Carthage to take the town of Sagunto was completely within the rights of the Carthage and the treaty but Rome at the time was getting too big and becoming very imperialistic. All Rome could see was that they had to have all of the Mediterranean and the only thing that stood in their way was a single General and his men. The way in which t

Italy itself suffered cruelly in the war. Hannibal spent fourteen years there, mostly in southern Italy. As the years went by, the steep hillsides began to lose their topsoil. By war's end, southern Italy was permanently impoverished. In fact, in our own century, in the 1960s, the Italian government began to attempt to recover and reclaim the land from Hannibal, an effort that still goes on intermittently. Hannibal's legacy outlived Rome itself, Cato the Elder would be turning over in his grave if he knew this.

The Second Punic War was a turning point in Roman history, with profound implications for the Republic. The most immediate and obvious effect was the acquisition of territory; in the space of fifty years Rome had acquired most of the western Mediterranean. In doing this, the Romans viewed the war with Hannibal, and Hannibal himself, in nearly mythic terms. Later Romans saw this as Rome's heroic age, a time when the villains were most villainous and the heroes most heroic. It was an age when "all Romans were virtuous and everything worked." This being far from the truth did in the end teach the Romans their lesson of humility and if anything that "mos maiorum" needed to be followed more stringently and a conservative revival was needed.

he Romans were unconsciously straying from "mos maiorum" to manipulate the course of events was disturbing. Though these actions were not entirely the "evil" work of Rome. Hannibal from his earliest memories could recall nothing but hatred for Rome. Hannibal's Father had instilled a horrif

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Approximate Word count = 1038
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)