Hannibal was born in 247 BCE in Carthage. A Carthaginian general and one of the greatest military commanders of antiquity, Hannibal was the son of Hamilcar Barca and, according to Roman tradition, swore as a boy to be an enemy of Rome. At the outbreak of the Second Punic War he marched an army with elephants from Spain across the Pyrenees and the Alps into Italy. He inflicted crushing defeats on the Romans at Trebia, Lake Trasimene and Cannae, but he could not take Rome itself and eventually lost the support of his allies. He was called home to Africa and defeated by Scipio at Zama. He later served other rulers in exile and killed himself with poison to avoid capture by the Romans.
Before and after
- c. 250s BCEThe Hebrew Torah is translated into Greek at Alexandria
- c. 250 BCEEruption of Raoul Island
- 248 BCEConstruction of Terracotta Army
- from 247 BCE to 224 CEParthian Empire
- 247 BCEBirth of Hannibal
- c. 241 BCEEratosthenes measures the size of the Earth
- 241 BCEChinese astronomers record Halley's Comet
- from 240 BCE to 238 BCEMercenary War
- 232 BCEDeath of Ashoka
More in Wars, politics & history
- from 499 BCE to 449 BCEGreco-Persian Wars
- from 431 BCE to 404 BCEPeloponnesian War
- from 218 BCE to 201 BCESecond Punic War
- 217 BCEHannibal destroys the Roman army at Cannae
- from 59 BCE to 51 BCECaesar begins the conquest of Gaul
- 43 CERome invades Britain
The era
This moment belongs to the Ancient civilizations (3,200 BCE to 500 CE), writing, cities and empires. You can also browse everything in the 3rd century BCE.