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From the middle of the tercet century to the middle of the 2nd century BC, Carthage was engaged in a series of wars with Rome (Dorey, P 57). These wars, known as the Punic Wars, cease in the complete defeat of Carthage by Rome. The most prominent configuration of the Punic wars was General Hannibal of Pheonician Carthage. During these wars, its likely that the colonizing expeditions of the Carthaginians were supported by many emigrants from the Phoenician homeland. Hannibal was the son of the great Carthaginian general Hamilcar Barca. According to Polybius and Livy, the main Latin sources for his life, Hannibal was taken to Spain by his fetch and at an early age was do to swear eternal hostility to Rome (Dorey, P 24). From the death of his father in 229/228 until his own death, Hannibals life was one of constant struggle against the roman type republic. His earliest commands were given to him in the Carthaginian province of Spain by Hasdrubal, son-in-law and successor of Hamil car and it is clear that he emerged as a successful officer, for, on the blackwash of Hasdrubal in 221 BC, the army proclaimed him, at the age of 26, its commander in chief, and the Carthaginian govern ment quickly ratified his field appointment (Dorey, P 27). Some details of Hannibals crossing of the Alps have been preserved. At early danger came from the Allobroges, who attacked the rear of Hannibals column. (Along the middle stages of the route, other Celtic groups attacked the baggage animals and rolled heavy stones down from the heights on the enfilade below, thus create both men and animals to panic and lose their footings on the precipitous paths. Hannibal took countermeasures, save these involved him in heavy losses in men.) On the third day he captured a Gallic town and provided the army from its stores with rations for 2 or three days. Harassed by the daytime attentions of the Gauls from the heights and mistrusting the dedication of his Gallic guides, Hannibal bivou acked on a large bare rock to overcome the passage by night of his horses and pack animals in the gorge below. bamboozle was falling on the summit of the pass, making the descent even more than treacherous. Upon the hardened ice of the previous twelvemonths fall, the soldiers and animals ali... ...r his elephants and horses as well as his men gives proof of a humane disposition. His treachery, that punica fides that the Romans detested, could from another point of estimate pass for resourcefulness in war and boldness in gismo (encyclopedia.com). Of his wit and subtlety of speech many anecdotes remain. He spoke Hellenic and Latin fluently, but more personal information is absent from his biographies. He is shown in the only surviving portraits, the silver coins of Cartagena struck in 221, the year of his election as general, with a youthful, beardless, and pleasant face.HannibalMichael Long3.05.02Medieval History, minute of arc 2Works Citedhttp//www.wsu.edu8080/dee/ROME/PUNIC WAR.HTMIt is a web page by the Washington State University.http//www.encyclopedia.com/articles/02359ThePunicWarsandtheDeclineofCarthage.htmlThis is a web page of literal information provided in the form of an encyclopedia.Dorey, T.A., and D.R. Dudley. Rome Against Carthage. London Secker & Warburg, 1971.