Hannibal was bron in Carthage. He learned how to fight when he was a young boy. His father was a famous general. He took him to spain when he was nine years old. His father made him promise to hate the Romans all his life. Hannibal was a very brave soldier. He became chief of the army at the age of twenty-six.
The Romans wanted to fight Hannibal. But Hannibal wanted to surprise them by attacking them on their own land. He went to Italy with 40 elephants, 90,000 foot soldiers and 12,000 horsemen.
When the Carthaginian soldiers reached the Alps,they wanted to turn back. They thought that the mountains were too high for them to climb. But Hannibal led his army along a way between two mountains. He found a way to cross them. The Romans were surprised to see thousands of Carthaginian soldiers coming through the mountains. Nobody had crossed those mountains before. Hannibal won that war easily. He and his army stayed in Italy for sixteen years. They won many battles against the Romans. But Hannibal's army became smaller and smaller until it could not fight any more. Hannibal did not want the Romans to take him prisoner. So he drank poison and died. Hannibal's name is remembered not only because he was a wise and brave soldier but also because he discovered a new way to take his soldiers from Spain into Italy.