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Description

Saguntum, a city in Eastern Iberia, was a thorn in Hannibal's foot. That fortified town lied in the middle of the Carthaginian sphere of influence.

So Hannibal took the matter in his own hands and besieged Saguntum, which eventually fell after 8 months in December 219 BC.

Occupied with the resurgence of piracy in Illyria, Rome did not help its ally but considered Hannibal's move as a casus belli.

Though the Romans monitored their enemy's actions closely, they did not expect Hannibal to move as quickly as he did,

rapidly going from Iberia to Gaul, then to the Po Plain, crossing the Alps in a way that kept on inspiring conquerors for centuries.

Hannibal shook Rome's domination after many stunning victories, and it had been said that every Roman family had lost at least one family member in battle against the fierce Punic general.

Yet Rome never ceased to fight, and transported the war wherever it was needed to open new fronts, most notably in Iberia.

They also seized Malta, an important Carthaginian insular outpost near Africa as soon as 218 BC,

and they took Syracuse six years later, after its last tyrant chose to side with Carthage.

In the end Carthage lost the war in Africa, when Rome won a decisive battle at Zama in 202 BC.

In the process, the Italian city replaced its foe in Iberia, and organised its new conquests

in two provinces : Hispania Citerior in the north and Hispania Ulterior in the south.

Description

Saguntum, a city in Eastern Iberia, was a thorn in Hannibal's foot. That fortified town lied in the middle of the Carthaginian sphere of influence.

So Hannibal took the matter in his own hands and besieged Saguntum, which eventually fell after 8 months in December 219 BC.

Occupied with the resurgence of piracy in Illyria, Rome did not help its ally but considered Hannibal's move as a casus belli.

Though the Romans monitored their enemy's actions closely, they did not expect Hannibal to move as quickly as he did,

rapidly going from Iberia to Gaul, then to the Po Plain, crossing the Alps in a way that kept on inspiring conquerors for centuries.

Hannibal shook Rome's domination after many stunning victories, and it had been said that every Roman family had lost at least one family member in battle against the fierce Punic general.

Yet Rome never ceased to fight, and transported the war wherever it was needed to open new fronts, most notably in Iberia.

They also seized Malta, an important Carthaginian insular outpost near Africa as soon as 218 BC,

and they took Syracuse six years later, after its last tyrant chose to side with Carthage.

In the end Carthage lost the war in Africa, when Rome won a decisive battle at Zama in 202 BC.

In the process, the Italian city replaced its foe in Iberia, and organised its new conquests

in two provinces : Hispania Citerior in the north and Hispania Ulterior in the south.