Second Carthaginian War
| Second Punic War | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Punic Wars | |||||||||
 The Mediterranean in 218 BC |
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
 Roman RepublicAetolian League Pergamon Numidia Iberian tribes |
 CarthageSyracuse Masaesyli Massylii  MacedonOther Greek states Iberian tribes |
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| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
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Scipio Africanus Fabius Cunctator Publius Cornelius Scipio † Tiberius Sempronius Gaius Flaminius † Claudius Marcellus † Terentius Varro Claudius Nero
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Hannibal Hasdrubal Barca † Mago (DOW) Hasdrubal Gisco Syphax (POW) Hanno the Elder Philip V
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| Strength | |||||||||
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768,500
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Unknown | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| 300,000+ killed in action | Unknown | ||||||||
768,500
The Second Punic War (218 to 201 BC), also referred to as The Hannibalic War and by the Romans the War Against Hannibal, was the second major war between Carthage and the Roman Republic and its allied Italic socii, with the participation of Greek polities and Numidian and Iberian forces on both sides.
The Second Punic War was one of the deadliest human conflicts of ancient times. Regarded by ancient historians as the greatest war in history, waged with unparalleled resources, skill and hatred, it saw hundreds of thousands killed, some of the most lethal battles in military history, the destruction of cities and massacres and enslavements of civilian populations and prisoners of war by both sides.
The war began with the Carthaginian general Hannibal's conquest and destruction of the Roman-allied Iberian city of Saguntum in 219 BC, prompting a Roman declaration of war on Carthage in 218. Hannibal surprised the Romans by marching his army overland from Iberia to cross the Alps and invade Roman Italy, followed by his reinforcement by Gallic allies and crushing victories over Roman armies at Trebia in 218 and on the shores of Lake Trasimene in 217. Moving to southern Italy in 216, Hannibal at Cannae annihilated the largest army the Romans had ever assembled, killing or capturing more than 67,000 Roman soldiers. After the death or imprisonment of 130,000 Roman troops in two years, 40% of Rome's Italian allies defected to Carthage, giving her control over most of southern Italy. Macedon and Syracuse joined the Carthaginian side after Cannae and the conflict spread to Greece and Sicily. The Carthaginian navy was built up in the early years of the war and from 215–210, the Carthaginian army and navy launched amphibious assaults to capture Roman Sicily and Sardinia but were ultimately repulsed.
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