Please write a brief biography of Hannibal and explain whether or not you think his reputation (in Roman eyes) as a monster was deserved.

        Hannibal was a Carthaginian military commander and obviously grew up in Carthage hating the Romans. Hannibal was born in 247 B.C.E and grew up during a period of tension in the Mediterranean. Hannibal’s father was the commander of the Carthaginian army during the First Punic War. When Hannibal was little, his father taught him to hate and despise the Romans, through this growing hatred, Hannibal wanted to seek revenge. Hannibal especially wanted to seek revenge for his brother and father in the 1^st Punic War, and saw that Carthage was in devastation after not gaining Sardinia.  Now Hannibal was the emperor of Carthage and somehow needed to get revenge and wipe Rome of the world map. This is where the 2^nd Punic War started, by Hannibal invading through Spain and going to Italy. Hannibal lost his eye during one of the battles, but is a very strong leader. He almost reminds me of Alexander the Great. One successful battle he had won was the battle of Cannae in 216. B.C.E. Hannibal then went through the Alps and finally reached northern Italy with all his troops and elephants. While in Italy he destroyed many towns and didn’t give any mercy. Hannibal came within 50 miles of Rome and shows how fierce of a leader he was. In Roman eyes, Hannibal was like the boogie man today.  He even looked like one; he only had one eye. Moreover, he showed no mercy, and came within 50 miles of destroying their whole empire, and taking over all of the people. Hannibal’s reputation of being a monster (in Roman eyes) was definitely deserved; he almost burned the whole Roman Empire to ashes.