1. Hannibal Barca
Hannibal Barca, a Punic general from Carthage (near modern-day Tunis), came closer than anyone else to defeat the Roman Empire. Today Hannibal is known to some as the father of military strategy and one of the greatest military commanders who ever lived.
In a monumental military feat and lighting campaign, he crossed the Pyrenees and Alps with more than 40,000 soldiers and 30 war elephants. He fought the Romans for about 15 years on their own ground during the Second Punic War (218-202), being outnumbered many times. His major victories at Cannae, Trebia, and Lake Trasimene cemented his reputation as an enemy to be feared.
Born in 247 BC in Carthage, the young Hannibal grew up hating the Romans and took the place of his brother-in-law, Hasdrubal, as commander of the Carthaginian-Iberian forces. He soon marched across Iberia and Gaul, making alliances with Gaulish tribes and taking the Romans by surprise when he crossed the Alps. He destroyed hundreds of towns in his wake and turned some of them against Rome. His ambushes, outflanking and guerrilla tactics turned the battle to his favor, allowing him to win over highly respected generals several times and inflict tens of thousands of casualties, while only losing a fraction of his own.
At Cannae he famously outflanked tens of thousands of Roman phalanxes, obliterating more than 50,000 and only losing a tenth of it. Despite this success, he still could not reach Rome. Carthage did not send enough reinforcements and Fabius Maximus, a consul with temporary dictatorial powers, started waging a war of attrition against Hannibal. An attack on his home city in 203 made him be recalled, and he was finally defeated in 202 by Scipio Africanus at the battle of Zama.
After some years as a suffette and military advising Antiochus III of Syria, Hannibal then fled to King Prusias of Bithynia where he presumably poisoned himself.
Sources For Further Reading:
History Extra – Why Does Saladin Have Such An Enduring Reputation?
Live Science – What Killed Medieval Sultan Who Conquered Jerusalem During the Crusades?
History Collection – Ten Amazing Things That You Need To Know About Julius Caesar
History Daily – Cleopatra and Julius Caesar’s Relationship: What Happened And Why Were They Together
History Channel – The Art of War
Titusng – The Test of Sun Tzu’s Art of War On Concubines
World History Encyclopedia – The Price of Greed: Hannibal’s Betrayal by Carthage