KING HANNIBAL: is said to be the greatest military leader and strategist of all time. Hannibal was born in 247 B.C, during the beginning of the decline of Carthage, then a maritime power near president day, Tunis in north Africa. When he was very young around 8 or 9 years, Hannibal accompanied his father , Hamiclar, in a battle against the Romans. Seventeen years later, in 221B.C., he succeeded his brother in law, Hasdrubal, and became supreme Commander of the peninsula. Hannibal had 80,000 infantry, 12,000 cavalry and 40 African war elephants. He conquered major portions of Spain and France and all of Italy, except for Rome.