In 218 BC, one of the most daring military campaigns in history began. A young Carthaginian general named Hannibal Barca set out to challenge the most powerful republic in the Mediterranean — Rome. What followed would push Rome closer to destruction than at any other point in its long history, and would forever change the course of Western civilization.
The rivalry between Rome and Carthage had been building for decades. Both powers dominated different parts of the Mediterranean. Rome controlled