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Second Punic War: Spain
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The Second Punic War broke out in 218 when Hannibal took control of the Greek city and Roman ally, Saguntum (in Spain). Rome thought it would be easy to defeat Hannibal, but Hannibal, leaving 20,000 troops with his brother Hasdrubal, went further north on the Rhone River than the Romans expected and crossed the river with his elephants on flotation devices.
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The Second Punic War was already in its twelfth year with neither side in a strong enough position to claim supremacy. The Roman general Scipio had been campaigning successfully in the contested province of Spain for over three years but now the Carthaginians had gathered a huge army and marched out to destroy him.
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When the First Punic War ended, Carthage turned to Spain to recoup wealth and man-power, and between 237 and 219 Hamilcar Barca, Hasdrubal, and Hannibal gradually conquered that country. Hannibal's attack on Rome's Spanish ally Saguntum in 219 deliberately precipitated the Second Punic War. This was one of the great struggles of the ancient world, fought in several theatres. Hannibal anticipated the dispatch of Roman expeditions to Spain and Africa and struck first by invading north Italy. There he defeated one great army after another, that of P. Scipio at the river Ticinus in 218, that of Scipio and Tib. Sempronius Longus at the river Trebia in the same year (both rivers tributaries of the Po), and that of C. Flaminius at Lake Trasimene in 217, when Flaminius was himself killed.
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During the Second Punic War, Hannibal, the Carthaginian general, marched from Spain, through Gaul, across the Alps, and into Italy. He then proceeded to wreak havoc in Italy for many years. Though he never attacked Rome itself, he did hurt her greatly by drawing away her allies. Under the consulship of Fabius Maximus, Rome managed to keep Hannibal out of trouble by engaging in small skirmishes with him and by attacking his supply lines. This appeared to be slowly wearing away at the great general, but the Romans did not have the patience to continue. The next year, they elected two consuls who promised to engage Hannibal directly and drive him from Italy.
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The second Punic War began in 218 BC. Rome... was facing a formidable (very great) opponent. In the years following the first Punic War, Carthage had created a powerful empire in Spain with a very large army. Hannibal marched that army out of Spain and across Europe. In September of 218, Hannibal crossed the Alps with his army and entered Italy. (He even brought war elephants as part of his army!)
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After Carthage lost its holdings in Sicily to Rome in the First Punic War, Carthage moved to compensate for the loss by extending her territory in Iberia (the ancient Roman name for modern Spain and Portugal). This was began by Hamilcar Barca, and continued by his son-in-law Hasdrubal and then his son Hannibal. According to Roman tradition, Hannibal had sworn hatred to Rome, and he certainly did not take a conciliatory attitude when the Romans berated him for crossing the river Esbro, which they were by treaty required to stay south of. Asked to hand Hannibal over Carthage refused and so Rome declared war on Carthage.
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