Hannibal, a Carthaginian general, was born in 247 B.C. and committed suicide in 183 B.C. He was trained in Spain at an early age the art of warfare. In 221 B.C., he assumed command of the army and province of Spain, conducted a campaign against the Holcades and a year later against the Vaccaei, and overcame the Carpetani in a battle near the Tagus. Hannibal then laid seige to Saguntum, despite a warning from Rome, and took it after eight months. The Romans declared war and there we have perhaps the most terrible war of ancient times- the Second Punic War.




For the first decade things went rather nicely for Hannibal and his forces. During the second decade however, attrition and lack of a naval force, and usually being outnumbered by the Roman forces, were starting to take its toll. He was defeated in 202 B.C., barely escaping to Carthage.






Of course his employment of elephants in his army is legendary.

In my accumulation of odds and ends, I have 6 billon tetradrachms struck by his traveling mints in the period of 205-202 B.C., which were catalogued under Zeugitania. They measure 25.8-26.2  mm in diameter with a weight averaging 11.2-11.3 grams. What is most interesting to me is the three varieties of the obverse die, portraying the head of  Tanit  left, which I refer to as small, medium and large heads. The reverses have a horse standing right with a palm tree in the background with minor varieties. The other three examples I have are nice fine condition so these types were in circulation for some time.

There never were any coins struck portraying Hannibal himself, so by adding one of these coins to a collection represents not only Hannibal and Carthage, but the end of the Second Punic War.