Of all the enemies the Roman empire faced in its centuries-long history, one name stood out: Hannibal. In the late third century BC, the Carthaginian general came dangerously close to destroying Rome and utterly reshaping the history of the world. Hannibal’s campaigns were a pivotal episode in the Punic Wars (264-146 BC), and these three conflicts between Rome and Carthage are the subject of this Everything You Wanted to Know episode. Rob Attar puts your questions to Professor Philip Freeman on the causes, key events and legacy of the wars, and asks whether elephants were really of any use on the ancient battlefield.

(Ad) Philip Freeman is the author of Hannibal: Rome’s Greatest Enemy (Pegasus, 2022). Buy it now from Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hannibal-Greatest-Philip-Freeman-PhD/dp/1643138715/?tag=bbchistory045-21&ascsubtag=historyextra-social-hist298

The HistoryExtra podcast is produced by the team behind BBC History Magazine and BBC History Revealed.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices