Hannibal: The Fall of Carthage
Did Hannibal carelessly squander the power of Carthage? Were the ingenious strategist’s legendary victories paradoxically the reason for the downfall of this incredibly rich trading empire? Why did Hannibal, at the very height of his triumphant campaign, refrain from attacking the city of Rome? Why was the military genius of Hannibal not enough the defeat the rising power of Rome?
This documentary delves into the rise of the small trading city-state of Carthage that became one of the richest and most powerful seafaring nations in the Mediterranean. Following the battles of the great Carthage general, Hannibal, the defeat of Rome seemed almost inevitable, yet Rome prevailed.
Whole new questions come to light in this documentary: not only historians, but also psychologists, scientists and doctors piece together the images of the past. Archaeologists provide the data for lavish computer animations that recreate the fascinating events of the past.
Facilitated by computers, a breakneck journey leads us through the eye of the duelists, directly into the brain, where – split seconds before the decision is taken – possible alternatives are drafted as visions of history: 'What would have happened if...? – this teasing and likewise scientific question arouses the viewers' fantasy – and compellingly illustrates how, for a brief moment in history, the development of today's world hung by a thread.
Hannibal trying to make peace with the romans bought about the fall of Carthage.
And all Europeans and Russian etc are descended from him.
All the Europeans, Chinese,Russians, migrated from old territories of Syria, Turkey etc. One of Nooh prophet son Yafas migrated to Europe SO.
Just to say....the actor playing Hannibal here is Alexander Siddig, who is ethnically Middle Eastern (British-Sudanese) in origin. It's the same guy who played Dr. Julian Bashir in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
Stop whining about race! The casting choice seems pretty spot on, given the fact that Carthage was a Phoenician colony.
I'm Tunisian (north african) and Im white , and hannibal was white , not all africa is black , there are shades , and north africa is near europe not to mention that Tunisia (carthage) is the northest part of africa that is almost touching italy , soo ...
i literally couldnt care less about his skin colour or that of the actor playing him, it isnt important. all we can do is guess as to his ethnicity anyway
why dont we focus on the actual points of the documentary?
there isnt a racial element to this, people should stop attempting to fabricate one
real historians base arguments on credible facts not conjecture
And it does matter he was african decent!!!!
First and for most Hannibal was BLACK SO THIS ONE SUCKED!!!!!
Again, we are witnessing the remake of history not based on facts but to accommodate the political correctness and the American Black African narrative on how History should be told!!!
Remember, the peoples of the Middle East and North /Mediterranean Africa are not black Africans. Lebanon, Libya, Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco were never and are not black Africans. Sub-Sahara is were Black African Nations start. Hannibal was from where Lebanon is today. He was definitely not a Sub-Saharan Black African has the US History channel decided to portray him. Let's recount History just based on real facts....
Dear heaven. All this diatribe about Hannibal being a Phoenician, an Arab, an African, White black, pink or yellow , who cares. He was a human being.
As for squandering the wealth of Carthage - I don't think so. After the first Punic war Rome won for itself Sicily (formerly a Carthaginian possession. ) Rome was expanding in the Med.,and also for the first time creating a fleet. Consequently Carthage felt itself threatened. Then when Rome started meddling in Spanish territory (Also under the hegemony of Carthage,) by taking under her protection Saguntum in Spain, Carthage had to act. She did so brilliantly bay attacking Rome through the Alps. So it cannot be said that Hannibal willfully squandered the wealth of Carthage. He had no choice.
What remains a mystery to me however is why he did not finish Rome off when he had the chance?
Hannibal was a mix-in Hawaii where I'm from they call it "hapa" which means mixed race.He wash't black or white.Carthaginians were originally from Tyre which is in present day Lebanon.The first people who founded Carthage were Phoenesian aristocrats that left Tyre because of a dynastic dispute. The Carthaginians were expert agriculturists but used mostly slave labor. Hannibals brother Mago wrote a 24 volume treatise on farming practices that was used as a reference for centuries.Even the Romans reluctantly admitted that Mago was an astute and expert horticulturalist including beekeeping and wine making etc.Hannibal was probably of mixed blood with some black and white. We don't know for sure. We don't even know what the carthaginian language was!So, all you guys who say things just admit you don't really know. Can't anybody say that?
The actor playing Hannibal is Dr. Bashir from star trek deep space 9.
Hannibal was definitely an Arab. Arabs came to Africa at least 4000 years ago. hyksos and Phoenicians are both arabizes tribes who settle north Africa before the roman empire was even created. Berbers are negroids with haplotype b1b1 descendants from subsharan Africa. Arabs have the J1 semetic haplotype and are majority on north Africa.
Hannibal was definitely Arab. Berbers are not from north africa at all, they have the haplotype negroid b1b1, they share the same haplotype as many sub Saharan people. they adopted a mixture of the languages from hyksos/pheonicians and arabic. Arabs have been in north africa since at least 4000 years. starting with hyksos and then Phoenicians which are many arabized people. the whole amazigh language is broken Arabic words with old Phoenician dialects.
You are kidding right? Phoenicians are from modern Lebanon, the Lebanese of today are the decendants of the Phoenicians. Are they black? No!
As for the Arabs, the Arab Caliphates included much of Northern Africa during from the 8th to 13th Centuries.
When the Arabs conquered Spain, they had incredible help from the Berbers of Morocco. A huge percentage of Spanish bloodlines can be traced back to North Africa. However, are Latinos black? Brown yes, but not black. So no, North Africans were not black during the time of Carthage.
Now, the ancient Yemen empire of Saba, which spanned into modern Ethiopia and Somalia was black. The famed Queen of Saba featured in the Bible was indeed black.
Hannibal was a black african period. Whether he was berber or phoencian it didn't matter, all of those people were black at those times, all of africa and the middle east were black until the whites and persians invaded and conquered africa under scorpio africanus the roman general who won the 3rd punic war after hannibal died. Arabs never even arrived in the african contient until the ottoman turks used them as mercenaries during the 1700s and 1600s for colonialism.
Just so everyone knows, Carthaginians were Phoencians, Hannibal was a Phoenician. The Phoenicians founded Carthage and it was a Phoenician colony. Hannibal was also named after the Phoenician god Ba'al, not some arab god.
so much hatred in these posts. Hannibal was one of the Worlds greatest military leaders. nuff said.
Hannibal was not Phonecian or Arab or Lebanese or any of the other suggestions he was a Carthaginian a probable mix of many peoples.
I am not an Anglo-Saxon or Celt or Viking i am English a mix of lots of different people just like him and every one else on this Earth.
Now unless some of these people who write these posts have a secret stash of Hannibals DNA and not letting the World know about it is all ASSUMPTION NOT FACT.
Just enjoy the Doc!
I think they should teach in all schools in the World about Prehistoric Trade routes and movements of peoples.
Thanks for uploading!
Quite interesting, but they should have considered a better recreation of the battles, clothes, habits. They seem rather medieval to me than antique.
Frodo at 55:20.
I have to write a research paper about someone who we previously learned about. I chose Hannibal but im wondering what facts i should include. Any ideas?
Hannibal is a Berber (Berbers are known as ancient Libyans) the inhabitants of north Afrika. that means he is caucasian not negroid. Carthage's are the ancestors of the Berbers now days.
and pleas Afrocentrism is a wast of time.
they even belief the vikings are black.
Smh Hannibal was African with dark skin. Thumbs down!
Hannibal had two spies that gave out his info witch lead to his defeat about the elephants .
what i do love is reading the comments after the documentary, very very amusing.
There is no "many africans" in Tunisia, We're very mixed: phoenicians, berbers, arabs, europeans, Jews but definitely not black. Hannibal Barca is Phoenician, the comment about Hannibal being an arab and that his name is Hani and his last name is Barqa from the arabic word "Barq" which means the lightning is the most ridiculous thing i have ever heard, sorry.
can someone answer: Did Hannibal carelessly squander the power of Carthage? please and thanks
Well I can explain all Africans in North Africa. What else would you call them?
hannibal was arabian hani is a popular name in arabic countries and ba'al was the moon god of arabians and his last name is barqa mening lightning in arabic its barq . the Phoenicians spoke a semitic language and so did carthage and still do till this day . so why the hell would he be black
holly cow i mean the most obese region not religion
hanibal was somalian. african from somalia arabs cant fight like that they are cowards and hypocrits the most obese religion and sexuayy frustrated humans live in arabia
Hannibal was Mediterranean not black nor white but he still caucasian.
all middle east + north Africa including Egypt were Mediterranean .
middle east north Africa today are Mediterranean .
do some researches !!!
for example read books by Carleton S. Coon
Where is the last piece (Hannibal profile P9) ???????
He was African, not black. "Black" people as you know them were isolated in the sub Saharan portion of Africa, the lowest portions of the Indian subcontinent and in the continent of Australia.
The north coast of Africa was colonized and heavily populated by the Phoenicians and Mediterranean populations, the whole middle of Africa for the most part was occupied by the nomadic Berbers, not "black" people.
Hannibal's, along with Carthage's downfall was not being able to foresee a unified empire amongst Carthage and the surrounding places. Many of the Numidian tribes were tratiors by joining other empires (Rome in particular). Hannibal was chilling in Italy while N. Africa was getting it @ss kicked. He was too reluctant to join the Second Punic War and by the time he did it was too damn late. But for what its worth, he still managed to give a good @ss fight! He still had those elephants and the noise from the battle crys and trumpets scared the elephants out of their trained paths. A key factor in Hannibal being defeated.
Watch out! Historians debate whether Hannibal used African or Indian elephants. Most historians think he used African ones. But in the documentary the elephants used are clearly Indian elephants. I suspect a 'plot'. Whoever is trying to put one over on African elephants, I have a message for you. Shame on you! You, you, small-eared-supremacist, you.
Bryan, a lead sling shot probably traveled at 90-100 meters/second or several times faster than that quoted in the documentary. The more dense the projectile the more effective it was so lead was mostly used for serious warfare.
The statue is misleading as to the ethnicity of Hannibal, and this would not be the first time Eurocentric white supremacist attempt to steal history from an ethnic group not their own. White supremacist, to this day are steal trying to assume the Egyptians to some sort of Eurocentric culture blend
i think hannibal`s lethal sin in that war is the supplies and reinforcements if managed those rome would been carthegian colony why he didn`t use the sea his country was the sea mistress.......imagine carthegine ships full off troops supporting him after canea imagine if there was elephants too
Damn Nick Taylor, you sure have a way with words!
'Well said.
Hannibals lineage was from Tyre in modern day Lebanon. If I do know anything about aristocracy and Hannibal being supposedly descended from Dido the upper crust tend to marry in their own strata thus consolidating power and bloodlines just like all Empires. He should of at least did what Spartacus succeeded in doing by liberating the enslaved peoples of the surrounding countryside or of the tribes that did support Rome to replenish his troops then laid siege. I would like to have seen what the world would have looked like today had this have happened sans the child sacrificing though. I did learn how Cartegena acquired its name. Good doc Vlatko. You and your staff are doing a great job at TDF. My favorite site!
@TruthSeeker1st
And also he was North African. Skin color does very in Africa as it does on all the continents. In North Africa the skin color would be substantially lighter, than say Sub-Saharan Africa.
@TruthSeeker1st
Dude, wtf are you talking about?
The only reason you know Hannibal was African was because you just saw a documentary about him in which white people said he was African.
Where did they say he was white?
Unless you thought that they thought he was white because the statue is made out of marble? Should it have been granite? Or obsidian?
You're a nitwit, and that's not how you spell Hannibal.
The slingshot registered speeds of up to 90km/h??? You might as well just throw the rock.
Why is Hannible White when he came from Africa-again white people claiming ideas not of their own.
Good Documentary!!
Very Informative
Fantastic documentary! History of Hannibal, the conqueror,the grand strategist.
Thanks.