A Carthaginian General, Hannibal was a master strategist who developed outflanking tactics. Dubbed the father of strategy by military historian Theodore Ayrault Dodge, he grew up with a fierce hatred of the Romans. After the death of his brother-in-law Hasdrubal, he took command of the Gaulo-Cathaginian army and set his sights on Rome. He set out in the spring of 218 BC and fought his way through the Pyrenees and the Alps with a force of 46,000 soldiers and 37 war elephants. When he was in Roman territory, he ravaged hundreds of towns leaving complete destruction in his wake. Some of his greatest victories were at Trebia, Lake Trasimenus and Cannae, even turning some Roman cities against his enemies. Scipio eventually defeated him in his homeland at the Battle of Zama, after which he signed a peace treaty in 201 BC. After several years as a suffete, he was accused by his political enemies of conspiring with King Antiochus of Syria. At the threat of a Roman investigation, Hannibal fled to the court of King Prusias of Bithynia where he poisoned himself before the Romans could force him to surrender.
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