Hannibal (General, not the Serial Killer) ;)

[ljossberir]

Hi, I was just wondering if any of you could help me out. I'm really fascinated by Hannibal. Honestly, I have no clue why... it's just that from everything I've read/seen, he seems so awesome to me.

So I am trying to make a "Hannibal avatar" and I have a few questions.

I am looking for any "cool" Hannibal images. I've searched google and come up with little to nothing of interest. Mainly, I'd like to see if I can find any "concept art" of the man. I saw a show on the History Channel the other night that documented his life. It was truly spectacular. The history channel always rocks. Some of the scenes for which there were only a few figures involved, the show made re-enactments of (such as the meeting between Hannibal and Scipio before the final battle). The actors were there for little more than appearance as they didn't verbally act anything out. But the man who played Hannibal looked perfect, just the way I always envisioned him. They even had the eyepatch over his eye (he lost vision in one eye). I wish I could get an image of that actor! But concept art of him would do.


I also wanted to ask something else. In the documentary, they had several great quotes about Hannibal/2nd Punic war from some of the greatest ancient historians. I really should have written them down. I'd like to fit a cool quote into my avatar too. Now that I've searched on the web, I can't seem to find any of these quotes. Does anyone know of any quotes about the man?


Thanks everyone!


edit: I am sorry if this is in the wrong forum, I couldn't figure out where it would belong. The History section seems much more appropriate.

 

[blindside]

Theres that famous quote that goes like "Hannibal knew how to secure a victory but not how to use it". I don't remember the exact wording. I learned a bit more about him and he was truly quite an impressive general on field.

 

[Knight-Dragon]

Moderator Action: Moved to History.

Don't worry about it, pal. We have some Hannibal enthusiasts here; I'm sure they'll help.

 

[TrailblazingScot]

Sounds like a phrase from Sun Tzu's "Art of War" transferred to Hannibal.

 

[Plotinus]

Nowt to do with Sun Tzu. That quote was what one of Hannibal's commanders, Maharbal, is supposed to to have told him after the devastating victory at Cannae, when many urged Hannibal to march on Rome itself, but he did not. "Hannibal, you understand how to win a battle; but you do not understand how to use your victory."

http://www.barca.fsnet.co.uk/ is a good source for all things Hannibal, including the usual picture one sees of him (which they obviously used as the model for the Civ3 Hannibal).

My favourite quote is the oath that his father Hamilcar made him swear as a boy before the altar: "I swear that so soon as age will permit, I will use fire and steel to arrest the destiny of Rome." Hannibal's story is great because he dedicated his life to that goal, and so nearly achieved it - but in the end failed.