Editing Hannibal (section)

==Later career==
{{anchor|Peacetime Carthage}}

===Peacetime Carthage (200–196 BC)===
[[File:Buste Hannibal Barca.jpg|thumb|upright|A bust of Hannibal, Bardo National Museum, Tunisia]]
Hannibal was still only 46 at the conclusion of the Second Punic War in 201 BC and soon showed that he could be a statesman as well as a soldier. Following the conclusion of a peace that left Carthage saddled with an indemnity of ten thousand [[Attic talent|talents]], he was elected [[shophet|suffete]] (chief [[magistrate]]) of the Carthaginian state.<ref name="autogenerated291">[[Gavin de Beer|De Beer, Sir Gavin]] (1969). ''Hannibal: Challenging Rome's Supremacy'' p. 291.</ref> After an audit confirmed Carthage had the resources to pay the indemnity without increasing taxation, Hannibal initiated a reorganization of state finances aimed at eliminating corruption and recovering embezzled funds.<ref name="brainfly2">{{cite web|title=''The History of Rome: Vol V''|url=http://www.brainfly.net/html/books/brn0131e.htm}}, by Livy</ref>

The principal beneficiaries of these financial peculations had been the oligarchs of the [[Hundred and Four]].<ref name="brainfly2"/> In order to reduce the power of the oligarchs, Hannibal passed a law stipulating the Hundred and Four be chosen by direct election rather than [[co-option]]. He also used citizen support to change the term of office in the Hundred and Four from life to a year, with none permitted to "hold office for two consecutive years."<ref name="brainfly2"/><ref name="autogenerated291"/>

{{anchor|Exile}}

===Exile (after 195 BC)===
Seven years after the victory of Zama, the Romans, alarmed by Carthage's renewed prosperity and suspicious that Hannibal had been in contact with [[Antiochus III the Great|Antiochus III]] of the [[Seleucid Empire]], sent a delegation to Carthage alleging that Hannibal was helping an enemy of Rome.<ref name="autogenerated296">[[Gavin de Beer|De Beer, Sir Gavin]] (1969). ''Hannibal: Challenging Rome's Supremacy'' p. 296.</ref> Aware that he had many enemies, not the least of which were due to his financial reforms eliminating corruption, Hannibal fled into voluntary exile before the Romans could demand that Carthage surrender him into their custody.<ref name="autogenerated296" />

He journeyed first to [[Tyre, Lebanon|Tyre]], the mother city of Carthage, and then to [[Antioch]], before he finally reached [[Ephesus]], where he was honourably received by Antiochus. Livy states that the Seleucid king consulted Hannibal on the strategic concerns of making war on Rome.<ref name="brainfly2" /> According to [[Cicero]], while at the court of Antiochus, Hannibal attended a lecture by Phormio, a philosopher, that ranged through many topics. When Phormio finished a discourse on the duties of a general, Hannibal was asked his opinion. He replied, "I have seen during my life many old fools; but this one beats them all." Another story, according to [[Aulus Gellius]], is that after Antiochus III showed Hannibal the gigantic and elaborately equipped army he had created to invade Greece, he asked him if they would be enough for the Roman Republic, to which Hannibal replied, "I think all this will be enough, yes, quite enough, for the Romans, even though they are most avaricious."<ref>[[Aulus Gellius]]. ''Noctes Atticae'', book V. v. 5. "Satis, plane satis esse credo Romanis haec omnia, etiamsi avarissimi sunt."</ref>

In the summer of 193 BC, tensions flared up between the Seleucids and Rome. Antiochus gave tacit support to Hannibal's plans of launching an anti-Roman coup d'état in Carthage, yet it was not carried out.<ref>{{Ιστορία του Ελληνικού Έθνους|volume=5|last=Sarikakis|first=Theodoros|chapter=Το Βασίλειο των Σελευκιδών και η Ρώμη|trans-chapter=The Seleucid Kingdom and Rome|pages=60–62}}</ref> The Carthaginian general also advised equipping a fleet and landing a body of troops in the south of Italy, offering to take command himself.<ref name="brainfly2" /> In 190 BC, after having suffered a series of defeats in the [[Roman–Seleucid war]],<ref>Sarikakis "History of the Greek Nation: Hellenistic Period" pp. 68–70</ref> Antiochus gave Hannibal his first significant military command after spending five years in the Seleucid court.<ref>{{cite book|last=Taylor|first=Michael|title=Antiochus The Great|publisher=Pen and Sword Military|location=Barnsley|isbn=978-1-84884-463-6|date=2013|page=141}}</ref> Hannibal was tasked with building a fleet in [[Cilicia]] from scratch. Although Phoenician territories like Tyre and Sidon possessed the necessary combination of raw materials, technical expertise, and experienced personnel, it took much longer than expected for it to be completed, most likely due to wartime shortages.<ref>{{cite book|last=Graigner|first=John|title=The Roman War of Antiochus the Great|publisher=Brill|location=Boston|isbn=978-9004128408|date=2002|pages=296–297}}</ref>

[[image:Artaxias and Hannibal Barca.png|200px|thumb|right|Hannibal with [[Artaxias I]] of [[Kingdom of Armenia (antiquity)|Greater Armenia]] in [[Ayrarat]].]]
In July 190 BC, Hannibal ordered his fleet to set sail from [[Seleucia Pieria]] along the southern Asia Minor coast in order to reinforce the rest of the Seleucid navy at Ephesus.<ref>Taylor "Antiochus The Great" p. 142</ref> The following month Hannibal's fleet clashed with the [[Rhodes|Rhodian]] navy in the [[Battle of Side]]. The faster Rhodian ships managed to heavily damage half of Hannibal's warships through the {{lang|el|[[diekplous]]}} manoeuvre, forcing him to retreat.<ref>Graigner "The Roman War of Antiochus the Great" pp. 297–300</ref> Hannibal had preserved most of his fleet; however, he was in no position to unite with [[Polyxenidas]]' fleet at Ephesus since his ships required lengthy repairs.<ref>Sarikakis "History of the Greek Nation: Hellenistic Period" p. 70</ref> 

The ensuing [[Battle of Myonessus]] resulted in a Roman-Rhodian victory, which cemented Roman control over the [[Aegean Sea]], enabling them to launch an invasion of Seleucid [[Asia Minor]]. The two armies faced off in the [[Battle of Magnesia]], north-east of [[Magnesia ad Sipylum]]. The battle resulted in a decisive Roman-Pergamene victory.<ref>Sarikakis "History of the Greek Nation: Hellenistic Period" pp. 78–82</ref> The truce was signed at Sardes in January 189 BC, whereupon Antiochus agreed to abandon his claims on all lands west of the [[Taurus Mountains]], paid a heavy war indemnity and promised to hand over Hannibal and other notable enemies of Rome from among his allies.<ref>Sarikakis "History of the Greek Nation: Hellenistic Period" pp. 83–84</ref>

According to [[Strabo]] and [[Plutarch]], Hannibal also received hospitality at the Armenian royal court of [[Artaxias I]]. The authors add an apocryphal story of how Hannibal planned and supervised the building of the new royal capital [[Artaxata]].<ref>[[George Bournoutian|Bournoutian, George A]]. (2006). ''A Concise History of the Armenian People: From Ancient Times to the Present''. Costa Mesa, CA: Mazda, p. 29. {{ISBN|1-56859-141-1}}.</ref> Suspicious that Antiochus was prepared to surrender him to the Romans, Hannibal fled to [[Crete]], but he soon went back to Anatolia and sought refuge with [[Prusias I of Bithynia]], who was engaged in warfare with Rome's ally, [[Eumenes II|King Eumenes II of Pergamon]].<ref>[[Gavin de Beer|De Beer, Sir Gavin]] (1969). ''Hannibal: Challenging Rome's Supremacy'' p. 299.</ref> Hannibal went on to serve Prusias in this war. In 190 BC, he gained a naval victory over Eumenes by throwing clay pots filled with venomous snakes onto Eumenes' ships.<ref>Cornelius Nepos, ''Hannibal'' 10 and 11.</ref> In 184 BC, Hannibal defeated Eumenes two more times in battles on land.<ref name="Cornelius Nepos, Hannibal 12">Cornelius Nepos, ''Hannibal'' 12.</ref>

{{anchor|Death}}

===Death (183–181 BC)===
At this stage, the Romans intervened and threatened [[Bithynia]] into giving up Hannibal.<ref name="Cornelius Nepos, Hannibal 12"/> [[Prusias I of Bithynia|Prusias]] agreed, but the general was determined not to fall into his enemy's hands. The precise year and cause of Hannibal's death are unknown. Pausanias wrote that Hannibal's death occurred after his finger was wounded by his drawn sword while mounting his horse, resulting in a fever and then his death three days later.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0160:book=8:chapter=11&highlight=hannibal|title=Description of Greece, 8.11.11|author=Pausanias|website=Perseus Digital Library|access-date=10 April 2016}}</ref> [[Cornelius Nepos]]<ref>Cornelius Nepos, ''Hannibal'' 12.5.</ref> and [[Livy]],<ref>Livy, 39.51.</ref> tell a different story, namely that the ex-consul [[Titus Quinctius Flamininus]], on discovering that Hannibal was in Bithynia, went there in an embassy to demand his surrender from King [[Prusias I of Bithynia|Prusias]]. Hannibal, discovering that the castle where he was living was surrounded by Roman soldiers and he could not escape, took poison. [[Appian]] writes that it was Prusias who poisoned Hannibal.<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=https://www.livius.org/sources/content/appian/appian-the-syrian-wars/appian-the-syrian-wars-3/|title=Appian, The Syrian Wars 3 – Livius|website=www.livius.org|access-date=5 October 2020}}</ref>

[[Pliny the Elder]]<ref>N.H. 5.43.</ref> and [[Plutarch]], in his life of Flamininus,<ref>Plutarch, ''Flam.'' 20.</ref> record that Hannibal's tomb was at [[Libyssa]] on the coast of the [[Sea of Marmara]]. According to some, Libyssa was sited at [[Gebze]], between Bursa and Üskudar. W. M. Leake,<ref>W. M. Leake, ''Journal of a Tour in Asia Minor'' (1824), p. 9.</ref> identifying Gebze with ancient Dakibyza, placed it further west. Before dying, Hannibal is said to have left behind a letter declaring, "Let us relieve the Romans from the anxiety they have so long experienced, since they think it tries their patience too much to wait for an old man's death".<ref>{{cite book |last=Mellor |first=Ronald |year=1999 |title=The Roman historians |publisher=Routledge |page=70 |isbn=978-0-415-11773-9}}</ref>

Appian wrote of a prophecy about Hannibal's death, which stated that "Libyssan earth shall cover Hannibal's remains." This, he wrote, made Hannibal believe that he would die in Libya, but instead, it was at the Bithynian Libyssa that he would die.<ref name="auto"/>

In his ''Annales'', [[Titus Pomponius Atticus]] reports that Hannibal's death occurred in 183&nbsp;BC,<ref name="Cornelius Nepos, Hannibal 13.1">Cornelius Nepos, ''Hannibal'' 13.1</ref> and [[Livy]] implies the same. Polybius, who wrote nearest the event, gives 182&nbsp;BC. Sulpicius Blitho<ref>An otherwise unknown author; see {{cite book|title=The Fragments of the Roman Historians: Introduction. Vol. 1|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U38fAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA429|year=2013|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-199-27705-6| page= 429}}</ref> records the death under 181&nbsp;BC.<ref name="Cornelius Nepos, Hannibal 13.1"/>