Editing Hannibal (section)

===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"/>