Greg Jenner

And when I say Hannibal, you might, like Darren, be thinking of TV people.

I think of the cigar chomping leader of the A-team.

More likely you're thinking of the famous fictional serial killer, but today it's less Hannibal the Cannibal and more Hannibal of Carthage.

Hannibal has appeared in a tonne of historical novels, including ones by Ross Leckie and Ben Kane, several films as well, the 1959 film Annibale and the 2009 film Hannibal, and apparently if Vin Diesel gets his way, maybe soon we'll be getting a high-octane Hannibal trilogy.

I can't wait to watch an elephant power drift around a hairpin corner.

But what is the fact behind the fiction?

Did Hannibal really have an elephant era?

Did a hailstorm change history?

Let's find out.

Right, Professor Joe, before we meet Hannibal, I think we probably need a quick crash course on the Carthaginians.

Actually, you know what?

I'm going to turn to Darren and put you on the spot.

Where was Carthage in, I'll give you North Africa.

Yeah, North Africa.

Okay.

On the sea.

Wow.

Let's meet Hannibal.

He is the most famous of all the Carthaginians.

The Carthaginian Empire is vast.