Professor Josephine Quinn

But 2-2-2, 2-2-2-1.

Who knows what may be going on behind the scenes.

But what happens is that the Carthaginian troops then choose Hannibal as their new leader.

By now he's 26.

That's a kind of respectable age.

And he's unanimously confirmed by the Carthaginian people and sent it back at home as well, even though he hasn't been home at this point for almost 20 years.

Oh, wow.

And he starts campaigning straight away.

So after a year, he's moved further into Iberia than either Hamilcar or Hasdrubal after him.

You know, we hear he treats his troops very well.

He's also a natural risk taker and he's a great soldier.

OK, so there's a town called Saguntum on the east coast of Spain.

It's now a suburb of Valencia.

And it's the last holdout against Hannibal and the Carthaginians south of the Ebro River.

And so the Saguntines appeal to Rome for support against Hannibal.

And Rome officially warns Hannibal to leave Saguntum alone, even though it's south of the Ebro.

And so it's really in Hannibal's sphere.

So he calls their bluff and he besieges the city anyway.

And, you know, we hear he kind of directly engages with the fighting.

He only leaves the battlefield when he takes a wound to the sternum and he has to go off and deal with another uprising at that point.