0:00:08 > 0:00:12We're setting off on a ten-week journey, cycling 3,500km
0:00:12 > 0:00:17on the trail of the great Carthaginian warrior Hannibal.
0:00:17 > 0:00:22Over 2,000 years ago, Hannibal marched his army from the south of Spain,
0:00:22 > 0:00:26across the Alps and into Italy.
0:00:26 > 0:00:31He launched a spectacular assault on the heart of Roman power.
0:00:33 > 0:00:36Hannibal's brothers, Hasdrubal and Mago, were his generals.
0:00:38 > 0:00:44I'm Danny Wood. I'm a journalist and like Hannibal, I'm travelling with my brothers.
0:00:44 > 0:00:48Ben, a computer expert, and Sam, an archaeologist.
0:00:50 > 0:00:56Hannibal marched with over 100,000 soldiers armed with swords, spears...
0:00:57 > 0:00:59and 37 elephants.
0:00:59 > 0:01:01ELEPHANT TRUMPETS
0:01:01 > 0:01:03We're armed with three bikes...
0:01:03 > 0:01:05- Three tents...- and a bike-cam.
0:01:05 > 0:01:10We'll ride wherever Hannibal marched his troops and elephants.
0:01:10 > 0:01:15Across rivers and over the Pyrenees and the Alps.
0:01:15 > 0:01:19And we'll discover how he won some of the greatest victories in history,
0:01:19 > 0:01:23bringing Rome to the brink of destruction.
0:01:36 > 0:01:39Cartagena in southern Spain.
0:01:39 > 0:01:41Hannibal's march on Rome started here.
0:01:45 > 0:01:49And over 2,000 years later, the locals haven't forgotten him.
0:01:54 > 0:02:00We've been invited to a party thrown by the local Carthaginians and Romans Society.
0:02:04 > 0:02:06CHEERING
0:02:09 > 0:02:13Every year, they dress up and celebrate the days
0:02:13 > 0:02:17when their city was called New Carthage, ruled by Hannibal and his family.
0:02:21 > 0:02:27And Hannibal and his two brothers, Hasdrubal and Mago, are here tonight.
0:02:28 > 0:02:32So you're Hannibal. What do you think Hannibal was like?
0:02:49 > 0:02:51Do you have any advice for us?
0:02:51 > 0:02:53Do you have any advice for when we march to Rome?
0:02:55 > 0:02:58Don't leave any Roman alive!
0:02:58 > 0:03:02- We'll do our best.- Good luck. - Thanks. We'll need it.
0:03:09 > 0:03:11Oh, thank you. Thank you very much.
0:03:16 > 0:03:21'As the night wears on, we all get more and more into the Carthaginian spirit.'
0:03:27 > 0:03:29First night and we're in a hotel.
0:03:29 > 0:03:32It could be the last time we're in a hotel for a while.
0:03:32 > 0:03:37But, er, the Carthaginians and Romans dinner was absolutely fantastic.
0:03:37 > 0:03:40Danny, Ben and I got to meet Hannibal, Hasdrubal and Mago,
0:03:40 > 0:03:43the three guys we're following in history,
0:03:43 > 0:03:47but these were the modern versions, who were dressed up and it was really odd, but it was excellent.
0:03:47 > 0:03:49It really kind of brought it to life early on.
0:03:49 > 0:03:51I'm equipped with Hasdrubal's coin.
0:03:51 > 0:03:55He was very nice, Hasdrubal, at the dinner tonight.
0:03:55 > 0:03:59Hopefully it'll be a good luck charm cos I think it's going to be very difficult.
0:03:59 > 0:04:01Not just the riding,
0:04:01 > 0:04:04but the filming. But I'm very, very excited about it, too.
0:04:08 > 0:04:15With thicker heads than is wise at the start of a 3,500km bike ride, we're ready to leave Cartagena.
0:04:17 > 0:04:21Our Carthaginian friends have come to cheer us on our way.
0:04:55 > 0:05:01Hannibal set out on his long journey to Rome in May 218 BC.
0:05:05 > 0:05:11He was 30 years old and ruler of much of Spain, which was then part of the mighty Carthaginian Empire.
0:05:16 > 0:05:18So it's the first day of our ride
0:05:18 > 0:05:24and we've just passed through a town called Dolores, which in Spanish means pain, or pain in plural.
0:05:24 > 0:05:29And I'm sure we'll be experiencing a lot of that over the next ten weeks.
0:05:32 > 0:05:35It's so amazing to be on the road.
0:05:35 > 0:05:39We've been thinking about this for two years and planning it.
0:05:39 > 0:05:44And we're coming to about our 50th kilometre of 5,000,
0:05:44 > 0:05:46so I hope that feeling will last.
0:05:49 > 0:05:54I can remember as a kid of three or four being dragged round the ruins of Delphi in Greece
0:05:54 > 0:05:59and really from that age I've been pretty fascinated with things ancient,
0:05:59 > 0:06:01and the idea of following Hannibal, Rome's greatest enemy,
0:06:01 > 0:06:04is just to me something that is spectacular and fantastic.
0:06:12 > 0:06:14Oh, well. First night in the tent.
0:06:14 > 0:06:17It was a bit of an initiation by fire today.
0:06:17 > 0:06:21The riding was very hot, it was much, much longer than we expected.
0:06:21 > 0:06:24Got here at last.
0:06:26 > 0:06:33A day which started quite early this morning ended about half an hour ago and we've just put up our tents and
0:06:33 > 0:06:37we've all done a pretty bad job of it, especially by looking of the side of my tent.
0:06:37 > 0:06:39It's pretty hard actually, getting into a tent
0:06:39 > 0:06:43when it's dark and you arrive at a campsite and you've got to set it up.
0:06:43 > 0:06:47I'm sounding a bit like a whinger, but it's tougher than I thought,
0:06:47 > 0:06:52and...yeah, I just hope we get a good night's sleep in these things.
0:06:56 > 0:07:00Day two and Ben is chief navigator.
0:07:00 > 0:07:04So, we're using a lot of modern technology to find our way along Hannibal's trail.
0:07:04 > 0:07:08We plot our route online and transfer it to our little GPS units
0:07:08 > 0:07:11and trust that they'll tell us the right way to go.
0:07:11 > 0:07:13Now, of course, this is completely different to how Hannibal would
0:07:13 > 0:07:15have navigated his way through enemy territory.
0:07:15 > 0:07:18He had guides, and this is our little guide.
0:07:25 > 0:07:27The ancient town of Elche.
0:07:30 > 0:07:34These palm trees were already growing here when Hannibal passed through.
0:07:34 > 0:07:40A vital part of the local economy, they were cultivated for their dates and used as a building material.
0:07:42 > 0:07:46This place was under Carthaginian control,
0:07:46 > 0:07:47so Hannibal would have been welcome here.
0:07:52 > 0:07:55One of Hannibal's greatest challenges was how to feed such a vast army.
0:07:55 > 0:07:58He needed a constant supply of food and wine.
0:07:58 > 0:08:01Friendly places like Elche were a godsend.
0:08:01 > 0:08:06It gave him the chance to stop, take stock and re-supply before continuing the long march north.
0:08:07 > 0:08:11Not much is known for sure about Hannibal's story,
0:08:11 > 0:08:17but luckily for us, we do have the work of two ancient historians,
0:08:17 > 0:08:20Polybius and Livy, to guide us.
0:08:22 > 0:08:25Polybius was a Greek soldier and historian.
0:08:25 > 0:08:31He was writing about 50 years after Hannibal and like us, he followed in the great commander's footsteps.
0:08:31 > 0:08:35But the great thing is, he was able to speak to people who took part in the war.
0:08:35 > 0:08:40Livy, on the other hand, was writing about 150 years after Polybius. He was a Roman and very anti-Hannibal.
0:08:40 > 0:08:45He didn't hesitate to accuse Hannibal of inhuman cruelty and a disregard of truth and honour.
0:08:52 > 0:08:56Sometimes the accounts of the two historians differ,
0:08:56 > 0:09:02but one of the things Polybius and Livy do agree on is why Hannibal was so determined to defeat Rome.
0:09:02 > 0:09:08His father, Hamilcar, had ingrained in him a deep hatred of the Romans.
0:09:13 > 0:09:15When Hannibal was just nine years old,
0:09:15 > 0:09:19his father took him to a temple where he was preparing a sacrifice.
0:09:19 > 0:09:23He led the small boy to the altar, and made him lay his hands on the sacrificial lamb
0:09:23 > 0:09:26and swear an oath to the Carthaginian God Baal
0:09:26 > 0:09:30to prove himself as soon as he could an enemy of the Roman people.
0:09:30 > 0:09:33For Hannibal and his father, this was personal.
0:09:37 > 0:09:42In Hamilcar's day, the Carthaginian Empire stretched across north Africa,
0:09:42 > 0:09:45the Mediterranean islands and the south coast of Spain.
0:09:45 > 0:09:51Rome only held central and southern Italy, but was beginning to flex its imperial muscles.
0:09:51 > 0:09:56These two great superpowers clashed over domination of the Mediterranean.
0:09:59 > 0:10:02The Romans drove Carthage out of Sicily and Sardinia.
0:10:08 > 0:10:11Hannibal's father, Hamilcar, vowed vengeance.
0:10:11 > 0:10:17He was determined to re-build Carthaginian power and influence and he chose Spain to do it.
0:10:17 > 0:10:19He was remarkably successful. Within ten years, he'd conquered
0:10:19 > 0:10:24many of the local tribes, including the Turdetani and the Contestani.
0:10:24 > 0:10:28So Hamilcar transformed southern Spain into a Carthaginian power base.
0:10:28 > 0:10:32It was from here that Hannibal would launch his strike at the heart of Rome.
0:10:32 > 0:10:36Livy described Hannibal as a man with the devil in his heart and a torch in hand.
0:10:36 > 0:10:39Once he was in charge in Spain, war with Rome was inevitable.
0:10:43 > 0:10:49Before hitting the road again, we bump into some fellow cyclists on a special journey of their own.
0:10:49 > 0:10:52Sarah and Chris, what are you doing in Elche?
0:10:52 > 0:10:59We got married two days ago, so for our honeymoon we're cycling from Alicante to Gibraltar.
0:10:59 > 0:11:02You're cycling for your honeymoon?! Hundreds of kilometres?!
0:11:02 > 0:11:06- And we're camping as well. - So are you still recovering from your wedding?
0:11:06 > 0:11:09Yes. I lost my voice, unfortunately, through over-ceilidh-ing and
0:11:09 > 0:11:13disco-ing and lots of raucous behaviour.
0:11:13 > 0:11:17So you guys sound like very experienced touring cyclists.
0:11:17 > 0:11:20We're actually following Hannibal's route from Cartagena over the Alps.
0:11:20 > 0:11:22Brilliant. That's absolutely superb.
0:11:22 > 0:11:25What sort of advice would you have for a ten-week cycling trip?
0:11:25 > 0:11:29- Get rid of any excess luggage. - Just send it all home.
0:11:29 > 0:11:30That's me.
0:11:30 > 0:11:33You don't need much, we can assure you.
0:11:33 > 0:11:36All you need is a toothbrush and a pair of underpants.
0:11:36 > 0:11:38And you'll be able to cut the handle off the toothbrush.
0:11:38 > 0:11:41To reduce weight, yes. Really, you need to cut back.
0:11:50 > 0:11:55This morning we were on a beautiful wind-y road, snaking its way up the coast.
0:11:55 > 0:12:02Now with no other choice, we're stuck on one of Spain's one-lane highways.
0:12:10 > 0:12:15This is the Costa Blanca, or the Costa del Concrete, as it should be called.
0:12:20 > 0:12:25As we pass through Alicante, we come across a modern army.
0:12:28 > 0:12:30An army of cyclists.
0:12:31 > 0:12:37This is La Vuelta, Spain's largest bike race, and it's just arriving in town.
0:12:44 > 0:12:47A fellow Australian is in the leading team.
0:12:47 > 0:12:49So you guys were coming first?
0:12:49 > 0:12:53Yeah. Um, with a good team leader it provides
0:12:53 > 0:13:00good motivation to keep that going, which hopefully we can until the end, and it's really exciting.
0:13:00 > 0:13:03We noticed earlier when you were being handed your bike
0:13:03 > 0:13:06- by the mechanic and he basically lifted it up with one finger.- Yeah.
0:13:06 > 0:13:10So, Matt we've both got very long rides ahead today. We were thinking we could possibly swap bikes.
0:13:10 > 0:13:13What do you think of lifting this?
0:13:15 > 0:13:21I think I would've gone home sick after stage two.
0:13:21 > 0:13:23That is incredible.
0:13:23 > 0:13:25Yeah. This is incredible, too.
0:13:25 > 0:13:28- Yeah, it's amazing. The lightness of this.- That makes me feel like an absolute peasant.
0:13:28 > 0:13:32It's just very different.
0:13:32 > 0:13:34A different style of riding. See you later.
0:13:34 > 0:13:35Yeah. Good luck.
0:13:41 > 0:13:43'Well, it was worth a try.'
0:13:51 > 0:13:57As Matt and La Vuelta head south, we continue north along the beaches of the Costa Blanca.
0:13:59 > 0:14:05Hannibal would have laid waste to vast swathes of countryside as he marched through here.
0:14:05 > 0:14:07And there's been a more recent invasion force.
0:14:15 > 0:14:19Just riding along the promenade here in Benidorm. Quite difficult.
0:14:19 > 0:14:23I have to dodge a lot of the British tourists here.
0:14:23 > 0:14:27It's possible that Hannibal's soldiers were here along this beach more than 2,000 years ago.
0:14:27 > 0:14:33Now it's the favourite place for thousands of British people who come here every year.
0:14:33 > 0:14:35I'm going to give you a bit of a look at them. They're down there on the beach.
0:14:42 > 0:14:48Benidorm. This place used to be a quiet fishing village in the 1960s.
0:14:48 > 0:14:52Now it has the highest number of skyscrapers in all of Spain.
0:15:05 > 0:15:09Like Hannibal and his army, we're camping along the way whenever we can.
0:15:11 > 0:15:14I go camping quite a bit and I've worked on a lot of excavations
0:15:14 > 0:15:16where you have to camp for kind of months in a row.
0:15:16 > 0:15:18So I'm kind of used to it.
0:15:18 > 0:15:21I'm the most used to it out of the three of us, I suppose.
0:15:21 > 0:15:26It's very hard to get these tent pegs in, but nature has provided us with tools.
0:15:26 > 0:15:31I don't think they're working very well.
0:15:31 > 0:15:33- That's why we built houses. - Here you go, Danny.- Thanks.
0:15:37 > 0:15:39Danny hasn't really done much camping.
0:15:39 > 0:15:43Or much riding, actually. So we're sort of breaking him in.
0:15:43 > 0:15:45But he's doing very very well.
0:15:45 > 0:15:47You can probably see his tent's...
0:15:47 > 0:15:50I'm the last one to get mine up, so he's obviously doing something right.
0:16:00 > 0:16:05Hannibal's army must have been ravenous after a long day's marching.
0:16:05 > 0:16:09We certainly need a carb overload every night.
0:16:09 > 0:16:11Unlike Hannibal, we have things very easy.
0:16:11 > 0:16:15We go to the supermarket to find our food, whereas he would be fighting through hostile
0:16:15 > 0:16:20territory and raiding farms and sending foragers ahead to find food and it wasn't given up easy.
0:16:20 > 0:16:24He also had to feed tens of thousands of mouths.
0:16:24 > 0:16:26We're just three. We've got it so easy.
0:16:41 > 0:16:45The next morning we continue north, riding along the coast towards Valencia.
0:16:55 > 0:16:57It's a lovely place for a ride.
0:16:57 > 0:17:00Rice paddies and very flat.
0:17:05 > 0:17:09So we've just come 25 kilometres today and Danny, Sam and I have just made a quick calculation
0:17:09 > 0:17:14that we think that perhaps Hannibal's army may have been as long as 25 kilometres
0:17:14 > 0:17:18if you give each soldier a metre and they march four abreast.
0:17:18 > 0:17:24Um, and that's not even including the baggage train, the elephants, the cavalry, and the camp followers.
0:17:32 > 0:17:34It's still the early days of our expedition, but already
0:17:34 > 0:17:37I'm beginning to feel like one of Hannibal's soldiers must have felt.
0:17:37 > 0:17:41My legs feel more like leaden pylons than legs
0:17:41 > 0:17:45and I just feel a tiredness all the time.
0:17:45 > 0:17:49I'm still pedalling, which is great and I still feel reasonably OK, but at least physically this is what
0:17:49 > 0:17:54it must have been what it was like for Hannibal and his men, marching day in, day out.
0:17:59 > 0:18:01But some of Hannibal's men got an easy ride.
0:18:02 > 0:18:06They hitched a lift on the 37 elephants Hannibal took with him on his trek.
0:18:09 > 0:18:13The elephants are the most well-known thing about Hannibal's march.
0:18:13 > 0:18:16They've inspired artists across the ages.
0:18:20 > 0:18:23In Hannibal's day, elephants were often used in warfare.
0:18:23 > 0:18:26Alexander the Great had been the first western leader to use them, a century beforehand.
0:18:26 > 0:18:29They were a powerful and frightening weapon.
0:18:29 > 0:18:31They struck fear in the hearts of the enemy.
0:18:31 > 0:18:36Infantry would be scattered and crushed, horses would flee at the scent of them.
0:18:36 > 0:18:38They were the ancient world's version of tanks.
0:18:45 > 0:18:47We're stopping at Valencia Zoo.
0:18:50 > 0:18:53We've come to meet the elephants...
0:18:53 > 0:18:54and their keeper.
0:18:58 > 0:19:04Can you imagine turning these nice, peaceful animals into something that would actually kill a Roman solider?
0:19:04 > 0:19:06They are very good learners.
0:19:06 > 0:19:09They are not very difficult animals to train to do something.
0:19:09 > 0:19:12They will do whatever you say them they have to do it.
0:19:12 > 0:19:16- Even killing soldiers?- Yeah, yeah.
0:19:16 > 0:19:18You teach an elephant to push, and then you say him, "Push him."
0:19:21 > 0:19:24Hannibal had an extremely long journey to get to Rome.
0:19:24 > 0:19:27Do elephants like going on long journeys?
0:19:27 > 0:19:35In the nature, elephants have migrating routes from the northern Africa to southern,
0:19:35 > 0:19:38from eastern Africa to western Africa.
0:19:38 > 0:19:44They walk all Africa round, so for them to walk lot of hundred kilometres is normal.
0:19:44 > 0:19:46They are ready.
0:19:46 > 0:19:49How do you feel? They're lovely creatures, how do you feel?
0:19:49 > 0:19:54Do you feel upset by the idea that Hannibal made nearly 40 elephants go to battle?
0:19:54 > 0:19:56No, no, I mean, you cannot think in the...
0:19:56 > 0:20:02This is the past, so you have to think in the mind they have in those days.
0:20:02 > 0:20:09They didn't know a lot of things about the elephants, so you have to put in the place of that people.
0:20:09 > 0:20:12I think it should be an amazing experience.
0:20:12 > 0:20:14I wish I could be there then.
0:20:16 > 0:20:19These are African Savannah elephants,
0:20:19 > 0:20:24but it's likely that Hannibal went into battle with smaller elephants
0:20:24 > 0:20:27native to the forests that once covered much of North Africa.
0:20:28 > 0:20:32The elephants, like the forests, are now long gone.
0:20:36 > 0:20:41The elephants were ridden by a driver or Indian, as Polybius liked to call them.
0:20:41 > 0:20:46If the driver lost control of his elephant due to injury, or it panicked during battle,
0:20:46 > 0:20:50he was under orders to kill it by driving a blade through the nape of its neck with a mallet,
0:20:50 > 0:20:53killing the poor thing instantly.
0:21:00 > 0:21:03I'm looking for a present for my little boy Jack.
0:21:03 > 0:21:06Ah, very difficult choice.
0:21:06 > 0:21:07A kangaroo, or the elephant.
0:21:10 > 0:21:14I'll take the elephant.
0:21:15 > 0:21:18# Nellie the elephant packed her trunk
0:21:18 > 0:21:20# And said goodbye to the circus
0:21:20 > 0:21:23# Off she went with a trumpety-trump
0:21:23 > 0:21:25# Trump, trump, trump. #
0:21:29 > 0:21:33Well, it's been a very hot day's riding so far and we've
0:21:33 > 0:21:38decided to turn in off the coast because it's just pretty unpleasant.
0:21:38 > 0:21:42There's lots of traffic. The buildings are not much to look at.
0:21:42 > 0:21:46I fell off my bike at a stop sign.
0:21:48 > 0:21:53So now we're going into what we hope will be a pretty, scenic route in the mountains.
0:21:53 > 0:21:54Just inland from the coast of Spain.
0:22:00 > 0:22:02This is more like it.
0:22:02 > 0:22:06The cycling up here's amazing and gives us our first real taste of the mountainous riding to come.
0:22:10 > 0:22:14Roll on the Pyrenees and the Alps!
0:22:30 > 0:22:33- Nice view.- Beautiful.
0:22:35 > 0:22:37Time for a swim. Nothing better after a long ride.
0:22:41 > 0:22:46We've been away a week now, but it already feels like a month.
0:22:46 > 0:22:50Hannibal would have been on the road for three weeks by the time he got here.
0:22:50 > 0:22:54He'd left his wife Imilce, a Spanish princess, back in Cartagena.
0:22:58 > 0:23:01We're also thinking about the people back home.
0:23:04 > 0:23:08It's funny how being in a tent by yourself brings home the realities of what you're missing.
0:23:08 > 0:23:12I've just been up for a shower in the bathrooms here at the campsite
0:23:12 > 0:23:18and got propositioned by a prostitute who lifted her dress at me.
0:23:18 > 0:23:19Um...
0:23:22 > 0:23:25someone trying to break into my tent. That's pretty odd!
0:23:26 > 0:23:31Um, yeah, and now I'm back here and realising what I'm missing,
0:23:31 > 0:23:34like my ten-week-old son and fiancee Isabelle.
0:23:36 > 0:23:37So yeah, I hope they're going all right.
0:23:39 > 0:23:42Better get some sleep.
0:23:49 > 0:23:52Next stop - the walled city of Sagunto.
0:23:56 > 0:24:00It was called Saguntum back then and lay in the Carthaginian sphere of influence.
0:24:04 > 0:24:10Hannibal stopped here because the city had formed an alliance with Rome.
0:24:10 > 0:24:13This was a huge insult to Carthage.
0:24:15 > 0:24:21In revenge, Hannibal stationed his troops outside the city walls and began to lay siege.
0:24:29 > 0:24:32We're now standing inside the ancient walls of Saguntum.
0:24:32 > 0:24:36When Hannibal arrived here over 2,000 years ago, things would have looked very different.
0:24:36 > 0:24:40What we can actually see the remains of are a Moorish castle and Roman defensive walls.
0:24:40 > 0:24:44When Hannibal arrived he would have seen an Iberian fortress which was very, very pro-Roman.
0:24:44 > 0:24:47For Hannibal, this was like a red rag to a bull.
0:24:47 > 0:24:53Hannibal justified the siege by claiming he was liberating the town from Roman oppression.
0:24:53 > 0:24:54He said it was an ancestral Carthaginian tradition
0:24:54 > 0:24:58always to take up the cause of the victims of injustice.
0:24:58 > 0:25:02He was casting himself as a principled freedom fighter, a kind of classical Che Guevara.
0:25:02 > 0:25:06But attacking Saguntum made military sense.
0:25:06 > 0:25:10It effectively disabled the Romans by knocking out their one foothold in Spain.
0:25:10 > 0:25:15It also sent a powerful message to the local Iberian tribes -
0:25:15 > 0:25:16obey us or we'll do this to you.
0:25:22 > 0:25:25Hannibal's siege of Saguntum was long and bloody.
0:25:25 > 0:25:29He set up huge siege works - towers, battering rams
0:25:29 > 0:25:33and catapults that hurled rocks and fire against the city walls.
0:25:36 > 0:25:41The Saguntines had a terrifying weapon of their own - the falarica,
0:25:41 > 0:25:45an outsized javelin with a deadly three-foot-long sharpened tip.
0:25:47 > 0:25:52The shaft was smeared with pitch and sulphur and set alight before being hurled down at the enemy.
0:25:52 > 0:26:00Hannibal fought back. Leading by example, manning the siege-works, cheering on his men.
0:26:00 > 0:26:03He regularly put himself in the line of fire.
0:26:03 > 0:26:05Livy notes that he was seriously wounded by a javelin to the thigh.
0:26:09 > 0:26:10So where were the Romans?
0:26:10 > 0:26:15They betrayed their allies in Saguntum and sent no army to save the city.
0:26:15 > 0:26:18Hannibal's siege was beginning to succeed.
0:26:18 > 0:26:23After eight months, the situation in Saguntum was desperate.
0:26:23 > 0:26:28The inhabitants, driven by starvation, were forced to eat the corpses of their relatives.
0:26:28 > 0:26:30Finally the city caved in.
0:26:30 > 0:26:32The survivors then set fire to their own houses and threw
0:26:32 > 0:26:36themselves and their families into the flames, rather than surrender.
0:26:36 > 0:26:39Hannibal issued orders that no man be spared.
0:26:39 > 0:26:42Vicious? Perhaps. But these were the ancient rules of war.
0:26:46 > 0:26:51Hannibal had demonstrated that he had an army strong enough to challenge Rome.
0:26:51 > 0:26:57The Romans sent a diplomatic delegation to the Senate in Carthage.
0:26:57 > 0:27:01They demanded Hannibal's immediate surrender.
0:27:01 > 0:27:04The Carthaginians refused to give up their great commander.
0:27:04 > 0:27:07The Roman ambassador was steely.
0:27:07 > 0:27:13He clutched a fold in the fabric of his toga, and announced, "I have here peace or war.
0:27:13 > 0:27:16"I will let fall whichever of the two you choose."
0:27:16 > 0:27:20The Carthaginians replied, "Whichever you please".
0:27:20 > 0:27:23The Roman shot back, "We give you war!"
0:27:23 > 0:27:25For Hannibal's army, now there was no going back.
0:27:42 > 0:27:46In the next episode - crossing the River Ebro.
0:27:46 > 0:27:51Two of the world's most vibrant cities - ancient and modern.
0:27:55 > 0:27:59And across the Pyrenees into France.
0:28:07 > 0:28:10Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:28:10 > 0:28:12E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk