The Classical WorldWar & Conflict Hannibal crosses the Alps 218 BCEMajor Hannibal leads a Carthaginian army with war elephants over the Alps into Italy. His victories nearly broke Rome before it won the Second Punic War. ▲ MattersSaveShareTrace roots Longest chain: The Big Bang → First stars ignite → Supernovae seed heavy elements → The Sun forms → Earth forms → First oceans → First life → Photosynthesis evolves → Great Oxidation Event → Complex cells (eukaryotes) → Multicellular life → First animals → Cambrian Explosion → First vertebrates → Jawed fish → Fish walk onto land → The amniotic egg → The Great Dying → Dinosaurs appear → Asteroid ends the dinosaurs → Early primates → Apes split from monkeys → Human line splits from chimpanzees → Walking upright → First stone tools → Genus Homo appears → Homo erectus → Control of fire → First fired clay figures → First pottery → Potter's wheel → The wheel → Spoke-wheeled chariot → Hittite Empire → Iron Age begins → Rome founded (traditional date) → Roman Republic founded → Punic Wars → Hannibal crosses the Alps Community notesLoading notes… Learn more ranked by votesDocumentbritannica.comHannibal (Britannica) ↗Editor's pickBookJ. F. LazenbyHannibal's War ↗Editor's pickBookRichard MilesCarthage Must Be Destroyed ↗Editor's pickVideoSearch on YouTubeHannibal crossing the Alps documentary ↗Editor's pick