Marching elephants over the Alps? Just a typical day out for Hannibal, the military genius with a penchant for really inconvenient travel routes. During the Second Punic War, this Carthaginian commander led his troops, including African war elephants, across a high pass in the Alps to strike at Rome itself from the north of the Italian peninsula.

Beyond his alpine escapades, Hannibal was a master diplomat, skillfully weaving alliances with Italian city-states, Gaulish tribes, and even distant kingdoms like Macedonia to isolate Rome and tip the scales of power. While some alliances proved more reliable than others, his diplomatic efforts did cause headaches for the Romans. Facing capture in 183 BC, he chose a dramatic exit – suicide by poison. This act of defiance ensured he remained unconquered by Rome, even in death.