In the second century B.C., a supremely gifted young black soldier rises to command the Carthaginian army, raises and leads an army of sixty thousand soldiers and eleven elephants on an historic charge over the Alps, surprises the Roman Army with a series of unforgettable defeats, and fills the hearts of Romans with a sense of terror that outlives the man himself. Hannibal goes on to live four lives: soldier, commander, King, and fugitive.