Why is the second of the Punic Wars considered an epic?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

The second Punic War with Carthage was of epic quality because of the tactics taken by Hannibal, a Carthaginian general who decided to assault Rome not by ships, as one would expect from the first phase of the war and with the longest standing maritime power in the Mediterranean. Instead, he formed a land campaign with diverse forces and a fleet of thirty-seven elephants to march from Spain, across the Alps, and into Italy. The Romans managed to thwart this assault after a prolonged period of siege warfare, and eventually, as Hannibal was forced to withdraw, the Romans chased after him, implanting their administration in the newly seized Roman provinces in Gaul, Spain, and Numidia. Finally, Hannibal was caught and slain by Cornelio Scipio outside the plains of Zama in 202 B.C.E., and Scipio subsequently earned the name Africanus for his victory. Contrasted with the first Punic War, in which each side fought twenty-four years and had only Sicily to show for it, or with the third Punic War of revenge that was instigated by Cato the Elder, the second Punic War stands out as a colorful and heralded tale.