The Second Punic War involved combatants.
The Second Punic War , also referred to as The Hannibalic War and ( by the Romans ) the War Against Hannibal , lasted from 218 to 201 BC and involved combatants in the western and eastern Mediterranean . This was the second major war between Carthage and the Roman Republic and its allied Italic socii , with the crucial participation of Numidian-Berber armies and tribes on both sides . The war was to a considerable extent initiated by Carthage at Saguntum in Spain and is marked by Hannibal 's surprising overland journey and his costly crossing of the Alps , followed by his reinforcement by Gallic allies and crushing victories over Roman armies in the Battle of the Trebia and the ambush at Trasimene . In the meantime , in Iberia , which served as the main source of manpower for the Carthaginian army , a second Roman expedition under Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus Major took Carthago Nova by assault and ended Carthaginian rule over Iberia in the Battle of Ilipa .