<P> 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 two states fought three major wars with each other over the course of their existence . They are called the `` Punic Wars '' because Rome 's name for Carthaginians was Poeni , derived from Poenici ( earlier form of Punici ) , a reference to the founding of Carthage by Phoenician settlers . </P>
who was the carthaginian general who brought the second punic war to the gates of rome
Hannibal