Rome (Hannibal at the Gates)

It is 218BC. The Roman Republic now encompasses the entire Italian peninsula. Fresh military expansion into Corsica, Sardinia and, most recently, Sicily, marks the gradual rising of a future empire. Opposing it, however, stands almost every other world power, and none more so than its old enemy, Carthage. Laid low by defeat in its first war with Rome, and the loss of its Sicilian possessions, tensions in Carthage run high. The humiliated Barca family intend to restore their faltering state’s prestige and settle personal scores with Rome at the same time.

Having exploited Iberia’s wealth in silver to pay Roman war reparations, the Carthaginian general, Hannibal - son of the legendary war hero, Hamilcar Barca – has taken control of Carthage's great army. His first act, to seize the border settlement of Saguntum, was designed to provoke Rome to war. The rapidly expanding Roman Republic is now in peril; to the north, the troublesome Gauls will strike at the slightest sign of weakness. Hannibal, meanwhile, eagerly aims to expose that weakness, enlisting allies as his army moves ever further into Roman territory.

Saguntum was an insult, a betrayal of the treaty between the two burgeoning empires. It cannot go unanswered. If Rome’s clients are captured or join forces with Carthage, its hegemony in the region will quickly crumble. Therefore, it is vital that Carthaginian expansion in Iberia, and beyond, is halted immediately. However, Rome must tread carefully, for Hannibal is a dangerous enemy; a skilled general with a taste for Roman blood. To defeat him, it must be prepared to strike at very heart of the Carthaginian state – the great city itself!