Hannibal: The African Warrior by Jacob Abbott

It is difficult for anyone who has not actually seen such mountain scenery as is presented by the Alps, to form any clear conception of its magnificence and grandeur. Hannibal had never seen the Alps, but the world was filled then, and now, with their fame. Hannibal was a Carthaginian general. He acquired his great distinction as a warrior by his desperate contests with the Romans. Hannibal s determination to carry an army into Italy by way of the Alps, instead of transporting them by galleys over the sea, has always been regarded as one of the greatest undertaking of ancient times.