125 Fun Facts About Hannibal

Hannibal's home city of Carthage lay in which modern country?

Carthage's ruins lie in Tunisia, just outside Tunis; Hannibal is honoured there with a television channel and a railway station bearing his name.

Who was Hannibal's father?

Hamilcar Barca, who led Carthage's forces in Sicily and then carved out an empire in Hispania, died in 228 BC, reportedly drowning in a river while campaigning in Spain.

What does the cognomen Barca mean?

Barca comes from Punic barqa, meaning 'lightning' or 'thunderbolt', a cognomen Hamilcar earned for the speed and ferocity of his raids in Sicily.

At which river did Hannibal defeat the Carpetani coalition in 220 BC?

Returning from Salamanca in 220 BC, Hannibal crossed the Tagus, then turned and crushed the Carpetani as they forded it, his elephants trampling men on the bank.

According to Polybius, what did Hannibal's father make him swear as a boy?

Polybius has Hannibal tell Antiochus that, aged about nine, his father Hamilcar made him swear at an altar never to be a friend of Rome.

How old was Hannibal when the army proclaimed him commander-in-chief in 221 BC?

Hannibal was 26 when the army in Hispania acclaimed him commander in 221 BC; Livy says the old soldiers fancied they saw his father Hamilcar restored to them in his face.

Whose assassination in 221 BC brought Hannibal to supreme command in Hispania?

Hasdrubal the Fair, Hannibal's brother-in-law, was murdered by a Celtic servant in 221 BC; he had signed the 226 BC treaty with Rome fixing the Ebro as a boundary.

According to the Roman poet Silius Italicus, what was the name of Hannibal's wife from Castulo?

Silius Italicus's epic Punica names Hannibal's wife as Imilce of Castulo and gives him a son, neither mentioned by Polybius, Livy or Appian.

Hannibal's attack on which Roman-allied city in Spain sparked the Second Punic War?

Saguntum, a Roman ally south of the Ebro, fell to Hannibal in 219 BC; a Roman embassy then offered Carthage the choice of war or peace.

How long did Hannibal's siege of the city that started the war last?

The siege lasted eight months in 219 BC; Hannibal sent the booty home to Carthage, a move that won the government's support for war.

From which Spanish city did Hannibal set out for Italy in the spring of 218 BC?

Hannibal marched from New Carthage (Cartagena), the Barcid capital in Spain, in late spring 218 BC, leaving his brother Hasdrubal with a garrison to hold Hispania.

According to Livy, what did Hannibal use along with fire to break through a rockfall in the Alps?

Livy says Hannibal's men heated the rock with fire, then poured vinegar over it to crumble it; Polybius never mentions the episode and no scorched rock has been found at the likely spot.

Which pass does W. C. Mahaney argue Hannibal crossed, citing disturbed peat and horse-gut bacteria?

Mahaney's team found a churned, manure-rich layer in a mire below the Col de la Traversette, radiocarbon-dated to about 218 BC, the year of the march.

According to Polybius, roughly how many foot soldiers did Hannibal have left when he reached Italy?

Polybius, citing Hannibal's own inscription, gives 12,000 African and 8,000 Spanish foot on arrival, 20,000 in all, roughly half the infantry that had crossed the Rhône.

Which Roman consul, wounded at the Ticinus in 218 BC, was saved by his teenage son?

Publius Cornelius Scipio, consul of 218 BC, was wounded in a cavalry skirmish at the Ticinus; his son, the future Scipio Africanus, is said to have charged in to rescue him.

Fearing assassination by the Gauls in the winter of 218–217 BC, how did Hannibal disguise himself?

The Gauls' enthusiasm for his cause had cooled after a winter of hosting his army.

What caused Hannibal to lose the sight of his right eye during the march through the Arno marshes?

Four days and three nights wading through the flooded Arno marshes brought on an eye infection, usually identified as conjunctivitis, that cost Hannibal the sight of his right eye.

Which Roman consul was killed with his army in the ambush at Lake Trasimene in 217 BC?

Gaius Flaminius, consul of 217 BC, died with some 15,000 men in the Trasimene ambush; Livy says Hannibal searched the field for his body to bury it, in vain.

Hannibal's march past Flaminius before Trasimene is called the first recorded example of what?

Hannibal's strategic turning movement, marching past Flaminius to cut him off from Rome, is often cited as the first recorded in military history; it drew the consul into a hasty pursuit and the ambush.

Which Roman was appointed dictator after Trasimene and refused to meet Hannibal in open battle?

Quintus Fabius Maximus, named dictator in 217 BC, shadowed Hannibal and avoided pitched battle; many Romans called it cowardice, and his six-month term was not renewed.

What nickname did the Roman dictator of 217 BC earn for avoiding battle with Hannibal?

Fabius was mocked as Cunctator, 'the Delayer', for shadowing Hannibal without fighting; the name became an honour, and strategies of attrition are called Fabian after him.

Trapped in Campania by Fabius, how did Hannibal slip his army out at night?

Romans chased the moving lights along the heights while the army crept through an unguarded pass.

At which 216 BC battle in Apulia did Hannibal envelop and destroy a Roman army?

At Cannae on 2 August 216 BC Hannibal's double envelopment annihilated the largest army Rome had ever fielded; tens of thousands died in a single day.

Which two consuls commanded the Roman army on alternate days at the great battle of 216 BC?

Consuls Gaius Terentius Varro and Lucius Aemilius Paullus alternated command; Livy blames Varro, whose day it was, yet the Senate thanked him afterwards for not despairing of the Republic.

How many Roman senators died in the great defeat of 216 BC?

That was a quarter to a third of a Senate of no more than 300 men.

Which cavalry commander told Hannibal, 'You know how to gain a victory, but not how to use one'?

Maharbal, Hannibal's cavalry commander, urged an immediate march on Rome after the 216 BC victory; Livy records this rebuke when Hannibal declined.

Which Macedonian king pledged support to Hannibal after 216 BC, starting the First Macedonian War?

Philip V of Macedon made a treaty with Hannibal in 215 BC, but Rome's fleet and Aetolian allies kept him occupied in Greece and he never sent Hannibal meaningful help.

Which city, then the second largest in Italy, defected to Hannibal and became his base?

Capua, the chief city of Campania, went over to Hannibal after 216 BC; Rome besieged and retook it in 211 BC despite his march on Rome to draw the armies off.

For roughly how many years did Hannibal occupy most of southern Italy?

Hannibal held most of southern Italy for some 15 years, from 218 BC until Carthage recalled him in 203 BC, never receiving the reinforcements needed for a decisive blow.

Which Carthaginian led the peace party that denied Hannibal reinforcements after his greatest victory?

His faction relied on trade with Rome and resented being dragged into war over Saguntum.

Which city did Hannibal capture by surprise in 212 BC while failing to take its harbour?

Tarentum's gates were opened to Hannibal by local conspirators in 212 BC, but the Roman garrison held the citadel commanding the harbour; Fabius retook the city in 209 BC.

Which famed Roman consul, conqueror of Syracuse, did Hannibal kill in battle in 208 BC?

Marcus Claudius Marcellus, five times consul and captor of Syracuse in 212 BC, died in a Numidian ambush near Venusia in 208 BC; Plutarch says Hannibal had the body cremated with honours.

At which 207 BC battle was Hannibal's brother killed while bringing reinforcements from Spain?

The relief army from Spain was destroyed at the Metaurus river in Umbria in June 207 BC; the Romans cut off its commander's head and tossed it over the palisade of Hannibal's camp.

Which brother of Hannibal had his severed head thrown into Hannibal's camp in 207 BC?

Hasdrubal Barca, who had held Spain for Carthage since 218 BC, was killed in Umbria in 207 BC; his other brother Mago later failed in northern Italy, ending hopes of recovering Italy.

Hannibal recorded his expedition on bronze tablets at Crotona in the sanctuary of which goddess?

Hannibal's bronze inscription stood in the temple of Juno Lacinia (Hera Lacinia) on Cape Lacinium near Crotona, written in Punic and Greek; Polybius used it for his troop figures.

Which Roman general defeated Hannibal at Zama in 202 BC?

Scipio Africanus, who had already driven the Carthaginians from Spain, crushed Hannibal at Zama in October 202 BC after a fruitless parley in which each admired the other.

Which Numidian king's defection to Rome gave Scipio the cavalry superiority at Zama?

Masinissa, a Numidian prince, went over to Scipio in 206 BC, hoping to win Numidia from his rival Syphax; his horsemen decided the cavalry fight at Zama.

What civic office did Hannibal win in Carthage after the war?

Elected sufet, Carthage's chief magistrate, in 196 BC, Hannibal attacked corruption and reformed the finances so Rome's indemnity could be paid without raising taxes.

How large was the indemnity Rome imposed on Carthage after the Second Punic War?

The 201 BC treaty set the indemnity at 10,000 talents of silver payable over 50 years; Hannibal's audit as chief magistrate showed Carthage could pay it without new taxes once embezzlement stopped.

How did Hannibal reform the oligarchic board of judges known as the Hundred and Four?

He also had them chosen by direct election rather than co-option, which earned him powerful enemies.

At which Seleucid king's court did Hannibal serve as a military adviser in exile?

Hannibal fled to Antiochus III the Great in 195 BC after Roman envoys, tipped off by his enemies at Carthage, accused him of plotting with the Seleucid king.

According to Cicero, what did Hannibal say after the philosopher Phormio lectured on generalship?

Cicero's De Oratore has Hannibal remark, 'I have seen many old fools, but this one beats them all'; he was equally dry about the Seleucid army: quite enough for the Romans, however greedy.

At which 190 BC sea battle did the Rhodian navy defeat the fleet Hannibal had built in Cilicia?

The faster Rhodian ships damaged half his warships with the diekplous manoeuvre.

At which battle was the Seleucid king decisively defeated, after which he agreed to hand Hannibal to Rome?

After Magnesia in 190 BC the Treaty of Apamea required the king to hand over Hannibal; he fled, reportedly via Armenia and Crete, before settling in Bithynia.

How did Hannibal win a naval victory for Bithynia over Eumenes of Pergamon?

He beat Eumenes twice more on land in 184 BC.

At whose court in Bithynia did Hannibal spend his final years?

Prusias I of Bithynia sheltered Hannibal from about 188 BC and used him as a general against Pergamon, but finally bowed to Roman pressure to give him up.

According to Livy and Cornelius Nepos, how did Hannibal die?

Pausanias tells a different tale: a fever from cutting his finger on his own sword.

Which Roman ex-consul travelled to Bithynia to demand Hannibal's surrender?

Livy says Titus Quinctius Flamininus pressed the king to surrender him; Hannibal's last words mocked Romans who found it too tiresome to wait for an old man's death.

According to Pliny and Plutarch, Hannibal's tomb was at Libyssa on the coast of which sea?

Libyssa, near modern Gebze on the Gulf of İzmit, lies on the Sea of Marmara; an oracle had said Libyssan earth would cover him, which he took to mean Libya.

Which Roman orator used 'Hannibal ad portas' as a byword for sudden peril?

Cicero reached for 'Hannibal ad portas', 'Hannibal is at the gates', in the Philippics and De Finibus; the cry became Roman shorthand for any sudden, deadly threat.

Per Plutarch, whom did Hannibal name as greater generals than himself when Scipio asked?

Hannibal ranked Alexander first and Pyrrhus second, himself third; asked where he would stand had he beaten Scipio, he said first of all, a sly compliment to his conqueror.

Which North African-born Roman emperor is said to have built Hannibal a white marble tomb at Libyssa?

Septimius Severus, born at Leptis Magna in Libya, is said by the Byzantine scholar John Tzetzes to have had Hannibal's tomb at Libyssa faced in white marble.

Which German strategy for World War I drew on Hannibal's envelopment tactics of 216 BC?

Alfred von Schlieffen, chief of the German general staff, wrote a study of Hannibal's 216 BC victory and designed the Schlieffen Plan's great wheel through Belgium as a modern double envelopment.

Which American general believed himself to be a reincarnation of Hannibal?

George S. Patton, who believed in reincarnation, counted Hannibal among his past lives, alongside a Roman legionary and a Napoleonic soldier.

Hannibal appears on which denomination of Tunisian banknote, first issued in 1993?

He also has a private TV channel, a street in Carthage and a railway station named after him.

Which psychoanalyst wrote that Hannibal had been his boyhood hero?

Sigmund Freud wrote in The Interpretation of Dreams that Hannibal was his boyhood favourite; the Semitic general's war on Rome stood for Jewish tenacity against the Catholic Church.

A cenotaph to Hannibal was built in 1981 near Gebze, Turkey, reflecting the interest of which leader?

Atatürk took a personal interest in finding Hannibal's grave in the 1930s; the 1981 cenotaph near Gebze honours that interest, though studies never pinned down the exact tomb site.

Which actor was announced in 2023 to star in a Netflix film about Hannibal?

Netflix announced in 2023 that Denzel Washington would play Hannibal, with Antoine Fuqua directing from a John Logan screenplay.

In what year was Hannibal born?

Hannibal was born in 247 BC, during the First Punic War; he died in Bithynia between 183 and 181 BC.

How many infantry did Hannibal's army number when it set out for the Alps?

Polybius says Hannibal crossed the Rhône with 38,000 foot and 8,000 horse, the force that began the Alpine climb, having left garrisons in Spain and sent home wavering troops.

Which two ancient historians are the primary sources for Hannibal's crossing of the Alps?

Polybius was born about 20 years after the event and Livy about 160 years after.

Which three place names used by Polybius do modern theories of the Alpine route depend on?

Polybius names only the Island, the river Skaras and the Allobroges tribe; with no archaeological trace of the march, scholars match those names to modern geography to reconstruct the route.

Which stronghold, usually identified with Alicante, did Hamilcar Barca found in Spain?

Diodorus says Hamilcar founded Akra Leuke, 'White Cape', usually placed at modern Alicante, as his base; he died in 228 BC while campaigning from it against Helike.

Which Roman commander lost the Battle of the Trebia in December 218 BC?

Tiberius Sempronius Longus, lured across the icy Trebia into an ambush, lost the war's first major battle near modern Piacenza in December 218 BC.

How many cavalry did Hannibal lead at the Battle of Ticinus in November 218 BC?

Scipio's Romans had 3,600 horsemen plus javelinmen; it was the war's first clash in Italy.

Roughly how many Roman and allied troops did Rome field at Cannae in 216 BC?

Polybius puts the Roman force at about 86,000, eight legions plus allies; Hannibal's double envelopment on 2 August 216 BC trapped and slaughtered most of them.

Historian Adrian Goldsworthy compared the Roman death toll at Cannae to which later battle's first day?

Adrian Goldsworthy notes that Rome's losses at Cannae in one afternoon exceeded the British Army's dead on the first day of the Somme in 1916, about 20,000.

What concealed Hannibal's troops on the hills above Lake Trasimene in 217 BC?

Polybius and Livy both note a thick morning mist rising off Lake Trasimene; it hid Hannibal's men on the slopes until the Roman column was strung out along the shore.

How many war elephants did Hannibal set out from Spain with in 218 BC?

Polybius counts 37 elephants at the Rhône crossing; most died in the Alps or the first winter, and only Surus, the one Hannibal rode through the Arno marshes, is known to have lasted.

Which troops formed Hannibal's third and last infantry line at Zama?

Polybius says Hannibal held back his veterans from Italy as a third line at Zama, behind the mercenaries and the Carthaginian levies, and they fought Scipio's legions to a standstill until the cavalry returned.

How many Numidian troops joined Scipio's camp shortly before Zama?

Polybius says the Numidian king arrived with 6,000 foot and 4,000 horse, 10,000 in all, whose cavalry let Scipio turn Hannibal's flanks at Zama.

Carthage was settled around 814 BC by merchants from which city in present-day Lebanon?

Tyre, the leading Phoenician port, founded Carthage ('New City') about 814 BC, traditionally under the exiled princess Elissa, the Dido of legend.

In legend, Dido cut an oxhide into strips to encircle a hill that was then named what?

Byrsa, Greek for 'oxhide', was the citadel hill of Carthage; the legend says Dido was granted only as much land as a hide could cover and cut it into thin strips.

Which epic poem, published around 19 BC, is the best-known source for Dido's story?

In the Aeneid, Books 1 and 4, Virgil has the love-sick queen Dido kill herself on a pyre when Aeneas sails from Carthage; the poem was left unfinished at his death in 19 BC.

Which Roman senator ended his speeches with 'Carthago delenda est'?

Cato the Elder, after visiting Carthage in 153 BC, ended every Senate speech, whatever its subject, with 'Carthage must be destroyed'; the war that razed the city began in 149 BC.

Polybius, historian of Rome's rise, was born around 200 BC in which Arcadian city?

Polybius was born in Megalopolis, Arcadia, about 200 BC; deported to Rome as a hostage in 167 BC, he became the friend and mentor of Scipio Aemilianus.

Livy, author of Ab Urbe Condita, was born in which northern Italian city?

Livy was born at Patavium, modern Padua, in 59 BC; on good terms with Augustus, he encouraged the young Claudius to take up writing history.

Which Italian city did Hannibal's brother Mago capture in his 205 BC invasion?

Mago Barca sailed from Minorca in 205 BC with some 14,000 men and seized Genoa (Genua); after his defeat in Insubrian territory in 203 BC he was recalled and died at sea.

Hamilcar Barca commanded Carthage's land forces in Sicily during which years?

Hamilcar Barca took command in Sicily in 247 BC and harried the Romans from Mount Eryx until the peace of 241 BC; he later crushed the Mercenary War.

Which two battles did Hamilcar win to end the Mercenary War?

Hamilcar beat the rebels at the Bagradas river in 240 BC and then trapped and annihilated Spendius's army in the defile called the Saw in 238 BC, breaking the revolt begun in 241.

Scipio's 206 BC victory at Ilipa was won against which of Hannibal's brothers?

Mago Barca shared command with Hasdrubal Gisco at Ilipa in 206 BC; Scipio's reversed battle line routed them, and Rome soon held all Carthaginian Iberia.

Which Numidian tribes did Masinissa lead during the Second Punic War?

Masinissa was king of the Massylii of eastern Numidia; after Rome crushed Syphax's Masaesyli he united east and west into a kingdom that became a regional power.

Sophonisba drank poison rather than face what fate?

Masinissa, her new husband, offered her the cup himself.

Which Carthaginian commanders shared leadership at the Battle of the Great Plains in 203 BC?

Hasdrubal Gisco and Syphax, having rebuilt their forces after the camp fires near Utica, were routed by Scipio at the Great Plains in 203 BC; Syphax fled, was beaten at Cirta and captured.

At Utica in 203 BC, Scipio's night attack set fire to Numidian barracks made of what?

Polybius says the Numidians had built their winter huts of reeds and matting, so the flames spread in minutes; Syphax's camp went up first, then Hasdrubal's wooden one.

Archimedes was killed by a Roman soldier at the end of which siege?

Archimedes died when Syracuse fell in 212 BC; his engines, including the 'claw' that tipped ships, had held off the Roman siege for two years.

How long did the First Punic War last?

The First Punic War ran 23 years, from 264 to 241 BC, fought largely for Sicily and at sea, and ended with a Roman naval victory in 241 BC.

Which group of Italian mercenaries seized Messana in 289 BC, setting up the First Punic War?

The Mamertines, 'sons of Mars', were Campanian mercenaries who seized Messana after Agathocles's death; their appeal to Rome in 264 BC brought the legions into Sicily.

Which naval battle on 10 March 241 BC ended the First Punic War?

Off the Aegates Islands on 10 March 241 BC the Roman fleet crushed Carthage's relief convoy; consul Gaius Lutatius Catulus held overall command, though praetor Quintus Valerius Falto led on the day.

Which Roman consul co-commanded at Cape Ecnomus in 256 BC?

Marcus Atilius Regulus and Lucius Manlius Vulso commanded the Roman fleet at Cape Ecnomus in 256 BC against Hanno and Hamilcar; Regulus then led the invasion of Africa.

By what other name is the Mercenary War known?

Polybius called it the Truceless War for its atrocities: unpaid mercenaries mutinied after the First Punic War, joined by rebel African towns, and both sides tortured and killed prisoners.

Which Carthaginian's periplus describes a voyage down the West African coast?

Hanno the Navigator's Periplus, surviving in Greek, records a voyage along West Africa with settlers; the text styles him basileus, a term often used for senior Carthaginian officials.

Which battle is considered Scipio Africanus's most brilliant, featuring a 'reverse Cannae'?

At Ilipa in 206 BC, near modern Seville, Scipio placed his Spanish allies in the centre and his legions on the wings, a mirror of Cannae, and broke Carthage's hold on Iberia.

Which river did Hasdrubal Barca camp on at Baecula in 208 BC?

Baecula lay near the upper Baetis (Guadalquivir) in the silver-mining district of eastern Andalusia; Scipio stormed Hasdrubal's hilltop camp there in 208 BC, though Hasdrubal slipped away with most of his army.

The city whose siege by Hannibal began the Second Punic War lies in which Spanish province?

The ruined city stands in the province of Valencia, about 25 km north of the provincial capital; in 219 BC its people appealed to Rome but no help came before it fell.

In 241 BC, who told Hamilcar Barca to make peace with Rome on whatever terms he could get?

Polybius says the Carthaginian Senate, its last fleet destroyed, sent Hamilcar full powers and told him to make peace with Rome on whatever terms he could obtain.

After the First Punic War, Carthage's Spanish holdings were limited to Gades, Malaca, Abdera and which city?

Sexi (modern Almuñécar), like Gades, Malaca and Abdera, was an old Phoenician colony on the southern coast; the Barcids expanded inland from these towns between 237 and 218 BC.

Punic, the language of Carthage, was an offshoot of which language?

Punic was the Phoenician dialect of Carthage, written in the Phoenician alphabet; St Augustine heard it spoken around Hippo in the 5th century AD, and it may have lasted into the 6th.

Which Roman middle-ranking officer distinguished himself in the setbacks of 149 BC and later took Carthage?

Scipio Aemilianus, serving as a military tribune, shone during the bungled campaign of 149 BC; popular acclaim had the age rules waived to elect him consul for 147, and he destroyed Carthage in 146.

For how many years did Rome and Carthage struggle in the Second Punic War?

The Second Punic War ran 17 years, from 218 to 201 BC, spreading from Italy and Iberia to Sicily, Sardinia and finally North Africa.

Which Punic War saw the Romans storm, sack and completely demolish Carthage in 146 BC?

The Third Punic War (149-146 BC) ended when the Romans stormed Carthage after a three-year siege; some 50,000 survivors were sold into slavery and the city was razed.

Which 1981 Thomas Harris novel first introduced Hannibal Lecter, in a small villain role?

Red Dragon (1981) introduced Dr Hannibal Lecter as an imprisoned psychiatrist whom FBI profiler Will Graham consults while hunting a serial killer.

Which actor played the young Lecter in the 2007 film Hannibal Rising?

Gaspard Ulliel played the teenage Lecter in Hannibal Rising (2007), directed by Peter Webber from Harris's own screenplay; Gong Li co-starred as his aunt, Lady Murasaki.

The Silence of the Lambs was the third film to win which set of Academy Awards?

The Big Five are Picture, Director, Actor, Actress and Screenplay; The Silence of the Lambs swept them in 1992 after It Happened One Night (1934) and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975).

Jonathan Demme won which prize at the Berlin Film Festival for The Silence of the Lambs?

Demme took the Silver Bear for Best Director at the 1991 Berlinale, where the film played in competition a year before it swept the Oscars.

In Harris's 1981 novel, the killer hunted by Will Graham is first nicknamed what?

The press dub Francis Dolarhyde 'the Tooth Fairy' for the bite marks on his victims, a name he loathes; Tom Noonan played him in Manhunter.

Who developed the NBC series Hannibal, which premiered in April 2013?

Bryan Fuller developed Hannibal for NBC, casting Mads Mikkelsen as Lecter and Hugh Dancy as Will Graham; it ran three seasons from April 2013.

In the 2001 film Hannibal, who replaced Jodie Foster as Clarice Starling?

Julianne Moore took over as Clarice Starling in Hannibal (2001) after Jodie Foster declined to return; Gary Oldman played the disfigured Mason Verger.

Which producer reportedly pressured Thomas Harris into writing Hannibal Rising?

Dino De Laurentiis, who held the film rights, told Harris he would make a Lecter origin film with or without him, prompting the 2006 novel Hannibal Rising.

Thomas Harris worked for which news agency in New York from 1968 to 1974?

Thomas Harris reported for the Associated Press in New York from 1968 to 1974 before turning to fiction with Black Sunday (1975).

Which author spent his boyhood in Hannibal, Missouri?

Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) grew up in Hannibal, Missouri, from 1839; the Mississippi town became St Petersburg in Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn.

Hannibal Hamlin served as vice president under which president?

Hannibal Hamlin of Maine was Abraham Lincoln's first vice president, 1861 to 1865, the first Republican to hold the office; Andrew Johnson replaced him on the 1864 ticket.

Comedian Hannibal Buress's October 2014 routine drew attention to allegations against whom?

Hannibal Buress's October 2014 stand-up set in Philadelphia, calling out Bill Cosby over rape allegations, went viral and revived public scrutiny of the accusations.

Which actor played Colonel John 'Hannibal' Smith in the original A-Team series?

George Peppard played the cigar-chomping Colonel John 'Hannibal' Smith on NBC's The A-Team (1983-87), delivering the catchphrase 'I love it when a plan comes together'.

Hannibal Goodwin patented flexible roll film that was used in which Edison machine?

Goodwin's nitrocellulose roll film, filed in 1887 and not granted until 1898, was the kind of flexible film stock that fed Edison's Kinetoscope peep-show viewer of the 1890s.

Who directed Manhunter (1986), the first film adaptation of Harris's 1981 novel?

Michael Mann wrote and directed Manhunter (1986), with William Petersen as Will Graham and Dennis Farina as Jack Crawford, shot in Mann's cool, neon-lit style.

Thomas Harris's novel Hannibal (1999) is set how many years after the Buffalo Bill case?

Hannibal (1999) picks up seven years after Clarice Starling's hunt for Buffalo Bill, with Lecter living in Florence under an alias; its plot fed the NBC show's third season.

In Manhunter (1986), Brian Cox played Lecter under which variant spelling of the name?

Manhunter spelled the name 'Lecktor', with Brian Cox playing him in a handful of scenes; Anthony Hopkins's Lecter followed five years later in The Silence of the Lambs.

In 2003, which body named Hopkins's Lecter the greatest screen villain in US cinema history?

Rolling Stone later ranked Mads Mikkelsen's TV version the 18th-greatest villain in television history.

Thomas Harris met the prison doctor who inspired Lecter while reporting in which country?

Reporting for Argosy in 1963, Harris visited the prison in Monterrey, Mexico, where a courtly 'Dr Salazar', actually convicted murderer Alfredo Ballí Treviño, became the seed of Lecter.

In the novels, Hannibal Lecter was born into the nobility of which country?

He is also descended from the Visconti and Sforza families of Italy, according to Harris.

On what date did Orion Pictures release The Silence of the Lambs in 1991?

Orion opened The Silence of the Lambs on 14 February 1991, Valentine's Day; it went on to gross about $272.7 million worldwide on a $19 million budget.

Who directed the 2001 sequel Hannibal, from a script by David Mamet and Steven Zaillian?

Ridley Scott directed Hannibal (2001) after Jonathan Demme declined to return; it grossed about $351.6 million on an $87 million budget, with Gary Oldman, initially uncredited, as Mason Verger.

Why did NBC cancel the Hannibal TV series in June 2015?

All three seasons won Saturn Awards for Best Network Television Series, and the finale aired first in Canada on City.

Which actor won a Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor for season two of NBC's Hannibal?

Mads Mikkelsen and Hugh Dancy both won Best Actor for the series.