Young Hannibal Swears Enmity to Rome

What it is

This engraving, made in 1780 and held by the Rijksmuseum, shows a classical scene: a man in a toga raising his arm toward a young boy who reaches his hands over a small altar with a flame. According to the record, this depicts the child Hannibal swearing an oath against Rome, with his father Hamilcar Barca beside him.

Why it matters

Ancient writers recorded a story that Hannibal's father made him swear eternal hostility to Rome as a child, an oath often used to explain his lifelong determination as a general. This later print imagines that founding moment, showing how the legend shaped the way Europeans understood Hannibal's character centuries after his life.

Look closer

• What symbols in the image (the statue, the altar, the weapons) help tell the story?
• Why might this oath story have been popular to retell in art?
• How might a childhood oath, even if partly legendary, be used to explain an adult's later actions?