Greatest
Hannibal grew up in Carthage, where he trained as a zookeeper while his dad, Hamilcar, fought the Romans.

Punic Wars
During one battle, a Roman shouted “Hamilcar for the Carthaginian leader” and a taxi turned up and took him away, causing his side to lose. This terrible pun began the Punic Wars, for which Hannibal took over.

Mountain anger
The puns really got going when Hannibal used the Pyrenees to reach Italy. The Romans said he would have been better using a pair of feet.

Elephants
Even Hannibal’s use of elephants was a pun. The Romans refused to allow him to use Italian trunk roads so he made his own through Spain.

Scipio
The Roman commander. Hannibal antagonised him with puns about the way he walked.

Hasdrubal
Hannibal’s brother. The Romans responded by drawing pictures of him leaking saliva.

Cannae
Battle sparked by the worst pun yet. The Romans said they could beat Hannibal, who adopted a Pictish accent and told them they cannae.

Crossing the Alps
This is one of the most famous treks in history. The Romans thought it couldn’t be done but Hannibal stacked his elephants up and then just walked over.

War of Attrition
Rather than fight, the armies often just faced each other and sneezed.

The Battle of Zama
A real lama-ding-dong.

Conclusion
The Punic Wars ended at the Battle of Zama when the Romans attacked Hannibal’s rear, decisively shifting the nature of the humour from puns to vulgarity.