Hannibal

About Hannibal

Hannibal Barca, ranked #290 in historical importance by MIT's Pantheon project, was a brilliant Carthaginian politician and general, most famous for leading an army, including war elephants, across the Alps to invade Roman territory during the Second Punic War (-218 to -201 BCE). His tactical genius inflicted devastating losses upon the Romans, marking him as one of antiquity's most formidable military minds and a foundational figure in the history of warfare and Roman expansion.

Despite his significant historical stature, Hannibal's contemporary digital attention suggests a notable gap. He garnered approximately 1.5 million annualized Wikipedia pageviews in 2025. For comparison, Franklin D. Roosevelt, ranked less important at #338, received 6.0 million views, while contemporary politician Xi Jinping (#719 importance) draws 4.1 million. Hannibal experiences an "overattention gap" of +3x, meaning his current online attention is three times greater than what his historical rank would predict, suggesting a persistent, though perhaps niche, level of public interest.

However, this attention appears to be waning slightly; his 2025 pageviews dropped by 18.2% year-over-year, and his momentum from Q1 to Q3 showed a significant 24% decline, indicating that even this elevated interest might be cooling in the current digital climate.