Alexander the Great was antiquity\'s greatest commander

[floofthegoof]

But you (Hannibal) happen to be right - Rome is a predatory state, and delaying or appeasing them will just make the future confrontation even worse.

Jeez, what could be worse than the fate of Carthage?

There may be some gaps in my knowledge of republican Rome, but until the late republic, I can't recall any instance of Rome subjugating a weaker state that did not openly and deliberately threaten Rome's interests. We're more or less stuck with Roman sources on these matters, but in the absence of other information, it would seem that Rome conducted it's foreign relations quite honorably in those days. If not for Hannibal, we could reasonably say that Carthage might have endured longer than the Roman republic itself. Rome was perfectly capeable of getting along with Egypt until that time. Why not Carthage?