hannibal

"we need not insist on the fact that the carthaginian general, hannibal, who barely missed destroying rome and who is considered one of the greatest military leaders of all time, was [African]. it can be said that, with his defeat, the supremacy of the [Black] world ended. henceforth the torch passed to the european populations of the northern mediterranean. from then on its technical civilization would spread from the coast toward the interior of the continent (just the opposite of what happened in Africa). from then on the northern mediterranean dominated the southern mediterranean. except for the islamic breakthrough, europe has ruled Africa down to the present day. with the roman victory over carthage, european penetration and control of Africa began; it reached its high point at the end of the nineteenth century."

*excerpted from "the African origin of civilization" by cheikh anta diop, pgs.118&119