Carthage

Historical Sources
In his Histories, Herodotus mentions a trading practice of the Carthaginians when interacting with the people who live beyond the Pillars of Heracles: The Carthaginians go ashore, leave the goods they wish to trade, and build a great fire. The locals then come, take the goods, and leave gold. If the gold is sufficient, the Carthaginians sail off, and if not, the Carthaginians remain until the locals bring gold of sufficient quality and quantity.

Polybius speaks on the Carthaginian constitution versus the Roman constitution, and how each state’s constitution influenced the outcome of the Punic wars. The Carthaginians, he said, were also superior at seafaring to the Romans, but in the end were outdone by their reliance on mercenary forces: the Romans were able to overcome initial defeats due to the assistance of their allies as well as having their own native manpower, while the Carthaginians experienced initial victories but were outdone by the lack of renewable manpower.

Hannibal
Livy tells of the speeches given by both Hannibal and Scipio. Both military leaders give radically different reasons for why their troops should emerge victorious from the battle. Scipio states that the Romans should win the battle because the Phoecians have been subjected to Roman rule for many years. He states that the Phoecians are a broken people who will not be able to fight the Roman soldiers after crossing the alps. Scipio says they are nothing but the, “Remnants of an army, not a true enemy,” and that “The alps [...] seem to have conquered Hannibal,”. To encourage his men, Hannibal makes them observe Roman prisoners fight to the death. He then says that the Carthaginians should take over everything that the Romans have. He also tells his troops that because he was born into the army and has watched his troops as he has grown up. They are therefore united moreso than the Roman legions and as a result they are able to defeat them.