It was very much the same, I think, with Hannibal.
He had to deal with circumstances of such an exceptional and complex nature, and his nearest friends differed so widely in character, that from his actions when in <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Italy&groupId=656&placeId=1199">Italy</a> it is very difficult to discover the man\'s real nature.
As for what was due to the promptings of circumstance, that can easily be learnt from my preceding narrative and that which is to follow, but we must not ignore what he owed to the suggestions of his friends, especially as it is possible to get a very adequate notion of their nature from one single piece of advice.
At the time when Hannibal contemplated marching on <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Italy&groupId=656&placeId=1199">Italy</a> from <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Spain&groupId=983&placeId=1735">Spain</a> with his army, it was foreseen that he would be very hard put to it to feed the troops and keep them constantly provided with supplies, the difficulties of the march seeming almost insuperable both owing to the distance and to the numbers and savage character of the barbarous inhabitants of the intervening countries.
It seems that the difficulty was more than once discussed in the Council, and that one of Hannibal\'s friends, Hannibal surnamed Monomachus (gladiator), stated that he foresaw only one way by which it would be possible to reach <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Italy&groupId=656&placeId=1199">Italy</a>.
When Hannibal asked him to explain himself, he said he must teach his troops to eat human flesh and accustom them to this. . .
Hannibal had nothing to say against the boldness and usefulness of this suggestion, but he could persuade neither himself nor his friends actually to entertain it.
They say that the acts of cruelty in <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Italy&groupId=656&placeId=1199">Italy</a> of which Hannibal is accused were the work of this man, but in no less degree that of circumstances.
Walbank Commentary