We have to bear in mind that the anecdote about Hannibal and Scipio is recorded only by Livy, who was probably trying to make some kind of point (though what he meant with the scene is not clear). We're not sure if it reflects Hannibal's actual knowledge and opinions. While Alexander and Pyrrhos were both very important figures who would have been known throughout the interconnected world of the Mediterranean, it's not certain that a Carthaginian general would have rated them highest of all.

In particular, it's surprising that Hannibal didn't mention his own father, Hamilcar Barca. Hamilcar was a highly successful general in his own right, and the instigator of Hannibal's inveterate hatred of Rome. While Carthaginian history (as we know it through Greek and Roman sources) doesn't provide many examples of particularly noteworthy leaders, Hamilcar should certainly have counted among them.

Besides his father, Hannibal is likely to have known about many other prominent generals of the Greek-speaking world. Most relevant to Carthage was the tyrant Agathokles of Syracuse, though there were few who would consider him a particularly great general; more relevant would be Timoleon of Corinth, who was the last Greek before Agathokles to drive the Carthaginians out of Sicily. Other famous commanders of the era include the successors of Alexander - most notably Seleukos, Ptolemaios, Eumenes, Lysimachos and Antigonos - and their own descendants, whose wars had defined the political scene of the previous century. With an elite education, Hannibal would very likely have known of Demetrios the Besieger, Antigonos II Gonatas and Antigonos III Doson, Seleukos II Nikator, and so on.

That said, none of these figures was ever likely to be the commander of choice for Hannibal to mention. None of them had achieved conquests comparable to those of Alexander, which would have made him the guaranteed pick for the top spot; it helped that Alexander was undefeated in battle due to his premature death. Pyrrhos was the likely second as a sort of immediate predecessor to Hannibal himself. An outsider who had invaded Italy and not only presented a serious challenge to Rome, but actually defeated them in battle several times; obviously what Hannibal was really saying here is that Pyrrhos was the only one apart from Hannibal himself to have shaken Roman confidence to its core.