Hannibal's Alpine invasion and the misreading of Rome

Were Hannibal's elephants and the invasion of Italy a crackpot scheme or a good idea?

The Alpine movement was a well-executed idea, but the invasion itself rested on a serious misreading of Rome.

The answer distinguishes an audacious operation from the strategy it served. Getting a force, including some elephants, through the Alps and into Italy was a difficult movement that produced real results. The larger invasion was much less sound because it depended on a mistaken reading of Rome and how the Roman system would respond. This makes the episode a compact example of good execution failing to rescue a questionable strategic premise.