The Second Punic War between Carthage and Rome began in 218 BCE and ended in 202 with the dramatic defeat at the Battle of Zama of Carthage's commander Hannibal by his adversary, the Roman Scipio. The two men were born about a decade apart but died in the same year, 183, following brilliant but ultimately unhappy careers. In this absorbing joint biography, celebrated historian Simon Hornblower reveals how the trajectory of each general illuminates his counterpart. Their individual journeys help us comprehend the momentous historical period which they shared, and which in distinct but interconnected ways they helped to shape. Hornblower interweaves his central military and political narrative with lively treatments of high politics, religious motivations and manipulations, overseas commands, hellenisation, and his subjects' ancient and modern reception. This gripping portrait of a momentous rivalry will delight readers of biography and military history and scholars and students of antiquity alike.
The intersecting lives of the great Carthaginian general Hannibal and his Roman adversary Scipio led to one of the most fateful rivalries of antiquity. This absorbing joint biography shows not only how their careers illuminate one another but also how they lived through momentous times which both helped to shape.
Recenzijas
'The parallel lives of two of antiquity's greatest commanders, as told by one of today's greatest classicists. Assuming the role of a modern-day Plutarch, Hornblower delves into the families, formative years, military exploits, political struggles, and fraught twilight years of these colossal adversaries.' Michael J. Taylor, University at Albany 'A prominent ancient historian like Simon Hornblower does not entertain the idea of writing an intertwined history of two equally prominent figures from the Roman Republic and Ancient Carthage unless he intends to enjoy the ride. Despite the fact that Hannibal and Scipio were seen together only once, producing an intertwined narrative of their lives is wholly sensible and no sustained attempt to do so has yet been made. The author has built his project into a magnificent piece of scholarship.' Toni Ńaco del Hoyo, ICREA Research Professor at Universitat de Girona
Papildus informācija
Joint biography of two great opponents, revealing many parallels between them and how together they shaped a momentous historical period.
Prologue;
1. Hannibal and Scipio on themselves;
2. Origins: Hannibal:
247221 BCE, birth to age 26 years, Scipio: 235218, birth to aged 17 years;
3. Hannibal victorious: 221216, aged 2631 years;
4. Scipio 216205, aged
1930 years;
5. Hannibal frustrated in Italy, 216208, aged 3139;
6.
Overseas commands: freedoms and perils;
7. Politics and factions at Carthage
and Rome;
8. The tipping-point: the battle at the Metaurus or Sena, 207,
Hannibal aged 40;
9. Hannibal and Scipio meet and fight at last: Zama, 202,
aged 45 and 33;
10. The religion of Hannibal and Scipio;
11. Scipio
triumphant, 202193, aged 3342;
12. Hannibal as reformer at Carthage, 196,
aged 51;
13. Hannibal, Scipio, and the Greek world;
14. Hannibal flees to
Antiochus III; his intrigues: 1953, aged 5254;
15. Hannibal and Scipio as
military advisers: Magnesia, 190, aged 57 and 45;
16. Hannibal and Scipio:
the military comparison;
17. Hannibal's years of wandering, 190183, aged
5764;
18. The downfall and death of Scipio, 187183, aged 4852;
19.
Afterlives;
20. Conclusion: parallel lives.
Simon Hornblower, FBA, is a former Senior Research Fellow in Classical Studies at All Souls College, Oxford, and was previously (from 200610) Professor of Classics and Grote Professor of Ancient History at University College London. Over the past fifty years he has written, edited or co-edited twenty-five books, including Commentary on Thucydides (3 Volumes, 19912008), Herodotus: Histories Book V and VI (Cambridge, 2013 and 2017) and, most recently, Livy: Ab urbe condita Book XXII (Cambridge, 2020) and Lykophron: Alexandra (2022).
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