Hannibal has always been the most famous member of the Barcid dynasty, which dominated Cathage and its empire in Africa and Spain in the latter half of the third century BC. However, Dexter Hoyos' revealing study makes it clear that Carthaginian success was founded on the military and political skills of more than one member of this remarkable family. It was Hannibal's father, Hamilcar Barca, who relaunched Carthage as an imperial power after disastrous wars; Hamilcar's son-in-law Hasdrubal further developed the new "imperium "in the face of Roman suspicion and opportunism. Only then was...
Hannibal has always been the most famous member of the Barcid dynasty, which dominated Cathage and its empire in Africa and Spain in the latter half o...
Hannibal's enduring reputation as a man and as a general is due to his enemies' fascination with him. The way his legend was shaped in the Greek and Roman consciousness is one of the book's main themes. Under Hannibal's leadership, Carthage came close to dominating the western Mediterranean; his total victory would have changed the course of history. That he was a brilliant general is unquestioned and his strategy and tactics have been studied as real-life lessons in war even into the modern era (Norman Schwartzkopf is a fan). His political career is less appreciated and his achievements as...
Hannibal's enduring reputation as a man and as a general is due to his enemies' fascination with him. The way his legend was shaped in the Greek and R...
To say the Punic Wars (264-146 BC) were a turning point in world history is a vast understatement. This bloody and protracted conflict pitted two flourishing Mediterranean powers against one another, leaving one an unrivalled giant and the other a literal pile of ash. To later observers, a collision between these civilizations seemed inevitable and yet to the Romans and Carthaginians at the time hostilities first erupted seemingly out of nowhere, with what were expected to be inconsequential results. Mastering the West offers a thoroughly engrossing narrative of this century of...
To say the Punic Wars (264-146 BC) were a turning point in world history is a vast understatement. This bloody and protracted conflict pitted two flou...
'The Carthaginians' reveals the complex culture, society and achievements of a famous, yet misunderstood ancient people. Beginning as Phoenician settlers in North Africa, the Carthaginians then broadened their civilisation with influences from neighbouring North African peoples, Egypt and the Greek world.
'The Carthaginians' reveals the complex culture, society and achievements of a famous, yet misunderstood ancient people. Beginning as Phoenician settl...
To say the Punic Wars (264-146 BC) were a turning-point in world history is a vast understatement. These vicious battles pitted two flourishing Mediterranean powers against one another, leaving one an unrivaled giant and the other a literal pile of ash. To later observers, a collision between these civilizations seemed inevitable and yet, to the Romans and Carthaginians at the time, war erupted seemingly out of nowhere and was expected to be a short and trivial skirmish. Mastering the West offers a superlative narrative of all three wars as they are generally divided, while...
To say the Punic Wars (264-146 BC) were a turning-point in world history is a vast understatement. These vicious battles pitted two flourishing Medite...
Livy (Titus Livius), the great Roman historian, was born at Patavium (Padua) in 64 or 59 BC, where after years in Rome he died in AD 12 or 17. Livy's history, composed as the imperial autocracy of Augustus was replacing the republican system that had stood for over 500 years, presents in splendid style a vivid narrative of Rome's rise from the traditional foundation of the city in 753 or 751 BC to 9 BC and illustrates the collective and individual virtues necessary to achieve and maintain such greatness.
Of its 142 books, conventionally divided into pentads and decads, we have 1-10...
Livy (Titus Livius), the great Roman historian, was born at Patavium (Padua) in 64 or 59 BC, where after years in Rome he died in AD 12 or 17. Livy...
