Hannibal
Rome's Greatest Enemy

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 civilian leader of Carthage in 196-5 BC have been virtually overlooked. The issue of whether he might indeed have changed history had he postponed conflict with Rome and concentrated first on Carthage’s own prosperity and safety is explored in this volume as vigorously as the military questions.

Illustrations, ix; Preface, xi; Hannibal's chronology, xiii; Maps; Italy and Sicily in Hannibal's time, xvi; The Western Mediterranean in Hannibal's time, xvii; Southern Italy 216-203 BC, xviii; The Eastern Mediterranean around 200 BC, xix; 1 Introduction: the challenge of Hannibal, 1; 2 Family and city, 9; 3 Barcids supreme (241-221), 20; 4 Leadership and war (221-216), 34; 5 Hannibal, Carthage and the Mediterranean (216-209), 62; 6 Decline and defeat (209-202), 88; 7 Hannibal in politics (201-195), 118; 8 Hannibal in exile (195-183), 130; 9 Hannibal: memory and myth, 142. Bibliography, 151; Notes, 155; Index, 157.

Dexter Hoyos is Professor of Classics and Ancient History in the University of Sydney and author of Unplanned Wars: the Origins of the First and Second Punic Wars (1998) and Hannibal’s Dynasty: Power and Politics in the Western Mediterranean, 247-183 BC (2003).