War With Hannibal

Rating:
Summary: Great History By A Great Historian
Review: By any measure, the Second Punic War is one of the most fascinating episodes in history. The audacious invasion of Italy through the Alps (imagine leading elephants through the Alps on foot trails), Rome's defeat at Cannae, The delaying strategy of Fabius Maximus that kept Rome alive while it rebuilt its strength, and Rome's ultimate victory are extraordinary.

Livy gives a lively and detailed account. True, this isn't an eyewitness account. He borrowed liberally from Polybius. He also must have had other sources that are long since lost, however, so his telling is his own. He also is known for being pro-Roman. His respect for Hannibal's accomplishments comes through clearly in his narrative, though, and he has no reason to belittle Hannibal or what Hannibal did. It would only belittle the Roman accomplishment in ultimately defeating a formidable foe. Moreover, Livy wrote for a Roman audience familiar with the story, so he must make his work as dramatic as tha material permits.

All in all, this is a great story recorded by a consummate historian. It makes for a very interesting and informative read. I recommend it highly.

Rating:
Summary: a deed of dreadful note
Review: I have just finished reading The War With Hannibal, and I must say that not only is it a masterpiece, but it is one of the books I most enjoyed reading. I had never read Livy before and this was a great discovery for me. Although it was written about two thousand years ago, this book is as engaging and appealing as if it had been written today. It is important, however, to make some points clear if you are not acquainted with Livy or other similar classical writers. First, this extense history of the Second Punic War is not history in the modern, scientific sense of this word. It is not a methodic, systematic and objective approach what you will find here: some parts are conjectural, some are simply invented. Throughout his account Livy inserts his political opinions and he is, of course, partial to the Romans. These is not being critical, because we can't judge Livy by our own, contemporary, cultural standards, but just something you should know before reading the book. Second, this is not a social or an economic history but basically a military history of the war with Hannibal. Livy focuses on the description of battles and sieges, on logistics like the movement of armies or the getting of supplies and on the commanders and the tactics employed. If this interests you, you should not hestitate to read it. With the ability of the best novelists, Livy constructs a wonderful narration of events, which never slackens its pace and is always interesting and entertainig. His descriptions of battles is vivid and some passages are full of tension and suspense. As an analyst, Livy is weaker than in his descriptions. His opinions, however, are highly lucid and you can see the influence his thought had upon Machiavelli, for instance when he speaks of the dangers of using armies made up of mercenary soldiers. This Penguin Classics' edition is very good and De Selincourt's translation is superb. I give this book the highest possible rating.

Rating:
Summary: A Tad Dry, but Compelling
Review: Livy's work is spectacular. However he has a tendancy to stretch the facts to make a moral judgement (ie: his assertion that 'Capua was Hannibal's Cannae' came immediately after the section where Hannibal is resting his army after entering Capua.
The narrative style is easily comprehended, and after reading one book you have the order figured out.
This is a must read for anyone interested in the Punic Wars, the Roman Republic, or parallels to the USA and our "war" on terrorism (especially since Bin Ladin is being compared to Hannibal)

Rating:
Summary: Much scarier than Anthony Hopkins!
Review: Popular histories really are sooooo popular nowadays, but few people realise that they have a tradition going back to Ancient Roman times. Mr Livy wrote his masterpiece around 25AD, about 250 years after the Roman Republic was very nearly destroyed by its most serious rival, the city of Carthage, located on the Northern African coast near modern day Tunis. This, the Second Punic War, lasted about 15 years, cost the Ancient World countless lives, and causing widespread suffering. The peoples of Carthage were avenging their own losses during the First Punic War, when the Roman forces narrowly beat and killed their great general, Hamilcar, forcing them to sign a most humiliating peace treaty. And the leader of the avenging Carthaginian forces? The mighty Hamilcar's even mightier son, Hannibal: a young man, born with a sword in his hand, leadership in his blue blood, and a personal vendetta against all things Roman.

The amazing crossing of the Swiss Alps by Hannibal's army (which included a number of battle elephants!) is about all that most people think of when they hear his name. Either that, or Anthony Hopkins. Yes, the crossing was miraculous: no convenient tunnels in those days, no romantic roads winding between meadows full of Alpine flowers, and no ski-lifts either. A significant proportion of his army was lost, to the cold, inevitable accidents, and incessant raids by grumpy locals. But his army remained intact enough for Hannibal's purposes: destroy Rome, conquer its territories, kill the men, sell the women and children into slavery, and haul its renown treasures back to Carthage.

His ambition was exceeded only by his imagination.

As Mr Livy makes very clear, the crossing of the Alps was yet another coup in Hannibal's long string of magnificent successes: the capture of the Spain peninsular; the crossing of the Alps into Italy; the total destruction of a mighty Roman army at Cannae (Just round the corner from Rome. Gulp!); countless other victories. For year after year, Hannibal wandered with impunity across the Italian peninsular causing havoc: laying siege to wealthy cities; ravaging the countryside to feed his huge and hungry army.

Hannibal was simply unbeatable in the field, and the Romans knew it.

But the Romans had other weapons, which Mr Livy takes great patriotic delight in showing off to great effect: it had a population large enough to keep producing army after army, even as Hannibal slaughtered them; it had a strong and effective government, unwilling to give up its republican ideals, no matter how closely the Carthaginian army camped by its city gates; it had talented generals who time and again diverted Hannibal from his main purpose; and most of all, it had the bravery, discipline and organisation for which Rome was, is, and will continue to be, famed. Yes, time would tell which of these two powerful cities would dominate the world for the next seven hundred years.

So why didn't Hannibal destroy Rome? How and where was he finally beaten? What happened to Carthage?

Read the book!

Rating:
Summary: Amazing
Review: The book is like peering into the past. Although by far a perfect work of history in terms of accuracy, it is a near perfect work of literature in that it is fascinating and inspiring.

I wish that Livy did not give away the results of battles 10 pages before he discribed the battles and I wish there was a better glossary. Despite these drawbacks, I was six ways to entralled while reading the book.

Rating:
Summary: Amazing
Review: The book is like peering into the past. Although by far a perfect work of history in terms of accuracy, it is a near perfect work of literature in that it is fascinating and inspiring.

I wish that Livy did not give away the results of battles 10 pages before he discribed the battles and I wish there was a better glossary. Despite these drawbacks, I was six ways to entralled while reading the book.

Rating:
Summary: One of the Greatest Stories in World History
Review: The great Roman historian Livy tells a story as interesting as that of the American Civil War. The Second Punic War was a great crisis in Roman history. This book starts with the uneasy peace after the First Punic War between Rome and Carthage. Rome won that war. Carthage swore revenge, and Hannibal devoted his life to conquering his bitter enemy. He invaded Italy via Spain and the Alps with his elephants. No Roman army could stay in the field against his Carthaginians. A Roman consul named Fabius persuaded the Romans not to give battle, and for twenty years Hannibal roamed wherever he liked in Italy. But he wasn't strong enough to capture Rome, and there were Roman generals such as Marcellus who were able to defeat him partially. Meanwhile in Spain a young Roman general whose father and uncle had been killed by Hannibal devoted his life to defeating Hannibal. But not by fighting Hannibal in Italy. Rather, by first conquering Spain, then invading Africa, so Hannibal had to depart Italy, as it turned out forever, to defend his homeland. In Africa, at Zama, Scipio Africanus defeated Hannibal. Scipio became the first of the great Romans who broke the mould of the Republican conventions. His family was instrumental in bringing Greek culture to Italy. Was this good for Rome? It was inevitable. The historian Livy wrote in the times of Augustus, about the time of Christ. Livy is not considered the best of historians, he's more interested in gripping narrative than in careful checking of sources. He writes in the annalistic format, that is, one year at a time. Livy wrote two hundred years after the events; it'd be like a modern historian describing the American Revolution. But he is Roman, and the flavor he imparts to events is very different from that of a modern day historian. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in thrilling history or in Rome.

Rating:
Summary: Incredible for Any Time
Review: We are bequeathed with the random fortunes of history. Titus Livius, a Roman writer, penned THE history of Rome consisting of 142 books...yet only 35 of these survived. And of these 35 ten (Books 21 - 30) are devoted to the Carthaginian War. What is truly remarkable about this work is its neutral tone, incredible detail and sense of momentous decisions.

Livy is writing about a past era and the debate still rages over whether he used first or second hand testimony to the events he describes. Several times throughout the series he makes statements such as "this cannot be in doubt because XXXX was there and said that..." The background to war is here, the personalities are present, the reasons for the decisions on each side are here. Descriptions of the battlefield, the evnironment and the fighting seem almost surreal. Livy, unlike many modern historians, is not ideological and thus does not "interpret" events to conform with his personal views. He reports the facts within the context of his magnum opus.