Phil's Reviews > The History of Rome, Books 21-30: The War with Hannibal

This is actually a re-write of a previous review which, unfortunately, I accidentally deleted today. So, I'm going to try to remember what I said and publish this again.

So, this is the third in the series of Livy's history that I've been working my way through. It is also, easily the most dramatic, and that is saying something!. The action of this part of Livy's history focuses on the 2nd War with Carthage and, above all, Hannibal. Hannibal is the dominating presence in this books. The reasons are, of course, obvious reasons. His nearly successful invasion of Italy makes for good drama as the Romans face disaster after disaster at the hands of this Carthaginian military genius. By themselves, the account of the disasters are tour de force, especially the scene of the mist lifting at the Battle of Lake Trasimene, revealing the destruction of the consular army or the disaster at Cannae.

Nor are the Romans deficient in big characters- Fabius Maximus dominates the early years of the war, but, really, we don't find a match for Hannibal in either drama or military skills until Scipio Africanus appears on the scene. And, of course, the dramatic climax is Hannibal's defeat at the Battle of Zama, which ends the war.

Now, never mind, that the actual history gets a little wonky at times. Never mind, that Livy glosses over the Roman provocations of Carthage. Well, actually, do mind all that, if you want to be a decent historian. This is Livy at his dramatic best, but, don't get swept away. This is part of the Roman historical imagination and it is fascinating as a result, but perhaps more fascianting in what it doesn't say as what it does say.