Hannibal: Enemy of Rome

Most controversy over Hannibal’s journey concerns which pass his host took through the Alps. Having no wish to enter into such debates, I merely used the descriptions which Polybius and Livy gave us to set the scene. I truly hope that I managed to convey some of the terror and elation that would have filled the hearts of those hardy souls who followed Hannibal up and over the Alps’ lofty peaks. The speech he gave to his troops before they started climbing was very similar to the one I described. Although not every source mentions the scene with the boiling wine and the boulder, I felt that I had to include it.

The term ‘Italy’ was in use in the third century BC as a geographical expression; it encompassed the entire peninsula south of Liguria and Cisalpine Gaul. The term did not become a political one until Polybius’ time (mid second century BC). I decided to use it anyway. It simplified matters, and avoided constant reference to the different parts of the Republic: Rome, Campania, Latium, Lucania, etc.

My description of the calf born with its internal organs on the outside is not a figment of my imagination – I have performed two caesarean sections on cows to deliver the so-called schistosomus reflexus. They were without doubt two of the most revolting things I’ve ever set eyes upon. On one occasion, the unfortunate calf was still alive. Although this happened only fifteen years ago, the farmer’s superstition was obvious and he became extremely agitated until I had euthanased it. We can only imagine what kind of reaction such a creature might have provoked in ancient times.

The duels between the Carthaginian prisoners, and the rewards on offer to those who survived, are described in the ancient texts. So too is the fate of Taurasia. When it came to making a point, Hannibal was as ruthless as the next general. The Roman losses in the Ticinus skirmish were severe and the savage night attack by some of their so-called Gaulish allies only served as another knock to Publius’ confidence. I invented the Carthaginian ambush at the River Trebia, but the details of the remarkable battle that unfolded afterwards are as exact as I could make them. Hannibal’s victory on that bitter winter’s day proved beyond doubt that his crossing of the Alps was no fluke. As the Romans would repeatedly discover in the months that followed, he was a real force to be reckoned with.

A bibliography of the textbooks I used while writing Hannibal: Enemy of Rome would run to several pages, so I will mention only the most important, in alphabetical order by author: The Punic Wars by Nigel Bagnall, The Punic Wars by Brian Caven, Greece and Rome at War by Peter Connolly, Hannibal by Theodore A. Dodge, The Fall of Carthage by Adrian Goldsworthy, Armies of the Macedonian and Punic Wars by Duncan Head, Hannibal’s War by J. F. Lazenby, Carthage Must Be Destroyed by Richard Miles, The Life and Death of Carthage by G. C. amp; C. Picard, Daily Life in Carthage (at the Time of Hannibal) by G. C. Picard, Roman Politics 220-150 BC by H. H. Scullard, Carthage and the Carthaginians by Reginald B. Smith and Warfare in the Classical World by John Warry. I’m grateful to Osprey Publishing for numerous excellent volumes, to Oxford University Press for the outstanding Oxford Classical Dictionary, and to Alberto Perez and Paul McDonnell-Staff for their superb article in Volume III, Issue 4 of Ancient Warfare magazine. Thanks, as always, to the members of www.romanarmy.com, whose rapid answers to my odd questions are so often of great use. I also have to mention, and thank, the three Australian brothers Wood: Danny, Ben and Sam. Their excellent mini travel series, On Hannibal’s Trail, couldn’t have screened on BBC4 at a better time than it did, and was a great help to me when writing the chapter on crossing the Alps.

I owe gratitude too to a legion of people at my wonderful publishers, Random House. There’s Rosie de Courcy, my indefatigable and endlessly encouraging editor; Nicola Taplin, my tremendous managing editor; Kate Elton, who was generous enough to welcome me into the big, brave world of Arrow Books; Rob Waddington, who ensures that my novels reach every possible outlet in the land; Adam Humphrey, who organises fiendishly clever and successful marketing; Richard Ogle, who, with the illustrator Steve Stone, designs my amazing new jackets; Ruth Waldram, who secures me all kinds of great publicity; Monique Corless, who persuades so many foreign editors to buy my books; David Parrish, who makes sure that bookshops abroad do so too. Thank you all so much. Your hard work on my behalf is very much appreciated.