Hannibal and Scipio

Simon Hornblower, FBA, is a former Senior Research Fellow in Classical Studies at All Souls College, Oxford, and was previously (from 2006–10) Professor of Classics and Grote Professor of Ancient History at University College London. Over the past fifty years he has written, edited or co-edited twenty-five books, including Commentary on Thucydides (3 Volumes, 1991–2008), Herodotus: Histories Book V and VI (Cambridge, 2013 and 2017) and, most recently, Livy: Ab urbe condita Book XXII (Cambridge, 2020) and Lykophron: Alexandra (2022).

'The parallel lives of two of antiquity's greatest commanders, as told by one of today's greatest classicists. Assuming the role of a modern-day Plutarch, Hornblower delves into the families, formative years, military exploits, political struggles, and fraught twilight years of these colossal adversaries.' Michael J. Taylor, University at Albany

• Prologue; 1. Hannibal and Scipio on themselves; 2. Origins: Hannibal: 247–221 BCE, birth to age 26 years, Scipio: 235–218, birth to aged 17 years; 3. Hannibal victorious: 221–216, aged 26–31 years; 4. Scipio 216–205, aged 19–30 years; 5. Hannibal frustrated in Italy, 216–208, aged 31–39; 6. Overseas commands: freedoms and perils; 7. Politics and factions at Carthage and Rome; 8. The tipping-point: the battle at the Metaurus or Sena, 207, Hannibal aged 40; 9. Hannibal and Scipio meet and fight at last: Zama, 202, aged 45 and 33; 10. The religion of Hannibal and Scipio; 11. Scipio triumphant, 202–193, aged 33–42; 12. Hannibal as reformer at Carthage, 196, aged 51; 13. Hannibal, Scipio, and the Greek world; 14. Hannibal flees to Antiochus III; his intrigues: 195–3, aged 52–54; 15. Hannibal and Scipio as military advisers: Magnesia, 190, aged 57 and 45; 16. Hannibal and Scipio: the military comparison; 17. Hannibal's years of wandering, 190–183, aged 57–64; 18. The downfall and death of Scipio, 187–183, aged 48–52; 19. Afterlives; 20. Conclusion: parallel lives.