Eve MacDonald – författare

The empire behind the legendCarthage was a power that dominated the western Mediterranean for almost six centuries before its fall to Rome. The history of the realm and its Carthaginians was subsumed by their conquerors and, along the way, the story of the real Carthage was lost. An ancient North African kingdom, Carthage was the home of Hannibal and of Dido, of war elephants and enormous power and wealth, of great beauty and total destruction.In this landmark new history, Eve MacDonald tells the essential story of the lost culture of Carthage and of its forgotten people, using brand new archaeological analysis to uncover the history behind the legend. A journey that takes us the Phoenician Levant of the early Iron Age to the Atlantic and all along the coast of Africa, Carthage puts the city and the story of North Africa once again at the centre of Mediterranean history. Reclaimed from the Romans, this, for the very first time, is the Carthaginian version of the tale.

'This is not only history reclaimed, this is history at its best!' Professor Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones, author of Persians: the Age of the Great Kings'A bravura re-telling' Daily MailCarthage was a power that dominated the western Mediterranean for almost six centuries before its fall to Rome. The history of the realm and its Carthaginians was subsumed by their conquerors and, along the way, the story of the real Carthage was lost. An ancient North African kingdom, Carthage was the home of Hannibal and of Dido, of war elephants and enormous power and wealth, of great beauty and total destruction.In this landmark new history, Eve MacDonald tells the essential story of the lost culture of Carthage and of its forgotten people, using brand new archaeological analysis to uncover the history behind the legend. A journey that takes us the Phoenician Levant of the early Iron Age to the Atlantic and all along the coast of Africa, Carthage puts the city and the story of North Africa once again at the centre of Mediterranean history. Reclaimed from the Romans, this is the Carthaginian version of the tale, revealing to us that, without Carthage, there would be no Rome.

If history is written by the victors, can we really know Hannibal, whose portrait we see through the eyes of his Roman conquerors?"Eve MacDonald has produced a real page-turner in this lucid account of Hannibal, the Carthaginian general whose invasion of Italy brought republican Rome almost to her knees. "—Antony Spawforth, author of The Story of Greece and Rome and co-author ofThe Oxford Classical DictionaryHannibal lived a life of incredible feats of daring and survival, massive military engagements, and ultimate defeat. A citizen of Carthage and military commander in Punic Spain, he famously marched his war elephants and huge army over the Alps into Rome’s own heartland to fight the Second Punic War. Yet the Romans were the ultimate victors. They eventually captured and destroyed Carthage, and thus it was they who wrote the legend of Hannibal: a brilliant and worthy enemy whose defeat represented military glory for Rome.  In this groundbreaking biography Eve MacDonald expands the memory of Hannibal beyond his military feats and tactics. She considers him in the wider context of the society and vibrant culture of Carthage which shaped him and his family, employing archaeological findings and documentary sources not only from Rome but also the wider Mediterranean world of the third century B.C. MacDonald also analyzes Hannibal’s legend over the millennia, exploring how statuary, Jacobean tragedy, opera, nineteenth-century fiction, and other depictions illuminate the character of one of the most fascinating military personalities in all of history.

A major new history of the Sasanian PersiansThe Sasanian Empire was the largest state in late antiquity. Its frontiers reached north into the Caucasus, south to the Persian Gulf, and from the Oxus River to the Euphrates. Over four centuries, belief systems were codified, new allegiances forged, and immense fortifications erected. The Sasanians built great cities, like Nishapur, and created beautiful artefacts that were shipped to far-flung places—their glassware even reached as far as Japan.In this engaging, insightful new history, Eve MacDonald traces the story of the Sasanian Empire from the second century CE to its collapse in the seventh. Moving through key individuals, MacDonald explores the importance of Zoroastrianism, the remarkable power of its queens, and the increasing influence of Christianity. This is an unforgettable account of an extraordinary dynasty and the indelible mark it left on the legends, folklore, and cultures of the world, from the Mediterranean to China.

This book traces the formation of the archaeological site of Carthage and how it re-emerged in the minds of European antiquarians and travellers in the early modern world. For almost 1,600 years the ancient city sat on the north coast of Africa, dominating the central Mediterranean until its fall in 698 CE. One of the oldest cities in the Mediterranean, it was founded in legend by the Tyrian queen Dido and destroyed after epic wars with Rome. It was soon reborn as a Roman city, and late in antiquity evolved into a centre for Christian worship. In the 17th and 18th centuries, when European explorers first arrived, searching for the site of Carthage, they were amazed that almost nothing of its former glory remained and lamented its loss. The gradual and sometimes controversial exploration of Carthage has, over the last two centuries, brought the story of this renowned ancient city back into the public imagination. From the first discovery of Punic artifacts to the plunder of the site for the enrichment of European museums, the book follows the many personalities whose interests and diligence led to the establishment of scientific archaeological excavations and the re-emergence of Carthage from the ruins.