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Hannibal and Scipio: Parallel Lives
The Second Punic War between Carthage and Rome began in 218 BCE and ended in 202 with the dramatic defeat at the Battle of Zama of Carthage's commander Hannibal by his adversary, the Roman Scipio. The two men were born about a decade apart but died in the same year, 183, following brilliant but ultimately unhappy careers. In this absorbing joint biography, celebrated historian Simon Hornblower reveals how the trajectory of each general illuminates his counterpart. Their individual journeys help us comprehend the momentous historical period which they shared, and which in distinct but interconnected ways they helped to shape. Hornblower interweaves his central military and political narrative with lively treatments of high politics, religious motivations and manipulations, overseas commands, hellenisation, and his subjects' ancient and modern reception. This gripping portrait of a momentous rivalry will delight readers of biography and military history and scholars and students of antiquity alike.
528 pages, Hardcover
Published January 9, 2025
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About the author
Simon Hornblower
39 books22 followersSimon Hornblower is Professor of Classics and Grote Professor of Ancient History at University College London.
Born in 1949, he was educated at Jesus College, Cambridge, and Balliol College, Oxford, where he took a DPhil in 1978.
In 1971 he was elected to a Prize Fellowship of All Souls College, which he held until 1977. From 1978 until 1997, he was University Lecturer in Ancient History at the University of Oxford and Fellow and Tutor in Classics at Oriel College, Oxford, including one year, 1994/95, in which he was a member of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey. He moved to University College London in September 1997, where he was Senior Lecturer before being appointed Professor of Classics, then Professor of Ancient History in 2006.
He was elected a Fellow of the British Academy in 2004.
His current focus is classical Greek historiography (especially Herodotus and Thucydides) and the relation between historical texts as literature and as history. He has published two volumes of a historical and literary commentary on Thucydides (Oxford University Press, 1991 and 1996) and the third and final volume will be published in late 2008. His latest book is Thucydides and Pindar: Historical Narrative and the World of Epinikian Poetry (2004). He is also co-editor, with Professor Cathy Morgan of King's College London, Pindar's Poetry, Patrons, and Festivals: From Archaic Greece to the Roman Empire (Oxford University Press, 2007).
Since 1979 he has been involved with the ongoing project Lexicon of Greek Personal Names and in 2000 co-edited a book called Greek Personal Names: their Value as Evidence (Oxford University Press for the British Academy).
He co-edited the new (3rd edn, 1996) Oxford Classical Dictionary.
Born in 1949, he was educated at Jesus College, Cambridge, and Balliol College, Oxford, where he took a DPhil in 1978.
In 1971 he was elected to a Prize Fellowship of All Souls College, which he held until 1977. From 1978 until 1997, he was University Lecturer in Ancient History at the University of Oxford and Fellow and Tutor in Classics at Oriel College, Oxford, including one year, 1994/95, in which he was a member of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey. He moved to University College London in September 1997, where he was Senior Lecturer before being appointed Professor of Classics, then Professor of Ancient History in 2006.
He was elected a Fellow of the British Academy in 2004.
His current focus is classical Greek historiography (especially Herodotus and Thucydides) and the relation between historical texts as literature and as history. He has published two volumes of a historical and literary commentary on Thucydides (Oxford University Press, 1991 and 1996) and the third and final volume will be published in late 2008. His latest book is Thucydides and Pindar: Historical Narrative and the World of Epinikian Poetry (2004). He is also co-editor, with Professor Cathy Morgan of King's College London, Pindar's Poetry, Patrons, and Festivals: From Archaic Greece to the Roman Empire (Oxford University Press, 2007).
Since 1979 he has been involved with the ongoing project Lexicon of Greek Personal Names and in 2000 co-edited a book called Greek Personal Names: their Value as Evidence (Oxford University Press for the British Academy).
He co-edited the new (3rd edn, 1996) Oxford Classical Dictionary.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
November 21, 2025
too scholarly for me
I’m not interested in reading hundred of footnotes which destroy the narrative for me. I want a historical story. It seemed that almost every sentence or paragraph had a footnote. My mistake. I should have been more careful before buying.
I’m not interested in reading hundred of footnotes which destroy the narrative for me. I want a historical story. It seemed that almost every sentence or paragraph had a footnote. My mistake. I should have been more careful before buying.
Displaying 1 of 1 review