Scipio Africanus: Rome's Greatest General

by Richard A. Gabriel

The world often misunderstands its greatest men while neglecting others entirely. Scipio Africanus, surely the greatest general that Rome produced, suffered both these fates. Today scholars celebrate the importance of Hannibal, even though Scipio defeated the legendary general in the Second Punic War and was the central military figure of his time. In this scholarly and heretofore unmatched military biography of the distinguished Roman soldier, Richard A. Gabriel establishes Scipio’s rightful place in military history as the greater of the two generals.

 

Before Scipio, few Romans would have dreamed of empire, and Scipio himself would have regarded such an ambition as a danger to his beloved republic. And yet, paradoxically, Scipio’s victories in Spain and Africa enabled Rome to consolidate its hold over Italy and become the dominant power in the western Mediterranean, virtually ensuring a later confrontation with the Greco-Macedonian kingdoms to the east as well as the empire’s expansion into North Africa and the Levant. The Roman imperium was being born, and it was Scipio who had sired it. Gabriel draws upon ancient texts, including those from Livy, Polybius, Diodorus, Silius Italicus, and others, as primary sources and examines all additional material available to the modern scholar in French, German, English, and Italian. His book offers a complete bibliography of all extant sources regarding Scipio’s life. The result is a rich, detailed, and contextual treatment of the life and career of Scipio Africanus, one of Rome’s greatest generals, if not the greatest of them all.

Genres: History, Biography, Ancient History, Military History, Nonfiction, Roman History, Military Fiction

326 pages, Hardcover

First published June 30, 2008

Reviews

[Tudor Ciocarlie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Much better than any fictional biographies of Scipio Africanus that I've read.

[Emily]

More research for my future YA novel about Scipio, BC-era babe

[Tam G · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars.

I think there's a lot of interesting stuff here. Definitely Gabriel expects that you know the story, probably you've read the account by Livy and perhaps even Polybius, because he spends more time analyzing what has been said, what we think we know, vs. telling the story of Sciopio.

Because of this, while things are chronological, Gabriel doesn't mind moving backward or forward while trying to guess what logically happened and why.

An interesting exercise, by someone who obviously knows a lot about the subject. His control of the information is fluid and concise and it admits what we so often do not admit in history...we do not really know much about what happened. Just scattered accounts from the victors and almost nothing from the losers.

However, because this is a logical exercise, sometimes Gabriel makes judgments about the actions of Scipio or Hannibal which I don't think are well-founded. Just because *he* can't think of a reason why Scipio should do XYZ doesn't mean it was a mistake. I also felt like he imagined the players as knowing far more than they did. Even if you're a strategic genius, hey, it's the ancient world and you're on the ground with limited spies and information and thousands of ways the war could go. Because we know something (hindsight) doesn't mean that they did, even if we find it plausible that they did.

So...interesting. Fairly easy to read for a history. Nice logistical viewpoint. Doesn't overwhelm you with a Hannibal obsession when they're really meant to be talking about the Romans.

[Tim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gabriel accomplished an outstanding scientific and often quantitative history of Scipio Africanus within this text, and offers the most wholesome and grounded work on this topic. Utilizing a far wider range of sources than Liddell-Hart and incorporating critical scrutiny into his history, Gabriel has encapsulated the most grounded understanding of Scipio to date, and did justice in bringing greater scientific availability to this topic. For those interested in a more nuanced and academic piece on Scipio Africanus, Gabriel’s work is a must-read.

[Andrew Dockrill · Rating 3 out of 5]

Publius Cornelius Scipio, or more commonly known as Scipio Africanus, was the general who finally cracked the code on how to beat Hannibal Barca, next to famous Roman Fabius "the delayer". Richard A. Gabriel, did a very good job presenting Scipio and more or less neutrally presented him as a genius commander who revolutionized the roman army in many ways, while not being too shy to point out his faults and things he could have done tactically instead of what he would do. He also should be credited with trying to give the reader as much information as he could on Scipio, despite the fact that there is not a ton of information that has not been lost on him.

While a good portion of the book does not actually deal tremendously with Scipio directly as little is known of his other than his battles, you do get a sense of the man and some interesting tidbits about him. I also found that the book only slowed down once or twice, which is nice and I would definitely recommend this book only to those who are interested in Roman and Carthaginian warfare and tactics, as a lot of the book breaks down the armies and fighting styles and tries to critically analyze the sources and dispel myths. The book while very interesting and one of the only books that looks at Scipio's life chronologically, was a bit slow and dry hence the three stars. It could just be that I am not used to Richard Gabriel's style but the reading itself seemed to go by slowly while it was still overall enjoyable. I will most likely read it again.

I won't give too much away, but after reading about both Scipio and Hannibal the age old question in classics circles of who is the greater general, I think I fall on the side of Scipio. While Hannibal was able accomplish a tremendous amount without much support from the Carthaginian Assembly he was not as adaptable or innovative in my opinion as Scipio was.

[Romanismo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have just created a Goodreads account and I knew, right away, which book would be my first review. I first read this book nearly 15 years ago. Simply, it changed my life.

The book is simply good. We like to use many adjectives to describe things but we often forget about the most simple and concise descriptors in the process. This book is good, and it inspires the good in its reads.

This books focuses on the feats of Scipio, and the details therein, and less so on the person. I believe it to be wrongly claimed, by other reviews, that we do not know too much about the man. That aside, this book is perfect as a primer. It is not the pinnacle of works on Scipio, or Roman history in general, but it is exactly the kind of book everyone should read as a means to enter into a new world of learning.

This book inspired me as a young kid to enter into a world of study that has brought me to where I am today. I can clearly point to this work as the beginning of my love for Classical literature, it worked as a springboard into the greatest adventure of my life, being a student and a teacher.

For anyone interested in this book I would respond with a resounding must-read. You will also find Scipio Africanus: Greater than Napoleon by Sir Basil Henry Liddell Hart.

I keep this book with me wherever I go. I hope this review helps someone fall in love with this book like I did as a kid.

[Ryan Patrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fine modern account of Scipio's campaigns and a little about his personal life -- the sources are the great limiter in any study of Scipio. The author's claim that Scipio was Rome's Greatest General is difficult to accept, however. Greatest of the Second Punic War? Yes. But any other comparisons are weakened by the fact that you are really comparing apples and oranges, or an orange against an apple orchard. Every commander fights in his own unique situation, and comparisons across time or place are difficult. And the fact that Caesar had to defeat another Roman army, equal to his own, in a civil war makes his accomplishment a little more impressive than beating second rate Carthaginian commanders in Spain or Hannibal in his reduced circumstances at Zama.

This isn't to take anything away from Scipio. I think he was great, but let's just leave it at that.

[Austin Littke · Rating 5 out of 5]

First and foremost, this is a MUCH better read than his other book on Hannibal, which I left a review on and you can view if interested to see the flaws in that one.

There isn't much to say on this I feel, other than it is a good book on Scipio that lays out and compliments the author's case nicely. It is clear to me that similar to how Napoleon's opponents eventually adapted his tactics and used them against him, Scipio did the same with Hannibal's tactics. It is a fairly short book and easy read and as there aren't really any other books on Scipio I recommend this.

[Joe Artz · Rating 3 out of 5]

This biography reviews the life of a great Roman general who defeated Carthage first in Spain, then in its North African homeland. It goes beyond biography to an in depth analysis of the tactics and stratagems that Scipio brought to Roman army. Most interesting are his quantitave study of Roman military logistics. How many horses can fit on a transport ship of that Era, and how many ships Scipio would have needed to get his army's mounts across the sea to invade Carthage.

[Egidijus Lukšys · Rating 5 out of 5]

Prepare for war, since you have been unable to endure a peace. Indeed A GENERAL risen from Rome's most troubled times when not only there were no professional armies, no Emperor powers bestowed on individuals and no little help from Republic, yet despite this Scipio never stumbled proving to everyone what a true master of political and field battles he is. The son of the Serpent, rivalled only by his nemesis Hannibal.

[Jeff Gabriel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very well researched and deep in details, this was a enjoyable and educational read. At points I found the author to be overly enamored with Scipio and given to explanations of his failures or mistakes that were too charitable. I appreciated the authors attempts to reconstruct political and social circumstances to give a full explanation of the times and influences on the wars.

[Miroslav · Rating 5 out of 5]

toto ma veľmi potešilo. Napoleon svojej doby išiel od víťazstva k víťazstvu a hoci sa s Hannibalom stretol v boji prvý a poslednýkrát pri Zame a to až po osemročnom ťažení v Hispánii a Afrike, práve vďaka jeho nástupu sa vojna začala otáčať v prospech Ríma (po 10-tich rokoch od jej začiatku). Je to skvelý kamienok do mozaiky rímskych dejín, ktorý by milovníkovi histórie v knižnici nemal chýbať.

[Nick Ryce · Rating 5 out of 5]

Genuinely just a brilliant book from start to finish - not a single bad chapter or section, researched extraordinarily well and the author goes above and beyond to make it interesting throughout. By far the best book I've read in years.

[Michał Sykutera · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's great book. It clearly, concisely and in interesting way describes amazing life and achievements of Scipio Africanus. I liked very much diagrams of most important battles with tactical analysis.

[P M E · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book where I finally understood how you can lose every battle but win the war: grand strategy

[Michael Beashel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great leader and inspiring general. His campaigns paved the way for Rome's future glory.

[Tucker Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

My top recommendation for a modern work on Scipio Africanus, one of the greatest generals who ever lived.

[Brent Mitch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very informative

[Kenneth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Scipio Africanus: a man who looked at Hannibal, shrugged, and decided to ruin his entire career.

[Andrew/Andy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Scipio Africanus: Rome's Greatest General by Richard A. Gabriel is a historical nonfiction text. This book explains the life of Scipio Africanus, who was a general of the Roman Republic during the Second Punic War. The majority of this book is about Scipio's various military exploits and his triumph over Hannibal Barca, a well known Carthaginian general. Scipio leads his army through Spain while defeating many enemy armies using many unparalleled tactics.
My favorite aspect of this text is that it uses historical evidence to back up the opinion that Africanus was the greatest general of Rome, and possibly the world. I like this characteristic of the book because it is an example of how Scipio was able to beat the Carthaginians. It also stresses the importance of how, quite unfairly, history has twisted his story and glorifying Hannibal while degrading Scipio. Gabriel explains that Scipio was a much better general than Hannibal. It also gives an idea of how well Romans treated Spaniards when compared to Carthaginians, showing, accurately how cruel the Carthaginians could be.
I would highly recommend this book as it shows the amazing ability of Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus to make great tactical decisions in battle. Scipio had defeated many enemy generals and was key to the defeat of Carthage. If you happen to like historical warfare, you likely will enjoy this book.

[Colin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Certainly the best biography I've ever read of Scipio, this book attempts to bring up-to-date research to the story of a man most unfairly neglected by history in favor of his defeated opponent, Hannibal. Gabriel explains why Scipio truly deserves the title "Rome's greatest general," preferring him even to Caesar. A must-read for enthusiasts of Roman military history, and a good book for those simply interested in Ancient Rome at the time of the Punic Wars.

[Christopher · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a military biography should be. Both interested and sympathetic to the source material while also critical of accounts and willing to question the subjects decision making and point out their foibles as well as victories.

Gabriel, who also wrote a great book about Subedei Bahadur, really shines as a military historian here and has set a new benchmark in what I expect for strategy-laden biographies of commanders.

[David E Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Book

Well written and a beautiful illustration of what Scipio accomplished as a tactician and reading the ground to fight on managing logistics just a wonderful example of what has to happen. Eye opening for anyone interested in tactical movement and the reason for such action.

[patrick t. patterson · Rating 4 out of 5]

rather small book in length but still informative and gave me more information about the life of this very interesting man especially his last years of life. If you are interested in roman history this is a good read.

[Larry Van Bibber · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent biography of scipio and his campaign in Africa against Carthage and Hannibal