Hannibal’s War: A Military History of the Second Punic War

by John Lazenby

Hannibal is acknowledged as one of history’s greatest generals, and his crossing of the Alps—complete with elephants—to make war against Rome on its home soil is legendary. But even Hannibal met his match in Scipio, and ultimately Carthage was defeated by the rising power of Rome. In Hannibal’s War, J. F. Lazenby provides the first scholarly account in English since 1886 solely devoted to the Second Punic War, which some have called the first "world war" for mastery of the Mediterranean world. By closely examining the accounts of Livy and Polybius, supplemented with the fruits of modern research, Lazenby provides a detailed military history of the entire war as it was fought in Italy, Spain, Greece, and North Africa. This edition includes a new preface covering recent research on Hannibal’s war against Rome.

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

368 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1998

Reviews

[Filip · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this book would've been better read in paper form than in audiobook but even if I can't really retell the story of the war, I rather enjoyed it. Big kudos for the amount of research that went to him, though I admit there's just so much of listening to various arguments to where a battle might have taken place that I can take. I really liked how much of the war was waged on the field of various deceptions, betrayals and diplomacy. The account also seems fair, not favouring any side - at least to my amateur ear. My one big gripe is that while the ending goes veeeery deep into what events from Rome's later times could have been a consequence of the war... but doesn't really give us much about the lives of Scipio and Hannibal after the signing of the treaty. Yes, I know I can google it but it seems like a strange omission.

[Sebastian Gebski · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed it a lot, but it's not without flaws:
+ perfectly scoped (2nd punic wars was what I was looking for, but it provided the important historical context of both 1st and 3rd war as well)
+ very good aftermath (consequences of the 2nd punic war)
+ very, very, very detailed calendarium of the war - the amount of detail is overwhelming (e.g., discussing geographic details, matching ancient names with the current-day ones, etc.) - this could easily become boring, but the campaign was fascinating enough that I wasn't drifting away
+ very clear references with detailed analysis on which source is more credible in each case and why - again, for a non-historian that may be a tad too much

- the book could have been 2, 3 time shorter, if not-that-relevant details are removed
- some key questions are not answered: let's take Zama - I studied it in detail and I don't see a justification on such a huge disproportion in casualties; or another case - the author dedicate very little space to what happened with Hannibal Barca after the conflict

In the end, a decent book on a VERY interesting episode in the history of the ancient world. But remove at least one star if you're a very casual reader and want "just the meaty slices".

[Jim Bogue · Rating 4 out of 5]

Laze by is am excellent historian and this is a fine study. He sets up Hannibal’s march into Italy and thereafter covers the war in depth. Rather than a year by year chronology he divides his history into sections. He looks at Hannibal primarily, of course, but he also investigates the campaigns in Spain, Greece, and in the end in Africa. This really helps in understanding the overall course of the war.
Lazenby admires Hannibal’s military genius, and he thinks he had a plausible strategy. his Hannibal does not want to destroy Rome (one reason why he does not march on the city after Cannae), he wants to confine it to Italy.
However, and here Lazenby’s admiration for the Senate’s leadership comes forward, he greatly underestimated Rome’s resilience and the loyalty of most of its allies. Rome’s resources, both human and financial, were stretched by the long war, but in the end they held.
Lazenby sees Scorpio as a fine general and leader, but his triumph at Zama was due to the superiority of Rome’s army, not its general.
This is a well written and very informative study. It’s only flaw is being a little outdated. Lazenby reissued the book, but did not include new studies.

[IKO · Rating 1 out of 5]

De auteur lijkt me zeer vooringenomen te zijn -lees: alles wat Hannibal doet is geweldig. Bovendien heeft hij ook een zeer selectieve lezing van de bronnen. Je krijgt de indruk dat hij voornamelijk dit kiest wat in zijn betoog past.

Ook komt het vaak voor dat wat in de ene paragraaf nog een hypothese is in een volgende paragraaf al snel voor werkelijkheid wordt aangenomen en gebruikt wordt om het verdere betoog aan op te hangen.

Ik begrijp dat er voor de klassieke periode minder bronnen voor handen zijn, maar desondanks vond ik deze aanpak bijzonder storend.

[Ron Atchison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good but a bit obsessed with determining the exact locations of events.

[Tacitus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Type is small and dense (almost footnote size) in the University of Oklahoma Press paperback edition.

There are plenty of maps. However, they are of varying quality, and at least one appears to be missing from the hardcover edition, which Lazenby mentions in the text but was not reproduced in the paperback version.

[Mark Dunstan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my personal favorite general account of the Second Punic War. A very detailed work, and essential reading for those who want to know about Hannibal and the Second Punic War.

[Colin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Accurate and flowing account of the 2nd Punic War.