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Hannibal is often considered the finest general the world has ever known. Setting out from Carthaginian-dominated Spain with a small army of select troops, he fought his way over the Pyrenees and crossed the Alps with elephants and a full baggage train. Descending into Italy, he destroyed the main Roman army at Lake Trasimeno and came close to conquering Rome itself. At Cannae, Hannibal's brilliant cavalry tactics enabled him to cut to pieces a reassembled Roman army, and his subsequent defeats over a fifteen-year stay in Italy were due more to lack of sufficient support from home than to any failings of generalship.T. A. Dodge's classic history, first published in 1891, is equally perceptive of Hannibal's military prowess and his visionary character. Dodge followed Hannibal's route from Carthage to Italy, paying particular attention to the famous crossing of the Alps, exploring every pass in order to determine Hannibal's route. In this book, he wrote an entire history of the art of war among these two mighty armies and included hundreds of invaluable illustrations. Hannibal remains unequaled as the most comprehensive and readable study of history's greatest general.
Paperback: 704 pages
Publisher: Da Capo Press; 1rst.DE CAPO PRESS EDITION edition (August 21, 1995)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0306806541
ISBN-13: 978-0306806544
Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 1.4 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds
Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (88 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #1,375,354 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #389 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Historical > Europe > Rome #2247 in Books > History > Ancient Civilizations > Rome #40614 in Books > History > Military
Dodge's book was written over a hundred years ago. The author has traveled around the battlefields of the second Punic War and tried to work out from the existing historical sources what really happened. Dodge was an army officer who served in the American Civil War. As such he knows the difficulty of moving large bodies of men, of supplying them with food, the difficulties of feeding horses and keeping them in good condition.The book establishes the greatness of Hannibal. Very little is left to tell us much of what Carthaginian civilization was like. Coins and sculpture suggest that the Greeks heavily influenced it. We know that Carthage was an oligarchy and that it was a city that traded extensively.It seems that it was probably a city that depended on slavery to produce its agricultural produce. This led to Rome having a pronounced advantage in the conflicts between the two cities. Rome had a sizeable peasant class who were integrated into its civil life. The Roman peasant class formed the basis of its armies. Rome as well had built up a coalition of allied cities some of which shared the benefits of citizenship. This meant that in any conflict Rome was able to put in the field 750,000 soldiers. In addition it had considerable economic power. Thus in the first Punic war Rome was able to build a number of fleets to challenge the Carthaginians at sea. The Carthaginians did not have a large class of landed peasants who could be mobilized and they depended on mercenary armies. The history of Carthage prior to their first war with Rome was not a history of military brilliance. Carthage had considerable problems in maintaining their control over about a third of Sicily fighting a large number of wars with the Greek city of Syracuse.
Hannibal: Bluff City Memories (MO) (Images of America) The Ghosts of Cannae: Hannibal and the Darkest Hour of the Roman Republic Hannibal: A Hellenistic Life Hannibal: The Military Biography of Rome's Greatest Enemy Hannibal Hannibal Rising Hannibal. 6 CDs.
