The Fall of Carthage : The Punic Wars 265-146BC

Rating:
Summary: Worth reading
Review: Adrian Goldsworthy provides an entertaining and accessible account of the Punic Wars, which those with no classical education should find an interesting read. Goldsworthy himself points out the fact that the British education system would have rendered this account unnecessary fifty years ago, but the decline of Latin as a school subject has left a generation (at least) unfamiliar with this long conflict.

Goldsworthy attempts to identify the facts of the battles as distinct from the conjecture, and is at pains to point out the limits of knowledge today (even with the benefits of archaeology to help lift some of the uncertainty). He also makes it clear that we must regard the sources as being tainted from the victor's perspective - for of course no Punic accounts of the conflicts survive. He uses general knowledge of the period to explain the context in which the wars were taking place, and how the changes in technology led to changes in the way in which war was being carried out.

This well-rounded account is supplemented with maps of the several of the battles, facilitating comprehension. However, there are no diagrams or pictures of other aspects of the time (a reproduction of a Trireme, for instance would have been a useful supplement to the lengthy descriptions of the text). This omission aside, the book is a good general read, going beyond a simple recitation of events, which serves to put the wars in an appropriate context.

Rating:
Summary: Who needs Polybius or Livy?
Review: For anyone who has tried to trudge through Livy's account of the Hannibalian War, Goldsworthy's (AG's) book is extremely helpful.

The ancient historians can be borderline-reliable. AG mentions frequently that timelines or characters are convoluted. He acts as a moderator between the ancient accounts, and giving his own best guess of events. This book is quite readable to amateur Greco-Roman historians like me, and the fact that much is lost from that period gives the whole subject a whiff of mystery.

The first chapter on warfare and politics (they are, of course, mutually inclusive) in the ancient world is valuable. Most striking is the tediousness of preparing for battle: you'll never see this in "Gladiator" or "Troy". These are people and times so profoundly different than ours.

So, if you're in between books about the Greatest Generation, try reading about the generation that lived through Trebia, Trasimene, and Cannae, and Zama.