Hannibal Rome's greatest enemy

Say "Hannibal," and people think of the guy who crossed the Alps with elephants or the fictional serial killer. Freeman, who's previously written books about Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, and Sappho, offers a highly readable, well-organized military and personal biography of the Carthaginian general who nearly changed history, vividly revealing more amazing scenarios in Hannibal's life and battles than any writer could concoct in a novel. Spoiler alert: the elephants survived the Alps but not the rest of the campaign. Hannibal's success came as much from building alliances with Celtic tribes who lived in Italy before Rome conquered the peninsula and his ability to exploit Roman generals' blind spots as from his bravery in battle. After spectacularly defeating Rome at Cannae in 216 BCE, Hannibal was undone by his own blind spot, assuming defeated Rome would negotiate peace. Instead, the Romans didn't rest until Hannibal was utterly defeated. Readers will see echoes of Hannibal's military genius in Napoleon's battles and Union and Confederate strategies and tactics. Freeman ends with fascinating speculation on how the modern world would look if Hannibal had won.

A thorough, largely sympathetic account of the career of one of the ancient world's most indelible and complex figures. Freeman, the chair in humanities at Pepperdine whose more than 20 books include biographies of Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar, vividly, almost cinematically, brings to life the career of Hannibal Barca, the great but ill-fated Carthaginian general whose tactical and strategic brilliance is still studied today. The author draws from both of the two most important sources of information on his subject's life (and legend), but he favors the more balanced, detailed account of Polybius over that of Livy, the Roman historian most hostile to the African leader. Freeman also gives full credit to the recent work of scholars who have helped illuminate Hannibal's character and legacy as well as the world in which he lived. Despite the Roman chroniclers who demonized him, tradition holds that Hannibal, though capable of wholesale slaughter, was, by the standards of the day, generous in battle and humane in his treatment of his men and war animals, with an extraordinary gift for eliciting loyalty. In defeat, having turned his energies to rebuilding Carthage's economy, he proved an able administrator. "Even the Romans, in their fear and hatred of Hannibal, could not help but admire his determination, brilliance, and ultimately his humanity. We should do nothing less," writes the author, though he refrains from romanticizing his subject. In a fascinating speculation on what might have happened had Hannibal defeated Rome, Freeman also disputes many modern scholars' belief that history unfolds solely from economic and cultural forces, insisting that "certain individuals at certain moments in time can change everything with a single decision." And Hannibal profoundly changed Rome. The author gives Hannibal's remarkable campaigns much credit for compelling Rome to alter its societal construction, becoming an empire that, for better or worse, would change the world. A simultaneously propulsive and nuanced account that hums on the page. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.