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Nec post Sidonii letum ducis aere potita
egregio plebeia domus. convivia Sullae
ornabat semper claros intrare penates
assuetum et felix dominorum stemmate signum
Statius, Silvae, 4.6.86-88
After the death of the Sidonian captain [Hannibal] „twas no common
house that gained possession of the peerless bronze. Ever accustomed
to enter the famous homes and fortunate in the line of his owners, the
statue adorned the banquets of Sulla.
Shackleton Bailey, 2003, 287
The poet condenses time, giving the impression that the statuette passed directly from
Hannibal to Sulla. 241 While this connection between Sulla and Hannibal is tenuous at
best, there are indications that potential comparison to Hannibal was a problem for
Sulla‟s protégé, Pompeius Magnus, and for one of Sulla‟s opponents and rivals,
Sertorius.
Pompey‟s affectation to be considered as another „Alexander‟ as well as favoured by
Hercules 242 makes him susceptible to comparison with Hannibal given the links between
these figures, and the problem is compounded by some of Pompey‟s actions.
Maneuvering politically for the opportunity to match Alexander‟s achievement of
conquests on three continents was well nigh impossible for a Roman consul operating
under the traditional rules and charged politics of republican Rome. It was not until
Pompey‟s highly irregular career that such an achievement became a reality for a
Roman general (Plutarch, Pomp., 45).
Pompey brought an army over the Alps into Italy on his way back to Rome from
Spain. Sallust paraphrases a letter, said to be from Pompey, to the Senate dated 70 in
which it is apparent that Pompey is aware of the possible comparison to Hannibal and
takes care to distance himself from Hannibal in physical terms as well as to present
himself as a more prudent commander by stating that he opened a „route that was
different from that which Hannibal had taken and more convenient:‟ per eas iter aliud
atque Hannibal, nobis opportunius, patefeci (Sallust, fr. 2.82.4). 243 The sting in the tail
at the end of the letter threatening war is more suggestive of Sallust‟s authorship than of
241
Cf. Plutarch, Sulla, 35.1 links Sulla to Hercules: Sulla consecrates a tenth of all his substance to
Hercules prior to a feast for the people at Rome at which there was more food than could be consumed
over the course of a number of days.
242
Plutarch, Pomp. 2.1; 46.1-2: comparisons with Alexander. Appian, BC, 2.76: the Pompeian watchword
at Pharsalus was Hercules invictus.
243
Sallust, Fr. 2.82.4; transl. McGushin, 1992, 59. Incidentally the letter shows a Roman mindset that
Hannibal crossed the Alps by a treacherous route.
97