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Juno intervenes to protect Hannibal. Firstly she tries to dissuade Paulus from his
intentions, but when that effort fails she changes her disguise and lures Hannibal away
to another part of the battlefield (Pun. 10.90-1).
The death scenes for Paulus vary. Polybius simply describes Paulus dying heroically
in the thick of the fight from many dreadful wounds (Hist. 3.116.9). In the Punica he
kills many men until he is fatally wounded, not by a small stone from a slingshot, but by
a huge rock from an unknown hand hitting him in the face (Pun. 10.235-7). Livy and
Silius Italicus also include a scene in which Lentulus finds the dying Paulus sitting alone
on a rock covered in blood. The ensuing conversation differs slightly since Livy depicts
Lentulus imploring Paulus to take his horse and escape, not to blight the battle with a
consul‟s death (Livy, 22.49.7-8). In the Punica Lentulus reflects a harsher tradition
when he says that unless Paulus lives on and takes command, Paulus will be considered
guiltier than Varro for allowing himself to die and deserting Rome. In support of his
point, Silius Italicus reworks the „good sea-captain‟ analogy used by Polybius about
Hannibal (ἀγαζὸο θπβεξλήηεο Hist. 11.19.3) as Lentulus urges the dying Paulus not to
abandon the army (ship):
„Quid deinde relictum,
crastina cur Tyrios lux non deducat ad urbem,
deseris in tantis puppim si, Paule, procellis?
testor caelicolas,‟ inquit, „ni damna gubernas
crudelis belli vivisque in turbine tanto
invitus, plus, Paule (dolor verba aspera dictat)
plus Varrone noces.‟
113
Pun. 10.267-273
„What still remains,‟ he cried, „to prevent the enemy from marching on
Rome tomorrow, if you, Paulus, abandon the ship in such a storm? By
heaven I swear – if my words are harsh, grief prompts them – that
unless you take command in this terrible war and live on against your
will amid the tempest, you are guiltier even than Varro.‟
Duff, 1989, 71.
Polybius and Silius Italicus each give Paulus brief epitaphs shortly after his death.
Polybius 282 lauds Paulus for doing his duty to his country throughout his life and
especially at Cannae (Hist. 3.116.9). In a similar vein, Silius Italicus writes that his
282 Walbank, I, 447, notes Polybius‟ formulaic phrase is found on many Hellenistic inscriptions. For fuller
discussion on Polybius‟ death notices, see Pomeroy, 1986, 407-423; 1991, 85-109. Livy‟s death notices,
Pomeroy, 1991, 146-168 and Appendix 2.