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Hannibal was divinely protected (by his victories), as well as physically protected by a
powerful bodyguard:
fallit te, mensas inter quod credis inermem.
tot bellis quaesita viro, tot caedibus armat
maiestas aeterna ducem. si admoveris ora,
Cannas et Trebiam ante oculos Thrasymennaque busta
et Pauli stare ingentem miraberis umbram.
Quid? tanto in casu comitam iuxtaque iacentum
torpebunt dextrae?
Pun. 11.342-348
If you think that he sits unarmed at table, you are wrong. His armour is
the immortal glory he has gained by constant warfare and tombs of
victims slain. If you come close to him you will marvel to see before
you Cannae and the Trebia, the dead of Lake Trasimene and the
mighty shade of Paulus. Again, will his officers and those who sit at
meat beside him lift no finger while such a scene is acting?
Duff, 1989,127
Hannibal could only be defeated by a more powerful Roman (Scipio), not a mere boy
from Capua (Pun. 11.332-350).
The deification of Hannibal at Carthage following news of Cannae (Pun. 12.494) is
prefigured at the Capuan feast where Hannibal is afforded divine honours ipse deum
cultu et sacro dignatus honore (Pun. 11.272). Initially Hannibal disapproves of the
lavish feast (but not the divine honours), eating in silence until he relaxes under the
effects of alcohol and settles to enjoy the male singers and lyre-players (Pun. 11.283-5;
428-431).
Disapproval of performers was a distinguishing Roman characteristic 346 and in the
Punica, Hannibal is presented as rapidly succumbing to Capuan degradation.
Furthermore, in a portrait nowadays unique to the Punica, Hannibal shows an
effeminate preference for the male singer, Teuthras, to sexual debauchery with
women: 347
inprimis dulcem, Poeno laetante, per aures
nunc voce infundit Teuthras, nunc pectine, cantum.
147
Pun. 11.432-3
Teuthras above all charmed Hannibal, filling his ears with sweet music
both of the voice and of the instrument.
Duff, 1989, 133.
346 Edwards, 1993, 98.
347 Wilson, 1993, 232.