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Mother (Livy, 29.10.4-5). After consultation, the Delphic oracle instructed that the best
men at Rome should greet the goddess (Livy, 29.11.6). In the event, Livy says that all
the matrons were required to take part in the welcome ceremony, with Quinta Claudia as
conspicuous among them although she is not depicted hauling the boat as in Ovid. 366
The importance of gaining divine sanction to ensure the success of Scipio‟s invasion
of Africa is acknowledged in the Punica. Silius Italicus opens Punica 17 with the
Sibyl‟s oracle, and the welcome at Rome includes the full story of Claudia (Pun.17.1-4;
17.33-47). Once the ceremony was over, Scipio departed for Sicily with authorisation to
invade Africa, if it seemed advisable. Augury indicates Jupiter‟s divine sanction as
eagles lead the way for Scipio‟s fleet; their cries are interpreted as an omen of success:
augurium clangior laetum dabat (Pun. 17.55).
Livy draws attention to other causal factors that contribute to Hannibal‟s difficulties
prior to his eventual departure from Italy. These include the capture of Syracuse and the
Roman naval blockade; Hasdrubal‟s defeat and then Mago‟s defeat, as well as
Carthaginian politics. Livy also records the claims of other Romans, such as Gnaeus
Servilius, for attacking Hannibal and forcing him out of Italy (Livy, 30.6; 30.24.1).
The later books of Polybius text are too fragmentary for conclusive comparison but
there is one reference to the possible roles of other people in forcing Hannibal‟s
departure from Italy. It is embedded in a speech by Roman envoys at Carthage
protesting about a Carthaginian attack on Roman shipping. The envoys claim that
Hannibal had been driven out of the rest of Italy into the Lacinian promontory from
which he barely escaped (Hist. 15.1.11).
Silius Italicus summarises the logistical and political problems that faced Hannibal in
22 lines (Pun. 16.1-22). In this brief acknowledgement of other factors causing
difficulties for Hannibal, Carthaginian politics is considered his biggest problem:
sed vigor, hausurus Latium, si cetera Marti
adiumenta forent, prava obtrectante suorum
invidia, revocare animos ac stare negata
cogebatur ope et senio torpescere rerum.
166
Pun. 16.11-14
366 Cf. Ovid, Fasti 4.293-328; and an altar relief, German Archaeological Institute, Rome, DAI 38.1602.
Wiseman, 2004, 177 argues for dramatic origins of the Claudia story.