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(Hist. 3.69.12-14; 9.9.1-3; 9.22.1-10; 9.24.1-26.11; 10.33.1-8; 11.19.1-7; 15.15.3-16.3;
23.13.1-2). Polybius‟ glorification of Hannibal was ostensibly aimed at the greater
glorification of Scipio, as indicated at the close of the battle at Zama. Yet, if the portrait
of Hannibal is extracted and separated from the Scipio tradition, Polybius supplies a
very positive depiction of Hannibal.
Hannibal features regularly in Frontinus‟ work on military stratagems, and the 45
entries under his name in the index 442 is the highest number for any individual. His text
reflects an enduring Roman interest in Hannibal and the change in attitude as, over time,
a willingness to learn from Hannibal‟s techniques replaced the fear that he generated
whilst in Italy.
These generally positive assessments of Hannibal far outweigh the negative
characteristics of greed, cruelty and impiety attributed to him, discussed in the final
chapter. Hannibal undoubtedly had personal ambitions about his legacy; the records of
his exploits by Sosylus and Silenus were sufficiently well written and widely distributed
to be acknowledged by Greeks and Romans, not only during Hannibal‟s lifetime but up
to two hundred years later (Polybius, Hist. 3.20.5; Nepos, Hann. 13.3; Cicero, de Div.
1.24.49; Livy, 26.4.3). If the historical Hannibal wished to be remembered as an
exemplary general, then it is probable that he was careful to live appropriately and
controlled as far as possible whatever information was made public. Thus the portrait of
him becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy sustained by a handful of notable victories and
some memorably clever manoeuvres to ensure the safety of himself and his men.
The picture is more complicated, of course, if only because Hannibal‟s enemies and
opponents were entirely free to publish whatever negative information they wished
about him. Yet if Hannibal was abstemious and his habits were widely known, there
would be limitations upon what anyone could write that would be credible to readers.
Perhaps this is why, for example, there are so few representations of Hannibal under the
influence of alcohol or with women, apart from his wife which is, of course, a positive
portrait and is indebted to epic poetic antecedants like Homer‟s Hector and Andromache
and Lucan‟s Pompey and Cornelia (Pun. 3.61-157). Only Appian makes a passing
reference to Hannibal giving himself up to love in Lucania, after which, little by little,
his fortune changed (Appian, 7.43.1).
442 Bennet, 2003, 474.
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