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Plutarch refers. The comparison indicates that Nepos‟ biography of Hannibal, as it is
currently published, does not match up with Plutarch‟s assessment of placing Nepos
among authors who say that Marcellus and others inflicted sundry defeats on Hannibal
in Italy. A modification to the editing of Nepos‟ Hannibal was proposed, as, although it
is possible that Plutarch was referring to a different biography one should expect it to
correspond to the Hannibal.
The following section compared presentations of Hannibal‟s determination to
continue the war and the extent of his involvement with planning the invasions of Italy
in 207 and 205. These are arguably linked to each author‟s depiction of Scipio in terms
of whether or not Scipio drove Hasdrubal out of Spain and forced Hannibal‟s departure
from Italy. As much as anything, it is argued that Hannibal‟s dogged persistence led to
his reputation as Rome‟s most feared enemy, exemplified in Horace Epode, 16.8.
Most texts present Zama as the climactic event to the war, particularly in terms of
what the two protagonists thought they were fighting for; Polybius is anachronistic with
the claim that the Romans were fighting for world domination (Hist. 15.9.2). His view is
important, however, for presentations of Hannibal in the role of an eternal enemy, since,
as far as Polybius was concerned, the Romans were the dominant power by the time that
the Histories were published some forty years later.
Whereas Polybius draws connections between Zama and Homeric epic, Silius
Italicus links Zama with to the historic civil war battle in Africa, Thapsus (Pun. 3.261-
264; 17.371-85). In this respect, Zama marks the „beginning of the end‟ for Silius with
the rise of Scipio and, in due course, Caesar claiming divine heritage (Pun. 17.653-4). 452
It is argued in this thesis that Silius Italicus‟ consistent depiction of Hannibal as a sworn
enemy meant that the epic Hannibal did not seek peace through a meeting with Scipio
beforehand. The notion of being an eternal enemy of Rome is placed in Hannibal‟s
voice, and perhaps, as depicted, the idea originated from him, and that his enemies
accepted him in that role.
Silius Italicus‟ Hannibal in the aftermath of Zama is quite different from the figure in
both Livy and Polybius. The final chapter argues that authors had a number of options
for their depictions of Hannibal‟s reaction to Zama, and how those depictions relate to
an overall presentation of Hannibal as a sworn enemy of Rome. For authors such as
183 notes Hannibal‟s camp above Capua but Frederiksen, 1984, 227, 238, 241, consistently refers to
defection; only once concedes the Capuans may have been unable to resist.
452 Also Boyle, 1991, 303.
223