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historiographical tradition but may appear through references to gods in dreams or
visions, or through references to local folklore, religious customs, lists of omens or
references to oracles and prophecies. An author may also be read as implying divine
intervention through descriptions of abnormal or extraordinary natural events which
thwart or assist human affairs. There are several important events related to Hannibal
which are preceded by treatments of this type. In particular it will be argued in the
fourth chapter that the records of omens and portents in certain texts around Cannae are
demonstrably ahistorical because they function mainly to create inter-textual and/or
other literary connections (see Appendix 1). In addition, the involvement of the divine,
either through omens or natural elements, in presentations of both Cannae and the
defence of Rome against Hannibal in 211, will be shown to increase over time, even
within the historiographic tradition.
The surviving record indicates traces of a tradition that associated Hannibal with the
heroic figure of Hercules. It is a tradition for which, as argued in the second chapter,
there appears to be corresponding numismatic evidence indicating that the association
may be derived from Hannibal himself, and has been retained and adapted by Roman
authors to jeer at Hannibal or to present him as deluded. That chapter explores the
potential, as well as the risks, that the Hercules figure had to offer Hannibal, particularly
in the early stages of the war. The presentations in the texts are, of course, affected by
who won, and today only the Punica carries a trace of the reaction at Carthage on news
of Hannibal‟s victory at Cannae: aequatur rector divis (Pun. 12.494).
On a number of occasions Hannibal‟s decision-making, such as whether or not he
should march on Rome, discussed in the third chapter, is attributed to a dream or to his
emotional state rather than to practical or military factors, and this, too, becomes a
feature of representation that may be compared across different genres as authors
attribute different emotions to their Hannibal figure for the same situation. Most
explanations for how Rome is „saved‟ in 211 are vague, and comparison suggests that
authors imply varying degrees of divine intervention which increases over time. No-one
offers a wholly coherent picture for Hannibal‟s march on Rome in 211, and comparing
such features as whether or not it is a well-kept „secret‟ will be shown to directly relate
to an author‟s depiction of the Hannibal figure.
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