I began reading a hard copy of David Anthony Durham's "Pride of Carthage" several years ago and never seemed to get around to finishing it until an audio version was recently released on Audible.com. I am one of the unfortunate individuals that becomes unbearably sleepy if I attempt to read a traditional book for more than about 45 minutes but I listen to books while I exercise each morning on my exercise bike, so if an audio version of a book becomes available, I'll usually finish it in due course as long as I don't have other activities interfering with my exercise routine. Thankfully, this was the case with Durham's novel of Hannibal after switching to the audio version.I have studied Hannibal to some extent and was quite familiar with his military conquests during the Second Punic War. But most history texts say little about his personal life and that was what I was most interested in. I realize the ancient sources tell us little about the Barcas as a family so I knew much of Durham's characterizations would have to come from his own imagination. But still, I wanted to have some images to cling to as I learn more about Hannibal in the future and this is the reason I chose to read this book. So let's examine the cast of characters Durham has crafted for us.Polybius tells us that a leader's true character is often obscured by actions he must take in response to circumstances created by his own undertaking."His [Hannibal's] circumstances were so extraordinary and shifting, his closest friends so widely different, that it is exceedingly difficult to estimate his character from his proceedings in Italy." - Polybius, The Histories, Book IX, Chapters 22-26So, Durham takes the relatively safe route and introduces us to a quintessential warrior - finely muscled, an astute judge of character, a family man who welcomes his infant son with tenderness and a bit vain. In one of the opening scenes, Hannibal stands nude before his wife, Imilcea, demonstrating to her that he has maintained his flawless body despite the latest battle he has fought at Arbocala. (That image soon fades, though, as Hannibal suffers first a devastating spear wound then loses the sight in one eye slogging through mosquito-infested marshes in Italy.)Family to Hannibal, however, is first and foremost a responsibility to maintain the ancestral "dignitas", if I may use a Roman term to define it, of the Barcids who were legendary even in Hannibal's own time. His father, the revered Hamilcar Barca, though now dead, is a shadowy presence that Hannibal, sometimes consciously and sometimes unconscieously, defers to in almost every decision Hannibal considers.And, if friends are so influential, what forces do we see swirling about Hannibal in his council chambers that will propel him to the apex of victory or foreshadow his eventual defeat?This is where Durham chooses to diverge a little from historical sources. We meet Hannibal's brother Hasdrubal, a luxury-loving but fiercely loyal lieutenant to his older brother. Since Durham has read Polybius, he is certainly aware that the Barcids were reputed to love wealth."Fond of money indeed he does seem to have been to a conspicuous degree, and to have had a friend of the same character---Mago, who commanded in Bruttium. That account I got from the Carthaginians themselves; for natives know best not only which way the wind lies, as the proverb has it, but the characters also of their fellow-countrymen. But I heard a still more detailed story from Massanissa, who maintained the charge of money-loving against all Carthaginians generally, but especially against Hannibal and Mago called the Samnite. Among other stories, he told me that these two men had arranged a most generous subdivision of operations between each other from their earliest youth; and though they had each taken a very large number of cities in Iberia and Italy by force or fraud, they had never taken part in the same operation together; but had always schemed against each other, more than against the enemy, in order to prevent the one being with the other at the taking of a city: that they might neither quarrel in consequence of a thing of this sort nor have to divide the profit on the ground of their equality of rank." -Polybius, The Histories, Book IX, Chapters 22-26However, greed is not an endearing trait to modern readers so I can understand Durham redirecting a love of wealth to Hannibal's brother rather than the commander himself to maintain reader empathy with his protagonist. We must also consider the possibility that Massanissa, though initially loyal to the Barcas, was eventually forsaken by the Carthaginians in favor of Syphax, another Numidian chieftain. So, Massinissa's criticism must be viewed skeptically. I thought Durham's choice to introduce this aspect to the Barca family without sacrificing respect for Hannibal was reasonable.Durham's decision to make Hasdrubal a composite figure of Hasdrubal Barca and Hasdrubal Son of Gisco is likewise understandable. Having two Hasdrubals running around could get really messy and an author could risk losing readers partway through the narrative. The reason I am sure Hasdrubal is a composite figure is based on a plot development later in the novel. Hasdrubal (Barca) agrees to give his youngest sister, Sophonisba, in marriage to the dastardly Syphax of Numidia in return for Syphax' Carthaginian support. This famous tragedy (Sophonisba had been previously promised to Massinissa) was initiated historically by Hasdrubal Son of Gisco, not Hasdrubal Barca. Sophonisba was known to be a Carthaginian noblewoman but not a Barca, although Hamilcar is thought to have had three daughters. However, by making Sophonisba the youngest of Hannibal's sisters, Durham strengthens the reason for Scipio's insistence that after Massinissa's defeat of Syphax, his wife march in Scipio's victory triumph in Rome.Then we meet Hannibal's brother Mago, who is portrayed as level headed and strategically skilled - a strong right arm who has a knack for thinking outside the box. This personality appears consistent with the historical Mago who courageously stood by his brother's side in the crucial center of the Carthaginian line at Cannae and who traveled back to Carthage with the gold rings of the defeated Roman aristocracy to plead for support for Hannibal's continued success.The next choice Durham makes, however, is much more of a leap. He introduces us to a third brother, Hanno. In all of my research, I found only a casual reference to the possibility that there was a fourth Barcid lion in Hamilcar's brood. Hanno is portrayed as skilled but sourly envious of Hannibal's success and favored position as eldest in the family. Hanno's sexual appetites are directed at other men. These attentions were viewed as beneath his exalted position as a Barca and an element that promoted his anxiety toward Hannibal and his other brothers.I could not find any specific references to the Phoenician view of homosexuality although the home country that spawned Carthage was under the influence of the Persians for centuries and Persia had a long history of antihomosexual tradition. Rome at this point in history, although condoning homosexual relations with participants of lesser social status (slaves, captives, freedmen, etc.) prosecuted homosexuals in the military sphere, considering it damaging to the soldier's image as the supreme example of masculinity. If the Roman viewpoint was shared by other military organizations around the Mediterranean, then Hanno's low self-esteem as portrayed by Durham would have been a probable outcome.I must admit, though, I found it hard to accept the name of Hanno as a Barca. Although Hanno is one of the few noble Carthaginian names, it is associated in history with the Barca family's strident opposition in the Carthaginian senate so I would have hesitated to use it for a Barca sibling.However, once again, Durham creates this character as a composite of an historical Hanno who was, in fact, an officer (not brother) under Hannibal. Durham probably chose to create this composite figure to reduce the confusion created by Livy in his history. Livy identifies a Hanno who was a cavalry commander at Capua, another in command at Metapontum in 207 BC who was sent to Bruttium to raise fresh troops by Hannibal, and yet another Hanno who was sent to Spain in 206 BC by the Carthaginian senate, where he was defeated and captured by the Romans under Marcus Silanus in 207 BCE. Durham's Hanno is defeated and captured in Spain then transported to Italy as a prisoner. There he is sereptitiously freed and reappears fighting in Africa as indicated later by Livy in 203 BCE. Actually, I found Durham's composite device quite effective in keeping the story line relatively continuous. It also served as a counterbalance to the heroic aspects of the other Barcas.Durham introduces another particularly dark character that kept cropping up throughout the book with a blood lust that Hannibal found difficult to check. Monomachus, (historically named Hannibal Monomachus - those Carthaginians used only a handful of names for their noble families that makes reading Punic history really confusing!) is a warrior who worships the blood-thirsty god, Moloch, and is constantly urging Hannibal to unleash absolute horror upon the Romans. Polybius gives us a specific example of this man's approach to total war:"At the time that Hannibal was meditating the march from Iberia to Italy with his army, he was confronted with the extreme difficulty of providing food and securing provisions, both because the journey was thought to be of insuperable length, and because the barbarians that lived in the intervening country were numerous and savage. It appears that at that time the difficulty frequently came on for discussion at the council; and that one of his friends, called Hannibal Monomachus, gave it as his opinion that there was one and only one way by which it was possible to get as far as Italy. Upon Hannibal bidding him speak out, he said that they must teach the army to eat human flesh, and make them accustomed to it. Hannibal could say nothing against the boldness and effectiveness of the idea, but was unable to persuade himself or his friends to entertain it. It is this man's acts in Italy that they say were attributed to Hannibal, to maintain the accusation of cruelty, as well as such as were the result of circumstances."- Polybius, The Histories, Book IX, Chapters 22-26Durham's Hannibal resists the level of cruelty Monomachus suggests most of the time but later in the Italian campaign, when Hannibal struggles to maintain the loyalty of cities that waiver in their support of the Carthaginian cause, Durham's Hannibal allows Monomachus to perpetrate a number of atrocities. This may or may not have occured in antiquity although Polybius points out some Roman cities suffered "treacherous violence" at this point in the campaign. "...as soon as Capua fell into the hands of the Romans, the other cities naturally became restless, and began to look round for opportunities and pretexts for revolting back again to Rome. It was then that Hannibal seems to have been at his lowest point of distress and despair. For neither was he able to keep a watch upon all the cities so widely removed from each other---while he remained entrenched at one spot, and the enemy were maneuvering against him with several armies---nor could he divide his force into many parts; for he would have put an easy victory into the hands of the enemy by becoming inferior to them in numbers, and finding it impossible to be personally present at all points. Wherefore he was obliged to completely abandon some of the cities, and withdraw his garrisons from others: being afraid lest, in the course of the revolutions which might occur, he should lose his own soldiers as well. Some cities again he made up his mind to treat with treacherous violence, removing their inhabitants to other cities, and giving their property up to plunder; in consequence of which many were enraged with him, and accused him of impiety or cruelty. For the fact was that these movements were accompanied by robberies of money, murders, and violence, on various pretexts at the hands of the outgoing or incoming soldiers in the cities, because they always supposed that the inhabitants that were left behind were on the verge of turning over to the enemy." Polybius, The Histories, Book IX, Chapters 22-26Whether children were singled out for sacrifice is not specified. Of course Roman propoganda is always a concern whenever you study Roman history. But, we do know that Roman parents used to frighten their children with stories of Hannibal at the gates. So, Durham makes the connection to these stories clear. In the novel, during Monomachus' raids of villages and towns in the southern Italian peninsula, Monomachus seeks out Roman children to sacrifice to his god Moloch providing the reason those stories have persisted through the centuries.In the opening chapters of the book we also meet one of Hannibal's sisters, Sapanibal. Sapanibal is tall and athletic with a keen mind. We are told she often served as a sounding board for Hannibal on matters of diplomacy and tribal relations. She is the widow of Hasdrubal "The Handsome" or "The Fair", the man who took over command of Iberia after the death of Hannibal's father, Hamilcar, until his own assassination. Hasdrubal the Handsome is portrayed as an arrogant brute who apparently resented his high-born wife and used every excuse to humiliate and psychologically wound her. In the novel his womanizing is legendary much to her embarassment. Of course ancient scholars seldom bothered themselves with the treatment of famous men's wives so we can assume Durham embellished this relationship for the purposes of drama. We do know, though, that Hasdrubal the Handsome personally negotiated a treaty with Rome that established the Ebro river as the northern-most border of Carthaginian influence."The treaty had been concluded between the Romans and Hasdrubal, not Carthage. This is remarkable, because other Roman-Carthaginian treaties were concluded between the two states. This suggests that Hasdrubal was considering his position as if he were some sort of king. Several ancient sources even suggest that he wanted to become independent. This is probably incorrect, but his acts may have caused some raised eyebrows in Carthage." - Jona Lendering, Livius.org, 2004So, it is not much of a stretch to associate a man "who would be king" with the personality Durham has created for him. The resulting impact on Sapanibal was to make her unwilling to enter into close friendships and to make her skeptical of the motivations of those around her, both traits certainly understandable given the circumstances.We also meet Hannibal's wife, Imilce, a beautiful Celtic princess who loves Hannibal passionately but seems somewhat mystified by the legacy of war and need for conquest and martial success that rules the Barca family. Hannibal's marriage to her was arranged by Hasdrubal the Handsome to strengthen Carthaginian ties to the local populace. But Hannibal seems to truly love and admire her for her intelligence and comprehension of tribal politics as well as her devoted care of their son, little Hamilcar nicknamed Hammer.So the stage is set for the epic drama that is to come as Hannibal sets his sight on the conquest of Rome. With Durham's vibrantly drawn characters, his subsequent retelling of the victories and later defeats of Hannibal's army have a more human quality to them than most dry textbook accounts I have read in the past.But I was most touched by the story of Sophanisba and Massinissa. Although Durham heightened the tale by making Sophanisba Hannibal's youngest sister (she was actually the daughter of Hasdrubal Gisco as previously stated), Durham's details of the tragedy were taken straight from the pages of Livy (and Polybius, Appian and Diodorus Siculus!). I have to confess, though, that I had never read anything about Sophanisba before and I found the story of her doomed love for Massinissa as compelling as the famous romance of Antony and Cleopatra.So all in all, I think David Anthony Durham created an engaging narrative, solidly based on factual accounts but with creative choices that made sense from both a dramatic perspective and to preserve a reader's overall understanding of events without tripping over too many characters with the same name. My only regret is that Durham stopped with Hannibal's defeat at the battle of Zama and did not attempt to speculate on Hannibal's subsequent role in the resurrection of his nation, his political challenges and ultimate betrayal by the greedy Carthaginian opposition that lacked the vision to foresee the death of their own civilization.
Re-Read-Review:Ever get sick of hearing about how great Rome was? The roads, the aqueducts, the politics, the legislation, the big names, the military...ever just wanna see Roma herself get knocked flat on her ass and piss herself? Then Hannibal is your man! Most people agree that if someone was gonna dislodge Rome's greedy grip from the Mediterranean relatively early in her rise to power it was gonna be Hannibal. Whether or not he could have actually have pulled it off still seems to be a matter of debate--but there can be no debating that the Second Punic War was one of the most legendary things to go down in human history. Hannibal's inheritance of the war from his father Hamilcar, his crossing of the Alps and then the series of famous engagements at the Trasimene, Lake Trebia and Cannae, then his slow loss of grip on the situation of the war and his slide into defeat at Zama by the famous Scipio Africanus...it just screams out to be recreated and humans have taken up this challenge for centuries in paintings, music, etc. Was there a Hannibal movie? I can't remember. This tradition must have been a daunting arena for Durham to enter but he did a superb job.As you can see I had some minor reservations the first time through. However, upon a re-read I have to push it to the five stars. I almost never read stuff twice, and to be compelled to is certainly odd and notable for me. I love the characters, the writing and the story and revisiting them was a treat. The end is still utterly heart-wrenching, and I kept randomly thinking about it for a couple days afterwards. I need to get ahold of Durham's fantasy stuff! I've always held that fantasy and historical fiction have always been sister genres and I think that this book is a good example of it--the big cast, the fantastically huge and scary war...I mean, fucking elephants crossing the Alps under horrible hails of snow and rain and the hostile attentions of the indigenous peoples? This is otherworldly stuff! It's also certainly one of the greatest underdog stories ever--Hannibal was basically going it alone against the strongest military power on the Mediterannean. Even the Carthaginians were at best unsupportive, at worst openly hostile to his cause. Even the nature of the armies underscores this, as the Carthaginian army was often a dangerously understrength pretty ragtag group of people from disparate nationalities and military styles, where as the Roman army was insanely well-manned and pretty homogenous at this point (if not at Marian levels).So get this book if you haven't read it! I can't say enough good stuff about it. This is not episodic historical adventure Hannibal, this is a blunt & deadly serious look at what it might have been like for him and the people caught up around him in this maelstrom of slaughter and destruction. There's a convincing realistic amount of grit, gore & sexuality so if that kind of stuff is not your bag this is not for you. Excluding that, I can wholeheartedly recommend this to anyone with an interest in historical novels, especially if you have any kind of interest in this particular subject. It's a seminal novel for me, and as I probably mentioned in my first review totally sated my appetite for Hannibal fiction, saving me countless dollars on the multi-episodic series that seem to be going on. Thanks, David Anthony Durham!Original Review:This novel covers a period of the Barca family's epic war with the Roman Republic starting around Hannibal's attack on Saguntum and ending shortly after the decisive battle of Zama. Hannibal is the central character although the book has a sizable cast of people all caught up in the war in some way, from members of his family to soldiers and camp followers in his army. The Roman side is also represented in the form of the perspectives of several of the major players like Fabius Maximus and Scipio Africanus. While the novel is obviously from a Carthaginian perspective and will ultimately probably make the reader hoping for an ahistorical Carthaginian victory, the Romans pleasantly weren't rendered as fanged villains, although I was again often confronted with the same shocking prideful stupidity that I encountered from the Romans in The War with Hannibal.I'm surprised at how much I enjoyed the author's style of writing. It certainly has a rough kind of poetry and unflinching realism in its attention to detail and description. There's plenty of bodily fluids and brutal imagery in this story. To state the obvious this was a really painful time to live through and that comes through powerfully. This is anything but a boring historical adventure, this has to be one of the best novels about war and what it does to all parties involved I've read. There's a scene near the end with Hannibal that just reflects all of that so strongly that I'm sure I'm not the only one who was moved by it. It really is through the large cast of well-drawn human beings that we learn all this. I mean, it's hard to look at something like Cannae really see the human aspect to it. It's just a faceless event, but with this novel you can glean a little more than that.As for the man himself...what an interesting portrait Durham has drawn here. He's both a warm family man and a conquering force of will. He has a complex moral system; on one hand he feels it's his duty to war against the Romans to check their growing power, which is kind of admirable, but on the other he isn't against putting entire towns to the sword in the service of that duty and almost seems to relish maneuvering thousands of Romans to their deaths. Durham also does him a favor by painting such a creepy portrait of his general Monomachus...what a fucking psycho that guy was. Hannibal seems like a soft-spoken hippie compared to that dude. Imagine a giant army of people subsisting on human flesh they capture while rolling around decimating the country...oh wait, it happened in Memories of Ice and it was terrifying. That book, man.There seems to be a good deal of Hannibal fiction out there but I'm not sure if I'll ever try any of it; Durham seems to have written what seems like a definitive fictional recreation of the man, as well as many of the people around him. Anyone who's interested in Hannibal or the Second Punic War should definitely try this; Durham covers the logistics and reality of war with the necessary detail but it never seems like a dull recitation of military engagements, focusing more on character-driven plot rather than that kind of dry stuff. I'm not even sure why I didn't give this five stars--I think I had some pacing issues with it or something. Definitely nothing major. Again, anyone interested in the time period or even just an epic underdog story should give this book a try.
What do You think about Pride Of Carthage (2006)?
D.A.D. is a fantastic storyteller, skilled at describing battle scenes without being unnecessarily gory, wordsmithy but not over the top. While I appreciate the way he invests the reader in the life of the Barcas while we already know that Hannibal's fate is to be defeated by the Romans, I was disappointed by the somewhat abrupt way in which the story was ended, hence three stars instead of four. Perhaps that was intentional on his part - to make you feel a little cheated by pulling back on his typically expansive use of detail when leading up to a scene near the end of the book. Maybe he was nearing his limit on how long the book could be. Who knows? In any case, PoC is definitely a good read for 98% of the book, but the ending left more to be desired.
—Sarah
I'd call this "epic classic historical literary fiction". Durham does a great job bringing a very interesting historical campaign to very vivid life through richly detailed and colorful description and a large cast of diverse characters bringing the viewpoints of the major characters, their male and female relatives, soldiers and camp followers. The battle scenes are well paced and bring out the strategic brilliance of Hannibal and Scipio to those familiar with the period, or new readers, while also illustrating the grim reality of ancient warfare.The description and the cast and language come together to make a book than you enjoy as you flow slowly through the campaign. If I have a criticism, its that all the areas are strong, so you don't get as caught up in the story or one specific character. Or if you do, you have to take a break and see 4 or 5 different viewpoints before.I'd also prefer to see things broken up into smaller chapters, but that's personal preference based on the satisfaction of finishing a chapter rather than just up to a viewpoint change before bed. The 500+ page hardcover is broken up into only 4 chapters.
—Jamie Maltman
I very much enjoyed reading about a period that is normally referred to as 'Roman history' through non-Roman eyes! History should not be written solely by the ultimate winners and the Romans were not necessarily “good guys”.Hannibal's rise, the early successes of the Carthaginians and Hannibal's fall make a fascinating story. I like novels about military campaigns. This doesn't appeal to everyone and for historical fiction fans who like a more domestic novel, this wouldn't suit, probably. For me, his dealing with the military campaigns was the high point of the novel. He did it extremely well.I enjoyed reading about Hannibal's great success in defeating the Romans and their general stupidity. The bad part was eventually they did figure out how to defeat him. Toward the end, his defeat was became inevitable which made latter portions of the book somewhat painful to read, however that was because I had come to care about the characters so you can't call that a fault.However, there were some things I didn't care for. I found the author's writing style ponderous at times. I like description in my historical novel reading, but was there really a contest to see how long he could make some of his descriptive sentences? Also, the end was abrupt. That was the only word for it. I honestly don't know what he was thinking. Finally, there is a complete lack of maps. In a book that is heavily about military campaigns, I consider this a serious lack.However, few if any novels are perfect. This is still one of the best historical novels I've read about the ancient world and I do recommend it.
—J.R. Tomlin
