Sinopsis

Hannibal, one of the most compelling personalities of the ancient world, inflicted a tremendous defeat on the Romans at Cannae in 216 B.C. It is Livy (59 B.C. - A.D.17) who re-creates for us in vivid detail the terrible events of the Second Punic War, down to the Battle of Zama (202 B.C.). It is Livy who shows us the immense armies of Hannibal, elephants and all, crossing the Alps (still regarded as a near-miraculous feat by historians), the panic as Hannibal approached the gates of Rome, the decimation of the Roman army in thick fog at the Battle of Lake Trasimene.But, above all, it is the clash of personalities that fascinates him: the great debated in the Senate, the series of Roman generals who prove no match for Hannibal before the decisive battle. Livy never hesitate to introduce drama and moral lessons into his History of Rome; in the ten books dealing with the war with Hannibal, he had an immense theme worthy of his immense talents.