The True Story of Hannibal

This documentary film about Hannibal (ca. 247-ca. 183 BC) has been shown on the History Channel and is available on a DVD. It gives a detailed and reliable account of the life and career of the Carthaginian military commander who has been called Rome’s greatest enemy.

He was born in Carthage (in modern Tunisia). He grew up in Spain where he followed in the footsteps of his father, Hamilcar Barca, who had fought the Romans during the First Punic War (264-241 BC). For fifteen years he fought the Romans in Italy, where he never lost a battle. In 203 BC, towards the end of the Second Punic War, he was recalled to his hometown. At Zama, not far from Carthage, he faced the Roman army led by Scipio the Younger. For the first time in his life he lost a battle (202 BC), and Carthage lost the Second Punic War (201 BC).

Hannibal survived, and for a few years he worked as a politician in his home town. Around 195 BC, when he learned that the Romans were coming to get him, he went into exile. For the last part of his life he worked as an advisor to different rulers in the east. Around 189 BC he worked for King Antiochus III in Asia Minor. Around 183 BC he worked for King Prusias in Bithynia.

When he learned that the Romans were coming to get him, he took some poison and committed suicide in order to avoid Roman captivity. He was at the time more than 60 years old, and for most of his adult life he had been fighting the Romans. He was not going to let them catch him alive.

One generation later Rome defeated Carthage in the Third Punic War (149-146 BC), and the city was razed to the ground. If any single person can stand as a symbol of Carthage in the long and deadly conflict with Rome it is Hannibal, and this documentary explains why.

Many scenes have been reconstructed with modern actors, who do not speak. While we watch them, a narrator brings the story forward, step by step. Sometimes he quotes an ancient source, for instance the Roman historian Livy, who is a contemporary of Augustus (and whose Latin name is Livius).

Several scholars were interviewed for the documentary. We meet them from time, always one at a time. They do not talk to each other, they talk to us. Here are their names in alphabetical order:

• Stefan Chrissanthos, Department of History, University of California, Riverside, author of Warfare in the Ancient World (2007).
• Gregory Daly, Department of the Classics, University of Manchester, author of Cannae: The Experience of Battle in the Second Punic War (2003).
• Alison Futrell, Department of History, University of Arizona, author of Blood in the Arena: The Spectacle of Roman Power (1997)
• Adrian Goldsworthy, author of several books about ancient history including Cannae: Hannibal’s Greatest Victory (2007)
• Dexter Hoyos, author of several books about ancient history including Hannibal: Rome’s Greatest Enemy (2008)
• David Potter, Department of Classical Studies, University of Michigan, author of several books about ancient history including Rome in the Ancient World: From Romulus to Justinian (2009)

When we meet the modern experts, the reconstructions with modern actors are (partially) interrupted, which gives the documentary a good variation.

The scholars are well chosen. They know what they are talking about. All the major battles - for instance the battle of Cannae - are analysed in great detail, so we understand the circumstances and the outcome.

Who was Hannibal? For his soldiers he was a hero, for the Romans he was a monster. How will a modern scholar describe him? David Potter says:

  
“Is he an honorable man? Is he a horrible man? The real Hannibal is somewhere lost in these images.”

Later he adds the following:

  
“The real Hannibal seems to have been a man of great ability, of great ability to win the loyalty of people around him, a man who had a clear plan for how he was going to fight the war. He’s perhaps neither the monster, nor is he the hero. He was not afraid or unwilling to commit atrocities, and on the other hand he was also willing to show honor and respect to those he defeated.”

In my opinion, this is a reasonable judgement.

Sometimes the documentary shows us an image of a famous Roman monument, for instance the Colosseum or the Arch of Constantine. From a historical point of view, this is of course not quite correct, because the former was dedicated more than 250 years after Hannibal’s death, and the latter was dedicated almost 500 years after Hannibal’s death. But perhaps we can accept it anyway, because the Roman victory over Carthage meant that the Romans could go on to build their empire which included these and many other monuments.

The True Story of Hannibal runs for about 90 minutes. It is a good example of how to present a chapter of ancient history in a documentary film.

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The True Story of Hannibal,

A & E Home Video, 2008, 90 minutes

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The motive used on the front cover of the DVD is borrowed from a famous painting which you can see in the Capitoline Museum - in Palazzo dei Conservatori - in Rome. The first photo shows the whole painting: Hannibal surrounded by his army.

The second photo shows the central part of the painting: Hannibal riding on one of his war elephants.

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