Hannibal's Oath

A fantastic biography about one of history's greatest conquers. A must read for all history buffs!

Prevas offers a solid, popular look at the career or Hannibal and his family, with special attention to the geography, which Prevas has considered carefully to make best guess about the calculated risk of the Alpine crossing and most likely locations of battles. The strength of this work is the bigger picture of the still-strong Hellenistic world in the wake of Alexander, the clashing strategies of Hannibal and Rome (Hannibal wanted to break apart Roman hegemony over the Greek and Italian cities, Rome was willing to go all or nothing), the political machinations within Carthage, and the resource management necessary to wage decades-long wars in the ancient world. Prevas began his study as part of a Latin class, so he starts with the documents, and offers background on when, by whom and why the source was made, and how it affects the information offered about Hannibal.

Hannibal's Oath is a well researched, very accessible biography of one of the most famous military leaders in western history. John Prevas has woven a strong narrative that doesn't waver from chapter to chapter. I particularly like that he is very clear about the suppositions he makes and the potential problems with ancient source material. His end notes are well written and clarify information exceptionally well. I especially liked the note about the hands-on experiment he did with heating a large boulder and pouring vinegar on it to make it easier to break up (the hypothesized way Hannibal's engineers cleared the alpine trail of a massive boulder).
Like many biographies of ancient historical figures, Hannibal's Oath left me wishing for more, and decrying the sparseness of primary sources about his personal life.
I would happily recommend this book to both the reader with a casual interest in ancient history and the confirmed ancient history buff.

A fascinating and true study of Hannibal, one of ancient Rome's greatest enemies, a brilliant general and, according to John Prevas, a "larger-than-life action hero from the past."

Prevas did the translations from period and later documents, historical research and traveled to the places where Hannibal went, to create one of the most insightful, non-fiction examinations of Hannibal that I've ever read.

It all started with Hannibal's father, Hamilcar. "Hamilcar was furious at what he saw as Roman bad faith, but powerless to intervene at the moment, he chose to bide his time and find another way to even the score." loc 290, ebook. Spoiler alert (if you don't know ancient history): Hamilcar had a bunch of kids and made them swear to destroy Rome. The boys, he groomed as warriors; the girls, he married off advantageously to help his sons.

"As the rituals neared completion, Hamilcar called for Hannibal, then only nine years of age, to join him at the altar. There, the young boy begged his father to take him to Spain, and Hamilcar consented on the condition that Hannibal pledge to the god he would always be an enemy to Rome and to anyone who stood with Rome." loc 323, ebook. No pressure or anything.

The Barcas, Hamilcar's family, create a foothold in Spain. It is from there, that Hannibal will eventually attack the Romans by, famously, crossing the Alps- with elephants in tow.

Anything to do with Hannibal's elephants were my favorite parts of this book. "The elephants were often plied with wine before battle to stimulate their aggression, and while the wine might have done that to some degree, it also seems to have contributed to their tendency to panic and then rampage during the mayhem of the fighting." loc 713, ebook.

Drunk, rampaging elephants! It doesn't get much more dramatic than that.

Though written more like a textbook than a historical fiction (which is my favorite way to learn about history), I still learned a lot from Hannibal's Oath and enjoyed it.

Recommended for classic majors, elephant lovers and fans of ancient history.

An interesting, if slightly terse account. I always find it surprising how little we actually know about such ancient characters.