Reddit reviews The Fall of Carthage (Cassell Military Paperbacks)
We found 6 Reddit comments about The Fall of Carthage (Cassell Military Paperbacks). Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
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Yep, Polybius was an eye-witness to the fall of Carthage during the 3rd Punic war. He was a Greek but worked for the Scipii family as a historian/chronicler. All his work must be tempered by the knowledge that he was essentially writing pro-Scipii propaganda but never the less he was an eye-witness and wrote a very sober account.
This book
http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Fall-Carthage-265-146BC-PAPERBACKS/dp/0304366420
Is also good, tells a decent account of the punic wars, the author doesn't jump to too many conclusions and tries to set out a narrative based on the most reliable sources available.
The only way Hannibal could have won doing that is if he caused the Romans to panic enough to immediately sue for peace. You have to remember that Hannibal was operating far from the Punic bases of supply with no reinforcements apart from what he received from local city states that he had conquered or otherwise persuaded to join him against Rome.
In ancient and medieval warfare sieges were often as bad or worse for the attacking army than they were for the defenders. Hannibal also did not posses a siege train and thus any attempt to invest Rome would take months if it were successful at all. He would be pinned down the entire time which would give the Romans a chance to attack him with their remaining armies. The reason why Hannibal was able to win his spectacular victories was because he always was able to pick when he gave battle. If he were stuck around Rome then he would not have that option and would risk losing everything.
Finally besieging Rome was not part of what we know of Hannibal's strategy. His strategy was to raid and pillage Rome's allied and confederated city states causing them to switch sides while defeating Rome's armies in the field. He hoped to cause Rome to sue for peace and thus allow Carthage to regain the position it held before the first Punic War.
This book is a great account of all three Punic Wars and talks about what Hannibal was trying to do and why he didn't march for Rome in the aftermath of the Battle of Cannae.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Fall-Carthage-265-146BC-Paperbacks/dp/0304366420/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1367682256&sr=8-1&keywords=Punic+Wars
here is a version that doesn't cost $100
Hey, I'm glad to be of service! :D And again, if you need any more, please don't hesitate to ask. On to the points!
For the Punic Wars the book by Goldsworthy (“Fall of Carthage”) is a must read. Goldsworthy is a keen writer that knows how to captivate his reader.
I really enjoyed this one here - though it's more about the Punic wars and mostly from Rome's perspective. It has some background on Carthage. My understanding is that there isn't a whole lot of information about Carthage outside of the Punic wars, though.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Fall-Carthage-265-146BC-Paperbacks/dp/0304366420