{{Infobox book , name = Hannibal's Children , image = CoverH'sC.jpg , caption = First edition cover , author = John Maddox Roberts , country = United States , language = English , cover_artist =

Scott Grimando Scott Grimando is an American illustrator. In his teenage years he studied classical painting under Harold Stevenson, one of the few protégées of Norman Rockwell. Later studying under the aviation artist Attila Hejja, Grimando went on to work wit ...

, genre =

Alternate history Alternate history (also alternative history, althist, AH) is a genre of speculative fiction of stories in which one or more historical events occur and are resolved differently than in real life. As conjecture based upon historical fact, altern ...

, Novel , publisher =

Ace Books Ace Books is a publisher of science fiction (SF) and fantasy books founded in New York City in 1952 by Aaron A. Wyn. It began as a genre publisher of mysteries and westerns, and soon branched out into other genres, publishing its first scienc ...

, release_date = May 2002 , media_type = Print (hardback & paperback) , pages = 368 (first edition, hardback)
359 (paperback edition) , isbn = 0-441-00933-6 , isbn_note= (first edition, hardback) & {{ISBN, 0-441-01038-5 (paperback edition) , dewey = 813/.54 21 , congress = PS3568.O23874 H36 2002 , oclc = 48579406 , preceded_by = , followed_by =

The Seven Hills ''The Seven Hills'' is a 2005 alternate history novel by American writer John Maddox Roberts, a sequel to his 2002 novel '' Hannibal's Children''. Its story ends unresolved, suggesting the series would expand to a trilogy, but no third book ha ...

''Hannibal's Children'' is a 2002

alternate history Alternate history (also alternative history, althist, AH) is a genre of speculative fiction of stories in which one or more historical events occur and are resolved differently than in real life. As conjecture based upon historical fact, altern ...

novel by American writer John Maddox Roberts. It is concluded by its sequel, ''

''.

Plot summary

The novel opens at the alternate close of the

Second Punic War The Second Punic War (218 to 201 BC) was the second of three wars fought between Carthage and Rome, the two main powers of the western Mediterranean in the 3rd century BC. For 17 years the two states struggled for supremacy, primarily in Ital ...

. Hannibal offers terms to the Romans: abandon their city and move north of the Alps, or be destroyed. The Romans, under the dictator Quintus Fabius Maximus, accept the offer and withdraw into

Germania Germania ( ; ), also called Magna Germania (English: ''Great Germania''), Germania Libera (English: ''Free Germania''), or Germanic Barbaricum to distinguish it from the Roman province of the same name, was a large historical region in north- ...

, vowing to return. The Carthaginians declare victory and go home. One chapter and several generations later, the Romans have long since reestablished their republic. These Romans, largely out of need, have adopted a practice of Cultural Romanization more pronounced than the historical Romans did: large numbers of Germans have been adopted into the Roman society, forming a large proportion of both the legions and the Senate. A series of auspicious omens prompt the Senate to send a delegation south into Latium. The expedition leaders are subtly but immediately at cross purposes: the commander, Marcus Scipio, a scion of the ancient patrician Cornelii Scipiones family, is wholly motivated by a desire to reestablish the Republic in the Mediterranean basin. His deputy, Titus Norbanus, one of the newer, Germanic Romans, seeks personal glory, at least in part to ensure that the Germans (particularly his own family) remain as powerful within the expanded Republic as they do under the current scheme. It quickly becomes clear to the Romans that generations of constant warfare in Germania have strengthened them, whereas the Carthaginians have grown soft in the absence of real opposition. The Republic quickly begins playing the Carthaginians off against the

Egyptians Egyptians ( arz, المَصرِيُون, translit=al-Maṣriyyūn, ; arz, المَصرِيِين, translit=al-Maṣriyyīn, ; cop, ⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ, remenkhēmi) are an ethnic group native to the Nile, Nile Valley in Egypt. Egyptian ...

, the only other serious power in the Mediterranean, reclaiming Latium in the process. At the close of the novel, the Egyptian army, led by Scipio and armed with fearsome weapons from the School of Archimedes from the

Library of Alexandria The Great Library of Alexandria in Alexandria, Egypt, was one of the largest and most significant libraries of the ancient world. The Library was part of a larger research institution called the Mouseion, which was dedicated to the Muses, th ...

, outlasts the Carthaginian force, which hurriedly retreats upon hearing the news of the Roman reconquest of Italy. The four Roman legions led by Norbanus, technically Carthaginian auxiliaries, decide to ignore Scipio's offer to join him in Alexandria, and chart their own path to Rome.

Characters

*Marcus Scipio: Leader of Roman Expedition to Carthage and Egypt *Titus Norbanus: Second in command of Roman Expedition *Aulus Flaccus: Senator and diplomat, assistant and friend to Marcus Scipio *Selene II: Queen and Regent of Egypt *Hamilcar II: Shofet of Carthage *Princess Zarabel: Sister of Hamilcar, leader of the Cult of Tanit

Major themes

As with Roberts's historical SPQR series, ''Hannibal's Children'' and its sequel ''

'' explore the decline of the Republic in the face of ambition. In the former, the Caesars and in the latter Norbanus aggressively pursue power for its own sake, in the process exposing weaknesses in the Republic.

Plot summary

Characters

Major themes

See also