''Pride of Carthage'' is a 2005 novel about the Second Punic War by American author

David Anthony Durham David Anthony Durham (born March 23, 1969) is an American novelist, author of historical fiction and fantasy. Durham's first novel, ''Gabriel's Story'', centered on African American settlers in the American West. ''Walk Through Darkness'' fol ...

. It was first published by Doubleday, in the United States, 2005. The book was translated into Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Spanish, and Swedish.

Plot summary

The novel is a retelling of the assault on the

Roman Republic The Roman Republic ( la, Res publica Romana ) was a form of government of Rome and the era of the classical Roman civilization when it was run through public representation of the Roman people. Beginning with the overthrow of the Roman Ki ...

by the Carthaginian general Hannibal. It begins in Ancient Spain, where Hannibal sets out with tens of thousands of soldiers and 30 elephants. After conquering the Roman-allied city of

Saguntum Sagunto ( ca-valencia, Sagunt) is a municipality of Spain, located in the province of Valencia, Valencian Community. It belongs to the modern fertile ''comarca'' of Camp de Morvedre. It is located c. 30 km north of the city of Valencia, cl ...

, Hannibal accepts Rome's declaration of war. He befriends peoples disillusioned by Rome and outwits the opponents who believe the land route he has chosen is impossible. Hannibal's troops suffer brutal losses as they pass through the

Pyrenees Mountains The Pyrenees (; es, Pirineos ; french: Pyrénées ; ca, Pirineu ; eu, Pirinioak ; oc, Pirenèus ; an, Pirineus) is a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. It extends nearly from its union with the Cantabrian Mountains to C ...

, ford the Rhone River, and make a winter crossing of the

Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Swi ...

, before descending to fight battles at the Trebia

River A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of w ...

Lake Trasimene Lake Trasimeno ( , also ; it, Lago Trasimeno ; la, Trasumennus; ett, Tarśmina), also referred to as Trasimene ( ) or Thrasimene in English, is a lake in the province of Perugia, in the Umbria region of Italy on the border with Tuscany. Th ...

, Cannae and Zama. The novel ends roughly where the war ends, although Hannibal lived on for some years as both a political figure and a

mercenary soldier A mercenary, sometimes also known as a soldier of fortune or hired gun, is a private individual, particularly a soldier, that joins a military conflict for personal profit, is otherwise an outsider to the conflict, and is not a member of any o ...

. The novel features a wide cast of characters of many nationalities, from famous generals down to infantrymen and camp followers, from

Numidians The Numidians were the Berber population of Numidia (Algeria and in smaller parts of Tunisia and Morocco). The Numidians were one of the earliest Berber tribes to trade with Carthaginian settlers. As Carthage grew, the relationship with the Nu ...

to Macedonians. Durham draws a complex portrait of Hannibal, both as a warrior and as a husband and father.

Awards and nominations

*Finalist for the 2006 Legacy Award for Fiction from the

Hurston/Wright Foundation The Zora Neale Hurston/Richard Wright Foundation is an American literary nonprofit organization that supports the development and careers of Black writers. The Foundation provides classes, workshops, an annual conference, and offers the Hurston/Wr ...

. *Book Sense 76 pick * Black Issues Book Review’s Best Books of 2005 *Book Sense Extended Bestseller List *For reviews see: Black Issues Book Review (January–February 2005), The Christian Science Monitor (January 11, 2005), The New York Times Book Review (February 6, 2005), The

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and Michael H. de Young. The ...

(February 13, 2005), “All Things Considered” on National Public Radio (February 15, 2005), The News and Observer (February 20, 2005),

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

(March 30, 2005).

References

Further reading (non-fiction)

*Bradford, E, ''Hannibal'', London, Macmillan London Ltd., 1981 *Caven, B., ''Punic Wars'', London, George Werdenfeld and Nicholson Ltd., 1980 *Cottrell, Leonard, ''Hannibal: Enemy of Rome'', Da Capo Press, 1992, *Daly, Gregory, ''Cannae: The Experience of Battle in the Second Punic War'', London/New York, Routledge, 2002, * Delbrück, Hans, ''Warfare in Antiquity'', 1920, *Hoyos, Dexter: ''Hannibal's Dynasty: Power and Politics in the Western Mediterranean, 247–183 B.C.'' (Routledge: London & New York, 2003; paperback edition with maps, 2005) - has much discussion of strategy and warfare. *Hoyos, Dexter, ''Hannibal: Rome's Greatest Enemy'', Bristol Phoenix Press, 2005, (hbk) (pbk) * Lamb, Harold, ''Hannibal: One Man Against Rome'', 1959. *Lancel, Serge, ''Hannibal'', Blackwell Publishing, 1999, *

Livy Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a Roman historian. He wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, titled , covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome before the traditional founding in ...

, and De Selincourt, Aubery, ''The War with Hannibal: Books XXI-XXX of the History of Rome from its Foundation'', Penguin Classics, Reprint edition, July 30, 1965, (pbk)(als

*Prevas, John, ''Hannibal Crosses the Alps: The Invasion of Italy and the Second Punic War'', 2001, , questions which route he took * Richard Talbert, Talbert, Richard J.A., ed., ''Atlas of Classical History'', Routledge, London/New York, 1985,

External links

*
Author's Blog

Various Pride of Carthage ReviewsThe Battle of Cannae
at www.unrv.com

at Roman-empire.net {{DEFAULTSORT:Pride Of Carthage 2005 American novels Second Punic War American historical novels Doubleday (publisher) books Cultural depictions of Hannibal