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Parallel Lives: Hannibal and Scipio in Livy's Third Decade
Author(s): Andreola Rossi
Source: Transactions of the American Philological Association (1974-), Vol. 134, No. 2
(Autumn, 2004), pp. 359-381
Published by: The Johns Hopkins University Press
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of the American
Transactions
134
Association
Philological
(2004)
359-381
Parallel Lives:
Hannibal and Scipio in Livy s Third Decade
ANDREOLA ROSSI
Harvard
andAmherst
University
College
summary:
I trace the correspondences between the lives of Hannibal and Scipio
in the third Decade of Ab urbe condita and show how Livy fashions the two as
"parallel lives." I further explore how this synkrisis reflects issues critical to the
political discourse of the late Republic and sets up an exemplary antithesis be
tween
Rome's
virtus
past
and
her
decline.
present
in Auc 30.30, Hannibal
and scipio, the undisputed protagonists of the De
cade and, as Livy reminds us, the greatest leaders of their age, meet on the
field of Zama, just before the Carthaginians
and Romans engage inwhat will
time
be their final confrontation
the
(for
being). The entire episode, undoubt
one
of
of
the
climactic
the
narrative, is indebted to Polybius' ac
points
edly
count.1 Within
charac
it, however, Hannibal's
speech presents un-Polybian
teristics that need closer scrutiny. After a rather somber and lengthy reflection
on the fickleness of fortune (Polybian in tone and theme), Hannibal devel
ops important points of comparison between himself and Scipio that are com
pletely
absent from the Polybian
version
(30.30.12-152):
id tu hodie es. Vixdum militari
Quod ego fui ad Trasumennum, ad Cannas,
aetate imperio accepto omnia audacissime
et
Patris
fortuna.
insigne virtutis
inde
quattuor
patrui
persecutus
eximiae
pietatisque
Punicis
exercitibus
incipientem
ex calamitate
mortem
nusquam
vestrae
cepisti; amissas Hispanias
pulsis;
consul
creatus,
fefellit
domus
cum
decus
reciperasti
ceteris
ad
Italiam parum animi esset, transgressus in Africam duobus hie
exercitibus caesis, binis eadem hora captis simul incensisque castris, Syphace
tutandam
1
See Plb.
15.6.4-7.9
with Walbank
ad loc.
2For
books 26-30 the text is that of Conway and Johnson; for 21-25 it is that ofWalters
and Conway.
repented
On
hybrist?s.
this passage
Cf.
see Mader
also Butler
and
206-9,
Scullard
who
views
ad loc,
Hannibal's
Edlund,
and Will
as that of a
speech
168-69.
Andreola Rossi
360
rege
potentissimo
sextum
mihi
tot urbibus
capto,
iam annum
decimum
eius,
regni
tot nostri
in possessione
haerentem
imperii
Italiae
ereptis,
me
et
detraxisti....
talis aliquando fortuna adfulsit.
Iwas
What
at Trasimene,
at Cannae,
that you
are
today.
a com
received
Having
mand when barely old enough for service, you undertook everything with the
greatest boldness; nowhere fortune did fail you. By avenging the death of your
father and uncle you won from the disaster to your family a splendid reputa
tion
for courage
and
devotion.
extraordinary
You
recovered
the
lost provinces
of Spain, driving out of them four Punic armies. Elected consul, while the rest
lacked courage to defend Italy, you crossed over to Africa. Here you destroyed
two
armies,
captured
two
in the
camps
same
and
hour
burnt
at the
them
same
time, took prisoner Syphax, amost powerful king, seized somany cities of his
kingdom, so many in our domain, dragged me away when for sixteen years I
had
clung
to the possession
of
Italy....
Once
on me,
too,
such
fortune
smiled.
In his speech Hannibal retraces the various phases of Scipio s career in detail and
by a process of careful selection shapes Scipio's life and career into a virtual mir
ror image of his own. Hannibal, too, had been elected general of an army when
still in his youth and had shown unflinching devotion to his family. He, too, had
led victorious campaigns in Spain and recovered it from the enemy. Likewise, he
had proceeded from Spain to his enemy's homeland, and, after numerous field
its power. As Hannibal
victories, had come near to annihilating
rightly states
at the opening
was
of this portion
at Trasimene
and
Cannae.
of the speech, what
On
him,
too,
such
Scipio is at Zama, Hannibal
fortunes
once
shone.
at a significant point in the narrative (the end of the Decade and
the end of the Second Punic War), Hannibal's
speech is not only an elabora
Placed
tion of the theme of "the fickleness
of fortune" in Polybian fashion. It also
an
ac
narrative
thread in the Decade. Hannibal's
helps identify
important
count encourages readers to re-read and interpret as "parallel lives" the sto
ries of the two generals' lives given in the previous books of the Decade.
lives" is commonly
associated with Plutarch's
in
the
which
author
compares the life of a
homonymous
biographical work,
Greek with the life of a Roman by pairing them and interpreting one "life" in
light of the other. As Duff states ( 10), "each pair of Parallel Lives must be read
The expression
"parallel
as a complete book, not as individual biographies: no one Life can be under
its partner." Plutarch's enterprise, however, was not a novelty
stood without
in theWestern
tradition; rather, itmarked the apex of a long tradition in the
biographical genre.3 More relevant for the present study is the fact that, prior
3
Prior
to Plutarch,
ity in the Latin
literature
the pairing
of lives of historical
enjoys
figures
b.c.e.
and can be best
of the first century
its greatest
interpreted
popular
as an ex
Parallel Lives
361
to Plutarch, synkrisis is also an important means of moral characterization
in the related genre of historiography. Thucydides
in his History already dis
an
in
interest
setting up implicit comparisons between important his
plays
torical
characters.4
to move
Sallust,
on
to Latin
historiography,
con
openly
as representatives
of antithetical aspects of Roman
virtus.5 Livy, as is noted by many scholars, exploits synkrisis to spin narrative
of his history.
threads that inform the meaning
trasts Caesar
and Cato
In her recent book Livy sWritten Rome, Jaeger convincingly argues that Livy
to one another.
the stories of Manlius
and Camillus complementary
Manlius
and Camillus match each other in their fight against the Gauls,
makes
defending the citadel from the inside, Camillus coming to its rescue
from the outside. Afterwards, however, their lives diverge. Camillus becomes
a second Romulus and the new founder of a city that encompasses
the entire
group of Romans, while Manlius becomes his rival and antithesis. By stirring
Manlius
up sedition and by separating the Capitol from the rest of the city, Manlius
becomes the embodiment
of awould-be
conditor alterius urbis, the founder
of a city represented by one place and one man only, the Capitol and Manlius.6
Livy sets up a similar series of antitheses in his portraits of Aemilius Paullus
and Perseus.
of
pression
Cicero
the Romans'
attempt
an important
draws
dialogue
is presented
Paullus
is permeated
as the consummate
to assert
comparison
between
by comparisons
equality with
Themistocles
their
between
Greeks
of exemplary
figure
In Brutus
Greece.
and Coriolanus,
and Romans.
Nepos,
41-43
and
the
his contem
is the author of an important
of Livy),
work
entitled
(and a near contemporary
a universal
can be read as an attempt
to
that
and
compare
history
synchronize
events. Greeks,
Greek and Roman
historic
however, were not the only target of compari
son. Nepos'
most
famous work, De viris illustribus,
extends
the field of inquiry
to other
porary
Chronica,
nations
and
a book of
juxtaposes
biographies
were at least 16 books and 400
of famous
lives were
non-Romans
Romans.
There
each
treated before
the Roman.
The book of
being
out by Hannibal's
turns to Roman
life. After
this life Nepos
a book
of
the foreigner
the non-Roman
duces
category
rounded
with
with
compared,
generals,
in
is
"so that
it
might be easier to judgewhich side produced the better by comparing the deeds of the
with
foreigners
qui viri praeferendi
those
of the Romans"
sint, possit
(Han.
iudicari).
13A
Probably
quo facilius
we will never
collatis
know
utrorumque
whether
factis,
Scipio
ap
peared inNepos' list of famous Roman generals (very likely) and whether (or how) he
was
directly
Romans'
compared
fondness
in its relation
tory
4
with
Hannibal.
for biographical
to other cultures.
Nepos'
work
(and Cicero's),
as a tool
synkrisis
See Scardigli
to
20-21,
however,
and define
organize
with
relevant
See Scardigli
Cf. also Duff
243-45.
4, with bibliography.
5
mea ingenti virtute, divorsis moribus
Sal. Cat. 53.6 Sed memoria
et C Caesar.
I thank an anonymous
referee for this reference.
6
57-93.
Jaeger
fuere
reveals
Roman
the
his
bibliography.
viri duo, M.
Cato
Andreola Rossi
362
knowledge, his rival Perseus as a foreigner who, unlike his Roman opponent,
fails to learn from the past.7
and antitheses between leading characters be
This web of associations
comes even more complex and pronounced
in the third Decade. As was sug
of this Decade, Fabius
gested byWalsh, the three main Roman protagonists
out
and
stand
"as complementary
Cunctator, Marcellus,
Scipio Africanus,
facets of the Roman genius for warfare and enlightened
government."8 All
three are also set against Hannibal.9 This contrast ismost explicit for the pair
and Scipio, the focus of the present study.
Hannibal
in
study on the third Decade, Burck casts Livy's Hannibal
the role of the antihero (33-34); for Burck, Livy sees only insidiae, dolus, and
fraus inHannibal's conception of military operations, inhuman cruelty in their
execution, mere satisfaction of vengeance and greed for booty in victory. This
is exactly the opposite of Livy's portrayal of Scipio, who is represented, ac
In his seminal
respect for his duty,
cording to Burck, as constantly showing self-confidence,
women. Walsh,
to
the
comitas
and
verecundia
towards
dementia,
vanquished,
a
to
two
characters and plays it out in terms
too, alludes
synkrisis between the
in the role of the
similar to those adopted by Burck. He casts Livy's Hannibal
and
deceitful,
pitiless,
irreligious Carthaginian who puts his
tough, vigorous,
trust wholly in fortune and ultimately confesses that his trust has been wrongly
based. Scipio, by contrast, is represented as the fatalis dux whose "piety to the
gods and equity to men underlies all his attitudes."10 Thus Livy's Scipio be
comes the embodiment
of Roman
virtus, Hannibal,
the embodi
by contrast,
ment
of foreign vices.
In this study Imove
beyond this familiar set of antitheses. Following the
between the life
speech, I trace the web of correspondences
cue of Hannibal's
7
118-19.
See Chaplin
humanorum
documentum
notes
Chaplin
casuum
(45.40.6)
in his final contio.
of the two men
8
1982: 1067. According
Walsh
Roman
and
conservative
are
savagery
later offensive
wisdom.
juxtaposed
advocated
Livy's
9
characterization
For Fabius
Livy
links
cautior
Fabius,
is, in turn,
compare
quam
the sword
as a
Perseus
the misfortunes
promptior,
of Rome,
and dementia.
prudentia
with
and his policy
is contrasted
Fabius'
and
Paullus
epitomizes
whose
audacia
the
represents
Scipio
the policy
For other
of contain
see my discussion
of
below.
examples
by Fabius. On this topic
see Walsh
1961: 82-109
via comparison
and Burck 31-36.
seeWalsh
seeWalsh
For Marcellus
1961:106.
and Hannibal
and Hannibal
ment
1982:1067.
10
Walsh
of the war
phase
toWalsh,
Marcellus,
with
that
and has Aemilius
1982:
1068.
Cipriani,
and Mader.
Hannibal
and
For Livy's
See
the Alexander
also
of Hannibal
representation
Borzs?k,
who
of the historiographie
sees
important
tradition.
see further
parallels
Canter,
between
Will,
Livy's
Parallel Lives
of Hannibal
half. I connect
363
in the first half of the Decade
critical moments
and that of Scipio in the second
in their parallel lives and explore how the
of the tales of Hannibal and Scipio does not simply
synkritic representation
the
exploit
exemplary opposition between a foreign enemy of Rome, bearer
of foreign vices, and his Roman opponent. Rather, Livy's parallel lives of Scipio
reflect issues critical to the political discourse
and Hannibal
simultaneously
of the late Republic and set up an exemplary
Rome's past virtus and her present decline.
1. PASSAGE
between
antithesis
the tales of
TO SPAIN
swears that he will be
still a boy, and at his father's bidding, Hannibal
an enemy to the Romans
Soon
summoned
after,
(21.1.4).
by Hasdrubal, he
without
the stern
joins the Carthaginian
general and his army in Spain?not
a
men
and
of
Hanno
few
who
all
the
best
included
men,
opposition
practically
While
of his father endears him to the army?the
(21.4.1). At first, the memory
soon
soldiers believe that the young Hamilcar has been restored to them?but
his own merits win over soldiers and superiors alike (21.4.1-3). Hence, when
is appointed his successor at the soldiers' ur
is killed, Hannibal
Hasdrubal
gent request, although he is still in his youth (21.3.1
put, is the information given by Livy about Hannibal's
iuvenis).11 This, briefly
life and career prior to
the war.
account of the first military operation of the war,
Hannibal's siege of Saguntum. After a fierce resistance the city capitulates. Livy
rounds out his description of its capture with a coda that records the painful
deaths endured by some of its citizens: in order not to fall into the hands of
Next
follows the detailed
the enemy some of them decide to throw themselves headlong
into the fire
their
shut
their
themselves,
wives, and chil
possessions, others
together with
dren into their houses and kill themselves by setting their homes ablaze
(21.14.1,4).
Where Livy compresses his account of Hannibal's
early years into a few
continuous passages, he gives Scipio's youth a much fuller, albeit more dif
fuse, treatment. Like Hannibal, Scipio shows military virtus and courage early
on: with an act of valor he rescues his wounded
father in the battle of Ticinus
(21.46.7). Livy also reports an oath sworn by Scipio, right after the debacles
of Trasimene and Cannae: when he learns that many of the nobles were say
ing that Rome was doomed and some were planning to escape overseas, Scipio,
still a youth (iuvenis), solemnly swears never to desert the republic of the
Roman people or to allow any other Roman citizen to do so (22.53.5-13).
11
For Livy's
portrait
of Hannibal
(21.4.2-9)
see my
discussion
below.
364
Andreola Rossi
Eventually, likeHannibal, he is elected commander in chief in spite of his youth
and is shipped to the same province, Spain, where Hannibal had begun his
operations.12 The successful capture of New Carthage marks the
military
of his campaign
and, as in the case of Hannibal's
beginning
capture of
a
coda rounds out Livy's description of the event (26.50): Scipio
Saguntum,
restores a captive woman unharmed
to her parents and grants her an addi
tional dowry tomarry her betrothed, a leading man of the Celtiberians. This
time, however, thanks to Scipio's exemplary show of dementia and benignitas,
are replaced by scenes of reconcili
images of flames, death, and destruction
ation, the promise of awedding, and an important alliance between Romans
and Celtiberians. History indeed worked wonders in creating parallels between
and that of Scipio, but let us now examine how Livy uses
these parallels to fashion meaning.
We begin by analyzing Scipio's first speech to his troops upon his arrival
in Spain as general in 210. Placed in the first book of the second Pentad, Scipio's
the life of Hannibal
speech (26.41.3-25)
explores (and exploits) themes that define the role he
envisions for himself both as heir of his family and as member of the Roman
State. In Livy's narrative Scipio is, above all, eager to present himself as the
son of the man under whose command the troops
previously served, seeking
a
to
establish
between
himself and his soldiers.
thereby
privileged relationship
When
Hannibal
first joined his father's army in Spain, the old soldiers
that
the
young Hamilcar had been restored to them, for they saw the
thought
same vigor in his look, the same fire in his eyes, the same expressions and
features in his face.13What came naturally to Hamilcar's veterans is here ex
pressly solicited by the newly appointed Roman general. Scipio underscores
to his father and uncle, and promises his soldiers
his physical resemblance
soon
that
he will also reproduce an image of their mind, of their loyalty and
courage, "so that each man shall say that his general Scipio has come back to
life or has been born again."14 He offers his soldiers a spectacle of imagines of
the dead and casts himself as their living embodiment;
through him the dead
men continue to exist both in body and in soul. The speech creates a
striking
12
26.19.9
Imperium
tune civitas
permisit.
development.
vimque
14
26.41.25
haudquaquam
Scipio,
appointment
who
had not
invested with proconsular
13
21.4.2 Hamilcarem
voltu
aetati
This
in oculis,
maturae
tantam
been
32.
See Scullard
Imperium.
iuvenem
sibi veteres milites
redditum
habitum
oris
rerum molem
an important
stage in Rome's
or consul, was
the first
praetor
marks
intueri.
credere;
tantumque
constitutional
privatus
eundem
to be
vigorem
in
lineamentaque
nunc noscitatis
in me patris patruique
ut, quemadmodum
et lineamenta
oris voltusque
ita
similitudinem
corporis,
virtutisque
ingeniifidei
effigiem vobis
sibi quisque
reddam ut revixisse aut renatum
dicat.
Scipionem
imperatorem
Brevi
faciam
Parallel Lives
themes of loss and new life. As Scipio
soldiers, he is a new leaf, a new branch of an old family
ask you, soldiers, is that you look with favor upon the
upon the scion of your generals (suboli imperatorum
himself
balance between
again, as it were,
from
stems
that have been
365
reminds his
tree (26.41.22): "All I
name of the Scipios,
cut down
vestrorum),
growing
(accisis recrescenti
stirpibus)."
This is not, however, the only role Scipio claims for himself. His mapping
of Roman history, which culminates with a reminder of his family's accom
in the present war, reveals Scipio's
plishment
tion between familia and state.
interest in creating
a connec
Scipio's excursus on Roman history begins with his recalling themany times
Rome has been on the brink of disaster (26.41.9): "It is the lot assigned to us
by some fate," Scipio says, "that in all the great wars we have emerged victori
ous from defeat." A list of exempla follows (26.41.10-12): Porsenna, the Gauls,
the Samnites; the many fleets, generals, and armies defeated in the First Pu
the many battles lost in the Second Punic
nic War; of more recent memory,
War: Trebia, Trasimene, Cannae; the revolt of Italy, Sardinia, and a great part
of Sicily; and finally the threatening presence of Hannibal
and his army al
at the gates of Rome.15 In this general crash, one thing only was left stand
intact
and unshakable: the courage of the Roman people (26.41.12). Sig
ing
nificantly, Scipio rounds out his excursus on Roman history by mentioning
his father's achievements
(26.41.13):
most
Under
diers,
the command
to oppose
and auspices of my father, you were the first of all, sol
Hasdrubal
when
he,
after
the defeat
at Cannae,
was
on his way
to the Alps and Italy; and if he had joined his brother, the very name of the
Roman
people
would
be no more.
out of the story of Rome, the feats of his family?the
In Scipio's mapping
an integral part of the history of the state: had
history of his familia?become
it not been for his father and its army, the name of Rome would have been
erased forever. We
can go even further. In Scipio's speech, the behavior of
(and that of their soldiers) parallels the paradigmatic
state. As Scipio points out (26.41.12), thanks to its
Scipio's father and uncle
behavior of the Roman
own virtus Rome
survived great perils and the general crash (Ln hac ruina
was
to
it
which
rerum)
exposed during the Second Punic War; this alone stood
intact and unshakable (stetituna integra atque immobilis virtuspopuliRomani).
Itwas this virtus that raised and set up all the debris scattered to the ground
15
The
omitto.
first
three
exempla
are, however,
introduced
indirectly
by the disclaimer
vetera
Andreola Rossi
366
(haec omnia strata humi erexit acsustulit). Likewise, under the command and
auspices of Scipio's father (26.41.13 ductu auspicioque patris mei), the army
stood against (obstitistis) Hasdrubal
and saved Rome from complete oblit
(nullum iam nomen essetpopuli Romani). Together with his father and
fortune of the Roman
uncle, the soldiers were able to uphold the wavering
vos
cum
meis...
sustinuisse
hic
labantem fortunam
parentibus
people (26.41.17
In
the
of
of his family
members
behavior
the
populi Romani).16
Scipio's speech,
eration
and their armies exemplifies therefore the virtus of the Roman people. From
this perspective, Scipio's claim to be his father's scion moves beyond a nar
row family dimension. By proclaiming
that he will soon reproduce an image
(26.41.25 effigiem) of his father's and uncle's mind,
loyalty, and courage
heir to
himself simultaneously
(26.41.25 virtutis), he is in fact proclaiming
the virtus of the patria. For Scipio, family traditions and history are a reflec
tion of the traditions and history of the State. His devotion to the mores of
the familia is an expression of his loyalty to the mores of the patria. Thus, Scipio
effectively reconciles affiliation to patria with affiliation to familia and un
derscores that to benefit the former is to promote the welfare of the latter. He
reminds his army of veterans that their ability to defend the territory of Spain
has simultaneously
benefited him, in his capacity asmember of the family of
the Scipiones, and the nation as awhole (26.41.4-5):
laid me
Fortune
or
camp
under
... because
obligation
when
to you,
possession
of
before
I could
the province
had
even
see my
been
so
province
disastrously
lost, you by your courage (virtute vestra) held it intact both for the Roman
(populo Romano) and for me as their successor (successori mihi).17
people
Patria and familia, however, are not interchangeable
entities; the latter is not
the equivalent of the former but merely one of its parts. Hence, affiliation and
loyalty to the one cannot fully replace affiliation to the other. Cicero enunci
ates this concept
in de Officiis
(1.57):
But when you have surveyed everything with a rational mind, there is no alliance
(societas) more important and dearer than the one that links each one of us with
our
country.
Parents
are dear,
children
are dear,
and
so are relatives
and
friends;
but the homeland by itself (patria) embraces all our affections; and what good
citizen would hesitate to give his life for it, if he could benefit it by his death?18
16
On
17
Cf.
casion
this
speech
see also
Scipio's
speech
Scipio establishes
Jaeger 100 n. 16.
on
to quell the mutiny
in Spain. Similarly
of his troops
an
between
and
the
because
himself
country:
equivalence
the soldiers have banished
the memory
of their country
and of himself
mutiny
ex animis vestris).
Sed horum quoque memoriam,
sicut patriae meique,
eieceritis
18
116-23.
See also Feldherr
that oc
of their
(28.28.8
Parallel Lives
367
Scipio's famous oath after the defeat at Cannae provides the readers with a
of the same idea: loyalty to the familia is subordinate
dramatic endorsement
to that to the patria. Scipio iswilling to sacrifice family and family posses
sions should his oath of loyalty to the state be proven false (22.53.10-11):
"I swear from my heart," he says, "that Imyself will not desert the republic of
the Roman people, or permit any other Roman citizen to desert it; if I know
ingly speak false, may you Jupiter Optimus Maximus bring me, my house, my
family,
and my
to a shameful
estate
ruin."
portrait of the young Scipio begins to emerge. Livy's
Scipio, as presented in the early phases of his career and upon his arrival in
Spain, is the Roman civis who correctly defines the norms of the complex
relationship between patria and familia, public and private, individual and
A clear and coherent
collectivity.19
Hannibal's
early career ismarked by an opposite political ideology, as is
foreshadowed by the solemn oath that first introduces the reader
powerfully
to his character. Hannibal's
oath, contrary to Scipio's, takes place in a private
setting. It seals a compact between a child and his father; at his father's bid
ding the son swears on the altar of the gods to carry on, from one generation
to the next, the hatred of his family towards the Romans (21.1.4). Hannibal's
line of conduct will be forever limited and controlled by the nature of his
pledge. In Livy's narrative, it is, above all, Hannibal's close identification with
his family that drives his campaign
against the Romans
(21.5.1-2):
For the rest, from the day he was proclaimed commander in chief, as though
Italy had been assigned to him as his province and he had been instructed to
wage
war
on Rome,
he decided
to attack
Saguntum.
He
thought
that no
post
ponement was permissible lest he, too, like his father Hamilcar, and afterwards
Hasdrubal, should be overtaken by some accident while delaying.
as a rather unsatisfying
explanation of the causes of the Sec
ond Punic War,20 this passage gains poignant relevance in light of Hannibal's
Often dismissed
19
Cf.
where
28.28.11-13,
Scipio
praises
the ability
of
the state
to survive
the
loss of
however
individuals,
great.
20
is little trace of these reasons given by
"There
See, for example,
Burck,
esp. 29-30:
Fabius Pictor and Polybius
in Livy....
he
ascribes
the entire responsibility
for the
Instead,
war to Hannibal
and the majority
of the Carthaginian
Senate. Hannibal's
his
de
hatred,
sire for power
other,
the war
but
and his
always,
from
against Rome
the Second
Punic War
one
to an
for military
craving
glory urge him from
undertaking
on
the moment
of assuming
his command,
his
keeping
sights set
in Italy." For modern
criticisms
of Livy's analysis
of the causes of
see further
xiv.
Jal xxxv-
Andreola Rossi
368
of the war against
oath, for it effectively reflects Hannibal's conceptualization
Rome as an additional chapter of the on-going private struggle between his
family and the Romans. Inwaging war against the Romans, Hannibal carries
on his family tradition and fulfills his oath. He carries out what his father and
had long striven for but failed to accomplish.
brother-in-law
Respectively placed at the beginning of the first and second Pentads, Scipio's
journeys to Spain define a turning point in Livy's narrative of
each general's life. Hannibal's
arrival in Spain and his subsequent capture of
not
obvious beginning
mark
the
of the hostilities between
only
Saguntum
and Hannibal's
but, as in the case of Scipio, are also the events inwhich
the general actively recognizes his role as heir to his family legacy and com
mits to his inheritance. But Hannibal's
behavior reveals a fatal flaw. Unlike
Rome
and Carthage
is unable to reconcile his affiliation to the legacy of the fam
Scipio, Hannibal
to his patria. He privileges the interests of his familia
and
his
affiliation
ily
over those of the state. In crossing into Spain and beginning
the war against
Rome, Hannibal misreads or rather willfully
ignores the instructions of his
own patria. He operates "as though (velut) Italy had been assigned to him as
his province and he had been instructed to wage war on Rome." This line of
and his expedition. But it does
a
set
of
anticipates (in
speeches that are most prob
Livian
Hannibal's
subversion
of loyalties results in a
"fabrications"21),
ably
serious threat to the existence of Carthage itself.
for himself
conduct will have dire consequences
not end here. As Hanno
first speech (the first of the Decade)
takes place when Hannibal
to join Hamilcar's
in
army
Spain.22 Opposing
popular sentiment,
Hanno cautions the Carthaginians
about letting the young Hannibal
join the
son
we
fear that... the
of the king whose son
army of his father (21.3.5): "Do
Hanno's
is about
heir to the command of our armies may find us too slow in
our master?" Rather, Hannibal
him
should be kept at home and
for
accepting
to the laws (sub legibus) and the magistrates
be taught to live in submission
on equal footing (aequo iure) with others, in order to
(sub magistratibus),
in-law was made
prevent him from harming the country in the future, or as Hanno has it, "lest
this small fire one day kindle a great conflagration"
(21.3.6 ne quandoque
incendium
Hanno's
is given to no
hie
parvus
ingens exsuscitet).
warning
ignis
to
not
learn to submit to
avail. Hannibal
is allowed
join the army and does
the laws of the state. When
21
22
See Lenschau
and Clauss
the Roman
174 n.
ambassadors
arrive at Carthage
after
19.
In Livy, Hanno's
first speech is reported when Hannibal's
to be ratified by the Carthaginians,
but it refers to a previous
was allowed
a
to
Hamilcar's
army.
join
youth,
election
to general
event when
Hannibal,
is about
still
Parallel Lives
369
has already crossed to Spain and besieged Saguntum, it is too late.
is here cast in the role of the
Hanno, who, as is noted by Mader
(209-16),
that Hannibal has become
Herodotean wise adviser, alerts the Carthaginians
an internal enemy besieging the state.23 The Carthaginians
have nourished
Hannibal
the fire now engulfing Carthage itself (21.10.4 Aluistis ergo hoc incendium quo
nuncardetis).
In a recent book Feldherr has shown how Livy's history is, among other
of
things, a gallery of exempla that (120) "not only teach the subordination
the smaller unit in the interests of the larger state but also reinforce both the
and the parallelism
between
interdependency
family, state, and body."
Cincinnatus
leaves his farm to become dictator, Brutus puts his sons to death
for treason, Mucius Scaevola burns off his hand in what is a demonstration
of Roman citizenship. In the third Decade Livy develops this theme by shaping
the characters of Hannibal and Scipio as representatives of two antithetical con
ceptions of the relation between individual and State. Scipio is shown as fol
lowing the exemplary behavior of Cincinnatus, Brutus, and Mucius Scaevola.
is his negative complement. He embodies the menace that threatens
Hannibal
the very existence of the life of a state when
such a relationship is subverted?he
states, threatens to destroy the collectivity.
is the internal fire that, as Hanno
2. GENERALSHIP
PUT
TO THE
TEST
In 216, after his legendary crossing of the Alps and an uninterrupted
string
of victories at Ticinus (218),Trebia (218), Trasimene (217), and Cannae (216),
sets his winter quarters in Capua, the city that had deserted the
Hannibal
Romans
to side with
the Carthaginians. Drawing on previous accounts
tradition that connected a people's character with
and
on an ethnographical
that
of the land they inhabit, Livy gives readers a brief but significant description
of the city. As Livy puts it, the city was almost genetically inclined to luxury
(23.4.4 Prona semper civitas in luxuriam), a result not only of defects of char
acter but also of the abundant
ment
23
quatit
of all the charms,
21.10.10
ariete.
Carthagini
For an analysis
for indulgences and the beguile
opportunity
the amoenitas, of land and sea.24 The story that fol
nunc Hannibal
of Hanno's
vineas
speeches
moenia
turresque admovet:
Carthaginis
see further Paratore
40-66
and Clauss
relevant bibliography.
174-77, with
24
to this topic at 27.3.2, where
he reports
Flaccus
that Fulvius
removed
Livy returns
the Roman
weaken
that its great charms might
his army, as
army from the city fearing
to a referee. For a similar
I owe this last reference
Cf. also 7.38.5-8;
they had Hannibal's.
see
to its
Plb.
of
attributes
7.1, who, however,
Capua
description
Capua's
luxury mainly
a
on the topos that connects
wealth. More
to
environment
generally,
physically
benign
luxus and malum
otium
see Thomas
126.
Andreola Rossi
370
lows iswell known. The Carthaginian
army, seduced by the luxuria of Capua,
a
Once inside the city, the undefeated
dangerous metamorphosis.
undergoes
are no longer what they were. The Carthaginian
army, never
falls victim to the excesses of comfort
(23.18.11
conquered by hardships,
ac
vicerat
nimia
mali
nulla
bona
vis,
Ltaque, quos
perdidere
voluptates
Carthaginians
immodicae). Sleep, wine, rich dinners, prostitutes, bathing, and idleness so
weaken the bodies and spirits of the Carthaginian
soldiers that it is their past
victories
rather than their present strength that thereafter protects them
(23.18.12); the Carthaginian
army becomes a shadow of its former self.25 Livy
his account of this sudden metamorphosis
with a somber remark
"and so, by Hercules,
itwas as if he
underscoring Hannibal's
responsibility:
(sc.Hannibal) was setting out from Capua with a different army, for he had
concludes
(23.18.14 Ltaque hercule, velut
preserved nothing at all of the old discipline"
cum
a
si
alio exercitu Capua exiret, nihil usquampristinae
disciplinae tenuit).26
be
in terms of its
evaluated
the
for
may
episode
presenting
Livy's strategy
topos-like quality. Livy himself exploits the same theme in the opening chap
cam
ter of Book 39, creating a juxtaposition between the Roman military
paigns against the Ligurians on the one hand and Vulso's campaign in Asia
on the other.27 The former had the effect of making the troops keener to show
their valor (39.1.2); the military campaign inAsia had the opposite effect: as
a result of the attractive nature of its cities, the abundant provisions from land
and sea, the effeminacy of its people, and its royal wealth, Asia was making
richer rather than more courageous
(39.1.3 ditiores quam
Hence
exercitus
the
introduction
of
the
first seeds of luxuria
fortiores
faciebat).
into the Urbs (39.6.7-9). But there is another important aspect to the story.
Roman
armies
25
For a similar
solely of Hannibal's
and
see D.S.
account
behavior:
26.11 and App. Hann.
43. The latter, however,
"This fierce warrior
up to unaccustomed
gave himself
the delights
of love."
26
see Weissenborn
On this passage
Hannibal
and
openly
a different
alium
inde eduxisse).
been Hannibal's
and M?ller
ad loc. Cf.
also
23.45.6,
the fact that he led one army into winter
acknowledges
se in hiberna
one out of them
alium profecto
(militem
The
Cannae
Hannibal's
idea
is reiterated
(23.45.4).
See further
at Capua
who
by Marcellus,
was
23.18.13,
seen
where
as a more
where
Livy's
at Capua
Capuam
duxisse,
that Capua
states
serious
luxury
quarters
declares
Livy
speaks
that among
mistake
had
the
than not
experts
delay
to the city of Rome
at
after the victory
led the Carthaginian
army immediately
as
this
mistake
That delay could be regarded
the
victory,
delayed
having merely
as having
to win.
taken away from him the power
27
on the passage
see Walsh
For a discussion
1994 ad loc. For a full treatment
of the
military
having
Cannae.
in Livy as a corrupting
element
of the introduction
For Livy's predating
see note below
and later discussion.
idea of
250-64.
luxuria
that contributed
of
luxuria
to Rome's
in Rome
with
decline
see Luce
respect
to Sallust
Parallel Lives
371
As he had done with Hannibal, Livy connects Vulso's inability to preserve the
old discipline with his army's changed behavior. In fact this time he does so
even more prominently.
In 39.6.5 Livy reports that one of the reasons Vulso
his triumph was that he was rumored to have undermined
by all
that his predecessor L. Scipio had
of laxity the military discipline
that Vulso's
strictly preserved (cf. also 39.1.4). Livy further adds (39.6.6-7)
was
was
not
sullied
unfavorable
of
what
said to
reports
reputation
only by
delayed
manner
in the province but also from what could be seen every day
have happened
his
soldiers
(in militibus eius), for foreign luxury had been brought
amongst
to the city by the army that had been inAsia.
Livy's predecessor Sallust uses a similar topos to explain Roman decadence.28
For Sallust, however, the army is that of Sulla, and the year is 83 b.c.e. For
him, too, the fierce army of men is seduced by the amenities of the land (Asia
home an army of women
(Cat. 11.5 Loca amoena,
in
otio
?nimos
And in his ac
militum
molliverant)P
voluptaria facile
ferocis
to
Roman
victim
the
the
luxuria
of
the East is ex
count, too,
army's falling
plicitly connected with failed leadership: to secure the loyalty of the army he
again)
and returns
leads into Asia, Sulla allows it a luxurious style of living and an excessive li
cense foreign to the manners of the Roman forefathers (Cat. 11.5 exercitum
... contra
morem
maiorum
luxuri?se
nimisque
that transforms Hannibal's
morphosis
their
stay at Capua foreshadows
during
a Roman
liber aliter
habuerat).
The
meta
into an army of effeminates
the destiny endured at a later time by
itself. Iwill return to this aspect later,
soldiers
army and eventually by Rome
now
it suffices to say that the topos that presents the sturdy victor as
but for
seduced by the amoenitas of a foreign country is also constructed as a power
ful exemplum of unsuccessful
leadership, as is shown by the episodes so far
analyzed. As the accounts of Livy and Sallust suggest, the army's falling vic
tim to the allurements of luxuria is also closely connected with the general's
failure to enforce and preserve the former discipline. But in Livy's narrative
of the Second Punic War Hannibal's
is not the only one put to
generalship
the
test.
After having completed a successful campaign in Spain, Scipio returns to
New Carthage, fulfills his vows to the gods, celebrates gladiatorial games in
28
On
and Livy's see Earl 45-46.
the
Earl notices
in their descriptions
of the lax discipline
of
the armies
and in listing articles of luxury. He then explains
Sallust's postdating
of the
as an effort on Sallust's part to be consistent,
various
decline
since his over
stages of moral
the relation
similarities
concentration
between
on
between
Sallust's
the two accounts
concordia
has
the earlier second
See
century.
29
See also Ramsey
ad loc.
led him
further
account
both
to reject
below.
the tradition
of the growth
of
luxuria
in
Andreola Rossi
372
of his father and uncle, and, after quelling amutiny, returns to Rome
in 206 where he easily wins the consulship
(28.21-38). The following year he
moves
into his province, Sicily, to prepare his next move in the war against
honor
the crossing to Africa.30 While
in Sicily, Scipio and his army meet a
similar to the one Hannibal and his army faced during their winter
Hannibal:
challenge
in Capua,
at least according
of the Senate. Once
members
to the charges
in Syracuse?the
leveled against Scipio by some
largest of Greek cities and the
seems to allow his troops to fall
loveliest of all cities (Cic. Ver. 4.117)?Scipio
to
to
the charms of the city and
victim
forget the war against Carthage and
indeed his entire army is corrupted by licentia (29.19.12-13 mol
Hannibal,
totam Syracusarum
amoenitate
atque
frui; Carthaginem
excidisse de memoria; exercitum omnem licentia corruptum). His
is even worse than Hannibal's, for Scipio himself seems to have been
liter cohortem
Hannibalem
situation
seduced by the charms of Syracuse and to have lost his Roman identity. His
denounce his un-Roman
and un-military
style of living (29.19.11
non
ne
Romanus modo sed
militaris quidem cultus
ipsius etiam imperatoris
enemies
iactabatur). They describe him strolling about in the gymnasium dressed in
aGreek mantle and sandals and giving his attention to Greek books and physi
in the first Pentad of the
cal exercise (29.19.12). Like Capua for Hannibal
Syracuse is an important testing ground for Scipio's leadership in the
second; the amoenitas of Syracuse exercises its seductive power and threatens
to transform Scipio's army (and Scipio himself) and to alter itsmilitary and
Roman identity.31
Decade,
Once again, however, Scipio shows the distance that separates him from
the Carthaginian
general. In proper Roman fashion, Livy's Scipio does not
a
verbal
prepare
reply in his own defense but, instead, tangible evidence
(29.22.1 Scipio res, non verba adpurgandum
seseparavit),32 The legati sent from
to assess the truthfulness of the charges of indolence in the general and
lack of discipline in the army are met with an extraordinary
spectacle of effi
so
are
see
As
what
that they leave
ciency.
Livy reports, they
impressed by
they
can
be defeated by that
people
Syracuse fully believing that the Carthaginian
Rome
30
On
the debate
between
Fabius
Maximus
as one
Cunctator
and
Scipio
Africanus
over
see 28.40.1-45.9
for the year
Africa
should be allotted
of the provinces
return from Spain see further
108-15.
Scullard
and my discussion
below. On Scipio's
31
a commission
On the episode
sent to Scipio
to
cf. D.S. 27.4.1-7,
which mentions
at
whether
Pleminius
had
the
of
Locri
with
the
Persephone
investigate
temple
pillaged
of Scipio, but is silent on the charges of luxuria against
Scipio. The story is nar
approval
Ann.
Ma.
Tac.
rated only by later authors
Plut.
Cat.
3.5-8;
(Cf.
2.59.1).
32
see Sal. Cat.
For the association
the Romans
the Greeks
of res with
and verba with
whether
8.4-5.
Parallel Lives
373
general and that army and by no other (29.22A); thus they bid him to cross
to Africa (29.22.6): "Such was their joy when they left, that itwas as if they
were
the news of a victory, not of amagnificent
to carry to Rome
preparation
for war."
At Capua, the victorious march of the Carthaginian
army changes course
under Hannibal's failed leadership and turns into a process of self-alienation
and of estrangement from its former self. By contrast, at Syracuse Scipio shows
his ability to preserve disciplina; as a result, his army emerges unscathed from
de-Romanized.
And Scipio not only protects the
the danger of becoming
"Roman" identity of his army but also shows awillingness and ability to "make
is foreign. His victorious march from Italy to Africa turns into
a process of Romanization
to which he subjects his Roman allies.
Roman" what
shows Scipio's strategy in action. Loyal friend of the
re
Romans and Scipio's faithful ally, Masinissa's wedding with Sophonisba
veals aweakness typical of a race inclined to succumb to seduction (30.12.18
ut est genus Numidarum
in venerem praeceps). When Masinissa
finally re
The tale of Masinissa
of his own race (he
to kill herself), Scipio (and later the Senate) showers him
allows Sophonisba
with important gifts that mark Masinissa's
into a Roman:
transformation
nounces
his passion
and thus overcomes
the weakness
is given a golden wreath, a golden bowl, a curule chair, the ivory
attire with
staff, the embroidered toga, and the tunic adorned with palms?the
which the Roman generals celebrate their triumph, the highest distinction
Masinissa
(30.15.11-12).33 By his ac
granted to a Roman, as Scipio reminds Masinissa
tion, Scipio successfully transforms Masinissa's
loyalty to himself into an af
filiation to Rome. Scipio symbolically admits Masinissa
into the Roman State
to acknowledge his new
and, by the same token, implicitly compels Masinissa
as amember ofthat State. Thus, Scipio success
position (and responsibility)
a pro
converts
into an active process of Romanization,
alliance
military
fully
cess that increases the strength of the State he represents.
Let us briefly return to Zama. Significantly placed at the end of the De
and Romans closes Livy's analy
cade, the final battle between Carthaginians
sis of the parallel lives of Scipio and Hannibal
and powerfully
reflects the
by the two generals.
Roman
of
the
army at Zama illustrates Scipio's abil
Livy's representation
to
Roman
of
the
his army. After an initial skirmish in
preserve
ity
identity
itinera undertaken
antithetical
33
See Butler
us, were
customarily
consuli mos esset). On
and Appian
as Livy reminds
ad loc. Cf. also the gifts sent by the Senate, which,
to a consul (30.17.13 militaremque
supellectilem qualem praeberi
see further Scullard 133-34. Diodorus
the story of Sophonisba
(27.7-8)
and Scullard
furnished
(Pun. 28) report
the story but remain
silent about
the gifts awarded
toMasinissa.
Andreola Rossi
374
the Carthaginian
put to flight by the conjoined
cavalry ismomentarily
efforts of the Italian and Numidian
the
cavalry,
pitched battle begins. Scipio's
one
voice, louder and more terrifying
army charges against the enemy with
which
for its unanimous
sound (30.34.1 congruens clamor ab Romanis eoque maior
et terribilior); the Roman army is compact and presses against the enemy with
its own weight and that of its arms (30.34.2 pugna Romana stabilis et suo et
armorum pondere incumbentium
in hostem); it is a virtually indivisible body
its specific Roman identity.
The spectacle offered by the Carthaginian
army is strikingly different and
of Hannibal's
failure to establish a reciproc
clearly reveals the consequences
that has retained
hierarchical vision of power,
ity between himself and Carthage. Hannibal's
which prioritizes the individual over the State, prevents him from acknowl
edging the intrinsic weakness of an army lacking unity of interest and pur
in his role as general, oper
pose. We saw earlier that, unlike Scipio, Hannibal,
ates primarily
as scion of his familia rather than as amember
of his patria.
he fails to organize the heterogeneous
members
of his army
Consequently,
into a unified whole
that identifies itself with the State and is therefore loyal
to it, as Livy's description of his army at Zama underscores.
Unlike Polybius, Livy describes Hannibal's army as having no language, no
no
custom,
law, no
arms,
no
and
clothing,
no
general
appearance
in common,
nor the same reason for serving (30.33.8). As the two infantries meet, the first
line of Hannibal's
army charges with discordant voices, coming as they do
from amixed assortment of peoples with a variety of mother-tongues
(30.34.1
dissonae Ulis, ut gentium multarum discrepantibus
linguis, voces); they are eas
ily dislodged by the first attack of the Romans (30.34.3).34 At the battle of the
Ticinus, the first serious battle against the Romans, the victorious Carthaginian
army demanded to fight with one accord and one voice (21.45.9 proelium uno
animo et voce una poscunt). Afterwards, however, Hannibal's
army begins a
failure to preserve disciplina and
process of decline at Capua with Hannibal's
34
Cf. Plb.
15.11.1-2,
of shouts
confusion
variety
(15.12.9).
who
simply
mentions
who
sand mercenaries
the first
composed
raised by the mercenaries
But he adds
(15.13.1)
of the twelve thou
the different
origins
he too reports
the strange
line. Admittedly,
on their
and quotes
II. 4.437 as a comment
that the mercenaries
were
successful
and
at first
of the Romans;
itwas only
of their daring and skill and wounded
many
prevailed
to retreat because
of the superiority
later that they were
forced
of Roman
weapons
third line
that Plb. 15.11.2-12
).We may further notice
(15.13.2-3
reports that Hannibal's
over from
was formed
veterans
the
he
had
and
that
Hannibal
could
brought
Italy
fully
by
as suits his presentation
on their
of Hannibal's
army as hetero
rely
loyalty. Livy, however,
because
geneous
and of doubtful
by Italians,
because
itwas
the third line, formed
had separated
loyalty, states that Hannibal
were allies or enemies
uncertain
whether
(30.35.9).
they
Parallel Lives
his men
to protect
Hannibal's
375
at Zama with
luxuria; the process culminates
into cultural and po
inability to transform military partnership
litical affiliation either to Carthage or to himself, as representative of the State.
His army at Zama, like the Oriental armies of Xerxes and Darius, is charac
from
terized by polyglottia and lack of cohesive national
These are the flaws that in Livy's narrative eventually
harmony and identity.
account for its ultimate
defeat.35
HANNIBALS
3. ROMAN
Thus ends the story of the Second Punic War. In an editorial comment after
the battle of Cannae, Polybius explicitly connects Rome's ability to turn the
tide of war to its constitutional
system (3.118.8-9):
the Romans were now unquestionably
Although
was
tation
to the
peculiar
thanks
shattered,
beaten and theirmilitary
virtues
of
their
repu
constitution
and
wise counsel they not only recovered their supremacy in Italy and afterwards
defeated the Carthaginians but in a few years became masters of the entire
world."36
excursus
To support this claim, later in his work, he embarks on a book-length
to that of other famous
in comparison
analyzing the Roman constitution
nations, Carthage included (Book 6). Livy follows a different path. He never
defeat and Roman victory?
openly discusses the reasons for Carthaginian
hence the charges of political shortsightedness
leveled against him.37 And yet
the reasons are there for the reader to see. By creating a network
of correspon
35
For a similar
on their
of Xerxes'
and Darius'
army with an emphasis
representation
see
and heterogeneity
Hdt. 7.61-100
and Arr. An. 2.8.5
majestic
proportions
respectively
see //. 4.433-38.
8. For Homer's
of Trojan polyglottia
Note
that the armies of
description
are also described
Xerxes
as prone to luxuria.
and Darius
in the historiographical
tradition
For
luxuria
3.11.20,
and Xerxes'
Plut. Alex.
army
20.6-8.
Mader218.
36
On this passage
37
See, for example,
accounts
of the main
cf. Hdt.
For other
see Walbank
Walsh
theatres
for Darius'
9.80-82;
points
of contact
see D.S.
army
between
Hannibal
17.35.1-4,
and Xerxes
Curt.
see
ad loc.
1982:
1060,
of
"As the modern
in Italy, Spain,
critic
reviews
his
(i.e., Livy's)
the
fighting
Sicily
and mostly
The strategy of commanders,
the troop
justified.
the battle-tactics,
the topographical
the numbers
of soldiers
movements,
indications,
or fallen are all too
or
and the
engaged
frequently
inaccurately
presented,
misleadingly
of the version
for much
of Polybius
of the war underlines
availability
Livy's weaknesses.
It is true that our historian
not re
additional
information
provides
precious
frequently
corded by Polybius;
but a steady comparison
of the two histories
in any extended
section
complaints
Greece,
are continual
leaves no doubt
where
the greater
accuracy
and
intelligibility
lies."
and Africa,
Andreola Rossi
376
and Scipio (and therefore between the
to
two Pentads), Livy allows the reader
find the reasons by following the nar
rative thread of the generals'"parallel
lives." Events that Livy's critics have all
dences between
too often
the lives of Hannibal
labeled as inaccurate,
in the ail-too-efficient
to one another, and not
loosely connected
and scientific model of "cause and effect,"
organized
are instead coherent
architectural design whose ef
pieces of a sophisticated
fect depends on the reader's ability to join them together in ameaningful way.38
Confronted with similar challenges, Hannibal fails where Scipio does not;
this eventually leads to defeat and victory respectively. However, Livy's repre
sentation of Hannibal does more than provide the causes of the Carthaginian
in the Second Punic War; it also works as an important
for
exemplum
Livy's contemporary Roman audience.
at the
that Livy's portrait of Hannibal
Scholars have long acknowledged
on
is
modeled
Sallust's
of
the
Decade
of
(21.4.2-9)
description
opening
general's
defeat
(Cat. 5.3-5).39 More recently, Clauss (169-82) has shown that the
parallels between Sallust's Bellum Catilinae and the opening of Livy's Book
21 extend beyond this portrayal.40 In particular, Hanno's
of
representation
Catiline
and the accusation he levels against him mirror closely the charge
of cupido regni leveled against Catiline by Sallust. For Clauss the assimilation
to Catiline has an important narrative function,
of Hannibal
inviting the
and Catiline/
reader to establish a connection between Hannibal/Carthage
Rome.41 We may carry Clauss' conclusions a bit further. The Sallustean subtext,
so manifestly
displayed at the beginning of the Decade, invites the reader to
Hannibal
the Decade within a specific
throughout
initial ambitio (and imperi cupido) com
Sallustean framework. Hannibal's
norms
to
of
the
him
subvert
the
complex relationship between public
pels
read the tale of Hannibal's
deeds
38
and on the
of Livy's first Decade
work has been done on the structure
Significant
structure.
recurrent
themes and topoi that shape its narrative
See, for example, Kraus, Miles,
has long been neglected
however,
by Livy
Livy's third Decade,
Jaeger, and Feldherr.
as amediocre
account of the Second
ars and
of
viewed
adaptation
Polybius'
generally
see now Jaeger and Chaplin.
War.
For new and different
critical assessments
39
1985 ad loc. and 1982: 1067. Cf. also Ramsey
ad 5.3-5.
Cf. Walsh
40
42-62.
See also Paratore
41
him
180: "Moreover,
well have motivated
Clauss
Livy's moral
agenda might
war
of the Catilinarian
in terms reminiscent
of the Hannibalic
scribe the opening
spiracy. By
internecine
in his presentation
evoking
infighting
between
comparison
led to the destruction
similar
path.
Such
of Carthaginian
politics
failed coup d'etat,
Catiline's
that prompted
the two city-states,
one which
and
of Carthage?odium
is surely an example
behavior
suggests
that
cupido regni?could
to avoid."
the bitter
Livy
Punic
to de
con
hatred
facilitates
the very
schol
a
elements
lead Rome
and
telling
that
along
a
Parallel Lives
377
and private; this and his subsequent Sulla-like laxity at Capua retrace impor
tant moments
of Rome's decline as outlined by Sallust (Cat. 10-11).42 The
of the tales of Hannibal
and Scipio, therefore, does
synkritic representation
not simply fashion an exemplary antithesis between a foreign enemy of Rome,
the bearer of foreign vices, and his Roman opponent. More exactly, the par
allel lives of Scipio and Hannibal
of Roman
juxtapose two distinct moments
contrasts
of
and
The
tale
deeds
Hannibal's
Scipio's
history.
starkly the story
past virtus with the history
in Sallust's Bellum Catilinae.43
of Rome's
decline
of Rome's present
as outlined
Sallust dated the beginning of
did this decline begin? Notoriously
to the destruction of Carthage in 146.With no enemies left to
its authority, Rome began to show signs of moral failure and to turn
When
Roman
decline
oppose
its own
strength against itself (Cat. 10.1-3).44 Livy is not so explicit, but a
passage in the third Decade
suggests that he, too, might have viewed the
as
an
with
important climax of Roman history. At the end
struggle
Carthage
of the Decade, Hannibal
addresses his own citizens in a provocative
speech
the causes of the Carthaginian
analyzing
42
defeat
(30.44.7-8):
to Sallust, con
vice that, according
important
as praeceps
see
Liv.
where
Hannibal
is
described
26.38.3,
decline,
see Earl 14-15: "After the
For Sallust's view of the course of Roman
in avaritiam.
history
a diverse
and wandering
into a civitasby
foundation
of the city, in which
mob was made
even
the action of concordia, Rome first enjoyed
the government
of kings, who, however,
were
to
The
fell
then
and
the
prey
expelled
Republic,
superbia
dominatioque.
kings
tually
For Hannibal
its system
with
mores
and avaritia,
to Rome's
tributes
and
of annual
concordia
magistracies,
maxuma
when
aemula
Carthage,
the domination
until, with
social
Earl
112-14.
nent
gloria
Then
established.
virtus
and political."
Earl rightly
in the service
argues
a
of boni
long period
was ended
and which
only
arose ambitio
and avaritia
followed
supreme
reigned
was
imperi Romani,
destroyed.
of Sulla, luxuria gave a final
when
ruin, moral,
the other
moral
Then
career to utter
to Rome's
impetus
to virtus see
of ambitio
the meaning
and its relation
as the pursuit
that virtus is to be understood
of preemi
On
is the pursuit
of gloria at
ambitio, by contrast,
the expense
of the res publica.
43
in Polybius,
of decline
foreshadows
process
Notably,
Carthage's
already
implicitly
the process
to me
of decline
that the
that one day will affect Rome
"It seems
(6.51.1):
constitution
There
in matters
the house
kings,
to them,
proper
that of Rome
and Sparta.
constitution
Carthaginian
44
For a similar
theory
appears
was
of Carthage
were
of metus
of the respublica;
originally
well
of Elders
was
and
But
contrived
the entire organization
at the time when
they
had
as
an aristocratic
and
itsmost
distinctive
points.
the people were
supreme
of the state resembled
very much
regards
force,
entered
that of Rome
on
the Hannibalic
was
degenerated,
a Poseidonian
idea cf. Jug. 41.2-5.
Earl 47 suggests
in ancient
hostilis. However,
the idea was common
in Xenophon,
Plato, Aristotle,
and Polybius.
War,
the
superior."
source for Sallust's
political
thought;
it
Andreola Rossi
378
The
time
to weep
was
when
our
arms were
us, our
taken from
ships
were
burned,
and foreign wars forbidden; that wound was deadly for us. And you have no
reason
to believe
that
the Romans
had
any
regard
for your
domestic
peace;
no
great country can live in peace for long. If it lacks an enemy abroad it finds one
at home, just as powerful bodies appear protected against external infection
but are weighed down by their very strength.
By openly echoing Sallust's views on the reasons for Rome's moral and po
on
is not only a somber reflection
litical decline, Hannibal's
speech
now
cast
who
has
been
in
The
of
defeat.
the
Hannibal,
speech
Carthaginian
role of the wise adviser, may also suggest the destiny that awaits Rome once
its last enemy and the last serious threat to
the city has defeated Hannibal,
Rome's world supremacy.45 For Livy, however, the decline did not begin in
the year 146. The overt allusion to Sallust inHannibal's
speech suggests that,
for Livy, this process of decline began at an earlier stage of Roman history,
at the end of the Second Punic War. As
namely with the defeat of Hannibal
we noted
earlier, Livy also predates the introduction of luxuria in Rome, to
a change and,
Rome undergoes
187 B.c.E.46 After the defeat of Hannibal,
tellingly, Scipio himself, the glorious winner of the battle of Zama, is the first
in Livy's narrative.
of this dangerous process of metamorphosis
The first signs of such a change are already visible in the last phases of the
Second Punic War, during the famous debate between Scipio, who urges the
Senate to allot him Africa as a province, and Fabius Cunctator, who fiercely
victim
confrontation
between Scipio and
of change in Roman policy from defen
sive to offensive war, the former aptly advocated by the old Fabius, the latter
of Scipio's career in
by the young Scipio.48 The debate is a defining moment
opposes the request (28.40-44).47
Fabius best dramatizes the moment
The
still another respect. Scipio's initial determination
Senate does not accede to his wishes underscores
verting
the
state
the norms
to go to the people if the
Scipio's potential for sub
that regulate the correct relationship
(28.40.1-2,
esp.
acturum
se
id per
populum
between
aperte
the unus and
...
si senatus
adversaretur, cf. also 28.45.1). On this occasion Scipio eventually yields to the
laws of the State. He permits the Senate to allot the provinces; in so doing, he
45
169.
On this topic see further Will
46
See 39.6 and my discussion
above.
47
see Chaplin
On Livy's
relevant
On
this episode
with
93-97,
bibliography.
a historical
see
events see Scullard
168
of
For
the
model
analysis
Rodgers.
Thucydidean
69.
48
For the significance
359-61.
of the difference
in age between
Fabius
and Scipio
see Neraudau
Parallel Lives
reasserts the code of behavior
his career (28.45.8).
ordination becomes
that marked
From this moment
379
in the early stages of
a Hannibal-like
insub
his actions
on, however,
trait of Scipio's character.
The two versions of Scipio's trial that mark the exit of Africanus from Livy's
history underscore his newly ambivalent relationship to the Roman State. The
first version of the trial ends with Scipio's initiating a triumphal procession
a defining
through the entire city (per totam urbem) followed by the entire assembly
(universa contio) on the anniversary of the battle of Zama (38.51.12-13).49
As is noted by Jaeger ( 150-51 ), the procession unites the general to his fellow
citizens and establishes an impression of a state of equilibrium and reciproc
ity between Scipio and his fellow citizens. After the procession, as he realizes
that his career is over, Scipio departs from Rome, retires to Liternum and never
returns to the city. The second version is farmore dramatic. It shows Africanus
valuing family connections over the rules of civic life and highlights the dis
Scipio's former relation to the state and his present one. As Livy
reports (38.56.9),
Scipio abandons his post as legate in Etruria (relicta
the Roman Forum, pushes the bailiff from his brother
rushes
into
legatione),
tance between
and, when the tribunes try to hold him back, assaults them, with more thought
for family loyalty than his role as citizen (magispie quam civiliter). In the words
with this defiant action, Scipio has fallen
of Livy's Gracchus
(38.56.11-13),
short of his own standards of civil behavior, which included reprimanding
the people for wishing to appoint him perpetual consul and dictator and re
fusing to allow statues of himself to be erected in public places.
The two versions of the trial, therefore, underscore the ambivalent legacy
of Scipio Africanus.50 Livy's narrative of Scipio's career does not end with a
straightforward
eulogy of his res gestae. Livy takes leave from the great hero
on amore ambiguous note. Celebration of Scipio's
resgestae comes with a forewarning of the challenges that Rome will face. Livy's
final farewell to Scipio?so
that the
puzzlingly ambivalent?acknowledges
victory over Hannibal has come with a price for Scipio and for Rome itself.51
of the Second Punic War
At the end of his life, Scipio,
49
Cf.
50
On
also
the man who
defeated Hannibal
the procession
(38.51.7-11).
speech preceding
of Scipio's
and for a recent treatment
trial see Jaeger
thanks to his
Scipio's
this topic
132-37
with
bib
liography.
51
As is noted
between
of
(97 n. 56), the similarities
by Chaplin
Scipio and the dynasts
man
one
1
is
include
the
of
if
the
libertas
above
the
)
century
following:
danger
as if he were a dictator;
that Scipio behaved
law; 2) the allegation
3) his greater aptitude
the first
for war
than for peace; 4) tearing up the account
and requesting
the keys to the
books
to override
On the
constitutional
5) the use of tribunician
power
treasury;
procedure.
see further Earl 114 and Scullard
trial of Scipio
216-24.
Andreola Rossi
380
Roman
virtus, shows problematic signs of Hannibal-like
behavior, and his exit
from Livy's narrative foreshadows the beginning ofthat process of metamor
phosis whereby the old Roman Scipiones will give way, little by little, to Ro
man
Hannibals.52
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