He is celebrated for his tactical genius but demonized for supposed greed and cruelty, creating a complex "anti-hero" status. Key Themes Explored in the Scholarship
For those looking to read the epic itself, a modern English translation of all 17 books by Antony Augoustakis and Neil W. Bernstein is available at Routledge . Remembering the Enemy in Silius Italicus' 'Punica'
The poem often enters Hannibal's perspective, showing him as a man striving to build an eternal legacy. The roman Hannibal: remembering the enemy in Si...
Other researchers, such as those published in the Journal of Ancient History and Social Sciences , highlight how Hannibal evokes the "tragic tyrants" of Seneca through his destructive emotions, such as ira (anger) and furor (fury).
A central "interesting paper" (or more precisely, a seminal book often discussed in academic circles) on this exact topic is by Claire Stocks (2014). He is celebrated for his tactical genius but
This work is part of a modern scholarly "revival" of Silius Italicus, whose 17-book epic Punica is the longest surviving Latin poem. Core Argument: Hannibal as an Icon of Romanitas
Stocks shows how Silius constructs Hannibal using literary models like Homer’s Achilles and Virgil’s Aeneas. Remembering the Enemy in Silius Italicus' 'Punica' The
You can find the full text of The Roman Hannibal at Oxford Academic or through retailers like Amazon .