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Bezig met laden... Cannae: Hannibal's Greatest Victorydoor Adrian Goldsworthy
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Meld je aan bij LibraryThing om erachter te komen of je dit boek goed zult vinden. Op dit moment geen Discussie gesprekken over dit boek. Among the cover blurbs on Adrian Goldsworthy’s Cannae is a quote from General Norman Swarzkopf: “I learned many things from the Battle of Cannae which I applied to Desert Storm”. Presumably among the things learned is that totally surrounding your enemy and completely obliterating him is a fine idea in warfare. Cannae remains one of the quintessential battles of history; Goldsworthy, whose specialty is the Roman military, does justice to it. One of the main things that comes across is Hannibal’s outstanding situational awareness; his battle plan was perfect for confronting a larger but poorly trained army with weak cavalry and dense infantry formations. On the other hand the book illustrates some of the drawbacks of classical history. Goldsworthy’s account of the battle is drawn solely from classical authors (Polybius, Livy, and Arrian); there has never been an archaeological investigation of the battle, and in fact the exact location of the battlefield is unknown. Goldsworthy has his own theory of where it was, which is plausible and suits his account; however, it’s good to remember that his detailed maps of the battle are speculative. Goldsworthy also takes the classical accounts of troop numbers and battle casualties at face value; according to these the Roman army lost between 50000 and 75000 killed in a day. I’m a little dubious; Hans Delbruck showed long ago that ancient historians troop estimates are way exaggerated. Among other things, the physical effort involved in killing 50000 people in an afternoon, even if they weren’t fighting back, seems excessive. If the maps are good, the illustrations are not. All are taken from classical sculpture, wall paintings, and recovered artifacts. The problem is they usually aren’t very good at portraying what Goldsworthy is trying to show. Rather than a using a warn and damaged relief sculpture to illustrate Roman military equipment, it would have been much better to use simple line drawings. It’s an easy though erudite read, and Goldsworthy’s opinions about the battle are certainly well thought out and worth considering, even with the book’s flaws. One book on a major battle may seem a bit excessive yet I wish there was more. The review of contemporary views on the battle are instructive and the maps are first-rate. In an appendix Goldsworthy arranges the primary sources in a column which is a handy way of comparing the primary sources we have for this devastating defeat of Roman legions. It remains a matter of speculation but Hannibal might have ended the dominance of Rome by attacking the city directly after Cannae but he did not. The Romans were able to regroup and ultimately confine Carthage to the dustbin of history as a result. It is a fascinating story. geen besprekingen | voeg een bespreking toe
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On 2 August 216BC, Hannibal won his greatest victory in the plain north of the small, hilltop town of Cannae in southern Italy. By the end of the day his outnumbered mercenaries had enveloped and massacred the greater part of the largest army Rome had ever fielded, turning this into one of the bloodiest battles ever fought, rivalling even the industrialised slaughter of the twentieth century AD. For the Romans Cannae became the yardstick by which other defeats were measured, never surpassed and only once or twice equalled in the next six centuries. Cannae remains one of the most famous battles ever fought, frequently alluded to in modern military writing, and Hannibal's tactics are still taught in the military academies where today¿s officers are trained. This volume is a brand new look at the battle, and explains clearly and concisely exactly how it was that Hannibal achieved his historic victory. Geen bibliotheekbeschrijvingen gevonden. |
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Google Books — Bezig met laden... GenresDewey Decimale Classificatie (DDC)937.04History and Geography Ancient World Italian Peninsula to 476 and adjacent territories to 476 Italian Peninsula to 476 and adjacent territories to 476 Punic wars 264-146 B.C.LC-classificatieWaarderingGemiddelde:
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In my opinion, this is a must-read not only for fans of the Roman Republic, but also for those who want to have a comprehensive understanding of one of the most significant battles in history.
Highly recommended. ( )