tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6745817778350624453.post3455626235483300000..comments2024-03-29T17:44:23.905+13:00Comments on The Flaxen Saxon Chronicles: CannaeFlaxen Saxonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03431645401478120921noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6745817778350624453.post-18272029074998618212015-12-31T18:56:55.389+13:002015-12-31T18:56:55.389+13:00A breathtaking analysis. Yins will now be subjecte...A breathtaking analysis. Yins will now be subjected to my lengthy thesis:'The Gracchi sacrifice and the Roman Constitution'. See what you have done.Flaxen Saxonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03431645401478120921noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6745817778350624453.post-37761095482119473842015-12-30T13:12:34.757+13:002015-12-30T13:12:34.757+13:00Hannibal was a 'good' general, for two rea...Hannibal was a 'good' general, for two reasons.<br />1) His Roman opponents, at least at the beginning, were rubbish<br />2) His alleged tactics and alleged successes come down to us via the historians Polybius and Livy.<br /><br />Livy was paid by the State and borrowed heavily from Polybius to render his History as 'awe inspiring' as possible. Accordingly, the rhetoric of the near defeat of Rome in the Second Punic War is exaggerated to increase the power of the eventual defeat of the Carthiginian at Zama by Scipio Africanus the Elder. Hannibal is made to look great to explain how Rome at first faltered, but then an even greater general was needed to defeat him - obviously. Innit? Standard propaganda where a defeat is used to make an subsequent victory look even better.<br />Pure propaganda.<br />Polybius was paid by Scipio Africanus the Younger - adopted grandson of Scipio the Elder to make his Family Gens all the more powerful and famous.<br /><br />All we can know for certain, is Scipio Africanus the Younger was wealthy and he and Polybius were good at 'arranging' battles and strategies to make Hannibal look good and make Scipio the Elder look even better. And Rome looks good too.Sterculian Rhetorichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14471982606603075150noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6745817778350624453.post-73056578903167867092015-12-29T20:13:17.493+13:002015-12-29T20:13:17.493+13:00'Those who fail to remember history are condem...'Those who fail to remember history are condemned...' indeed!JuliaMhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07844126589712842477noreply@blogger.com