Cornelius Nepos, 'life of hannibal' : Latin text, notes, maps, illustrations and vocabulary

Bret Mulligan

2015

Open Book Publishers

Trebia. Trasimene. Cannae. With three stunning victories, Hannibal humbled Rome and nearly shattered its empire. Even today Hannibal's brilliant, if ultimately unsuccessful, campaign against Rome during the Second Punic War (218-202 BC) make him one of history's most celebrated military leaders. This biography by Cornelius Nepos (c. 100-27 BC) sketches Hannibal's life from the time he began traveling with his father's army as a young boy, through his sixteen-year invasion of Italy and his tumultuous political career in Carthage, to his perilous exile and eventual suicide in the East.
As Rome completed its bloody transition from dysfunctional republic to stable monarchy, Nepos labored to complete an innovative and influential collection of concise biographies. Putting aside the detailed, chronological accounts of military campaigns and political machinations that characterized most writing about history, Nepos surveyed Roman and Greek history for distinguished men who excelled in a range of prestigious occupations. In the exploits and achievements of these illustrious men, Nepos hoped that his readers would find models for the honorable conduct of their own lives. Although most of Nepos' works have been lost, we are fortunate to have his biography of Hannibal. Nepos offers a surprisingly balanced portrayal of a man that most Roman authors vilified as the most monstrous foe that Rome had ever faced.
Nepos' straightforward style and his preference for common vocabulary make Life of Hannibal accessible for those who are just beginning to read continuous Latin prose, while the historical interest of the subject make it compelling for readers of every ability.

This book contains embedded audio files of the original text read aloud by Christopher Francese.

Humanities

English

9781783741342

CORNELIUS NEPOS
LIFE OF HANNIBAL

Cornelius Nepos
Life of Hannibal

Latin text, notes, maps,
illustrations and vocabulary

Bret Mulligan

http://www.openbookpublishers.com
© 2015 Bret Mulligan

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Bret Mulligan, Cornelius Nepos, ‘Life of Hannibal’. Latin Text, Notes, Maps, and Vocabulary.
Cambridge, UK: Open Book Publishers, 2015. http://dx.doi.org/10.11647/OBP.0068
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Contents

Preface
Acknowledgements
List of Illustrations

vii
ix
xi

1. Life of Nepos

1
2
3
4
4
5
6
8
8
9
11

Historical Context
Works of Nepos
The Lives of Famous Men
The Lives of Foreign Commanders
Other Works
Reputation in Antiquity and Beyond
Friendships & Social Context
The Caecilii Metelli
Atticus & Cicero
Catullus

2. Reading Nepos
Four Favorite Constructions
Three Key Words
Why Write Biography?
Nepos and Non‒Roman Cultures
The Biographical Tradition in Greece and Rome
Nepos’ Audience

3. Historical Context and Hannibal
Early History of Carthage
First Punic War (264‒241 BC)
Between the Wars
Second Punic War (218‒201 BC)
Aftermath
Hannibal
Evaluating Hannibal

13
14
15
15
17
17
19
21
21
24
28
29
35
37
41

vi Cornelius Nepos, Life of Hannibal

Bibliography
Chronology of Hannibal’s Life

43
47

Text of Nepos’ Life of Hannibal

51
51
52
53
54
54
55
56
56
57
58
59
60
61
62

Prologus
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13

Notes
Prologus
Essay on Nepos’ Prologus to the Lives of Outstanding Commanders
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Essay on The Battle of Cannae & Its Legacy
Chapter 5
The End of Hannibal’s Campaign in Italy (218‒203 BC)
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13

Full Vocabulary for Nepos’ Life of Hannibal and Prologus to the
Lives of Outstanding Commanders

63
63
68
69
73
80
84
87
89
94
95
98
104
107
110
113
117
121
123

Preface

This book contains the Latin text, notes, and vocabulary for Cornelius
Nepos’ Life of Hannibal. It also includes the Prologus (Preface) to Nepos’
biographies of foreign commanders. Although the Prologus is not essential
for understanding the Life of Hannibal, it does provide valuable insight
into why Nepos wrote biography and how he understood the relationship
between Roman and non‒Roman values.
As Rome completed its bloody transition from dysfunctional republic
to (mostly) stable monarchy, Cornelius Nepos (ca. 100‒27 BC) labored to
complete an innovative and influential collection of concise biographies.
Putting aside the detailed, chronological accounts of military campaigns
and political machinations that characterized most writing about history,
Nepos surveyed Roman and Greek history for distinguished men
who excelled in a range of prestigious occupations. In the exploits and
achievements of these illustrious men, Nepos hoped that his readers would
find models for the honorable conduct of their own lives.
Although most of Nepos’ works have been lost, we are fortunate to
have his biography of the Carthaginian general Hannibal. One of history’s
most celebrated military leaders, Hannibal waged a brilliant—if ultimately
futile—campaign against Rome during the Second Punic War (218‒202
BC). Nepos sketches Hannibal’s life from the time he began traveling with
his father’s army as a young boy, through his sixteen‒year invasion of Italy
and his tumultuous political career in Carthage, to his perilous exile and
eventual suicide far from Carthage. Nepos’ biography offers a surprisingly
balanced portrayal of a man that many Roman authors vilified as the most
monstrous foe that Rome had ever faced.
Nepos’ preference for common vocabulary, his relatively straightforward
style, and the historical interest of the material make this text suitable for

viii Cornelius Nepos, Life of Hannibal

those who are beginning to read continuous Latin prose. Attention is paid
throughout this commentary to how Nepos constructs his sentences and
how he combines these sentences into a continuous narrative. Each chapter
features a running list of the (relatively few) words that are not found in
the Dickinson College Commentaries Latin Core available at http://dcc.
dickinson.edu/latin-vocabulary-list. To help readers acquaint themselves
with the events of Hannibal’s lifetime, historical notes and explanations of
Roman and Carthaginian culture are frequent. Customizable vocabulary
lists for this text are available at http://bridge.haverford.edu

Acknowledgements

I would like to extend my abiding thanks to my colleagues at Haverford
College for their support, in particular Sydnor Roy, who allowed me to
eavesdrop on her Elementary Latin students as they used this commentary.
Instructors too numerous to thank by name have made suggestions and
caught errors. Students in Latin classes at Wheaton College and Haverford
College made suggestions on early versions of the commentary and
proved by experience those aspects of Nepos’ text that needed clarification.
Haverford students Florencia Foxley, Eliana Kohrman‒Glaser, Carman
Romano, Emma Mongoven, and Hannah Silverblank made significant
contributions to editing the commentary, as well as developing vocabulary
lists and other supplemental resources. Laurie Allen (Coordinator for
Digital Scholarship and Services), Michael Zarafonetis (Digital Scholarship
Librarian), Margaret Schaus (Lead Research and Instruction Librarian), and
Julie Coy (Visual Resources Librarian) contributed indispensable expertise
throughout. Support for the development of this book was provided by
Haverford’s Office of the Provost and the John B. Hurford ‘60 Center for
the Arts and Humanities.
Maps were adapted from Map Tiles, Ancient World Mapping Center ©
2015 (http://awmc.unc.edu). Used by permission.
This printable edition has been adapted from the digital edition
prepared for the Dickinson College Commentaries Series which is freely
available online at http://dcc.dickinson.edu
The Latin texts of Nepos’ Preface and the Life of Hannibal are based on that
of J. C. Rolfe’s Loeb edition (1929). In addition to minor alterations to the
punctuation of the text, two changes have been made in accordance with
the judgment of Marshall 1977: in 4.3 nimium is read for etiam tum; and in
9.3 omnēs suā pecūniā for omnī suā pecūniā. To avoid unnecessary confusion,

x Cornelius Nepos, Life of Hannibal

servulīs is read for servolīs in 8.2 and Prūsias is read for the analogous
Prūsia in 12.3. Macrons have been added to the text in accordance with
the quantities found in the Woordenboek Latijn/Nederlands (2011, 5th revised
edition).
Bret Mulligan, Haverford College, May 2015

List of Illustrations

1. Map of Northern Italy. Adapted with permission from images © Ancient xii
World Mapping Center, CC BY-NC-ND. http://awmc.unc.edu/wordpress/
alacarte/
2. Carthaginian and Roman territory on the eve of the First Punic War. 22
Adapted with permission from images © Ancient World Mapping Center,
CC BY-NC-ND.
3. Dido Building, Carthage (1815) by J. M. W. Turner. Oil on canvas. 155.5x232 22
cm. Now at the National Gallery, London. Wikimedia, https://commons.
wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Turner_-_Dido.jpg
4. Hannibal’s route into Italy. Adapted with permission from images 30
© Ancient World Mapping Center, CC BY-NC-ND.
5. Snow Storm, Hannibal and his Army Crossing the Alps (1810‒1812) by J. M. 31
W. Turner. Oil on canvas. 144.7x236 cm. Now at Tate Britain, London.
Wikimedia, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Joseph_Mallord_
William_Turner_081.jpg
6. Hannibal’s campaign in Italy. Adapted with permission from images 33
© Ancient World Mapping Center, CC BY-NC-ND.
7. The Capture of Carthage (1539). Engraving by George Pencz. Now at the 36
Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Wikimedia, https://commons.
wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Georg_Pencz_-_The_Capture_of_Carthage.jpg
8. Roman bust of Hannibal. Statue in marble. Capua, Italy. Now at the 38
Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Naples. Wikimedia, https://commons.
wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mommsen_p265.jpg
9. Hannibal’s travels in the East (196‒183 BC). Adapted with permission 40
from images © Ancient World Mapping Center, CC BY-NC-ND.
10. Hannibal’s Oath of Hatred Against Rome. Drawing by Joelle Cicak, CC BY. 77
11. Hannibal’s Ruse of the Amphorae. Drawing by Joelle Cicak, CC BY.
108
12. Snakes on a Boat. Drawing by Joelle Cicak, CC BY.
112
13. Hannibal Surrounded. Drawing by Joelle Cicak, CC BY.
119

1. Map of Northern Italy.
Adapted with permission from images © Ancient World Mapping Center, CC BY-NC-ND. http://awmc.unc.edu/wordpress/alacarte/

1. Life of Nepos

For a man who devoted such energy to chronicling the exploits of famous
men, Cornelius Nepos left behind few clues about his own life. Nepos
was likely born within a decade of 100 BC in Cisalpine Gaul, the district
of northern Italy bounded to the north by the Alps and to the south by the
Rubicon River. This prosperous region would produce many of the great
Roman authors, including Catullus, Virgil, Livy, Pliny the Elder, and his
nephew Pliny the Younger. Nepos’ hometown is unknown, but Ticinum
and Mediolanum are plausible candidates.
We can be sure that Nepos was not a member of the senatorial elite.1
Nevertheless, Nepos’ family possessed sufficient wealth to finance his
education and then support his academic pursuits in Rome. He may have
immigrated to Rome—Nepos comments on how Roman fashions changed
after Sulla gained power in the late 80s.2 He had certainly arrived in the city
by 65 BC, in time to hear Cicero defend the former tribune C. Cornelius
against charges of sedition.3 Rome was likely his home for the remainder of
his life, although, like many affluent Romans, Nepos travelled—to Greece,
Asia Minor, and North Africa, and perhaps even further afield. Nepos died
soon after 27 BC, in the early years of Augustus’ reign.4

1 Pliny the Younger, Epistles 5.3.6.
2 Pliny the Elder, Natural History 4.28.
3 Jerome, Against John of Jerusalem 12.
4 Pliny the Elder, Natural History 9.137 and 10.60.

© Bret Mulligan, CC BY 4.0

http://dx.doi.org/10.11647/OBP.0068.01

2 Cornelius Nepos, Life of Hannibal

Historical Context
Nepos lived during the tumultuous final years of the Roman republic. He
was likely born in the closing decade of the second century BC, within a
few years of Atticus (110 BC), Catiline (108 BC), Cicero and Pompey (106
BC), and Caesar (100 BC). Around this same time, migrating Germanic
tribes repeatedly defeated Roman armies and even threatened northern
Italy with invasion (113‒101 BC). To confront this peril, the consul Marius
transformed the Roman army into a permanent and professional force
open to all Roman citizens, a development that decisively resolved the
manpower crisis that had constrained Roman military power since the
Punic Wars, but which contributed to no small amount of mischief and
sorrow over the subsequent eighty years, as generals supported by armies
of loyal veterans tore the Roman republic apart.
When Nepos was still a child, Rome experienced the twin traumas of
the Social War (91‒88 BC)—a vicious conflict resolved only when Rome’s
Italian allies were granted full citizenship rights—and the chaos of the 80s,
when a series of rival Roman generals occupied Rome and political power
was wielded at sword point. It was likely soon after Spartacus’ slave revolt
(73‒71 BC) that Nepos arrived in Rome. There he would have witnessed
Cicero’s suppression of the Catilinarian conspiracy (64‒63 BC) and the
consequent recriminations that led to Cicero’s exile (58‒56 BC). Nepos lived
in Rome for much of the next four decades, witnessing the ascendency of
Pompey (67‒49 BC), Caesar’s triumph in the civil war and his eventual
assassination (49‒44 BC), the uneasy peace between Octavian and Marcus
Antonius in the 30s, and, finally, Octavian’s consolidation of power after
his victory at the Battle of Actium in 31 BC.
Apart from a few isolated jabs at disreputable figures like Spinther
and Mamurra, Nepos seems to inhabit a world apart from the epochal
events that he must have witnessed—a man in but not of his time. He may
as well have been speaking of himself when he praises Atticus’ cautious
neutrality:
He did not mingle in civil tumults, because he thought that those who had
plunged into them were not more under their own control than those who
were tossed by the waves of the sea.5

Nevertheless, some hints of Nepos’ views on the changing political
landscape of the late republic emerge from his Lives. His biographies
5 Nepos, Life of Atticus 6.1



Life of Nepos 3

display a systematic interest in how events can make and unmake a state.
Nepos often emphasizes the importance of obedience to the state over
personal ambition and how the decisions made by leaders can contribute
to peace or bring about civic disaster. Throughout his works, men are
praised for striving to preserve the difficult work of liberty in the face
of the temptations of tyranny. It is not difficult to see these themes as
implicit commentary on the behavior of Caesar, Brutus, Cicero, Antonius,
and Octavian.
A comment in his Life of Eumenes indicates that Nepos was a keen
observer of the troubles that gripped Rome during this period. As he
reflected on the conquests of Alexander the Great, Nepos observed
how success had induced Alexander’s Macedonian soldiers to “claim
the right to command its leaders instead of obeying them”.6 Nepos
perceived the same troubling loss of discipline among Rome’s veterans,
who he feared would “ruin everything by their intemperance and
excessive licentiousness, both those that they support and those that
they fight”.7 If we could read his letters or his biographies on politically
active Romans, we would doubtless have a better sense of how Nepos
understood the transformation of Roman politics and culture during his
lifetime; his Life of Cicero would likely be especially telling in this regard.
In their absence, our impression of Nepos remains that of a dedicated
scholar, a man who, like his friend Atticus, socialized with the movers
and shakers of his day, but remained aloof from the murderous politics
of the late republic.

Works of Nepos
Like Atticus, Varro, and the other Roman polymaths who lived during the
late republic, Nepos was a prolific author who wrote in many genres. In
addition to his collection of biographies, he composed poetry and wrote
works on history, geography, and rhetoric. Nepos is credited with several
literary “firsts”. One of these arose by chance: he is the first biographer
from Classical antiquity—Greek or Latin—from whom a complete
biography survives. Although he did not invent the genre, Nepos did
introduce political biography of Greek statesmen to a Roman audience.
Nepos appears to have been the first author to attempt a systematic

6 Nepos, Life of Eumenes 8.2‒3.
7 
Ibid., 8.3.

4 Cornelius Nepos, Life of Hannibal

collection of biographies across a range of professions. Nepos’ account
of the life of his friend Atticus may have been the first biography written
about a living contemporary and is the only surviving Latin biography
about an eques—a member of Rome’s commercial class. Nepos was
also the first Roman to attempt to synchronize Italian history with the
mature tradition of Greek historiography—an audacious feat that elicited
generous praise from the discriminating poet Catullus. Accustomed
as we are today to a standardized, international chronological system,
it is difficult to appreciate Nepos’ achievement in this area, which
required him to synthesize events recorded in numerous conflicting and
discontinuous calendrical systems maintained by individual cities around
the Mediterranean.

The Lives of Famous Men
Nepos’ most ambitious project was The Lives of Famous Men (De viris
illustribus), most of which is now lost. This collection of biographies likely
included sixteen books divided into eight thematic pairs. The first book of
each pair contained biographies of non‒Romans, for the most part Greeks,
who were preeminent in a particular profession. The next book of each
pair presented the lives of exceptional Romans in the same field. Nepos
certainly produced volumes containing the biographies of commanders
and historians. We can be reasonably confident that Nepos also composed
biographies of philosophers, poets, and orators, among other professionals.
All told, the Lives once contained hundreds of biographies—a work of
scholarship that was spectacular and sweeping, if not without its faults.

The Lives of Foreign Commanders
Only one book of Nepos’ Lives has survived: his biographies of foreign
commanders. Nepos dedicated this book to his close friend Atticus, who
could well have encouraged Nepos to undertake this grand comparative
project. Nepos published the first edition of the Lives, which included
the biographies of nineteen Greek commanders arranged in rough
chronological order, a few years before Atticus passed away in 32 BC.
The lives of three non‒Greek commanders—those of Hannibal, his father
Hamilcar, and the Persian general Datames—may have been added in a
second edition published sometime before 27 BC.
In its current form, The Lives of Foreign Commanders displays several
unusual features that suggest that Nepos may not have published this



Life of Nepos 5

book of Lives in the exact form that we now possess. Taken together, these
twenty‒two biographies would represent one of the longest books to
survive from antiquity. In addition to the atypical length of the book, we
must account for the clipped nature of Nepos’ style and the not infrequent
errors and often vexing omissions that pepper the biographies—failings
that are utterly at odds with Nepos’ reputation in antiquity. These features
could suggest that the Lives were altered, perhaps extensively, after Nepos’
death.
When might such alterations have occurred? As the Classical world
transitioned into the Middle Ages, many works, especially those
of considerable length like Nepos’ collected Lives, were shortened,
epitomized, or otherwise simplified. It seems almost certain that Nepos’
work was subjected to extensive editing and manipulation during this
period. Some of the longer Lives may have been condensed; the Life of
Aristides and a few others may even have been forged at this time. Indeed,
it was a misunderstanding related to this editorial process that resulted
in the Lives being misattributed during the Middle Ages to a late antique
copyist (and minor poet) by the name Aemilius Probus. It was only in the
sixteenth century that Nepos reclaimed his status as the genuine author
of the Lives.
The challenges posed by a redacted text like the Lives serve as a
powerful reminder of the complex journey undertaken by almost every
text that survives from antiquity. Apart from those few works that survive
in ancient inscriptions or on papyri, most works of Classical antiquity
are products of a perilous, often haphazard transmission from antiquity
to modernity. Although written by Nepos, the Lives passed through the
innumerable hands of copyists, editors, redactors, and scholars until they
reached the form that we read today. At one point in the twelfth century,
Nepos survived in only a single manuscript—that was how close Nepos
came to oblivion. While we can and should ponder what has been lost and
altered in the process, we can also marvel at the millennial undertaking
that preserved (often just barely) the works of antiquity for readers in the
modern age.

Other Works
Apart from The Lives of Foreign Commanders, only two complete works
survive from Nepos’ voluminous writings: an innovative biography of
his friend and contemporary Atticus (his longest biography) and a very
concise summary of his biography of Cato the Elder, which was written at

6 Cornelius Nepos, Life of Hannibal

Atticus’ request. Excerpts of a letter from Cornelia, the mother of Tiberius
and Gaius Gracchus, were transmitted with Nepos’ works. It is unclear if
Nepos himself quoted these excerpts in a now lost work or if they were
simply appended to Nepos’ works at some point by a later scribe.
In addition to the Lives, Nepos composed several other works, now lost:
• E
 xtensive biographies of Cato the Elder and Cicero in two books. A
redacted version of the biography of Cato survives; Gellius mentions the
biography of Cicero.8
• C
 orrespondence with Cicero, and we might assume other notable
contemporaries.
• The Chronica (Chronicle), a chronology in three books. The first work of
Roman historiography not concerned exclusively with Roman or Italian
history, it sought to synchronize the histories of Rome, Greece, and the
Near East from the dawn of humanity down to Nepos’ time. Catullus’
knowledge of the work indicates that it must have been published before
the poet’s death (ca. 54 BC), and probably some years earlier. Despite
Catullus’ praise, the Chronica was soon eclipsed by Atticus’ more succinct
Liber annalis (published in 47 BC; also lost).
• The Exempla (Models), a compendium of moralizing historical anecdotes in
at least five books, published after 43 BC.9 Designed to serve as a reference
guide for orators and authors, it was perhaps the first work of its kind
and was much imitated. Of Nepos’ works it was the most frequently cited
in antiquity.
• A
 treatise on geography, perhaps focused on the periphery of Europe and
those areas settled by the Celts.10
• A
 mysterious treatise on literary terminology, which included a discussion
about literati, scholars who interpreted the works of poets.11
• L
 ove poems, perhaps in the neoteric style favored by Catullus and his
friends. Pliny the Younger mentions Nepos’ poetry and his sterling
character in a defense of his own decision to compose light poetry.12

Reputation in Antiquity and Beyond
Nepos was well‒respected as a historian and biographer throughout
antiquity, and a hundred years after his death Pliny the Younger would
rank Nepos as one of the most distinguished men from his hometown
8 Aulus Gellius, Attic Nights 15.28.2.
9 Charisius, Ars Grammatica, I 146K; Aulus Gellius, 6.18.11.
10 Pliny the Elder, Natural History 3.4, 3.132, 4.77.
11 Suetonius, De grammaticis 4.
12 Pliny the Younger, Letters 5.3.6.



Life of Nepos 7

(wherever it was).13 The geographer Pomponius Mela cites Nepos as
an authority for his assertion that the entire world was surrounded by
ocean.14 Pliny the Elder believed he was a reliable source on geography
from North Africa to Asia Minor to the Caspian Sea and preferred him
to many other sources, although he also cautioned that Nepos was prone
to believing fantastic stories.15 Pliny the Younger placed Nepos in the
illustrious company of Ennius, the tragedian Accius, and Virgil as great
authors who hailed from humble backgrounds.16 In late antiquity, Jerome
would describe Nepos as “a famous writer of history” and “the most
notable biographer”.17
Nepos long retained his reputation as an authoritative scholar. In the
fifth or sixth century AD, an anonymous author began circulating a forged
“true history” of the Trojan War. This forgery, The History of the Fall of Troy,
purported to be an eyewitness account of the war by Dares, a minor Trojan
priest mentioned in passing by Homer. Before the start of the History, the
forger affixed a letter by “Nepos” to his friend, the historian Sallust. In
this forged letter, “Nepos” claims to have rediscovered Dares’ work while
conducting research in Athens. He immediately made “an exact translation
into Latin, neither adding nor omitting anything, nor giving any personal
touch” and forwarded his “word for word” translation to Sallust. The use
of Nepos’ name to legitimize this forgery speaks to the authority that he
continued to have as a scholar and researcher even in the waning decades
of Classical antiquity.
Although the Romans admired Nepos for his wit, knowledge, and
aesthetic judgment, many modern scholars have found fault with his Lives.
What can explain the gap between his ancient reputation as a sophisticated
author and the repetitive style—and not infrequent errors, omissions, and
other blunders—that modern readers have detected in his work? First, we
should remember that Nepos’ Lives were not works of original scholarship.
Rather, they drew almost exclusively from previous sources for their
information regarding historical figures. He did not aim to discover an
accurate portrayal of historical truth, nor was he attempting to produce
definitive and exhaustive biographies of his subjects. Nepos aimed instead
to provide biographical sketches that revealed higher truths and eternal

13 
Ibid., 4.28.
14 Pomponius Mela, 3.44.
15 Pliny the Elder, Natural History 5.4.
16 Pliny the Younger, Letters 5.3.6.
17 Jerome, Chronicle 1977.

8 Cornelius Nepos, Life of Hannibal

virtues. This is not to dismiss those errors that are present; but these
should be assessed in light of Nepos’ goals and interests in undertaking
his biographical project. Second, we should recognize that Nepos has been
ill‒served by the section of the Lives that happened to survive. Of all his
biographies, the exploits of foreign generals stood the furthest from his own
training and personal experiences. Had the lost books detailing the more
familiar lives of the Roman generals or those on Roman poets or orators
survived, we might well have a different opinion of Nepos’ accuracy and
judgment.

Friendships & Social Context
In Rome, Nepos devoted himself to his studies, avoiding the increasingly
dangerous politics of the late republic. He forged durable friendships
with several famous Romans: the politician Metellus Celer, the scholar
Atticus, the statesman Cicero, and the poet Catullus. These relationships
provide glimpses into Nepos’ life, as well as valuable information about the
intellectual context for his writings.

The Caecilii Metelli
There is indirect evidence that Nepos enjoyed a close relationship with the
Caecilii Metelli, one of the wealthiest and most influential families in Rome.
Nepos’ writings often display a special interest in commemorating the
achievements of members of this family. And on several occasions Nepos
maligned the decadent luxury of one of the family’s notorious political
rivals: Publius Cornelius Lentulus Spinther. From the historian Pomponius
Mela we learn that Nepos was a personal acquaintance of Metellus Celer,
brother to Metellus Nepos and husband of the notorious Clodia (the lover
of Catullus). According to Mela, Metellus Celer once told Nepos about the
fantastic sea voyage endured by a group of Indian merchants. Carried all
the way to northern Europe by a terrible storm, the Indians were captured
by a local German chieftain, who then presented them as a gift to Celer.18
Nepos may have been a client of this powerful family, or his intellectual
pursuits may have led to a more equal friendship with Celer. Regardless
of the exact nature of their relationship, his association with this powerful
family demonstrates Nepos’ access to the upper echelons of Roman society.
18 Pomponius Mela, 3.44.



Life of Nepos 9

Atticus & Cicero
Soon after arriving in Rome, Nepos forged a lasting friendship with
Titus Pomponius Atticus (ca. 109‒ca. 32 BC), the adopted son of Quintus
Caecilius Metellus. Atticus was a close friend of Cicero and a distinguished
patron of the literary arts in Rome. Nepos would compose a laudatory
biography of Atticus (the longest of his works to survive) and dedicate
several works to his friend, including the book of biographies that contains
the Life of Hannibal. Atticus, who often goaded Cicero to attempt writing
in new literary genres, convinced Nepos to write his Life of Cato and may
likewise have encouraged Nepos to begin work on his innovative project of
comparative biography.
It may have been through Atticus that Nepos met Cicero, Rome’s
greatest orator. Like Nepos, Cicero had immigrated to Rome as a young
man from a small Italian town. But unlike Nepos, Cicero had devoted
himself to politics, becoming one of the central figures in the contentious
partisan drama of the late republic. Despite their different dispositions,
Nepos became one of Cicero’s more frequent correspondents—two books
of letters from Cicero to Nepos were known in antiquity, although these are
now lost.19 According to Aulus Gellius (ca. AD 125‒180), Nepos was “one of
Cicero’s most intimate friends” (maxime amicus familiaris).20 Other evidence,
however, points to a relationship that was more cordial than close.
Disagreement about the value of philosophy seems to have contributed
to the tension between Cicero and Nepos. In 44 BC, when Atticus mentioned
that Nepos was eager to read Cicero’s latest philosophical work, Cicero
expressed his doubts about Nepos’ sincerity, since Nepos had previously
disparaged Cicero’s philosophical works as merely a venue in which he
could “display his pride”.21 While Cicero sought solace and wisdom from
philosophy in the final years of his life, Nepos was skeptical that philosophy
could be an “instructor of life” (magistram vitae). Nepos observed that
the same philosophers who taught “most cunningly in the school about
modesty and continence” were often those who lived the most hedonistic
lives of luxury.22 For Nepos, good character was cultivated by observing
and emulating virtuous behavior, not by abstract philosophizing.
19 Macrobius, Saturnalia 2.1.14; Suetonius, Julius 55.
20 Aulus Gellius, 15.28.2.
21 Cicero, Letters to Atticus 16.5.5.
22 Nepos’ criticisms of Cicero’s philosophical works were preserved by Christian authors
who were always on the lookout for anecdotes that exposed the hypocrisy of pagan

10 Cornelius Nepos, Life of Hannibal

Nepos’ friendship with Cicero illustrates the difficulties we face in
attempting to reconstruct the life of the biographer. Since Cicero’s letters
to Nepos have not survived, our best evidence about their relationship
comes from passing comments that Cicero made to Atticus, who often
acted as an intermediary between his two friends. For example, it was
Atticus who informed Cicero that Nepos’ young son had passed away in
44 BC. Cicero expresses his sadness at Nepos’ loss, but also, in an obscure
passage, claims that he was unaware of the child’s existence.23 Was the child
so young that Cicero had not yet heard of his birth? Was their relationship
more intellectual—based on debating points of literature, history, and
philosophy—than personal? Or were Cicero and Nepos rarely in touch by
this late point in Cicero’s life?
Other comments by Cicero are even more difficult to assess. Atticus once
joked that he was inferior to Nepos just as Ajax was inferior to Achilles.
Cicero corrected his friend, saying that Atticus was not second‒best but,
was, like Achilles, the best of all men, while Nepos should be considered
an “immortal”.24 Is Cicero suggesting that Nepos’ talents truly place him in
another class? Or is Cicero making a now obscure joke at Nepos’ expense?
Likewise, what could Cicero have meant in another letter when he chides
Nepos, saying “to top it off you ambushed me with false gifts!” (hoc restituit
a te fictis aggrederer donis!).25 Is Cicero’s indignation sincere? The pretentious
introduction, the derogatory fictis, the unusual imperfect passive of
aggrederer, and the surprising conclusion—what are “false gifts”?—suggest
a semi‒serious or even jocular tone, as Cicero feigns annoyance with a close
friend. But without context, we cannot be sure.
Despite the apparent coolness of their relationship, Nepos had
enormous respect for Cicero’s political talents. He composed a lengthy
(but sadly lost) biography for his friend. Reflecting on Cicero’s letters,
Nepos effused that the statesman had “not only predicted the events that
did take place during his life, but had even prophesized those events that
are now coming to pass”.26 Nepos also greatly esteemed Cicero’s eloquence
and praised his potential as a historian, going so far as to declare that
Cicero’s murder had not only deprived Rome of a great statesman, but
philosophers: Lactantius, Divine Institutes 3.15.10 and Augustine, Unfinished Work
Against Julian 4.43.
23 Cicero, Letters to Atticus 16.14.4.
24 
Ibid., 16.5.5.
25 Priscan, Institutes 8.4.17.
26 Nepos, Life of Atticus 16.4.



Life of Nepos 11

denied to Latin historiography the same polish and elegance that Cicero’s
labors had furnished to oratory and philosophy. Cicero, in turn, respected
Nepos’ aesthetic judgment and his knowledge of oratory and historical
writing. After Cicero was assassinated, Nepos helped Atticus publish the
statesman’s letters. Nepos would later say that these letters captured the
truth of events better than any history.27

Catullus
Nepos must have already earned a reputation as a learned historian by the
50s BC, when Catullus, the young poet and a fellow emigrant from northern
Italy, dedicated a collection of his poems to the scholar (Catullus 1):
cui dono lepidum novum
libellum
arida modo pumice expolitum?
Corneli, tibi: namque tu solebas
meas esse aliquid putare nugas.
Iam tum, cum ausus es unus Italorum
omne aevum tribus explicare cartis...
Doctis, Iuppiter, et laboriosis!
Quare habe tibi quidquid hoc libelli—
qualecumque, quod, o patrona virgo,
plus uno maneat perenne saeclo!

“To whom do I give this modern,
elegant booklet
Just now polished with a dry pumice
stone?
To you, Cornelius. For you were
accustomed
To think my trifles worthwhile.
Even then, when you alone of all Italians
dared
To unfold all of history in three scrolls…
Scholarly, by Jupiter, and full of effort!
Therefore take this booklet, whatever it is,
And whatever it is worth, and, patron
maiden,
Let it endure for more than one cycle.

Reading the poem, we learn that Nepos valued Catullus’ poetry in the
past and that Catullus believes that Nepos will appreciate his latest effort.
Catullus suggests that his poetry shares some affinities with Nepos’ (lost)
Chronica, a concise universal history. Several phrases in Catullus’ dedicatory
poem indicate that the poet was familiar with Nepos’ writings. Nepos was
fond of characterizing the excellence of his subjects by noting that they were
the only man (unus) to have accomplished some notable achievement. He
also twice describes the process of the writing of history by using the verb
explicare. These favorite terms influenced Catullus’ own praise of Nepos as
the man who “alone of all Italians” (unus Italorum) had “dared to explain”
27 Fronto, Letter to Marcus 1.7; Nepos, Life of Atticus 16.3‒4.

12 Cornelius Nepos, Life of Hannibal

Roman and Greek history (ausus es...explicare). The description of Nepos’
work as “scholarly” (doctis) engages a key interpretive term for Catullus,
indicating a laudable talent for composing and appreciating works that
flaunt specialized (or even arcane) knowledge of history, language and
myth. Through these verbal echoes of Nepos’ work—and since so many
of Nepos’ texts are now lost, there may well be more that are now obscure
to us—Catullus further associates his poetry with his friend’s historical
works.
Yet Catullus’ praise of Nepos is not without ambiguity: is Nepos’ history
“full of effort” (laboriosis) because it is the laudable product of intense
scholarship or because it is a chore to read—or perhaps both? For Catullus,
labor need not suggest a lack of craftsmanship or pleasure. He describes his
playful day spent composing poems with his friend Licinius as a labor.28 And
he calls the Zmyrna—a dense, learned poem over which his friend Cinna
labored for nine years—a “little monument” and a “personal favorite”.29
Whatever teasing ambiguity may animate the poem, Catullus’ decision
to dedicate his collection to Nepos confirms the esteem that the poet had for
the scholar. It also suggests that Nepos enjoyed a lofty reputation among
Catullus’ Roman audience, since we would expect Catullus to dedicate his
collection to a figure who would bring credit to his poetry. Their personal
connection may have been strengthened by a mutual distaste for Mammura,
Caesar’s sybaritic associate, whom Catullus reviled in several poems.
Nepos also criticized Mamurra, observing that he was the first Roman to
cover his walls with marble, an innovation that exhibited his “utter lack of
class”.30 Many years later, Nepos would return the compliment of Catullus’
dedication by praising his deceased friend as one of the finest poets of
his lifetime, ranking him as the equal of the magnificent didactic poet
Lucretius.31

28 Catullus 50.
29 
Ibid., 95.
30 Pliny, Natural History 36.48.
31 Nepos, Life of Atticus 12.

2. Reading Nepos

When reading Nepos’ Lives, one is immediately struck by their
straightforward style. Nepos’ syntax is, for the most part, clear and
uncomplicated. His more complex sentences unfold in regular patterns,
and he pays studious attention to signaling the circumstances in which
action takes place and the connection of one thought to the next. He shows
a fondness for antithesis, alliteration (e.g. quotiēnscumque cum eō congressus
est, 1.2), and the occasional wordplay or pun. His vocabulary is similar to
that found in Cicero and his contemporaries, but is more limited in scope,
allowing even novice readers to spare the dictionary.
The Romans too deemed Nepos suitable for novices, even if Nepos
himself did not set out to create a schoolbook. For modern readers, his
simple, regular style provides a useful counterpoint to the more artful and
varied grammar, vocabulary, and techniques found in more illustrious
authors. Like many other Roman academics, encyclopedists, and
chroniclers—e.g. Velleius Paterculus, Valerius Maximus, and Suetonius—
Nepos wrote in what has been called a “middle style”, a blend of simple
and ornate sentences that mixes colloquialisms and archaisms. Having
read Nepos, what makes Cicero Ciceronian, Caesar Caesarian, or Tacitus
Tacitean will be all the more recognizable. Nepos may suffer in comparison
to these masters of Latin prose style, who deploy with more elegance
and creativity the linguistic and stylistic capacities that make Latin such
a subtle and powerful medium for communication. But then, there are
precious few writers of any era or in any language that could withstand
such comparison. As we shall see, the motivation for his simple style and
the decisions he made about what to include in his Lives can be explained
by two additional factors: the aims and process of biographical writing in
antiquity and the audience for whom Nepos wrote.

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14 Cornelius Nepos, Life of Hannibal

Four Favorite Constructions
1. Connective Relatives and Demonstratives: Nepos is very careful to
signal how a new sentence relates to the preceding thought. His favorite
means of doing so is the connective relative, which appears at the start
of over a dozen sentences in the Life (AG §308f). For example: Ad quem
cum lēgātī vēnissent (2.2); Quem etsī multa stultē cōnārī vidēbat (8.3). Nepos
will also use a demonstrative (hic, ille, is) to the same purpose. Often a
connective will displace a word or phrase that would otherwise come
at the start of a sentence, as when the subordinating conjunction cum is
superseded by ad quem (2.2).
2. Ablative Absolutes: The ablative absolute is a construction favored by
most Roman authors, especially those who are recounting events. Nepos
is no exception, and ablative absolutes are common in the condensed
narrative that dominates the second half of the Life. Nepos will even
include two ablative absolutes in a single sentence (e.g. 5.1, 9.3, 10.1).
Because of Nepos’ preference for clear connections between sentences,
ablative absolutes will often follow a connective: Illī, dēspērātīs rēbus...
(8.2); Hās, praesentibus prīncipibus...(9.3); ille, īnscientibus iīs...(9.4); or a
noun indicating a change in subject: Poenus, illūsīs Crētēnsibus omnibus...
(10.1); Tabellārius, ducis nāve dēclārātā suīs...(11.2); Eumenēs, solūtā epistulā...
(11.3).
3. Featured Prepositions and Conjunctions: Nepos’ condensed style
features an abundance of prepositions. For example, the preposition in
is the third most common word in the Life. Nepos shows an unusual
affinity for apud (15 times) and adversus (6 times), prepositions used more
sparingly by most authors. Conversely, Nepos avoids some common
prepositions, such as inter and per, each of which appears only once
in the Life. Throughout his works, Nepos displays an affinity for the
conjunctions nam, which signals that a sentence will justify or explain the
preceding statement (AG §324h), and enim, used to introduce an example
that explains a generalization found in the previous sentence.
4. Syncopation of Perfects: Nepos routinely shortens verbs in all tenses of
the perfect system. For example, we find superārit for superāverit (1.1, see
also 7.4, 7.7, 11.5), comperisset for comperivisset (2.2, see also 2.3, 6.1, 12.5),
and cēlāris for cēlāveris (2.6).



Reading Nepos 15

Three Key Words
1. Amīcitia: refers to the asymmetrical relationships between patrons and
clients rather than to “friendship” in the modern sense (2.4; amīcus: 2.6,
10.2; inimīcissimus: 7.3, 12.2).
2. Callidus: “extreme cleverness”, a term Nepos uses to characterize the
audacious Hannibal (9.2) and the cautious Fabius Maximus (5.2), whose
strategic foresight allowed the Romans to recover from the military
catastrophes they suffered at Hannibal’s hands.
3. Prūdentia: Hannibal’s cardinal virtue, according to Nepos—the ability to
perceive a situation in its entirety and act accordingly (1.1, 11.7; imprūdente
in 2.6).

Why Write Biography?
What motivated Nepos to write biographies? Unlike historians, who
sought to commemorate the great achievements of previous generations
and to provide examples of past successes and failures to help generals
and statesmen navigate analogous situations in the present, ancient
biographers focused on providing a moral education for their readers. By
reading about the amazing exploits and remarkable virtues of great men,
Roman readers would be inspired to conduct themselves with honor and
to strive towards similar greatness. Character would be trained through
the study of character. Biography, therefore, had an intrinsic value for all
readers, no matter how humble, as they could observe examples of noble
or iniquitous action and model their behavior accordingly, even if the
circumstances of their lives were more limited than those experienced by
the most preeminent figures in a given profession. As Nepos observes in
his Life of Timotheus, the greatness of a military triumph is self‒evident,
but such achievements cannot be fully appreciated unless their causes are
explored.1 Nepos, however, did not seek causes in the grand patterns of
history or culture as a historian might. Instead Nepos believed that “a man’s
character fashions his fate” (sui cuique mores fingunt fortunam hominibus).2

1 Nepos, Life of Timotheus 4.5‒6.
2 Nepos, Life of Atticus 11.6.

16 Cornelius Nepos, Life of Hannibal

It was for the same reason that the Greek biographer Plutarch (ca. 40‒120
CE), Nepos’ successor in composing parallel lives of Greek and Roman
statesmen, justifies his decision to write biography rather than history:
…it is not always prominent actions that reveal virtue or vice but often an
insignificant affair or a turn of phrase or a joke that reveals more about
someone’s character than the sieges of cities, grand tactics, and battles in
which thousands of men fall.3

It is this, the “full picture of a man’s character and life” (imaginem
consuetudinis atque vitae), that has the potential to transform impressive
achievements into educational examples.4 Of course biography also offers
the inherent pleasure of reading about the great adventures and rare
achievements of great men, often undertaken in exotic locations. It is no
surprise that today biography remains among the most popular and best‒
selling genres of non‒fiction.
In his concise biographies, Nepos focuses our attention on those
episodes in which his subjects exhibit their exemplary qualities. The
biographies of commanders, however, posed a special challenge for the
biographer. Hannibal’s chief virtue, in the estimation of Nepos, was his
prudentia, or military brilliance. But lengthy descriptions of battlefield
tactics, detailed accounts of troop maneuvers, and the quotation of rousing
pre‒battle speeches were appropriate topics for history, not biography.
Indeed, Nepos expressed anxiety that biography was ever at risk of
morphing into history. Speaking of the general Pelopidas, he says, “I fear
that if I were to detail his exploits, I will no longer seem to be recounting
his life, but writing history” (ne non vitam eius enarrare, sed historiam videar
scribere).5 Nepos, therefore, elaborates well‒chosen anecdotes to illustrate
Hannibal’s virtue. Thus we read about his cunning ruse to conceal his
wealth from rapacious Cretans; how he deployed tactical oxen to elude a
pursuing army (they had flaming bundles of sticks affixed between their
horns); and the weaponized jars of snakes he used to defeat a superior
naval force, while his stunning victories at Trebia, Trasimene, and Cannae
are only mentioned in passing. To do any more would violate the spirit
of Nepos’ project and his attempt to carve out a distinctive identity for
biography in Roman literature.
3 Plutarch, Life of Alexander 2.
4 Nepos, Life of Epamonidas 1.3‒4.
5 Nepos, Life of Pelopidas 1.



Reading Nepos 17

Nepos and Non‒Roman Cultures
To seek out the best lessons of noble conduct, Nepos decided that he
would not restrict his study to notable Romans; instead, he would present
the noble characters of Romans and non‒Romans alike. Evaluating the
morality and virtue of non‒Romans, however, presented a challenge for
Nepos and his contemporary Roman readers. As he observes in the Preface
to his biographies of foreign commanders, customs differ between nations,
since they arise from different “national traditions” (maiorum instituta).
Consequently, Nepos warns that his readers should not be shocked to see
illustrious foreigners engaging in behavior that would seem scandalous or
reprehensible if undertaken by a Roman. Yet, despite Nepos’ protestations,
the cultural differences raised by Nepos are inevitably trivial. A Greek
might dance or play the flute or marry his half‒sister, but all good men—
Greek, Roman, or even Carthaginian—display intelligence, courage, and
loyalty, and so reveal themselves as suitable models for the behavior of
even the most upright Roman reader. Ultimately, cultural difference is an
illusion since, according to Nepos, “the nature of all states is the same”
(eandem omnium civitatum esse naturam).6

The Biographical Tradition in Greece and Rome
Nepos may well have been the first author to produce a collection of
biographies on different professionals. This innovative project, however,
drew on a rich tradition of Greek and Roman authors who had praised
famous men—and the rare woman. Today, biography is generally expected
to provide a full and detailed account of a person’s life, from birth to death
(or at least up to the present). In antiquity, the genre of biography was slow
to coalesce and encompassed a range of approaches, styles, and traditions,
many of which left traces on Nepos’ varied collection. Of course, the deeds
of a person’s life, his upbringing, and motivations are intrinsic components
of any historical account that moves beyond a simple recitation of events
to describe people in action. Nevertheless, it is biography’s focus on the
experiences of a single, extraordinary individual rather than a collective
or cooperative event that differentiates biography from other forms of
historical writing.
6 Nepos, Life of Miltiades 6.

18 Cornelius Nepos, Life of Hannibal

The origins of biography as a distinct genre can be found in Classical
Greece. Biographical elements feature prominently in the writings of Plato
and Xenophon, in particular those that deal with the trial and death of their
mentor, Socrates. Several of Xenophon’s other works reveal a keen interest
in commemorating the exemplary characters of extraordinary individuals.
In his biographical novel, The Education of Cyrus, Xenophon creates an
idealized portrait of a Persian king by documenting Cyrus’ ancestry,
upbringing, and the events of his youth. Xenophon also composed a
biographical eulogy for his friend, the Spartan king Agesilaus, in which he
recounts Agesilaus’ life in chronological order before concluding with an
extensive catalogue of the king’s manifold virtues.
Aristotle never wrote biography, but his work on ethics—or those
principles that guide a person’s behavior—inspired a host of authors to
explore the qualities that are distinctive to an individual’s character.
Some of these authors catalogued the types of characters that appeared in
literature; others sought insights about the characters of great philosophers
and poets. During the period of scholarly experimentation in the fourth
and third centuries BC, many Greek authors composed works that were
essentially biographical in nature, often with the aim of exposing the truth
about a figure’s character. Only fragments of works by these Hellenistic
authors survive—e.g. Sotion, who wrote thirteen books on the succession
of teachers and their pupils in the various philosophical schools. In what
remains, however, we can discern the essential features that would come to
define the genre of biography: utilization of multiple sources in determining
the truth about a person’s character, which was revealed by assessing their
behavior and lifestyle often through the evidence of minor anecdotes rather
than the great achievements that would be the focus of a proper historical
account.
The Hellenistic period also witnessed a sustained interest in three quite
different men: Alexander the Great, Homer, and Aesop, the writer of fables.
While scholars focused their attention on the lives of generals, philosophers,
and poets, many anecdotes about the members of this larger‒than‒life
trio evolved through a symbiotic relationship between folk tradition
and scholarship, in which a democratic, oral, or sub‒literary tradition of
storytelling provided material that scholars would elaborate and correct.
Meanwhile, biographical writing about “great men”, which had long been
a subordinate component of the writing of history, began to take on a
more central role in the historiographical projects of many authors. The



Reading Nepos 19

fourth‒century historian Theopompus was praised for examining “even the
hidden reasons for actions and the motives of their agents, and the feelings
in their hearts”.7 The historian Polybius, who composed a lost work on the
general and statesman Philopoemen, would even claim that elucidating the
upbringing and character of important figures was more vital to his goals
as a historian than traditional subjects, such as the founding of cities.8
If Greek literature provided a variety of models for describing the
lives of famous men, Roman aristocratic families had long fostered the
commemoration of their worthy ancestors. Of particular importance for
the development of Roman biography were the laudationes funebres, the
“graveside eulogies” that extolled the achievements of the deceased and
the glories of his prestigious ancestors. Rome’s relentless climate of political
competition also promoted a vibrant tradition of autobiographical writing
by ambitious Romans, who sought to spread word of their successes—and
excuse their failures. Among the over six hundred works composed by
Varro (116‒27 BC) were two autobiographies and a biographical work on
poets. Nepos may have been inspired to juxtapose illustrious Greeks and
Romans in different professions by Varro’s Imagines, a compilation of seven
hundred portraits of philosophers, poets, kings, dancers, and other famous
men. Each portrait seems to have been accompanied by a short epigram
and commentary in prose. Nepos’ biographies doubtlessly owe a great
deal to these earlier efforts by Greek and Roman authors. The existence of
models and influences, however, should not diminish the achievement of
the Lives, which refashioned Greek and Roman history and culture through
the lens of biography, while elevating Roman achievements to the same
level of prestige enjoyed by the luminaries of Greece.

Nepos’ Audience
Nepos’ simple style can be attributed to the audience for whom he wrote.
He claims that he was not writing for other historians, but instead for the
“general public” (vulgus).9 Because such readers did not know Greek, they
had little or no access to the history of the world that Rome had conquered
or to biographies about the non‒Romans who had shaped it. Nepos admits
that some critics will find his biographies “trivial” (leve) and “unworthy”
7 Theopompus, 6 (Usher trans.).
8 Polybius, 10.21.4.
9 Nepos, Life of Pelopidas 1.

20 Cornelius Nepos, Life of Hannibal

(non satis dignum) of the great men that they seek to immortalize.10 But
Nepos’ simple style would permit any literate Roman to learn about the
characters of these great men. His project, therefore, sought to harness
historical figures for the moral education of a non‒elite audience. Lest
we underestimate his original audience, we should note that Nepos is
rarely heavy‒handed when holding up one of his subjects to praise or
blame. Avoiding explicit moralizing comments, Nepos instead deploys
anecdotes to suggest proper behavior. Since his work targeted non‒elite
readers through simple, concise language, it should come as no surprise
that editors in late antiquity found his biographies worthy of reproduction
and dissemination. And so six centuries after their composition, Nepos still
found an eager new audience for his biographies, one that would ensure
that at least some of his writings would survive to be read in turn by you,
over two millennia after Nepos first conceived of his project.

10 Nepos, Preface 1.

3. Historical Context
and Hannibal

Early History of Carthage
Legend holds that Carthage was founded around 825 BC by Dido. Dido
had fled from the city of Tyre to escape her murderous brother Pygmalion.
Archaeological evidence confirms that Phoenician traders from Tyre
founded the city of Qart‒Ḥadašt—or “New City”, as Carthage was known
in its native language—in the second half of the ninth century BC. The
settlement of Carthage was part of a centuries‒long pattern of colonization
by the Phoenicians in the eastern Mediterranean aimed at dominating the
lucrative trade in tin, gold, silver, and copper. Eventually the Phoenicians
established over 300 coastal colonies throughout North Africa and the
Iberian Peninsula (Hispania).
By the third century BC, an independent Carthage had grown into one
of the more powerful states in the Mediterranean, controlling much of the
coast of western North Africa, Sardinia, and Corsica, along with sections of
Sicily and the Iberian Peninsula. The city itself grew to be the second largest
in the ancient Mediterranean, behind only Alexandria, the magnificent
capital of Ptolemaic Egypt. With its powerful fleet, Carthage dominated
trade throughout the western Mediterranean and even into the Atlantic.
As the city grew in size and power during the seventh century BC, it
progressively asserted its independence from Tyre, founding colonies of its
own and expanding its territory in Africa. Even so, Carthage continued to
signal its allegiance to its mother city by dispatching an annual embassy to
Tyre’s temple of Melquart, the city’s patron deity.
© Bret Mulligan, CC BY 4.0

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22 Cornelius Nepos, Life of Hannibal

2. Carthaginian and Roman territory on the eve of the First Punic War.1

3. Dido Building, Carthage (1815) by J. M. W. Turner.2
1 Adapted with permission from images © Ancient World Mapping Center, CC BYNC-ND. http://awmc.unc.edu/wordpress/alacarte/
2 Now at the National Gallery, London. Wikimedia, https://commons.wikimedia.org/
wiki/File:Turner_-_Dido.jpg



Historical Context and Hannibal 23

After Tyre was conquered by the Babylonians in the early sixth century,
the Phoenician colonies in the western Mediterranean turned to powerful
Carthage for protection and support against their Greek rivals. Old
Phoenician colonies, such as Utica and Gades in Hispania, became bound by
treaty to Carthage. While Roman allies participated in a mutual defensive
organization under the leadership of Rome, which gradually integrated
its allies by granting their people rights and even citizenship, Carthage
preferred to extract punitive taxes from its looser confederation of subjects
and subject allies. These taxes were used in turn to finance Carthage’s fleet
and to pay mercenary soldiers. Carthage had slowly evolved from a colony
to the capital of a new empire.
Despite their extensive contact with their Greek neighbors and Libyan
subjects, the Carthaginians retained their Punic language, a dialect of
Phoenician and a Semitic language related to Hebrew. Punic would long
outlast Carthage’s empire. It was still spoken in northern Africa as late as the
fifth century AD, but died out soon thereafter, leaving only a few inscriptions
and scattered quotations as witnesses. The Carthaginians also retained
distinctive customs, including the sacrifice of infants to Baal Hammon and
his consort Tanit, a practice that had long since been abandoned in Tyre and
the other Semitic kingdoms of the Levant. Recently, scholars have questioned
whether the Carthaginians engaged in widespread child sacrifice, or if it was
reserved for especially dire moments, or if the substantial archaeological
evidence indicating such sacrifice has been misinterpreted, colored by the
biased accounts of Carthage’s enemies, from whom we derive most of our
information about the city and its people. It remains a controversial question.
As the head of a Punic coalition, Carthage forged an anti‒Greek alliance
with the Etruscans, who controlled Rome until the late sixth century BC.
They also courted the support of the far‒off Persians, who were attempting
to conquer the Greeks in the eastern Mediterranean. It was said in antiquity
that on the same day (in 480 BC) the united eastern Greeks destroyed the
fleet of the Persian King Xerxes at Salamis, a coalition of western Greeks
routed a Carthaginian force at Himera in Sicily. This coincidence is almost
certainly a later fabrication, but it does demonstrate that events throughout
the eastern and western Mediterranean were understood to be part of one
grand narrative in antiquity. After their defeat at Himera, the Carthaginians
avoided open conflict with the Greeks in Sicily, turning their attention
instead to expanding their territory in Africa, exploring and colonizing the
Atlantic coast (perhaps as far south as modern Cameroon), and developing
their inland trade routes to the south.

24 Cornelius Nepos, Life of Hannibal

As Carthage grew into a major military power, its political system
was evolving from a monarchy to a more inclusive republican form of
government—a transformation experienced by many other city‒states
throughout the ancient Mediterranean at this time, including Rome.
Eventually, Carthage’s government came to be led by two annually elected
magistrates (suffetes or “kings”); a Council of Elders (the adirim or “Mighty
Ones”) consisting of the leading men of the city; and an assembly of
citizens who could arbitrate between the suffetes and Council when they
were at odds. Unlike the Romans, whose annually‒elected magistrates
managed both civilian and military affairs, the Carthaginians created
a separate office of general, who was appointed for a specific mission.
Because these generals often continued in office until that mission was
completed, they could accumulate considerable influence. Their power was
checked, however, by the Council of 104 judges, who had the authority to
convict and crucify delinquent generals. Carthage’s political system was
often praised in antiquity: Aristotle thought Carthage possessed one of the
best constitutions. In practice, however, a single preeminent family often
acquired political supremacy for extended periods of time. Sometimes this
family would rule collaboratively with other members of the aristocracy; at
others, it would exercise near absolute authority in the city.
To understand the savage tenacity displayed by the Carthaginians
and Romans in the Second Punic War, it is necessary to understand the
previous conflicts between the two powers. Early in their history, Rome
and Carthage signed several treaties of friendship and even fought as
(somewhat unenthusiastic) allies against adventuring Greek potentates.
But Rome’s growing involvement with Carthage’s Greek adversaries
in southern Italy and Sicily—combined with Rome’s traditional fear of
powerful neighbors—caused increasing tensions between the two powers.
Beginning in 264 BC, Rome and Carthage would fight three brutal wars
for control of the western Mediterranean. Collectively these conflicts are
known as the Punic Wars after the Latin word for “Phoenician”, Poenus.

First Punic War (264‒241 BC)
The seeds of the First Punic War had been sown in the 280s BC when a
small band of unemployed Italian mercenaries, known as the Mamertines
or the “Sons of Mars”, occupied the strategic town of Messana in northwest
Sicily. Situated on the narrow straight that separates Italy from Sicily,



Historical Context and Hannibal 25

Messana controlled commerce and communications between Sicily and the
mainland. When Hiero II of Syracuse attempted to dislodge the Mamertines
in 265, they enlisted the aid of a nearby Carthaginian fleet, whose swift
intervention forced Hiero to withdraw. The Mamertines soon regretted
the Carthaginian occupation and appealed to Rome for protection, citing
their status as Italians. Rome was hesitant to become entangled in a conflict
outside of Italy or to come to the aid of the piratical Mamertines. Indeed,
Rome had only a few years before executed a similar group who had
occupied the Italian town of Rhegium. Yet Rome’s fear of a Carthaginian
stronghold so close to Italy—and greed for plunder in what they assumed
would be a short war against Syracuse—outweighed their concerns. The
Romans, under the command of the consul Appius Claudius Caudex,
invaded Sicily and marched to the Mamertines’ aid.
When the Mamertines learned that the Romans were approaching, they
persuaded the Carthaginian general to withdraw his forces from the city. The
general, regretting this decision to abandon the city, took the fateful steps of
allying with Hiero. The combined Carthaginian and Syracusan forces then
besieged Messana. After attempts to negotiate a truce failed, Carthage and
Rome began hostilities. Both sides were confident of a quick and decisive
victory. Neither side anticipated the horror that was to come: a ferocious,
generation‒long war, which would witness many large‒scale disasters and
innumerable small‒scale atrocities. This war would transform the Roman
and Carthaginian empires, upend the balance of power in the western
Mediterranean, and set the stage for Hannibal’s avenging assault on Italy.
It was in Sicily that the war began, and in and around Sicily where most
of the fighting took place. Roman forces swiftly crossed over into Sicily,
captured Messana, and then forced Syracuse to capitulate. Carthage, after
crucifying the tentative general who had lost the strategic initiative by
permitting Rome’s invasion, adopted the cautious strategy that they had
honed in generations of intermittent fighting against the Sicilian Greeks.
Their mercenary army, operating from fortified towns, would harass the
allies of Rome and Syracuse, eventually sapping their will to continue the
fight, while allowing Carthage to make opportunistic gains whenever an
opportunity arose. It was a defensive strategy, designed to preserve a status
quo that was quite satisfactory to the Carthaginians. But the Carthaginians
would soon realize that the Romans were a decidedly more powerful and
more lethal foe than the loose confederations of Greek city‒states that they
had previously fought.

26 Cornelius Nepos, Life of Hannibal

In 262, the Romans moved against the fortified city of Agrigentum.
After Roman forces defeated a Carthaginian army that had been sent to
lift the siege, they brutally sacked the city. Rome was not interested in
restoring the status quo; they sought to expel Carthage from Sicily. The
sack of Agrigentum stiffened Carthaginian resolve. Attempts by Rome to
follow up on their success by capturing other Carthaginian cities in Sicily
proved costly and ineffective. A bloody strategic stalemate developed
in which cities would be taken and switch sides only to be retaken or
betrayed again.
Rome realized that defeating Carthage would require a navy that could
attack the Carthaginian homeland in Africa and thwart Carthage’s ability
to resupply its beleaguered coastal cities in Sicily. To counter Carthage’s
naval superiority, Rome undertook a rapid armament program, building
and training a navy in a matter of months. After early losses at sea, Romans
determined that they could exploit their own superiority in close‒quarter
fighting by equipping their ships with a hooked gangplank—the corvus
or “crow”—that allowed Roman marines to grapple, board, and capture
Carthaginian ships. Eventually, in 256 a Roman fleet of over 300 ships and
150,000 men defeated the Carthaginians off Cape Ecnomus. The path to
Africa lay open.
The African campaign of 256‒255 met with early success. Romans under
the consul Atilius Regulus ravaged the African countryside and won a
smashing victory that forced Carthage to sue for peace. But when Rome
offered terms that were excessively punitive, Carthage hired the Spartan
Xanthippus to reorganize its army and plan the defense of its territory.
Xanthippus lured Regulus into a battle on open ground, where Carthage’s
war elephants and its advantage in cavalry overwhelmed the Romans.
Only 2,000 Romans—from a force of over 15,000—survived to be evacuated
by the Roman fleet. The consul Regulus was captured (he would later be
tortured to death). Compounding the disaster, a storm wrecked nearly
the entire evacuation fleet before it reached Italy. As many as 90,000 men
drowned, taking with them Rome’s hopes of invading Africa and forcing
a quick end to the war. Attention turned again to Sicily and the brutal war
of attrition.
While Rome regrouped and rebuilt its fleet, Carthage enjoyed a brief
period of success in Sicily. Rome, however, soon regained the offensive,
capturing numerous cities in rapid succession and securing all but the
westernmost region of the island. Yet Rome failed to press its advantage.



Historical Context and Hannibal 27

Since they sought the capitulation of Carthage, they sent their fleet in 253
to raid the Libyan coast, where it was lost in a storm—another 150 ships
lost and over 60,000 men drowned. In the meantime, Carthage was able to
transport 100 war elephants to Sicily, further deterring the Romans, who
were mindful of the role the elephants played in the destruction of Regulus’
army. Rome would require two years before it could resume serious
offensive operations, when they besieged the stronghold of Lilybaeum, the
lynchpin of Carthage’s remaining defenses in Sicily.
Old patterns soon reasserted themselves. The Romans were unable to
prevent the Carthaginians from resupplying the garrison by sea. Indeed,
the daring Carthaginian admiral Ad Herbal often simply sailed his better‒
trained and nimbler ships past the Roman fleet in broad daylight. Provoked
by this humiliating display of superior Carthaginian seamanship, the
consul Publius Claudius Pulcher prepared a surprise assault against the
Carthaginian fleet at Drepana. Appearing outside the harbor at dawn and
with the element of surprise, Pulcher appeared to be on the brink of a
decisive victory that might well have won Rome the war. Instead, the Roman
assault was fatally delayed as they awaited a favorable omen, allowing Ad
Herbal to clear the harbor. Pulcher’s fleet, now hopelessly outmaneuvered
and trapped against the Sicilian coast, lost ninety ships. Within days, a
second Roman fleet of 120 ships and 800 transports was destroyed by a
storm in eastern Sicily. The Romans would never take Lilybaeum by force;
seven years would pass before the Romans had the courage and financial
resources to build another fleet.
The war in Sicily was again at a stalemate. With the exhausted opponents
no longer able to mount large scale operations, the war devolved into a
series of small‒scale ambushes and atrocities. Hamilcar Barca, Hannibal’s
father, began waging an audacious guerilla campaign against Roman
forces and allies. Finally in 243 BC the Roman Senate resolved to resume
large‒scale offensive operations. A new fleet, financed by onerous loans,
was constructed. After the destruction of one Carthaginian fleet by storm
in 241 and another at the Battle of the Aegates Islands, a faction of wealthy
landowners that favored peace came to power in Carthage. The long war
drew to a close.
Rome had outlasted Carthage, which had never adapted to Rome’s
aggressive strategy. As Rome systematically worked to expand its territory
in Sicily and pressure Carthage by invading and raiding Africa, Carthage
passively reacted to Rome’s moves, stubbornly fighting a defensive war

28 Cornelius Nepos, Life of Hannibal

geared towards not losing the conflict. Although individual Carthaginian
generals displayed brilliance at sea and on land (none more so than
Hamilcar), Carthage never devised a strategy to defeat the more populous
Rome, which routinely absorbed horrific losses and staggering defeats
only to regroup and resume the attack. Hamilcar would pass these hard‒
won lessons to Hannibal, who would devise a bold, aggressive strategy
to defeat Rome.
As part of the terms of the peace, Carthage agreed to surrender Sicily
and its naval bases on the surrounding islands to the Romans, avoid conflict
with Syracuse and other Roman allies, release Roman prisoners without
ransom, and pay an enormous indemnity of 3,200 talents or the equivalent
of nearly 100 tons of silver. Rome, which before the war had never fought
outside of Italy, now controlled a wealthy overseas territory—its first of
many. Nevertheless, their victory must have been bittersweet. During the
long 23 years of conflict, Rome lost over 600 ships, Carthage at least 500.
As many as 50,000 Roman citizens and another 350,000 allies had been
killed, most suffering horrific deaths at sea. The Carthaginians too suffered
terribly in the war, a losing effort that left them economically bankrupt,
deprived of their possessions in Sicily, and bereft of their signature navy.
Before the war, Rome and Carthage were wary rivals with a long tradition
of coexistence and even cooperation; afterwards, they were bitter enemies,
each steeped in a generation of blood. For the Romans, their erstwhile allies
were now seen as bloodthirsty and duplicitous. Indeed, the phrase Punica
fides (“Carthaginian loyalty”) became a byword for the most vicious kind
of treachery. Romans simultaneously reviled Carthaginians as cruel and
cowardly: they were said to sacrifice children and eat dogs, while being
in the emasculating grip of eastern‒style luxury and enervated by Africa’s
climate. We can assume that the same animus roiled the Carthaginians
against the Romans. The peace, like the war, would last for 23 years. But
the stage had been set for an even greater conflict, one that would push first
Rome and then Carthage to the brink of destruction.

Between the Wars
Carthage’s humiliating defeat and the economic depression that followed
precipitated a vicious rebellion by Carthage’s mercenary soldiers and
African allies known as the Truceless or Mercenary War (241‒237 BC).
Rome, which officially supported Carthage in the conflict, nevertheless



Historical Context and Hannibal 29

took advantage of Carthage’s weakness to seize Sardinia and Corsica
and to extort additional reparations. Eventually, under the leadership of
Hamilcar and Hannibal’s brother‒in‒law, Hasdrubal the Fair, Carthage
was able to suppress the rebellion. Because of Hamilcar’s role in rescuing
Carthage from this crisis, he and his family gained considerable influence
among the Carthaginian people, as well as widespread support throughout
the Carthaginian government.
With its territories in Sicily, Sardinia, and Corsica lost to Rome, Hamilcar
sought new conquests in Hispania, a wealthy region that included the
richest silver mines in the Mediterranean. By the 220s Carthage had
recovered from its defeat in the First Punic War. Meanwhile Rome, content
with the status quo, recognized Carthage’s gains in Hispania and turned its
attention to governing its new territories and completing the conquest of
northern Italy. The Romans organized Sicily and then Sardinia and Corsica
as their first overseas provinces. From 225 to 222 BC, Rome pacified the
Gauls in northern Italy and then began campaigning in Illyria across the
Adriatic Sea. Rome’s eastward expansion into Illyria, however, was cut
short by unforeseen events in Hispania, events that would soon involve
Rome in a fight for its very survival.

Second Punic War (218‒201 BC)
In 219 BC, Hannibal laid siege to Saguntum, a coastal city in northeast
Hispania that enjoyed a treaty of friendship with Rome. In 226 BC Hasdrubal
the Fair signed a treaty with Rome that acknowledged Carthage’s control
of Hispania south of the Iber River (modern Ebro). Saguntum’s status,
therefore, was ambiguous: was it an ally of Rome or a ward of Carthage?
When the besieged Saguntines appealed to Rome, Rome pressured
the Carthaginians to recognize their alliance with Saguntum. Even as
the Romans attempted to negotiate a settlement to the crisis, Hannibal
captured the city after an eight‒month siege. When Carthage refused
Roman demands for Hannibal’s extradition, both sides prepared for war.
Rome and Carthage enjoyed different military advantages than they had
during the last war. Hannibal now fielded the best‒trained and equipped
army in the ancient world; the Romans enjoyed complete naval superiority,
which they could use to invade Carthaginian territory at will. Rome expected
to exploit this advantage to wage a quick, offensive war that would compel
Carthage to sue for peace on Rome’s terms. Hannibal, however, had a plan

30 Cornelius Nepos, Life of Hannibal

to restore Carthage’s supremacy in the western Mediterranean. First, he
would neutralize Rome’s advantage at sea through a daring invasion of
Italy across the Alps. Hannibal correctly saw that the presence of a foreign
army in Italy would compel the Romans to abandon their planned assault
on Carthage. Once across the Alps, Hannibal planned to recruit soldiers
from the recently conquered regions of northern and southern Italy and
convince other kingdoms in the East to join forces against Rome. At the head
of this combined force, Hannibal would cut at the roots of Roman military
power by disrupting the intricate web of alliances that bound the cities and
peoples of Italy to Rome. It is important to note that Hannibal’s goal at
the start of the war was not to destroy the city or exterminate the Romans,
despite the claims made by later Roman authors. Hannibal assumed that a
few decisive victories in Italy would compel Rome to negotiate a new peace
treaty on terms favorable to Carthage. At the least, he thought he could
restore Carthaginian holdings in Sicily and Sardinia and a recognition of
their empire in Hispania. Roman resolve, however, would again surprise
the Carthaginians.

4. Hannibal’s route into Italy.3
3 Adapted with permission from images © Ancient World Mapping Center, CC BYNC-ND. http://awmc.unc.edu/wordpress/alacarte/



Historical Context and Hannibal 31

5. Snow Storm. Hannibal and his Army Crossing the Alps (1810‒1812)
by J. M. W. Turner.4

At the start of the war, the Romans assumed that Hannibal, whose army
was in constant danger of being outflanked by sea, would seek to protect
Carthage’s hard‒won territory in northern Hispania. The Roman strategy
assumed that one army would pin Hannibal down in Hispania, freeing
another to invade the Carthaginian homeland in Africa. But Hannibal, ever
bold, seized the initiative and marched towards Italy with a large army.
He evaded the first Roman army sent against him and arrived at the Alps
in late 218 BC with 38,000 infantry troops, 8,000 cavalrymen, and 37 war
elephants. The brutal march over the mountains in the early winter cost
Hannibal nearly a third of his army and most of his irreplaceable elephants.
But his gamble worked. He was able to lead an intact army into Italy.
Hannibal then won a cavalry engagement at Ticinus and forced the Romans
to withdraw south of the Padus River. Facing an enemy army in Italy, the
Romans recalled the forces that were being marshaled for the planned
invasion of Africa. Hannibal had succeeded in forestalling the invasion of
Carthage. His audacity had gained him the chance to win the war in Italy.
In quick succession, Hannibal inflicted two crushing defeats on a stunned
and unprepared Rome. At Trebia, 30,000 freezing Roman soldiers were
lured into an ambush and killed. Hannibal then crossed the Padus River into
4 
Now at Tate Britain, London. Wikimedia, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/
File:Joseph_Mallord_William_Turner_081.jpg

32 Cornelius Nepos, Life of Hannibal

central Italy. Despite the shocking defeat, Rome refused to negotiate terms
with the invader. In 217, the two consuls raised a new army and led it against
Hannibal. At Lake Trasimene, Hannibal again demonstrated his mastery of
battlefield tactics when the consul Gaius Flaminius Nepos and more than
40,000 soldiers were ambushed on the narrow path along the shore of the
lake. Nearly all of the Roman soldiers in Flaminius’ army were either killed or
captured. After this second disaster, Rome was seized by panic and memories
of the Gallic Sack of 390 BC. But still the Romans refused to surrender or even
negotiate an exchange of prisoners. Instead, Fabius Maximus was elected
dictator and invested with unlimited power to confront the threat to Rome.
Unlike his impetuous colleagues, Fabius accurately assessed the tactical
and strategic situation facing Rome. Fabius realized that Hannibal’s decisive
advantage in cavalry forces made it too risky to engage him in a large‒scale
battle on level ground. He also recognized that Rome’s superior manpower
would eventually yield victory, provided that he could thwart Hannibal’s
strategic goal of separating Rome from her Italian allies. Fabius therefore
avoided a direct confrontation with Hannibal’s forces. He focused instead on
protecting Rome’s allies and wearing down Hannibal’s army through small
raids. This “Fabian” tactic of avoiding decisive battle spared Rome’s soldiers
and preserved Rome’s alliances, but his caution lost him favor among the
more aggressive‒minded Roman senators who were eager to confront
Hannibal, as well as many other Roman citizens whose property was being
destroyed by Hannibal’s army.
Unchecked, Hannibal ranged throughout Italy, eventually destroying 400
towns and capturing several large cities. In the face of such devastation, two
new consuls were elected on the promise to make short work of Hannibal.
Under the burning summer sky, the largest army that Rome would ever
field within Italy marched to crush what they saw as Hannibal’s gaggle of
barbarians. Outside of the strategic town of Cannae, however, Hannibal
annihilated both consular armies: as many as 70,000 Romans and allies were
butchered in a single afternoon—among the worst defeats ever suffered by
Rome, or indeed by any army.
Rome’s allies began to waver as Hannibal’s successes mounted. Several
major cities revolted, as did large swaths of southern Italy. Soon after Cannae,
another army was destroyed while attempting to pacify a Gallic tribe that had
defected to Hannibal. Hannibal’s army and his allies had killed upwards of
175,000 Roman and Italian soldiers in just over 20 months. At this moment,
Philip of Macedon agreed to open a second front against Roman interests in
Illyria. By almost any reckoning, Hannibal had won the war. Rome’s power
base had been reduced to central Italy and Sicily. It had lost the core of its



Historical Context and Hannibal 33

army and a large portion of its military and political aristocracy, its allies were
abandoning it, and rival powers were beginning to line up behind Hannibal,
who must have thought he was on the verge of victory. Yet even in the face
of these manifold disasters, Rome rejected even the thought of peace on
Hannibal’s terms. It banned public displays of mourning, refused to negotiate,
and began recruiting new armies. Improbably, the war had only just begun.
In this moment of crisis, Rome resumed the Fabian strategy. Decisive
battles were avoided whenever possible, allies were protected, disloyal or
captured cities were slowly re‒conquered. The Romans deployed their fleet
to limit reinforcements from Philip of Macedonia or Carthage. They used
clever diplomacy to enmesh Philip in a costly and distracting war in Greece.
With the immediate crisis averted, Rome’s superiority in manpower and
organization eventually began to turn the tide.

6. Hannibal’s campaign in Italy.5
5 Adapted with permission from images © Ancient World Mapping Center, CC BYNC-ND. http://awmc.unc.edu/wordpress/alacarte/

34 Cornelius Nepos, Life of Hannibal

During the decade from 215 to 205 BC Rome fielded as many as seven and
never fewer than four two‒legion armies every year in Italy. At its peak
mobilization in 212 BC, Rome fielded 25 legions and a massive fleet with
over 200,000 men, which it used to conduct simultaneous operations from
Hispania to Africa to the Aegean. Hannibal, who was never able to field
more than three large armies at a time, was thus constantly made to react to
Roman operations against his new Italian allies.
In 211, Hannibal at last marched against Rome. It would be more than 600
years before a foreign army would again marshal outside of Rome’s gates.
Even so, Hannibal was incapable of sustaining a prolonged siege against the
well‒defended city. This move was only a diversionary tactic to forestall a
Roman expedition to Africa. By 209, Rome had retaken most of the cities in
Italy and begun to make inroads against Carthaginian territory in Hispania.
Hannibal, however, still hoped to win the war. A decade of continual war
had wrecked the Italian economy. Rome’s allies were exhausted and eager
for peace. Even the Latin cities, Rome’s staunchest allies, refused new levies,
claiming that no men remained in their towns.
At this crucial juncture Hannibal suffered three disastrous setbacks. First
his brother Hasdrubal, who was attempting to reinforce Hannibal by land,
was killed and his army destroyed at Metaurus in 207. Then Scipio Africanus
completed the conquest of Hispania in 206. Finally, a large resupply fleet from
Carthage was destroyed in 205. Hannibal’s daring gambit—his attempt to
destroy Rome’s alliances before its superior resources and population could
provide it with a decisive advantage—had failed. When Roman forces began
operating in North Africa, Hannibal was recalled to defend the Carthaginian
homeland.
In 204, Scipio Africanus invaded North Africa and promptly annihilated
a large army of Carthaginians and Numidians in a daring nighttime assault.
The stage was set for a climactic showdown between Hannibal and Scipio
Africanus. In 202 at the Battle of Zama, Hannibal was at last able to deploy war
elephants against the Romans. But Scipio had developed tactics to minimize
their effectiveness and Hannibal’s young, untrained elephants did more
damage to the Carthaginians than the Romans. The battle was won when
Scipio’s superior Numidian cavalry routed its Carthaginian counterpart
and attacked the Carthaginian rear lines. While Roman losses in the battle
numbered under 2,000, nearly ten times as many Carthaginians died.
Even as Hannibal attempted to regroup, Carthage sued for peace. The
terms were onerous: Carthage agreed to surrender all territory outside



Historical Context and Hannibal 35

Africa, to wage war only with Roman permission, and to pay a massive
indemnity of 5,000 talents (later raised to 10,000) over fifty years. Carthage’s
empire and its military power were broken. Rome stood unchallenged as the
most powerful state in the western Mediterranean.

Aftermath
After the war, Carthage was beset by another financial depression, one
exacerbated by the crippling burden of the indemnity owed to Rome. In the
depths of this crisis, Carthage turned to Hannibal. Elected suffete, Hannibal
reformed the tax system and stabilized the economy, enabling Carthage to
reinvent itself from an imperial capital into a flourishing commercial hub. It
is likely that Carthage constructed its famed double harbor at this time.
Carthage’s revival soon provoked Roman fears of a resurgent Carthage,
as well as greed for the wealth that it was so rapidly accumulating. For a
time, while Rome was preoccupied with pacifying its new overseas territories
in Hispania and in settling old scores with Philip of Macedon, Rome was
content to profit from Carthage’s prosperity. But when Carthage paid off the
last of its reparations in 152, Rome ceased to benefit from Carthage’s success.
The Roman senator Cato the Elder began to stoke Roman eagerness for war.
At the end of every speech—regardless of the subject—he was said to declare
his belief that Rome must be freed from the threat of Carthage.6 Carthage,
however, scrupulously observed its obligations under the terms of the
peace and even supported Rome’s wars in the East. But by 150 BC relentless
expansion by the Numidians, now a Roman ally, forced Carthage to act in
self‒defense without Roman authorization. The treaty was abrogated. Both
sides prepared for war.
The following year Carthage sent ambassadors to accept peace on the
terms offered by Rome. They must have expected the Romans to leverage
the crisis to extort monetary and territorial concessions, as they had so
many times before. After first agreeing to the demands that they surrender
their weapons and deliver hundreds of children as hostages, the Romans
demanded that the Carthaginians abandon their city and resettle ten miles
inland, a concession that the ambassadors knew their fellow Carthaginians
6 Cato is often said to have concluded every speech with the same dire advice—censeo
Carthaginem esse delendam (“I recommend that Carthage must be destroyed”), from which
arose the dictum “Carthago delenda est” (“Carthage must be destroyed”). But it is more
likely that this expression was fabricated by later authors, who sought to dramatize
Cato’s relentless drive to destroy the city with a single pithy phrase (Little 1934).

36 Cornelius Nepos, Life of Hannibal

would never accept. Rome had at last bowed to Cato’s advice: Carthage
would be destroyed.

7. The Capture of Carthage (1539). Engraving by George Pencz.7

Despite their hopeless situation, the Carthaginians valiantly resisted for three
years. But finally, in 146, Carthage’s massive fortifications were breached
by Roman forces under the command of Scipio Aemilianus, the adopted
grandson of Scipio Africanus. As Carthage burned, for six days savage
fighting raged from house to house. At last, 50,000 exhausted Carthaginians
surrendered the citadel. So horrible was the carnage in that once magnificent
city that Scipio, a man hardened by years of bloody campaigning in Hispania,
was said to have wept at the sight. The surviving Carthaginians were sold
into slavery. The city was abandoned and its land cursed.
It is a modern fable that Romans salted the earth to prevent anything
from growing at the site. Rome, having destroyed its greatest rival, organized
Carthage’s African territory as a new province. The Punic language and
elements of Punic culture would survive. And in time, a new settlement
would grow in the ashes of the old. But this was a Roman city on the shores
of a Mediterranean dominated by Rome.
7 
Now at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Wikimedia, https://commons.
wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Georg_Pencz_-_The_Capture_of_Carthage.jpg



Historical Context and Hannibal 37

Hannibal
Hannibal was born into a prestigious Carthaginian family in 247 BC, as the
First Punic War (264‒241 BC) was drawing to a close. In the waning years
of that war, Hannibal’s father, Hamilcar, had waged a brilliant guerilla
campaign in Sicily and conducted daring raids against the Italian coast,
earning the nickname “Barca” or “Thunderbolt”, a name that was adopted
by his descendants. After Carthage’s calamitous defeat in that war, Hamilcar
helped suppress a dangerous rebellion by Carthage’s mercenaries and
subject allies in North Africa (240‒238 BC). After Hamilcar had rescued the
Carthaginian state, he forged a new empire for Carthage in Hispania (modern
Spain). It was during Hamilcar’s campaigns in Hispania that Hannibal would
learn the military skills that he would turn against Rome.
About Hannibal’s mother, nothing is known. It is possible that she was
a foreigner, since Carthaginian noblemen routinely practiced exogamy,
or marriage to foreigners. Hannibal’s sisters, for example, were married
to royalty in Numidia, a region that comprised a substantial portion of
Carthage’s empire in North Africa. Hannibal had two younger brothers:
Hasdrubal and Mago, both of whom served as Hannibal’s lieutenants in the
Second Punic War. Hamilcar famously declared that his sons were a “brood
of lion cubs raised for Rome’s destruction”—or so later Romans imagined.8
About Hannibal’s childhood we hear only the story of his oath of hatred
against Rome, which was recounted by most ancient authors who discuss
Hannibal’s life in any detail, including Nepos (2.3‒4). Shortly before he
marched against Italy, he married an Iberian woman. If he had a son, he died
young. About Hannibal’s physical appearance we are ignorant, apart from a
few idealized portraits on contemporary coins.
A clearer picture of Hannibal’s character emerges from the many ancient
historians who recounted his exploits. The Greek historian Polybius claims
that Hannibal had a violent temper.9 An anecdote from the aftermath of his
defeat in the Second Punic War suggests that age and experience did little to
soften his irritability. When an arrogant politician spoke against the peace
treaty, an enraged Hannibal physically assaulted the speaker, dragging him
from the podium.10 Hannibal later returned to the senate and apologized
for his conduct, citing his unfamiliarity with the customs of politics after a
lifetime spent in military service.
8 Valerius Maximus, 9.3 ext.2.
9 Polybius, 3.15.9.
10 Livy, 30.37.

38 Cornelius Nepos, Life of Hannibal

8. Roman bust of Hannibal. Statue in marble. Capua, Italy.11

The Roman historian Livy reports that he combined “the most reckless daring
for undertaking risk” (plurimum audaciae ad pericula capessenda) with “the most
judicious calm when in danger” (plurimum consilii inter ipsa pericula) and was
“more wonderful when facing adversity than in enjoying his success”.12
Many ancient authors observe that Hannibal could withstand extreme
physical hardships and was moderate in his consumption of food and
drink. The harsh realities of his life, which was spent almost entirely at war
or in exile, suggest the truth of this assessment. Nevertheless, we should
remember that ancient authors tend to characterize individuals as falling
into one of two camps: those who were toughened by physical hardship and
deprivation and those who were weakened by soft living and indulgence
in luxury. These historians, therefore, perhaps tell us more about how
Hannibal was thought to behave than about the man he actually was.
Most Roman sources, on which we are largely dependent, dwell on
Hannibal’s savagery and wickedness. According to Livy, he possessed
an “inhuman cruelty, treachery worse than usual for a Carthaginian,
disregard for truth and the sacred, a lack of fear towards the gods and
respect for oaths and any religion”.13 Seneca the Younger offers the grim
11 Now at the Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Naples. Wikimedia, https://commons.
wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mommsen_p265.jpg
12 Livy, 21.4.5, 28.12.3.
13 Livy, 21.4.



Historical Context and Hannibal 39

vision of a depraved Hannibal gazing at a trench filled with blood and
declaring “what a beautiful sight!” (o formosum spectaculum).14 Like most
of the testimonials preserved by hostile Roman witnesses, such anecdotes
should be viewed with skepticism. At the same time, we must remember
that Hannibal did engage in a vicious war in Italy for over a decade. The
accounts of the atrocities that he committed while attempting to break
the will of the Romans and their allies cannot be dismissed simply as the
product of Roman bias. There was doubtless good reason why “Hannibal
at the gates” (Hannibal ad portas) became shorthand for a looming crisis and
an admonition used to frighten Roman children into behaving. It should
be noted that Nepos omits any mention of such lurid tales, crafting, all in
all, the most favorable portrait of Hannibal offered by any ancient author.
The exploits of Hannibal’s life reveal a man of remarkable competence
and rare abilities. He inspired breathtaking loyalty and extraordinary
obedience among his troops, which included Carthaginians as well as
mercenaries recruited from throughout the ancient Mediterranean. Sources
recount how he slept on a military cloak, eating the food of the common
soldiers and sharing their hardships. As a tactician, his genius was of the
first rank. Military leaders to this day study Hannibal’s victories at the
battles of Trebia, Trasimene, and above all Cannae. In peacetime, he proved
himself a dynamic and principled, if not always tactful, politician. Imagine
the fortitude it must have taken to return to Carthage after losing a war
undertaken at his initiative. Carthaginians, it should be remembered, were
in the habit of crucifying defeated generals.
Hannibal not only survived—in no small part because he retained the
loyalty of the army—but within a few years he was elected to the highest
office in Carthage. As Carthage strained under the terms of its humiliating
treaty with Rome, Hannibal worked to prevent the entrenched aristocracy
from exploiting the suffering people of the city. He proved himself so
successful at reorganizing Carthaginian finances that he offered to pay
off early the full total of the war reparations owed to Rome. When Rome
spurned the offer, Hannibal’s enemies in Carthage engineered his downfall,
forcing him to flee the city. In later times, his cunning determination in
resisting Roman expansion made him a symbol of the downtrodden and
the underdog. It is no coincidence that Hannibal was adopted as an ancestor
of the Irish, who imagined themselves in the role of Carthage against the
imperial might of the British Empire.

14 Seneca the Younger, On Anger 2.5.4.

9. Hannibal’s travels in the East (196‒183 BC).
Adapted with permission from images © Ancient World Mapping Center, CC BY-NC-ND. http://awmc.unc.edu/wordpress/alacarte/

40 Cornelius Nepos, Life of Hannibal



Historical Context and Hannibal 41

Evaluating Hannibal
The life of Hannibal grants many opportunities to wonder what might
have been: what if Hannibal had reached Italy earlier in the season and
thus had not lost so many troops and elephants in crossing the Alps; what
if Hasdrubal had succeeded in reinforcing Hannibal from Spain; what if
reinforcements had come sooner from Carthage...? And yet, one can also
look at Hannibal’s life as a series of fleeting tactical successes punctuating
a record of strategic failures. He inherited a wealthy and expanding
empire only to leave Carthage prostrate and at Rome’s mercy. He failed to
leverage his smashing victory at Cannae to better strategic advantage. He
never devised a strategy to combat the Fabian tactics of harassment and
disengagement. For all his military daring, he was unable to break Rome’s
hold over Italy, and misjudged the loyalty of Rome’s most important allies.
His diplomatic efforts failed to entice another powerful state to attack
Rome in Italy. His fugitive latter days, when he fled from the court of
one eastern potentate to another, bear the mark of a man obsessed with
fighting a war that he had lost years before. In the memorable words of
Plutarch, he was now “a tame and harmless bird that had grown too old to
fly and had lost its tail feathers”.15 Indeed what seemed his only enduring
success—the reinvention of Carthage as a vibrant commercial power—
would eventually stoke Roman fear of renewed Carthaginian power and
greed for the fruits of its enemy’s newfound prosperity. In 146 BC, less
than forty years after Hannibal’s death, Carthage would be razed to the
ground by Scipio Aemilianus, the son of Hannibal’s great nemesis, Scipio
Africanus. Hannibal had achieved immortality—but at a terrible cost. This
melancholy tension is perhaps best captured by this short poem by Robert
Frost:
Was there even a cause too lost,
Ever a cause that was lost too long,
Or that showed with the lapse of time too vain
For the generous tears of youth and song?
— ”Hannibal” (1928)

15 Plutarch, Life of Flamininus 21.

Bibliography

Recommended Works on Nepos and Ancient Biography
Hägg, T. 2012. The Art of Biography in Antiquity. Cambridge University Press,
187‒196. Available at http://books.google.com/books?id=NhLQbSdTKooC
Pryzwansky, M. 2009‒2010. “Cornelius Nepos: Key Issues and Critical Approaches”.
Classical Journal 105.2: 99‒108.
Stem, R. 2012. The Political Biographies of Cornelius Nepos. University of Michigan
Press. Available at http://books.google.com/books?id=cmX_UgTGLdQC
Titchener, F. 2002. “Cornelius Nepos and the Biographical Tradition”. Greece &
Rome 50.1: 85‒99.

Recommended Works on Hannibal and the Punic Wars
Goldsworthy, A. 2001. The Punic Wars. Cassell Press.
Hanson, V. D. 2007. Carnage and Culture: Landmark Battles in the Rise of Western Power.
Anchor Press, 99‒134.
Hoyos, D. 2015. Mastering the West: Rome and Carthage at War. Oxford University
Press.
Lancel, S. 1998. Hannibal. Blackwell Press.

Ancient Accounts of Hannibal and the Second Punic War
Appian. Roman History: Books 7 and 8 treat the Second and Third Punic Wars,
respectively. [Transl. by H. White]. Available at http://www.livius.org/ap-ark/
appian/appian_0.html
Eutropius. Breviarium: Books 2‒4 treat the Punic Wars. [Transl. by J. S. Watson].
Available at http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/eutropius_breviarium_2_text.htm.
There also exists a recent student edition of Book 3 by B. Beyer (2009. War with
Hannibal. Authentic Latin Prose for the Beginning Student. Yale University Press).
© Bret Mulligan, CC BY 4.0

http://dx.doi.org/10.11647/OBP.0068.04

44 Cornelius Nepos, Life of Hannibal
Livy. History of Rome. Books 21‒30 treat the Second Punic War [Transl. by C.
Roberts]. Available at http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/txt/ah/Livy/
Polybius. Histories. Book 1 treats the First Punic War; the Second Punic War and
the simultaneous conflicts in the east are treated in Books 3‒15 [Transl. by W.
R. Paton]. Available at http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/
Polybius/home.html
Silius Italicus, Punica: a lengthy Latin epic on the Second Punic War [Transl. by
J. D. Duff]. Available at http://archive.org/stream/punicasi02siliuoft/punicasi02
siliuoft_djvu.txt

Select Films, Documentaries, and Novels
Cabiria (1914): a feature‒length Italian silent film; the title character was a Roman
slave who narrowly escaped from the villainous Carthaginians during the
Second Punic War. Available at http://youtu.be/gOWicOwtHa8
Scipio l’africano (1937): an account of Scipio’s invasion of Africa, sponsored by Benito
Mussolini. Caveat spectator: in the climactic Battle of Zama, several elephants are
killed on screen. Available at http://youtu.be/6jjZ9U-4nN4
Jupiter’s Darling (1955): a comedic musical; while Fabius Maximus delays, Hannibal
is visited by his fiancée, Amytis.
Hannibal (1959): Hannibal falls in love with the fiancée of Fabius Maximus’ son,
before the Battle of Cannae. Not a first‒rate film.
Engineering an Empire: Carthage (2006): an episode in the History Channel’s series
on ancient technology. An excellent source of reconstructions and short video
clips on Carthaginian archaeology, battle tactics, and more. Excerpts available
on YouTube.
Hannibal: Rome’s Worst Nightmare (2006): a docudrama produced by the BBC; it
focuses on Hannibal’s Italy campaign. Available at http://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=J1BKxeKtieM
On Hannibal’s Trail (2012): a BBC documentary in which three Australian brothers
bike Hannibal’s route from Spain through Italy to Tunis.
Anderson, P. 2006 (new edn). “Delenda est” in the Time Patrol anthology. “Delenda
Est” imagines an alternative history in which time travelers kill Scipio Africanus
at the Battle of Ticinus, allowing Hannibal to annihilate Rome in 210 BCE.
Durham, David Anthony. 2006. Pride of Carthage. Anchor Press.
Flaubert, G. 1862. Salammbo, translated by A. J. Krailsheimer. Penguin Classics
(1977). Flaubert’s sensuous and sensational follow‒up to Madame Bovary. The
novel follows Salammbo, the daughter of Hamilcar Barca, as she becomes
ensnared by the intrigues of the Mercenary War. Criticized by some as an
indulgent exercise in Orientalism and imperialist propaganda, Flaubert’s novel
helped shape the image of Carthage in art and the popular imagination. Review
essay by A. Mayor, 2010 available at http://www.stanford.edu/dept/HPS/
MayorSweatingTruthCarth.pdf



Bibliography 45

Further Readings on Nepos and Ancient Biography
Beneker, J. 2009/2010. “Nepos’ Biographical Method in the ‘Lives of the Foreign
Generals’”. Classical Journal 105.2: 109‒121.
Conte, G. B. 1994. Latin Literature: A History. The Johns Hopkins University Press,
221‒223. Available at http://books.google.com/books?id=NJGp_dkXnuUC
Dionisotti, A. C. 1988. “Nepos and the Generals”. Journal of Roman Studies 78: 35‒49.
Elder, J. P. 1967. “Catullus I, His Poetic Creed, and Nepos”. Harvard Studies in
Classical Philology 71: 143‒149.
Geiger, J. 1985. Cornelius Nepos and Ancient Political Biography. Franz Steiner Verglag.
Gibson, B. J. 1995. “Catullus 1.5‒7”. Classical Quarterly 45.2: 569‒573.
Hallett, J. P. 2002. “Cornelius Nepos and Constructions of Gender in Augustan
Poetry”. In Hommages à Carl Deroux I: 254‒256.
Horsfall, N. 1989. Cornelius Nepos: A Selection, Including the Lives of Cato and Atticus.
Oxford University Press.
Jenkinson, E. 1967. “Nepos: An Introduction to Latin Biography”. In T. A. Dorey
(ed.), Latin Biography. Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1‒15.
Marshall, P. K. 1977. The Manuscript Tradition of Cornelius Nepos. Institute of Classical
Studies.
Millar, F. 1988. “Cornelius Nepos, Atticus and the Roman Revolution”. Greece and
Rome 35: 40‒55.
Moles, J. L. 1989. “Nepos and Biography”. Classical Review 39.2: 229‒233.
Momigliano, A. D. The Development of Greek Biography. Harvard University Press,
96‒104. http://books.google.com/books?id=9EVx6FI2D34C
Nipperdey, K., and K. Witte. 1913. Cornelius Nepos. Weidmann.
Rauk, J. 1996‒1997. “Time and History in Catullus 1”. Classical World 90.5: 319‒332.
Stem, R. 2009‒2010. “Shared Virtues and the Limits of Relativism in Nepos’
Epaminondas and Atticus”. Classical Journal 105.2: 123‒136.
Tatum, W. J. 1997. “Friendship, Politics, and Literature in Catullus: Poems 1, 65 and
66, 116”. Classical Quarterly 47: 482‒500.
Tuplin, C. 2000. “Nepos and the Origin of Political Biography”, in Studies in Latin
Literature and Roman History X: 124‒161. Available at https://www.academia.
edu/8101855/Cornelius_Nepos_and_the_origins_of_political_biography
Wiseman, T. P. 1979. Clio’s Cosmetics: Three Studies in Greco‒Roman Literature.
Rowman and Littlefield, 143‒174. Available at http://books.google.com/
books?id=xxitv2_FLhsC

46 Cornelius Nepos, Life of Hannibal

Further Readings on Hannibal and the Punic Wars
Bagnall, N. 2002. Essential Histories: The Punic Wars 264‒146 BC. Osprey Publishing.
Charles, M. B., and P. Rhodan. 2007. “‘Magister Elephantorvm’: A Reappraisal of
Hannibal’s Use of Elephants”. Classical World 100.4: 363‒389.
Daly, G. 2002. Cannae: The Experience of Battle in the Second Punic War. Routledge.
De Beer, G. 1969. Hannibal: The Struggle for Power in the Mediterranean. Thames &
Hudson.
Garland, R. 2010. Hannibal. Bristol Classical Press.
Goldsworthy, A. 2007. Cannae: Hannibal’s Greatest Victory. Phoenix.
Hoyos, D. 2010. A Companion to the Punic Wars. Wiley‒Blackwell. (In particular Chs.
13, 14, 16‒18, and 27). http://books.google.com/books?id=DeHoLjPOtTUC
Hoyos, D. 2005. Hannibal’s Dynasty: Power and Politics in the Western Mediterranean,
247‒183 BC. Oxford University Press.
Lancel, S. 1995. Carthage: A History. Oxford University Press.
Lazenby, J. F. 1998. Hannibal’s War: A Military History of the Second Punic War.
University of Oklahoma Press.
Little, C. E. 1934. “The Authenticity and Form of Cato’s Saying ‘Carthago Delenda
Est’”. Classical Journal 29.6: 429‒435.
O’Connell, R. 2010. The Ghosts of Cannae: Hannibal and the Darkest Hour of the Roman
Republic. Random House.
Palmer, R. 1997. Rome and Carthage at Peace. Fritz Steiner Verlag.
Peddie, J. 1997. Hannibal’s War. Phoenix Mill. [lavishly illustrated]
Rich, J. 1996. “The Origins of the First and Second Punic Wars”, in T. Cornell, B.
Rankov, and P. Sabin (eds.), The Second Punic War: A Reappraisal. Institute of
Classical Studies, 1‒37.
Rosenstein, N. 2012. Rome and the Mediterranean 290 to 146 BC: The Imperial Republic.
Edinburgh University Press.
Wise, T. 1982. Armies of the Carthaginian Wars 265‒146. Osprey Publishing.

Chronology of Hannibal’s Life

Date

Event

Nepos

ca. 247 BC Birth of Hannibal. Hamilcar fights the Romans in Sicily.
241

Rome defeats Carthaginian fleet at Aegates Islands.
Carthage sues for peace, ending the First Punic War.

241‒237

Mercenary or Truceless War. Hamilcar leads the loyal
resistance.

237

Hannibal joins his father, Hamilcar, on campaign in
Hispania.

Ch. 2

229

Hamilcar killed in battle. His son‒in‒law Hasdrubal
the Fair assumes command of Carthaginian forces in
Hispania. Romans active in Illyria.

Ch. 3.1

225

Romans sign Ebro treaty with Hasdrubal.

224‒222

Romans pacify the Gallic tribes of northern Italy.

221

Hasdrubal the Fair assassinated. Hannibal proclaimed
as leader of Carthaginian forces in Hispania. Philip V
ascends to Macedonian throne.

220

Hannibal’s campaign against Vaccaei worries Romans.
Romans demand that he respect Ebro treay. Construction
of the Via Flaminia, which improved transportation from
Rome to northern Italy and Illyria.

219

Saguntum besieged and captured by Carthaginians,
leading to outbreak of Second Punic War between
Carthage and Rome. Rome embroiled in Second Illyrian
War.

© Bret Mulligan, CC BY 4.0

http://dx.doi.org/10.11647/OBP.0068.05

48 Cornelius Nepos, Life of Hannibal
Date

Event

218

Hannibal leads army across Alps into Italy. Romans
defeated at Ticinus and Trebia. Carthaginian fleet raids
Italy.

217

Roman army destroyed at Trasimene. Fabius Maximus
elected dictator. Gnaeus and Publius Scipio win victories
in Hispania. Hannibal nearly destroys the army of
Minucius Rufus at Gerontium. Hannibal eludes Fabius in
the Ager Falernus. Servilius raids Africa.

216

Two Roman armies annihilated at Cannae. Another is
destroyed in Gaul. Capua and many regions of southern
Italy defect to Hannibal. Hannibal repulsed from Nola.
Furius raids Africa.

215

Hannibal’s repeated attempts to take Nola are repulsed
(215‒214). He captures Casilinum. Bomilcar lands
Carthaginian reinforcements in southern Italy. Gnaeus
and Publius Scipio defeat Hasdrubal in Hispania.
Otacilius raids Africa. A Carthaginian invasion of Sicily
is thwarted by an outbreak of plague. Hannibal forges
an alliance with Philip V of Macedon (First Macedonian
War). Romans raid Carthaginian territory in Hispania.

214

Romans recapture Casilinum. Hannibal fails to capture
Tarentum. An army under his lieutenant Hanno destroyed
at Beneventum. Syracuse defects to Carthage.

213

Romans raise an army of over 200,000 men. They besiege
Syracuse. Carthage attempts to reinforce Syracuse.
Romans recapture Saguntum.

212

Hannibal captures Tarentum and other cities in southern
Italy. Roman army defeated at Silarus. Romans under
Marcellus capture Syracuse. Capua besieged by Romans.
Major battles at Lucania and Herdonea in Italy.

211

Hannibal advances on Rome but is unable to capture city.
Capua falls to Romans. In Hispania, Hasdrubal routs the
armies of Gnaeus and Publius Scipio in the battles of the
Upper Baetis. Major battles at Volturnus and Anio in Italy.
Rome forges alliance with Aetolian League in Greece.

210

Roman army destroyed at Herdonea. Scipio Africanus,
aged 25, appointed leader of Roman forces in Hispania.
Battles of Numistro and Venusia in Italy. Roman completes
re‒conquest of Sicily. Rome resumes raids in Africa.

Nepos
Ch. 3.4
Ch. 4

Ch. 5



Chronology of Hannibal’s Life 49
Date

Event

209

Twelve Latin cities refuse to supply troops to Rome.
Fabius recaptures Tarentum. Battle of Canusium. Scipio
captures New Carthage. Philip defeats Aetolians at Lamia.
Carthaginian fleet operates in Greek waters.

208

Consuls Claudius Marcellus and Quinctius Crispinus
ambushed and killed. Scipio defeats Hasdrubal at Baecula.
Hasdrubal moves into Italy. Romans begin raiding African
coast. Carthaginian fleet abandons Greece; another fleet
defeated off Africa.

207

Attempt to reinforce Hannibal by land fails when
Hasdrubal is killed at Metaurus. Hannibal retreats into far
southern Italy.

206

Scipio annihilates a Carthaginian army at Ilipa,
completing the conquest of Hispania. Romans campaign
in Bruttium. Philip makes peace with Aetolians.

205

Romans capture Locri. Philip V of Macedon negotiates
a separate peace with Rome (Peace of Phoenike). Mago
campaigns in northern Italy. Scipio elected consul.

204

Continuing operations in Bruttium. Scipio begins
offensive operations in northern Africa, besieges Utica,
burns Carthaginian camp.

203

Mago defeated in northern Italy; dies on route to
Carthage. Carthaginians defeated at Great Plains in
Africa. After Battle of Croton, Carthage sues for peace and
Hannibal is recalled to Africa.

202

Hannibal defeated at Battle of Zama by Scipio.

Ch. 6.3‒4

201

Uneasy peace sworn between Rome and Carthage.

Ch. 7.1‒5

196

Hannibal elected to head Carthaginian government.

195‒194

Hannibal flees to Crete and then to the court of King
Antiochus III in Syria.

Ch. 7.6,
Ch. 8.4

191‒190

Romans defeat Antiochus at Thermopylae and Magnesia.
Hannibal defeated in the Battle of Eurymedon. Hannibal
flees to the court of King Prusias of Bithynia.

Ch. 9‒11

ca.183

Hannibal commits suicide in Bithynia. Death of Scipio
Africanus.

Nepos

Ch. 12

Text of Nepos’ Life of Hannibal

Prologus
(1) Nōn dubitō fore plērōsque, Attice, quī hoc genus scrīptūrae leve et nōn
satis dīgnum summōrum virōrum persōnīs iūdicent, cum relātum legent,
quis mūsicam docuerit Epamīnōndam, aut in ēius virtūtibus commemorārī
saltāsse eum commodē scienterque tībiīs cantāsse.
(2) Sed hī erunt ferē, quī expertēs litterārum Graecārum nihil rēctum, nisi
quod ipsōrum mōribus conveniat, putābunt.
(3) Hī sī didicerint nōn eadem omnibus esse honesta atque turpia, sed
omnia maiōrum īnstitūtīs iūdicārī, nōn admīrābuntur nōs in Grāiōrum
virtūtibus expōnendīs mōrēs eōrum secūtōs.
(4) Neque enim Cīmōnī fuit turpe, Athēniēnsium summō virō, sorōrem
germānam habēre in mātrimōniō, quippe cum cīvēs ēius eōdem ūterentur
īnstitūtō. At id quidem nostrīs mōribus nefās habētur. Laudī in Crētā dūcitur
adulēscentulīs quam plūrimōs habuisse amātōrēs. Nūlla Lacedaemonī
vidua tam est nōbilis, quae nōn †ad cēnam† eat mercēde conducta.
(5) Magnīs in laudibus tōtā ferē fuit Graeciā victōrem Olympiae citārī; in
scaenam vērō prōdīre ac populō esse spectāculō nēminī in eīsdem gentibus
fuit turpitūdinī. Quae omnia apud nōs partim īnfāmia, partim humilia
atque ab honestāte remōta pōnuntur.
(6) Contrā ea plēraque nostrīs mōribus sunt decōra, quae apud illōs turpia
putantur. Quem enim Rōmānōrum pudet uxōrem dūcere in convīvium?

Text © Bret Mulligan, CC BY 4.0
Recordings © Christopher Francese, CC BY-SA 4.0

http://dx.doi.org/10.11647/OBP.0068.06

52 Cornelius Nepos, Life of Hannibal

Aut cuius nōn māter familiās prīmum locum tenet aedium atque in
celēbritāte versātur?
(7) Quod multō fit aliter in Graeciā. Nam neque in convīvium adhibētur nisi
propinquōrum, neque sedet nisi in interiōre parte aedium, quae gynaecōnītis
appellātur; quō nēmō accēdit nisi propinquā cognātiōne coniūnctus.
(8) Sed hīc plūra persequī cum magnitūdō volūminis prohibet tum festīnātiō,
ut ea explicem, quae exōrsus sum. Quārē ad prōpositum veniēmus et in hōc
expōnēmus librō dē vītā excellentium imperātōrum.
Listen to the Prologus read by Christopher Francese
http://dx.doi.org/10.11647/OBP.0068.09

Chapter 1
(1) Hannibal, Hamilcaris fīlius, Karthāginiēnsis. Sī vērum est, quod nēmō
dubitat, ut populus Rōmānus omnēs gentēs virtūte superārit, nōn est
īnfitiandum Hannibalem tantō praestitisse cēterōs imperātōrēs prūdentiā,
quantō populus Rōmānus antecēdat fortitūdine cūnctās nātiōnēs.
(2) Nam quotiēnscumque cum eō congressus est in Italiā, semper discessit
superior. Quod nisi domī cīvium suōrum invidiā dēbilitātus esset, Rōmānōs
vidētur superāre potuisse. Sed multōrum obtrectātiō dēvīcit ūnīus virtūtem.
(3) Hic autem, velut hērēditāte relictum, odium paternum ergā Rōmānōs
sīc cōnservāvit, ut prius animam quam id dēposuerit, quī quidem, cum
patriā pulsus esset et aliēnārum opum indigēret, numquam dēstiterit
animō bellāre cum Rōmānīs.
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Text 53

Chapter 2
(1) Nam ut omittam Philippum, quem absēns hostem reddidit Rōmānīs,
omnium iīs temporibus potentissimus rēx Antiochus fuit. Hunc tantā
cupiditāte incendit bellandī, ut ūsque ā rubrō marī arma cōnātus sit īnferre
Italiae.
(2) Ad quem cum lēgātī vēnissent Rōmānī, quī dē ēius voluntāte explōrārent
darentque operam, cōnsiliīs clandestīnīs, ut Hannibalem in suspīciōnem
rēgī addūcerent, tamquam ab ipsīs corruptus alia atque anteā sentīret,
neque id frūstrā fēcissent idque Hannibal comperisset sēque ab interiōribus
cōnsiliīs sēgregārī vīdisset, tempore datō adiit ad rēgem.
(3) Eīque cum multa dē fidē suā et odiō in Rōmānōs commemorāsset, hoc
adiūnxit: ”Pater meus” inquit “Hamilcar puerulō mē, utpote nōn amplius
novem annōs nātō, in Hispāniam imperātor proficīscēns, Karthāgine Iovī
optimō maximō hostiās immolāvit.
(4) Quae dīvīna rēs dum cōnficiēbātur, quaesīvit ā mē, vellemne sēcum in
castra proficīscī. Id cum libenter accēpissem atque ab eō petere coepissem,
nē dubitāret dūcere, tum ille ‘Faciam’, inquit ‘sī mihi fidem, quam postulō,
dederis.’ Simul mē ad āram addūxit, apud quam sacrificāre īnstituerat,
eamque cēterīs remōtīs tenentem iūrāre iūssit numquam mē in amīcitiā
cum Rōmānīs fore.
(5) Id ego iūs iūrandum patrī datum ūsque ad hanc aetātem ita cōnservāvī,
ut nēminī dubium esse dēbeat, quīn reliquō tempore eādem mente sim
futūrus.
(6) Quārē, sī quid amīcē dē Rōmānīs cōgitābis, nōn imprūdenter fēceris, sī
mē cēlāris; cum quidem bellum parābis, tē ipsum frūstrāberis, sī nōn mē in
eō prīncipem posueris.
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54 Cornelius Nepos, Life of Hannibal

Chapter 3
(1) Hāc igitur, quā dīximus, aetāte cum patre in Hispāniam profectus
est. Cuius post obitum, Hasdrubale imperātōre suffectō, equitātuī omnī
praefuit. Hōc quoque interfectō, exercitus summam imperiī ad eum dētulit.
Id Karthāginem dēlātum pūblicē comprobātum est.
(2) Sīc Hannibal, minor quīnque et vīgintī annīs nātus imperātor factus,
proximō trienniō omnēs gentēs Hispāniae bellō subēgit; Saguntum,
foederātam cīvitātem, vī expugnāvit; trēs exercitūs maximōs comparāvit.
(3) Ex hīs ūnum in Āfricam mīsit, alterum cum Hasdrubale frātre in
Hispāniā relīquit, tertium in Italiam sēcum dūxit. Saltum Pӯrēnaeum
trānsiit. Quācumque iter fēcit, cum omnibus incolīs cōnflīxit: nēminem nisi
victum dīmīsit.
(4) Ad Alpēs posteāquam vēnit, quae Italiam ab Galliā sēiungunt, quās nēmō
umquam cum exercitū ante eum praeter Herculem Grāium trānsierat, quō
factō is hodiē saltus Grāius appellātur, Alpicōs cōnantēs prohibēre trānsitū
concīdit; loca patefēcit, itinera mūniit, effēcit, ut eā elephantus ōrnātus
īre posset, quā anteā ūnus homō inermis vix poterat rēpere. Hāc cōpiās
trādūxit in Italiamque pervēnit.
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Chapter 4
(1) Cōnflīxerat apud Rhodanum cum P. Cornēliō Scīpiōne cōnsule eumque
pepulerat. Cum hōc eōdem Clastidī apud Padum dēcernit sauciumque
inde ac fugātum dīmittit.
(2) Tertiō īdem Scīpiō cum collēgā Tiberiō Longō apud Trebiam adversus
eum vēnit. Cum hīs manum cōnseruit, utrōsque prōflīgāvit. Inde per
Ligurēs Appennīnum trānsiit, petēns Etrūriam.



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(3) Hōc itinere adeō gravī morbō adficitur oculōrum, ut posteā numquam
dextrō aequē bene ūsus sit. Quā valētūdine cum etiam tum premerētur
lectīcāque ferrētur, C. Flāminium cōnsulem apud Trasumēnum cum
exercitū īnsidiīs circumventum occīdit, neque multō post C. Centēnium
praetōrem cum dēlēctā manū saltūs occupantem. Hinc in Āpuliam pervēnit.
(4) Ibi obviam eī vēnērunt duo cōnsulēs, C. Terentius et L. Aemilius.
Utrīusque exercitūs ūnō proeliō fugāvit, Paulum cōnsulem occīdit et
aliquot praetereā cōnsulārēs, in hīs Cn. Servīlium Geminum, quī superiōre
annō fuerat cōnsul.
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Chapter 5
(1) Hāc pugnā pugnātā, Rōmam profectus nūllō resistente. In propinquīs
urbī montibus morātus est. Cum aliquot ibi diēs castra habuisset et Capuam
reverterētur, Q. Fabius Māximus, dictātor Rōmānus, in agrō Falernō eī sē
obiēcit.
(2) Hic, clausus locōrum angustiīs, noctū sine ūllō dētrīmentō exercitūs
sē expedīvit; Fabiōque, callidissimō imperātōrī, dedit verba. Namque,
obductā nocte, sarmenta in cornibus iuvencōrum dēligāta incendit ēiusque
generis multitūdinem magnam dispālātam immīsit. Quō repentīnō obiectō
vīsū tantum terrōrem iniēcit exercituī Rōmānōrum, ut ēgredī extrā vāllum
nēmō sit ausus.
(3) Hanc post rem gestam nōn ita multīs diēbus M. Minucium Rūfum,
magistrum equitum parī ac dictātōrem imperiō, dolō prōductum in
proelium, fugāvit. Ti. Semprōnium Gracchum, iterum cōnsulem, in Lūcānīs
absēns in īnsidiās inductum sustulit. M. Claudium Marcellum, quīnquiēns
cōnsulem, apud Venusiam parī modō interfēcit.

56 Cornelius Nepos, Life of Hannibal

(4) Longum est omnia ēnumerāre proelia. Quā rē hoc ūnum satis erit
dictum, ex quō intellegī possit, quantus ille fuerit: quamdiū in Italiā fuit,
nēmō eī in aciē restitit, nēmō adversus eum post Cannēnsem pugnam in
campō castra posuit.
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Chapter 6
(1) Hinc invictus patriam dēfēnsum revocātus, bellum gessit adversus P.
Scīpiōnem, fīlium ēius, quem ipse prīmō apud Rhodanum, iterum apud
Padum, tertiō apud Trebiam fugārat.
(2) Cum hōc, exhaustīs iam patriae facultātibus, cupīvit impraesentiārum
bellum compōnere, quō valentior posteā congrederētur. In colloquium
convēnit; condiciōnēs nōn convēnērunt.
(3) Post id factum paucīs diēbus apud Zamam cum eōdem cōnflīxit: pulsus
— incrēdibile dictū — bīduō et duābus noctibus Hadrūmētum pervēnit,
quod abest ab Zamā circiter mīlia passuum trecenta.
(4) In hāc fugā, Numidae, quī simul cum eō ex aciē excesserant, īnsidiātī
sunt eī; quōs nōn sōlum effūgit, sed etiam ipsōs oppressit. Hadrūmētī
reliquōs ē fugā collēgit; novīs dīlēctibus paucīs diēbus multōs contrāxit.
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Chapter 7
(1) Cum in apparandō ācerrimē esset occupātus, Karthāginiēnsēs bellum
cum Rōmānīs composuērunt. Ille nihilō sētius exercituī posteā praefuit
rēsque in Āfricā gessit ūsque ad P. Sulpicium C. Aurēlium cōnsulēs.



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(2) Hīs enim magistrātibus lēgātī Karthāginiēnsēs Rōmam vēnērunt, quī
senātuī populōque Rōmānō grātiās agerent, quod cum iīs pācem fēcissent,
ob eamque rem corōnā aureā eōs dōnārent, simulque peterent ut obsidēs
eōrum Fregellīs essent captīvīque redderentur.
(3) Hīs ex senātūs cōnsultō respōnsum est: mūnus eōrum grātum
acceptumque esse; obsidēs, quō locō rogārent, futūrōs; captīvōs nōn
remissūrōs, quod Hannibalem, cuius operā susceptum bellum foret,
inimīcissimum nōminī Rōmānō, etiam nunc cum imperiō apud exercitum
habērent itemque frātrem ēius Māgōnem.
(4) Hōc respōnsō Karthāginiēnsēs cognitō, Hannibalem domum et
Māgōnem revocārunt. Hūc ut rediit, rēx factus est, postquam praetor
fuerat annō secundō et vīcēsimō. Ut enim Rōmae cōnsulēs, sīc Karthāgine
quotannīs annuī bīnī rēgēs creābantur.
(5) In eō magistrātū parī dīligentiā sē Hannibal praebuit, ac fuerat in bellō.
Namque effēcit, ex novīs vectīgālibus nōn sōlum ut esset pecūnia, quae
Rōmānīs ex foedere penderētur, sed etiam superesset, quae in aerāriō
repōnerētur.
(6) Deinde M. Claudiō L. Fūriō cōnsulibus, Rōmā lēgātī Karthāginem
vēnērunt. Hōs Hannibal ratus suī exposcendī grātiā missōs, priusquam
iīs senātus darētur, nāvem ascendit clam atque in Syriam ad Antiochum
perfūgit.
(7) Hāc rē palam factā Poenī nāvēs duās, quae eum comprehenderent, sī
possent cōnsequī, mīsērunt, bona ēius pūblicārunt, domum ā fundāmentīs
disiēcērunt, ipsum exsulem iūdicārunt.
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Chapter 8
(1) At Hannibal annō tertiō, postquam domō profūgerat, L. Cornēliō Q.
Minuciō cōnsulibus, cum quīnque nāvibus Āfricam accessit in fīnibus
Cӯrēnaeōrum, sī forte Karthāginiēnsēs ad bellum Antiochī spē fīdūciāque

58 Cornelius Nepos, Life of Hannibal

indūcere posset, cui iam persuāserat, ut cum exercitibus in Italiam
proficīscerētur. Hūc Māgōnem frātrem excīvit.
(2) Id ubi Poenī rēscīvērunt, Māgōnem eādem, quā frātrem, absentem
affēcērunt poenā. Illī, dēspērātīs rēbus, cum solvissent nāvēs ac vēla
ventīs dedissent, Hannibal ad Antiochum pervēnit. Dē Māgōnis interitū
duplex memoria prōdita est. Namque aliī naufragiō, aliī ā servulīs ipsīus
interfectum eum scrīptum relīquērunt.
(3) Antiochus autem, sī tam in agendō bellō cōnsiliīs ēius pārēre voluisset,
quam in suscipiendō īnstituerat, propius Tiberī quam Thermopylīs dē
summā imperiī dīmicāsset. Quem etsī multa stultē cōnārī vidēbat, tamen
nūllā dēseruit in rē.
(4) Praefuit paucīs nāvibus, quās ex Syriā iūssus erat in Āsiam dūcere,
iīsque adversus Rhodiōrum classem in Pamphӯliō marī cōnflīxit. Quō cum
multitūdine adversāriōrum suī superārentur, ipse, quō cornū rem gessit,
fuit superior.
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Chapter 9
(1) Antiochō fugātō, verēns nē dēderētur, quod sine dubiō accidisset, sī
suī fēcisset potestātem, Crētam ad Gortӯniōs vēnit, ut ibi, quō sē cōnferret,
cōnsīderāret.
(2) Vīdit autem vir omnium callidissimus in magnō sē fore perīculō, nisi
quid prōvīdisset, propter avāritiam Crētēnsium. Magnam enim sēcum
pecūniam portābat, dē quā sciēbat exīsse fāmam.
(3) Itaque capit tāle cōnsilium. Amphorās complūrēs complet plumbō,
summās operit aurō et argentō. Hās, praesentibus prīncipibus, dēpōnit
in templō Diānae, simulāns sē suās fortūnās illōrum fideī crēdere. Hīs in
errōrem inductīs, statuās aēneās, quās sēcum portābat, omnī suā pecūniā
complet eāsque in prōpatulō domī abicit.



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(4) Gortӯniī templum magnā cūrā custōdiunt, nōn tam ā cēterīs quam ab
Hannibale, nē ille, īnscientibus iīs, tolleret sēcumque dūceret.
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Chapter 10
(1) Sīc cōnservātīs suīs rēbus, Poenus, illūsīs Crētēnsibus omnibus, ad
Prūsiam in Pontum pervēnit. Apud quem eōdem animō fuit ergā Italiam
neque aliud quicquam ēgit quam rēgem armāvit et exercuit adversus
Rōmānōs.
(2) Quem cum vidēret domesticīs opibus minus esse rōbustum, conciliābat
cēterōs rēgēs, adiungēbat bellicōsās nātiōnēs. Dissidēbat ab eō Pergamēnus
rēx Eumenēs, Rōmānīs amīcissimus, bellumque inter eōs gerēbātur et marī
et terrā.
(3) Sed utrobīque Eumenēs plūs valēbat propter Rōmānōrum societātem.
Quō magis cupiēbat eum Hannibal opprimī; quem sī remōvisset, faciliōra
sibi cētera fore arbitrābātur. Ad hunc interficiendum tālem iniit ratiōnem.
(4) Classe paucīs diēbus erant dēcrētūrī. Superābātur nāvium multitūdine;
dolō erat pugnandum, cum pār nōn esset armīs. Imperāvit quam plūrimās
venēnātās serpentēs vīvās colligī eāsque in vāsa fīctilia conicī.
(5) Hārum cum effēcisset magnam multitūdinem, diē ipsō, quō factūrus
erat nāvāle proelium, classiārios convocat iīsque praecipit, omnēs ut in
ūnam Eumenis rēgis concurrant nāvem, ā cēterīs tantum satis habeant sē
dēfendere. Id illōs facile serpentium multitūdine cōnsecūtūrōs.
(6) Rēx autem in quā nāve veherētur, ut scīrent, sē factūrum. Quem sī aut
cēpissent aut interfēcissent, magnō iīs pollicētur praemiō fore.
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60 Cornelius Nepos, Life of Hannibal

Chapter 11
(1) Tālī cohortātiōne mīlitum factā, classis ab utrīsque in proelium
dēdūcitur. Quārum aciē cōnstitūtā, priusquam signum pugnae darētur,
Hannibal, ut palam faceret suīs, quō locō Eumenēs esset, tabellārium in
scaphā cum cādūceō mittit.
(2) Quī ubi ad nāvēs adversāriōrum pervēnit epistulamque ostendēns,
sē rēgem professus est quaerere, statim ad Eumenem dēductus est, quod
nēmō dubitābat, quīn aliquid dē pāce esset scrīptum. Tabellārius, ducis
nāve dēclārātā suīs, eōdem, unde erat ēgressus, sē recēpit.
(3) At Eumenēs, solūtā epistulā, nihil in eā repperit, nisi quae ad irrīdendum
eum pertinērent. Cuius etsī causam mīrābātur neque reperiēbat, tamen
proelium statim committere nōn dubitāvit.
(4) Hōrum in concursū Bīthӯniī Hannibalis praeceptō ūniversī nāvem
Eumenis adoriuntur. Quōrum vim rēx cum sustinēre nōn posset, fugā
salūtem petiit; quam cōnsecūtus nōn esset, nisi intrā sua praesidia sē
recēpisset, quae in proximō lītore erant conlocāta.
(5) Reliquae Pergamēnae nāvēs cum adversāriōs premerent ācrius, repente
in eās vāsa fīctilia, dē quibus suprā mentiōnem fēcimus, conicī coepta sunt.
Quae iacta initiō rīsum pugnantibus concitārunt, neque, quā rē id fieret,
poterat intellegī.
(6) Postquam autem nāvēs suās opplētās cōnspexērunt serpentibus, novā rē
perterritī, cum, quid potissimum vītārent, nōn vidērent, puppēs vertērunt
sēque ad sua castra nautica rettulērunt.
(7) Sīc Hannibal cōnsiliō arma Pergamēnōrum superāvit, neque tum sōlum,
sed saepe aliās pedestribus cōpiīs parī prūdentiā pepulit adversāriōs.
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Text 61

Chapter 12
(1) Quae dum in Āsia geruntur, accidit cāsū, ut lēgātī Prūsiae Rōmae apud
T. Quinctium Flāminīnum cōnsulārem cēnārent, atque ibi dē Hannibale
mentiōne factā, ex iīs ūnus dīceret eum in Prūsiae rēgnō esse.
(2) Id posterō diē Flāminīnus senātuī dētulit. Patrēs cōnscrīptī, quī Hannibale
vīvō numquam sē sine īnsidiīs futūrōs existimārent, lēgātōs in Bīthӯniam
mīsērunt, in iīs Flāminīnum, quī ab rēge peterent, nē inimīcissimum suum
sēcum habēret sibique dēderet.
(3) Hīs Prūsias negāre ausus nōn est: illud recūsāvit, nē id ā sē
fierī postulārent, quod adversus iūs hospitiī esset; ipsī, sī possent,
comprehenderent; locum, ubi esset, facile inventūrōs. Hannibal enim ūnō
locō sē tenēbat, in castellō, quod eī ā rēge datum erat mūnerī, idque sīc
aedificārat, ut in omnibus partibus aedificiī exitūs habēret, scīlicet verēns,
nē ūsū venīret, quod accidit.
(4) Hūc cum lēgātī Rōmānōrum vēnissent ac multitūdine domum ēius
circumdedissent, puer, ab iānuā prōspiciēns, Hannibalī dīxit plūrēs
praeter cōnsuētūdinem armātōs appārēre. Quī imperāvit eī, ut omnēs forēs
aedificiī circumīret ac properē sibi nūntiāret, num eōdem modō undique
obsidērētur.
(5) Puer cum celeriter, quid esset, renūntiāsset omnīsque exitūs occupātōs
ostendisset, sēnsit id nōn fortuītō factum, sed sē petī neque sibi diūtius vītam
esse retinendam. Quam nē aliēnō arbitriō dīmitteret, memor prīstinārum
virtūtum, venēnum, quod semper sēcum habēre cōnsuērat, sūmpsit.
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62 Cornelius Nepos, Life of Hannibal

Chapter 13
(1) Sīc vir fortissimus, multīs variīsque perfūnctus labōribus, annō acquiēvit
septuāgēsimō. Quibus cōnsulibus interierit, nōn convēnit. Namque Atticus
M. Claudiō Marcellō Q. Fabiō Labeōne cōnsulibus mortuum in Annālī
suō scrīptum relīquit, at Polybius L. Aemiliō Paulō Cn. Baebiō Tamphilō,
Sulpicius autem Blithō P. Cornēliō Cethēgō M. Baebiō Tamphilō.
(2) Atque hic tantus vir tantīsque bellīs districtus nōn nihil temporis tribuit
litterīs. Namque aliquot ēius librī sunt, Graecō sermōne cōnfectī, in iīs ad
Rhodiōs dē Cn. Manliī Volsōnis in Āsiā rēbus gestīs.
(3) Huius bellī gesta multī memoriae prōdidērunt, sed ex iīs duo, quī
cum eō in castrīs fuērunt simulque vīxērunt, quam diū fortūna passa est,
Sīlēnus et Sōsylus Lacedaemonius. Atque hōc Sōsylō Hannibal litterārum
Graecārum ūsus est doctōre.
(4) Sed nōs tempus est huius librī facere fīnem et Rōmānōrum explicāre
imperātōrēs, quō facilius, collātīs utrōrumque factīs, quī virī praeferendī
sint, possit iūdicārī.
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Notes

Prologus
Nepos introduces his collection of biographies of famous generals.
(1) nōn dubitō fore plērōsque: indirect statement with a verb of expecting
(AG §580c),1 “I do not doubt that there will be a great many (people)”. fore:
alternative form of futūrōs esse.
Attice: Nepos’ friend, Titus Pomponius Atticus (ca. 109‒ca. 32 BC). The
vocative signals that the work is dedicated to him. Atticus was a wealthy
and learned man who spent many years living in Greece, thus earning
him the agnomen “the man from Athens”. From the letters of Cicero,
with whom Atticus maintained a lifelong correspondence, we know
that Atticus occasionally returned to Rome and was involved in various
political negotiations and affairs on Cicero’s behalf. Atticus’ house on the
Quirinal hill in Rome often served as a meeting place for writers such as
Nepos, Cicero, and the greatest scholar of the age, Marcus Terentius Varro.
In addition to an influential epitome of Roman history (Liber annalis), he
composed letters, poetry, and an account of Cicero’s consulship in Greek.
None of Atticus’ works have survived.
quī…iūdicent: relative clause of characteristic (AG §535); its antecedent is
plērōsque.
leve: “unimportant, trivial”, in comparison to more serious genres, such as
history.
dīgnum: “worthy of” + ablative (AG §418b).
1 The references in round brackets that occur throughout this chapter point to Allen and
Greenough’s New Latin Grammar, available at the Dickinson Classics website, http://dcc.
dickinson.edu/allen-greenough/
© Bret Mulligan, CC BY 4.0

http://dx.doi.org/10.11647/OBP.0068.07

64 Cornelius Nepos, Life of Hannibal

cum relātum legent: “when they (will) read it related/told”. relātum is the
perfect passive participle of referō.
quis mūsicam docuerit Epamīnōndam: indirect question with perfect
subjunctive, docuerit (AG §574). An educated Greek man was expected to
be able to play the lyre and sing festive, improvised songs known as skolia
at dinner parties. Romans thought such behavior beneath the dignity of a
freeborn male.
docuerit: doceō takes a double accusative of the person taught
(Epamīnōndam) and the subject being taught (mūsicam).
Epamīnōndam: Epaminondas, a Theban general and statesman, was
hailed in antiquity as one of the most virtuous and incorruptible of the
Greeks. Nepos’ biography of Epaminondas, who forever broke Sparta’s
military power at the Battle of Leuctra (371 BC), survives.
ēius…eum: i.e., Epaminondas.
commemorārī: passive infinitive dependent on relātum legent and
introducing two indirect statements that describe the other un‒Roman
activities performed by Epaminondas, 1) saltāsse eum commodē and 2)
scienterque tībiīs cantāsse.
saltā(vi)sse and cantā(vi)sse: syncopated perfects (AG §181).
(2) hī: referring back to the plērōsque in the previous sentence; antecedent
of quī, “those who…”.
ferē: with words of number or quantity (e.g., plērōsque), “for the most part”.
expertēs: in apposition with quī. expers takes the genitive, litterārum
Graecārum, “ignorant of Greek culture”. Remember that expers is derived
from ex‒pars (“to have no part in”); it should not be confused with “expert”,
derived from expertus > experior (“to try, to have experienced”).
nisi quod: “except that which…”, introducting a relative clause of
characteristic.
mōribus: “ways” or “customs”, dative with the compound verb, conveniat.
(3) didicerint: future perfect > discō, introducing an indirect statement.
turpia: “ugly” in the sense of “morally reprehensible”. This is a key word
for Nepos in the Prologus.



Notes 65

maiōrum: “of (their own) ancestors”.
nōs… secūtōs [esse]: indirect statement dependent on nōn admīrābuntur.
nōs: i.e., Nepos; ancient authors often referred to themselves using plural
forms, especially in prose. Although the precise connotation of this common
usage is debatable, it does not convey haughtiness or pretension, as the use
of English “we” might in a similar circumstance.
in Grāiōrum virtūtibus expōnendīs: “in setting forth the excellences of
Greeks”. expōnendīs is gerundive (AG §503). Nepos mentions Greeks
because most of the foreigners in his biographies are Greek, but non‒Greek
foreign generals—Datames, Hamilcar, and Hannibal—are also treated
with respect.
eōrum: i.e., Grāiōrum.
(4) enim: introduces an example that explains the generalization in the
previous sentence.
Cīmōnī: Cimon, an Athenian general, played an important role in
neutralizing Persia’s threat to Greece in the aftermath of the Persian Wars
(490‒479 BC).
Athēniēnsium summō virō: in apposition with Cīmōnī.
sorōrem germānam: although germānam would usually indicate a full sibling,
it can refer to a sister with the same father but a different mother. It is unclear
whether Nepos means to imply that Cimon married his half‒sister, which is
true, or if he mistakenly believed that Cimon married his full sister. Marrying
a full sister was generally considered taboo in Athens, although according to
the Hellenistic Jewish philosopher Philo of Alexandria (ca. 20 BC‒AD 50) an
old law in Athens permitted men to marry their sisters by the same father,
while the equivalent law in Sparta permitted men to marry sisters by the same
mother, but not vice versa (Philo, On Special Laws 3.4). Following the analogy
of seeds and soil in agriculture, most ancient Greeks and Romans subscribed
to the theory that the male seed was the active element of reproduction.
quippe: intensifying affirmative particle emphasizing the causal cum clause
(AG §549).
cīvēs: “fellow citizens”.
ūterentur: “use” + ablative of means, eōdem… īnstitūtō (AG §410).

66 Cornelius Nepos, Life of Hannibal

nostrīs mōribus: i.e., Roman customs.
nefās: something that is contrary to moral law or the dictates of heaven,
“taboo”.
laudī dūcitur adulēscentulīs: “it is considered a (source of) honor for
young men”. laudī is a dative of purpose in a double dative construction in
which adulēscentulīs is the dative of reference (AG §382).
quam plūrimōs amātōrēs: “as many lovers as possible”; quam + superlative:
“as…as possible” (AG §291c). Nepos here refers to relationships between
older and younger men.
Lacedaemonī: locative, “in Sparta” (AG §35h).
nūlla vidua est quae: “there is no widow of the sort who…”, introducting
a relative clause of characteristic.
†ad cēnam† eat mercēde conducta: the meaning of this phrase is unclear
and the text may be corrupt; other manuscripts read ad scaenam (“on stage”)
and scholars have offered numerous conjectures for what Nepos may have
written (e.g., obscena, “lewdness, indecency”). No ancient author supports
Nepos’ contention that it was honorable for Spartan widows to hire
themselves out as courtesans at feasts; nevertheless, since many ancient
authors spoke about the moral laxity of Spartan woman, it is not difficult to
imagine how such a misconception might arise.
eat: present subjunctive > eō, īre.
mercēde conducta: “hired for a fee”; mercēde: ablative of price (AG §416).
(5) tōtā… Graeciā: ablative of place where. When an adjective is used, the
preposition in is often omitted, regularly so with tōtus (AG §429.2); compare
in Graeciā (12.3).
victōrem Olympiae citārī: “to be announced as champion at Olympia”.
populō esse spectāculō: “to be a (source of) spectacle for the people”,
double dative construction (AG §382).
nēminī fuit turpitūdinī: another double dative.
apud nōs: “among us”, i.e., in Roman as opposed to Greek culture.



Notes 67

pōnuntur: “are considered”; Nepos frequently uses this verb as a synonym
of habeor, iūdicō, or exīstimō.
(6) contrā ea: “in opposition to these things”, i.e., “on the other hand”; ea
(neuter plural) refers to the previous sentence. This phrase is common in
prose writers of the late republic (e.g., Caesar and Livy).
nostrīs mōribus: dative with decōra.
quem: interrogative pronoun, accusative of the person affected by the
sentiment of the impersonal verb, pudet, “it is shameful to which of the
Romans…?”; i.e., “what Roman feels shame…?”
Rōmānōrum: partitive genitive limiting quem (AG §346).
uxōrem dūcere: “to lead [one’s] wife” (rather than the common idiom, “to
marry”).
māter familiās: the loyal wife of the head of the Roman family, the pater
familias; familiās is an old form of the first declension genitive (AG §43b).
Nepos’ comments about the free movement of Roman women should be
taken to apply to upper class women in respectable households. While
pater familias was a strictly defined legal term referring to the oldest male
in a familia, the Roman jurist Ulpian (AD 170‒228) claimed that “character
is what distinguishes and separates a mater familias from other women;
accordingly it makes no difference whether she is married or a widow,
freeborn or freed; for neither marriage nor birth make a mater familias, but
good character” (Digest 50.16.46.1). The strong association of the term with
the sexual chastity of the respectable Roman matrona explains Nepos’ use
of the term in this context. Women of lower socio‒economic status would,
presumably, have even fewer constraints on their public visibility, although
information about their lives is scanty.
prīmum locum: i.e., the atrium. Originally used for domestic industry
such as weaving, it became the principle receiving room of the upper‒class
Roman house.
in celēbritāte versātur: “appears in public”.
(7) quod: connective relative that associates the sentence with part or all of
the preceding thought (AG §308f).

68 Cornelius Nepos, Life of Hannibal

multō: “by a lot”, “much” (modifying aliter); ablative of degree of difference
(AG §414).
nisi propinquōrum: “except among relations”.
quō: “(to) where”, adverb modifying accēdit.
(8) hīc: adverbial, “at this point”.
plūra persequī: “recounting more instances”, an object clause (AG §452)
explaining what the scope of the book (magnitūdō volūminis) and Nepos’
eagerness (festīnātiō) prevent (prohibet).
cum…tum: “both…and…”.
magnitūdō volūminis: could refer just to the book of biographies of foreign
generals, or to the entire corpus of sixteen books, which contained over 400
biographies.
festīnātiō ut ea explicem, quae exōrsus sum: “my haste to explain those
things (ea) which (quae)…”; ut introduces a purpose clause triggered by
fēstinātiō, a noun that contains the notion of action.
ad prōpositum: “to the point” (of the task).
veniēmus…expōnēmus: note the future tense.

Essay on Nepos’ Prologus to the
Lives of Outstanding Commanders
In this short preface to his biographies of foreign generals, Nepos dedicates
the work to his friend Titus Pomponius Atticus (ca. 109‒ca. 32 BC) and
warns that his readers should not be shocked to see celebrated foreigners
engaging in behavior that would seem scandalous or reprehensible if
undertaken by a Roman. Customs differ between nations, he says, since
they arise from different national traditions.
Nepos suggests that some readers may find this kind of writing trivial
(leve), a remark that can be understood as referring to biography per se,
or to the particular challenge of writing biographies of generals, whose
exploits were traditionally told in the serious genre of history. Despite this
gesture of modesty, Nepos does employ some devices of the higher genre
of history writing proper. The rhythm of the opening phrase, for example,



Notes 69

is dactylic, the meter of epic: Nōn dŭbĭtō fŏrĕ plērōsque, Āttĭcĕ, quī hōc. Many
historians begin their prose works with such a poetic flourish (e.g. Livy,
Eutropius, and Tacitus), and formal Latin prose generally includes moments
of metrical rhythm, especially at the beginning and end of long periods.
To seek out the best lessons of noble conduct, Nepos decided that he
would not limit his biographies to notable Romans, but would present the
noble characters of Romans and foreigners alike. Evaluating the morality
and virtue of foreigners, however, presented a challenge. Nepos imagines
a chauvinistic response from those unable to take seriously people who
engaged in activities that upper‒class male Romans generally agreed were
disgraceful—such as dancing, or appearing on stage for the entertainment
of the common people, or keeping their women cloistered in the house—
or even unlawful, like marrying a close relative.
While Nepos’ tolerance of other cultural practices may strike the
modern reader as refreshing, the differences in customs and behaviors
mentioned by Nepos are ultimately shown to be superficial. Indeed, in
Nepos’ view, cultural difference is an illusion that masks the common
nature of all people: “the nature of all states is the same” (eandem omnium
civitatum esse naturam). A Greek might dance or play the flute or marry
his half‒sister; but all good men—Greek, Roman, or even Carthaginian—
display the universal virtues of intelligence, courage, and loyalty, and so
reveal themselves as suitable models for the behavior of even the most
upright Roman reader.

Chapter 1
Nepos compares Hannibal’s individual greatness to the superiority of the Roman
people (1‒2). Hannibal’s implacable hostility towards the Romans, even after being
sent into exile by his fellow‒citizens, was a kind of family inheritance (3).
(1) Hannibal: Most Carthaginian proper names are rendered in Latin as
third declension nouns. In Punic, the language spoken by the Carthaginians,
Hannibal meant something like “The Favorite of Baal”. Baal Hammon was
the chief god of the Carthaginians.
Hamilcaris: Hamilcar (ca. 275‒229 BC) was a Carthaginian general and
father of three sons: Hannibal, Hasdrubal, and Mago, all of whom led armies
against Rome in the Second Punic War. In the latter phase of the First Punic
War (264‒241 BC), Hamilcar waged a brilliant guerilla campaign to defend

70 Cornelius Nepos, Life of Hannibal

Mount Hercte and Mount Eryx in Sicily. His aptitude for quick, devastating
raids earned him the nickname Barca or “Thunderbolt”. Hamilcar so
impressed the Romans with his ferocity and ingenuity that, when Carthage
surrendered, Hamilcar and his soldiers were allowed to keep their weapons,
a symbol that they were never defeated. Nepos recounts these exploits in
the first chapter of his Life of Hamilcar. Before Hamilcar died in battle in 229
BC, he conquered extensive territory in Hispania and founded the city of
Barcino (modern Barcelona).
Karthāginiēnsis: Adjectives ending in ‒ēnsis indicate a person or thing that
belongs to something or comes from someplace (AG §249).
sī vērum est: indicative because Nepos believes that his statement is true.
He further emphasizes its veracity with the relative clause, quod nēmō
dubitat.
ut populus Rōmānus omnēs gentēs virtūte superārit: substantive clause
that articulates what is vērum (AG §571c).
virtūte: ablative of specification, revealing the quality in which the
populus Rōmānus surpasses omnēs gentēs (AG §418). Nepos refers to the
Romans’ military aptitude, not their “virtue” in general. Nepos’ general
stance, articulated in the Prologus to the Lives of Outstanding Commanders,
is that no single people has a monopoly on virtue.
superārit: = superā(ve)rit, syncopated perfect (AG §181).
nōn est īnfitiandum: future passive periphrastic indicating necessity or
obligation (AG §500.2), “it must not be denied that...”.
Hannibalem: accusative subject belonging to the clause introduced by
tantō, but placed before tantō for extra emphasis.
tantō…quantō: ablatives of degree of difference linking two correlative
clauses with comparative sense (AG §414a), “by as much as (quantō)...
by just as much (tantō)...”. Nepos underscores the comparison between
Hannibal and the Roman people by including the same five elements in
each correlative clause.
Coordinator
tantō
quantō

Subject
Hannibalem
populus Rōmānus

Verb
praestitisse
antecēdat

Object
cēterōs imperātōrēs
cūnctās nātiōnēs

Virtue
prūdentiā
fortitūdine



Notes 71

prūdentiā…fortitūdine: ablatives of specification, like virtūte in the first
sentence. Nepos contrasts the tactical brillance of Hannibal (prūdentia) and
the resolute durability of the Romans (fortitūdō) that will enable the Romans
to withstand Hannibal’s initial victories, regroup, and ultimately prevail.
Note how Nepos has framed the war as a contest between Hannibal and
the Roman people rather than between Carthage and Rome, a theme he
elaborates in the next paragraph.
antecēdat: subjunctive because it appears in a dependent clause in an
indirect statement; it does not connote any sense of doubt or uncertainty
(AG §591).
(2) Nam quotiēnscumque cum eō congressus est: note the frequent
alliteration, a common feature of Nepos’ style.
eō: object of cum, referring to the masculine singular noun in the
previous sentence (populō Rōmānō).
congressus est: > congredior; Hannibal is the understood subject.
semper discessit superior: Nepos makes the same declaration about
Hannibal’s father, Hamilcar (who died in battle). Hannibal was repulsed
from Nola three times (215‒214 BC) and fought many indecisive battles
in the last decade of the war. Nepos here follows the tenacious myth of
Hannibal’s invincibility in battle.
quod nisi: “but if (he had) not”; analogous to quodsi, “but if”.
domī: locative (AG §428k), referring generally to Carthage and its politics,
which was riven by long‒running factional strife. One Carthaginian
faction, represented by Hamilcar and his sons, favored an aggressive policy
of expansion outside of Africa. They believed that cultivating trade and
conquering new territory would make Carthage powerful enough to confront
the existential threat posed by Rome. The other faction, led by Hanno the
Great, favored the agricultural interests of Carthaginian landowners and
further territorial expansion in Africa. Since Hanno’s faction viewed Rome
as just another regional power, they favored accommodation of Roman
interests, provided Rome did not interfere in Carthage’s African territory.
As so often happens, these ideological differences became entangled with
family vendettas and private grudges. Hanno, for example, sought to
weaken the position of Hamilcar by publically accusing him of pederasty

72 Cornelius Nepos, Life of Hannibal

and of giving his daughter in marriage to his young lover, Hasdrubal the
Fair, so that he could continue to enjoy Hasdrubal’s affections. The limited
support and reinforcements sent to Hannibal during his Italian campaign
and Hannibal’s dogged opposition to the landed aristocracy after the war
should be viewed in the context of this long‒running ideological and
personal conflict.
vidētur: used personally with the infinitive, potuisse; “Hannibal seems
likely to have been able…”.
multōrum: subjective genitive (AG §343); i.e., many Carthaginians heaped
abuse on Hannibal, rather than Hannibal reviled many people. Roman
historians often framed their stories as a conflict between the genius and
moral courage of a great individual and the envy and folly of the crowd.
For more on the malice of the Carthaginian people towards Hannibal, see
Livy 30.20.3‒4.
(3) hic: i.e., Hannibal.
odium paternum: i.e., hatred possessed by his father (Hamilcar), not
hatred of his father (by Hannibal). Nepos’ use of paternum emphasizes that
the odium of Rome is passed down (relictum) “like an inheritance” (velut
hērēditāte) in Hannibal’s family. In his Life of Hamilcar, Nepos states that this
odium was the principal cause of the Second Punic War: “Hannibal, his son,
was so led by his father’s continual entreaties, that he would prefer to die
than not make trial of the Romans” (4).
ergā: “towards, against” + accusative. Nepos, like Plautus and Tacitus,
uses ergā with unfriendly feelings (odium); ergā is more typically used with
expressions of friendly feelings, while the synonyms contrā and adversus are
more common with unfriendly feelings.
sīc cōnservāvit, ut…dēposuerit: sīc signals a result clause, ut…dēposuerit,
“he so conservāvit his odium that…” (AG §537). Result clauses are often
signaled by words such as tantus (see 2.1, 5.2 below), ita (2.5), adeō (4.3), or
sīc (12.3); but these markers are not required (10.6).
prius animam quam id dēposuerit: “he would sooner surrender his life
than it” (id, i.e., odium paternum). Words implying comparison like prius are
often followed by quam several words or even clauses later (AG §434) or



Notes 73

they may be written as one word (e.g. priusquam in 7.6, 11.1). dēposuerit:
perfect subjunctive in secondary sequence after conservāvit.
quī quidem: “because he, indeed”; quī introduces a relative clause of cause
(AG §540c) with the subjunctive, dēstiterit.
cum: concessive cum clause (AG §549), “although…”
aliēnārum opum: “another’s resources”. After Hannibal was expelled
from Carthage in 195 BC he assisted first King Antiochus III of Syria and
then Prusias I of Bithynia in their wars against Rome, as Nepos goes on to
explain.
animō: ablative of respect, “in his mind”.

Chapter 2
Nepos flashes forward to Hannibal’s arrival in the court of Antiochus the Great,
after his exile from Carthage in 195 BC (1). Hannibal proves his loyalty to
Antiochus by recounting how he swore an oath of eternal hatred against Rome
before his father allowed him to join the army (2‒5). Having finished the story of
his oath, Hannibal exhorts Antiochus to spurn an alliance with Rome and to offer
him command of Antiochus’ forces (6).
(1) nam: this conjunction indicates that this sentence will justify or explain
the last statement (AG §324h).
ut omittam: a common idiom, favored by Nepos’ contemporary Cicero, “if
I may pass over…” → “not to mention”, “to say nothing of”.

Philippum: King Philip V of Macedon (reigned 221‒179 BC). After
forging an alliance with Hannibal, Philip launched the First Macedonian
War (214‒205 BC). Hannibal, after his crushing victory at the Battle of
Cannae (below, 4.4), enticed many cities of southern Italy and Sicily to
revolt. Hannibal also received an embassy from Philip, who proposed
an alliance against Rome. Although Philip possessed significant military
resources, Rome’s control of the sea prevented Philip and Hannibal from
joining forces in Italy. After Philip had occupied large sections of Illyria
in 212, the Romans attempted to neutralize Philip through diplomacy.

74 Cornelius Nepos, Life of Hannibal

But after Philip defeated an anti‒Macedonian coalition of Greek states
and prevented a Roman expeditionary force from retaking Illyria,
Rome negotiated a separate peace in 205. The treaty recognized Philip’s
territorial gains in Illyria, but Rome had won a more significant strategic
victory by severing the alliance between Philip and Hannibal. And Rome
had a long memory. Philip’s reckoning would come almost a decade later
when Rome crushed the Macedonians at the Battle of Cynocephalae in
197 BC, thus concluding the Second Macedonian War (200‒197/6 BC).
After the defeat, Philip was stripped of his independence, although he
was allowed to remain on his throne.
absēns: refers to Hannibal; i.e., Hannibal sent an embassy that forged the
anti‒Roman alliance with Philip.
hostem: i.e., Philip, in apposition with the relative pronoun, quem.
Antiochus: King Antiochus III (the Great) of the Seleucid Kingdom
(reigned 222‒187 BC). Hannibal would flee to Antiochus’ court in 195 BC
(see 7.6‒8.4).
hunc: Antiochus; Hannibal is the subject of incendit.
tantā cupiditāte: tantā signals the result clause, ut…cōnātus sit inferre.
bellandī: objective genitive, “for waging war” (AG §347); bellandī appears
after the verb, incendit, for the sake of stylistic variety. Despite the tendency
in Latin for the verb to come at the end of a sentence, authors routinely
place a word or closely connected phrase after the verb to avoid monotony
(AG §596a). Note that Italiae follows cōnātus sit inferre in the next clause.
The same variation can be found in the next sentence with Rōmānī, operam,
and ad rēgem.
ūsque ā rubrō marī: “all the way from the Red Sea”. To the Romans, the
Mare Rubrum (more frequently the Mare Erythraeum) referred to all of the
waters around the Arabian Peninsula.
Italiae: dative with the compound verb, inferre (AG §370).
Roman legates attempt to undermine Hannibal’s position in Antiochus’ court.



Notes 75

(2) In this, the most complex sentence in the Life, Nepos first delineates the
circumstances in which the main action occurs (clauses a‒i) before at last
revealing the main action (clause j).
(a) Ad quem cum lēgātī vēnissent Rōmānī,

circumstantial cum clause

(b) quī dē ēius voluntāte explōrārent

relative clause of purpose #1

(c) darentque operam,

relative clause of purpose #2

cōnsiliīs clandestīnīs,

ablative of means

(d) ut Hannibalem in suspīciōnem
rēgī addūcerent,
(e) t amquam ab ipsīs corruptus alia
atque anteā sentīret
(f) neque id frūstrā fēcissent

substantive purpose clause explaining
goal of action in (c)
clause of comparison explaining how
(d) was accomplished
circumstantial cum clause (a) resumes

(g) idque Hannibal comperisset

circumstantial cum clause continues

(h) sēque ab interiōribus cōnsiliīs
sēgregārī vīdisset,
(i) tempore datō

circumstantial cum clause continues

(j) adiit ad rēgem.

main clause

ablative absolute or ablative of time

This sentence provides an excellent example of the Latin Period, the lengthy
but logically coherent sentence structure that was favored by most Latin
prose authors.
(a) Ad quem cum lēgātī vēnissent Rōmānī: circumstantial cum clause
describing an action that precedes the action of the main verb (AG §546).
The lēgātī Rōmānī, led by Publius Villius Tappulus, arrived in Antiochus’
court in 193/2 BC.
Ad quem: i.e., King Antiochus. The connective relative links a sentence
with an aspect of the preceding sentence (AG §308f). It is a device
much favored by Nepos. Positioning a key word or phrase before the
subordinating conjunction (cum) is very common in Latin.
vēnissent: pluperfect subjunctive in secondary sequence indicating the
action occurred before the perfect main verb adiit, likewise the verbs
fēcissent (in clause f), comperisset (g), and vīdisset (h).

76 Cornelius Nepos, Life of Hannibal

(b) quī dē ēius voluntāte explōrārent: relative clause of purpose
expressing the reason that the lēgātī vēnissent (AG §531), “in order to
gain information about his [i.e., Antiochus’] intentions”. explōrārent:
imperfect subjunctive in secondary sequence indicating that the action
happened at the same time that the lēgātī vēnissent Rōmānī.
(c) darentque operam…ut: “and they endeavored to”. The ‒que links
the entire clause to the preceding thought.
cōnsiliīs clandestīnīs: ablative of means explaining how the lēgātī
darent operam.
(d) ut…addūcerent: expresses the purpose towards which the lēgātī
Rōmānī aimed when they darent operam (AG §563). addūcerent:
frequently takes an accusative (Hannibalem) and a prepositional
phrase denoting the place or state into which the accusative was led
(in suspīciōnem).
rēgī: dative of reference denoting the person for whose benefit the
action was accomplished, “in the eyes of the king” (AG §376).
(e) tamquam ab ipsīs corruptus alia atque anteā sentīret: the Rōmānī
lēgātī pretend that Hannibal is corruptus.
tamquam: “as if…”.
ab ipsīs: ablative of personal agent with corruptus; ipsīs, i.e., lēgātīs
Rōmānīs.
alia atque anteā: idiomatic, “differently than before”, object of sentīret,
whose subject is Hannibal.
(f) neque id frūstrā fēcissent: the tense of fēcissent signals that the
circumstantial cum clause has resumed. The circumstantial cum clauses
continue in clause g (comperisset) and clause h (vīdisset).
(g) comperi(vi)sset: syncopated perfect (AG §181). Note the shift
in number from plural to singular as Nepos moves to recounting
Hannibal’s actions.
(h) ab interiōribus cōnsiliīs: “more intimate councils”, i.e., the King’s
inner circle of advisors.
(i) tempore datō: ablative absolute or ablative of time when, “when the
opportunity presented itself” (to Hannibal).
(j) adiit ad rēgem: note how Nepos echoes the prefix of the verb (ad‒)
in the preposition (ad). Roman authors often favor wordplay that we
avoid in formal writing (e.g. 2.4, 5.3, etc.).



Notes 77

10. Hannibal’s Oath of Hatred Against Rome.
Drawing by Joelle Cicak, CC BY.

(3) eīque cum multa…commemorāsset: circumstantial cum clause (AG §546;
as in 2.2 above). The subordinating conjunction (cum) is displaced from the
start of its clause by a key word (the connective, eī). eīque: i.e., Antiochus;
dative with commemorā(vi)sset, syncopated pluperfect subjunctive. multa:
object of commemorāsset.
odiō: like fidē, an object of the preposition dē.
in Rōmānōs: “towards the Romans”, “against the Romans”.
puerulō mē: ablative absolute; since Latin lacks the present or perfect
participle of esse, an ablative absolute can consist of a noun and adjective
or two nouns in the ablative, as here (AG §419a; 7.2, 9.3, 12.2); puerulō: the
diminutive of puer → “a little boy”.
utpote nōn amplius novem annōs nātō: further specifies what Hannibal
means by puerulō mē, i.e., when he was nōn amplius novem annīs. nātō: agrees
with mē; “not being more than 9 years old”, thus in 238/7 BC.
Karthāgine: locative, “in Carthage”.
Iovī optimō maximō: “to Jupiter Optimus Maximus”, the supreme Roman
god. Nepos follows the Roman practice of using the name of the analogous
Roman god in place of the Carthaginian deity, Baal.

78 Cornelius Nepos, Life of Hannibal

(4) quae: connective relatives are often translated by “and” + the
demonstrative, e.g., “and this…”. Here, with dum, “and while this.…”
vellemne: = vellem‒ne, subjunctive in an indirect question introduced by
quaesīvit ā mē.
in castra: metonymic for “on campaign”.
id: i.e., the question that Hamilcar had asked (vellemne sēcum in castra
proficiscī). accēpissem: as with English “accept”, accipiō can denote the
acceptance of a condition. ab eō: “from him” (Hamilcar), with petere.
nē dubitāret: negative substantive purpose clause dependent on petere (AG
§563, sometimes called a jussive noun clause; 7.2, 8.1); dubitō + infinitive
(dūcere; 11.3) often has the sense of “hesitate” (AG §558a n.2), “that he
would not hesitate”.
dūcere [mē]: Remember that Hannibal is telling this anecdote.
eam: the altar (aram); object of tenentem. It was customary to touch an altar
when swearing an oath.
cēterīs remōtīs: ablative absolute; i.e., Hamilcar and Hannibal are alone.
numquam mē in amīcitiā cum Rōmānīs fore: an indirect statement
indicating what Hannibal swore (iūrāre). numquam: placed first and
separated from the verb fore for added emphasis.
in amīcitiā: amīcitia in this context referred to a person or state that
has placed itself in a subordinate but still independent relationship
with Rome. Nepos’ account of this episode is similar to that offered by
Polybius (“never have good will towards the Romans”, 3.11.7). Livy
says that Hannibal instead swore “to be an enemy of the Roman people
as soon as he was able” (21.1).
fore: = futūrum esse.
(5) id ego: Latin authors like to juxtapose personal pronouns, even if doing
so interrupts another phrase or clause (id…iūs iūrandum).
iūs iūrandum: a formal oath to complete a civil, military, or political
obligation, sworn in the presence of a higher power—usually Jupiter or
all the gods—but here to Hamilcar (patrī datum). Hannibal’s odium is thus
characterized not as a personal grudge but as a sacred (and public) obligation.



Notes 79

ūsque ad hanc aetātem: compare ūsque ā rubrō marī in 2.1.
ita cōnservāvī: ita signals the result clause, ut…dēbeat.
nēminī: dative of reference, “in the opinion of no one”.
quīn…sim futūrus: “that I will be…”; quīn often introduces subjunctive
clauses after negated expressions of hindering, resisting, and doubting
(nēminī dubium esse, AG §558).
reliquō tempore: ablative of time, “for the rest (of my life)”.
eādem mente: ablative of quality (AG §415), “of the same mind”.
(6) Hannibal’s speech concludes with a carefully structured sentence in
which Hannibal warns Antiochus that the nature of their relationship rests
on whether Antiochus intends to make peace with the Romans (sī quid amīcē
dē Rōmānīs cōgitābis) or to wage war against them (cum quidem bellum parābis).
To avoid confusion from the accumulation of conditionals, each half of the
sentence is comprised of three parallel elements: 1) a general parameter (peace
vs. war); 2) the result of Antiochus’ action (act wisely vs. act foolishly); and
3) Antiochus’ action (keep Hannibal in ignorance vs. not make him general).
sī quid: = sī (ali)quid: remember that after sī, nisi, num, and nē every ali‒ falls
away.
amīcē: adverbial; i.e., if Antiochus entertains an alliance with Rome.
fēceris: future perfect tense, giving added emphasis to the future more
vivid conditional, as do cēlāris and posueris (AG §516c).
nōn imprūdenter: “not unwisely”. An example of litotes, in which an
understatement or double negative implies the opposite → “very wisely”.

mē cēlā(ve)ris: syncopated future perfect with an ablative of separation,
“hide [it] from me”.
quidem: introduces a clause that qualifies or opposes the preceding
thought, “yet”, “on the other hand”.
in eō: “in this matter”, referring to the action of the clause, cum quidem
bellum parābis.
prīncipem: in apposition with mē, “me as leader”.

80 Cornelius Nepos, Life of Hannibal

Chapter 3
After his father’s death Hannibal gains control of the army and campaigns in Spain
(1‒2). He crosses the Alps in November 218 BC and invades Italy (3‒4).
(1) quā dīximus: “of which I spoke [above]” in 2.3. quā: the case of the
relative pronoun is attracted to the case of its antecedent, hāc...aetāte (AG
§306a); quam dīximus would be the more regular construction.
dīximus: ancient authors often referred to themselves using plural forms,
especially in prose. Although the precise connotation of this common
usage is debatable, it does not convey haughtiness or pretension, as the
use of English “we” might in a similar circumstance (11.5).
cuius: i.e., Hamilcar; connective relative (AG §308f; see note on 2.4).
Hamilcar was killed in 229 BC, either in battle by a flaming cart, or when he
was ambushed while crossing a river.
Hasdrubale imperātōre suffectō: ablative absolute, “when Hasdrubal
had been appointed replacement commander”; suffectō > sufficiō, the usual
word for a person who substituted for a deceased or deposed magistrate,
in this case referring to Hasdrubal “the Fair”, brother‒in‒law of Hannibal
and son‒in‒law of Hamilcar (not to be confused with Hasdrubal Barca,
Hannibal’s brother, who was defeated at the Battle of Metaurus in 207 BC).
praefuit: > praesum + dative, equitātuī omnī. Hannibal was 18 when he
became leader of the Carthaginian calvary.
hōc quoque interfectō: ablative absolute. hōc: i.e., Hasdrubal the Fair.
Hasdrubal was assassinated in 221 BC by a slave in revenge for his former
master, whom Hasdrubal had killed.
exercitus: subject of dētulit.
summam imperiī: summam is feminine singular because it modifies an
understood rem, “supreme command” (8.3).
ad eum: i.e., Hannibal.
id Karthāginem dēlātum: Hannibal’s appointment to supreme command
(id) was known by word of mouth (dēlātum) before it was confirmed officially.
Karthāginem: the accusative of “place towards which” does not require
a preposition (AG §427.2).



Notes 81

dēlātum: “made known” (informally), in contrast to relātum, which
would be used for official communications.
pūblicē: not “publicly” as opposed to “privately”, but “officially” by the
government in Carthage.
(2) minor quīnque et vīgintī annīs nātus: “born less than twenty‒five
years”, i.e., “less than twenty‒five years of age”. Hannibal was actually 26
at the time. The use of minor + ablative with nātus to express age is atypical.
proximō trienniō: ablative of time within which, “in the course of the next
three years”. Although Nepos exaggerates the scope of Hannibal’s exploits,
he did conquer several independent tribes in the region.
bellō: ablative of means.
Saguntum, foederātam cīvitātem: located 90 miles south of the Iber River
(modern Ebro), Saguntum was well within the sphere of Carthaginian
influence according to the terms of the treaty that Hasdrubal signed with
Rome in 226 BC. But since Saguntum had allied itself (foederātam) with Rome
before Hasdrubal’s treaty, Rome believed it remained her ally. Hannibal
sacked Saguntum in 218 BC after an eight‒month siege.
(3) ex hīs: i.e., trēs exercitūs maximōs in 3.2.
ūnum [exercitum] in Āfricam mīsit: this army was comprised of 13,850
infantry, 870 slingers, and 1,200 cavalry. Polybius claims to have seen a
plaque erected by Hannibal that recorded the precise sizes of the three
armies. Even so, ancient troop figures must be viewed with caution.
alterum cum Hasdrubale frātre in Hispāniā relīquit: this army of 12,600
infantry, 2,550 cavalry, and 21 elephants was to maintain Carthaginian
control over its recent conquests in Hispania and resist the inevitable
Roman counterattack.
tertium in Italiam sēcum dūxit: this army departed Carthago Nova in the
late spring of 218 BC with as many as 90,000 infantry and 12,000 cavalry. It
is doubtful that Hannibal planned to take such a large force into Italy. As
many as 20,000 of the less experienced troops deserted or were released by
Hannibal before the army arrived at the Rhône River. Hannibal stationed
additional troops in garrisons to protect his lines of communication

82 Cornelius Nepos, Life of Hannibal

to Hispania. He arrived at the Alps with 38,000 infantry troops, 8,000
cavalrymen, and 37 war elephants.
saltum Pӯrēnaeum: in the singular, saltum refers to a mountain pass
(compare the plural in 3.4 below).
quācumque: adverb, “in whichever way, wherever”.
iter fēcit: slightly idiomatic, “he directed his course”; literally, “he made a
journey”. In Latin one may ‘pave’ (sternit), ‘build’ (mūniit, 3.4), or ‘open’
(patefēcit, 3.4) a road, but one may never ‘make’ (facit) one.
(4) Ad Alpēs posteāquam vēnit: temporal clause expanded by several
subordinate clauses. The main clause begins with Alpicōs cōnantēs.
quae...sēiungunt, quās...trānsierat: two relative clauses whose antecedent
is Alpēs.
ante eum: i.e., Hannibal. Nepos somewhat exaggerates Hannibal’s
accomplishment: the Gauls had migrated en masse into Italy over the
Alpine frontier long before Hannibal. We might credit Hannibal as the first
general to lead a “modern” army over the mountains against fierce local
resistance. But Nepos is not splitting such hairs. Well before Nepos’ time,
the uniqueness of Hannibal’s feat became an entrenched part of his legend.
Nepos is simply following this tradition.
quō factō: ablative of cause, “in consequence of which”.
saltus Grāius appellātur: Nepos relates the theory that this section of the
Alps was called the saltus Grāius (“Greek pass”) because the Greek Hercules
(Herculem Grāium) had crossed though this area. During his Tenth Labor,
Hercules drove the Cattle of Geryon (not an army as Nepos seems to imply)
from the western island of Erytheia to King Eurystheus in Greece. Along the
way, he supposedly fathered Galates, the ancestor of the Gauls. In fact, the
name is almost certainly of native Celtic origin, meaning “precipitous” or
“craggy”. Such aetiologies, or stories of origins, were an important feature
of the intellectual tradition in which Nepos wrote. It is not surprising
that Nepos, who grew up in the shadow of the Alps, would include more
detail about Hannibal’s crossing. Local interest might motivate the added
detail, but even here Nepos is distilling earlier accounts so as to focus on
Hannibal’s boldness and his leadership. Polybius boasts of having retraced
the route himself (3.48.12)—as do many modern historians, if only by car.



Notes 83

trānsitū: ablative of separation with prohibēre (AG §401). We can either
understand transitū with prohibēre (“to prevent the crossing”) or with an
implicit object, [Hannibalem] prohibēre transitū, “to prevent Hannibal from
crossing”.
concīdit: context requires that the verb be concīdō, concīdere, concīdī, concisus
(“cut down, ruin, kill, destroy”) rather than concidō, concidere, concidī (“fall
down, die, perish”). Nepos is silent on the terrible losses inflicted on
Hannibal’s army by the mountain tribesmen and the frigid weather.
loca patefēcit, itinera mūniit, effēcit…rēpere: Note how Nepos has
omitted conjunctions between these three coordinate clauses, a rhetorical
device known as asyndeton (Greek for “unconnected”). Latin authors
were especially fond of constructions in groups of three, also known as the
tricolon. Compare the most famous asyndetic tricolon, Caesar’s description
of his victory at the Battle of Zela: vēnī, vīdī, vīcī.
itinera mūniit: a technical phrase for the construction of roads. There
were already routes through the Alps, although Hannibal did have to
rebuild a section that had been destroyed by a landslide.
effēcit, ut...posset: result clause.
eā [viā]: serves as the antecedent for quā.
elephantus ōrnātus: Hannibal’s elephantī were ornātī in the sense that
they were heavily‒loaded with supplies, in contrast with the homo
inermis who previously could not even crawl over the same ground.
rēpere: “to crawl”, contrasted with īre.
hāc: adverbial, “in this way”.
Italiamque pervēnit: The raids by mountain tribes and the cold weather
took a severe toll on Hannibal’s army. The 900‒mile march from Carthago
Nova to Italy had taken 5 months. Crossing the Alps took 15 miserable days.
Of the 38,000 infantry, 8,000 cavalry, and 37 war elephants that entered the
Alps, no more than 20,000 infantry (12,000 Africans and 8,000 Spaniards),
6,000 cavalry, and only a few elephants reached Italy. The toll was horrific,
but Hannibal’s invasion of Italy thoroughly disrupted Rome’s warplans.
Rome would not regain the initiative until after seven savage years of
fighting up and down the Italian peninsula. The planned invasion of Africa
would be postponed by fourteen years. That is the measure of the strategic
advantage that Hannibal had achieved by his unexpected invasion of Italy.

84 Cornelius Nepos, Life of Hannibal

Chapter 4
Hannibal’s stunning victories in Italy. He defeats the Romans at the Battle of
Trebia in late December 218 BC (1‒2). Disease costs him the use of his right eye,
but he still manages to direct the ambush at Lake Trasimene in late June 217 BC
(3). Hannibal annihilates two consular armies at the Battle of Cannae on 2 August
216 BC (4).
(1) cōnflīxerat and pepulerat: pluperfects expressing action completed
before the crossing of the Alps in 3.4. Having told the story of Hannibal’s
march from Hispania to Italy in Chapter 3, this chapter will focus on his
battles in Italy.
apud Rhodanum: “near the Rhône”, a major river in southwest Gaul that
flows into the Mediterranean near Marseilles. Not to be confused with the
Island of Rhodes, Rhodus ‒ī f. Nepos exaggerates the scope of this battle,
the first clash of the war between Roman and Carthaginian forces. It was,
at most, a confused skirmish between small detachments of cavalry fought
soon after Hannibal’s forces crossed the Rhône, and before the arrival of
Scipio’s main force. After the skirmish, the bulk of Scipio’s force continued
towards Hispania; Hannibal moved north towards the Alps.
apud: with a place name, apud always means “near”; it never means
“in” (AG §428d).
cum P. Cornēliō Scīpiōne cõnsule: Publius Cornelius Scipio Asina was
consul in 218 BC. He would die in Hispania in 211 BC while fighting
Hannibal’s brother, Hasdrubal. His son, Scipio Africanus, would defeat
Hannibal at the decisive Battle of Zama in 202 BC.
hōc eōdem: i.e., Publius Cornelius Scipio Asina.
Clastidī: locative. Clastidium was a fortified town in Gallia Cispadana near
the Po River (apud Padum). Captured from the Gauls in 222 BC, the town
served as an important supply base for the Romans.
dēcernit: generally “to decide”; when applied to military affairs, decernō
means “to decide by combat” and so, “to fight”.
sauciumque inde ac fugātum: adjective and participle agreeing with
implied Scipionem.



Notes 85

inde ac: “and then, and thereafter”; Nepos is careful to clarify that
Scipio was wounded first and then retreated. Nepos’ description is more
appropriate for the Battle of Ticinus, a cavalry skirmish in late November
or early December.
(2) tertiō: “for the third time”; Nepos refers to the Battle of Trebia, a small
river that flows into the Po River near Genoa.
īdem Scīpiō: i.e., Publius Cornelius Scipio Asina; remember that Scīpiō is a
third declension noun.
cum collēgā Tiberiō Longō: after Scipio was wounded at Ticinus, his co‒
consul Tiberius Sempronius Longus was recalled to confront Hannibal.
He had recently taken Malta from the Carthaginians in preparation for the
planned invasion of Africa.
adversus eum: preposition (“against”) + accusative.
manum cōnseruit: a common idiom, “to join hand[s]” → “to join hand to
hand (in battle)” → “to fight, join battle with”, often with cum + ablative, hīs
(i.e., Scipio and Longus).
per Ligurēs: the Ligurians lived in Gallia Cisalpina, near modern day
Genoa. Roman authors often refer to a place by reference to its inhabitants.
Appennīnum: the Apennines are a major mountain range extending the
length of peninsular Italy.
Etrūriam: Etruria is a region in north central Italy.
(3) hōc itinere: i.e., the march to Etruria (see 3.3).
adeō: signals the upcoming result clause, ut…ūsus sit.
gravī morbō: ablative of means. During his illness, Hannibal was carried
on his one surviving elephant, a massive Indian elephant nicknamed Syrus
or “The Syrian”, which had a prosthetic metal tusk.
adficitur: historical present referring to a past action as though it is
happening now. It was felt that this added vividness and excitement to the
description (AG §469); Hannibal is the subject.
dextrō: ablative with the deponent verb, ūsus sit (AG §410).

86 Cornelius Nepos, Life of Hannibal

quā valētūdine: “by this affliction”; valetūdō can refer to good or bad health.
quā: connective relative (AG §308f; see above 2.4).
cum etiam tum premerētur lectīcāque ferrētur: concessive cum clause (AG
§549), “although at the time...”.
C. Flāminium...circumventum occīdit, neque multō post C. Centēnium...
occupantem: Nepos deploys two parallel participial phrases to describe
two Roman defeats. Each phrase is introduced by the name of a defeated
Roman leader and concludes with a participle that agrees with the leader;
other information about the battle is enclosed within the participle phrase.
C. Flāminium cōnsulem: after he was re‒elected consul, Gaius Flaminius
Nepos raised four new legions and marched north to meet Hannibal. As
censor in 221/220 BC Flaminius oversaw the construction of the Circus
Flaminius in Rome and the Via Flaminia, which connected Rome with
Ariminum on the Adriatic coast.
Trasumēnum: Lake Trasimene, a large, picturesque lake in Umbria,
about 85 miles north of Rome; according to Livy, it was “a place born
for an ambush” (22.4.2).
circumventum: participle agreeing with Flāminium, not Trasumēnum.
neque multō post: adverbial, “not much after”; multō: ablative of
degree of difference.
C. Centēnium: A few days after the Battle of Trasimene, Hannibal
intercepted and annihilated a force of 4,000 elite cavalrymen (cum dēlectā
manū) led by the propraetor Gaius Centennius.
saltūs: accusative plural object of occupantem; although in the singular,
saltus refers to a narrow passage, in the plural it can refer to woods that
contain clearings (compare 3.3).
(4) obviam: “towards, against, to meet” + dative, eī, with verbs of motion,
venērunt.
duo cōnsulēs: Gaius Terentius Varro and Lucius Aemilius Paulus, allies
of the Scipios, had campaigned for the consulship as staunch critics of
Fabius Maximus’ strategy of avoiding direct action against Hannibal (see
5.1). Despite his role in the defeat at Cannae, Varro continued to hold
important military positions. Lucius Aemilius Paulus was killed at Cannae;
his daughter, Aemilia Tertia, married Scipio Africanus.



Notes 87

utrīusque exercitūs: exercitūs is accusative plural, the object of fugāvit, “he
routed”, whose subject is Hannibal.
Cn. Servīlium Geminum: consul of 217 BC; after the disaster at Trasimene,
Gnaeus Servilius Germinus led the fleet tasked with coastal defense of Italy
and harassing raids against Carthaginian territory in north Africa.
superiōre annō: “in the previous year”. The other consul from the previous
year also fell in the battle. Again we find Nepos consciously avoiding a
detailed account of military events. Even so, this is a surprisingly brief
statement about the Battle of Cannae, the worst defeat suffered by Rome
during the Second Punic War—and Hannibal’s greatest triumph.

Essay on The Battle of Cannae & Its Legacy
There was no longer any Roman camp, any general, any single soldier in
existence.
— Livy, Ab urbe condita 22.54

On August 2, 216 BC Rome suffered one of the most catastrophic defeats in
military history. The town of Cannae, located about 300 miles south of Rome
in Apulia, controlled the approaches to southern Italy and operated a granary
important for supplying food to the city of Rome. There, on a flat, featureless
plain, Hannibal accomplished a feat that was thought to be impossible: with his
small army he enveloped a much larger Roman force. Surrounded and unable
to maneuver, the Roman army disintegrated as a coherent fighting force.
According to Livy, 48,200 Romans were killed and another 20,000 captured
before nightfall put a stop to the slaughter. Polybius puts the number of dead
at 70,000. The victory had been costly for Hannibal as well. Nearly 6,000 of
his troops fell in the battle. Modern historians tend to be more conservative
about the size of the Roman army, but even so they put the number of
Roman dead at around 30,000. Regardless of the exact toll, the greatest army
that Rome had fielded to that point—a grand army assembled with the sole
purpose of driving Hannibal out of Italy—had been annihilated. The consul
Aemilius Paullus lay among the dead, as did both consular quaestors, 29
military tribunes, and another 80 men of senatorial rank. According to Livy,
the surviving consul, Terentius Varro, escaped from Cannae with a mere fifty
soldiers. The Roman defeat was total.

88 Cornelius Nepos, Life of Hannibal

The scale of the slaughter at Cannae is difficult to comprehend. If
the ancient estimates of casualties are accurate, Cannae saw the second
deadliest single day of combat ever visited on a western army, and it is
estimated that over one hundred Romans died every minute during the
height of the battle. Regardless of the exact number of dead, there is no
disputing the magnitude of the disaster that Hannibal had inflicted upon
Rome, or the daring and brilliance he and his troops displayed on that day.
Hannibal’s tactics at Cannae are often regarded as the most effective
large‒scale battle maneuvers in history, setting the standard by which
military commanders continue to measure their success. Count Alfred von
Schlieffen, the architect of Germany’s strategy in World War I, believed that
victory was possible for Germany provided that they followed Hannibal’s
example. As Dwight D. Eisenhower observed, “every ground commander
seeks the battle of annihilation; so far as conditions permit, he tries to
duplicate in modern war the classic example of Cannae”.2
In the successive battles of Trebia, Trasimene, and Cannae, Hannibal had
destroyed the equivalent of eight consular armies. In only 20 months he had
killed as many as 150,000 men, or, by some estimates, one‒fifth of all adult
men in Rome and its allied cities. By way of comparison, that is three times
the number of dead the (much more populous) United States lost in Vietnam,
and thirty times the number lost in battle during the decade after 9/11. Even
as Rome attempted to cope with these disasters, another befell them when
the Gauls destroyed an army of 25,000 Romans near Litana in northern Italy.
In response to this unprecedented carnage, Rome’s empire began to
fracture. Capua, the second largest city in Italy, defected to Hannibal, as did
several important cities in Apulia, Lucania, and Bruttium. Most troubling
for the Romans, the 12 Latin cities, Rome’s oldest and closest allies, declined
to supply troops for the new army. Their mood was not placated when a
proposal to enroll two senators from each Latin city into the depleted Senate
was vehemently rejected (one senator even threatened to kill on sight any
Latin who dared appear in the Senate). With Rome’s alliances unraveling,
Hannibal seemed poised for victory. At home, the treasury was bare and
Rome resorted to loans to pay its troops. International opinion began to flow
towards Hannibal and in 215 he signed an alliance with Philip V of Macedon.
In Sicily, Hiero of Syracuse, a stalwart ally of Rome (and source of troops,
2 Eisenhower, D. 1948. Crusade in Europe, 325.



Notes 89

money, and grain) died and his grandson, Hieronymous, quickly shifted his
support to Carthage.
Yet Rome still refused to surrender. The Romans appointed another
dictator, Marcus Junius Pera, to organize the defense of Rome and begin
levying new troops. Within a month of the disaster at Cannae, Rome could
field four legions, even if these were composed of freed slaves and convicts.
To divine the cause of the gods’ displeasure they dispatched an envoy
to consult the oracle at Delphi and to placate the gods they ordered the
sacrifice of two Gauls and two Greeks. Hannibal, unable to besiege Rome
because of his limited manpower and his need to provision his troops,
bypassed the city and marched towards his new allies in Campania.
Hannibal’s decision to bypass Rome after his victory at Cannae fostered
one of the great military debates in antiquity. According to legend, after
the battle the commander of Hannibal’s cavalry suggested that Hannibal
would be dining in victory on the Capitoline Hill within five days if he only
had the courage to strike at the city. Centuries later, young Roman students
were still assigned to debate his decision, as the Roman satirist Juvenal (ca.
late first century AD) recalls:
Every fifth day the teacher poisons me with his ‘dreadful Hannibal’.
The topic makes no difference: whether to attack Rome
After Cannae, or after the downpour and lightening
to lead away his troops, soaked by the storm.
—Juvenal 7.160‒164

Chapter 5
Hannibal outwits the dictator Fabius Maximus and escapes a blockade. These
events happened before the Battle of Cannae (1). Hannibal’s stratagem to break out
of the blockade set by Fabius (2‒4).
(1) hāc pugnā pugnātā: ablative absolute, as is nullō resistente. Intransitive
verbs like pugnō can take a direct object when that object is a cognate noun,
or a noun derived from the same linguistic root: e.g., pugnāre pugnam or
ludere ludum.
Rōmam: accusative of motion towards, as is Capuam in the next sentence.
Note that profectus [est] > proficīscor is an intransitive verb and so cannot

90 Cornelius Nepos, Life of Hannibal

take Rōmam as its object. In fact, Hannibal did not march on Rome until
211 BC.
in propinquīs urbī montibus: montibus is the object of the preposition, in;
urbī is a dative with the adjective, propinquīs, “near the city”.
aliquot (ibi) diēs: accusative of duration of time, “for some days (there)”.
Q. Fabius Māximus: Quintus Fabius Maximus, who had twice been elected
consul and had enjoyed a distinguished military career, was 58 years old
when he was elected dictator in 217 BC.
dictātor Rōmānus: a dictator was elected to a six‒month term to take
decisive action during times of crisis. When the Senate determined that
an imminent threat existed, a consul would announce during the dead of
night that a dictator had been appointed (this had to take place in Rome).
Although consuls and other magistrates remained in power during the
dictator’s term, the dictator exercised superior power, which included
greater independence from the Senate, extensive power to punish without
appeal, and immunity from prosecution for any decisions he made while
in office.
in agrō Falernō: the Ager Falernus was a region north of Campania, best
known for its outstanding “Falernian” wine.
eī: i.e., Hannibālī.
(2) hic: Nepos uses the demonstrative to indicate the change in subject back
to Hannibal.
clausus: participle agreeing with Hannibal, the implicit subject of the
sentence.
noctū: “by night, at night”; an archaic ablative form of nox.
exercitūs: genitive limiting ullō dētrīmentō.
imperātōrī: clarifies the ambiguous case of Fabiō callidissimō. Nepos also
praises Hannibal as callidus (9.2; De regibus 3).
dedit verba: idiom, “he deceived”. The implied contrast is with facta
(“deeds”), an antithesis that is typical of Greek and especially Roman thought.



Notes 91

Hannibal’s deception has nothing to do with verba or speech, showing how
the idiom can be used in ways quite distinct from its literal meaning.
namque: the conjunction indicates that this sentence will justify or explain
the preceding statement, as in 2.1 and 7.5.
obductā nocte: ablative of time when, “at nightfall”; literally, “with night
having been drawn over (the sky)”. The metaphor is not as strongly felt in
Latin as it would be in English.
dēligāta: modifies sarmenta. Note how the participial phrase encloses in
cornibus iuvencōrum, which explains where the sarmenta have been dēligāta.
ēiusque generis [iuvencōrum]: genitive limiting multitudinem magnam
dispālātam, referring to the iuvencī with burning bundles of sticks between
their horns (as opposed to another genus iuvencōrum).
dispālātam: > dispālor, “to wander around, straggle” (a very rare word).
Hannibal had been victim of a similar strategy in 229 BC, when Iberian
tribesman drove steer‒drawn carts filled with flammable materials against
the Carthaginian lines. According to Appian it was in this battle that his
father Hamilcar was killed by a flaming ox‒cart (others say he drowned).
quō: connective relative agreeing with vīsū.
repentīnō: adverb; repentē is the more common form, but repentīnō is not
uncommon in Livy, Caesar, Cicero, and Apuleius.
vīsū: noun in an ablative absolute with the participle obiectō. The participle
helps distinguish the noun from the identical form of the supine (AG
§508‒510; e.g., Aeneid 12.252: mīrābile vīsū, “amazing to behold”). The
supine is never modified by an adjective or participle.
tantum terrōrem: tantum signals the result clause, ut…sit ausus.
iniēcit: the subject is Hannibal.
exercituī: dative with a compound verb, in‒iēcit (AG §370).
(3) hanc post rem gestam: the demonstrative hanc refers back to Hannibal’s
stratagem in the previous sentence. Nepos has placed hanc before its
preposition to underscore the connective nature of the demonstrative.

92 Cornelius Nepos, Life of Hannibal

Authors also regularly place an element of a prepositional phrase (usually
an adjective) before the preposition for balance, as in magnā cum laude.
post…nōn ita multīs diēbus: ablative of time when, “not so many days
after”.
M. Minucium Rūfum, magistrum equitum: the “Master of the Cavalry”
served as the dictator’s deputy and was usually appointed by the dictator.
But because the surviving consul could not reach Rome after Trasimene,
Rufus was elected at the same time as Fabius Maximus.
equitum: genitive plural, “of the horsemen” → “of the Cavalry”.

parī ac dictātōrem imperiō: “with an authority equal to that of the dictator”.
The creation of, in effect, a co‒dictator was unprecedented and indicates
the desparate circumstances in which the Romans found themselves.
dictātōrem: accusative under the influence of the accusative magistrum.
Strictly speaking a dative, dictātōrī, might be expected with parī. But
since the phrase parī ac dictātōrī imperiō would be confusing, Nepos
places dictātōrem in the accusative, indicating that Rufus was Magister
Equitum and, in essence, dictator with power equal to that held by
Fabius.
parī imperiō: ablative of quality (AG §415). Imperium refers to the
authority to command in military and judicial contexts (3.1, 7.3).
prōductum: participle agreeing with Rufum, “(having been) led into, lured”.

Ti. Semprōnium Gracchum: Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus, consul in 216
BC, proconsul in 214, and reelected consul in 213 (iterum cōnsulem); great‒
uncle of the famous reformers Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus.
Gracchum, iterum cōnsulem...Marcellum, quīnquiēns cōnsulem: Nepos
confuses who was in office in 212 BC. Gracchus was consul in 213 and died
in 212, after his consulship. The correct usages would be bis consulem and
quintum consulem. Confusion about the how to count consulships, however,
was so common that Aulus Gellius catalogued notable mistakes in a short
essay, which included some humorous advice by Cicero to Pompey. When
Pompey was unsure whether he should inscribe tertium or tertio on the
dedication of his theater in Rome, Cicero advised he should just avoid the
question by using the abbreviation “TERT”.



Notes 93

in Lūcānīs: “among the Lucanians”, a tribe who lived in southern Italy.
This phrase continues the sequence of information about Gracchus: 1)
iterum cōnsulem, 2) in Lūcānīs, and 3) in īnsidiās inductum.
absēns: i.e., Hannibal, who was away from the army when the battle was
fought.
in īnsidiās inductum: Gracchus was said to have been ambushed and
killed while bathing with a small group of men as his army marched to
support the siege of Capua.
M. Claudium Marcellum: Marcus Claudius Marcellus (ca. 268‒208 BC)
was among the most illustrious Romans during this period. Marcellus
was one of only three Roman generals to have won the spolia opima (“rich
spoils”), when he killed the Gallic king Viridomarus in single combat at the
First Battle of Clastidium in 222 BC. Winning the spolia opima, awarded to
a Roman general who stripped the armor of an enemy leader after killing
him in single combat, was the highest honor a Roman could achieve. Earlier
in the Second Punic War, Marcellus had twice repulsed Hannibal from the
strategic city of Nola. He had captured the major Sicilian city of Syracuse
after a protracted siege, during which the scholar and inventor Archimedes
was killed. For the losses he inflicted on the enemies of Rome, Marcellus
earned the nickname, “the Sword”—recall that Fabius Maximus was called
“the Shield”.
apud Venusiam: a town in Apulia near Mount Vultur. It is best known as
the birthplace of the poet Horace (65‒8 BC).
parī modō: i.e., in insidiās indictum. Marcellus was ambushed while on a
reconnaissance mission with a small band of cavalry. The ambushes of
Gracchus and Marcellus are typical of the indecisive victories won by
Hannibal during the later stages of the war in Italy.
(4) longum: neuter with infinitive, ēnumerāre; “it would be (too) long”, in
the sense of “tedious”. English idiom requires the subjunctive (“would”);
in Latin, the indicative is used.
ex quō intellegī possit: relative clause of result (AG §537.2); the subject of
possit is provided by the indirect question, quantus ille fuerit.

94 Cornelius Nepos, Life of Hannibal

quantus: interrogative adjective introducing an indirect question with the
subjunctive, fuerit.
eī: dative with the compound verb, re‒stitit.
in aciē: “in battle” (see also 6.4, 11.1).
adversus eum: the first of three consecutive prepositional phrases (post
Cannēnsem pugnam; in campō). Latin authors usually avoided stringing
together prepositional phrases in this way.
Cannēnsem: adjective modifying pugnam.
in campō: “in the open field, on open ground”. This is an exaggeration,
but one made by many historians, even to this day. In fact Roman and
Carthaginian forces were constantly skirmishing and they engaged in over
a dozen significant battles in Italy after Cannae (see the “Chronology of
Hannibal’s Life”). After Cannae, however, no Roman army in Italy dared
challenge Hannibal on level ground, where Hannibal’s cavalry could
provide a decisive advantage.

The End of Hannibal’s Campaign in Italy (218‒203 BC)
After Hannibal’s wild success in the first years of the war, the Romans
avoided set battles on terrain where Hannibal’s superior cavalry could
produce the kind of devastating losses that were seen at Trebia and Cannae.
Fabius’ strategy of harassment and delay would prove sound. By avoiding
a disastrous defeat that would provoke further defections to Hannibal,
Rome gained the time to wear down Hannibal’s army and retake rebel
cities throughout Samnium and Liguria.
By 211 BC, Rome was able to field 25 legions while its fleet raided Africa.
In the same year Rome recaptured Syracuse and Capua, depriving Hannibal
of vital bases of operations and destroying his credibility as a reliable ally
against Roman aggression. Rome executed the leaders of Capua and sold
many Capuan men, women, and children into slavery; those who survived
were stripped of their citizenship and sent into exile. The example had been
made: no further cities defected to Hannibal’s side.
Hannibal and his lieutenants were still capable of overpowering
small forces of Romans, ravishing the Italian countryside, capturing
the occasional city, and inflicting the rare larger defeat, as when Roman
armies were destroyed at Herdonea in 212 BC and again in 210. For the



Notes 95

most part, however, the Romans did avoid set battles and Hannibal was
thus denied a decisive victory that would compel the Romans to sue for
peace. Hannibal’s strategic situation continued to darken during the next
few years: Fabius retook the vital port of Tarentum in 209 BC; Sicily was
pacified; and any hope of reinforcement from Philip in Greece was lost.
Hannibal was increasing penned in the south of Italy.
In 207 BC, Hannibal attempted to regain the initiative. He summoned
his brother Hasdrubal from Spain with a large army. Rome was forced to
react to prevent the nightmare of a massive combined army in Italy under
the command of the sons of Hamilcar. In a reverse of Hannibal’s successes
early in the war, the consular armies of Marcus Livius and Gaius Claudius
Nero (ancestor of the famous emperor) outmaneuvered and annihilated
Hasdrubal’s exhausted army at the Metaurus River. Hannibal only learned
of the disaster when the severed head of his brother was tossed into his
camp.
Unable to sustain offensive operations in central Italy, Hannibal
retreated to the region of Bruttium, in the toe of Italy’s boot. Although
Hannibal and his lieutenants continued to raid throughout Italy, the
tide had turned. Scipio’s victory at Ilipa the following year (206 BC)
removed any chance of reinforcement from Spain. Hannibal would
remain isolated in southern Italy for two more years as the Romans
debated their next move. When Scipio at last invaded Africa in 204 BC,
Hannibal was forced in the autumn of 203 BC to return and defend a
homeland that he had left 35 years before. His great gamble had failed.
The war would be settled not on the fields of Italy but outside the walls
of Carthage.

Chapter 6
Hannibal, although still unbeaten in Italy, is recalled to Africa (1‒2). He is defeated
by Scipio at the Battle of Zama, October 202 BC (3). He avoids a Numidian ambush
and raises a new army in Hadrumetum (4).
(1) hinc: “next” (as in 4.3).
dēfēnsum: supine, used to express purpose after a verb of motion, revocātus
(AG §509). As a verbal noun the supine can take a direct object, patriam.
P. Scīpiōnem, fīlium ēius: Publius Cornelius Scipio (236‒183 BC), son
of Publius Cornelius Scipio Asina (4.1‒2). Scipio ranks as one of Rome’s

96 Cornelius Nepos, Life of Hannibal

greatest generals. After he completed the Roman conquest of Hispania
(210‒206 BC) he was elected consul at the age of only 31, with the
assumption that he would lead the invasion of Africa. But Fabius Maximus
and other conservative leaders in the Roman Senate feared the continued
presence of Hannibal in southern Italy and the audacity of the young Scipio.
Assigned to Sicily without an army, he raised a volunteer force of cavalry
and eventually won permission to invade Africa. In 203 BC he destroyed
an army of Carthaginian and Numidian forces near Utica by burning down
their camp. Scipio’s defeat of Hannibal at Zama in the following year would
earn him the agnomen, “Africanus”.
prīmō apud Rhodanum, iterum apud Padum, tertiō apud Trebiam:
Hannibal’s series of victories over Scipio Asina (4.1).
fugā(ve)rat: syncopated perfect (AG §181), “he had put to flight”. Note the
difference between transitive verb, fugō, fugāre (“to put to flight”), and the
intransitive verb, fugiō, fugere (“to flee”).
(2) cum hōc: i.e., Publius Scipio (the future Africanus). Observe how Nepos’
desire to open the sentence with a connective demonstrative (hōc) results in
the positioning of the prepositional phrase before the ablative absolute.
exhaustīs iam patriae facultātibus: ablative absolute, with causal sense.
iam: emphasizes a moment in time that contributes to the state of affairs
that is being described, “at this point” rather than “now” or “then”.
inpraesentiārum: adverb, “at present, under the present circumstances”; a
colloquial contraction of the phrase, in praesentiā rērum.
bellum compōnere: an idiom, “to make a temporary truce”; compare foedus,
a permanent treaty (foederātam cīvitātem, 3.2; ex foedere, 7.5). The intense
alliteration (compōnere...congrederētur. In colloquium convēnit; condiciōnēs nōn
convēnērunt) has the effect of rendering the meeting between Scipio and
Hannibal as the climax of the war, after which Hannibal’s shocking defeat
is an anticlimax.
quō: introduces a relative clause of purpose with the subjunctive, congrederētur,
expressing why Hannibal desired to bellum compōnere (AG §531).
condiciōnēs nōn convēnērunt: condiciōnēs must be the subject of the
intransitive convēnērunt, “terms (of peace) were not agreed upon”.



Notes 97

(3) paucīs diēbus: “within a few days” (6.4, 10.4). The battle actually took
place the day after the conference.
apud Zamam: The exact site of the battle is unknown, but it likely took
place between Sicca Veneria and Zama Regia, approximately 75 miles
southwest of the city of Carthage. At Zama Hannibal was at last able to
deploy war elephants against the Romans, but to little effect, since Scipio
had developed tactics to minimize their effectiveness and Hannibal was
forced to use young, untrained elephants that took fright and trampled the
Carthaginian lines. Scipio triumphed when his superior Numidian cavalry
routed its Carthaginian counterpart and attacked the Carthaginian rear
lines. While Roman losses in the battle numbered under 2,000, nearly ten
times as many Carthaginians died.
cum eōdem: i.e., Publius Scipio.
incrēdibile dictū: the ablative supine, dictū, is used to indicate an action in
reference to an adjective, incrēdibile: “unbelievable to say”. Nepos expresses
his amazement because this is the first time that Hannibal is defeated in
battle (5.4) and because he was able to march a defeated army a great
distance across difficult ground in only two days.
bīduō et duābus noctibus: ablative of time when. The march was
uninterrupted, continuing day and night.
Hadrūmētum: accusative of place towards which, with pervēnit.
mīlia passuum trecenta: genitive of the whole (AG §346), “300,000 paces”
or 300 Roman miles. The actual distance from Zama to Hadrumetum is
closer to 100 Roman miles. Nepos may exaggerate the distance to render
Hannibal’s achievement that much more impressive, or he may be following
a mistaken source.
(4) Numidae: the Numidians lived in the Carthaginian hinterlands and
were known for their expert cavalry. The defection of the Numidians to
Scipio was a significant blow to Carthaginian military power.
eī: dative with insidiātī sunt.
nōn sōlum…sed etiam: a common parallel construction, “not only…but
also…” (7.5).

98 Cornelius Nepos, Life of Hannibal

reliquōs ē fugā: i.e., the troops who survived the rapid retreat from Zama.
Hadrūmētī: locative.
novīs dīlēctibus: “by new levies”. Note that even as Carthage sues for
peace, Hannibal prepares to fight on; compare how Nepos framed the war
as a contest between Hannibal and the Roman people rather than between
Carthage and Rome (1.1‒1.2).

Chapter 7
Peace between Rome and Carthage. For a time Hannibal continues to fight, but then
is elected to political office (1‒4). Carthage begins a rapid recovery after Hannibal
institutes a series of political and economic reforms (5). Hannibal is forced into
exile (6). Carthage fails to arrest Hannibal. He is declared an outlaw (7).
(1) in apparandō [bellum]: gerund (AG §502), “in preparing [war]”.
ācerrimē occupātus: “most actively engaged”. Note how Nepos maintains
the distinction between Hannibal and the Carthaginians.
bellum…composuērunt: an idiom, “to make a temporary truce” (see 6.4).
The terms of the peace treaty were harsh. Carthage agreed to abandon
all claims to territory outside of Africa, to pay a yearly indemnity of 200
talents for 50 years (a total of almost 260 tons of silver), to reduce its navy
to ten warships (Scipio burned over 500 ships outside of Carthage’s harbor
in a spectacular demonstration of Rome’s victory), and never to make
war without Rome’s permission. It was the violation of this last term,
under duress, that precipitated the Third Punic War (149‒146 BC) and the
destruction of Carthage.
Ille: i.e., Hannibal, subject of praefuit and gessit.
sētius: comparative of secus, “otherwise, differently”; usually with a
negative (nihilō): “not at all differently” → “as if nothing happened”.
Hannibal retained command of the Carthaginian army, which continued
to support him. Perhaps Carthage feared a reprise of the devastating
“Mercenary War” if they moved against Hannibal.
nihilō: ablative of degree of difference.
praefuit: > praesum + dative, exercituī.



Notes 99

rēsque in Āfricā gessit: i.e., in Āfricā pugnāvit (8.4).
ūsque ad P. Sulpicium C. Aurēlium cōnsulēs: “even until the consulship
of…”; i.e., in 200 BC. Rome subsequently demanded that Carthage recall
all military commanders from Italy and adhere to the terms of the peace
treaty. Publius Sulpicius Galba Maximus was consul in 211 BC, when he
defended Rome from a surprise attack by Hannibal. He led the first Roman
fleet into the Aegean and captured Aegina in 210 BC. Dictator in 203, he
was the last Roman to hold this position until Sulla in 82/81 BC. In 200, he
commanded Roman forces in the Second Macedonian War. Gaius Aurelius
Cotta was sent to reinforce the garrison at Ariminium after several Gallic
tribes allied with Carthage sacked the town of Placentia in northern Italy
and threatened Cremona.
(2) This complex sentence is manageable if read in sequence with careful
attention to the parallel sequence of its clauses. Nepos begins with an
ablative absolute that conveys the context (a) in which the main action
occurs (b). He then explains why the Carthaginians undertook that action
(c‒h).
(a) hīs enim magistrātibus,

ablative absolute

(b) lēgātī Karthāginiēnsēs Rōmam vēnērunt

main clause

(c) quī senātuī populōque Rōmānō grātiās
agerent,
(d) quod cum iīs pācem fēcissent,

relative clause of purpose #1
causal clause

(e) ob eamque rem corōnā aureā eōs dōnārent, relative clause of purpose #2
(f) simulque peterent

relative clause of purpose #3

(g) ut obsidēs eōrum Fregelliīs essent

substantive purpose clause #1

(h) captīvīque redderentur.

substantive purpose clause #2

Nepos, as he did in the long sentence in 2.2, uses the enclitic ‒que to signal
the connections between parallel elements: ‒que in (e) and (f) link those
clauses to the series of relative clauses of purpose that begins in (c); the
‒que in (h) links the two substantive purpose clauses in (g) and (h) that are
introduced by peterent in (f).
(a) hīs enim magistrātibus: ablative absolute, referring to the consuls of 200
BC mentioned in 6.1. Since Latin lacks the present or perfect participle of
esse, an ablative absolute can consist of a noun and adjective or two nouns

100 Cornelius Nepos, Life of Hannibal

in the ablative, as here (AG §419a; similar constructions can be found in 2.3,
9.3, and 12.2).
(b) Rōmam: accusative of place towards which.
(c) quī senātuī populōque Rōmānō grātiās agerent: relative clause of
purpose with a subjunctive, agerent, expressing the reason why the legātī
Karthāginiēnsēs Rōmam vēnērunt (AG §531).
senātuī populōque Rōmānō: datives with the idiom, grātiās agerent,
“gave thanks”. Nepos’ use of senātus populusque Rōmānus is anachronistic,
since the Romans only began to use the phrase to refer to their state in
the early first century BC.
(d) quod cum iīs pācem fēcissent: causal quod clause (AG §540).
cum iīs: i.e., the Carthaginians.
fēcissent: pluperfect subjunctive after quod, because it is part of what
the Carthaginian delegates said to the Romans (i.e., “O Romans, we
thank you for having made peace”).
(e) ob eamque rem corōnā aureā eōs dōnārent: relative clause of purpose
with a subjunctive, dōnārent. Because ob eamque rem is equivalent to quam
ob rem, the phrase can introduce a relative clause of purpose despite the
absence of an explicit relative pronoun.
ob eamque rem: preposition + accusatives, referring to the making of
peace in the preceding clause; ‒que links the entire clause to the relative
clause of purpose (c).
eōs: i.e., the Romans.
dōnārent: governing the accusative, eōs, + ablative of item given, corōnā
aureā.
(f) simulque peterent: relative clause of purpose with a subjunctive,
introducing a clause that indicates what the lēgātī Karthāginiēnsēs peterent.
(g) ut obsidēs eōrum Fregellīs essent: substantive purpose clause (AG
§563, sometimes called a jussive noun clause), dependent on peterent.
eōrum: i.e., the Carthaginians; the reflexive pronoun suī would be more
regular. Those signing a treaty often sent or exchanged hostages, whose
lives would be forfeit if the treaty were broken.
Fregellīs: locative; the town of Fregellae, about halfway between Rome
and Capua on the Via Latina, remained loyal to Rome during the Second
Punic War.
(h) captīvīque redderentur: another substantive purpose clause, dependent
on peterent. captīvī: Carthaginians captured during the Second Punic War.
(3) hīs: i.e., lēgātī Karthāginiēnsēs.



Notes 101

respōnsum est: impersonal (note the neuter ending), “this was the
response”; it introduces three indirect statements:
a) mūnus + acceptumque esse
b) obsidēs + futūrōs [esse]
c) captīvōs + remissūrōs [esse]
quō locō rogārent and cuius operā susceptum bellum foret and quod
Hannibalem…habērent: subjunctives because they appear in subordinate
clauses in indirect discourse (AG §580); rogārent and haberent are imperfect,
indicating action contemporary with the past tense main verb, respōnsum
est (AG §483); susceptum foret (= susceptum esset) is pluperfect, indicating
action prior to the main verb.
quō locō: ablative of place.
quod Hannibalem…habērent: explains why the Romans will not release
their prisoners of war (captīvōs).
Hannibalem: object of habērent, whose plural subject must be
Karthāginiēnsēs.
cuius operā: “by whose efforts”; the Carthaginians had been attempting
to disassociate themselves from Hannibal but the Romans remind them
that they share responsibility for his actions.
inimīcissimum nōminī Rōmānō: inimīcus is used to describe
someone with an active hatred of someone or something, “full of hate,
hateful, hostile, unfriendly” (+ dative), rather than “hated”; therefore
inimīcissimum must modify Hannibalem, rather than bellum. nōminī
Rōmānō: “to whatever is called Roman”, i.e., Roman dominion, nation,
power.
itemque: “likewise, further”; itemque introduces an additional point of
information.
(4) hōc respōnsō Karthāginiēnsēs cognitō: ablative absolute.
Karthāginiēnsēs, the subject of revocārunt, is positioned within the ablative
absolute to signal that it was the Carthaginians who understood the
response of the Roman delegation.
revocā(vē)runt: syncopated perfect (AG §181).
domum: accusative of place to which, without a preposition (AG §427).
ut rediit: ut + indicative is strictly temporal, “when”.

102 Cornelius Nepos, Life of Hannibal

rēx: the Carthaginian title was suffes, or “judge”. Two suffetes were
elected annually to serve as the chief civilian officers of the Carthaginian
government. They were akin to the Roman consuls, as Nepos explains in
the next sentence. Hannibal was elected to this office in 196 BC.
annō secundō et vīcēsimō: ablative of time when. Hannibal had been
general for 22 years.
ut enim Rōmae cōnsulēs, sīc Karthāgine: ut…sīc: correlatives, “(just) as…
so…” (AG §323g). Rōmae and Karthāgine are locative.
quotannīs: adverb, “every year”.
annuī: “annual”, i.e., “for the duration of one year”.
bīnī rēgēs: “two kings at a time, a pair of kings”.
creābantur: creō, ‒āre is the technical term for electing public officials.
(5) parī…ac: adjectives and adverbs of likeness (such as parī) are often
followed by ac, “as, just so” (AG §384 n. 2).
parī dīligentiā: ablative of quality (AG §415).
namque: the conjunction indicates that this sentence will justify or explain
the preceding statement.
ex novīs vectīgālibus: ablative of source (AG §403). Nepos uses a common
stylistic device of having the preposition (ex) repeat the prefix of the verb
(ef‒fēcit > ec > ex). Hannibal in fact avoided the imposition of new taxes by
reducing waste and embezzlement. Understand as “by means of a reformed
[system of] taxation”.
nōn sōlum ut esset pecūnia…sed etiam superesset: correlatives, “not
only…but also…” (6.4), establishing the parallel between the two result
clauses with the subjunctive.
quae Rōmānīs ex foedere penderētur: relative clause of purpose (AG
§540c); its antecedent is pecūnia. ex foedere: “in accordance with the treaty”.
superesset: “there would remain” → “there would be a surplus (of money)”;
the subject is pecūnia.
quae in aerāriō repōnerētur: relative clause of purpose (AG §540c).



Notes 103

(6) M. Claudiō L. Fūriō cōnsulibus: i.e., in 196 BC.
Rōmā: ablative of place from which (AG §427.1).
Karthāginem: accusative of place towards which (3.1).
hōs: i.e., legātōs Rōmānōs; note how the demonstrative appears first in the
sentence, signaling how this sentence relates to the last.
ratus: > reor; the perfect participles of many deponent verbs are equivalent
to English present active participles: “suspecting that…”.
suī exposcendī grātiā: grātiā (“for the sake of”) with a preceding genitive, suī
exposcendī (AG §504b); exposcendī is a gerundive agreeing with the reflexive
personal pronoun suī. When the gerund appears in a construction in
which it would take an accusative—e.g. sē exposcendī grātiā, “for the sake of
demanding him (Hannibal)”—Roman authors preferred using a gerundive
(AG §503). Hoping to engineer Hannibal’s ouster, Hannibal’s domestic
enemies had appealed to Rome indicating that the general had forged a
secret alliance with Antiochus III. In Rome, Scipio Africanus deemed it
beneath the dignity of the Roman people to entertain the scurrilous attack.
His advice was not heeded and Rome began to move against Hannibal.
missōs [esse]: perfect passive participle agreeing with hōs in an indirect
statement dependent on ratus.
priusquam iīs senātus darētur: darētur is subjunctive because it contains
a logical connection to the main action of the sentence, nāvem ascendit
(11.1).
senātus darētur: senātus dare is an idiom, “to give an audience to” +
dative (iīs); senātus: the Carthaginian council of 300 aristocrats; Nepos
continues to use Roman terms to describe Carthaginian institutions.
ad Antiochum: masculine, therefore King Antiochus III of the Seleucid
Kingdom (see note on 2.1) not the city of Antioch, Antiochia, ‒ae f.
(7) hāc rē palam factā: ablative absolute, “when this (Hannibal’s flight)
became known”. Hannibal first fled to his personal fortress to the south
of Carthage. He then sailed to the nearby Cercina Islands. There, he
narrowly evaded arrest by the sailors of a Carthaginian ship by claiming
he was on a diplomatic mission to Tyre. Hannibal invited the sailors
to a banquet, requesting that they bring their sails as awnings against

104 Cornelius Nepos, Life of Hannibal

the scorching sun. While the sailors slept, Hannibal stole their sails and
weighed anchor, sailing to Tyre, and from there to the court of Antiochus.
Poenī: i.e., Karthāginiēnsēs.
quae eum comprehenderent: relative clause of purpose expressing why
the Poenī nāvēs mīsērunt (AG §531).
sī possent cōnsequī: Nepos wrote the subjunctive possent because its clause
represents an action that is integral to the subjunctive clause on which it
depends: the ships could not arrest Hannibal if they did not catch him first
(AG §593).
bona ēius pūblicā(vē)runt: syncopated perfect (AG §181), as is iūdicā(vē)
runt. bona: in the plural, bonus can refer to “property”, as in the English
“goods”.
domum ā fundāmentīs disiēcērunt: a common penalty inflicted on exiles,
fallen tyrants, and other public enemies in antiquity. Clodius razed Cicero’s
house when he was exiled in 58 BC.

Chapter 8
Hannibal renews his attempts to rally Carthage against Rome (1). The Death of
Mago (2). Nepos condemns Antiochus for ignoring Hannibal’s advice (3). The
navy of Rhodes defeats Hannibal at the Battle of Eurymedon, 190 BC (4).
(1) L. Cornēliō Q. Minuciō cōnsulibus: i.e., in 193 BC; Lucius Cornelius
Merula and Quintus Minucius Thermus were fighting Gallic tribes in
northern Italy.
in fīnibus Cӯrēnaeōrum: Cyrene was a province of Ptolemaic Egypt, to the
east of Carthage’s territory in North Africa.
spē fīdūciāque: ablatives of cause, “because of their hope and confidence
in Antiochus” (Antiochī, objective genitive).
cui iam persuāserat: the antecedent of cui is Antiochī; Nepos told the story
of how Hannibal convinced Antiochus to attack the Romans in 2.1‒2.3.
Hannibal did not, however, succeed in convincing the king to send an army
to Italy.



Notes 105

ut…proficīscerētur: substantive purpose clause (AG §563), with Antiochus
as its subject; the sudden switching of subjects within a complex sentence
is typical of Latin. Here, since Hannibal must persuade someone else (i.e.,
Antiochus), the new subject is understood.
hūc: i.e., in fīnibus Cӯrēnaeōrum.
(2) Māgōnem eādem, quā frātrem, absentem affēcērunt poenā: note the
separation of nouns from their adjectives, eādem…poenā and Māgōnem…
absentem.
poenā: ablative of price, which is used to indicate an indefinite penalty
or the exact amount of a fine (AG §416).
illī: i.e., Hannibal and Mago.
dēspērātīs rēbus: ablative absolute, with causal sense.
cum solvissent nāvēs ac vēla ventīs dedissent: circumstantial cum clause
describing actions that precede the action of the main verb, pervēnit
(AG §546). solvissent nāvēs: “release the ships” → “weigh anchor”.
This sentence provides a good illustration of the factors that a Roman
author weighed when determining the order of words in a sentence. The
subordinating conjunction cum would naturally come at the start of the
sentence. But because the action of the ablative absolute, dēspērātīs rēbus,
must precede that of the cum clause—the situation must be hopeless before
Hannibal and Mago decide to flee—Nepos places the ablative absolute
before cum. Because Nepos likes to begin sentences with connectives and
demonstratives, illī, although it is part of the cum clause, appears first,
followed by the ablative absolute, and then the rest of the cum clause.
duplex memoria: “double memory”; i.e., there were two accounts of
Mago’s death.
aliī…aliī: a correlative construction, “some…others…”.
ā servulīs: ablative of personal agent. Other sources indicate that Mago
was wounded while fighting the Romans in Cisalpine Gaul and died of his
wounds en route to Carthage in 203 BC.
scrīptum relīquērunt: literally, “leave behind a written record”—compare
the English expression “leave a paper trail”—a common periphrasis

106 Cornelius Nepos, Life of Hannibal

equivalent to scrīpsērunt (13.1), introducing an indirect statement with eum
as its accusative subject and the infinitive, interfectum [esse].
(3) sī tam…pārēre voluisset, quam…īnstituerat: tam and quam are
correlatives (AG §323; 9.4) in the protasis of a past contrary to fact
conditional.
in agendō bellō: gerundive, see note on 7.6.
pārēre: takes the dative, cōnsiliīs.
voluisset: subjunctive in the protasis of a past contrary to fact conditional,
“if he had been willing (but he was not)” (9.1).
in suscipiendō [bellō]: gerundive, parallel with in agendō bellō.
propius Tiberī quam Thermopylīs: propius can be taken with the dative
(Tiberī, Thermopylīs), although the accusative is more common. Antiochus
was defeated by the Romans at Thermopylae in 191 BC and compelled to
withdraw to Asia.
dē summā [rē] imperiī: “about supreme command” (3.1).
quem: connective relative; its antecedent is Antiochus; it serves as the
accusative subject of the deponent infinitive, cōnārī.
vidēbat: Hannibal is the subject.
nūllā…in rē: nūllā is separated from its noun and preposition, in rē, for
emphasis.
(4) praefuit: > praesum + dative, paucīs nāvibus (7.1, 8.4).
iīsque [nāvibus]: ablative of means.
in Āsiam: referring to Asia Minor (i.e., roughly modern day Turkey), as is
common in Roman authors.
adversus: preposition + accusative, classem (Rhodiōrum). Rhodes was a
powerful Greek state, known for its superior navy.
in Pamphӯliō marī: Pamphylia is a region between Lycia and Cilicia in
southwest Asia Minor. The naval battle was fought near Eurymedon.
quō: connective relative (AG §308f), referring to the battle mentioned in the
previous sentence.



Notes 107

cum multitūdine adversāriōrum suī superārentur: concessive cum clause
(AG §549).
suī: nominative plural, “his (Hannibal’s) troops”; a common idiom.
quō cornū: locative ablative; “on the flank [i.e., the section of the battle line]
where”.

Chapter 9
Hannibal flees to Crete, where he uses a clever ruse to save his money from the
treacherous inhabitants.
(1) Antiochō fugātō: ablative absolute. Nepos refers to Antiochus’
defeat at the Battle of Magnesia in western Asia Minor in 190 BC. The
Roman forces were led by Lucius Cornelius Scipio, the brother of Scipio
Africanus. Antiochus subsequently agreed to onerous terms of peace:
he renounced his claim to any land in Europe and Anatolia west of the
Taurus Mountains, paid a massive indemnity, handed over all of his war
elephants, reduced his navy to only 12 warships, and agreed to deliver
Hannibal.
nē dēderētur: fear clause dependent on participle, verēns (AG §564); nē
indicates that Hannibal fears the action in the clause, “fearing that he be
betrayed”.
quod: refers to the action of the preceding clause (dēderētur).
accidisset: impersonal, “it would have happened”.
sī suī fēcisset potestātem: an idiom, “if he (Hannibal) had provided
[Antiochus] the opportunity (potestātem) [to meet] him (suī)”; suī, objective
genitive, referring to Hannibal. Hannibal fled first to Armenia, where he
was said to have founded the city of Artaxata.
Crētam ad Gortӯniōs vēnit: Crētam: accusative of place to which, usually
with a preposition, unlike domum, rūs, and the names of towns and small
islands (AG §427.2). ad Gortӯniōs: “to the Gortynians”. Gortyn was an
ally of Ptolemaic Egypt and an important city in south‒central Crete,
near the foot of Mt. Ida. At this time, Crete was riven by conflict between
several powerful city‒states.

108 Cornelius Nepos, Life of Hannibal

ut ibi...cōnsīderāret: purpose clause.
quō: adverb, “to where, whither”, introducing indirect question
dependent on consīderāret.
(2) vir omnium callidissimus: i.e., Hannibal; recall that Nepos
characterized Fabius Maximus with the same adjective (5.2).
in magnō sē fore perīculō: indirect statement introduced by vīdit; note how
Nepos artfully embeds the accusative subject (sē) and verb (fore = futūrum
esse, see note on 2.4) within the prepositional phrase, in magnō...perīculō.
nisi quid: = nisi (ali)quid; see note on 2.6.
propter avāritiam Crētēnsium: explains why Hannibal thought that in
magnō sē fore perīculō. Crētēnsium: genitive plural > Crētēnsis.
sēcum: typical for cum sē, as whenever cum appears with a personal
pronoun (e.g. mēcum, nōbīscum, etc.).
fāmam: accusative subject of exisse; here, “report” or “rumor” of his magnam
pecūniam.

11. Hannibal’s Ruse of the Amphorae. Drawing by Joelle Cicak, CC BY.



Notes 109

(3) capit…complet…operit: historical presents to convey a sense of lively
narrative (AG §469; see note on 4.3).
amphorās: large earthenware vessels with two handles that were used for
transport and storage.
plumbō: an ablative of means may be used with verbs and adjectives of
“filling, abundance, etc.”, complet (AG §409a; 11.6); the same construction
appears two sentences later: suā pecūniā complet.
summās: “the tops” (of the amphorae).
hās: i.e., amphorās; on its position before the ablative absolute, praesentibus
prīncipibus, see note on 8.2.
praesentibus prīncipibus: ablative absolute; since Latin lacks the present
or perfect participle of esse, an ablative absolute can contain a noun and
adjective or two nouns in the ablative (AG §419a).
in templō Diānae: Nepos uses the Roman name of the Greek goddess
Artemis.
crēdere: infinitive with an accusative subject, sē; “pretending (simulāns) to
entrust an accusative (suās fortūnās) to the dative (fideī)”; fidēs: not “faith” but
“reliability” → “trustworthiness” → “good faith”; compare the derogatory
expression Pūnica fides (“Punic trustworthiness” → “bad faith” → “treachery”).
illōrum: i.e., the assembled leaders of the Gortynians (praesentibus
principibus).
hīs in errōrem inductīs: ablative absolute.
eāsque: i.e., statuās aeneās.
domī: genitive limiting in prōpatulō rather than locative.
(4) Gortӯniī: subject of custōdiunt.
magnā cūrā: ablative of manner.
nōn tam ā cēterīs quam ab Hannibale: correlatives, “not so much from...
as from...”.
īnscientibus iīs: ablative absolute; iīs, i.e., Gortӯniīs.

110 Cornelius Nepos, Life of Hannibal

nē...tolleret...dūceret: understand amphorās as the object of both verbs in
the negative purpose clause; tolleret...dūceret: imperfect subjunctives in
secondary sequence after a historical present, custōdiunt (AG §485e).

Chapter 10
Hannibal arrives at the court of Prusias, King of Bithynia (1), and prepares to
fight Eumenes II, an ally of Rome (2‒3). He devises a novel biological weapon for
use against Eumenes’ superior fleet (4‒6). The episode with Eumenes is the most
detailed in the Life (10.4‒11.6).
(1) cōnservātīs suīs rēbus and illūsīs Crētēnsibus omnibus: Nepos begins
this section with two consecutive ablative absolutes. Poenus: i.e., Hannibal.
illūsīs: > illudō, ‒ere, not ille, illa, illud.
Prūsiam: Prusias I “The Lame” (ca. 243‒182 BC), the king of Bithynia, a
kingdom on the southern shore of the Black Sea. It is unclear why Prusias
would be in the neighboring kingdom of Pontus when Hannibal met him
(in Pontum).
apud quem: i.e., Prusias; connective relative (AG §308f).
eōdem animō: ablative of quality (AG §415; see note on 2.5), “of the same
mind”.
neque aliud quicquam…quam: “and (ēgit) nothing other than (rēgem
armāvit)…”; Hannibal is the subject of the sentence.
(2) quem cum: note that the subordinating cum is postponed after the
connective relative, which refers to Prusias.
domesticīs opibus: ablative of specification (AG §418; 1.1), indicating the
respect in which Prusias was minus rōbustum, “too weak”.
dissidēbat ab eō Pergamēnus rēx Eumenēs, Rōmānīs amīcissimus: Eumenes
II (197‒159 BC), the king of Pergamon (Pergamēnus rēx) was a staunch ally of
Rome (Rōmānīs amīcissimus; on the meaning of amīcitiā, see note on 2.4). After
Antiochus’ defeat at Magnesia, the Romans granted Eumenes extensive
territory in Asia Minor, bringing him into conflict with Prusias.
ab eō: i.e., Prusias.
et marī et terrā: correlatively, “both…and”; these ablatives of place are
more commonly rendered as terrā marīque.



Notes 111

(3) utrobīque: adverb, “on both parts” or “on both sides”, i.e., et marī et
terrā.
quō: connective relative (AG §308f; 8.4, 9.1); “for this reason”, i.e., propter
Rōmānōrum societātem.
Hannibal: nominative subject of cupiēbat despite its position within the
indirect statement (eum…opprimī). Roman authors often juxtapose names
and pronouns.
quem: connective relative; its antecedent is eum, i.e., Eumenes.
sī remōvisset: pluperfect subjunctive not because Hannibal’s assessment
of the situation is incorrect but because the protasis appears in indirect
speech; Nepos uses the subjunctive because Hannibal originally
thought (arbitrābātur): “if I eliminate Eumenes (removerit, future perfect),
everything else will be…”; when Nepos reports the future perfect,
removerit is rendered as the pluperfect subjunctive, remōvisset (AG §589).
ad hunc interficiendum: ad + gerundive, expressing purpose, “to kill
him” (AG §506).
tālem iniit ratiōnem: “he devised the following plan”.
(4) classe: ablative of means.
erant dēcrētūrī: future active periphrastic (AG §195) > decernō, “they were
about to fight”.
superābātur: subject is Hannibal, “he was surpassed by” → “was inferior
to”, with an ablative of respect, (nāvium) multitūdine.
dolō erat pugnandum: the neuter indicates that this is the impersonal
gerundive (AG §500.3).
cum pār nōn esset armīs: causal cum clause, “because…”. armīs: ablative
of respect.
quam plūrimās: “as many as possible” (quam + superlative), object of
colligī…que…conicī.
imperāvit: imperō is typically followed by ut + subjunctive; here, imperāvit
introduces an indirect statement: [eōs] colligī…‒que…conicī.
in vāsa fīctilia: “into earthenware vessels”; vāsa is neuter plural.

112 Cornelius Nepos, Life of Hannibal

(5) hārum cum effēcisset magnam multitūdinem: circumstantial cum
clause. effēcisset: pluperfect subjunctive in secondary sequence after
historical presents, convocat and praecipit (AG §485e). hārum: i.e., venēnātās
serpentēs vīvās.
diē ipsō: ablative of time when.
factūrus erat: compare to erant dēcrētūrī (10.4).

12. Snakes on a Boat. Drawing by Joelle Cicak, CC BY.

convocat...que...praecipit: historical presents to convey a sense of lively
narrative (AG §469; see note on 4.3).
iīsque: dative with praecipit, substantive purpose clause (AG §563,
sometimes called a jussive noun clause), omnēs ut…concurrant…tantum…
habeant sē dēfendere.
omnēs ut…concurrant: the word order is unusual; again Nepos has
positioned a word before the subordinating conjunction for emphasis.



Notes 113

in ūnam…nāvem: an example of hysterologia, or the insertion of words
that interrupts the syntactic flow of the sentence; it emphasizes the
order that everyone (omnēs) attack only Eumenes’ ship (ūnam…nāvem).
concurrant: present subjunctive depending on praecipit.
ā cēterīs: “against all the other nāvibus”.
tantum satis habeant: “they should consider it enough” → “should be
content”. Because tantus conveys only the idea of relative greatness, it may
also denote a small amount, “just enough”.
id: the demonstrative refers to the sense of what came before, i.e., sē
dēfendere.
illōs…cōnsecūtūrōs [esse]: depends on an implied verb of speaking (e.g.,
dīxit, 12.3).
(6) rēx: subject of veherētur in the indirect question introduced by the
interrogative adjective quā; it has been displaced before its relative clause
for additional emphasis.
ut [classiāriī] scīrent: result clause.
sē factūrum [esse]: depends on an implied verb of speaking, like illōs…
consecūtūrōs (10.5).
magnō iīs pollicētur praemiō fore: a double dative construction dependent
on pollicētur, “he promises that it will be a (source of) great reward for
them” (AG §382). magnō…praemiō: dative of purpose with fore; iīs: dative
of reference with fore.

Chapter 11
Hannibal lays a trap for Eumenes, who escapes (1‒4). Hannibal’s biological weapon
routs the Pergamene navy (5‒6).
(1) tālī cohortātiōne mīlitum factā: ablative absolute. mīlitum: objective
genitive limiting cohortātiōne, “exhortation of the soldiers”.
ab utrīsque: i.e., Hannibal and Eumenes II.

114 Cornelius Nepos, Life of Hannibal

dēdūcitur and mittit: historical presents, see note on adficitur (4.3).
quārum: = nāvium.
aciē cōnstitūtā: ablative absolute.
priusquam signum pugnae darētur: for the temporal subjunctive, see note
on 7.6.
suīs: i.e., Hannibal’s men.
quō locō Eumenēs esset: indirect question with faceret. quō locō: ablative
of place.
in scaphā: a skiff or small rowboat.
cum cādūceō: the staff carried by heralds and ambassadors as a symbol of
their office and so as a symbol of safe passage to and from enemies.
(2) quī: its antecedent is tabellārius.
sē rēgem professus est quaerere: professus est introduces the indirect
statement, sē rēgem…quaerere. Word order in this sentence is determined
by an intelligible set of stylistic preferences: the first word in the phrase,
sē, refers to the subject of the previous clause; rēgem follows because of
the Roman preference for juxtaposing personal nouns; then professus est,
because the verb introducing the indirect statement has a tendency to come
before the verb in the indirect statement, quaerere.
quod nēmō dubitābat: the indicative reveals that this is Nepos’ own
assessment of the situation, not necessarily that of Eumenes or his sailors
(compare 1.1).
quīn…esset scrīptum: quīn often introduces subjunctive clauses after
expressions of hindering, resisting, and doubting (nēmō dubitābat, AG §558),
“because no one was doubting that (quīn)…”.
ducis nāve dēclārātā suīs: ablative absolute. ducis: i.e., Eumenes. Note
how Nepos places the genitive, ducis, before the noun it limits, nāve, in
order to juxtapose it with tabellārius. suīs: dative with dēclārātā, i.e., “to his
own men”.



Notes 115

eōdem: i.e., eōdem [locō], specified by the subsequent clause, unde erat
ēgressus.
(3) solūtā epistulā: ablative absolute. solūtā: i.e., by breaking the wax seal
on the letter.
quae ad irrīdendum eum pertinērent: quae is neuter plural because a
plural is implied by the main clause (nihil in eā repperit). ad irrīdendum
eum: gerundive indicating purpose (see note on 10.3).
cuius: connective relative; its antecedent must be epistulā.
dubitāvit: on the use of dubitō + infinitive, see note on 2.4.
(4) ūniversī: “all at once”, modifies Bīthӯniī. Note how Nepos embeds the
ablative of cause, (Hannibalis) praeceptō, within the noun‒adjective phrase
to emphasize why the Bīthӯniī attacked ūniversī (12.4, 13.2).
adoriuntur: “fell upon”.
quōrum vim rēx cum sustinēre nōn posset: by now Nepos’ tendency to
postpone the subordinating conjunction, cum, after words that associate
the clause with elements of the preceeding sentence, should be familiar;
also 11.5, below.
fugā: ablative of means.
quam: antecedent is salūtem.
intrā sua praesidia: i.e., Eumenes’ fortified naval encampment (ad sua castra
nautica in 11.6). Ancient warships were built for speed and maneuverability.
Because they were unstable in foul weather and lacked accommodations
for their crews, sailors tended to make camp on land at night.
(5) eās: i.e., Pergamēnās nāvēs.
vāsa fīctilia: the subject of conicī coepta sunt.
dē quibus suprā mentiōnem fēcimus: Nepos first introduced the
earthenware jars in 10.4. fēcimus: ancient authors often used plural forms
to refer to themselves, especially in prose (see note on 3.1).

116 Cornelius Nepos, Life of Hannibal

coepta sunt: the passive of the defective verb coepī is often used with passive
verbs (AG §205a), “they began to be thrown (conicī)”.
quae iacta: “these (vāsa fīctilia) having been thrown”.
initiō: ablative of time, “at first”.
concitārunt: = concitā(vē)runt, syncopated perfect (AG §181), “arouse, excite,
cause” something (accusative, rīsum) in someone (dative, pugnantibus).
quā rē id fieret: indirect question, dependent on poterat intellegī; quā rē: =
quārē.
(6) serpentibus: an ablative of means may be used with verbs and adjectives
of “filling, abundance, etc.”, opplētās (AG §409a).
novā rē: ablative of means. novā: “strange, unusual, unprecedented”, as
often in Latin.
perterritī: perfect passive participle, agreeing with implicit subject of
vertērunt.
quid potissimum vītārent: indirect question introduced by cum...nōn
vidērent; i.e., the Pergamene sailors were in confusion whether they
should rid themselves of the snakes or continue to attack Prusias’ ships.
potissimum: adverb, “first of all, especially, in preference to all”.
puppēs vertērunt: puppēs, literally “sterns”, refers by synecdoche to the
entire ship; compare the idiom terga vertere, “turn (their) backs”, i.e., retreat.
(7) cōnsiliō: i.e., his ingenious use of snakes. Nepos often contrasts ingenuity
(cōnsilium) with brute force (arma).
neque tum sōlum, sed saepe aliās: “not only at that time...but often at other
times…”; a variation on the common correlative construction, nōn sōlum...
sed etiam (6.4, 7.5); aliās: adverb, “in other places, times” (AG §215.3).
pedestribus cōpiīs: ablative of instrument, “with infantry” → “in land
battles”.
parī prūdentiā: ablative of manner (AG §412; 12.4); Nepos introduced
tactical brilliance (prūdentiā) as Hannibal’s defining characteristic in 1.1.



Notes 117

Chapter 12
Romans demand that Hannibal be surrendered (1‒3). When Hannibal discovers
that he is surrounded by his enemies, he commits suicide (4‒5).
(1) quae: connective relative (AG §308f).
geruntur: historical present, see note on adficitur (4.3).
accidit cāsū: impersonal, “it happened by chance”; its subject is furnished
by the substantive clause, ut lēgātī Prūsiae...cenārent.
Rōmae: locative.
apud T. Quinctium Flāminīnum cōnsulārem: “at the house of…”;
cōnsulārem: “ex‒consul”. Titus Quinctius Flamininus (ca. 229‒ca. 174 BC)
defeated Philip V of Macedon at the Battle of Cynocephalae in 197 BC,
ending Macedonian domination of Greece. The following year Flamininus
appeared at the Isthmian Games and flamboyantly declared that the
Greeks were free from foreign domination. Fifty years later Greece was
reduced to a Roman province after Rome defeated the Achaean League
at the Battle of Corinth in 146 BC, the same year that Rome destroyed
Carthage.
dē Hannibale mentiōne factā: ablative absolute that includes the
prepositional phrase, dē Hannibale.
ex iīs ūnus: partitive, “one of them”, i.e., the lēgātī Prūsiae.
eum: i.e., Hannibal.
(2) senātuī: dative with the compound verb, dētulit, “he communicated”.
patrēs cōnscrīptī: “enrolled fathers”, the standard appellation for Roman
senators.
quī...existimārent: relative clause of characteristic indicating cause (AG
§535e), “because they judged…”.
Hannibale vīvō: ablative absolute; since Latin lacks the present or perfect
participle of esse, an ablative absolute can contain a noun and adjective or
two nouns in the ablative (AG §419a).

118 Cornelius Nepos, Life of Hannibal

in iīs Flāminīnum: “Flamininus (was included) among these” (i.e., the
Roman legates).
quī ab rēge peterent: relative clause of purpose, “in order to ask…”.
inimīcissimum: “greatest enemy”; object of both habēret and dēderet.
suum and sibi: indirect reflexives (AG §300.2) because they refer to the
words or thoughts of those making the demand (lēgātī). sēcum: a direct
reflexive referring to Prusias, the subject of its own clause (AG §300.1). Both
uses of the reflexive are standard; the situation—who has Hannibal and to
whom he must be given—prevents confusion.
sibique dēderet: ut is not necessary because ‒que continues the indirect
command introduced by nē; the singular subject of habēret and dēderet must
be Prusias (ab rēge).
(3) negāre: “to give a negative answer”, with a dative, hīs [lēgātīs].
illud: emphatic; it agrees with the substantive purpose clause that follows,
nē id ā sē fierī postulārent (AG §563, sometimes called a jussive noun clause);
postulārent usually expects a substantive purpose clause but Nepos uses the
accusative + infinitive to avoid a confusing ut immediately after nē.
ā sē: indirect reflexive, see note above on suum and sibi.
quod: relative pronoun; its antecedent is id.
adversus iūs hospitiī: for the Romans, hospitality (hospitium) or the proper
treatment of guests (hospitēs) was among the stongest bonds between
individuals. Romans considered a violation of hospitium to be a great
impiety and the protection due a guest was often deemed greater than that
due blood relatives. Prusias, therefore, in appealing to the iūs hospitiī, is
not merely citing etiquette, but evoking one of the most fundamental and
universally recognized social conventions of the ancient world. Compare
the biblical story of Lot, who offered his virgin daughters to a drunken
crowd that was demanding two guests whom Lot had just met.
ipsī: i.e., the lēgātī Rōmānī.
ubi esset: subject is Hannibal.



Notes 119

inventūrōs [esse]: depends on an implied verb of saying (e.g., Prusias dīxit;
10.5, 10.6).
ūnō locō: when the ablative of place appears with an adjective, the
preposition (in) is often omitted; compare in Italiā, but tōtā Italiā.
mūnerī: dative of purpose, used to show what a thing accomplishes, “as a
gift”; often with a dative of the person affected, eī (AG §382).
idque sīc aedificā(ve)rat, ut...exitūs habēret: result clause signaled by sīc;
exitūs is accusative plural.
nē ūsū venīret, quod accidit: fear clause dependent on verēns. ūsū
venīret: idiom, “it happens, occurs”, especially common in Nepos and his
contemporary Cicero. quod accidit: the relative clause serves as subject of
venīret.

13. Hannibal Surrounded. Drawing by Joelle Cicak, CC BY.

120 Cornelius Nepos, Life of Hannibal

(4) puer: often used for “slave” without reference to age.
plūrēs praeter cōnsuētūdinem armātōs: Nepos embeds a prepositional
phrase, praeter cōnsuētūdinem (“more than was usual”), within the noun‒
adjective phrase that it modifies.
quī imperāvit eī: introducing the substantive clause of purpose, ut...
circumīret ac properē sibi nuntiāret (AG §563). quī: connective relative; its
antecedent must be Hannibal (a slave would not be giving orders to the
general). eī: i.e., the slave; dative with imperāvit.
num...obsidērētur: in indirect questions, num does not expect a negative
answer, as it does in direct questions.
eōdem modō: ablative of manner.
(5) puer: the subject of the circumstantial cum clause (cum...renūntiāsset...
que...ostendisset) is shifted before the subordinating conjunction.
omnīsque: ‒īs is a common alternative spelling of the accusative plural
of i‒stem nouns (AG §77) and adjectives (AG §115‒121). sēnsit: subject is
Hannibal; introduces three indirect statements:
a) id nōn…factum [esse],
b) sed sē petī,
c) neque…vītam esse retinendam.
fortuītō: adverb, “by chance”.
sē: reflexive, referring to Hannibal.
sibi: dative of agent with the periphrastic, esse retinendam.
quam nē aliēnō arbitriō dīmitteret: negative purpose clause. quam:
connective relative; its antecedent is vītam. aliēnō arbitriō: “by another’s
will”.
memor: “mindful of” + objective genitive, prīstinārum virtūtum (AG
§347‒348).
venēnum: the Roman satirist Juvenal records that Hannibal kept the
poison in a ring (Satire 10.164: “but a little ring was the redeemer of Cannae
and avenger of so much blood”, sed ille Cannārum vindex ac tantī sanguinis
ultor, anulus). According to other accounts, Hannibal had a slave strangle



Notes 121

him with his military cloak, or he drank bull’s blood, which was thought
to congeal so quickly that it would suffocate the drinker (Plutarch, Life of
Flamininus 20). His great rival, Scipio Africanus, may have died in the same
year.
cōnsuē(ve)rat: syncopated perfect (AG §181).

Chapter 13
The year of Hannibal’s death is disputed (1). Nepos discusses his sources (2‒3).
The conclusion of the Life and the announcement of Nepos’ next project (4).
(1) perfūnctus: > perfungor + ablative, multīs variīsque labōribus.
annō acquiēvit septuāgēsimō: Hannibal was actually in his sixties. Like
most traditional cultures, Romans routinely used round numbers even
when a specific number might be discovered.
quibus cōnsulibus interierit: indirect question with nōn convēnit, “it is not
agreed under which consuls…”; the three dates given are 183, 182, and 181
BC.
M. Claudiō Marcellō Q. Fabiō Labeōne cōnsulibus: i.e., in 183 BC, the
date given by Atticus (the historian and friend of Cicero) in his now‒lost
Liber annalis (in Annālī suō). This is the most likely date.
scrīptum relīquit: “left it written” → “wrote”. For the periphrasis, see note
on 8.2.
Sulpicius Blithō: a contemporary of Nepos; Blitho, whose account is lost,
gave 182 BC as the date of Hannibal’s death.
Polybius: the famed Greek historian (ca. 200‒118 BC) gives the consuls of
181 BC.
(2) hic tantus: in this combination, favored by Roman authors, tantus is
equivalent to magnus or another honorific.
temporis: partitive genitive with nōn nihil, “not no time” → “some time”.
litterīs: dative of purpose; i.e., “literature” or “literary studies”.
sunt: “there are” → “there survive”.

122 Cornelius Nepos, Life of Hannibal

in iīs: i.e., “among them”.
ad Rhodiōs dē...gestīs: this is a title: “(Address) to the Rhodians…” They
had joined Gnaeus Manilius Volso on campaign (rēbus gestīs) against the
Galatians of Asia Minor (in Asiā) in 189 BC. The work does not survive.
(3) huius: i.e., Hannibal; huius does not agree with bellī, but instead limits
the phrase bellī gesta.
bellī gesta: “the deeds of war”, in contrast to literature, a pursuit of peace.
multī: subject of prōdidērunt.
memoriae: dative with prōdidērunt, “transmit (accusative, gesta) to (dative,
memoriae)” → ”commemorate, put forth in writing”.
quam diū fortūna passa est: “for as long as fortune allowed”.

Sīlēnus et Sōsylus Lacedaemonius: precious little survives of the works
by these authors, who were essential sources for subsequent historians,
including Polybius and Livy. The history by Silenus, an ethnic Greek
from Cale Acte in Sicily, was respected by Polybius and widely cited by
Roman authors, including Cicero, who called his history “a thoroughly
reliable authority on Hannibal’s life and achievements” (De divinatione
1.49). Sosylus the Spartan accompanied Hannibal on his campaign and
composed a Hannibalica, a history of the Second Punic War in seven books.
Polybius condemned it as “the common gossip of a barber’s shop” (3.20.5).
hōc Sōsylō: in apposition with doctōre.
litterārum Graecārum: objective genitive limiting doctōre, “teacher of Greek
literature”.
ūsus est: governs an ablative of means, doctōre (AG §410).
(4) nōs: i.e., Nepos; accusative subject of the indirect statement introduced
by tempus est.
quō facilius...possit iūdicārī: relative clause of purpose, “by which…” (AG
§531), on which the indirect question, quī virī praeferendī sint, depends.
collātīs utrōrumque factīs: ablative absolute. utrōrumque: “of both”, i.e.,
“of the foreign and the Roman generals”. Nepos’ biographies of Roman
generals are lost.

Full Vocabulary for Nepos’
Life of Hannibal and Prologus to the
Lives of Outstanding Commanders
1

—A—
ā ab abs: from, by (+abl.) (18)
abiciō ‒icere ‒iēcī ‒iectus: throw down, toss (1)
absēns absentis: absent (3)
absum abesse āfuī: be away, absent (1)
ac: and, and besides, than (6)
accēdō ‒cēdere ‒cessī ‒cessum: approach (1)
accidō ‒cidere ‒cidī: happen; fall (3)
accipiō ‒cipere ‒cēpī ‒ceptum: receive (2)
ācer ācris ācre: sharp, piercing (2)
aciēs aciēī f.: edge; line of battle (3)
acquiēscō ‒quiēscere ‒quiēvī ‒quiētum: die, repose in death (1)

1 
Nota bene: the frequency of each word in the Life of Hannibal appears in parentheses.
Chapter and other vocabulary lists available at the Dickinson Classics website, http://dcc.
dickinson.edu/nepos-hannibal/vocabulary-texts-and-maps; customizable vocablulary
lists can be made at http://bridge.haverford.edu
© Bret Mulligan, CC BY 4.0

http://dx.doi.org/10.11647/OBP.0068.08

124 Cornelius Nepos, Life of Hannibal

ad: to, towards, at (+acc.) (18)
addūcō ‒dūcere ‒dūxī ‒ductum: lead to, induce (2)
adeō ‒īre ‒iī ‒itum: go to (1)
adeō: to such a degree, so (1)
adhibeō ‒hibēre ‒hibuī ‒hibitus: apply
afficiō ‒ficere ‒fēcī ‒fectum: affect, visit with (+abl.) (1)
adiungō ‒iungere ‒iūnxī ‒iūnctum: add, connect, join to (2)
admīror ‒mīrārī ‒mīrātus sum: wonder (at), be surprised
adorior ‒orīrī ‒ortus sum: assault, approach (as an enemy) (1)
adulēscentulus ‒ī m.: young man, youth
adversārius ‒a ‒um: opposite, hostile, contrary (4)
adversus: facing, opposite, against, opposed (to) (+acc.) (6)
aedēs aedis f.: building; house (in pl.)
aedificium ‒ī n.: building (2)
aedificō ‒āre: build, erect (1)
Aemilius ‒ī m.: Aemilius (2)
aēneus ‒a ‒um: made of copper or bronze (1)
aequus ‒a ‒um: equal (1)
aerārius ‒a ‒um: of or belonging to copper or bronze; treasury (pl.) (1)
aetās aetātis f.: age, time of life (2)
afficiō ‒ficere ‒fēcī ‒fectum: affect, visit with (+abl.) (1)
Āfrica ‒ae f.: Africa (3)
ager agrī m.: field (1)
agō agere ēgī āctum: drive, do, act (3)
aliēnus ‒a ‒um: foreign, strange (2)
aliquis ‒quae ‒quod: some, any; si quis, si quid: anyone who, anything
that (1)
aliquot: several, some (3)



Full Vocabulary 125

aliter: otherwise, differently
alius alia aliud: other, another (5)
Alpēs Alpium f.: Alps (1)
Alpicus ‒ī m.: inhabitant of the Alps (1)
alter altera alterum: other of two (1)
amātor amātōris m.: lover, friend
amīcitia ‒ae f.: friendship, alliance (1)
amīcus ‒a ‒um: friendly (2)
amphora ‒ae f.: amphora (large, two‒handled jar) (1)
amplus ‒a ‒um: large, spacious (1)
angustus ‒a ‒um: narrow, confined (1)
anima ‒ae f.: breath, spirit (1)
animus ‒ī m.: spirit, mind (2)
annālis annālis m.: record of events, chronicle (1)
annus ‒ī m.: year (7)
annuus ‒a ‒um: for a year, annual (1)
ante: before, in front of (adv. and prep. +acc.) (1)
anteā: before, earlier, already (2)
antecēdō ‒cēdere ‒cessī ‒cessum: go before, precede, excel (1)
Antiochus ‒ī m.: Antiochus (III, the Great, king of Syria) (6)
appāreō ‒pārēre ‒pāruī: appear, become visible (1)
apparō ‒āre: prepare (1)
appellō ‒āre: call, address, name (1)
Appennīnus ‒ī m.: Apennines (mountain range running the length of the
Italian peninsula) (1)
apud: near, in the presence of (+acc.) (13)
Āpulia ‒ae f.: Apulia (region in southeastern Italy) (1)
āra ‒ae f.: altar (1)

126 Cornelius Nepos, Life of Hannibal

arbitrium ‒ī n.: decision, judgment, authority (1)
arbitror arbitrārī arbitrātus sum: consider, think (1)
argentum ‒ī n.: silver, money (1)
arma ‒ōrum n. pl.: arms, weapons, armor, tools (3)
armō ‒āre: arm, equip with weapons (2)
ascendō ‒scendere ‒scendī ‒scēnsum: climb up, ascend (1)
Āsia ‒ae f.: Asia (3)
at: but, but yet (3)
Athēniēnsis Athēniēnsis m.: Athenian
atque: and in addition, and also, and (7)
Atticus ‒ī m.: Atticus (1)
audeō audēre ausus sum: dare, be eager (2)
Aurēlius ‒ī m.: Aurelius (1)
aureus ‒a ‒um: golden; splendid (1)
aurum ‒ī n.: gold (1)
aut: or (2)
autem: moreover, but, however (6)
avāritia ‒ae f.: greed, rapacity (1)

—B—
Baebius ‒ī m.: Baebius (2)
bellicōsus ‒a ‒um: warlike, fierce (1)
bellō ‒āre: wage war, fight, contend (2)
bellum ‒ī n.: war (12)
bene: well (1)
bīduum ‒ī n.: two day period (1)
bīnī ‒ae ‒a: in pairs (1)
Bīthӯnia ‒ae f.: Bithynia (a kingdom in northern Asia Minor) (1)



Full Vocabulary 127

Bīthӯnius ‒ī m.: inhabitant of Bithynia (1)
Blithō Blithōnis m.: Blitho (1)
bonus ‒a ‒um: goods, property (1)

—C—
cādūceus ‒ī m.: herald’s staff (1)
callidus ‒a ‒um: clever, cunning, shrewd (2)
campus ‒ī m.: plain, field (1)
Cannēnsis Cannēnse: of Cannae (town in southeastern Italy) (1)
cantō ‒āre: play (an instrument), sing
capiō capere cēpī captum: seize (2)
captīvus ‒ī m.: captive (2)
Capua ‒ae f.: Capua (city southeast of Rome) (1)
castellum ‒ī n.: fort, fortress (1)
castrum ‒ī n.: fortress, camp (regularly plural) (5)
cāsus cāsūs m.: a fall; chance, accident (1)
causa ‒ae f.: cause, reason; causā: (+ preceding gen.) for the sake of (1)
celēbritās celēbritātis f.: crowd, company, society
celer celeris celere: swift; adv. celeriter (1)
cēlō ‒āre: hide, conceal (1)
cēna ‒ae f.: dinner, supper
cēnō ‒āre: dine (1)
Centēnius ‒ī m.: Centenius (1)
cēterus ‒a ‒um: the others, the rest (6)
Cethēgus ‒ī m.: Cethegus (1)
Cīmōn Cīmōnis m.: Cimon
circiter: near, not far from (1)
circumdō ‒dare ‒dedī ‒datum: surround, encircle (1)

128 Cornelius Nepos, Life of Hannibal

circumeō ‒īre ‒iī/‒īvī ‒itum: surround (1)
circumveniō ‒venīre ‒vēnī ‒ventum: surround, encircle (1)
citō ‒āre: announce, call on
cīvis civis m./f.: citizen (1)
cīvitās cīvitātis f.: citizenship, state (1)
clam: secretly (1)
clandestīnus ‒a ‒um: secret, hidden, concealed (1)
classiārius ‒ī m.: mariner; (pl.) naval forces, marines (1)
classis classis f.: class, division, fleet (3)
Clastidium ‒ī n.: Clastidium (town in northern Italy) (1)
Claudius ‒ī m.: Claudius (3)
claudō claudere clausī clausum: close, shut (1)
coepī coepisse coeptus: begin (2)
cōgitō ‒āre: think, reflect (1)
cognātiō cognātiōnis f.: kinship, blood‒relationship
cōgnōscō ‒gnōscere ‒gnōvī ‒gnitum: learn, understand (1)
cohortātiō cohortātiōnis f.: exhortation (1)
collēga ‒ae m.: colleague (1)
colligō ‒ere ‒lēgī ‒lēctum: gather together, collect (2)
colloquium ‒ī n.: conversation (1)
commemorō ‒āre: recall, mention (1)
committō ‒mittere ‒mīsī ‒missum: join, entrust to (+dat.); perform, do (1)
commodus ‒a ‒um: proper, elegant
comparō ‒āre: get ready, provide; compare (1)
comperiō ‒perīre ‒perī ‒pertum: find out, learn, know (1)
compleō ‒plēre ‒plēvī ‒plētum: fill up (2)
complūrēs complūrium: several (1)



Full Vocabulary 129

compōnō ‒pōnere pōsuī pōsitum: build, construct, arrange (2)
comprehendō ‒prehendere ‒prehendī ‒prehensum: seize, apprehend (2)
comprobō ‒āre: approve fully, endorse (1)
concīdō ‒cīdere ‒cīdī ‒cīsum: cut to pieces, beat severely, destroy (1)
conciliō ‒āre: unite, win over (1)
concitō ‒āre: rouse, excite (1)
concurrō ‒currere ‒currī ‒cursum: join battle with (1)
concursus concursūs m.: meeting, collision, encounter (1)
condīciō condīciōnis f.: agreement, condition (1)
condūcō ‒dūcere ‒dūxī ‒ductus: hire, employ
cōnferō cōnferre contulī collātum: collect, bring to (2)
cōnficiō ‒ficere ‒fēcī ‒fectum: complete, accomplish; destroy, kill,
consume (2)
conflīgō ‒flīgere ‒flīxī ‒flīctum: clash, fight (4)
congredior ‒gredī ‒gressus sum: come together, meet, join battle (2)
coniciō ‒icere ‒iēcī ‒iectum: cast, fling, toss (2)
coniūnctus ‒a ‒um: connected, related
conlocō ‒āre: place, station, set up (1)
cōnor cōnārī cōnātus sum: try, undertake, attempt (3)
cōnscrībō ‒scrībere ‒scrīpsī ‒scrīptum: enlist; patrēs cōnscrīptī: senators (1)
cōnsequor ‒sequī ‒secūtus sum: follow up, overtake, attain (3)
cōnserō ‒serere ‒seruī ‒sertum: engage (in close combat), join (battle) (1)
cōnservō ‒āre: retain, maintain, preserve (3)
cōnsīderō ‒āre: consider (1)
cōnsilium ‒ī n.: plan; council, group of advisors (5)
cōnspiciō ‒spicere ‒spexī ‒spectus: catch sight of, perceive (1)
cōnstituō ‒stituere ‒stituī ‒stitūtum: establish, put together (1)

130 Cornelius Nepos, Life of Hannibal

cōnsuēscō ‒suēscere ‒suēvī ‒suētum: be accustomed (1)
cōnsuētūdo cōnsuētūdinis f.: custom, habit (1)
cōnsul cōnsulis m.: consul (13)
cōnsulāris cōnsulāre: consular, of consular rank (2)
cōnsultum ‒ī n.: decree, resolution (1)
contrā: against, opposite (adv. and prep. +acc.)
contrahō ‒trahere ‒trāxī ‒tractum: draw together, assemble, muster (1)
conveniō ‒venīre ‒vēnī ‒ventum: assemble, meet; agree (3)
convīvium ‒ī n.: banquet, feast
convocō ‒āre: call together, assemble (1)
cōpia ‒ae f.: abundance; (pl.) troops (2)
Cornēlius ‒ī m.: Cornelius (3)
cornū cornūs n.: horn (2)
corōna ‒ae f.: crown (1)
corrumpō ‒rumpere ‒rūpī ‒ruptum: break up, destroy, ruin (1)
crēdō crēdere crēdidī crēditum: believe (1)
creō ‒āre: produce, create; elect, choose (1)
Crēta ‒ae f.: Crete (1)
Crētēnsis Crētēnse: Cretan (2)
cum: with (prep. +abl.); when, since, although (conj. +subj.) (48)
cūnctus ‒a ‒um: entire, all together (1)
cupiditās cupiditātis f.: longing, desire, passion (1)
cupiō cupere cupīvī cupītum: desire (2)
cūra ‒ae f.: care, concern (1)
custōdiō custōdīre custōdīvī custōdītus: guard (1)
Cӯrēnaeus ‒ī m.: inhabitant of Cyrene (a city in north Africa) (1)



Full Vocabulary 131

—D—
dē: down from, about, concerning (+abl.) (10)
dēbeō dēbēre dēbuī dēbitum: owe, be obliged (1)
dēbilitō ‒āre: weaken, impair (1)
dēcernō ‒cernere ‒crēvī ‒crētum: determine, decide (2)
dēclārō ‒āre: indicate, reveal (1)
decōrus ‒a ‒um: proper, suitable
dēdō ‒dere ‒didī ‒ditum: hand over, deliver (2)
dēdūcō ‒dūcere ‒dūxī ‒ductum: launch, lead away (2)
dēfendō ‒fendere ‒fendī ‒fēnsum: defend, ward off (2)
dēferō ‒ferre ‒tulī ‒lātum: carry away, report (3)
deinde or dein: then, next (1)
dēligō ‒ligere ‒lēgī ‒lēctum: choose, select (1)
dēpōnō ‒pōnere ‒posuī ‒positum: lay down, put down (2)
dēserō ‒serere ‒seruī ‒sertum: leave, desert, abandon (1)
dēsistō ‒sistere ‒stitī ‒stitus: cease (from), leave off, abandon (+infin.) (1)
dēspērō ‒āre: be hopeless, give up (1)
dētrīmentum ‒ī n.: harm, loss (1)
dēvincō ‒vincere ‒vīcī ‒vīctum: conquer, overcome (1)
dexter dextra dextrum: right; dextera ‒ae f.: right hand (1)
Diāna ‒ae f.: Diana, a Roman goddess (1)
dīcō dīcere dīxī dictum: say; causam dīcere: plead a case; diem dīcere:
appoint a day (5)
dictātor dictātōris m.: dictator (2)
diēs diēī m./f.: day (7)
dīgnus ‒a ‒um: worthy

132 Cornelius Nepos, Life of Hannibal

dīligentia ‒ae f.: care, diligence (1)
dīligō ‒ligere ‒lēxī ‒lēctum: choose, cherish, love (1)
dīmicō ‒āre ‒āvī/uī ‒ātus: fight (1)
dīmittō ‒mittere ‒mīsī ‒missum: send away (3)
discēdō ‒cēdere ‒cessī ‒cessum: go away, depart (1)
discō discere didicī: learn
disiciō ‒icere ‒iēcī ‒iectum: destroy, scatter (1)
dispālor ‒pālārī ‒pālātus sum: to wander around, straggle (1)
dissideō ‒sidēre ‒sēdī ‒sessum: disagree, quarrel (1)
distringō ‒stringere ‒strinxī ‒strictum: distract, be busy (1)
diū: for a long time (2)
dīvīnus ‒a ‒um: divine (1)
dō dare dedī datum: give (9)
doceō docēre docuī doctum: teach
doctor doctōris m.: teacher, instructor (1)
dolus ‒ī m.: artifice, device, trick (2)
domesticus ‒a ‒um: personal, private, domestic (1)
domus ‒ī m.: house, home (6)
dōnō ‒āre: present with a gift (+acc. of person and abl. of thing) (1)
dubitō ‒āre: hesitate, doubt (4)
dubius ‒a ‒um: doubtful; sine dubiō: without a doubt, certainly (2)
dūcō dūcere: dūxī ductum: lead; uxōrem dūcere: marry (4)
dum: while (+indic.); until (+subj.); provided that (+subj.) (2)
duo duae duo: two (4)
duplex duplicis: double (1)
dux ducis m./f.: leader, general (1)



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—E—
efficiō ‒ficere ‒fēcī ‒fectum: bring about, complete; render (+ut + subj.) (3)
effugiō ‒fugere ‒fūgī ‒fugitum: escape (1)
ego meī mihi mē mē: I, me, we, us (9)
ēgredior ‒gredī ‒gressus sum: stride out, depart, disembark from (+abl.) (2)
elephantus ‒ī m.: elephant (1)
enim: for, indeed (4)
ēnumerō ‒āre: enumerate, recount (1)
eō īre iī/īvī itum: go (1)
Epamīnōndās ‒ae m.: Epaminondas
epistula ‒ae f.: letter (2)
eques equitis m.: horseman, knight (1)
equitātus equitātūs m.: cavalry (1)
ergā: towards, in relation to (+acc.) (2)
error errōris m.: wandering; error, mistake (1)
et: and (15)
etiam: also, even (4)
Etrūria ‒ae f.: Etruria (region in Italy, northwest of Rome) (1)
etsī: although (2)
Eumenēs Eumenis m.: Eumenes (II, king of Pergamum in Asia Minor) (7)
ex ē: out of, from (+abl.) (10)
excēdō ‒cēdere ‒cessī ‒cessum: leave, withdraw (1)
excellēns excellentis: distinguished, excellent
exciō ‒īre ‒īvī ‒itum: dispatch, call, incite (1)
exeō ‒īre ‒iī ‒itum: go forth (1)
exerceō ‒ercēre ‒ercuī ‒ercitum: train, exercise, carry on (1)

134 Cornelius Nepos, Life of Hannibal

exercitus exercitūs m.: army (10)
exhauriō ‒haurīre ‒hausī ‒haustum: exhaust, deplete (1)
exīstimō ‒āre: think, believe (1)
exitus exitūs m.: exit (2)
exōrdior ‒ōrdīrī ‒ōrsus sum: begin, commence
expediō ‒pedīre ‒pedīvī ‒pedītum: extricate, set free (1)
expers expertis: lacking of, without (+gen.)
explicō ‒āre: unfold, explain (1)
explōrō ‒āre: investigate, inquire, put to the test (1)
explicō ‒āre: unfold, explain
expōnō ‒pōnere ‒posuī ‒positum: set forth, explain
exposcō ‒poscere ‒poposcī: demand (1)
expugnō ‒āre: take by assault, storm (1)
exsul exsulis m./f.: exile (1)
extrā: outside (+acc.) (1)

—F—
Fabius ‒ī m.: Fabius (3)
facilis facile: easy (4)
faciō facere fēcī factum: do, make (20)
facultās facultātis f.: willingness, readiness (1)
Falernus ‒ī m.: Falernus (region in Campania, south of Rome) (1)
fāma ‒ae f.: rumor, fame (1)
familia ‒ae f.: household, family
ferē: almost
ferō ferre tulī lātum: bear, carry, endure (1)
festīnātiō festīnātiōnis f.: haste, speed, hurry



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fīctilis fīctile: made of clay, earthen (2)
fidēs fideī f.: trust, faith (3)
fīdūcia ‒ae f.: trust, confidence (1)
fīlius fīliī m.: son (2)
fīnis fīnis m.: end, boundary (2)
fīō fierī factus sum: happen, be done, become (2)
Flāminīnus ‒ī m.: Flamininus (3)
Flāminius ‒ī m.: Flaminius (1)
foederō ‒āre: make an alliance or treaty (1)
foedus foederis n.: treaty (1)
fore: futūrum esse; forem, forēs, foret, forent = essem, essēs, esset, essent:
be, exist, live (5)
foris foris f.: door (1)
forte: by chance (1)
fortis forte: brave (1)
fortitūdō fortitūdinis f.: strength, force, manliness (1)
fortuītō: by chance (1)
fortūna ‒ae f.: fortune (2)
frāter frātris m.: brother (4)
Fregellae ‒ārum f.: Fregellae (town in Latium, near Rome) (1)
frūstrā: in vain, to no end (1)
frūstror frūstrārī frūstrātus sum: disappoint, frustrate (1)
fuga ‒ae f.: flight, route (3)
fugō ‒āre: put to flight (5)
fundāmentum ‒ī n.: foundation (1)
Fūrius ‒ī m.: Furius (1)
futūrum esse; forem, forēs, foret, forent = essem, essēs, esset, essent: be,
exist, live (6)

136 Cornelius Nepos, Life of Hannibal

—G—
Gāius ‒ī m.: Gaius (4)
Gallia ‒ae f.: Gaul (1)
Geminus ‒ī m.: Geminus (1)
gēns gentis f.: family, clan (2)
genus generis n.: origin, lineage, kind (1)
germānus ‒a ‒um: (of a sibling) with the same father
gerō gerere gessī gestum: bear, manage; bellum gerere: wage war (8)
Gnaeus ‒ī m.: Gnaeus (3)
Gortӯnius ‒ī m.: inhabitant of Gortyn (a city in Crete) (2)
Gracchus ‒ī: Gracchus (1)
Graecus ‒a ‒um: Greek (2)
Grāius ‒a ‒um: Greek, Grecian (2)
grātia ‒ae f.: favor, influence, gratitude (1)
grātus ‒a ‒um: pleasant; grateful (2)
gravis grave: heavy, serious (1)
gynaecōnītis gynaecōnītidis f.: women’s apartments

—H—
habeō habēre habuī habitum: have, hold (6)
Hadrūmētum ‒ī n.: Hadrumetum (city in north Africa, near Carthage) (2)
Hamilcar Hamilcaris m.: Hamilcar Barca (Carthaginian general and father
of Hannibal) (2)
Hannibal Hannibalis m.: Hannibal (21)
Hasdrubal Hasdrubalis m.: Hasdrubal (brother‒in‒law of Hannibal) (2)
Hercules Herculis m.: Hercules (1)
hērēditās hērēditātis f.: inheritance (1)
hic haec hoc: this, these (35)



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hīc: here (1)
Hispānia ‒ae f.: Spain (4)
hodiē: today (1)
homō hominis m.: human being (1)
honestās honestātis f.: respectfulness, honor, integrity
honestus ‒a ‒um: worthy; decent; honorable
hospitium ‒ī n.: hospitality (1)
hostia ‒ae f.: victim, sacrifice (1)
hostis hostis m./f.: stranger, foreigner, enemy (1)
hūc: to this place (3)
humilis humile: low, base

—I—
iaciō iacere iēcī iactum: throw, hurl (1)
iam: now; already (2)
iānua ‒ae f.: door (1)
ibi: there (4)
īdem eadem idem: the same (8)
igitur: therefore (1)
ille illa illud: that (7)
illūdō ‒lūdere ‒lūsī ‒lūsum: deceive, mock, trick (1)
immittō ‒mittere ‒mīsī ‒missum: send in (1)
immolō ‒āre: sacrifice, offer as sacrifice (1)
imperātor imperātōris m.: commander (6)
imperium ‒ī n.: command, power (4)
imperō ‒āre: command, control (2)
impraesentiārum: at present (1)
imprūdēns imprūdentis: unaware, lacking foresight, imprudent (1)

138 Cornelius Nepos, Life of Hannibal

in: (+acc.) to, into (+abl.) at, in, on (62)
incendō ‒cendere ‒cendī ‒censum: inflame, set fire to (2)
incola ‒ae m./f.: inhabitant (1)
incrēdibilis incrēdibile: unbelievable, incredible (1)
inde: from there, from then (2)
indigeō ‒digēre ‒diguī: be in need of, require (+gen.) (1)
indūcō ‒dūcere ‒dūxī ‒ductum: lead in, entice (3)
ineō ‒īre ‒iī ‒itum: go into, begin, undertake (1)
inermis inerme: unarmed (1)
īnfāmis īnfāme: dishonorable, disgraceful
īnferō īnferre intulī illātum: bring in, introduce, bring to, carry in (1)
īnfitior ‒fitiārī ‒fitiātus sum: deny, contradict (1)
iniciō ‒icere ‒iēcī ‒iectum: inspire, cause, put in (1)
inimīcus ‒a ‒um: unfriendly (2)
initium ‒ī n.: beginning (1)
inquam, inquis, inquit, inquiunt: say (used with direct speech) (2)
īnsciēns īnscientis: ignorant, unaware (1)
īnsidiae ‒ārum f.: ambush (3)
īnsidior ‒ārī ‒ātus sum: ambush, lay a trap (+dat.) (1)
īnstituō ‒stituere ‒stituī ‒stitūtum: undertake; equip (2)
īnstitūtum ‒ī n.: practice, custom
intellegō ‒legere ‒lēxī ‒lēctum: understand (2)
inter: between, among; during (+acc.) (1)
intereō ‒īre ‒iī ‒itum: perish, die (1)
interficiō ‒ficere ‒fēcī ‒fectum: kill (5)
interior interius: inner, more inward (1)
interitus interitūs m.: ruin, destruction (1)
intrā: within (+acc.) (1)



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inveniō ‒venīre ‒vēnī ‒ventum: find; discover (1)
invictus ‒a ‒um: undefeated (1)
invidia ‒ae f.: envy, jealousy, hatred (1)
ipse ‒a ‒um: him‒ her‒ itself (9)
irrīdeō ‒rīdēre ‒rīsī ‒rīsum: mock, make fun of (1)
is ea id: he, she, it (69)
ita: thus, so (2)
Italia ‒ae f.: Italy (8)
itaque: and so, therefore (1)
item: likewise (1)
iter itineris n.: journey, route (3)
iterum: again (2)
iubeō iubēre iussī iussum: bid, order (2)
iūdicō ‒āre: judge, decide (2)
Iuppiter Iovis m.: Jupiter (1)
iūrō ‒āre: take an oath, swear; iūs iūrandum: oath (1)
iūs iūris n.: right, justice, law (1)
iūs iūrandum n.: oath (1)
iuvencus ‒ī m.: bull (1)

—K—
Karthāginiēnsis Karthāginiēnsis: Carthaginian (5)
Karthāgō Karthāginis f.: Carthage (4)

—L—
Labeō Labeōnis m.: Labeo (1)
labor labōris m.: toil, exertion (1)
Lacedaemōn Lacedaemonis f.: Sparta

140 Cornelius Nepos, Life of Hannibal

Lacedaemonius ‒a ‒um: Spartan, Lacedaemonian (1)
laus laudis f.: praise, glory
lectīca ‒ae f.: litter (1)
lēgātus ‒ī m.: lieutenant, envoy (6)
legō legere lēgī lēctus: gather; choose; read
levis leve: light, trivial
libēns libentis: gladly, happily, willing (1)
liber ‒ī m.: book (2)
Ligurēs Ligurum m.: Ligurians (a people in the north‒west coast of Italy) (1)
littera ‒ae f.: letter; (pl.) literature (2)
lītus lītoris n.: shore (1)
locus ‒ī m.: place; loca: (n. pl.) region (6)
longus ‒ī m.: Longus (1)
Longus ‒a ‒um: long, prolonged (1)
Lūcānī ‒ōrum m.: Lucanians, the region of Lucania in southern Italy (6)
Lucius ‒ī m.: Lucius (4)

—M—
magis: more, in a higher degree (1)
magister magistrī m.: master, chief (1)
magistrātus magistrātūs m.: magistrate (2)
magnitūdō magnitūdinis f.: greatness, bulk
magnus ‒a ‒um: great (6)
Māgo Māgōnis m.: Mago (brother of Hannibal) (5)
maiōrēs maiōrum m.: ancestors
Manlius ‒ī m.: Manlius (1)
manus manūs f.: hand; band of men (2)
Marcellus ‒ī m.: Marcellus (2)



Full Vocabulary 141

Marcus ‒ī m.: Marcus (6)
mare maris n.: sea (3)
māter mātris f.: mother
mātrimōnium ‒ī n.: marriage, matrimony
Māximus ‒ī m.: Maximus (1)
memor memoris: mindful (+gen.) (1)
memoria ‒ae f.: recollection, memory (2)
mēns mentis f.: mind, heart (1)
mentiō mentiōnis f.: mention (2)
mercēs mercēdis f.: pay, wages
meus ‒a ‒um: my (1)
mīles mīlitis m.: soldier (1)
mīlle mīlia: thousand (1)
Minucius ‒ī m.: Minucius (2)
mīror mīrārī mīrātus sum: wonder at, marvel at (+acc.) (1)
mittō mittere mīsī missum: send, let go (5)
modus ‒ī m.: measure, manner, kind (2)
mōns montis m.: mountain (1)
morbus ‒ī m.: sickness, disease (1)
moror morārī morātus sum: delay (1)
mortuus ‒a ‒um: dead (1)
mōs mōris m.: custom, habit; character (in pl.)
multitūdō ‒inis f.: multitude, number (6)
multus ‒a ‒um: much, many; multō, by far (8)
mūniō mūnīre mūnīvī mūnītum: build (1)
mūnus mūneris n.: gift, offering; duty, obligation; (pl.) gladiatorial show (2)
mūsica ‒ae f.: music

142 Cornelius Nepos, Life of Hannibal

—N—
nam or namque: for, indeed, really (7)
nāscor nāscī nātus sum: be born (2)
nātiō nātiōnis f.: people, nation, race (2)
naufragium ‒ī n.: shipwreck (1)
nauticus ‒a ‒um: naval (1)
nāvālis nāvāle: naval (1)
nāvis nāvis f.: ship (13)
nē: lest, that not (7)
negō ‒āre: deny, refuse (1)
nēmō nēminis: no one (gen. nūllīus, dat. nūllī, abl. nūllō or nūllā) (8)
neque: and not, nor; nec...nec: neither...nor (7)
nihil: nothing; not at all (3)
nisi: if not, unless (5)
nōbilis nōbile: distinguished, noble; a nobleman or woman (as subst.)
noctū: by night (1)
nōmen nōminis n.: name (1)
nōn: not (19)
noster nostra nostrum: our
novem: nine (1)
novus ‒a ‒um: new (3)
nox noctis f.: night (2)
nūllus ‒a ‒um: no one, not any (2)
num: interrogative particle implying negative answer (1)
Numida ‒ae m.: Numidian (a tribe in northern Africa) (1)
numquam: never (4)



Full Vocabulary 143

nunc: now (1)
nūntiō ‒āre: report (1)
ob: against, on account of (+acc.) (1)
obdūcō ‒dūcere ‒dūxī ‒ductum: envelop, overspread (1)

—O—
obiciō ‒icere ‒iēcī ‒iectum: oppose, set against (2)
obitus obitūs m.: death (1)
obses obsidis m./f.: hostages (2)
obsideō ‒sidēre ‒sēdī ‒sessum: besiege (1)
obtrectātiō obtrectātiōnis f.: detraction, disparagement (1)
obviam: against (1)
occīdō ‒cīdere ‒cīdī ‒cīsum: kill, cut down (1)
occupō ‒āre: seize, occupy; anticipate, do a thing first (+infin.) (3)
oculus ‒ī m.: eye (1)
odium ‒ī n.: hatred (2)
Olympia ‒ae f.: Olympia
omittō ‒mittere ‒mīsī ‒missum: neglect, omit (1)
omnis omne: all, every, as a whole (13)
opera ‒ae f.: labor, activity, work (2)
operiō operīre operuī opertum: cover over (1)
oppleō ‒plēre ‒plēvī ‒plētum: fill up (1)
opprimō ‒primere ‒pressī ‒pressum: crush, overpower (2)
ops opis f.: assistance, resources (2)
optimus ‒a ‒um: best, excellent; adv. optimē (1)
ōrnātus ‒a ‒um: equipped, furnished (1)
ostendō ostendere ostendī ostentum: show, hold out (2)

144 Cornelius Nepos, Life of Hannibal

—P—
Padus ‒ī m.: Padus River (major river in northern Italy; modern Po) (2)
palam: openly (2)
Pamphӯlius ‒a ‒um: of Pamphylia (region in southern Asia Minor) (1)
pār paris: equal (5)
pāreō pārēre pāruī: obey (1)
parō ‒āre: make, prepare, provide (1)
pars partis f.: part (1)
partim: partly, in part
parvus ‒a ‒um: small (1)
passus passūs m.: step, pace or five feet (1)
patefaciō ‒facere ‒fēcī ‒factum: lay open (1)
pater patris m.: father, ancestor (4)
paternus ‒a ‒um: fatherly, paternal (1)
patior patī passus sum: permit, endure (1)
patria ‒ae f.: fatherland, country (3)
paucī ‒ae ‒a: few (5)
Paulus ‒ī m.: Paulus (2)
pāx pācis f.: peace (2)
pecūnia ‒ae f.: money (3)
pedester pedestris pedestre: on foot, on land, of infantry (1)
pellō pellere pepulī pulsum: strike, beat, push, drive (4)
pendō pendere pependī pēnsum: weigh, hang, suspend; pay (1)
per: through (+acc.) (1)
perfugiō ‒fugere ‒fūgī: flee (1)
perfungor ‒fungī ‒fūnctus sum: perform, endure (1)
Pergamēnus ‒a ‒um: of Pergamum (a kingdom in Asia Minor) (3)



Full Vocabulary 145

perīculum ‒ī n.: danger (1)
persequor ‒sequī ‒secūtus sum: follow, pursue
persōna ‒ae f.: role, character
persuādeō ‒suādēre ‒suāsī ‒suāsum: persuade (1)
perterreō ‒terrēre ‒terruī ‒territum: terrify (1)
pertineō ‒tinēre ‒tinuī: extend over, reach; refer to, pertain to, be the
business of (1)
perveniō ‒venīre ‒vēnī ‒ventum: arrive, reach (6)
petō petere petīvī petītum: seek, aim at (6)
Philippus ‒ī m.: Philip (V, king of Macedon) (1)
plērusque plēraque plērumque: the greater part, very many, most, the
majority; plērumque: generally
plumbum ‒ī n.: lead (1)
plūrimus ‒a ‒um: the greatest number of, very many; plūrimī: most
people (1)
plūs plūris: a greater amount or number, more (2)
poena ‒ae f.: penalty, punishment (1)
Poenus ‒ī m.: Phoenician, Carthaginian (3)
polliceor ‒licērī ‒licitus sum: promise (1)
Polybius ‒ī m.: Polybius (1)
pōnō pōnere posuī positum: put, place; put aside (2)
Pontus ‒ī m.: Pontus (kingdom in northeastern Asia Minor) (1)
populus ‒ī m.: people (3)
portō ‒āre: carry a load (2)
possum posse potuī: be able (10)
post: after (adv. and prep. +acc.) (6)
posteā: afterwards (3)
posteāquam: after (1)

146 Cornelius Nepos, Life of Hannibal

posterus ‒a ‒um: next, later (1)
postquam: after (3)
postulō ‒āre: ask for, demand, require (2)
potēns potentis: able, powerful (1)
potestās potestātis f.: power (1)
potissimum: first of all, especially, principally (1)
praebeō praebēre praebuī praebitum: furnish, supply, render (1)
praecipiō ‒cipere ‒cēpī ‒ceptum: anticipate, advise, warn (2)
praeferō ‒ferre ‒tulī ‒lātum: prefer (1)
praemium ‒ī n.: bounty, reward (1)
praesēns praesentis: present, in person, ready (1)
praesidium ‒ī n.: garrison, protection (1)
praestō ‒stāre ‒stitī ‒stitum: excel, exhibit (1)
praesum ‒esse ‒fuī: preside or take charge of (+dat.) (3)
praeter: by, along, past; besides, except (+acc.) (2)
praetereā: besides, moreover (1)
praetor praetōris m.: praetor, one of the chief Roman magistrates (2)
praetūra ‒ae f.: praetorship (1)
premō premere pressī pressum: press, pursue, overwhelm (2)
prīmus ‒a ‒um: first; adv. prīmum: at first, firstly (1)
prīnceps prīncipis: first, chief (2)
prior prius: earlier, preceding; prius or priusquam: before (1)
prīstinus ‒a ‒um: former (1)
priusquam: before (2)
prōdeō ‒īre ‒ivī ‒itum: appear in public, exhibit, go/come forward
prōdō ‒dere ‒didī ‒ditum: publish, hand down; give over, betray (2)
prōdūcō ‒dūcere ‒dūxī ‒ductum: lead forth (1)



Full Vocabulary 147

proelium ‒ī n.: battle (6)
proficīscor ‒ficīscī ‒fectus sum: set forth, go (5)
profiteor ‒fitērī ‒fessus sum: declare publicly (1)
proflīgō ‒āre: overwhelm, crush, defeat decisively (1)
profugiō ‒fugere ‒fūgī: flee (1)
prohibeō ‒hibēre ‒hibuī ‒hibitum: restrain, keep away (1)
prōpatulum ‒ī n.: open courtyard (1)
prope: near, next, (comp.) propior, (superl.) proximus; (adv.) prope: nearly,
almost (1)
properē: quickly (1)
propinquus ‒a ‒um: near, neighboring (+dat.) (1)
prōpōnō ‒pōnere ‒posuī ‒positum: put forth, propose, present
propter: because of (+acc.) (2)
prōspiciō ‒spicere ‒spēxī ‒spectum: look out (1)
prōvideō ‒vidēre ‒vīdī ‒vīsum: prepare, make ready (1)
proximus ‒a ‒um: next, nearest (2)
prūdentia ‒ae f.: practical skill, intelligence (2)
Prūsias ‒ae m.: Prusias (king of Bithynia) (4)
pūblicō ‒āre: confiscate (1)
pūblicus ‒a ‒um: public, belonging to the state (1)
Publius ‒ī m.: Publius (4)
pudeō pudēre puduī puditus: be ashamed, make ashamed
puer puerī m.: boy; slave (2)
puerulus ‒ī m.: little boy (1)
pugna ‒ae f.: fist‒fight; battle (3)
pugnō ‒āre: fight (3)
puppis puppis f.: ship, stern (1)

148 Cornelius Nepos, Life of Hannibal

putō ‒āre: think, suppose
Pӯrēnaeus ‒a ‒um: of the Pyrenees (mountain range between Hispania and
Gaul) (1)

—Q—
quaerō quaerere quaesīvī quaesītum: seek, inquire (2)
quam: how? (after comparative) than (6)
quamdiū: as long as (1)
quantus ‒a ‒um: (interr.) how great? (rel.) of what size, amount, etc. (2)
quārē: how? why? (1)
que: and (enclitic) (34)
quī quae quod (rel. pronoun): who, which, what (83)
quī quae quod (interrogative adj): who, which, what (70)
quisquam quicquam/quidquam: any (single) person, anyone at all (1)
quīcumque quaecumque quodcumque: whoever, whatever (1)
quidem: certainly, at least (2)
quīn: indeed, in fact; (conj.) so that...not (+subj.) (2)
Quinctius ‒ī m.: Quinctius (1)
quīnque: five (2)
quīnquiēns: five times (1)
Quintus ‒ī m.: Quintus (3)
quippe: indeed, surely
quis quid: (interrogative adj.) who? what? (4)
quō: for which reason; to or in what place; to what end, for what
purpose? (3)
quod: because (4)
quoque: also, too (4)
quotannīs: every year (1)
quotiēnscumque: how often, as often as (1)



Full Vocabulary 149

—R—
ratiō ratiōnis f.: method, plan, reason (1)
recipiō ‒cipere ‒cēpī ‒ceptum: take back, receive; sē recipere: betake
oneself, go (2)
rēctus ‒a ‒um: straight, direct
recūsō ‒āre: protest (1)
reddō ‒dere ‒didī ‒ditum: return, give back (3)
redeō ‒īre ‒iī ‒itum: go back, return (3)
referō referre rettulī relātum: bring back; report (1)
rēgnum ‒ī n.: kingship, kingdom (1)
relinquō ‒linquere ‒līquī ‒lictum: abandon (4)
reliquus ‒a ‒um: left, left over, remaining (3)
remittō ‒mittere ‒mīsī ‒missum: send back (1)
removeō ‒movēre ‒mōvī ‒mōtum: remove, dismiss (2)
renūntiō ‒āre: report (1)
reor rērī rātus sum: think, imagine, suppose, deem (1)
repente: suddenly (1)
repentīnō: suddenly (1)
reperiō reperīre repperī repertum: find, find out (2)
rēpō rēpere rēpsī rēptum: crawl (1)
repōnō ‒pōnere ‒posuī ‒positum: place, deposit (1)
rēs reī f.: matter, affair, situation (13)
rēscīscō ‒scīscere ‒scīvī ‒scītum: find out, get to know (1)
resistō ‒stere ‒stitī: resist, oppose (2)
respōnsum ‒ī n.: response, reply (2)
retineō ‒tinēre ‒tinuī ‒tentum: hold back, keep (1)
revertō ‒vertere ‒vertī: turn back (1)
revocō ‒āre: call back, recall (2)

150 Cornelius Nepos, Life of Hannibal

rēx rēgis m.: king (14)
Rhodanus ‒ī m.: Rhodanus River (major river in southern Gaul; modern
Rhône) (2)
Rhodius ‒a ‒um: of Rhodes (island in eastern Mediterranean) (2)
rīdeō rīdēre rīsī rīsum: laugh, laugh at (1)
rōbustus ‒a ‒um: strong (1)
rogō ‒āre: ask (1)
Rōma ‒ae f.: Rome (5)
Rōmānus ‒a ‒um: Roman (20)
ruber rubra rubrum: red (1)
Rūfus ‒ī m.: Rufus (1)

—S—
sacrificō ‒āre: make sacrifice, sacrifice (1)
saepe: often (1)
Saguntum ‒ī n.: Saguntum (town in eastern Spain) (1)
saltō ‒āre: dance
saltus saltūs m.: mountain pass (3)
salūs salūtis f.: health, safety (1)
sarmentum ‒ī n.: twig, branch (1)
satis/sat: enough, sufficiently (2)
saucius ‒a ‒um: wounded (1)
scaena ‒ae f.: stage (of a theater)
scapha ‒ae f.: small boat, skiff (1)
scīlicet: certainly, of course (1)
sciēns scientis: skilled, expert
sciō scīre scīvī/‒iī scītum: know (1)
Scīpiō Scīpiōnis m.: Scipio (4)



Full Vocabulary 151

scrībō scrībere scrīpsī scrīptum: write (3)
scrīptūra ‒ae f.: writing, composition
secundus ‒a ‒um: following; favorable (1)
sed: but (8)
sedeō sedēre sēdī sessum: sit
sēgregō ‒āre: separate, exclude, remove (1)
sēiungō ‒iungere ‒iūnxī ‒iūnctus: separate (1)
semper: always, ever (2)
Semprōnius ‒ī m.: Sempronius (1)
senātus senātūs m.: senate (4)
sentiō sentīre sēnsī sēnsum: perceive, feel, hear, see (2)
septuāgēsimus ‒a ‒um: seventieth (1)
sequor sequī secūtus sum: follow
sermō sermōnis m.: conversation, discourse (1)
serpēns serpentis f.: snake (3)
Servīlius ‒ī m.: Servilius (1)
servulus ‒ī m.: young slave (1)
sētius: less, in a lesser degree (1)
sī: if (12)
sīc: in this manner, thus; sīc...ut: in the same way as (7)
signum ‒ī n.: sign, standard, mark (1)
Sīlēnus ‒ī m.: Silenus (1)
simul: at the same time (4)
simulō ‒āre: pretend, put on the appearance of (1)
sine: without (+abl.) (3)
societās societātis f.: alliance (1)
sōlum: only, merely (3)
solvō solvere solvī solūtum: release, set sail (2)

152 Cornelius Nepos, Life of Hannibal

soror sorōris f.: sister
Sōsylus ‒ī m.: Sosylus (2)
spectāculum ‒ī n.: show, sight, spectacle
spēs speī f.: hope (1)
statim: immediately (2)
statua ‒ae f.: statue (1)
stultus ‒a ‒um: foolish (1)
subigō ‒igere ‒ēgī ‒āctus: conquer, subdue (1)
sufficiō ‒ficere ‒fēcī ‒fectus: appoint to a magistracy in place of another (1)
sui sibi sē sē/sēsē: himself, herself, itself (30)
Sulpicius ‒ī m.: Sulpicius (2)
sum esse fuī futūrus: be, exist, live (61)
summus ‒a ‒um: highest, farthest, last (3)
sūmō sūmere sūmpsī sūmptum: take up (1)
superō ‒āre: overcome, surpass, defeat (5)
supersum ‒esse ‒fuī: remain, survive; be superfluous (to) (1)
superus ‒a ‒um: situated above, upper; superī ‒ōrum m. pl.: those above,
i.e., the gods (3)
suprā: above, beyond (adv. and prep. +acc.) (1)
suscipiō ‒cipere ‒cēpī ‒ceptus: take up (2)
sustineō sustinēre sustinuī sustentum: hold up, sustain (1)
suus ‒a ‒um: his own, her own, its own (13)
Syria ‒ae f.: Syria (2)

—T—
tabellārius tabellāriī m.: letter‒carrier, messenger (2)
tālis tāle: such (4)
tam: so, so much (1)



Full Vocabulary 153

tamen: nevertheless, still (2)
Tamphilus ‒ī m.: Tamphilus (2)
tamquam: so as, just as (1)
tantus ‒a ‒um: so great, so much; tantum / tantummodo: only (6)
templum ‒ī n.: consecrated ground; temple (2)
tempus temporis n.: time (5)
teneō tenēre tenuī tentum: have, keep (2)
Terentius ‒ī m.: Terentius (1)
terra ‒ae f.: land (1)
terror terrōris m.: terror (1)
tertius ‒a ‒um: third (4)
Thermopylae ‒ārum f.: Thermopylae (1)
Tiberis Tiberis m./f.: Tiber River (1)
Tiberius ‒ī m.: Tiberius (2)
tībia ‒ae f.: reed‒pipe
Titus ‒ī m.: Titus (1)
tollō tollere sustulī sublātum: raise up, destroy (2)
tōtus ‒a ‒um: whole, entire
trādūcō ‒dūcere ‒dūxī ‒ductum: lead across (1)
trānseō trānsīre trānsiī trānsitum: go across (4)
Trasumēnus ‒ī m.: Trasimene (lake in Etruria) (1)
Trebia ‒ae f.: Trebia (river in Cisalpine Gaul) (2)
trecentī ‒ae ‒a: three hundred (1)
trēs tria: three (1)
tribuō tribuere tribuī tribūtum: assign, grant (1)
triennium ‒ī n.: three year period (1)
tū tuī tibi tē tē: you (1)

154 Cornelius Nepos, Life of Hannibal

tum: then (3)
turpis turpe: ugly
turpitūdō turpitūdinis f.: shamefulness, disgrace

—U—
ubi: where, when (3)
ūllus ‒a ‒um: any, anyone (1)
umquam: ever (1)
unde: from where (1)
undique: from all sides, on all sides (1)
ūniversus ‒a ‒um: all together (1)
ūnus ‒a ‒um: one (8)
urbs urbis f.: city (1)
ūsque: up to; continuously (3)
ūsus ūsūs m.: use, experience (1)
ut: as (+indic.); so that, with the result that (+subj.) (20)
uterque utraque utrumque: each of two (4)
ūtor ūtī ūsus sum: use, employ, apply (+abl.) (2)
utpote: namely (reinforcing an explanation) (1)
utrobīque: on both sides (1)
uxor uxōris f.: wife

—V—
valēns valentis: strong, powerful (1)
valeō valēre valuī: be strong, excel, be valid, prevail; valē: farewell! (1)
valētūdō valētūdinis f.: health; illness (1)
vāllum ‒ī n.: rampart; protection (1)
varius ‒a ‒um: changing, varied, various (1)



Full Vocabulary 155

vāsum ‒ī n.: vase, container (2)
vectīgal vectīgālis n.: tax, levy (1)
vehō vehere vēxī vectum: carry; vehor vehī vectus sum: travel, ride (1)
vēlum ‒ī n.: sail (1)
velut: even as, just as (1)
venēnō ‒āre: poison (1)
venēnum ‒ī n.: poison (1)
veniō venīre vēnī ventum: come (9)
ventus ‒ī m.: wind (1)
Venusia ‒ae f.: Venusia (town in southern Italy) (1)
verbum ‒ī n.: word (1)
vereor verērī veritus sum: fear, stand in awe of (2)
vērō: in fact, certainly, without doubt
versō ‒āre: come and go frequently, move, turn
vertō vertere vertī versum: turn (1)
vērus ‒a ‒um: true (1)
vīcēsimus ‒a ‒um: twentieth (1)
vīctor vīctōris m.: conqueror, victor
videō vidēre vīdī vīsum: see (6)
vidua ‒ae f.: widow, unmarried woman
vīgintī: twenty (1)
vincō vincere vīcī victum: conquer (1)
vir virī m.: man (5)
virtūs virtūtis f.: valor, manliness, virtue (3)
vīs, vīs f.: force; (acc.) vim (abl.), vī (pl.); vīrēs: strength (2)
vīsus vīsūs m.: sight, appearance, vision (1)
vīta vītae f.: life (1)

156 Cornelius Nepos, Life of Hannibal

vītō ‒āre: avoid, shun (1)
vīvō vīvere vīxī vīctum: live (1)
vīvus ‒a ‒um: alive, living (2)
vix: scarcely (1)
volō velle voluī: wish, be willing (2)
Volsō Volsōnis m.: Volso (1)
volūmen volūminis n.: book, volume
voluntās voluntātis f.: wish, desire (1)

—Z—
Zama ‒ae f.: Zama (town southwest of Carthage) (2)

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Cornelius Nepos Life of Hannibal
Latin text, notes, maps,
illustrations and vocabulary
Bret Mulligan
Trebia. Trasimene. Cannae. With three stunning victories, Hannibal humbled
Rome and nearly shattered its empire. Even today Hannibal’s brilliant, if
ultimately unsuccessful, campaign against Rome during the Second Punic
War (218-202 BC) make him one of history’s most celebrated military leaders.
This biography by Cornelius Nepos (c. 100-27 BC) sketches Hannibal’s life
from the time he began traveling with his father’s army as a young boy,
through his sixteen-year invasion of Italy and his tumultuous political career
in Carthage, to his perilous exile and eventual suicide in the East.
As Rome completed its bloody transition from dysfunctional republic to
stable monarchy, Nepos labored to complete an innovative and influential
collection of concise biographies. Putting aside the detailed, chronological
accounts of military campaigns and political machinations that characterized
most writing about history, Nepos surveyed Roman and Greek history for
distinguished men who excelled in a range of prestigious occupations. In
the exploits and achievements of these illustrious men, Nepos hoped that
his readers would find models for the honorable conduct of their own lives.
Although most of Nepos’ works have been lost, we are fortunate to have his
biography of Hannibal. Nepos offers a surprisingly balanced portrayal of a
man that most Roman authors vilified as the most monstrous foe that Rome
had ever faced.
Nepos’ straightforward style and his preference for common vocabulary
make Life of Hannibal accessible for those who are just beginning to read
continuous Latin prose, while the historical interest of the subject make it
compelling for readers of every ability.
Cover image: Sébastien Slodtz, Hannibal Barca counting the rings of the
Roman knights killed at the Battle of Cannae in 216 BC (1704).
As with all Open Book publications, the entire work is available free to read
online, while printable digital editions of the volume together with additional
resources can be downloaded from the publisher’s website:

e book

ebook and OA editions
also available

www.openbookpublishers.com