The world often misunderstands its greatest men while neglecting others
entirely. Scipio Africanus, surely the greatest general that Rome
produced, suffered both these fates. Today scholars celebrate the
importance of Hannibal, even though Scipio defeated the legendary
general in the Second Punic War and was the central military figure of
his time. In this scholarly and heretofore unmatched military biography
of the distinguished Roman soldier, Richard A. Gabriel establishes
Scipio's rightful place in military history as the greater of the two
generals. Before Scipio, few Romans would have dreamed of empire, and
Scipio himself would have regarded such an ambition as a danger to his
beloved republic. And yet, paradoxically, Scipio's victories in Spain
and Africa enabled Rome to consolidate its hold over Italy and become
the dominant power in the western Mediterranean, virtually ensuring a
later confrontation with the Greco-Macedonian kingdoms to the east as
well as the empire's expansion into North Africa and the Levant. The
Roman imperium was being born, and it was Scipio who had sired it.
Gabriel draws upon ancient texts, including those from Livy, Polybius,
Diodorus, Silius Italicus, and others, as primary sources and examines
all additional material available to the modern scholar in French,
German, English, and Italian. His book offers a complete bibliography of
all extant sources regarding Scipio's life. The result is a rich,
detailed, and contextual treatment of the life and career of Scipio
Africanus, one of Rome's greatest generals, if not the greatest of them
all.
