Called by B. H. Liddel Hart “Greater than Napoleon,” Scipio Africanus (236-183 BC) appears rarely alongside the likes of Alexander, Caesar, Hannibal, Timur, Turenne, Frederick, Napoleon, Genghis, Gustavus Adolphus, Patton, Eugene of Savoy, al-Walid, Rommel, Marlborough, Lee, Manstein, and so forth, when people – even historians – compile lists of the “Greatest Generals.” Yet, unlike many of those named, Scipio never lost a battle, and, unlike several, won his wars impressively, even defeating Hannibal, who’s on everyone’s list, and who himself is said to have implied that Scipio was the greatest.

This new book from classicist Dexter Hoyos, author of Carthage's Other Wars: Carthaginian Warfare Outside the 'Punic Wars' Against Rome, Truceless War: Carthage’s Fight for Survival, 241 to 237 BC, and many other works, does an excellent job of bringing Scipio’s life and wars into focus.

Frequently critiquing the sources, to sort out the reliable information from the less valuable, Hoyos covers Scipio’s background and early life, his family’s position in the complex hierarchy of Roman nobility, and his private life as well as his military career, fitting it all into the framework of Roman society, politics, and wars in the period.

This is no hagiography, Hoyos is at times critical of Scipio’s actions, or inactions, some of which arguably might have been disastrous. We not only get a good look at the campaigns of the second Romano-Carthaginian war, and later that with the Seleucids in Asia, but also Scipio’s skill at diplomacy, as he worked with the many, frequently mutually hostile peoples of Hispania and among the Berber kingdoms of North Africa, to gaining allies, and his less successful political life at home.

Hoyos also gives us a look at Scipio’s personal relationship with Hannibal, whom he met several times, and, perhaps rather surprisingly, postwar attempted to help when his erstwhile foe came under political attack at Carthage, ultimately forcing him into exile. This actually parallels Scipio’s own fate. As Hoyos shows us Scipio’s later life was unfortunate, as he suffered politically motivated attacks on his military achievements and family, causing him to withdraw from public life.

An excellent book about one of history’s greatest captains.

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Note: Scipio Africanus is also available in e-editions.

StrategyPage reviews are published in cooperation with The New York Military Affairs Symposium

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