The standard Aubrey de Selincourt translation of Livy's early history of Rome gets a new lease of life with the issue of the Penguin 60s series. As usual, history is written by the victor, but Livy the Roman, writing two centuries after the event, is as admirably objective as any modern historian might be. His account of the stunning attack in 218BC on Rome by Hannibal of Carthage, crossing the Alps with a large army and the famous elephants, is vivid but dryly detailed, and pays just tribute to Hannibal's leadership ability and tactical acumen. This little book is the historical equivalent of a news soundbite, a slice of life as it was then.
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The review of this Book prepared by Michael JR Jose
