Punica

Books

• 1
  Book 1

  The origins of the Second Punic War. Hannibal's oath, the siege of Saguntum, and the crossing of the Pyrenees. Juno drives the conflict.

  694 lines
• 2
  Book 2

  Hannibal crosses the Alps. The horrors of the mountain passage, the attacks of hostile tribes, and the first sight of Italy.

  707 lines
• 3
  Book 3

  The first battles in Italy. The Ticinus and the Trebia. Roman confidence is shaken as Hannibal's tactics prove devastating.

  714 lines
• 4
  Book 4

  Lake Trasimene. Hannibal ambushes the Roman army in the fog. The consul Flaminius is killed. Rome is stunned.

  829 lines
• 5
  Book 5

  Fabius Maximus and the strategy of delay. Rome appoints a dictator who avoids pitched battle and wears Hannibal down.

  678 lines
• 6
  Book 6

  Rome tires of delay and demands battle. The consuls Varro and Paullus lead the largest army Rome has ever assembled toward Cannae.

  716 lines
• 7
  Book 7

  The catalogue of Italian allies and the build-up to Cannae. Silius imitates Homer's catalogue of ships.

  750 lines
• 8
  Book 8

  Further preparations for battle and the assembly of Hannibal's forces from Africa, Spain, and Gaul.

  682 lines
• 9
  Book 9

  The battle of Cannae. The worst defeat in Roman history. Paullus dies fighting; Varro flees. Fifty thousand Romans are killed in a single afternoon.

  657 lines
• 10
  Book 10

  The aftermath of Cannae. Hannibal's army winters at Capua. The luxury corrupts them. Rome refuses to surrender.

  658 lines
• 11
  Book 11

  The siege of Capua and the war in southern Italy. Rome fights back through patience and attrition.

  617 lines
• 12
  Book 12

  Hannibal marches on Rome itself. The cry 'Hannibal ad portas!' But the march is a feint, and Rome holds.

  752 lines
• 13
  Book 13

  The siege and fall of Syracuse. Archimedes' war machines delay the Romans, but the city is taken and Archimedes is killed by a soldier.

  895 lines
• 14
  Book 14

  Scipio in Spain. The young commander captures New Carthage and turns the war in the western Mediterranean.

  688 lines
• 15
  Book 15

  The battle of the Metaurus. Hasdrubal is defeated and killed. His head is thrown into Hannibal's camp. Hannibal knows the war is lost.

  823 lines
• 16
  Book 16

  Scipio crosses to Africa. Hannibal is recalled from Italy after sixteen years. The two greatest generals of the age will meet at Zama.

  700 lines
• 17
  Book 17

  The battle of Zama. Scipio defeats Hannibal. Carthage sues for peace. Scipio Africanus returns to Rome in triumph. The poem and the war end together.

  654 lines