09-22-2019, 08:59 AM
@Michael Taylor
If we venture into the cold again and revisit Appian`s Zama and we set aside the personal heroics of the army leaders (Hannibal, Scipio and Massinissa) that are tacked onto the end of each of the paragraphs below, we are left with quite a different battle to Polybius` Zama. Scipio and the Italian cavalry are in reserve and the Numidians are placed on the Roman army`s flanks, the infantry is divided into wings and Laelius is commanding the right wing (the position of seniority). Hannibal`s elephants are arrayed against entire Roman army`s front, including the Numidians.
But lacking in Polybius, Appian includes mention of the actions of the Roman subordinate commanders; Laelius, Octavius and Thermus. So, a simple question for you, did Appian invent all this, or did he perhaps take this information from an earlier source?
"[43] Having thus exhorted their men they joined battle. Hannibal ordered the trumpet to sound, and Scipio responded in like manner. The elephants began the fight decked out in fearful panoply and urged on with goads by their riders. The Numidian horse flying around them incessantly thrust darts into them. Being wounded and put to flight and having become unmanageable, their drivers took them out of the combat. This is what happened to the elephants on both wings. Those in the center trampled down the Roman infantry, who were not accustomed to that kind of fighting and were not able to avoid or to pursue them easily on account of their heavy armor, until Scipio brought up the Italian cavalry, who were in the rear and more lightly armed, and ordered them to dismount from their frightened horses, and run around and stab the elephants. He was himself the first to dismount and wound the front-tramping elephant. The others were encouraged by his example, and they inflicted so many wounds upon the elephants that these also withdrew.
[44] The field being cleared of these beasts the battle was now waged by men and horses only. The Roman right wing, where Laelius commanded, put the opposing Numidians to flight, and Massinissa struck down their prince, Massathes, with a dart, but Hannibal quickly came to their rescue and restored the line of battle. On the left wing, where Octavius commanded and where the hostile Celts and Ligurians were stationed, a doubtful battle was going on. Scipio sent the tribune Thermus thither with a reinforcement of picked men, but Hannibal, after rallying his left wing, flew to the assistance of the Ligurians and Celts, bringing up at the same time his second line of Carthaginians and Africans. Scipio, perceiving this, brought his second line in opposition. When the two greatest generals of the world thus met, in hand to hand fight, there was, on the part of the soldiers of each, a brilliant emulation and reverence for their commanders, and no lack of zeal on either side in the way of sharp and vehement fighting and cheering."
(Appian Punic Wars 9)
If we venture into the cold again and revisit Appian`s Zama and we set aside the personal heroics of the army leaders (Hannibal, Scipio and Massinissa) that are tacked onto the end of each of the paragraphs below, we are left with quite a different battle to Polybius` Zama. Scipio and the Italian cavalry are in reserve and the Numidians are placed on the Roman army`s flanks, the infantry is divided into wings and Laelius is commanding the right wing (the position of seniority). Hannibal`s elephants are arrayed against entire Roman army`s front, including the Numidians.
But lacking in Polybius, Appian includes mention of the actions of the Roman subordinate commanders; Laelius, Octavius and Thermus. So, a simple question for you, did Appian invent all this, or did he perhaps take this information from an earlier source?
"[43] Having thus exhorted their men they joined battle. Hannibal ordered the trumpet to sound, and Scipio responded in like manner. The elephants began the fight decked out in fearful panoply and urged on with goads by their riders. The Numidian horse flying around them incessantly thrust darts into them. Being wounded and put to flight and having become unmanageable, their drivers took them out of the combat. This is what happened to the elephants on both wings. Those in the center trampled down the Roman infantry, who were not accustomed to that kind of fighting and were not able to avoid or to pursue them easily on account of their heavy armor, until Scipio brought up the Italian cavalry, who were in the rear and more lightly armed, and ordered them to dismount from their frightened horses, and run around and stab the elephants. He was himself the first to dismount and wound the front-tramping elephant. The others were encouraged by his example, and they inflicted so many wounds upon the elephants that these also withdrew.
[44] The field being cleared of these beasts the battle was now waged by men and horses only. The Roman right wing, where Laelius commanded, put the opposing Numidians to flight, and Massinissa struck down their prince, Massathes, with a dart, but Hannibal quickly came to their rescue and restored the line of battle. On the left wing, where Octavius commanded and where the hostile Celts and Ligurians were stationed, a doubtful battle was going on. Scipio sent the tribune Thermus thither with a reinforcement of picked men, but Hannibal, after rallying his left wing, flew to the assistance of the Ligurians and Celts, bringing up at the same time his second line of Carthaginians and Africans. Scipio, perceiving this, brought his second line in opposition. When the two greatest generals of the world thus met, in hand to hand fight, there was, on the part of the soldiers of each, a brilliant emulation and reverence for their commanders, and no lack of zeal on either side in the way of sharp and vehement fighting and cheering."
(Appian Punic Wars 9)
