Episode 22. Cato the Elder: The Soul of the Old Republic
Works CitedPrimary SourcesCato, Marcus Porcius. De agricultura (On Agriculture). The only complete work that survives. Translated and edited by W. D. Hooper and H. B. Ash, Loeb Classical Library.Cicer...
3 Apr 32min
Episode 21. Rome and the Greek East
Works CitedPrimary SourcesLivy. Ab Urbe Condita, Books 31–45. Fuller in detail than Polybius, less reliable on causation.Plutarch. “Life of Aemilius Paullus.” Pydna and its aftermath, including the Ep...
3 Apr 35min
Episode 20. After Zama
Sources and HistoriographyFor the post-war careers of Hannibal and Scipio, the primary sources are Livy, Appian, Cornelius Nepos's life of Hannibal, and Plutarch's Life of Flamininus for the circumsta...
27 Mar 30min
Episode 19. Scipio Africanus: The Turn of the War
Sources and HistoriographyThe sources for this period are substantially the same as for the earlier war: Polybius for military analysis and Livy for narrative texture. For the Spanish campaigns, Polyb...
27 Mar 31min
Episode 18. Italy on Fire: Trasimene, Fabius, and Cannae
Works Cited Primary Sources Livy. Ab Urbe Condita, Books 22–27. The fullest narrative of the period. Books 22 and 23 cover Trasimene, Cannae, and the aftermath in detail.Plutarch. “Life of Fabius Ma...
27 Mar 37min
Episode 17. Hannibal: The Man and the March
Sources and Historiography. The two primary ancient sources for Hannibal's campaign are Polybius and Livy. Polybius, writing within a generation of the events and claiming to have personally traveled ...
27 Mar 26min
Episode 16. Hamilcar Barca and the Spanish Empire
Works Cited Primary Sources Livy. Ab Urbe Condita, Book 21. The Roman account of Hannibal’s rise and the war’s outbreak. Vivid, often beautiful, and not always reliable; Polybius is the corrective.P...
27 Mar 27min
Episode 15. The First Punic War: Rome Goes to Sea
Works Cited Primary Sources Polybius. Histories, Book 1 (c. 140 BCE). The essential primary source. Available free online via the Perseus Digital Library.Secondary Sources Goldsworthy, Adrian. The ...
27 Mar 36min
