Kartagińskie oblężenie Kasylinum (216/215 p.n.e.) – rzeczywistość historyczna a arkana antycznych przekazów literackich

Miron Wolny

doi:10.31648/ep.6135

Published: 2020-12-011

No. XXI/1 (2020)

The Carthaginian Siege of Casilinum (216/215 BC) – historical reality vs. the arcana of ancient literary accounts

Miron Wolny

Echa Przeszłości

Section: ARTICLES

https://doi.org/10.31648/ep.6135

Abstract

This article discusses the siege of Casilinum by the Carthaginians (216-215 BC) based on the historical accounts of Livy, as well as Frontinus and Strabo. The assault on Casilinum was presented in an embellished form exploiting patriotic motifs. This was achieved by a skillful blotting out of facts and highlighting exaggerated actions. The author queries why the siege lasted so long and was depicted as a series of failures on the part of the Carthaginians, and whether it bears testimony to Hannibal’s incompetence as the commander in chief. The author argues that this was not the case: the Carthaginian commander was not a remarkable innovator as regards siege tactics, but he was sufficiently skilled in the art of poliorkia. By deconstructing some of the Roman topoi and revealing relevant information, the author concludes that the siege of Casilinum was aligned with the strategic objectives of the Carthaginian army in Italy. During the Second Punic War (218-201 BC), the Carthaginian army operating in Italy under Hannibal's leadership used diversified military tactics. After the Battle of Cannae (216 BC), when the war turned into positional warfare, Hannibal's key ambition was to weaken the strategic potential of the Romans and to lure the opponent into battle. The Casilinum operation fitted in well with these military objectives, however, it was the city’s slow agony through attrition warfare that served an important propaganda function.

Keywords:

the Second Punic War, Hannibal, Casilinum, Livy, city sieges

Most read articles by the same author(s)

1 2 > >>

Download files

pdf (Język Polski)

Citation rules

Wolny, M. (2020). The Carthaginian Siege of Casilinum (216/215 BC) – historical reality vs. the arcana of ancient literary accounts. Echa Przeszłości, (XXI/1). https://doi.org/10.31648/ep.6135

Cited by / Share

References

Abramson E., Roman Legionaries at the Time of Julius Cesar, London 1979.

Beck H., Walter U., Die frühen römischen Historiker, red., transl., kom. H. Beck, U. Walter, t. 1 (Von Fabius Pictor bis Cn. Gellius), Darmstadt 2001.

Beck H., The Reasons for the War, w: A Campanion to The Punic Wars, red. D. Hoyos, Malden 2011, s. 225-241.

Bell M. J. V., Tactical Reform in the Roman Republican Army, „Historia” 14, 1965, s. 404-422.

Beloch K. J., Polybios‘ Quellen im Dritten Buche“, „Hermes” 50, 1915, s. 357-372.

Bender P., Untersuchungen zur Vorgeschichte des zweiten punischen Krieges, Hamburg 1954.

Billows R. A., Antigonos The One-Eyed and The Creation of The Hellenistic State, London 1990.

Bonquet J., Polybius on the Critical Evaluation of Historians, „Ancient Society”, 13-14, 1982/1983, s. 277-291.

Bossi R., La guerra annibalica in Italia da Cannae al Metauro, „Studi e documenti di storia e dritto” 9, 1888, s. 303-416.

Brinkmann H., Anonyme Fragmente römischer Historiker bei Livius, Leipzig 1917.

Briscoe J., The Second Punic War, „Cambridge Ancient History” II.8, Cambridge 1989, s. 44-80.

Brizzi G., I sistemi informativi dei Romani. Principi e realtà nell’età delle conquiste oltremare (218 – 168 a.C), Wiesbaden 1982.

Brizzi G., Il querriero, l’oplita, il legionario. Gli eserciti nel mondo classico, Bologna 2002.

Brizzi G., Scipione e Annibale. La guerra per salvare Roma, Bari 2007.

Burck E., Einführung in die Dritte Dekade des Livius, Heidelberg 1950.

Cassola F., I gruppi politici Romani nel III secolo a.C., Trieste 1962.

Charles M. B., Rhodan P., Magister Elephantorum: A Reappraisal of Hannibal’s Use of Elephants, „Classical World” 100, 2007, s. 363-389.

Chassignet M., Introduction, w: L’annalistique Romaine, t. 1, ed. P. Jal , Paris 1996.

Cornell T. J., The Beginnings of Rome. Italy and Rome from the Bronze Age to Punic Wars (c. 1000-264 BC), London 1997.

Costabile F., I <principes Locrensium> e l’attegiamento filoromane delle aristocrazie italiote nella tradizione liviana (216-205 a. C.), „Historica” 30, 1977, s. 179 i n.

Derow P. S., The Roman Calendar 218-191 BC, „Phoenix” 30, 1976, s. 265-281.

De Sanctis G., Storia dei Romani, vol. III, 2, Torino 1916.

Dillery J., Roman Historians and the Greeks: Audiences and Models, w: The Roman Historians, ed. A. Feldherr, Cambridge 2009, s. 77-107.

Ehrenberg V., Maharbal no. 2, „Realencyclopädie der classischen Altertumwissenschaft” 14.1, Stuttgart 1928, kol. 522-523.

Erdkamp P., Hunger and The Sword. Warfare and Supply in Roman Reppublican Wars (264-30 B.C.), Amsterdam 1998.

Fitton Brown A. D., Nach Cannae, w: Hannibal, ed. K. Christ, Darmstadt 1974, s. 227-237.

Fronda P. M., The Italians in The Second Punic War: Local Conditions and the Failure of the Hannibalic Strategy in Italy, Ohio 2003.

Fronda M., Hegemony and Rivalry: The Revolt of Capua Revisited, „Phoenix” 61, 2007, s. 83-108.

Geus K., Prosopographie der literarisch bezeugten Karthagern, Leuven 1994.

Girod M. R., Rhétorique et histoire chez Tite Live, w: Colloque sur la rhétorique, ed. R. Chevallier, Paris 1979, 61-81.

Goldsworthy A., The Punic Wars, Cassell 2000.

Groves J. V., Ethics and Imperialism in Livy, Michigan 2013 (diss.).

Günther L. M., Hannibal ein biografisches Porträt, Freibburg im Breisgau 2010.

Halkin L., Hannibal ad portas!, „Les Etudes Clasiques” 3, 1934, s. 417-457.

Händl-Sagawe U., Der Beginn des 2. Punischen Krieges. Ein historisch-kritischer Kommentar zu Livius Buch 21, München 1995.

Harmand B. J., L’armée et le soldat à Rome de 107 à 50 avant notre ère, Paris 1967.

Hoffmann W., Hannibal, Göttingen 1961.

Hoyos D., Maharbal’s Bon Mot: Authenticity and Survival, Classical Quarterly” 50, 2000, s. 610-614.

Hoyos D., Hannibal’s Dynasty: Power and Politics in the Western Mediterranean 247-183 B.C., London 2003.

Hoyos D., Hannibal Rome’s Greatest Enemy, Exeter 2008.

Huss W., Geschichte der Karthager, München 1985.

Kahrstedt U., Geschichte der Karthager, Bd. III, Berlin 1913.

Keppie L., The Making to the Roman Army from Republic to Empire, London 1998.

Klingbeil P.-E., La marche d’Hannibal: revitaillment et stratégie, „Antiquités africaines” 36, 2000, s. 15-37.

Klotz A., Appians Darstellung des Zweiten Punischen Krieges. Eine Voruntersuchung zur Quellenanalyse der dritte Dekade des Livius, Padeborn 1936.

Klotz A., Livius und seine Vorgänger, vol. 2, Leipzig-Berlin 1941.

Klotz A., Der Annalist Q. Claudius Qudrigarius, „Rheinisches Museum” 91, 1942, s. 268-285.

Knott O., De fide et fontibus Polyaeni, Leipzig 1883 (diss.).

Kolb A., Army and Transport, w: The Roman Army and Economy, ed. P. Erdkamp, Amsterdam 2002, 161-166.

Kromayer J., Antike Schlachtfelder, t. III, 1, Berlin 1912.

Laurenzi L., Perchè Annibale non assediò Roma. Considerazioni archeologiche, w: Studi Annibalici. Atti del Convegno svoltosi a Cortona – Tuoro sul Trasimeno – Perugia (ottobre 1961), Cortona 1964, s. 141-152.

Lazenby J. F., Hannibal’s War. A Military History of the Second Punic War, Warminster 1978.

Lazenby J. F., Was Maharbal Right, w: The Second Punic War. A Reappraisal, ed. T. Cornell, J. F. Lazenby, P. Sabin, London 1996, s. 39-48.

Levene D. S., Livy on the Hannibalic War, Oxford 2012.

Liedl Ch. G., Appians <Annibaike>: Aufbau – Darstelleungtendentzen – Quellen, ANRW II, 34.1, 429-462.

Ligt de L., Roman Manpower and the Recruitment During the Middle Republik, w: A Companion to the Roman Army, ed. P. Erdkamp, Blackwell 2007, s. 114-131.

Lipiński É., Maharbal no. 5, „Dictionaire de la civilisation phénicienne et punique”, ed. É. Lipiński, Brepols 1992, s. 269.

Lomas K., Rome, Latins and Italians in the Second Punic War, w: A Companion to the Punic Wars, ed. D. Hoyos, Blackwell 2011, s. 339-356.

MacDonald E., Hannibal a Hellenistic Life, London 2015.

Miles R., Carthage Must be Destroyed. The Rise and Fall of an Ancient Mediterranean Civilization, Allen Lane 2010.

Miltner F., Zwischen Trebia und Trasimen 218 – 217 v. Chr, „Hermes” 78, 1943, s. 1-21.

Pretzler M., Polyaenus the Historian? Stratagems and the Use of the Past in the Second Sophistic, w: Polyaenus. New Studies, ed. K. Brodersen, Berlin 2010, s. 85-107.

Punzi A., Annibale in Italia I. Da Sagunto a Canne, Napoli 1971.

Roth J. P., The Logistics of the Roman Army at War (264 B.C.-A.D. 235), Leiden 1999.

Salmon E. T., The Strategy of the Second Punic War, „Greece and Rome” 7, 1960, s. 131-142.

Schmitt T., Hannibals Siegeszug. Historiographische und historische Studien vor allem zu Polybius und Livius, München 1991.

Seeck G., Der Beicht des Livius über den Winter 218/217 v. Chr., „Hermes” 8, 1874, s. 152-166.

Seibert J., Hannibal, Darmstadt 1993.

Seibert J., Forschungen zu Hannibal, Darmstadt 1993.

Stanton G.R., Cunctando restituit rem. The Tradition about Fabius, „Antichithon” 5, 1971, s. 49-56.

Timpe D., Fabius Pictor und die Anfänge der römischen Historiographie, „ANRW” 1.2, Berlin 1972, s. 928-968.

Ungern-Sternberg J., Capua im Zweiten Punischen Krieg, München 1975.

Urso G., Spionnagio e controspionaggio nella querra Annibalica, „Storia antica – Instituto Lombardo” 123, 1989, s. 73-83.

Walbank F. W., A Historical Commentary on Polybius, vol. I, Oxford 1957.

Wollner B., Die Kompetenzen der karthagischer Feldherrn, Frankfurt am Mein 1987.

Wolny M., Maharbal – poddowódca kartagiński w wojsku Hannibala (219 – 216/15 p.n.e.), „Echa Przeszłości” 6, 2005, s. 7-29.

Wolny M., Hannibal w Italii (218-217 p.n.e.). Studia nad uwarunkowaniami początkowych sukcesów kartagińskich, Olsztyn 2007.

Wolny M., Poselstwo Magona do Kartaginy w sprawie wynegocjowania nowych posiłków militarnych dla Hannibala w roku 215 p.n.e., w: Studia z dziejów starożytnego Rzymu, red. R. Sajkowski, Olsztyn 2007, s. 14-23.

Wolny M., Rola poddowódców kartagińskich w zwycięskim marszu Hannibala przez Italię 218-216 p.n.e., „Antiquitas” 29, 2007, s. 211-224.

Wolny M., Historia i propaganda. Okoliczności wybuchu drugiej wojny punickiej w świetle relacji Florusa (I, 22, 1-9), w: Propaganda władzy w świecie rzymskim, pod. red. M. Wolnego, Olsztyn 2012, 31-50.

Wolny M., Studia nad statusem i kompetencjami dowódców kartagińskich w okresie przewagi Barkidów (237-201 p.n.e.), Oświęcim 2016.

Wolny M., Metus Pyrrhicus. Rzeczywistość i historiografia, „Studia Antiquitatis et Medii Aevi Incohantis” 21, 2019, s. 21-44.

Zecchini G., Annibale prima e dopo il Trasimeno: alcune osservazioni, „Rivista Storica Antichita” 33, 2003, s. 91-98.

Zimmermann K., Rom und Karthago, Darmstadt 2005.

Zimmerer M., Claudius Quadrigarius, München 1932.

Ziółkowski A., Wiarygodność liczb jeńców wojennych w dziele Liwiusza „Ab Urbe condita”, ks. XXI-XLV, „Roczniki Historyczne” 42, 1982, s. 99-120.

Zlattner M., Hannibals Geheimdienst im Zweiten Punischen Krieg, Konstanz 1997. Google Scholar