Volume 15, Number 12 · January 7, 1971
Bad Trip
By Ronald Syme
Hannibal
by Sir Gavin de Beer
Viking, 320 pp., $9.95
Scipio Africanus: Soldier and Politician
by Howard H. Scullard
Cornell, 299 pp., $6.95
Julius Caesar
by Michael Grant
McGraw-Hill, 271 pp., $12.95
A fresh wind is blowing through the dry leaves, so they tell us. Classical studies are being reinvigorated, and it is high time. However, not much novelty is discovered in the subjects of books designed for the 'general reader' of the better sort. The lives and exploits of heroes are still high in favor. Notably Hannibal and Caesar, to judge by productions from more countries than one in recent years. Along with Alexander and Napoleon, Hannibal and Caesar keep their fame and rank for generalship through the ages; and Scipio belongs with them, whom Liddell Hart described as 'greater than Napoleon.' Hence suitable characters to be matched for comparison in the manner of Plutarch, or to figure in some Dialogues of the Dead.
Review, 3328 words
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