He could wash away the stain of Cannae in Hannibal’s blood -- Hannibal, the savage, the warmonger, who had massacred eight legions in a single afternoon. Who would not justify himself. Who lit candles to Vesta, and knew Aristophanes on sight. [loc. 2249]
I greatly enjoyed this author's previous novels, Elegy and Swansong, and was intrigued to read that she was working on a novel about the Second Punic War. Hostis -- the title means 'enemy' -- did not disappoint, though I would probably have appreciated it even more if I'd known enough history to determine where her version diverges from canon.
The focus is on Publius Cornelius Scipio, later known as Africanus, and his encounters with Hannibal Barca, beginning at the Battle of the Trebia (when Scipio saved his father's life) and covering the next seven years. The primary viewpoint is Scipio's, but there are also scenes from other perspectives, including Hannibal's brother Mago. Hannibal himself is seen from several angles: the great general, the book-lover who can quote Aristophanes and Alcibiades, the boy still mourning his own father. His respect for Scipio is only gradually reciprocated, as Scipio comes to understand Hannibal -- and accept that the tales of Carthaginian barbarism may be fake news -- while feeling increasingly frustrated by and alienated from the city of his birth.
It's refreshing to read a historical novel which isn't concerned with romance. There are alliances, of marriage and otherwise, but no loving couples. Though the focus is on Scipio and Hannibal, there are several excellent female characters, in particular Hannibal's spymaster sister Arishat (who has a few salient remarks about her dead husband) and Scipio's mother Pomponia. Both have agency, personality and opinions: both are integral to the story.
I suspect I will need to reread this novel with some historical reference material to hand. This will not be a hardship: Vale Aida's prose is wry and witty, and she has a gift for depicting the minutae of everyday life: rotten figs, fishponds, Greek tutors, the sole surviving elephant.
When he looked at Hannibal he saw a network of veins and arteries, streets and highways rushing with blood, a city under siege, burning, burning. [loc. 4553]
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