Fronda M.P. Between Rome and Carthage. Southern Italy during the Second Punic War

New York: Cambridge University Press, 2010. – 403 p.
ISBN-13 978-0-511-74247-7 eBook (Dawsonera)
ISBN-13 978-0-521-51694-5 HardbackHannibal invaded Italy with the hope of raising widespread rebellions among Rome’s subordinate allies. Yet even after crushing the Roman army at Cannae, he was only partially successful. Why did some communities decide to side with Carthage and others to side with Rome? This is the fundamental question posed in this book, and consideration is given to the particular political, diplomatic, military and economic factors that influenced individual communities’ decisions. Understanding their motivations reveals much, not just about the war itself, but also about Rome’s relations with Italy during the prior two centuries of aggressive expansion. Te book sheds new light on Roman imperialism in Italy, the nature of Roman hegemony and the transformation of Roman Italy in the period leading up to the Social war. It is informed through-out by contemporary political science theory and archaeological evidence, and will be required reading for all historians of the Roman Republic.Note on abbreviations
MapsPrologue
Sources, problems and methodologies
Rome and the Italians, circa 350–220
Hannibal’s strategy
Hannibal’s strategic failure: previous explanations
Local conditions and the failure of Hannibal’s strategy in ItalyApuliaThe revolt of Arpi, 216
The revolt of Arpi’s ‘satellite’ allies, 216
Hannibal’s incomplete success: Canusium, Teanum
Apulum, Luceria and VenusiaCampaniaThe revolt of Capua, 216
The revolt of Capua’s ‘satellite’ allies, 216–215
Hannibal’s incomplete success: Naples, Nola, Cumae, Acerrae and NuceriaBruttium and western Magna GraeciaThe revolt of the Bruttians, 216–215
The revolt of Locri and subordinate communities, 215
The revolt of Croton, 215
Hannibal’s incomplete success: RhegionSouthern Lucania and eastern Magna GraeciaTaras’ tenuous loyalty, 216–213
The revolt of Taras, 213/12
Aftermath of the Tarentine revolt: Metapontion, Heraclea and Turii, 212The Roman reconquest of southern Italy‘Holding the wolf by the ears’: Hannibal’s strategic conundrum after 216–215
Campania, 215–211
Apulia, 215–210
Taras and south-eastern Italy, 212–207
Western Magna Graecia and Bruttium, 215–203Conclusions
Local conditions revisited: a brief summary
Enduring interstate rivalry and Realist theory
Could Hannibal have won? Tree hypothetical scenarios
Overcoming local conditions: the Roman genius?
Rome and the Italians, circa 200–90
EpilogueAppendix A: The war in Samnium, 217–209
Appendix B: Chronology of events in Bruttium, 215
Appendix C: Chronology of events from the defection of Taras through the defection of Turii, 213–212
Appendix D: Defection of the southern Lucanians, 212