The history of the Mediterranean (“the circle of lands”) between 218 and 129 BCE, viewed from a respectful distance, resembles a three-act tragedy about “the birth of an empire.” The participants in this tragedy were well-known commanders, political figures, kings. All the main heroes of the trilogy are real historical persons.
An exciting novel by the famous Russian scholar Alexander Iosifovich Nemirovsky is devoted to one of the most interesting periods of ancient history—the Punic Wars.
Content:
01 — Hannibal’s Elephants
02 — Polybius. Carthage must be destroyed
03 — Tiberius Gracchus
Hannibal’s Elephants
The legendary confrontation of Rome and Carthage—the two equally powerful states, ready to fight for dominance over the Mediterranean to the very last drop of blood… For now, fortune favors the Carthaginians. The great commander Hannibal, son of Hamilcar, already having defeated the Romans in several battles, sets out on a march to Italy.
There cannot be two absolute rulers in the world. In bloody battles, the fate of two great states will be decided…
Polybius
The novel by the well-known writer, scholar, and historian Alexander Iosifovich Nemirovsky “Carthage must be destroyed” (“Polybius”) is devoted to the main act of the historical tragedy—the fall of Ancient Carthage, on the ruins of which a new empire rose and flourished—the Great Rome.
Tiberius Gracchus
A turning point in the history of slaveholding Rome. As a result of the wars of the 3rd–2nd centuries BCE, Rome subjected extensive territories beyond Italy and became a great Mediterranean power.
First to rise against the oppressors were Sicilian slaves. They created their own free kingdom. In Italy itself, the struggle for land brought free peasantry forward. Peasants were not on the same side as the slaves, but they too suffered from the development of slaveholding. Large landowners, taking advantage of the cheapness of slave labor, drove peasants off their plots and replaced them with slaves.
The defender of the peasants was the young Roman Tiberius Gracchus—one of the main characters of this novella. He achieved a redistribution of land. The vast Roman state became the arena of fierce class struggle. The oppressed masses put forward talented leaders—Achaea, Cleon, Viriatus, Aristonicus. More than once they dealt their oppressors crushing defeats. Revolutionary movements of slaves and oppressed peoples ultimately led to the fall of slaveholding Rome.