Customer Reviews

Armies of the Carthaginian Wars 265-146 BC (Men at Arms Series, 121)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This title is somewhat dated, originally published in 1982; however it provides a decent overview of the Carthaginian and Roman forces that engaged one another in the Punic wars. Terence Wise' text is organized, informative, and reads well.

Richard Hook's plates are superbly rendered: crisp, colorful, and well proportioned. The depictions include Roman, Numidian, Carthaginian/Liby-Phoenician, Iberian, Celtic, and various Italian allied forces. The faces and eyes are some of the most realistic among Osprey's ancient warfare titles. One quibble is that the skin-tone/hair color of too many of the plates are perhaps too Anglo-Saxon rather than Mediterranean in appearance.
(To better understand the forces available to Hannibal one should consider augmenting this work with Osprey's "Rome's Enemies 4: Spanish Armies" by Martinez/McBride. It has some more accurate representations of Iberian forces.)

In summary, I recommend this book as a fine starting point for anyone studying the Punic Wars.

When I puirchased this Item, I hope that book clear my ideas about the most caracteristical element in the punic army: The Elephants. In this book the autor wrote about this magnificents warbeasts but he not includes drawings or images about the original concept of the carthaginian war elephant. Nevertheless, the autor, in the description of the carthaginian army elements, clarify the formations, armor and weapons used by the africans, included the elephants tactics and the concept of the carthaginian war elephant.
This book also deal with the republican roman army and the formation of the "republican legion", included the percentage of auxiliary troop and the evolution during the war.

I found this book to be an informative and a highly readable study of the armies of the Carthaginian Wars. It provided useful information on the organisation, weapons, tactics and uniforms of both the Roman and Carthaginian armies. The colour plates, maps, photographs and illustrations were excellent and supplemented the main body of text very well. I would have no hesitation in recommending this book to anyone who is interested in this period of Ancient History. The more serious student of the Carthaginian Wars would probably want to do further study beyond this book, but overall I would say this book is excellent.

This book first examines the origins, society, and army organization of Carthage, and then goes on to profile her armies and those of her allies, Spaniards, Gauls, Italians, Africans, and Greco-Macedonians. The second half of the book tells of the contemporary Roman armies, which finally succeeded in destroying Carthage in 146 BC. Fine artwork portraying a Roman horseman fighting a Numidian, a number of Celtic warriors, Spaniards, non-Roman Italians, Roman infantry, and Roman commanders.

I like the illustrations and the content with the exception of the amount of information that is stated. I wanted more of a novel type book. I still give it a 5 star for its beautiful illustrations.

For readers interested in the three Punic wars, this is a great place to start. The other reviews lay out the details in this book, so I won't go into them all over again. Suffice it to say that the two sides, Carthaginian and Roman, are considered in turn, as are the various types of troops on each side. If the volume is short, it's almost definitely because of the scarcity of information from this period. Immensely frustrating, but there it is.

Readers might be interested in a number of other Osprey volumes about the period. I would also recommend the brand new (Sept. 2010) Carthaginian Warrior, the indispensable Warfare in the Classical World by Warry, and two wonderful volumes by Peter Connolly: Greece and Rome at War and the expensive Hannibal and the Enemies of Rome. The last three might only be available secondhand, but they make great additions to any reader's library.

Last of all, I would mention - because of its relationship to the changes made in the Second Punic War - the volume, shortly to be available in paperback, The Cavalry of the Roman Republic, in which the author, Jeremiah McCall, posits the very believable theory that Roman citizen cavalry was NOT inferior to Rome's enemies, and was disbanded for an entirely different reason. All is not as it seems...

Ben Kane, author of The Forgotten Legion.

This book is decent and one of three that I recommend buying to obtain a decent overview of the Carthaginian Army during the Punic Wars. It is the best of the three at the concept of compilation of the Carthaginian Army, but for the most complete understanding, buy all three books.