A stirring account of the most influential battle in history

For millennia, Carthage’s triumph over Rome at Cannae in 216 B.C. has inspired reverence and awe. It was the battle that countless armies tried to imitate, most notably in World Wars I and II, the battle that obsessed legendary military minds. Yet no general ever matched Hannibal’s most unexpected, innovative, and brutal military victory—the costliest day of combat for any army in history. Robert L. O’Connell, one of the most admired names in military history, now tells the whole story of Cannae for the first time, giving us a stirring account of this apocalyptic battle of the Second Punic War, and its causes and consequences.

O’Connell shows how a restive Rome amassed a giant army to punish Carthage’s masterful commander, who had dealt them deadly blows at Trebia and Lake Trasimene, and how Hannibal outwitted enemies that outnumbered him. O’Connell describes Hannibal’s strategy of blinding his opponents with sun and dust, enveloping them in a deadly embrace and sealing their escape, before launching a massive knife fight that would kill 48,000 men in close contact. The Ghosts of Cannae then brilliantly conveys how this disastrous pivot point in Rome’s history ultimately led to the republic’s resurgence and the creation of its empire.

Piecing together decayed shreds of ancient reportage, the author paints powerful portraits of the leading players: Hannibal, resolutely sane and uncannily strategic; Varro, Rome’s co-consul who was so scapegoated for the loss; and Scipio Africanus, the surviving (and self-promoting) Roman military tribune who would one day pay back Hannibal at Zama in North Africa. Finally, O’Connell reveals how Cannae’s legend has inspired and haunted military leaders ever since, and the lessons it teaches for our own wars.

Superbly researched and written with wit and erudition, The Ghosts of Cannae is the definitive account of a battle whose history continues to resonate.

羅伯特‧歐康納（Robert L.O’Connel）

任職於美國國家地面情報中心（National Ground Intelligence Center），是《軍事史季刊》（MHQ: The Quarterly Journal of Military History）的撰稿編輯，最近則是擔任美國海軍研究所（Naval Postgraduate School）訪問教授。

歐康納的著作有:

《武器及人員：戰爭、武器及侵略的歷史》（Of Arms and Men: A History of War, Weapons and Aggression），

《神聖的載具：對戰艦的崇拜以及美國海軍的崛起》（Sacred Vessels: The Cult of Battleship and the Rise of the U.S. Navy），

《第二位騎士的馳騁：戰爭之誕生及死亡》（Ride of the Second Horseman: The Birth and Death of War），

《刀劍之魂：從史前到現在的武器及戰爭圖說歷史》（Soul of the Sword: An Illustrated History of Weaponry and Warfare from Prehistory to the Present）以及小說Fast Eddie。

譯者簡介

翁嘉聲

目前為國立成功大學歷史系專任教授 教授西洋史課程 專攻希臘羅馬古典文明以及古代教會史