Hannibal and the Punic Wars Jamie Redfern
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- Society & Culture
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A History Of: Hannibal and the Punic Wars is a biweekly biography of everybody's favourite Carthaginian general. We follow Hannibal throughout his campaigns as well as looking at the Punic Wars at large. This is done through a mixture of lecture style episodes as well as more relaxed Let's Talk episodes; in which I invite guests onto the show to talk about Hannibal, Rome, Carthage, the Punic Wars and the ancient world in general. Please note, I have recently upgraded my recording equipment and am updating the back-catalogue. Presently episodes 4 through 17 need to be re-recorded; so bear with me.
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Episode 79 - Epilogue
The final episode. We analyse the Second Punic War, and why Carthage lost. We then look at what happened to Hannibal and Scipio after the war. We conclude by looking at the short Third Punic War, in which Carthage was destroyed.
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Episode 78 - Zama
In this week, our penultimate episode, we cover the battle of Zama. Scipio finally fights Hannibal. This brings to a close the Second Punic War.
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Episode 77 - Great Plains
This week we cover the Battle of the Great Plains, and close the Italian theatre of the war as Hannibal finally goes home.
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Episode 76 - Utica
This week the African war really gets underway. Scipio, Laelius and Masinissa duel with Hasdrubal and Syphax around Utica, while things go badly for Hannibal in Italy.
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Episode 75 - Into Africa
This week Scipio invades Africa and Mago invades Italy.
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Episode 74 - The Debate
This week we wrap up events in Sicily, but the main focus is the epic senate debate between Fabius and Scipio.
Customer Reviews
Fantastic
Wonderfully done. I’m a huge fan of how Jamie actually quotes and cites the sources he uses. I also enjoyed that he gave his own options about the reliability of some conflicting source material but would tell both versions.
Was extremely impressed
This podcast is OUT-STANDING. Elite. No more need be said
But I will anyway!
I love the combination of historical information, sourcing quotes of great leaders, alleged and recorded by ancient historians to have happened, and adding analysis of historical events with a modern lens. Our host is top tier. A mellifluous voice, with obvious passion tempered by a cool, well articulated delivery of facts, accounts of what happened, and theory crafting occasionally or questioning things based on his understanding of events, but all the while keeping it engaging and interesting. Never rote, the information is always telling a human story, of the people who were a product of their time, with their own hopes, dreams, desires, motivations, fears, victories, and failures.
Why did they do what they did? Theory crafting and using available information and historical context clues to dissect it all.
History is a STORY, an epic, the best story, OUR story, the story that all other fictional stories reference and are based.
Full of drama, motivation, poetic justice, tragedy, conflicts of the heart and mind, mistakes, failures, victories, tragic endings, layers of complexity and nuance, legendary figures of history with strong personalities and interesting philosophies, achievements, and most interestingly, failures.
In particular the debate with Scipio in the senate on episode 74 was RIVETING. I could see it all in my mind’s eye.
Hannibal is a legend, Scipio as well, along with many other historical figures that had a part to play. Do yourself a favor and enjoy this podcast.
History is entertainment, but also has lessons to learn, and the issues then are relevant and relatable today. The host took us on an odyssey and effectively showcased this truth. Fun to know, that no matter where you go in history, just humans doing human things.
Fantastic Podcast!
This is exactly what I look for in a history podcast. The narrative is told in a gripping and straightforward way, there is enough detail that it becomes incredibly interesting, but it does not get too sidetracked. I also personally loved the lets talk episodes about Alternative Histories, Adrianople, and more. I found that they really let me see a larger perspective. 10 out of 10 podcast!