Between Rome and Carthage by Michael P. Fronda

The core of the book is a detailed analysis of each major area of southern Italy.

Although, as Fronda argues, such evidence may less essential for political and diplomatic history, in point of fact the use of archaeological, numismatic and epigraphic evidence plays an important role in his attempts to build up a picture of the communities which defected to Hannibal, and therefore perhaps deserves a fuller methodological discussion than it receives. The non-literary evidence is discussed only briefly, but Fronda adopts a pragmatic approach to the archaeological evidence and rejects use of any one specific theoretical framework. In practice, however, the sources are generally accepted, as credible in most places, although with a suitably critical evaluation. The introduction also provides a summary of arguments about extent and reliability of the ancient sources for this period and asserts the need to tread a middle ground between two extremes of outright scepticism about the credibility of such sources and general acceptance of them. The author makes a plausible case for rejecting the idea that Rome, Hannibal, or other states pursued long-term strategic objectives in the 4 th-3 rd centuries BC. The introduction to the book sets out the main theoretical framework used by Fronda, the 'Realist' theory of international relations advocated by Eckstein and others which assumes that ancient states behave in a purely pragmatic way and often adhere to relatively short-term policies and alliances as they respond to immediate circumstances or seek to promote their own interests. The geographical focus of the book is specifically on southern Italy, the region in which Hannibal enjoyed most success with this policy. More specifically, it considers Hannibal's strategy of trying to break up the Roman alliance in Italy, and analyses the possible motivations which underlay the decisions by allies on whether to revolt against Rome or not.

This volume, based on the author's PhD thesis, takes an alternative approach by examining the war from the viewpoint of Rome's Italian allies.

Many studies of the Second Punic War have focused mainly on the military aspects, or on the impact of the Punic wars on Rome.

Between Rome and Carthage by Michael P. Fronda