The Siege of Syracuse

by Dan Armstrong

  Although the research for this book occurred over a period of twenty years and included the reading of many hundred books and articles, the historical basis of this book came primarily from the work of two writers, Polybius (200-118 B.C.) and Livy (59 B.C.-17 A.D.).

  Polybius’ The Rise of the Roman Empire contains the only contemporary history of the Second Punic War. Polybius was born two years after the end of the war. He toured the battlefields, traced Hannibal’s route through the alps, and interviewed men who took part in the war. His book is judged to be one of the masterpieces of classical literature. Written one hundred and fifty years before the birth of Christ, less than half of the original text remains.

  Livy’s The War with Hannibal is another masterpiece. Because Livy had access to all of Polybius’ writing, many of the missing parts of Polybius’ work are rewritten in Livy’s, though with a Roman slant. These two authors deserve my most profound acknowledgment. Without their work, the details of this story would not be known.

  The use of the focusing mirrors in the novel is not historic. It has been suggested by many writers spanning hundreds of years, but there is no mention of them in the remaining parts of Polybius, and neither Plutarch nor Livy comment on them. The idea has been tested in modern times; the problems suggested by those experiments are to some extent addressed in the novel. The mirrors are in the story as a speculation and to demonstrate that Archimedes had the science and the knowledge to build them—whether he actually did or not.

  The burning glass and the magnifying power of a glass bead were known long before the life of Archimedes, but the use of them together was not. This, like the mirrors, is mere speculation.

  Primary Sources:

  Bauman, Richard A., Women and Politics in Ancient Rome, Routledge, London, 1992.

  Carey, Brian Todd, and Joshua B. Allfree, John Cairns, Hannibal’s Last Battle: Zama and the Fall of Carthage, Westholme Publishing, Pennsylvania, 2008.

  Cowell, F.R., Life in Ancient Rome, Berkley Publishing Group, New York, 1980.

  Daly, Gregory, The Experience of Battle in the Second Punic War, Routledge, New York, 2002.

  Dodge, Theodore A., Hannibal, Da Capo Press, Boston, 1891.

  Dupont, Florence, Daily Life in Ancient Rome, translated by Christopher Woodall, Blackwell Publishers, Oxford, 1989.

  Everitt, Anthony, The Rise of Rome, Random House Trade Paperbacks, New York, 2013.

  Flaubert, Gustave, Salammbo, Albert and Charles Boni, New York, 1930.

  Herodotus, The Histories of Herodotus, translated by Harry Carter, The Heritage Press, New York, 1958.

  Jaeger, Mary, Archimedes and the Roman Imagination, University of Michigan Pres, United States, 2011.

  Laxenby, J.F., Hannibal’s War, University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, 1998.

  Livy, The War with Hannibal, translated by Aubrey De Sélincourt, Penguin Classics, London, 1965.

  MacLachlan, Bonnie, Women in Ancient Rome, New York, 2013.

  Miles, Richard, Carthage Must be Destroyed, Penguin Books, New York, 2010.

  Műnzer, Friedrich, Roman Aristocratic Parties and Families, translated by Thérèse Ridley, John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore and London, 1999.

  Nicolet, Claude, The World of the Citizen in Republican Rome, University of California Press, Berkeley, 1980.

  Plutarch, Lives, translated by John Dryden, The Publishers Plate Renting Company, New York, 1937.

  Polo, Francisco Pina, The Consul at Rome, Cambridge University Press, New York, 2011.

  Polybius, The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire, translated by Ian Scott-Kilvert, Penguin Classics, London, 1979.

  Scheid, John, An Introduction to Roman Religion, Indiana University Press. 2003.

  Taylor, Lily Ross, Roman Voting Assemblies, University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor, 1993.

  Warrior, Valerie M., Roman Religion, Cambridge University Press, New York, 2006.

  Notes:

  In several cases, pieces of dialogue in the novel have been paraphrased from dialogue appearing in Livy’s The War with Hannibal. The most extensive of these passages are identified below. The portion of Aristophanes’ play The Clouds that is quoted in the novel comes from pages 424-5 of Will Durant’s The Life of Greece.

  1. Polyaenus’ speech to the populace of Syracuse on pages 180 and 181 of the novel comes from the above referenced version of Livy, page 257.

  2. Damarata’s scolding of Adranodorus on page 182 of the novel is taken word for word from Livy page 258.

  3. Adranodorus’ address to the populace of Syracuse on page 184 of the novel comes from Livy pages 258-9.

  4. Sopater’s comments to the people gathered before the city council chambers on pages 192 and 193 of the novel comes from Livy page 261.

  5. Quintus Fabius Maximus’ speech to the Roman Senate on pages 205 and 206 of the novel come from Livy pages 239-40.

  6. Marcellus’ words to the noblemen of Syracuse on page 347 of the novel come from Livy page 337.

  THE AUTHOR

  Dan Armstrong is the editor and owner of Mud City Press, a small publishing company and online magazine operating out of Eugene, Oregon. Information about his books, short stories, political commentary, humor, and environmental studies is available at www.mudcitypress.com.