| Hannibal in the Series |
Oh, the joy I felt when I discovered the series will first cover one of the greatest generals in history, Hannibal Barca, the Carthaginian leader who fought the Romans for over 15 years, and on their turf.
When the episode opened, we glimpse a young, and Nubian, Hannibal Barca. Immediately flags were raised. The Carthaginians were descendants of the Phoenicians, a Semetic people from the area of Palaestine, not a Nubian from sub-Saharan Africa. Normally, I do not focus on semantics (just like Heimdall in the movie "Thor" also being portrayed by an African, which was very strange, being the gods of the Vikings were Nordic), but for viewers who are new to the history of Rome, they may be mislead. This is inaccuracy #1.
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| Historical Representation of Hannibal |
When Hannibal marched through Hispania, some tribes joined him, but not all. Some remained neutral, some remained allied with Rome, and some switched sides as the needs of their individual tribes hung in the balance. The series shows Hannibal approaching the Lusitanians, promising them freedom from a Roman "yoke". This is also not true. Hannibal was looking for soldiers to march to Italy, plain in simple. This is inaccuracy #2.
I know each episode is pressed for time. We saw this as they skipped the entire campaign of Hannibal in Italy, the revolt of Syracuse in Sicily, and after Hannibal's defeat at the Battle of Zama, his departure to Greece, Syria, Armenia, then back to Bithynia. All the final years of Hannibal's life are passed over, going straight to his death. Even both of the theories surrounding his death are not probed; he either died of a sword wound, or the more widely accepted theory, he committed suicide by poisoning.
Barbarians Rising airs on the History Channel every Monday at 8pm CST.
I recommend everyone to read Livy's "War with Hannibal". Then you will be more attuned to the fallacies that happen in various documentaries.
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