The Sword of Rome : A Biography of Marcus Claudius Marcellus

Marcellus' Military Exploits Were Largely Unmatched By Any Other Aristocrat Of Roman Middle Republic. As A Young Soldier In The First Punic War, He Won A Reputation For His Skill In Single Combat. In His First Consulship, He Earned A Triumph For Defeating A Gallic Tribe, No Small Feat In And Of Itself, And Also Slew The Gallic Chieftain Britomartus In Single Combat. Consequently, He Earned The 'spolia Opima', An Honor, According To Later Romans, That Had Only Been Earned Twice Before, Once By Romulus Himself. He Went On To Defeat The Seemingly Invincible Hannibal In A Small Battle Around The Central Italian City Of Nola, And Subsequently Led An Army To Subdue And Plunder The Powerful City Of Syracuse In An Epic, Two-year Siege (despite The Ingenious Defensive Measures Of The Inventor Archimedes). Yet, Despite His Undeniable Success As A Warrior And Commander, Marcellus Met With Considerable Political Opposition At Rome. Marcellus' Career Not Only Makes Exciting Reading, But Gives An Excellent Vantage Point From Which To View The Military And Political Struggles Of The Period And The Role Of Military Successes In The Aristocratic Culture Of The Roman Republic. This Biography Is An Important Addition To Existing Works On Roman Military And Political History--publisher's Description, P. [2] Of Dust Jacket. The Early Career -- Hannibal And Campania -- Syracus -- The Political Battle For Syracus -- The Final Italian Campaigns. Jeremiah Mccall. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [147]-148) And Index. Marcellus military exploits were largely unmatched by any other aristocrat of Roman Middle Republic. As a young soldier in the First Punic War, he won a reputation for his skill in single combat. In his first consulship, he earned a triumph for defeating a Gallic tribe, no small feat in and of itself, and also slew the Gallic chieftain Britomartus in single combat. Consequently, he earned the spolia opima, an honor, according to Roman antiquarians, which had only been earned twice before, once by Romulus himself. He went on to defeat the hitherto-invincible Hannibal in a small battle around the central Italian city of Nola, and subsequently led an army to subdue and plunder the powerful city of Syracuse in an epic 2 year siege (despite the ingenious defensive measures of the inventor Archimedes). Yet, despite his undeniable success as a warrior and commander, Marcellus met with considerable political opposition at Rome.Marcellus career not only makes exciting reading, but gives an excellent vantage point from which to view the military and political struggles of the period and the role of military successes in the aristocratic culture of the Roman Republic. His biography will be an important addition to existing works on Roman military history. [Elib] Marcellus' military exploits were largely unmatched by any other aristocrat of Roman Middle Republic. As a young soldier in the First Punic War, he won a reputation for his skill in single combat. In his first consulship, he earned a triumph for defeating a Gallic tribe, no small feat in and of itself, and also slew the Gallic chieftain Britomartus in single combat. Consequently, he earned the spolia opima, an honor, according to Roman antiquarians, that had only been earned twice before, once by Romulus himself. He went on to defeat the hitherto-invincible Hannibal in a small battle around the central Italian city of Nola, and subsequently led an army to subdue and plunder the powerful city of Syracuse in an epic 2 year siege (despite the ingenius defensive measures of the inventor Archimedes). Yet, despite his undeniable success as a warrior and commander, Marcellus met with considerable political opposition at Rome.Marcellus' career not only makes exciting reading, but gives an excellent vantage point from which to view the military and political struggles of the period and the role of military successes in the aristocratic culture of the Roman Republic. His biography will be an important addition to existing works on Roman military history. Marcellus military exploits were largely unmatched by any other aristocrat of Roman Middle Republic. As a young soldier in the First Punic War, he won a reputation for his skill in single combat. In his first consulship, he earned a triumph for defeating a Gallic tribe, no small feat in and of itself, and also slew the Gallic chieftain Britomartus in single combat. Consequently, he earned the spolia opima, an honor, according to Roman antiquarians, which had only been earned twice before, once by Romulus himself. He went on to defeat the hitherto-invincible Hannibal in a small battle around the central Italian city of Nola, and subsequently led an army to subdue and plunder the powerful city of Syracuse in an epic 2 year siege (despite the ingenious defensive measures of the inventor Archimedes). Yet, despite his undeniable success as a warrior and commander, Marcellus met with considerable political opposition at Rome. Marcellus career not only makes exciting reading, but gives an excellent vantage point from which to view the military and political struggles of the period and the role of military successes in the aristocratic culture of the Roman Republic. His biography will be an important addition to existing works on Roman military history The fascinating biography of the ancient Roman military commander and politician who led the Siege of Syracuse during the Second Punic War. The military exploits of Marcus Claudius Marcellus were largely unmatched in the Roman Middle Republic. As a young soldier in the First Punic War, he won a reputation for his skill in single combat. In his first consulship, he slayed the Gallic chieftain Britomartus in single combat, thus earning the spolia opima , an honor which had only been earned twice before, once by Romulus himself. Marcellus defeated the hitherto-invincible Hannibal in a small battle, then led an army to conquer Syracuse in an epic two-year siege—which was achieved despite the ingenious defensive measures of the inventor Archimedes. Yet, despite his great success as a warrior and commander, Marcellus met with considerable political opposition in Rome. This thrilling biography offers an insightful perspective on the military and political struggles of the Roman Middle Republic and the role of military successes in the aristocratic culture of the time. Sword of Rome was previously published as Sword of the Republic .