2022/50: Hostis -- Vale Aida

2022/50: Hostis -- Vale Aida

He could wash away the stain of Cannae in Hannibal’s blood -- Hannibal, the savage, the warmonger, who had massacred eight legions in a single afternoon. Who would not justify himself. Who lit candles to Vesta, and knew Aristophanes on sight. [loc. 2249]

I greatly enjoyed this author's previous novels, Elegy and Swansong, and was intrigued to read that she was working on a novel about the Second Punic War. Hostis -- the title means 'enemy' -- did not disappoint, though I would probably have appreciated it even more if I'd known enough history to determine where her version diverges from canon.

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