This painting was created around the year 1470 by an anonymous artist known as the Anghiari Master (c. 15th century). In subject matter, the artwork draws inspiration from the history of ancient Rome. Specifically, the title of the painting asserts that the artwork depicts the famous Battle of Zama (c. 202 BCE), in which Publius Cornelius Scipio and the Romans inflicted a decisive defeat on Hannibal Barca and the Carthaginians at the end of the Second Punic War (218–201 BCE).
Around 204 BCE, Scipio and tens of thousands of Roman warriors landed in North Africa to take the fight directly to Carthage while Hannibal—Carthage’s brilliant general—was still menacing the Italian countryside, as he had been doing since 218 BCE. Scipio’s presence in Africa prompted Hannibal to be called back in 203 BCE to defend the heartland of Carthage against the Roman invasion. Yet, the Carthaginians were now acting in a reactionary mindset, and Scipio, forcing his foes to respond to his moves, made sure to steer the course of the war in his favor. Scipio positioned his army on favorable terrain that suited the cavalry advantage that the Romans and their accompanying Numidian allies possessed over the Carthaginians. Hannibal was well aware of Rome’s cavalry superiority, but he hoped that Carthage’s formidable war elephants could counteract the Roman and Numidian horses. Differing numbers of horses and elephants aside, the Roman and Carthaginian forces were said to have been quite equal in manpower when they eventually met face to face at the Battle of Zama in 202 BCE.
A Roman historian named Livy (59 BCE-17 CE) dramatically described the scale and consequential nature of the battle. He wrote: “[T]o decide this great issue, the two most famous generals and the two mightiest armies of the two wealthiest nations in the world advanced to battle, doomed either to crown or to destroy the many triumphs each had won in the past” (Livy, Roman History, 30.32). In the ensuing showdown, Scipio’s cavalry advantage proved vital, whereas Hannibal’s elephants apparently did less harm to the Romans than they did to his own army. The Greek historian, Polybius (c. 200-118 BCE), described the battle:
“Since they were equally matched not only in numbers but also in courage, in warlike spirit and in weapons, the issue hung for a long while in the balance. Many fell on both sides, fighting with fierce determination where they stood, but at length the [Roman-aligned] squadrons of Masinissa and Laelius returned from their pursuit of the Carthaginian cavalry and arrived by a stroke of fortune at the crucial moment. When they charged Hannibal’s troops from the rear, the greater number of his men were cut down in their ranks, while of those who took to flight only a few escaped…” (Polybius, The Histories, 15.14).
Hannibal was one of the Carthaginians who lived to fight another day. Yet, after Zama, Carthage was compelled to contemplate surrender. In the ensuing negotiations, Carthage was forced to dismantle its navy, pay hefty quantities of war reparations, and formally cede Carthaginian territory in Spain to the control of the Romans.
Such is the history that inspired the Anghiari Master’s painting. Curiously, the painter took great liberties in his rendition of the battle. Rather than paint period-appropriate equipment and a more accurate landscape for the battle, the artist chose instead to depict warriors in late medieval armor battling it out between walled cities from the High Middle Ages.
Written by C. Keith Hansley
Sources:
- Livy, (Roman History) The War with Hannibal, translated by Aubrey de Sélincourt. New York: Penguin Classics, 1972.
- Polybius, (The Histories) The Rise of the Roman Empire, translated by Ian Scott Kilvert. New York: Penguin Classics, 1979.
- https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/e/roman/texts/polybius/15*.html
- https://www.britannica.com/event/Battle-of-Zama-Roman-Carthaginian-history
- https://www.britannica.com/biography/Scipio-Africanus/Battle-of-Zama
- https://www.livius.org/articles/person/hannibal-3-barca/
- https://www.britannica.com/biography/Hannibal-Carthaginian-general-247-183-BC/The-Alpine-crossing
- https://collections.artsmia.org/art/1581/the-battle-of-zama-anghiari-master
