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The great Carthaginian general, Hannibal, has never forgotten the defeat and humiliation of his people by Rome. Now he plans his revenge and the destruction of the old enemy. While Hannibal prepares for war, Hanno, the son of one of his most trusted military commanders goes out fishing with Suni, his best friend ― and is washed out to sea. Captured by pirates, transported to an Italian slave market, one of the boys is sold as a gladiator, the other as a field slave. Both believe that they will never see home or family again.
Against all probability, Hanno strikes up a relationship with Quintus and Aurelia, his Roman master’s children. But trouble is never far away. As the Second Punic War begins, pulling the world into chaos, Hanno’s life is threatened by a cruel overseer, while his friend battles to survive as a gladiator. The destiny of all four young people ― Roman and Carthaginian ― is to be an extraordinary one. So too is that of their families. The devastating war unleashed upon Rome by Hannibal will change all of their lives ― and history ― forever.
92 Comments
@Tom R: Welcome to my site, and cheers for posting! Hannibal is to be one of four books, actually. However, the second one won’t come out until after two Spartacus novels that I’m writing. The first, Spartacus: The Gladiator, comes out in the UK on January 19, and will be out in the US in the early summer. Apologies for the delay with continuing Hanno’s and Quintus’ stories!
@ Ben:
Just finished Hannibal yesterday…what a masterpiece ! I think it’s your best novel so far. I love the way you depicted both sides, Carthaginians and Romans, without falling in cheap Manichaeism. Great battle scenes once more and nice character developement (especially concerning Sapho and Hanno.) I can’t wait to read the second one.
@Kara: thanks!! *Big grin* Very glad that you liked the portrayals of the two sides. That was one of my main aims – to show that both sides were very similar as well as very different, and that there were no “goodies” or “baddies”.
@ Ben: You’re welcome ! As you wrote, no goodies or baddies, just men fighting for their respective countries.
On my way to the shops to get it now, can’t wait!
@Muz73 – good for you – I hope you enjoy it!
Enjoy it?? Cant put it down Ben, another piece of excellence, time couldn’t go quick enough after i finished reading The Road to Rome, keep up the good work , (know you will anyway)
@Muz73: Cheers! *grins*
Hello:
.
I just finished your book and enjoyed it inmensely. I love the way you portray both sides quite fairly, and i hope you keep that in future books. You surely do both sides justice, instead of the more common ‘Good vs Evil’ dichotomy so common in historical novels set in this period, you surely did a great job with showing that people on both sides could be friends or at least feel sympathy/admire each other (as was the case with the Carthaginian general Hannibal and the Roman commander Africanus).
However, (and forgive me for nit-picking, I mean it not as a negative critic) there’s something that bothered me: names. I don’t see why Quintus’ sister is called Aurelia if their father’s cognomen was Fabricius. She should’ve been named Fabricia, as female names came from family names, unless you’re going to explain that it’s a nickname, or expand her father’s name to Gaius Aurelius Fabricius. Otherwise, it doesn’t sound realistic.
Another thing is that you call the Roman general by his first name all the time. Only family and friends did that, so why does everyone call him Publius? Would you call, say, Gen. Bernard Law Montgomery, ‘Bernard’ all the time or make your characters do that insted of calling him Montgomery formally or Monty informally? Therefore, he should be addressed formally as Publius Cornelius or informally as Scipio.
Apart from that, great job, very few anachronisms, which is a relief for us History fans who always have a very exacting standard for historical accuracy. Please, keep the quality high so your series might be ranked amongst the best Punic Wars novels, which are pitifully few. I cannot wait to see how the story continues, and see how you portray the Scipio’s son, Africanus, a great commander of his own, always overshadowed by the more famous Hannibal. Hope you give him a prominent role in the next books, and if you get Quintus into Scipio Africanus’ legions in Hispania, I will love you forever
Thanks for your patience, and a big hug to you.
@Cornelia: welcome to my website, and thanks for posting. I’m very glad that you enjoyed Hannibal: Enemy of Rome.
To answer your questions: I’m aware that Aurelia’s name is not technically ‘correct’, but to be honest, Roman names are a struggle a lot of the time, for readers as well as for me. To have called her ‘Fabricia’ would have made reading the book boring in my opinion, so I called her Aurelia instead.
The ‘Publius’/'Scipio’ is one that slipped past me, I’m afraid. Thanks for bringing it to my attention. It’s just in time for the changes to be made for the paperback.
I do intend to set one of the next three novels about Quintus and Hanno in Iberia. Whether Quintus will be there or not, I do not know yet!
Best wishes
Ben
Hi ben wicked new book. When is the nxt istalment due out? You must of wrote it by now surely:-). Have been reading the grail quest series of b. Cornwell,s, absolutley fantastic! Hopefully your still be writing bestsellers in 30 years.
Thanks for replying, Mr. Kane. I love it when writers take us humble readers’s suggestions into account!
I do understand why you chose to call the female protagonist the way you did, now that you’ve explained, and I agree that Aurelia sounds better than Fabricia even if not technically accurate. For me, Roman names are quite easy, but of course it isn’t the case for everyone.
Nice to know you will move the action to Iberia. Now that places my expectations very high. Hanno fighting in Italy with Hannibal and Quintus fighting in Iberia with Africanus, and then they met again in the final battle… Aw, that would be great. I’m already dreaming and imagining the next books. Thanks for the wee bit of a clue you gave me, I’ll live on that for the long months/years of waiting for book #2!
Best,
Cornelia.
@hanno: Thanks!
Next instalment not due until 2013, I’m afraid. That’s because I have not one, but two Spartacus books coming out next year. Spartacus: The Gladiator comes out in the UK on Jan. 19, and the sequel, Spartacus: Rebellion, is out in August. Hopefully, they’ll keep you going – along with the outstanding Mr Cornwell’s books.
Cheers for the good wishes too – I very much intend still be writing bestsellers in 30 years – 40 or more if I can do it!
Good evening, Ben. I would like to ask you, when it will be translated the new book “Hanibal, enemy of Rome” in greek language? I’ve read all three books about lost legion. thank you and sorry for my English.
@spiros: Af caristo for your post, and welcome to my website! I’m so pleased that you liked the Forgotten Legion books. As for Hannibal: Enemy of Rome, I have no idea when it will be translated into Greek. At the moment, it has only sold to the USA. I’m sorry not to be able to give you more information, but I will post up any new information as I receive it. Thanks again and best wishes.
Hi Ben!!
i´m from Mexico, i just finished the trilogy Road to Rome, and i loved your work!! i was really exicted with Romulus, Fabiola and Tarquinius, there are excelent books
they really take me to the romans age, you are a great writer!
now i´m interested in your book Hannibal, but in spanish, as you could see i don´t know to much of english, so i want to know when your book will arrive to libraries of Mexico. Ican´t wait to read this book.
Thanks!! XOXO
When will your Spartacus books come out in the US? I really enjoyed the forgotten legion books I am looking forward to hannibal. Thanks for your time.
@esmecorpus: muchas gracias! Estoy siempre feliz recibir emails desde el mundo de latone america! Lo siento, pero Hannibal no esta tradicido en castellano en este momento. No se cuando va a estar
@Doug: thanks for your message, and welcome to my website! I am so glad that you liked the Forgotten Legion trilogy. Hannibal does not come out in the US until 2013, because Spartacus is coming out first. – in June I think for book one. Not sure about book two. You can get Hannibal now off Amazon US, however, from sellers. Best of luck!
Sorry its been a long while, will spartacus and hannibal be available in the US? Btw, I just wanted to thank my favorite author for the inspiration to get my work published!
I found out recenty that my poetry will get published in a multi-poet book! And I owe it to you Mr.Kane, along with many more authors, for giving others the inspiration to put ourselves out there!
@cereza671: no worries! Glad to see you back again. Congratulations on getting your poems into an anthology! You must be so proud!
Hannibal won’t be out until 2013 in the US, I’m afraid. The easiest thing is to go to http://www.bookdepository.co.uk and order it there. They do not charge shipping to anywhere in the world, and their prices are about the same as Amazon! Spartacus will be out in the summer of 2012 in the USA, so only a few months after here…
Hi ! I just loved the forgotten legion triology, and i’m loving Hannibal, one of the best novels I’ve ever read so far ! I just wanted to say that you are a great inspiration for me, I want to write several books about Illyria and Thrace, and thanks to your books I’ve got my inspiration now ! By the way, I would like to know when the 2nd book of Hannibal will come out ! Thanks !
@Illyrian Warrior: welcome to my site, and thanks for posting. Very cool that you like Hannibal so much! Thank you, and I’m glad to have helped inspire you
I’m sorry to say that the second Hannibal book won’t be out until 2013…but the good news is that two books about a certain Thracian come out next year. Spartacus: The Gladiator comes out on Jan 19….I hope that you enjoy it too!
@Ben Kane: I’m so damn happy when authors reply to my comments and I think it will worth waiting for Hannibal and I just can’t wait the book about Spartacus (19 my lucky number
) and I would be infinitely happy if the book will contain basic information about the thracian warriors, which is the only missing piece of my puzzle ! Thank you one more time 
Hi, i’m loris from italy!!! I just finished to write the second book of the forgotten legion trilogy and i can’t wait for starting reading the third book but i laso can’t wait for buying the book about Hannibal: but when will it arrive in the italian libraries this book? Soon i hope!!! Sorry for my english…i hope you enjoyed the travel to italy….bye
loris
From you Mr.Kane that is an,honor! I am very proud, I never thought that it would happen. Also wanted to thank you in inspiring me with your books. Ive decided once I am able to go back to school I want to major in either ancient and medievil history or writing or both! So,thank you,again for your books! Ive been avid in my research on the Romans and I get excited when I spot familiar Roman figures from your books! Alas, such a long ways away until I get my hands on those books and I refuse to wait that long lol so I will indeed buy those books from that site!
Again,thank you!
@Illyrian Warrior: the textbook you need for Thracian warriors has just been published in the last few months! It’s called The Gods of Battle, and it’s written by Chris Webber. It’s the first decent text on Thracians in an awfully long time, and came out just in time for me when I was finishing off Spartacus.
@djugo: Italy was great, thank you. I love your country! It was the 6th time I’ve been, and it won’t be the last!
As for when Hannibal will arrive in Italy – I don’t know. It hasn’t sold to Italy yet, so it therefore has not been translated either
Hopefully, it will be soon. I will post about it here when it does.
Ciao!
@cereza671: Way to go! That’s so great that you’ve decided to study history! Good for you. I wish you every success with that.
@Ben Kane: OMG thank you one more time, I need that book immediately, I’t s my best source so far ! .. Thank you once again for your help !!
@Illyrian Warrior: you’re welcome! Glad to be of help.
Hello Ben, I have just completed your Lost Legions books 1 and 2, and i was very happy and pleased with them both, but being blind, i dont read the text i listen to them on my audio player.
What i now need to know is have you any idea when the next book will be recorded onto CD’s or cassettes, so that i may purchase them?
I want both Book 3 in the series and also Hannibul.
@Squirewill: Hi, and welcome to my site. Thanks for posting! I’m so pleased that you enjoyed the first two books on audio player. Michael Praed has done a great job, I think. You;ll be pleased to know that Hannibal is already available as an audiobook, and The Road to Rome will be soon – as far as I know, it’s being recorded in or around the current time. If you keep a lookout on iTunes, it should pop up there soon. Best wishes!
hiii there Ben!!! i wonder! when its going “spartacus: the gladiator” and “hannibal: enemy of rome” coming out here in mexico? i just finished the forgotten legion trilogy!! greatt books by the way!!
i really enjoy it
well like i said im waiting for your next bestt seller!! jaaja
greetings from mexico!!!!!
@markiles: Buenas tardes, Marcelo! Feliz Ano Nuevo. Estoy siempre feliz recibir emails desde Mexico o otros paises latinoamericanos. Quede 13 meses viajandon en centro america y america del sur en 1998/9. Fantastico. Dos meses en Mexico: desde la frontera con Tejas hasta Chiapas y Belice. De donde es en Mexico?
Thanks for posting! I’m glad that you enjoyed the books so much. The good news about Spartacus and Hannibal is that they ARE going to be translated into Spanish. The bad news is that it will be at least 6-12 months before the first one is published. Lo siento.
Saludos.
Hi Ben, Just to say you treated and operated on both my collies during your time in Madeley. Dizzy says WOOF and her paw is just fine , Buster has moved on to Elysium but went with pride and a shiny set of gnashers which you kindly polished up for him …. Enough of that …. . I’ve read The Forgotten Legion triology and am now well into Hannibal Enemy of Rome . Your books are just page turningly brilliant ! I’m a big fan of Wilbur Smith and quite honestly your books are in my opinion every bit as good and exciting as his. I do have a request though. I don’t know how to pronounce some of the names of the characters which I find is distracting when I am reading . I keep trying out different ways of saying them which is off putting e.g. is it Fabrickius or Fabreeshus ? is it Mar-shee-are-lus or MarTiarlus ? As you can tell I’m no Latin scholar and I would find it a great help if you could add in an appendix or something to help a pleb such as me . All the best to you and I shall definitely be reading all your books . Cheers, Neal.
@Neal: Thanks for posting on the website – and hello again! Madeley – that seems like a lifetime ago, although it’s only 7 years. Glad to hear that Dizzy is still going. How old is she now?
Great that you like my books too – thanks for your compliments. To be compared to Wilbur Smith is very very cool!
As for the names, well I’m no Latin scholar. I know that Gaius Julius Caesar should be pronounced ‘Guy-us Yoo-lee-us Kaiser’, but my names – I have no idea! I pronounce them ‘Fab-rish-ius’ and ‘Mar-shee-ah-lis’ – which, looking at Caesar’s name, are both probably wrong! Will try to find out and let you know. Best wishes!
Hey Ben,
I had a quick question. See here’s the thing, I read the forgotten legion trilogy in less then two weeks so needless to say I am nothing short of a fan of your novels. Recently in my Modern Dilemmas class I was assigned an independent banned book research project. Nothing would please me more then to read another one of your novels and especially for this project. My teacher showed my class a list of banned books, and needless to say it had some pretty ridiculous titles on it. For instance, the list had the book “Winnie the Pooh” as well as “Where’s Waldo”. Thus I figured that if those books are banned, perhaps one of yours might be. Now I do not mean for that to come off as a negative connotation, however I was wondering if you could tell me if any of your books are indeed banned. By the way, just to elaborate on the meaning of the word banned, I mean that are any of your books banned from being in a school curriculum, a town library, or even a high school library. If any of your books are then that would be great news for me haha!
Sincerely,
Cody B.
@irishwit77/Cody: Hi! Honoured that you want to choose one of my books! However, I have no idea whether any of my books are banned. I wouldn’t know about anything like that – you’d need to ask. Why in all the gods’ names is Winnie the Pooh banned???
I really have no idea. To be honest it’s probably some southern states that decided to band together and ban Winnie the Pooh. Either way I am researching numerous sites to see if any one of your books are banned. To be honest I will most likely have a better chance with it being banned in America. Generally speaking when it comes to censorship, the United States enforce it more then what the UK does. I’m still trying to find something. If you hear anything about your books being banned it would be great if you told me. Thanks Ben.
just read the exellent Spartacus the Gladiator cant wait for the next one id rated it as one of the best books ive ever read … great work Ben Ill deffo be investing in some of your other books
@VinnyDent: Thanks very much! High praise indeed.