BOOKWORMS! THIS. IS. SPARTA CARTHAGE!
Why yes, I have seen 300. And Gladiator. And you know? Despite the gore, I rather enjoyed both films. Thanks to these movies, when I was offered a copy of Hannibal: Enemy of Rome
Hannibal: Enemy of Rome is set during the second Punic War. Don’t know what that is? Well. Rome was around, doing its Roman thing (conquering territory, enslaving the natives, all that good stuff.) Carthage was located in North Africa, near modern day Tunisia. They weren’t big fans of Rome, but they were big fans of war. E’erybody liked a war back then, it seems.
Anyhow, Hannibal Barca, Carthaginian general and elephant enthusiast (not to be confused with Hannibal Lecter, fictional serial killer and genius) is making a name for himself and plotting revenge on Rome for a past war. On the eve of this military expedition, a young teen named Hanno and his best friend Suni go out fishing, get drunk, and are swept out to sea. They are (of course) captured by pirates and sold into slavery. Because that was a thing. ANYBODY could be kidnapped and sold into slavery. Spoils of war… Or piracy. Hanno winds up as a slave in a Roman household (ROMAN?! Ptooey!) and rather unexpectedly becomes friends with the son of the household, Quintus.
Hanno and Quintus, Carthaginian and Roman, friends? You remember that song from South Pacific? That you have to be carefully taught who to hate? These guys are teenagers, they’ve been raised to hate one another, but they’re still young enough and honorable enough to accept that there are exceptions to every rule.
Aside from that whole star-crossed friendship thing, Hannibal: Enemy of Rome
Who would like this book? Despite the heavy military emphasis (which isn’t usually something I enjoy), it is well-written historical fiction. If you enjoyed Ken Follett’s The Pillars of the Earth
Alright Bookworms. Fun question for you today. Although Hannibal didn’t technically ride an elephant into battle, it’s a pretty sweet steed. What animal would YOU ride into battle? (Fictional creatures are allowed. No judgement if you choose a unicorn.)
*If you make a purchase through a link on this site, I will receive a small commission. I will use that commission to beef up my battle steed fund.*
Nish
What do you have against unicorns? I love them, but ever since reading A Song of Ice and Fire, I dream of riding into battle on a dragon or a wolf. So badass!
Words For Worms
I have nothing against unicorns, LOL. I mean, I tend to think of them as peaceful creatures rather than war mongers, but whatever. A dragon would be a super awesome battle steed!
Sarah Says Read
300 is the first move the honeyman and I ever saw together, before we started dating 🙂
Hmmmm… I think I would ride a lion into battle. Orrrr… a Transformer/Dinobot. Is that allowed? Cause that would be the coolest.
Words For Worms
DUDE! If I could ride Grimlock into battle, I so would. The Dinobots are my FAVORITE. (And yes, I know way too much about Transformers thanks to my husband and his toy collection…)
Megan M.
I’ll go with a hippo. Those things are supposed to be really deadly. Maybe while it was attacking people I would have enough time to run away.
Words For Worms
Hippos are violent, they kill people all the time! Good choice.
Monika @ Lovely Bookshelf
A giraffe! They’re fairly quick, and I’d be nice and high up so I could get a good view of what’s happening.
Words For Worms
I like your thinking!
Jenny @ Reading the End
Oh, hundred percent camel for me. I would ride a camel into battle any day of the week. Camels can travel really far, under terrible conditions, without giving out, AND horses freak out when they smell a camel. So the opposing force’s cavalry would really be in trouble if we rode camels into battle. Also, camels are jerks, so there would be a limit to how sad I’d be if my camel died in battle.
(That last thing is false. I love camels, I would be heartbroken if one died. All through the movie Sahara, I kept clutching my friend’s army and shrieking “ARE THE CAMELS GOING TO DIE?”)
Words For Worms
LOL, oh my gosh this comment made me laugh SO HARD. Camels!
Katie @ Doing Dewey
I think I’ve said this before, but it bears repeating – your book review intros always make me so happy 🙂 The football team at my undergrad was actually the Spartans, so you can bet I’ve heard that line a lot!
Words For Worms
Awww I’m happy to hear you enjoy them, Katie! My high school mascot were the Spartans, but I’m old so 300 wasn’t a thing when I was in school. I’m sure they’ve adopted that tagline by now :).
batman
I would ride batman’s robotic dino into battle