Hannibal's Crossing of the Alps

Eli Schuster's View:

Synopsis: (selections from Livy's The War with Hannibal). In 218 BC, Carthaginian commander Hannibal led an army of nearly 90,000 foot soldiers, 12,000 mounted cavalry and a whole bunch of elephants through the Alps because he wanted to conquer Rome in the toughest possible way he could imagine.

What I Learned: Hannibal's crossing of the Alps - elephants and all - took only 15 days.

Memorable Line: "The elephants proved both a blessing and a curse: for though getting them along the narrow and precipitous tracks caused serious delay, they were none the less a protection to the troops, as the natives, never having seen such creatures before, were afraid to come near them."

You Might Like This Book If: You need to take your grumpy great dane to the vet's office and you need some inspiration.

Life Lesson: When the local barbarians keep attacking your army's supply train, and your elephants keep falling off steep mountain cliffs to horrible deaths below, you keep going.

Reflections on the Fall of Rome

Eli Schuster's View:

Synopsis: (edits from The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, three installments between 1776 and 1788) British historian Edward Gibbon tells a strange tale of an agricultural republic that became an empire ("an absolute monarchy disguised by the forms of a commonwealth"), and a once-proud people who lost their freedoms and didn't care so long as they were given bread and entertainment.

What I Learned: Roman soldiers carried short, well-tempered Spanish blades, and were encouraged to stab, rather than slash at an enemy.

Memorable Line: "If a savage conqueror should issue from the deserts of Tartary, he must repeatedly vanquish the robust peasants of Russia, the numerous armies of Germany, the gallant nobles of France, and the intrepid freemen of Britain; who, perhaps, might confederate for their common defence. Should the victorious Barbarians carry slavery and desolation as far as the Atlantic Ocean, ten thousand vessels would transport beyond their pursuit the remains of civilized society; and Europe would revive and flourish in the American world, which is already filled with her colonies, and institutions."

You Might Like This Book If: Russell Crowe's performance in Gladiator inspired you to learn everything you could about those wacky Romans.

Not Sure I Agree With This... "(E)very age of the world has increased, and still increases, the real wealth, the happiness, the knowledge, and perhaps the virtue, of the human race."