“Africanus asked who, in Hannibal’s opinion, was the greatest general of all time. Hannibal replied: ‘Alexander, King of the Macedonians, because with a small force he routed armies of countless numbers, and because he traversed the remotest lands. Merely to visit such lands transcended human expectation.’ Asked whom he would place second, Hannibal said: ‘Pyrrhus. He was the first to teach the art of laying out a camp. Besides that, no one has ever shown nicer judgement in choosing his ground, or in disposing his forces. He also had the art of winning men to his side; so that the Italian peoples preferred the overlordship of a foreign king to that of the Roman people, who for so long had been the chief power in that country.’ When Africanus followed up by asking whom he ranked third, Hannibal unhesitatingly chose himself. Scipio burst out laughing at this, and said: ‘What would you have said if you had defeated me?’ ‘In that case’, replied Hannibal, ‘I should certainly put myself before Alexander and before Pyrrhus – in fact, before all other generals!’ This reply, with its elaborate Punic subtlety, and this unexpected kind of flattery…affected Scipio deeply, because Hannibal had set him (Scipio) apart from the general run of commanders, as one whose worth was beyond calculation.
Livy, The History of Rome from its Foundation XXXV.14
Actually if it must be, Washington is a very good actor. He is married to his one and only wife, and is a practicing Pentecostal. He is as far from woke as it is possible to be in Hollywood.
There has never been a good movie about Hannibal and I do not expect this one to break the streak.
Agree with you about Washington. If he was doing it just because of his acting chops, I’d say heck yeah! He’s probably my favorite current actor, but we all know it’s not just because he’s an excellent actor.
Hannibal –> Hanna (or Anna) + Baal –> favor (or grace) is Baal.
Best evidence is that Hannibal was of Phoenician descent. Selecting Denzel Washington smacks of PC choice and gives doubt as to the biographical accuracy of the film.
Recently Cleopatra was miscast. Seems Hannibal also. There were several Sub-Saharan kingdoms that the Portuguese Christianized. Denzel would be excellent as one of the warring kings. Such a film would bring to light history that is not well known.