Abstract
The article is devoted to the ideological struggle between Rome and Carthage during the Hannibal war. In the conditions of ancient society, it had a form of series of religious and mythological/ideological concepts. Carthaginian propaganda used a very famous cycle of myths about Heracles in the Greek world. Ideological support for Hannibal’s campaign in Italy used the reinterpretation of the tenth feat of Hercules. The action of this myth took place on the territory of North Africa, Spain, and Italy. In historiography has long been noted that the initial stage of Hannibal’s campaign in Italy coincides with the route of the so-called the so-called “Road of Heracles/Hercules”. This way involves the crossing of the Alpine passes that allowed us to have direct parallels between Hannibal and Hercules. Among the elements of anti-Roman propaganda, the emphasis should be placed on the special mission of Hannibal, which was to protect and save the Italian communities from the tyrannical power of Rome. The main content of Carthage’s propaganda campaign was the personifi cation of Hannibal, including through coinage, as the new Hercules and liberator of Italy. This shows that religious images and stories during the war are subject to numerous transformations and reinterpretations, playing the role of ideological weapons in the struggle for the sympathy and loyalty of the Italian peoples.
Keywords
Roman history, Hannibal, “Road of Heracles”, Punic wars.
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