03-26-2019, 04:37 PM
I must admit I was focused on the events of the winter of 202 BC, and zama in particluar, but going back to "The Great Plains" would make Polybius look more suspect too I believe. I think you hinted at this in the Zama thread? and that Baecula was a doublet of Ilipa too...?
I had a quick look at Livy`s and Polybius` versions of the Great Plains. In particluar the absence of stats for these battles is notable; no detailed figures for killed, prisioners, captured standards, or elephants that you find elsewhere in Livy. Polybius lacking then in official data and another battle is fabricated after the event ...and Livy follows Polybius of course.
I had a quick look at Livy`s and Polybius` versions of the Great Plains. In particluar the absence of stats for these battles is notable; no detailed figures for killed, prisioners, captured standards, or elephants that you find elsewhere in Livy. Polybius lacking then in official data and another battle is fabricated after the event ...and Livy follows Polybius of course.
