09-22-2019, 01:19 PM
So my sarcasm aside, yes, we often have to use Appian. And one potential benefit of Appian is that he does sometimes give us information that does not appear in Livy or Polybius. For example, Appian is the only source to bother telling us the strength of the opposing armies (23,000 Roman infantry, 50,000 Carthaginians) and these figures are at the very least plausible. Then of course, Appian "jumps the shark."
The problem is that Appian never tells us who his sources are (unlike Livy and Polybius, who not only drop names, but even engage in source criticism). Furthermore, Appian does not seem to be like Diodorus, who tended to pick up a source and then follow it for a while, but instead used a pastiche of sources. No doubt his is using Polybius and Livy, but also other sources, probably both Latin annalists and Greek histories. He may have been inspired by Flavian poetry for the duels between Hannibal, Massinissa and Scipio, although in Appian it is Masinissa who plays the hero, and it is not impossible that he is channeling a Numidian tradition.
As for the tribunes, it may be that Appian is aware of the family traditions; the Thermus may be the consul of 193 BC. Scipio would have had 12 military tribunes in his army, and presumably all of these told a version of the battle that gave them a prominent role. Sadly, we just don't know what the precise source was for these traditions.
The problem is that Appian never tells us who his sources are (unlike Livy and Polybius, who not only drop names, but even engage in source criticism). Furthermore, Appian does not seem to be like Diodorus, who tended to pick up a source and then follow it for a while, but instead used a pastiche of sources. No doubt his is using Polybius and Livy, but also other sources, probably both Latin annalists and Greek histories. He may have been inspired by Flavian poetry for the duels between Hannibal, Massinissa and Scipio, although in Appian it is Masinissa who plays the hero, and it is not impossible that he is channeling a Numidian tradition.
As for the tribunes, it may be that Appian is aware of the family traditions; the Thermus may be the consul of 193 BC. Scipio would have had 12 military tribunes in his army, and presumably all of these told a version of the battle that gave them a prominent role. Sadly, we just don't know what the precise source was for these traditions.
