Rome’s Pivotal Victory gets its Movie
TORONTO – “Hannibal ad Portas” was a Latin phrase popularized by the Roman politician and orator Cicero, in 44 BC. The phrase, meaning “Hannibal at the gates”, refers to Rome’s most averted catastrophe: The moment when it was nearly sacked in 211 BC. A moment that is evoked in a line in Italy’s national anthem: “She [Italy] has bound her head with Scipio’s helmet”. And this inflection point for Western Civilization is finally getting a movie.
But not without some controversy. Reports circulated back in 2023 that filmmaker Antoine Fuqua and actor Denzel Washington were developing a film about the Carthaginian Military Commander Hannibal. This week, the announcement was made that filming will begin in Italy, this summer, with Washington (aged 71) playing Hannibal.
“Based on real-life warrior Hannibal, widely regarded as one of the greatest military commanders in history. The film covers the pivotal battles he led against the Roman Republic during the Second Punic War”, reads the official synopsis. Fantastic news. Fuqua and Washington’s combined resume bodes well for a great final product.
Moviegoers, however, have voiced some “minor” concerns – mostly focusing on Denzel Washington’s age and ethnicity. The actor is 71 years old, and considering Hannibal was 29 when the second Punic War started and 46 when it ended, it is difficult to envision how Washington will portray the strength, youth and dynamism of a man who was half his age and embroiled in one of history’s greatest battles.
The other third-rail topic pertains to Hannibal’s ethnicity and heritage. Carthage, located in modern day Tunisia, was founded in the ninth century BC by colonists from Tyre, modern-day Lebanon. The Greeks referred to the Tyrians as “Phoenicians”. According to historians – from Antiquity and Modern Eras – they were a Semitic people whose ancestry originated in the Levant.
It could be that Fuqua and Washington are intending a revisionist take on the second Punic War between the Mediterranean Superpowers of Carthage and Rome. And they are likely leaning on the more Afrocentric view that the Barcid family were a mix of indigenous North African and Levantine, due to Carthage’s multi-ethnic population.
But while it is within the realm of possibility that Hannibal Barca had the appearance of a Sub-Saharan African or indigenous Berber, it is for the time being counterfactual and pure conjecture.
Historians of the Punic Wars note Hannibal’s Phoenician lineage and neither Polybius nor later Roman historians painted him differently – something historians like Livy and Herodotus did when describing Ethiopians.
Nonetheless, Netflix does not seem worried by the backlash, as it has developed a reputation for producing iconoclastic depictions of Western history. No matter how the movie may be received by critics and audiences, archaophiles can rest assured that Hannibal still loses to Rome – unless that too is under review. One can never know with Netflix.
Image of Hannibal poster courtesy of Netflix and Hill District Media
Massimo Volpe is a filmmaker and freelance writer from Toronto: he writes reviews of Italian films/content on Netflix
