Βασιλεύς comme équivalent de špṭ puniques: problème du statut d’Hannibal après 201 av. J.-C.

Abstract

This article deals with the issue of the political and legal status of Hannibal after 201 BC. It begins by examining whether the status of Hannibal changed during the Second Punic War, and concludes that the scope of Hannibal’s competence (as στρατηγός) remained unchanged at this time. It then argues that the next office occupied by Hannibal after the end of the war was a formal consequence of his career development. The main reason for the doubts that arose in the sources about the status of Hannibal was the result of them looking at this Carthaginian leader through the prism of Roman jurisprudence.