With Scipio’s helmet and the sword of the Carthaginians both reduced to caricature, it was difficult to attempt a parallel biography of these two giants. Giovanni Brizzi rises brilliantly to the challenge in this acrobatic text that not only upsets the historic blueprint and re-humanizes the two generals but—redeeming Hannibal—makes him the model to which Scipio aspires for his entire life and not only on a military plane. Paolo Rumiz, La Repubblica The history, politics and parallel life strategies of two men: history and investigation are intertwined in pages stranger than fiction.