Includes bibliographical references and index.

Front Matter -- Copyright Page -- Preface -- Notes on Contributors -- Introduction / Lidewij van Gils , Irene de Jong and Caroline Kroon -- Thermopylae -- Thermopylae: Herodotus versus the Legend / Hans van Wees -- A Narratological Comparison of Herodotus and Diodorus on Thermopylae / Mathieu de Bakker -- Narrative and Identity in Thermopylae (Herodotus 7.201–7.239) / Antonis Tsakmakis -- Herodotus’ Handling of (Narratological) Time in the Thermopylae Passage / Irene de Jong -- Herodotus and Thucydides: Distance and Immersion / Rutger Allan -- Cannae -- Livy on Cannae: a Literary Overview / Stephen Oakley -- Discourse-Linguistic Strategies in Livy’s Account of the Battle at Cannae / Lidewij van Gils and Caroline Kroon -- Who Knows What Will Happen Next? Livy’s fraus Punica from a Literary Point of View / Dennis Pausch -- Livy’s Use of Spatial References in the Cannae Episode: from Structure to Strategy / Lidewij van Gils -- ET RATIO ET RES: Characterization of Roman Conduct through Speech Representation in the Battle of Cannae / Michel Buijs -- Words When It’s Time for Action: Representations of Speech and Thought in the Battles of Cannae and Zama / Suzanne Adema -- Beyond Thermopylae and Cannae -- Thermopylae and Cannae: How One Battle Narrative Enriches Another / Mathieu de Bakker and Michiel van der Keur -- The Great and the Small: Thermopylae and Sphacteria / Adriaan Rademaker -- Force, Frequency and Focalisation: the Function of Similes in the Battle-Narrative of Vergil, Aeneid 10 / Stephen Harrison -- Parallel Plotlines: the Function of Similes in the Battle Narrative of Vergil, Aeneid 10 (2) / Michiel van der Keur -- Back Matter -- Index.

In this collected volume fourteen experts in the fields of Classics and Ancient History study the textual strategies used by Herodotus and Livy when recounting the disastrous battles at Thermopylae and Cannae. Literary, linguistic and historical approaches are used (often in combination) in order to enhance and enrich the interpretation of the accounts, which for obvious reasons confronted the authors with a special challenge. Chapters drawing a comparison with other battle narratives and with other genres help to establish genre-specific elements in ancient historiography, and draw attention to the particular techniques employed by Herodotus and Livy in their war narratives.