Do ut des

Romans needed the assistance of the local communities that operated on Hispanic soil during the Second Punic War, so they tried to build bridges that would promote the political interaction with their elites –or with certain factions of those elites more favorable to Roman interests. Among the measures implemented, this chapter focuses on hostage releases and diplomatic gift exchanges: two simultaneous and intertwined actions that operated as signs of the same language, well-known to Romans, Carthaginians, Iberians, Celtiberians and Numidians. The three episodes analyzed here – the release of hostages that occurred at Saguntum, the one that took place at Carthago Nova, and the liberation of the young Numidian prince Massiva – are all highly illustrative of the prevailing patterns, but also of the diversity of responses resulting from the changing context and the different political counterparts.

Classical Antiquity Studies · Classical Studies and Legal History · Computer Science · Historical, Literary, and Cultural Studies