| Abbreviations | xiii |
| Maps | xv |
| Prologue | 1 |
I. | Before 264 | 5 |
1. | The Romans and the Carthaginians | 5 |
2. | Two treaties, and one fake | 7 |
3. | Pyrrhus' war | 11 |
II. | Preparations for War? | 17 |
1. | Post-Pyrrhic consolidations | 17 |
2. | Plans for a war? | 19 |
3. | The Romans and Sicily | 28 |
III. | The Mamertine Appeal | 33 |
1. | Difficulties with dates | 33 |
2. | The ungrateful Mamertines | 40 |
IV. | Debating the Appeal | 47 |
1. | The Mamertines' deditio | 47 |
2. | The Romans' debates | 51 |
3. | The Roman war-aims in 264 | 53 |
4. | Course of the debates | 57 |
5. | Time-span of the debates | 64 |
V. | The Punic-Syracusan Alliance | 67 |
1. | Messana vacated | 67 |
2. | Alliance of old foes | 73 |
VI. | An Unwanted War | 82 |
1. | Appius at the straits: discrepant sources | 82 |
2. | Appius' offer of talks | 86 |
3. | The sea-fight and aftermath | 88 |
4. | Crossing to Messana | 91 |
5. | Appius in battle | 93 |
VII. | Escalation | 100 |
1. | Ap. Claudius against Syracuse | 100 |
2. | Valerius and Otacilius against Syracuse | 104 |
3. | Valerius in the west | 108 |
VIII. | From Enmity to Goodwill | 116 |
1. | Wartime talks | 116 |
2. | The peace of Lutatius | 118 |
3. | A season of goodwill | 123 |
4. | Family politics in the 230s and 220s? | 127 |
IX. | The Rape of Sardinia | 132 |
1. | How it was done | 132 |
2. | Why it was done | 140 |
X. | Imaginary Confrontations in the 230s | 144 |
1. | Fictional clashes | 144 |
2. | Envoys to Hamilcar? | 147 |
XI. | Hasdrubal's Accord | 150 |
1. | The Barcid ascendancy | 150 |
2. | The accord with Hasdrubal: date | 154 |
3. | The accord: arguments about content | 158 |
4. | The aim of the accord: competing views | 166 |
XII. | Saguntum | 174 |
1. | Friendship or alliance? | 175 |
2. | The Saguntine connexion: date | 178 |
3. | Saguntines in crisis | 184 |
4. | The Saguntines' neighbours | 187 |
5. | Saguntines request arbitration | 191 |
6. | The Romans arbitrate | 193 |
XIII. | Hannibal and the Ambassadors | 196 |
1. | The embassy of 220: aims | 196 |
2. | Disputed datings | 202 |
3. | The Roman demarche | 204 |
4. | The ambassadors at Carthage | 212 |
XIV. | Saguntum Besieged | 219 |
1. | The Saguntines on their own | 219 |
2. | The Romans in debate | 226 |
XV. | War to Save Face | 233 |
1. | The ultimatum | 233 |
2. | Could the embassy declare war? | 240 |
3. | Roman envoys to Punic senate | 244 |
4. | Punic senate to Roman envoys | 248 |
5. | War declared | 254 |
6. | From diplomacy to warfare, 218 B.C. | 255 |
XVI. | Conclusions | 260 |
1. | A Roman expansionist war? | 260 |
2. | Punic plans and prospects | 265 |
3. | Punic wars and Roman imperialism | 270 |
4. | Avoidable wars? | 274 |
XVII. | The Major Sources | 280 |
1. | Lost accounts | 280 |
2. | Surviving sources | 282 |
3. | Bias and inaccuracies: the problem of Polybius | 284 |
4. | Problems with the later sources | 291 |
| Bibliography | 297 |
Index I. | Names and Topics | 315 |
Index II. | Passages Cited | 321 |