Selected Books
Hannibal 2017
Simon and Schuster
One of the greatest commanders of the ancient world brought vividly to life: Hannibal, the brilliant general who successfully crossed the Alps with his war elephants and brought Rome to its knees.
Hannibal Barca of Carthage, born 247 BC, was one of the great generals of the ancient world. His father, Hamilcar, was also a great strategist and master tactician who imposed Carthaginian rule over much of present-day Spain. After Hamilcar led the Carthaginian forces against Rome in the First Punic War, Hannibal followed in his father’s footsteps, brilliantly leading Carthage in the Second Punic War and who invaded Italy and became Rome’s feared enemy in multiple defeats that ultimately changed Rome’s military and trajectory. This book explores not only Hannibal’s life and legacy but also why Hannibal became a pioneer of military intelligence strategy and weaponized nature as well as why his methods are taught in nearly every military academy in the world.
“The book is particularly illuminating in discussing Hannibal’s famous crossing of the Alps in 218 B.C. . . . Hunt excels in his descriptions of battles.” -- Thomas E. Ricks ― The New York Times Book Review
“an exciting biography of one of history’s greatest commanders…a thrilling page-turner” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review)
“Hannibal relates the famous general’s story with wonderful energy. . . . Archeologist and historian Patrick Hunt distills his survey of literature about the Second Punic War into a brightly dramatic story that covers virtually every anecdote connected with Hannibal.” ― The Christian Science Monitor
This Amazon Editors Pick “Best History”book is in five languages and is available in Hardback, Paperback, Kindle, Audio and Digital editions.
Ten Discoveries That Rewrote History 2007
Penguin Group / Plume Publishers
If any global archaeologist were asked to name the top ten archaeological discoveries that have made the greatest impact on archaeology and history, most lists would be likely to unanimously mention the following huge impact discoveries: the Rosetta Stone, Pompeii, Nineveh, Troy, King Tut's Tomb, Machu Picchu, Thera-Akrotiri, the Dead Sea Scrolls, Olduvai Gorge starting with the Leakey Era and the Tomb of the Ten Thousand Warriors in China. This exciting book, written with a taut narrative, relates the dramatic moments of these discoveries, whether by professional archaeologists or by amateurs' accidents, and highlights their significance to history.
"...Hunt writes colorfully and enthusiastically...an enjoyable, wide-ranging introduction to the importance of archaeology in writing-or rewriting-history."
-- Library Journal, Aug, 2007
This book is available in paperback and Kindle and is in five languages.
pascal and voltaire at the cafe procope 2016
elenchus books
A One Act Play
Pascal (1623-1662) and Voltaire (1694-1778) were two of the most influential thinkers of the broader Enlightenment Era. Although their lifetimes did not overlap, they shared common interests. However, their very different philosophical perspectives would have strongly clashed. What might a conversation between the two of them have been if they had met at the famed Parisian Café Procope (or perhaps in a waiting room after death, one that at least to Voltaire resembled the famous Enlightenment café)? In this play touching on topics as diverse as literature, logic, religion, rationalism, mathematics, and metaphysics, the author imagines a creative and stimulating dialogue between these great minds. His work challenges and encourages readers to consider their own world views.
caravaggio 2004
haus publishing london - life & times series
Caravaggio was the most revolutionary artist of the Italian Baroque. The intensity and drama of his chiaroscuro style is matched only by his life, which was often violent and tormented by anger and subsequent prison incarcerations. Outlaw, heretic, murderer and sensualist are some of the charges brought against him by his contemporaries; charges that make sense in certain terms but may have also sprung from envy and misunderstanding. His most famous patron, Cardinal Francesco Bourbon del Monte changed Caravaggio’s life, bringing him sensational commissions - although too many of his dramatic paintings were rejected for violating Church canons - and introducing him to profound mythological subjects along with biblical narratives that Caravaggio followed faithfully in his precise but often subtle iconography. Appointed city painter of Rome (EGREGIUS IN URBE PICTOR) by Pope Clement VIII while in and out of prison, Caravaggio soon fled Rome after killing a rival bravo. His exile included stays in Naples, Malta, Sicily and back to Naples where his hoped-for return to Rome under the Borghese Pope Paul III was soon dashed by his untimely tragic death at age 39 along the coast not far from Rome. This 162 page biography of the artist was a book selection for the National Gallery London’s blockbuster “Caravaggio: The Final Years” exhibition in 2005.
Art Newspaper, London, 2005 "... first class ... a rattling good yarn"
The Independent, London, March 2005, "strong narrative“
This book is available in hardback and paperback editions (now in 2nd edition).
a few hundred thoughts 2013
Pirene press/corinthian publishing
A Few Hundred Thoughts is a selection of 264 original Aphorisms and 3 original Fabulae. These collected philosophical, mythological, historical and literary aphorisms -like “mini poems” - are often sourced from the author’s books or form end lines of Hunt’s poems intended as summations. They also derive from the author's theses of various belles lettres, essays and book chapters. The three fabulae in this book are “Alexander and the Caladrius”, “The Museum of Ordinary Objects” and “The Wine of Rilke”.
Some of Hunt’s aphorisms were published by James Geary in his blog “All Aphorisms, All the Time” 2008 where he said "Patrick Hunt is an archaeologist, writer, composer, poet, art historian—and damn fine aphorist…He has a knack for making discoveries…“.
Here is a small sample of some of these aphorisms:
“Birds don’t have to talk because they can sing.”
“A clever fool falls headfirst.”
“Humans build houses but worms spin silk.”
“Intensity of desire is often inversely proportional to probability of attainment.”
“Mozart never had to work because he played all his life.”
“Dragons protect their offspring too.”
“Only leaves know the true color of sunlight.”
Elsewhere Patrick Hunt’s poetry has been published in the Penguin Book of Classical Myths, Poet Lore, Akoué (American School of Classical Studies, Athens), Classical Outlook, Newsletter of the Classical Association of the U.K., Athlon and other venues including published poetry collections listed at the bottom of this page.
ARCHAEOLOGY AND THE BIBLE : Ten illuminations of selected biblical texts 2019
STONE TOWER BOOKS
This volume uses archaeology (and its related sciences), history, and linguistics to enrich the context and interpretation of ten biblical passages. In so doing, the book views some of the many features of cultural, social and historical backgrounds of the texts while giving readers an appreciation of the multi-faceted world of archaeology. Some of the texts and contexts are Genesis 41( Joseph in Egypt, and Pharaoh’s Dream of Seven Cows), Joshua 5 ( Flint Knives), I Kings 10 (Why Solomon’s Legendary Gold is Gone), II Chronicles 32 & II Kings 19,(Paleopathology and Destruction of Sennacherib’s Army Besieging Jerusalem), Mark 14:3 (An Archaeological Solution to Translating the Philological Problem of “Alabastron”), I Corinthians 8, 13, 14 (Corinthian Bronze, Demeter, Greek Games and Glossolalia), I Kings 10:18-19 & Matthew 27:35 (The Throne of Charlemagne) and Revelation 6 (The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse in History).
From these and other cases the book shows how an understanding of the richness of biblical text is enhanced when using archaeology and its associated disciplines. The illumination of the selected texts reveals some of the rewarding and broader discoveries readers experience when seriously engaging the Bible with the tools of archaeology.
OLYMPIAN VISIONS: MYTHOLOGY IN ART 2020
STONE TOWER BOOKS
Artistic representations of Greek and Roman mythological figures, gods, and goddesses have been part of Western art history for centuries. From the 16th through 20th centuries, many artists shifted away from biblical themes and focused on classical Greek and Roman stories for their work. The intertwining of art, literature, and music by artists and others resulted in works that gained international attention and appreciation and that are an important part of the contemporary humanities.
This rich and detailed book analyzes Greek and Roman art juxtaposed with 18 works of art from the 16th to 20th centuries by 13 artists. Among the works analyzed are:
Caravaggio’s Narcissus, Bernini’s Apollo and Daphne, Goya’s Saturn, Renoir’s Diana the Huntress, Watts’ Diana and Endymion, Moreau’s Oedipus, Leighton’s Return of Persephone, Waterhouse’s Pandora, Klimt’s Danae and Picasso’s Minotauromachy
dante’s inferno: critical insights 2011
Salem press
Contributed original essays in this new book edited by Patrick Hunt include new work by Robert Harrison, Heather Webb, David Lummus, Nicole Rudick and Elizabeth Coggeshall. Patrick Hunt also contributed original essays and other material.
This volume is intended to make Dante's Inferno more accessible to inquiring students. Essays include a close reading of Dante, a chapter comparing and contrasting Dante's Inferno to his other writing, a history of the critical response to his work, and a chapter on the cultural and historical context of the poem.
Dante deserves a new reading with each successive generation, not because his poem evokes an obsolete Christian world or relic philosophy worthy of being curated in the museum of intellectual history, nor because he bridges several influential worlds long gone from view but still deeply rooted in our art, literature and common figurative language.
Dante is immortal partly because his epic poem distills more creative genius in the few decades it took to write than many cultures preserve of their legacy over millennia. Dante is at the very heart of Western Culture.
"This series makes a valuable addition to academic libraries supporting literature students both at undergraduate and at graduate levels as it presents different views and more in-depth articles..." Library Journal
alpine archaeology 2007
Ariel Books / university readers
Alpine Archaeology is born out of more than a decade of widespread high altitude archaeological field research in the Alps. The observations in this research study were made over time in a number of different field seasons and therefore, gradually built up over the years. The author conducted this study while directing the Stanford Alpine Archaeological Project. Alpine archaeology is a specialized field where normal archaeological principles such as stratigraphy, pedology and soil chemistry, data recording, anthropogenic features, and materials analyses apply but also where contextual and climatic conditions are unique, especially preserving materials in cold temperature. Higher altitudes and cold climate impact archaeological research and its practice in many different ways and influence the survival and preservation of both organic substances and metal objects as less oxidation and lower diffusion rates in the alpine environment noticeably inhibit the decomposition and corrosion of artifactual material. While observations in the first part of the book have been derived mostly from fieldwork in the Pennine Alps’s Grand-St-Bernard region and in the Cottian Alps between France and Italy, those discussed in the second part around the Cottian Alps are derived from the Stanford Alpine Archaeology Project’s most important ongoing research, which was focused on the challenge of tracing Hannibal’s route over the Alps in 218 BCE. Hunt completed his PhD in Archaeology (Archaeological Science) from the Institute of Archaeology, UCL, University of London in 1991. As a Lecturer in Classics to undergraduates at Stanford University, where he was Director of the Stanford Alpine Archaeology Project 1994-2012, he has continued teaching postgraduates at Stanford University 2012-2021. Hunt’s Hannibal research has been sponsored by the National Geographic Society, with a grant from their Expedition Council for 2007-2008, and he continues with National Geographic as an Expeditions Expert through 2021.
Other published books include Poems from the British Museum (2005), Rembrandt: His Life in Art (2006), Myths for All Time (2007), Renaissance Visions: Myth and Art (2008),Cloud Shadows of Olympus (2009), Myth and Art in Ekphrasis (2010), Puer Natus Est: Art of Christmas (2011), Wine Journeys: Myth and History (2013), Landscapes Antique and Imagined (2014), When Empires Clash: Twelve Great Battles in Antiquity (2016), Creation Groans: Fables of the Biblical Animals (2016), Greek Musings (2017) Academy of Letters (2018).