Daily Mail - Daily Mail Weekend Magazine
MAMMOTH SUCCESS
Yes, Hannibal really did cross the Alps with elephants, a new show reveals
More than 2,200 years after the young general Hannibal led an army of 40,000 men, 9,000 horses and 37 elephants from North Africa, through Spain and France – and, most audaciously, over the Alps – to fight the fledgling Roman Empire, his adventures are still a source of wonder.
This feat, done to challenge the Roman Empire on its own turf, is seen as one of the greatest military exploits in history. But was it actually possible?
A new Channel 4 documentary follows scientists as they find the most conclusive proof yet that not only did Hannibal and his elephants make it over the Alps, but they also did so via its most dangerous paths.
Led by lifelong Hannibal obsessives, Canadian geologist Professor Bill Mahaney and Cardiff University historian Dr Eve MacDonald, Hannibal’s Elephant Army: The New Evidence follows in the army’s footsteps.
The story of Hannibal’s five-month journey in 218BC, which began by boat across the Mediterranean, was told by Roman historian Polybius, writing around 60 years after the event. ‘He had access to people who were there with Hannibal, and the texts help us to piece together an accurate account,’ says Eve.
By looking at Polybius’s work, the team were convinced that the Col de la Traversette, the most dangerous mountain pass between France and Italy, was the one Hannibal took.
The landmarks today are just as described in Polybius, including a difficult crossing of the Rhone river which Hannibal accomplished by building rafts for his elephants. And modern science has helped set the historians on the right track.
Just below the summit of Col de la Traversette is a boggy area called the French Mire, which was the most likely area for a resting camp. Digging into the earth, Cardiff University professor Chris Allen found a very churned-up layer at a depth of 40cm. It was from exactly the period of time Hannibal crossed the Alps, and indicated a huge amount of horse manure – big enough that it could only have been left by the many mounts of a large army. So this really was the place Hannibal’s forces had been.
And what happened after this epic journey? Hannibal reigned supreme in northern Italy for 15 years until Rome fought back on his home soil of Carthage (now Tunisia) and he was defeated. Following in his footsteps, Eve is amazed at what he achieved. ‘What probably drove him to pick this route lay in what made him the man he was; the more difficult the journey, the greater the quest,’ she says. Hannibal’s Elephant Army: The New Evidence, tomorrow, 8pm, Channel 4.