Hannibal's March
37 elephants. 1,600 kilometres. Over the Alps in winter. Into the heart of Rome.
In 218 BC, a 28-year-old Carthaginian general named Hannibal Barca assembled one of the largest armies the ancient world had ever seen — 90,000 infantry, 12,000 cavalry, and 37 war elephants — and marched them overland from Spain to Italy.
Rome controlled the sea. So Hannibal took the land. Across the Pyrenees. Through Gaul. Over the Rhône. And then, in late October, he did what the Romans believed was impossible: he took his army — elephants and all — over the Alps.
He arrived in Italy with a fraction of his force. And then he spent the next sixteen years on Roman soil, winning battle after battle, never losing a major engagement, destroying entire legions. At Cannae, he killed 50,000 Roman soldiers in a single afternoon — the worst defeat Rome would ever suffer.
He never took Rome. But he changed the course of Mediterranean civilisation. And it all started in North Africa — in Carthage, modern-day Tunisia, 150 kilometres from where the DWL ecosystem begins.
Carthage to Cannae
The plan is formed. Hannibal's father made him swear at age nine to be Rome's eternal enemy. Now 28, he commands the Carthaginian army in Iberia. The Senate in Carthage approves the invasion.
37 to 1
The elephants were likely North African forest elephants — a now-extinct species smaller than African savannah elephants but larger than Asian elephants. Hannibal's last surviving elephant, Surus ("The Syrian"), was a one-tusked Asian elephant. He rode it with a howdah after losing an eye at Lake Trasimene.
North African war elephants — likely a mix of the now-extinct North African forest elephant and possibly some Asian elephants. Trained in Carthaginian war camps.
All 37 survive the march through Iberia. Elephants are hardy on flat terrain and can swim rivers.
Elephants loaded onto enormous rafts covered with soil. Some rafts capsize. The elephants wade the rest — trunks held above water. All survive.
17 elephants die in the Alps. Cold, ice, narrow paths, rockslides. The descent is worse than the ascent — animals slip on ice and tumble.
20 elephants reach Italy. Exhausted, starving, but alive. They will fight at Trebia.
Five more die during the winter and battle. The surviving elephants are used to cross the Arno marshes.
Most remaining elephants die crossing the Arno marshes. Disease, exhaustion, mud.
Only Surus remains. A one-tusked Asian elephant — "The Syrian." Hannibal rides him with a howdah and a red cloth. The last of 37.
90,000 to 26,000 — then rebuilt
Ticinus. Trebia. Trasimene. Cannae.
First engagement. Numidian cavalry superiority established. Scipio wounded. Gallic tribes switch to Hannibal.
Classic ambush. Romans lured across freezing river. Elephants used on the flanks to panic Roman cavalry.
Largest ambush in military history. Fog, lake, hills — perfect trap. Hannibal loses eye to infection afterward.
The double-envelopment. The worst defeat in Roman history. Still studied in military academies worldwide. Only one elephant remains: Surus.
From the oath to the ashes
Carthage is 150 km from the DWL ecosystem
Hannibal was born in Carthage — modern-day Tunis, Tunisia. The ruins of Carthage sit on the Mediterranean coast, a short flight from Marrakech. Tunisia is in the Slow World pipeline. This is not ancient history happening somewhere else. This is the neighbourhood.
The war elephants were North African forest elephants — the same species that once roamed the Atlas Mountains, now extinct. The Barbary lion that DWL is named for lived in the same forests. North Africa was once teeming with megafauna that shaped Mediterranean civilisation — and then vanished.
Hannibal's march is the greatest logistics story ever told. A man from North Africa — from this part of the world — assembled the largest army of his era and walked it into the heart of the world's most powerful empire. He did it overland because the sea was denied to him. He did it with elephants because psychological warfare is older than gunpowder. And he nearly won.
Polybius. The Histories, Book III (c. 150 BC). Primary source.
Livy. Ab Urbe Condita, Book XXI (c. 27–25 BC). Primary source.
Mahaney, W.C. et al. (2016). Biostratigraphic evidence relating to the age-old question of Hannibal's invasion of Italy. Archaeometry 58(1): 164–178.
Lendering, Jona. Hannibal in the Alps (2022). Review of primary sources.
de Beer, Gavin. Hannibal: The Struggle for Power in the Mediterranean (1969).
Hunt, Patrick. Alpine Archaeology (Stanford University). Col de la Traversette research.
PBS Secrets of the Dead: Hannibal in the Alps (2018). Documentary.
Goldsworthy, Adrian. The Fall of Carthage (2000). Cassell Military.
Sources: Polybius, Livy, Britannica, Stanford Alpine Archaeology, PBS Secrets of the Dead
© Dancing with Lions