Study Suggests Hannibal's Likely Route over Alps to Rome
The analysis says the pass would have been the shortest and most energy-efficient route for 40,000 men, 7,000 horses and 37 war elephants.
- Researchers from the University of Oxford, the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research, and Friedrich Schiller University Jena identified the Col de la Traversette as the most efficient Alpine route for Hannibal's crossing of 40,000 men.
- Carthaginian general Hannibal led his army across the Alps to bypass Rome's naval dominance on the Mediterranean, aiming to invade Italy during the Second Punic War. This strategy avoided Rome's fearsome navy and army garrisons on land.
- The team evaluated competing theories using route modeling and African elephant data. Traveling via Col de Montgenèvre would have required 11 percent more energy than the Traversette route, while Col du Mont Cenis required 19 percent more.
- Modeling suggests soldiers would have lost 19 percent of their body fat reserves on the Traversette route, potentially explaining the high human mortality rate of upwards of 20,000 men. Elephants, surprisingly, would have lost only four percent of their fat reserves.
- Study co-author Dr. Emilio Berti noted the analysis does not eliminate all ambiguity but strengthens the case for the Traversette route. Interpreting the crossing remains difficult due to limited archaeological evidence and only two primary sources written 160 years after the event.
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Scientists Finally Solve Why Hannibal Crossed the Alps to Attack the Romans
War elephants depicted in Hannibal’s army crossing the Rhône. Credit: Henri-Paul Motte / Wikimedia Commons / Public domain A new study on Hannibal’s alpine crossing suggests the Carthaginian general may have chosen the shortest and least exhausting route through the Alps because of the huge energy needs of his soldiers, horses and war elephants. The research, led by Emilio Berti, adds a biological angle to a debate that has lasted for centuries.…
According to this study, the Col de la Traversette would have been the most energy-efficient route for the troops of Hannibal and his 37 war elephants.
The genius of Hannibal and the Carthaginian army was to attack where the Romans did not wait for them, say European researchers.
A study that calculates the energy expenditure of the crossing reinforces the hypothesis that the Carthaginian general chose the Col de la Traversette pass in 218 BC.
Did elephant energetics decide Hannibal's Alpine crossing route?
A new analysis sheds light on the most likely route for the Carthaginian general's famous crossing of the Alps. The study, led by the University of Oxford and iDiv/Friedrich Schiller University Jena, reveals that the Col de la Traversette would have been the least energy-intensive route. The findings have been published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
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