Hannibal Crosses the Alps during the Second Punic War

Hannibal may have crossed the Alps with a herd of elephants, and the Romans had settlements in the region.

In volume 21 of his work Ab Urbe Condita, Livy ( 59 BC-17 AD ) claims that it was a Boian man that offered to show Hannibal the way across the Alps.

Hannibal recognized that he still needed to cross the Pyrenees, the Alps, and many significant rivers.

Hannibal and his men crossing the Alps.

Historical events, which led to the defeat of Carthage during the First Punic War when his father commanded the Carthaginian Army, led Hannibal to plan the invasion of Italy by land across the Alps.

Publius Cornelius Scipio, the consul who commanded the Roman force sent to intercept Hannibal, and Scipio Africanus ' father, had not expected Hannibal to make an attempt to cross the Alps, since the Romans were prepared to fight the war in Iberia.

Depiction of Hannibal and his army crossing the Alps during the Second Punic War.

After assaulting Saguntum, Hannibal surprised the Romans in 218 BC by leading the Iberians and three dozen elephants through the Alps.

Hannibal evaded this force and by an unknown route reached ( the Isère or the Durance ) the foot of the Alps in autumn.

Hannibal's army approaches the Alps either by the Col de Grimone or the Col de Cabre, then through the basin of the Durance descending into the territory of the hostile Taurini, where Hannibal storms their chief town ( modern Turin ).

Realizing that Hannibal probably plans to cross the Alps, Scipio returns to northern Italy to await him.

The Roman city most likely began as a small military camp, built by the consul Publius Cornelius Scipio in 218 BC to guard a wooden bridge he had built over the river Ticinum, on his way to search for Hannibal, who was rumoured to have managed to lead an army over the Alps and into Italy.

The stormy backdrop of Hannibal Crossing The Alps is reputed to have been inspired by a storm over Otley's Chevin while Turner was staying at Farnley Hall.

However, in Hannibal Crossing the Alps ( 1812 ), an emphasis on the destructive power of nature had already come into play.

* 1812 – Snow Storm: Hannibal and His Army Crossing the Alps, oil on canvas, Tate Gallery, London

Hannibal and his men crossing the Alps

The stormy backdrop of Hannibal Crossing The Alps is reputed to have been inspired by a storm over Otley's Chevin while Turner was staying at Farnley Hall.

Shortly after the start of the Second Punic War, the Carthaginian general Hannibal boldly crossed into Italy by traversing the Alps during the winter.

Crossing the Alps, Hannibal reached the Italian peninsula in 218 BC and won several major victories against the Roman armies.

The famous painting Snow Storm: Hannibal and His Army Crossing the Alps by J. M. W. Turner which hangs in the Tate Gallery, is reputed to have been inspired by a view of the Chevin with a stormy background sky.

" There Hawkey ," said he, " In two years you will see this again, and call it Hannibal Crossing the Alps.

During the Second Punic War, for example, Hannibal diverted his army to conquer cities simply to gather supplies ; his strategy in crossing the Alps necessitated traveling with as few provisions as possible, expecting the Roman stores to sustain them when they had breached the border.

In the 2001 film Hannibal, Hannibal Lecter sends Clarice Starling a letter which he writes while intentionally wearing a hand lotion containing ambergris, correctly assuming that this would ultimately aid her in discovering his location in Florence, Italy, due to it being legal only in few parts of the world.

: When, after the action had thus occurred, his own men returned to each general, Scipio could adopt no fixed plan of proceeding, except that he should form his measures from the plans and undertakings of the enemy: and Hannibal, uncertain whether he should pursue the march he had commenced into Italy, or fight with the Roman army which had first presented itself, the arrival of ambassadors from the Boii, and of a petty prince called Magalus, diverted from an immediate engagement ; who, declaring that they would be the guides of his journey and the companions of his dangers, gave it as their opinion, that Italy ought to be attacked with the entire force of the war, his strength having been nowhere previously impaired.

Fabius died in 203 BC, shortly after Hannibal's army left Italy, but before he could see the eventual Roman victory over Hannibal at the Battle of Zama won by Scipio.

Hannibal occupied much of Italy for 15 years, but a Roman counter-invasion of North Africa forced him to return to Carthage, where he was decisively defeated by Scipio Africanus at the Battle of Zama.

Hannibal was now determined to carry the war into the heart of Italy by a rapid march through Hispania and southern Gaul.

Through prompt decision and speedy movement, he succeeded in transporting his army to Italy by sea, in time to meet Hannibal.

Hannibal knew that this route was full of difficulties, but it remained the surest and certainly the quickest way to central Italy.

Having ravaged Apulia without bringing Fabius to battle, Hannibal decided to march through Samnium to Campania, one of the richest and most fertile provinces of Italy, hoping that the devastation would draw Fabius into battle.

As a result, Hannibal fought no more major battles in Italy for the rest of the war.

Instead, he had to content himself with subduing the fortresses that still held out against him, and the only other notable event of 216 BC was the defection of certain Italian territories, including Capua, the second largest city of Italy, which Hannibal made his new base.

For the next few years, Hannibal was forced to sustain a scorched earth policy and obtain local provisions for protracted and ineffectual operations throughout southern Italy.

Hannibal ’ s troops lost in combat were replaced with less well-trained and motivated mercenaries from Italy or Gaul.

In 203 BC, after nearly fifteen years of fighting in Italy, and with the military fortunes of Carthage rapidly declining, Hannibal was recalled to Carthage to direct the defense of his native country against a Roman invasion under Scipio Africanus.

In 203 BC, Hannibal was recalled from Italy by the war party in Carthage.

Meanwhile Hannibal, recalled from Italy by the Carthaginian Senate, had returned with his army.

Although the aging Hannibal was suffering from mental exhaustion and deteriorating health after years of campaigning in Italy, the Carthaginians still had the advantage in numbers and were boosted by the presence of 80 war elephants.

While fighting Hannibal in Italy, Hispania, and Sicily, Rome simultaneously fought against Macedon in the First Macedonian War.

There were three military theaters in this war: Italy, where Hannibal defeated the Roman legions repeatedly ; Hispania, where Hasdrubal, a younger brother of Hannibal, defended the Carthaginian colonial cities with mixed success until eventually retreating into Italy ; and Sicily, where the Romans held military supremacy.