Every Then & Theory plate comes from a true story, and this card tells the one behind yours.

The Then & Theory team

Elephants in the Alps

A column of people and elephants climbs a mountain track. In 218 BC the Carthaginian general Hannibal marched an army from Spain over the Alps to fight Rome, and he brought war elephants. The Greek historian Polybius, who is said to have travelled the route himself, describes snow on the pass, rockslides and attacks by local Gauls. On the fifteenth day of the crossing, Hannibal came down into Italy with about 25,000 infantry, 6,000 cavalry and most of his original 37 elephants.

Note. Nobody knows which pass he used. Historians have argued for at least five, from Montgenèvre to the Col de la Traversette.

Sources

1. Britannica, “Hannibal: The Alpine crossing”