The passage of Hannibal through the Alps: historical facts, date

History holds many names of great generals, whose great victories the whole world knows. One such is Hannibal Barca, his talent and ability to think outside the box allowed Carthage to win many great victories. One of the most risky strategic maneuvers that the commander has committed is the transition of his many thousands of troops across the Alps. This article is devoted to the description of the prehistory of the transition of the army of Hannibal through the Alps, its results and consequences.

Biography of Hannibal Barki before the hike through the Alps

Before you find out briefly about the transition of Hannibal through the Alps, you should talk about who the general himself was. He is a famous Carthaginian commander and politician, who thanks to his talent as a strategist has won a number of important victories over Rome. The commander was born in 247 BC. E. In the city of Carthage, his father Hamilcar Barca was commander of the Carthaginian army, who was in Spain, in addition, he was a fairly influential person in the country and claimed to be a political leader.

Since childhood, Hannibal showed the makings of an outstanding military leader, so the father, seeing in him the successor of his plans, gave his son a good all-round education. Hannibal was brought up in a military camp, but in addition to active physical training, the future commander studied Greek and Latin languages, military art, was interested in the reforms of Solon. The passage of Hannibal through the Alps was therefore successful.

As a result, the guy turned out, an intelligent, strong, brave military leader, who often set an example by his actions to the soldiers. In the 221 BC. E. Year already in adulthood Barca, despite the opposition of the local aristocracy, was proclaimed commander of the troops of Carthage. From this time, the commander began to fulfill the oath given to his father, to always be the enemy of Rome. The defeat in the First Punic War for Carthage had grave consequences, so Hannibal, considering the war inevitable, began to provoke a clash with Rome, previously accumulating power.

The history of Hannibal crossing through the Alps

2 facts of this event do not give rest to historians: what provoked the commander on such a risky operation, and what predetermined its success?

According to the concluded peace 242 BC. E., Carthage paid a high price for its defeat, the country lost its dominance in the Mediterranean Sea. Father Hannibal, Hamilcar, pursuing an aggressive policy of conquest to regain the lost dominant position, often affected the interests of Rome, thereby provoking Rome at the beginning of a new war.

Thus, the conquests in Spain were an excellent springboard for an attack on Rome, which could not but stay away from the Republic. After the death in the battle of Hamilkar, the new commander of the Carthaginian army was his son-in-law Hasdrubal, who even more actively continued his policy. So, a very important decision was the foundation in the Pyrenees of New Carthage, which was destined to become the administrative and commercial center of the Spanish possessions of Carthage. Eventually, by 218 BC Carthage compensated for all of its losses after the First Punic War, so the inevitability of war with Rome is ripe.

By the time Hannibal came to power, he was only twenty-five years old, but he was already an experienced military leader and knew full well that the time of the attack on Rome had come. But initially it was necessary to prepare for war. Barca acquired a lasting alliance with the Iberian tribes and began to assemble an army. The reason for the war was an attack on the fortified city of Sagunt, located in Spain, which was an ally of Rome. After a seven-month siege in 218 BC. E. The city was taken, and only then did the Roman embassy in Carthage declare war on them. From that moment the Second Punic War began, and Hannibal Barca began to think over the route of the attack on Italy.

Army Invasion

Before going to Italy, Hannibal decided to secure his territories well in advance, so in Africa the commander left 13,000 infantrymen and more than one thousand horsemen, the city of Carthage itself was left to protect 4,000 soldiers. Himself Hannibal went on a campaign to Italy through the Alps, with an army with a number of infantry soldiers of 40,000 men and 9,000 thousand horsemen, in addition, 37 elephants participated in the campaign. Also in reserve in Spain under the guidance of brother Barki Gasdrubal there were 13 thousand infantrymen and 1,5 thousand horsemen and 21 battle elephants. The Roman legions, led by consul Tiberius Sempronius Long, who had 22,000 foot soldiers and 2,500 horsemen, and the second consul Publius Cornelius Scipio, who had legions with a strength of 20,000 infantry soldiers and 2,000 rider warriors, confronted Hannibal's army. The date of the transfer of Hannibal through the Alps - 218 BC. E.

The route of the movement of the army of Hannibal

The main reason that predetermined the choice of the attack route through the Alps by Hannibal Barqa was the desire to take advantage of the surprise effect. Since at that time the transition through the northern Alps because of the difficult roads and colds of the army of many thousands was considered a suicide. The route Hannibal had to be chosen very carefully, so the road for traffic should be passable for equestrian riders, sluggish elephants, as well as various carts with provisions and equipment. In addition, the path should not have taken much time, since the size of the provisions was severely restricted. Historical sources report several possible routes of the general's campaign, the most preferable version is Titus Livia, supported by many modern researchers.

At that time, there were only three possible routes through the Alps. The first route took place on the coastal road, it was the most easily passable, but it was blocked by Roman troops, so Barca could not move on it. The second route passed through the Cotian Alps. Despite the fact that this route was the shortest, it was unsuitable for the passage of a large army, only in the time of Pompey on this route was laid a military road to establish contact with the Gallic provinces. The third route ran through the Graiske Alps, the passage was called the Little San Bernard, it was the longest possible route, but also the most convenient, since the valley through which the path ran was very wide and fertile for grazing animals. In addition, the road through the Graiske Alps was one of the lowest.

An interesting fact is that Alexander Suvorov with his army made his Italian campaign through this passage. Thus, based on the work of Libya and other sources, modern researchers concluded that to the Alpine mountains Hannibal Barka with his army of many thousands approached, moving upstream the Rhone River, then through the San Bernard Pass he went to the valley of the River Poe, and then , Passing through the battle of the land of the Tauris and the Gallic tribes, the commander went to the pass, which opened the way to Northern Italy.

The first stage of the Hannibal crossing through the Alps

The date of the beginning of the transition of troops through the Alps, as mentioned above, is considered to be 218 BC. Immediately in the early days of the Carthaginian warriors encountered difficult-to-traverse narrow steep paths that made it difficult for a person to walk, not to mention a loaded cart or elephants. But the difficulty of the landscape of the mountains and the constant cold were not the only obstacles that the armies of Hannibal had to face.

So in the first days of the transition before Hannibal, the difficulty arose how to go through the units of the soldiers of the Gallic tribes who occupied the passage through the large chain of the Alps. The commander's gift of Hannibal solved this problem, taking advantage of the fact that the warriors of the enemy tribe returned to their villages for the night and remained free at night. Ordering to occupy him with his advanced detachments, the commander cleared the way for his troops. But the well-oriented Gauls attacked the rearguard of the Carthaginian troops, which caused a terrible crush on the narrow road, as a result of which the Barki army suffered significant losses, not only from arrows and copies of the Gauls, but also as a result of the fall of soldiers and horses with a large Height. Eventually, the army of Barca managed to push back the Gauls and safely descend to the valley of Chambery, where the commander of the army was a small Gallic city to loot his troops. In the Hannibal valley, Barka gave his troops several days of rest for licking wounds and replenishing supplies from the carts seized from the Gauls.

For three days, without encountering resistance, the Carthaginian army moved up the Ysera River. Further, Barqi's army entered the territory of the centrian tribe, local residents warmly welcomed the soldiers, provided them with necessary supplies and gave them guides. But as it turned out later, it was a well-thought-out trap, since the path that the guides had indicated led the Carthaginian army to ambush. Enemy warriors began to roll huge boulders off the rocks and showered the Carthaginians with arrows and spears, but before the campaign, Hannibal showed caution, so the cavalry and light detachments were sent to the vanguard, and the main infantry was in the rear. Thanks to this advance, the commander managed to occupy the dominant heights, which enabled the troops to make the transition, but the Carthaginian army suffered serious losses. Although the losses could have been even greater, were it not for the Carthaginian elephants, whose very appearance was so intimidating to the enemy warriors that they were even afraid to approach them.

The second stage of the Alpine transition

On the ninth day of the crossing of Hannibal through the Alps (year 218 BC), the peak of the passage was reached. Here the army commander broke camps, in order to rest, wait for the stragglers and lost, to gather the runaway horses and cattle. By this time, the morale of the troops due to the large losses, the difficulties of the transition has fallen very much. Seeing this, Hannibal with his speech tried to encourage the soldiers, knowing that to descend from the Alps is just as hard as climbing them.

Despite the fact that the attacks of enemy tribes almost ceased, the difficulties were added by the deteriorating weather in the form of heavy snow and cold weather. The presence of deep snow masses that covered narrow paths made each step very difficult. In addition, the road became very slippery and many soldiers slipped and fell into the abyss from a huge height, without a chance to grab for a bush or a tree, since there were none.

The situation became even more complicated when, having reached the next crossing, the soldiers found that it was completely covered with rocks and snow. Brilliant thinking of Hannibal found a way out of this seemingly hopeless situation. The commander gave the command that in the passage the soldiers cut a small path and built a large fire there when the fire completely burned, on the incandescent stones the Carthaginian warriors poured out the vinegar, which made the stones more friable. Then, on Hannibal's order, tired and starving warriors, with the help of iron weapons, cleared the passage for two days, on the third day Hannibal's army passed through the passage and subsequently encountered no great difficulties in its path.

Soon the army of Hannibal came to the fertile valley of Baltea, where the local population met soldiers as liberators and organized them a hearty welcome. Since there was no army near the army, Hannibal's troops spread out their camp and replenished their strength for fourteen days, after all, they were waiting for a trip to the north of Italy. In total, the transition of Hannibal Barki's army of many thousands took fifteen days.

The loss of the Carthaginian army during the Alpine transition

Despite the fact that Hannibal achieved his goal and opened the door to Northern Italy before him, the campaign was given to him and his troops very difficult. During the fifteen days of the exhausted crossing of the Hannibal troops through the Alps (the date is already known to the reader), as a result of skirmishes with local tribes, cold, famine and a fall from the army of 40,000 infantrymen and 9,000 horsemen, about half of the infantry and 6,000 horse Warriors. In addition, out of thirty-seven battle elephants that started the campaign, about fifteen remained alive, but this number, as further events will show, will be enough to terrify Roman legionaries. Also, many surviving warriors, according to Polybius, lost their mind during the exhausting campaign from hunger and physical exhaustion and could no longer fight.

Consequences of the hike

General Hannibal Bark himself acknowledged in his writings that the idea of a hike through the Alps had its drawbacks. As mentioned above, after the transfer of Hannibal through the Alps (we briefly described it in the article), the Carthaginian army missed about half of its soldiers, but the door to northern Italy before Hannibal was opened, so the goal was fulfilled. Barca made up his losses from the number of Gallic tribes who were opponents of the Roman Republic and were glad to participate in its defeat.

In general, the effect of surprise from such a strategic maneuver of the commander was enormous, the plan of the Roman Republic, which presupposed the conduct of military operations in Spain and did not allow the emergence of enemy troops on its territory, crashed utterly. After replenishing the forces and inflicting the first defeats to Rome in the battles of Ticin, Trebbia and Lake Trasimeno, the strategic initiative in the first phase of the Second Punic Wars became firmly entrenched in Carthage.

Reflection of Hannibal's trek through the Alps in art and culture

Such an event, as the transition of Hannibal through the Alps, could not but be reflected in art. So, the famous artist, William Turner, painted the picture "The Snowstorm: Hannibal and his army are crossing the Alps". This picture of the transition of Hannibal through the Alps reflects in a very abstract manner. Also created a lot of engravings, dedicated to the transition of the commander. This, for example, engraving in color, executed in 1866 by Henry Leitmann under the title "Hannibal crosses the Alps", or engraving of the 19th century "Hannibal in the campaign". Also, the history of the transfer of Hannibal through the Alps is devoted to a number of documentaries of such TV channels as BBC, "Culture", etc.

Conclusion

To summarize, it is important to note that the main reason that spurred the commander Hannibal Barku to make a march with his army through the Alps was the desire for an unexpected attack, since the Roman Republic could not expect a blow from the north. The crossing of the Hannibal through the Alps (historical facts were cited in the article) was started by the army with the strength of about 50 thousand people, after the transition, about 26 thousand soldiers survived. But the received surprise effect, despite the large numerical losses, was enough for Carthage to win a number of very important military victories in the first stage of the Punic Wars and put the Roman Republic on the brink of complete annihilation.