Now Hannibal’s army was a diverse one to say
the least. The Carthaginian army was made up of several different groups of
soldiers including Carthaginians, Numidians, Libyans, Balearic Islanders, three different ethnic
groups of Spanish origins, many different tribes of Gauls and, later in the war,
Italians and Greeks. So Hannibal’s forces came from many lands but they
specialized in different forms of war. The
Balearic Islanders used slings and were feared throughout the world for their
skill. The Numidians used small maneuverable horses to fight with agility and
fought with javelins[1]. The Gauls used large
swords, sometimes stripped naked before battle and fought in single combat to
settle disputes[2]. Libyans fought with short swords and oval shields.
The Iberians favored traditional garb but eventually adopted Roman arms and
armor[3]. The Carthaginians fought
in phalanx formations. So there was a wide variety of troops that all fought
differently. In addition there were also elephants which weren’t new to ancient
warfare. Also depending who you ask they were either really effective or not
really at all.[4]
Alexander had encountered them in India
and one of his general’s kingdoms fielded over 400 at one point. Furthermore
Pyrrhus had used them on the Romans during the Pyrrhic War. So Hannibal knew that Romans had experience
with them. However they still were a terrifying sight on the battlefield. The
average Roman troops was a subsistence farmer whom probably didn’t travel much.
Elephants would probably be considered monsters by them.
Now Hannibal was ready for his long march to the Alps and
beyond. His mercenaries were loyal to the Barcid family after years of warfare.
So with a loyal army at his heels, Hannibal began his move towards his great
enemies. However the Gauls of southern
France viewed this as a major threat. They rallied together ready to fight Hannibal but he
managed to avert a war by giving them
gifts of money and goods.
Iberian
After dealing with the first set of Gaul tribes, he ran
into a new problem: the Rhone River. The
Rhone was a large river so crossing it would be a difficult task as is. Adding
further headaches to Hannibal was the fact there were hostile Gaul tribes ready
for war on the other side. Hannibal’s
plan was to send his nephew Hanno with a detachment of Spaniards upstream to
flank the hostile Gauls when his forces were ready to cross. So the next day Hannibal’s flotilla of small
rafts and ships crossed the river. Then
Hanno troops attacked the Gauls’ flank and drove them off the field[5]. However the crossing of the rest of his army
and, most difficultly, the elephants was still an issue to his success. According to legend Hannibal built rafts and
laid dirt and soil on them to fool the elephants into believing they were on
solid land. Apparently this idea worked and got the majority of the elephants
across the river. However some got spooked and jumped into the river and if the
ancient accounts are to be believed used their trunks as snorkels to get the
rest of the way[6].
I have my doubts about the second story but the first seems pretty plausible.
So Hannibal had conquered two large obstacles with
relative ease. The campaign was going pretty well at this point for young
Hannibal but ahead of him he had two far larger tasks: Crossing the Alps and
then fighting the Romans with whatever he had left. Both were going to be very difficult.
[1] Goldsworthy,
178
[2] Goldsworthy,
169
[3] Goldsworthy
189
[4] Charles,
Michael. "Elephants at Raphia: Reinterpreting Polybius 5.84-5." The
Classical Quarterly 57, no. 1 (May 01, 2007): 306-11. Accessed November 30,
2014.
[5] Polybius
3. 42
[6] O'bryhim,
S. "Hannibal's Elephants and the
Crossing of the Rhône." The Classical Quarterly 41, no. 1 (January 01,
1991): 121-25.
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