History keeps many names of great commanders, whose great victories the whole world knows. One of these 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 made was the passage of his thousands of troops through the Alps. This article is devoted to the description of the prehistory of Hannibal's army crossing the Alps, its results and consequences.
Biography of Hannibal Barca before the campaign through the Alps
Before learning briefly about Hannibal's passage through the Alps, we should talk about who the commander himself was. He is a famous Carthaginian commander and politician who, thanks to his talent as a strategist, 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 the commander of the Carthaginian army, who was in Spain, in addition, he was quite an influential person in the country andclaimed the role of political leader.
From childhood, Hannibal showed the makings of an outstanding military figure, so his father, seeing him as 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, military art, and was interested in Solon's reforms. That is why Hannibal's crossing of the Alps was a success.
As a result, the guy turned out to be a smart, strong, courageous commander who often set an example for his actions to soldiers. In 221 BC e. year already in adulthood, Barca, despite the opposition of the local aristocracy, was proclaimed commander of the troops of Carthage. From that time on, 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 had dire consequences for Carthage, so Hannibal, considering the war inevitable, began to provoke a clash with Rome, preliminarily accumulating strength.
The background of Hannibal's crossing of the Alps
2 The facts of this event haunt historians: what provoked the commander to 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. Hannibal's father, Hamilcar, pursuing an active policy of conquest to regain his lost dominant position, often affected the interests ofRome, thereby provoking Rome to start 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 of Hamilcar in battle, his son-in-law Hasdrubal became the new commander of the Carthaginian army, who continued his policy even more actively. So, his very important decision was the foundation of New Carthage in the Pyrenees, which was destined to become the administrative and commercial center of the Spanish possessions of Carthage. Ultimately, by 218 BC, Carthage made up for all its losses after the First Punic War, so the inevitability of a war with Rome was 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 perfectly well that the time had come to attack Rome. But initially it was necessary to prepare for war. Barca formed a strong alliance with the Iberian tribes and began to raise an army. The reason for the war was the attack on the fortress 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 about the route of attack on Italy.
Strength of the invasion army
Before going to Italy, Hannibal decided to secure his territories in advance, so the commander left 13 thousand infantrymen and more in Africaone thousand horsemen, the city of Carthage itself was left to defend 4 thousand soldiers. Hannibal himself went on a campaign to Italy through the Alps, with an army of 40 thousand foot soldiers and 9,000 thousand horsemen, in addition, 37 war elephants participated in the campaign. Also in reserve in Spain, under the leadership of Barca's brother Hasdrubal, there were 13 thousand infantrymen and 1.5 thousand horsemen and 21 war elephants. The Roman legions opposed the army of Hannibal, led by the consul Tiberius Sempronius Long, with 22 thousand infantry and 2.5 thousand horsemen, and the second consul Publius Cornelius Scipio, who had legions with 20 thousand infantry soldiers and 2 thousand horsemen. The date of Hannibal's crossing of the Alps is 218 BC. e.
Route of movement of Hannibal's army
The main reason that predetermined Hannibal Barca's choice of the attack route through the Alps was the desire to take advantage of the surprise effect. Since at that time the passage through the northern Alps was considered suicide due to the difficult terrain and cold weather of an army of many thousands. Hannibal's route had to be chosen very carefully, so the road for movement had to be passable for horse riders, clumsy elephants, as well as various carts with provisions and equipment. In addition, the journey should not have taken much time, since the amount of provisions was very limited. Historical sources report several possible routes for the commander's campaign, the most preferred is the version of Titus Livy, which is supported by many modernresearchers.
At that time, there were only three possible routes through the Alps. The first route was on the coastal road, it was the easiest to pass, but it was blocked by Roman troops, so Barca could not move along it. The second route passed through the Cottian Alps. Despite the fact that this route was the shortest, it was of little use for the passage of a large army, only in the time of Pompey was a military road laid along this route to establish communication with the Gallic provinces. The third route ran through the Graian Alps, the passage was called the Petit 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 Graian Alps was one of the lowest.
An interesting fact is that Alexander Suvorov and his army made his Italian campaign through this passage. Thus, based on the work of Livy and other sources, modern researchers have concluded that Hannibal Barca approached the Alps with his army of thousands, moving upstream the Rhone River, then through the St. Bernard Pass he went to the Po Valley, and then, passing with battle the land of the Taurines and the Gallic tribes, the commander went to the pass, which opened the way to Northern Italy.
The first stage of Hannibal's crossing of 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, the Carthaginian warriors encountered narrow steep paths that were difficult to pass, along which it was difficult for a person to walk, not to mention a loaded wagon or elephants. But the difficult terrain of the mountains and the constant cold were not the only obstacles Hannibal's army had to face.
Thus, in the first days of the transition, Hannibal faced the difficulty of how to get through the detachments of warriors of the Gallic tribes, who occupied the passage through the large chain of the Alps. The military gift of Hannibal solved this problem, taking advantage of the fact that the warriors of the enemy tribe returned to their villages at night and the passage remained free at night. Having ordered to occupy it with his forward detachments, the commander cleared the way for his troops. But the Gauls, who were well versed in the area, attacked the rearguard of the Carthaginian troops, which caused a terrible crush on the narrow road, as a result of which the Barca army suffered significant losses, not only from arrows and spears of the Gauls, but also as a result of the fall of warriors and horses from a large height. In the end, Barca's army managed to push back the Gauls and safely descend into the Chambéry valley, where a small Gallic city was given to the commander to plunder his troops. In the valley, Hannibal Barca gave his troops a few days of rest to lick their wounds and resupply from the carts captured from the Gauls.
For three days, without encountering resistance, the Carthaginian army moved up the Isera River. Further, the Barca army entered the territory of the Centron tribe, the locals warmly welcomed the soldiers, provided them with the necessarysupplies and provided guides. But as it turned out later, it was a well-thought-out trap, since the path indicated by the guides led the Carthaginian army into an ambush. The enemy warriors began to roll huge boulders off the rocks and showered the Carthaginians with arrows and spears, but Hannibal was careful before the campaign, so the cavalry and light detachments were sent to the vanguard, and the main infantry went to the rear. Thanks to this, the advanced units of the commander managed to occupy the dominant heights, which made it possible for the troops to make the transition, but still the army of Carthage suffered quite serious losses. Although the losses could have been even greater if not for the Carthaginian elephants, the very sight of which so frightened the enemy warriors that they were even afraid to approach them.
Second stage of the Alpine crossing
On the ninth day of Hannibal's crossing of the Alps (year 218 BC) the summit of the pass was reached. Here the commander's army set up camps in order to rest, to wait for the stragglers and those who got lost, to collect the runaway horses and cattle. By this time, the morale of the troops, due to heavy losses, the difficulties of the transition, had fallen very much. Seeing this, Hannibal tried to encourage the soldiers with his speech, realizing that descending from the Alps is as difficult as climbing them.
Despite the fact that the attacks of enemy tribes have practically ceased, the worsened weather in the form of heavy snowfall and cold weather added to the difficulty of the campaign. The presence of deep snow masses that covered the narrow paths made every stepvery difficult. In addition, the road became very slippery and many warriors, having slipped, fell into the abyss from a great height, not having a chance to grab a bush or a tree, since there were none.
The situation became even more complicated when, having reached the next crossing, the warriors found that it was completely littered with stones and snow. Hannibal's brilliant thinking also found a way out of this seemingly hopeless situation. The commander gave the command that the soldiers cut a small path in the passage and lit a large fire there, when the fire completely burned out, the Carthaginian soldiers poured vinegar on the red-hot stones, which made the stones looser. Further, on the orders of Hannibal, tired and starving warriors with the help of iron guns cleared the passage for two days, on the third day Hannibal's army passed through the passage and subsequently did not encounter great difficulties on its way.
Soon, Hannibal's army went to the fertile valley of the B althea, where the local population met the soldiers as liberators and gave them a warm welcome. Since there was no risk of the army nearby, Hannibal's troops spread their camp and replenished their forces for fourteen days, because then a campaign to the north of Italy awaited them. In total, the passage of the army of thousands of Hannibal Barca took fifteen days.
Losses of the Carthaginian army during the Alpine crossing
Despite the fact that Hannibal achieved his goal and opened the door to Northern Italy, the campaign was very difficult for him and his troops. For fifteen days of exhausted transition of troopsHannibal across the Alps (the date is already known to the reader), as a result of skirmishes with local tribes, cold, hunger and falling from a height of an army of 40 thousand infantrymen and 9 thousand horsemen, about half of the infantry and 6 thousand cavalry soldiers survived. In addition, of the thirty-seven war elephants that began the campaign, about fifteen survived, but this number, as further events will show, will be enough to terrify the Roman legionnaires. Also, many of the surviving warriors, according to Polybius, during the grueling campaign from hunger and physical exhaustion lost their minds and could no longer fight.
Consequences of the campaign
The commander Hannibal Barca himself in his writings admitted that the idea of a campaign through the Alps had its drawbacks. As mentioned above, after Hannibal crossed the Alps (we briefly talked about it in the article), the Carthaginian army missed about half of its soldiers, but the door to northern Italy was open in front of Hannibal, thus the goal was achieved. Barca made up for his losses from among the 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 huge, the plan of the Roman Republic, which involved the conduct of hostilities in Spain and definitely did not allow the appearance of enemy troops on its territory, suffered a complete collapse. After replenishing forces and inflicting the first defeats on Rome in the battles of Ticinum, Trebbia and Lake Trasimene, the strategic initiative in the first stage of the SecondThe Punic Wars firmly passed to Carthage.
Reflection of Hannibal's campaign through the Alps in art and culture
Such an event as Hannibal's crossing of the Alps could not but be reflected in art. Thus, the famous artist William Turner painted the painting "Snowstorm: Hannibal and his army crossing the Alps." This picture reflects the passage of Hannibal through the Alps in a very abstract manner. Also created a lot of engravings dedicated to the transition of the commander. This is, for example, a color engraving made in 1866 by Heinrich Leitman under the title "Hannibal crosses the Alps", or a 19th century engraving "Hannibal on a campaign". Also, the history of Hannibal's passage through the Alps is devoted to many documentaries of such TV channels as the BBC, "Culture", etc.
Conclusion
Summing up, it is important to note that the main reason that spurred the commander Hannibal Barca to make a campaign with his army through the Alps was the desire for a surprise attack, since the Roman Republic could not expect an attack from the north. Hannibal's transition through the Alps (historical facts were given in the article) was started by an army of about 50 thousand people, after the completion of the transition, about 26 thousand soldiers survived. But the effect of surprise, despite the large numerical losses, was enough for Carthage to win a number of very important military victories at the first stage of the Punic Wars and put the Roman Republic on the brink.total annihilation.
