After Hannibal dispersed the blocking tribe, he gets three days of relatively peaceful marching, and then on the fourth day, received envoys bearing proclamations of peace. Although accepting the assistance, Hannibal was not gullible and made changes to his marching order. For two days, he marched in peace with their guides, but the tribe then attacked--his rear says Polybius, and his front and rear says Livy--as the Carthaginians passed through a narrow defile or gorge. Hannibal's army, cut in two, resisted, but he was forced to spend the night "with half his force near a certain bare rock." [Polybius, III, 53] Livy does not mention any rock, though he calls the ambush a "cunningly laid trap." [Polybius, III, 53] Scattered attacks harassed his advance, but nothing as serious as the previous attack. On the ninth day of his march from the Ascent spot, near the time of the setting of the Pleiades, the army reached the Alpine pass, where they rested for two days. Hannibal raised the morale of his army by pointing to the plains of Italy and in the direction of Rome and giving an "only a little bit further 'til we reach sunny climes, friendly tribes, and Roman plunder" speech. On the way down, Polybius and Livy note that fresh snow covered last year's snow and made the footing treacherous. So, the legendary pass has a number of clues, especially one high enough to contain snow from last year, as well as a gorge with a big rock nearby. In some ways, it's a case of what did the ancients know and does it fit the story. As for what they knew, de Beer points to 1st century BC two sources: Strabo and Varro. Strabo lists four Alpine passes: Pass through Ligures. Pass to Taurini which Hannibal took (between the "Ligure" pass and "Salossi" pass) Pass through Salossi. The Little St. Bernard pass Pass through Rhaeti. The Brenner or Great St. Bernard Pass. Varro lists five: Ligures Pass and Corniche Road Hannibal's Pass between Ligures Pass and Pompey's Pass. Pass Pompey took to get to [South France on the way to] Spain in 77BC Pass Hasdrubal used to enter Italy. Graian Alps-Little St. Bernard Both agree on the Ligures Pass, holding a coast road via the Riviera (Corniche Road) but all reject that as Hannibal's Pass because nothing tallies in the description and it is too close to Massilia and the Roman army. Hannibal marched inland to evade the Romans. Hannibal's Pass is the second listed and is also referred to as the Pass to the Taurini, which is where Hannibal exited the Alps. Several passes may be this one, including the Col de Larche and Col de Traversette, both entering into the area of the Taurini. Pompey's Pass? de Beer fingers Mont Genevre. Hasdrubal Pass? de Beer names Mont Cenis as a likely candidate, but then questions whether Hasdrubal used the same pass as Hannibal. The Rhaeti and Graian Alps seem the most eastward, and de Beer surmises they would be the Little St. Bernard, Great St. Bernard, or Brenner passes. The Salossi (or Salassi) pass would also fit in here with one of the St. Bernard passes, since the Salossi inhabited the area and it leads to the Insubres tribe's area. Livy is adamant about the Taurini, so much so that he belittles a fellow historian, Coelius Antipater, for saying Hannibal crossed at Mt. Cremo (Little St. Bernard), or other historians who wrote that Hannibal crossed the Pennine Alps (Great St. Bernard), both of which would have lead to the Salossi. Livy further notes that the Pennine Alps was inhabited by half-German tribes, indicating by inference that Hannibal dealt with Gallic tribes. As for the height, and with regards to the new snow over last year's snow, Prevas provides the following descriptions and evaluations: Col de la Traversette: 3000 meters--high enough and 10 miles wide at summit Little St. Bernard: 2188 meters--too low Mont Genevre: 1850 meters--too low Col de Larche: 1991 meters--too low Mont Cenis: 2081 meters--too low Col du Clapier: 2500 meters is possible and is the most direct route to Turin. Doublechecking some of these numbers with a Michelin Guide to Europe, you'll find Col de Larche at 1948 meters, Mont Genevre at 1854, Cenis at 2084, and Little St. Bernard at 2188. These are close enough to tally. Lendering noted the following heights, likely taken from Connolly: Col du Petit Saint Bernard 2,188 meters Mont Cenis 2,084 meters Col du Clapier 2,482 meters Col du Mont Genèvre 1,860 meters Col de la Croix 2,309 meters Col de la Traversette 2,950 meters de Beer claims that the Col de la Traversette is Hannibal's pass, because it is high enough for last year's snow to exist, a gorge marks its approach, it includes a view of Italy, it has a steep descent, it leads to the Taurini, it tallies with Varro's description, and the distances are right for the days given. In second place, though discounted, de Beer names the Col du Clapier because it too offers a gorge approach, steep descent, and view of Italy, although no other matches. Col de Larche, Mont Cenis, Mont Genevre, and Little St. Bernard are too low, too easy a track for the difficulties described, and offer no views of Italy. In addition, the Little St. Bernard does not lead to the Taurini. Prevas relies on another idea to name the Col de la Traversette--the treachery of the guides. Moving up the Durance River valley, the valley divides at at Guillestre. To the left, Mont Genevre. To the right, Col de la Traversette. If the guides were treacherous, they'd lead the Carthaginians to the right and into the Combe du Queyres (Dale du Queyres)--a six to seven mile long gorge that widens to a small valley about 15 miles long, ending in a cul du sac with a pass (Traversette) off to the side. It is a perfect ambush site as the gorge narrows to a switchback, which is currently only two cars wide. Prevas notes that the traditional Isere River route to either Little St. Bernard, Mount Cenis, or Col du Clapier is the simplest to follow, but it is difficult to reconcile gorges and ambushes with dates and distance for those three passes. The Drome River to Durance fits much better all the way around. As for the camping spot the army at the summit, the Col du Clapier has a nice wide plateau and an easy grade, but there is a lake, which is never mentioned. The Col de la Traversette has a plateau wide enough for an army waiting for stragglers. Dupuy also suggests that the pass Hannibal used is the Traversette. On the aspect of camping, Bradford contends that the four best claimants are Cenis, Clapier, Mont Genevre, and Traversette. Cenis and Clapier afford places close to the summit for camping, with Clapier the preference for it is higher and more "awkward" pass, and offers a view. Mont Genevre has a good camping ground, but is too low to qualify for a hazardous crossing. Traversette fulfills every requirement except a good camping ground, and is the highest of the four. He favors Clapier over Traversette. Lazenby continues Hannibal's trek from modern Villard de Lans to Tencin, then two more days more marching (15 km to Pontcharra), making the ambush between Pontcharra and La Rochette? There is a gorge above Pontcharra on the way to Col du Clapier (placing it 120 km or about 14 km per day). The Col du Clapier is 2482 meters high, has a view, and contains a suitable plateau for camping. Dodge uses the most northern route, continuing to follow the Rhone to modern Bourget, then cutting southeastward to Chambery and Montmelian--in essense, between about a third of the way between Grenoble and Geneva. Dodge asserts that when Polybius said 1400 stades "up the river," he meant the Rhone. From Montmelian, Hannibal then zigzags northeast to Albertville, southeast to Moutiers, and then northeast again towards the Little St. Bernard Pass. He makes Albertville the town that sent its elders out with proclamations of peace, and makes the ambush site just short of the pass. In addition, according to Dodge, Polybius' distances agree with the route. At the pass is a large white rock, which supposedly had a big battle near it from which past generation dug up large bones. Dodge says that half the elephants perished. This last part is hard to correlate, since Livy says the cavalry and elephants were at the head of the column, and neither Livy nor Polybius said anything about lost elephants--lost horses and mules, but not elephants. The rock, however, is in both narratives. And the pass contains a plateau suitable for camping, with a lake in it. Dodge notes, however, that no view of Italy exists from Little St. Bernards--he contends that Polybius meant that Hannibal figuratively pointed to Italy, not a specific part of a plain of the Po River valley. Dorey and Dudley contend that Hannibal went up the Isere and then followed the circling Arc River valley until reaching the present-day town of Modane, where the ambush in the gorge took place. After fighting off the tribe, then proceeded to cross at the Col du Clapier and descended to Italy. Dorey and Dudley do not bother much with analysis, facts, or discussions of alternate routes. They stick to the traditional route. Bath punts on any further discussion of Hannibal's route: "we enter a maze of conjecture as to Hannibal's exact route, and I do not propose to devote overmuch space as to what must remain largely guesswork." (page 48). In fact, he devotes no space to the route, only to retelling the ambushes and descent in general, non-geographic terms. He suggests reading de Beer or Lazenby (even though they propose different routes). Caven places the Ascent locale near modern day Grenoble. Indeed, he asserts without qualification that the town Hannibal captured "has been identified as lying on or near the site of modern Grenoble." (page 105). He may be following Dodge here. As for the pass itself, Caven notes that "it has been plausibly suggested" that Hannibal was aiming for Mont Cenis and "missed the road and so was forced to cross a little farther south by the much higher and more difficult Mont du Clapier." (page 105) Connolly identifies the pass at Mont Genevre. He provides six criteria: 1) defile 30km from the pass, 2) large space to camp an army, 3) north facing descent, 4) precipitous descent, 5) far side of pass 45-90km from flat land, and 6) see Italy from the top. Mont Genevre satisfies the first five (as does Col de l'Eschelle as Connolly notes later). Col de Larche fits 2 and 5, Col de la Traversette fits 2, 4, and 5. Col du Clapier fits 1 and 2. Mont Cenis fits only condition 2. The Little St. Bernard fits the first three. Connolly discounts Col de l'Eschelle by pointing to a modern-day Army expedition under Lt. R. Melvin that reported elephants would be impossible to move up the l'Eschelle and Traversette passes, and definitely not down the descending side. Connolly avoids mentioning that four days of cracking rock to make a path might make it passable. Why a wide Mont Genevre route needs to crack rock when it's part of the famed Way of Hercules is also not examined. Connolly also notes the pass comes out in the land of the Taurini. Connolly discounts Livy and follows Polybius exclusively. However, Polybius specifically says Hannibal emerged in the land of the Insubres, not the Taurini, and Connolly does not mention this contradiction. Greiss and the West Point Military History series doesn't name a pass--though from the map provided it looks to be the Isere-Little St. Bernard route. The Atlas of of the Roman World offers up a map showing a St. Bernard Pass area crossing. Authors' Conclusion? As you can see, there is no clear consensus over the route taken, and you can pick and choose your favorite author. To summarize, starting from the Rhone River: Author River Pass Bath Drome No opinion Bradford Drome Col du Clapier Caven Isere Col du Clapier Connolly Isere Mont Genevre de Beer Drome Col de la Traversette Dodge Rhone Little St. Bernard Dorey/Dudley Isere Col du Clapier Dupuy Drome Col de la Traversette Lazenby Isere Col du Clapier Prevas Drome Col de la Traversette What strikes me most about the authors' presentations of Hannibal's route is not so much the willingness to merge Polybius' and Livy's descriptions together, but their silence when portions of one text disagree with the other. In a sense, they ignore parts that do not fit their theory. To a certain extent, can you have both ancient historians be correct? Indeed, there's a footnote explaining that the two used different sources, and as you might expect, the result is two different routes. However, that extent does not mean that both sources are mutually exclusive. It does call into question the ancient historians' research as well as their knowledge. Hannibal Crosses the Alps A Route Examined and a Proposed Alternate Route Introduction Survey of Classical Sources Hannibal's March According to the Histories of Polybius and Livy Polybius vs. Livy: Debate over Hannibal's March Modern Historians: Route Acceptance and Rejection Modern Historians: Rhone Crossing Modern Historians: The Island Modern Historians: From the Island to The Ascent of the Alps Modern Historians: Ascent to the Alps to the Pass Polybius vs. Livy: Short Bios Hannibal's Line of March Considerations: Proposing a Route Hannibal's March: A Proposed Alternate Route Conclusion and Bibliography Back to War Lore: The List Back to Master Magazine List © Copyright 2002 by Russ Lockwood. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. 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