Hannibal’s crossing of the Alps in 218 BC was a major event during the Second Punic War (218 – 201 BC), and an accomplishment that is regarded today as one of the greatest military maneuvers of antiquity, even though the great general was to ultimately be defeated at Zama in 202 BC.
It is said that Hannibal, the Commander-in-Chief of the Carthaginian army, led his 30,000 men, 37 elephants, and 15,000 horses across the Alps, a long and treacherous journey that resulted in the deaths of many of his men and animals. But he succeeded in his goal of bringing the battle to the Roman Army and being a victor.
No solid evidence of the passage
However, according to Eureka Alert, one important piece of the puzzle concerning Hannibal’s crossing of the mountains has always been missing, and that was the route he took. But on Monday, it was announced that microbiologists based at the Institute for Global Food Security and School of Biological Sciences at Queen’s University in Belfast may have answered one of history’s greatest questions.
An international team of scientists, led by Professor Bill Mahaney (York University, Toronto) and Queen’s University’s microbiologist Dr. Chris Allen, provided what they are calling solid evidence for the most likely route taken by the Carthaginian general and his troops, by way of the Col de Traversette pass.
The narrow pass is located in a row of peaks on the border a little southeast of Grenoble in France and south-west of Turin in Italy. The Daily Mail says the The Traversette — found at about 9,842ft (3,000 meters) above sea level — is a torturous path even today.
Interestingly, this route was proposed almost a century ago by Sir Gavin de Beer, a biologist, and polymath, meaning someone who is learned in a broad range of subjects. At that time, his theory was not accepted by the acedemic community.
How did the scientists figure out the route?
The researchers used a combination of sciences to pinpoint Hannibal’s route across the Alps, and that is what makes the whole story so interesting. Lots of clues were left behind, clues most people wouldn’t even think about. Previous geological ezpeditions matched with historical accounts of the terrain and rockfalls.
Then, the scientists used a combination of environmental chemistry, pollen and microbial analysis to examine what they called a “mass animal deposition” event that took place close to the Col de Traversette. The examination of the deposits were dated at 200 BC using carbon isotope analysis.
Dr. Allen says, “The deposition lies within a churned-up mass from a 1-metre thick alluvial mire, produced by the constant movement of thousands of animals and humans. Over 70 per cent of the microbes in horse manure are from a group known as the Clostridia, that are very stable in soil – surviving for thousands of years. We found scientifically significant evidence of these same bugs in a genetic microbial signature precisely dating to the time of the Punic invasion.”
This very enlightening study, “Biostratigraphic Evidence Relating to the Age-Old Question of Hannibal’s Invasion of Italy, I: History and Geological Reconstruction,” was published in the online journal Archaeometry on March 8, 2016.
