British Alpine Hannibal Expedition

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The British Alpine Hannibal Expedition was an

Col du Mont Cenis
into Italy.

Background

One possible invasion route proposed for Hannibal's army

After the Carthaginian defeat in the

war elephants from Hispania (modern-day Spain) to Italy, where he led a 15-year campaign against Rome. Hannibal avoided the coastal route, and took his army over the Alps. His march has been described by ancient historians Polybius and Livy. The exact route, however, has been subject of long but inconclusive scholarly discourse.[1] In his 1955 book Alps and elephants: Hannibal's march, Gavin de Beer lists 12 possible candidates from 30 different books.[2]

The expedition

In 1955,

mountain climbing, and spent the summer of 1956 with friends hiking the Alps and comparing possible routes to the ancient descriptions. The group came to the conclusion that the Col de Clapier was the most likely pass, an opinion still supported by some modern historians.[1][3]

A few years later, a friend suggested testing this theory with an actual elephant. Hoyte wrote letters to the British consuls in

Burma.[4][5][6] The group obtained insurance for Jumbo from Lloyd's of London and further sponsorship from Life magazine, which later published a 7-page photo report.[5][7]

The originally planned route led over the Col de Clapier

The expedition started in late July 1959 in

Susa in Italy.[6]

The members of the expedition originally planned to call the 5,700 pound (2.6 t) elephant Hannibella, however, the animal could not be made to respond to the new name and thus remained Jumbo.[3][6] Jumbo was 11 years old and equipped with leather boots and knee pads for the most treacherous passages. A specially made coat was provided to keep her warm.[5] Despite a diet consisting of 150 pounds (68 kg) of hay, 50 pounds (23 kg) of apples, 40 pounds (18 kg) of bread, 20 pounds (9.1 kg) of carrots, and a vitamin B supplement per day, she lost an estimated 300 pounds (140 kg) during the first 4 days of the trip,[2] and nearly 500 pounds (230 kg) in total. On arrival in Italy, she consumed cake and a Magnum bottle of Chianti.[5]

In 1960, Hoyte published a report on the expedition as Trunk Road for Hannibal: With an Elephant Over the Alps.[8][9] Expedition member Cynthia Pilkington published the book "Elephant Over the Alps" in 1961, telling the story of the expedition.[10]

References

  1. ^ a b Jia, Anny (May 16, 2007). "In the Alps, hunting for Hannibal's trail". Stanford Report. Retrieved 17 October 2010.
  2. ^ a b c "FRANCE: Elephant Walk". Time. August 3, 1959. Archived from the original on November 6, 2012. Retrieved 16 October 2010.
  3. ^ a b c Kahn, Dean (July 25, 2009). "Wash. man celebrates trek over Alps with elephant". The Seattle Times. Retrieved 17 October 2010.
  4. ^ Jolly, Richard. "Richard Jolly - Biography". Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex. Retrieved 16 October 2010.
  5. ^ a b c d e David Lees; Pierre Boulat (August 17, 1959). "Alpine Elephant without Hannibal". Life. Retrieved 17 October 2010.
  6. ^ a b c d e Witten, Josh (April 13, 2009). "Elephant Directed Research". Science 2.0. Archived from the original on 23 March 2012. Retrieved 16 October 2010.
  7. ^ Hoyte, John (July 1, 2003). "In Hannibal's Elephant Tracks". The High Calling. Archived from the original on July 28, 2011. Retrieved 16 October 2010.
  8. ^ Hammond, Norman (February 17, 2010). "Hannibal's real Alpine trunk road to Rome is revealed". The Times. Retrieved 16 October 2010.
  9. ^ Hoyte, John (1960). Trunk road for Hannibal: with an elephant over the Alps. Geoffrey Bles.
  10. ^ Pilkington, Cynthia (1961). Elephant over the Alps. London: Macmillan.

External links

  • The
    Patrick Hunt
    - Episode 7 features John Hoyte narrating the story in 2007.
  • A picture of John Hoyte on Jumbo can be found in Boser, Ulrich (January–February 2007). "Hiking with Hannibal". Archeology. 60 (1). Retrieved 16 October 2010.
  • The Elephant Boot at the
    The British Museum
    A History of the World depicts one of the boots made for Jumbo.

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