How did Hannibal get elephants to Iberia and into Italy?

Question

Most people know that Hannibal invaded Italy with war elephants by crossing the Alps. But how did he get the elephants to Iberia in the first place? According to historic data, the route he took would have been from North Africa to Spain, over the Pyrenees to France and over the Alps into Italy. Did he have ships large enough to cross the Mediterranean? Did he make many trips? All of the accounts I've read seem to gloss over this little detail. Does anyone here know the answer? Thanks.

Answer 1

That is an excellent observation.
Hannibal had some 50,000 foot soldiers, 9,000 horsemen and 37 war elephants.
The logistics of that trip are astronomical.

And how did they cross the Ebro and the Rhone Rivers?

A map of the route is at the link below:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Hannibal_route_of_invasion.gif

Answer 2

This is a great question.

I would like to make the obvious point that Tunisia (Carthage) is in Africa and therefore logically had elephants. This is not a very exciting fact, what is interesting is that it was almost customary for an Antiginod (Pyhrrus) Macedonian Army to have elephants. The link obviously is with India, however transporting Elephants from India through the Seleucid Kingdom is difficult (at best) and these Elephants are more likely to come from Egypt. Which have to be transported via water at some point. I would suggest that as already discussed the Vessels of the time are suitable for pachyderm transportation. Carthage at that time was the 2nd largest Naval power (after Rome during 1st Punic War) and even the Romans had copied Carthaginian Shipwright skills.

Elephants of course are often a double edged sword in warfare and once startled are uncontrollable. On the other hand they are a great status symbol. I wonder if hannibal used his Elephants to rally Gallic support which he received during his campaign. Most likely an Elephant or two or 37 demonstrate that he meant buisness. As for Hannibal invading Italy with Elephants I would Seriously doubt that comment can be made when ignoring propaganda. He managed to Invade Italy with a Single Elephant of which he doesnt seem to use in battle. I bet the poor thing did not last long.

Elephants are more useful as a propaganda tool than a weapon (at least in the west beyond India) while they scare horses (and everything else) they often stampede generally back towards their own units. Nonetheless the threat of an elephant invasion was in the back of Vetius mind when he wrote his treatise on just how to deal with them.

Did he have ships large enough: Yes (also see Roman animal trade 250 odd years later), also unhindered in Carthagianian semi- occupied Spain. The real problem to this question is a matter of Carthigianian logistics which no Roman account survives (I am unaware of a Carthaginian account, primarily because Rome did such a good job at razing the city) or even exists in the first place. I think a study on logistics would be most interesting and would be a great field to study.

One final Irrelevant note: He didnt really invade Italy with elephants (physically but more mentally) as a single Elephant does not really amount to an invasion force. I would love to know what happened to this single Elephant. Even If I am wrong he did not bring enough Pacyderms into Italy to pose a serious threat.

Answer 3

The Carthaginians had a significant navy so presumedly they were shipped over, especially since the Mediterranean is fairly narrow between North Africa and Spain. One of the interesting things about the Second Punic War is the rise of Roman naval power (they were not a traditionally strong naval state) that secured local control of the seas. This forced Hannibal's round about trek through the Alps, prohibited direct resupply in Italy from Carthage, and enabled a Roman expedition into Spain once Hannibal had departed.

Answer 4

I've compared pictures of Hannibal's elephant's with pictures of modern African and Asian elephants (this has been done before I just couldn't remember what they concluded) and because of the ear size, it looks like Hannibal brought elephants over from Africa (no surprises there!).

I've heard that he put the elephants on rafts to get them over rivers, here's a nice picture: http://www.houseofwaterdancer.com/images/military/hannibal-crossing-the-rhone.JPG
and it was painfully hard and slow to bring them anywhere.

In a recent study, someone rode an elephant over the Alps. If memory serves, the thing ate something in the realm of 3,000 pounds of some kind of food and lost weight on the way. I'll try to find the article soon, I'm really cloudy on the statistics...sorry about that.

Answer 5

All of that work and they were only used in one battle. Hannibal actually waited on the bank of the river while the Romans marched across the frigid water. By the time the Romans arrived, they were so weak they could barely hold their weapons. To make matters work, Hannibal induced an allergic reaction in the elephants to make them extremely hostile. Needless to say, the Romans were routed.

Answer 6

the Carthaginians had a vast navy. their city was founded by the phecisiens (sp?) who were great sea traders and had huge boats. Carthage was one of the cities made as a trade post. because of this Carthaginians were able to obtain and create boats that are able to carry large amounts of weight. the strait of Gibraltars is very narrow so the distance on the boats were not that long.
another point is that Hannibal is one of the greatest generals ever. Great general are good with logistics, because 5% of wars are fought 95% are moving the army efficently. Rommel in world war II was a great general and he always said he wished he were as great as Hannibal. the point it that Hannibal was probably very crafty too

Answer 7

yes i believe he took them over on large ships and lost a lot of elephants on the way i watched this on the history channel ya might want to look on there website

Answer 8

He got a lot of help from the Post Office!

Answer 9

A port in Spain.

Answer 10

good question...that must have been one neat trick...