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Notes: Chapter 9

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Notes for Chapter 9, Borix, The Alps, 218 B.C.

1. Sacred Band. This was an elite training corps in which Carthage trained her best young aristocrats in warfare.
2. Isara River. The identity of this river is somewhat unclear in the ancient sources, which has caused scholars considerable confusion. But it was probably the modern Isère River, which strikes the Rhône north of Valence, having descended from high in the French Alps northwest to Albertville, where it bends southwest to Grenoble, then north again for a bit, then southwest again to the Rhône. Hannibal could have gone a little farther north to intercept the Isère, then followed it around to the site of Grenoble, where he could have struck straight south along the Drac River, eventually reaching the Druentia through fairly easy terrain. Prevas argues that the Isara could not have been the river Hannibal actually took because the geologic features so vividly described in the ancient sources—such as the gorge—cannot be found that way.
3. Twenty-nine. Hannibal was indeed twenty-nine years old when he invaded Italy.
4. Description of the Druentian Gauls—Avantici, Caturiges, Savincates, and Quariates. I took most of this description from Prevas, p. 122. The reference to goiter Prevas takes from Pliny the Elder.
5. Padus River. The modern Po, the large river (Italy’s largest) that begins in the Alps above Turin and flows easterly to the Adriatic Sea, reaching it at Porto Levanto, south of Venice.
6. Cassandra. The daughter of King Priam of Troy in Greek mythology. Apollo loved her and granted her the gift of prophecy. When she rejected the god’s love, he blunted the gift by never allowing anyone to believe her prophecies. Even when she warned the Trojans of the Greeks’ wooden horse, she was not believed.
7. “Small tributary river coming in from the northeast.” According to Prevas, this would be the Guil River, which flows down from the vicinity of the Col de la Traversette through a treacherous canyon, the probable site of the second ambush.
8. Hostages. It was common practice in the ancient world for a commander to compel potential enemies to behave by demanding that they give him some of their people as hostages.
9. Huge rock. This is another of the key landmarks in determining Hannibal’s route. The correct route must have this giant boulder standing in the open not far beyond its end.
10. Papyrus. Ancient paper made of strips of the papyrus reed, which, according to Encarta, “Papyrus,” grew in Egypt, Ethiopia, the Jordan Valley, and Sicily. Papyrus makers laid strips of reed to form one layer, then laid more strips across these perpendicularly. They moistened, pressed, and dried the result, then rubbed it with ivory or shell until it was smooth. These sheets were then joined in long rolls, from which they made scrolls. Writers usually wrote on it in multiple columns.
11. Liby-Phoenician. Inhabitants of colonies founded along the African coast by the Phoenicians. Carthage was one such colony.
12. Medusa. Turned into a Gorgon, a fearsome creature with snakes for hair, Medusa had been a mortal woman. Those who looked upon her terrible face turned to stone.
13. Long Gallic swords. The Gauls’ swords were longer than Roman swords, used for slashing at this period rather than for stabbing.
14. Hades. Ruler of the underworld, destination of the dead in Greek mythology.
15. “Squirrels, rabbits, woodchucks, and even a snow grouse.” My source for the animals to be found in the Alps is Encarta, “Alps.”
16. Willow bark. The bark of the willow contains the basic ingredient of aspirin, so that teas made from it were good for lowering fevers.
17. Camp bread. I assume that the ancient Gauls must have had some sort of hardtack-like hard bread that kept well and was useful as a compact food source on long journeys.
18. V-shaped frame. Vendorix makes a simple travois, a form of transport surely as well known to ancient Europeans as to American Indians.
19. Geta’s burial. I modeled this roughly on the discussions of Gallic graves and grave goods in sources such as James. The best Vendorix can do for Geta, of course, is a shallow grave—given the frozen ground—with a selection of grave goods in it.
20. The pass. According to Prevas, this was probably the Col de la Traversette, the pass best fitting the ancient descriptions of Hannibal’s route. Bradford says the Col de la Traversette lacks a flat place near the top where the army could have camped, but Prevas shows this to be false—including pictures. The pass is a difficult one even for experienced climbers, so it’s unlikely that many Hannibalic historians have climbed it. But Prevas did. The pass is on the French-Italian border southeast of the French city of Briançon some twenty-five miles, above the headwaters of the Guil River at some nine thousand feet elevation. On its far side are the headwaters of the Po.
21. Three great peaks. One of these I identify as the “giant” (according to Prevas) called Mt. Viso, south of the pass. Another is likely to be Mont Granero, north of the pass. The third may be Mont Manzol, north of Mont Granero.
22. Ibex. An Alpine mountain goat with large, backward-curving horns, pictured here from Encarta.
23. My source for Alpine plants is Encarta, “Alps.”
24. Taurini. The Gallic people who lived in the area of modern Turin (Torino).
25. Hannibal’s engineers and their method of cracking the boulder. This is covered in the ancient sources.
26. You’ll note that both chapters 5 and 6 end in literal cliffhangers. That was fun.