Elephants in the snow: Hannibal's march over the Alps

Rome expected the war with Carthage to be fought in Spain or Africa. Hannibal had other plans. In the spring of 218 BC he set out from New Carthage in Spain with a large army of infantry, cavalry and around 37 war elephants.

He crossed the Pyrenees, fought his way through Gaul and ferried his elephants across the Rhône on rafts covered with earth so the animals would not panic. Then came the Alps — in autumn, with snow already falling on the high passes.

Ancient writers describe landslides, ambushes by mountain tribes and narrow paths where men and animals slipped to their deaths. When he finally descended into northern Italy, Hannibal had lost a large part of his army.

It did not matter. Over the next two years he won a string of stunning victories, culminating at Cannae in 216 BC, where his encircling tactics destroyed a Roman army that outnumbered his own.

Hannibal never took Rome, and Carthage eventually lost the war. But generals still study his campaign — a reminder that the route everyone calls impossible is often the one your opponent has left unguarded.