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Hannibal over the Alps, 218 BC, with thirty-seven elephants

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Published 2026-07-16 · Reviewed 2026-10-11 · 5 min read

painting of an army with elephants crossing a river — Hannibal crossing the Rhone, painting by Henri Motte, 1878. Henri-Paul Motte / Public domain. Source

TL;DR — In 218 BC Hannibal marched from Spain over the Alps with 37 elephants; how many men survived, and by which pass, the sources still dispute.

Hannibal crossed the Alps in the autumn of 218 BC to carry Carthage’s war into Italy by land. Polybius, the Greek historian of the war, gives the timetable: “The whole march from New Carthage had occupied five months, the actual passage of the Alps fifteen days.” He also gives Hannibal’s own count of the army that came out of the mountains. Two things about the crossing are still argued: how many men made it, and which pass they took.

Quick facts

When: Saguntum besieged 219 BC; the Ebro crossed May 218 BC; the Po plain reached October 218 BC
Where: From New Carthage in Spain over the Pyrenees, the Rhône and the Alps into northern Italy
Who: Hannibal of Carthage and his army
Outcome: Hannibal entered Italy with 20,000 infantry and up to 6,000 cavalry by his own count; the pass he used is still disputed

From Saguntum to the Ebro

The war began in Spain. In 219 BC, the historian Jona Lendering writes, Hannibal “besieged Saguntum, a Roman ally,” which “fell after a blockade of eight months.” Rome demanded that Carthage hand Hannibal over. In May 218 he crossed the river Ebro, and Rome declared the Second Punic War.

Rome expected the main blow in Sicily and sent reinforcements there. Hannibal instead went by land. He crossed the Pyrenees, in Lendering’s figures, “with an army of 50,000 infantry, 9,000 cavalry and 37 elephants.”

Thirty-seven elephants at the Rhône

The elephants were the hardest part of the river crossings. At the Rhône, Polybius writes, Hannibal’s “chief difficulty was in getting the elephants across, of which he had thirty-seven.” Lendering places the crossing at Arausio, modern Orange, where the elephants were ferried “across the water on large rafts.”

Fifteen days in the mountains

The Alps took fifteen days, made harder, Lendering notes, by “autumn snow.” The Roman historian Livy tells how the army cut a way past one great rock on the descent. The soldiers built a huge fire against it, “and, pouring vinegar on the heated stones, they render them soft and crumbling. They then open a way with iron instruments through the rock thus heated by the fire,” so that “not only the beasts of burden, but also the elephants could be led down it.” Four days, Livy writes, were spent at that rock.

painting of soldiers and animals struggling through a swirling snowstorm on a mountain pass — Snow Storm: Hannibal and his Army Crossing the Alps, oil painting by J. M. W. Turner, 1812, Tate. J. M. W. Turner / Public domain. Source

How many came down

Polybius gives Hannibal’s own figure. The army that reached the Po valley consisted of “twelve thousand Libyans and eight thousand Iberians, and not more than six thousand cavalry in all, as he himself distinctly states on the column erected on the promontory of Lacinium to record the numbers.”

Others count higher. Livy admits that the number “is by no means agreed upon by authors”: the highest give “a hundred thousand foot and twenty thousand horse,” the lowest “twenty thousand foot and six thousand horse.” Lucius Cincius Alimentus, who had been Hannibal’s prisoner, gave 80,000 foot and 10,000 horse, but, Livy notes, counted Gauls and Ligurians who probably joined later. Lendering writes that “in October 218, 38,000 soldiers and 8,000 cavalry had reached the plains along the river Po in the vicinity of the Italian town Turin.”

Which pass?

The route was already disputed in antiquity. Livy found it surprising “that it should be doubtful by what road he crossed the Alps,” noting that most people believed Hannibal used the Pennine pass, while the historian Coelius named “the top of Mount Cremo.”

The modern debate continues. Lendering thinks Hannibal was “probably taking the Col du Mont Genèvre.” In 2016 a team led by Bill Mahaney of York University, Toronto, with the microbiologist Chris Allen of Queen’s University Belfast, argued for the Col de Traversette, about 3,000 meters high, from a “mass animal deposition” near the pass dated to “approximately 2168 cal yr BP, i.e. 218 BC.” The university’s own announcement noted that this route, first proposed by Sir Gavin de Beer more than half a century earlier, “has not previously been widely accepted by the academic community.” Victories in Italy followed, among them Cannae in 216 BC.

Key facts

Hannibal besieged Saguntum in 219 BC and took it after eight months; Rome declared war after he crossed the Ebro in May 218 (Lendering).
Hannibal had 37 elephants at the Rhône (Polybius 3.42).
The march from New Carthage took five months, the Alps fifteen days (Polybius 3.56).
Hannibal’s own inscription at Lacinium gave 12,000 Libyan and 8,000 Iberian infantry and no more than 6,000 cavalry entering Italy (Polybius 3.56).
Livy’s sources ranged from 20,000 foot and 6,000 horse to 100,000 foot and 20,000 horse (Livy 21.38).
The pass is disputed: Lendering favors the Col du Mont Genèvre; a 2016 study argued for the Col de Traversette (Queen’s University Belfast).

FAQ

When did Hannibal cross the Alps?

In the autumn of 218 BC. Polybius says the march from New Carthage took five months and the Alps fifteen days; the army reached the Po plain in October, according to Jona Lendering.

How many elephants did Hannibal take over the Alps?

Thirty-seven, by Polybius's count at the Rhône crossing.

How many soldiers survived the crossing?

Hannibal's own inscription, quoted by Polybius, gives 20,000 infantry and no more than 6,000 cavalry. Other ancient writers gave numbers as high as 100,000 infantry, and Lendering gives 38,000 soldiers and 8,000 cavalry.

Which pass did Hannibal use?

No one knows for certain. Ancient writers named the Pennine pass and Mount Cremo; Jona Lendering favors the Col du Mont Genèvre, and a 2016 study argued for the Col de Traversette.

Did Hannibal really break rocks with vinegar?

Livy says so: his men heated a rock with a great fire, poured vinegar on it to make it crumble, and cut a path with iron tools.

Sources

The whole world at about the same time: The world in 200 BC

Cite this article

APA: Song Letter. (2026, October 11). Hannibal over the Alps, 218 BC, with thirty-seven elephants. Our Earth's History. https://ourearthshistory.com/africa/classical/hannibal-crossing-the-alps/
Chicago: Song Letter. “Hannibal over the Alps, 218 BC, with thirty-seven elephants.” Our Earth's History, October 11, 2026. https://ourearthshistory.com/africa/classical/hannibal-crossing-the-alps/.
MLA: Song Letter. “Hannibal over the Alps, 218 BC, with thirty-seven elephants.” Our Earth's History, 11 Oct. 2026, https://ourearthshistory.com/africa/classical/hannibal-crossing-the-alps/.

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