ST: i New Works and New Editions FOLIORUM SILVULA: a Selection of Passages for Translation into Greek and Latin Verse, mainly from the University and College Examination Papers ; Edited by H. A. HOLDEX, M.A., Vice Principal of Cheltenham College, Fellow and late Assistant Tutor of Trinity College, Cambridge. Post 8vo. Is. By the sanie, FOLIORUM CENTURI^E. Selections for Transla- tion into Latin and Greek Prose, chiefly from the University ahd College Examination Papers. Post 8vo. 's. GREEK TRAGIC SENARII, Progressive Exercises in, followed by a Selection from the Greek Verses of Shrewsbury School, and prefaced by a short Accimnt of the Iambic Metre and Style of Greek Tragedy. By the Rev. B. H. KENNEDY, D.D., Prebendary of Lichfield, and Head-Master of Shrews- bury School. For the use of Schools and Private Students. Second Edition, altered and revised. 8vo. 8s. 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HARDWICK, M.A., Fellow and Chaplain of St. Catharine's Hall. Svo. 10s. M. PALMEIVS OBIGINES LITUBGIC.E, an Ana- lysis of; or, Anticiuities of the English Ritual; and of his Dissertation on Primitive Liturgies : for the use of Students at the Universities, and Candidates for Holy Orders, who have read the Original Work. By W. BEAL, LL.D., F.R.S., Vicar of Biookc, Norfolk. Vhno. 3.v. (i(/. Digitized by tine Internet Arciiive in 2010 witii funding from University of Toronto littp://www.arcliive.org/details/treatiseonliannibOOelli r^ I E TREATISE ON HANNIBAL'S PASSAGE OF THE ALPS, IN WHICH HIS ROUTE IS TRACED OVER THE LITTLE MONT CENIS, BY ROBERT ELLIS, B.D., FELLOW OF ST JOHN S COLLEGE, CAMBKIUGE. ^-^■^1 '1' CAMBRIDGE: J. DEIGHTON. LONDON : JOHN W. TAUKER AND SON. 1853- ^rtntttJ at tije SHniSjetsitg ^im. PREFACE. IN" the course of a series of excursions in the Alps, the attention of the Author had naturally been drawn to the subject of Hannibars passage of those mountains. On a subsequent examination of Polybius"" account of that ex- pedition, it appeared almost certain that the prominent and distinguishing characteristics of the pass which Han- nibal crossed could only be found on the pass of the Mont Cenis. A general acquaintance with the passes, by which it had been conjectured that Hannibal entered Italy, led at first to this conclusion. The close proximity to the plains of Piedmont of the summit of the pass Avhich Han- nibal crossed, the precipitous nature of the descent into Italy, and the immense losses which the Carthaginians incurred in consequence, all tended to identify this pass with that of the Mont Cenis. It was also beyond a doubt, that from neither the Great nor the Little St Bernard, nor from the Mont Genevre, was it possible to see the Italian plain. None of the roads over these passes, nor any accessible point in their neighbourhood, could command the view which the Carthaginian army saw from the crest of the Alps. The situation of the Mont Cenis, as might be judged from the map, rendered it, however, not impro- bable, that such a view might be obtained from the imme- diate neighbourhood of the road over its summit. As this route, then, had a considerable amount of a priori probability in its favour, a probability shared by no other pass, it seemed likely tliat an examination of it in detail might lead to its comi)lete identification with the line of Hanniljal's march into Italy. Accordingly, in the month of July, 1852, and in the months of April nnd May, ISb'S. iv PREFACE. the requisite examination was made. A period of nearly six weeks was, altogether, spent upon the investigation, some days being lost in consequence of unfavourable weather. A great quantity of snow was found upon the ground during the spring months, and rendered the cha- racter of the pass more in accordance with what it would have been at the time of Hannibal's passage of the Alps. It is now, it may be said, universally admitted, that the great test, by which the claims of every pass must be tried, is the narrative of Polybius. The following investigation has, accordingly, been conducted on this principle. In the translation of Polybius, which accompanies it, the exact meaning of the historian, and his peculiarities of narration, have been preserved as far as possible. To gain this end, of the utmost importance in the present case, nothing beyond a merely literal version of the Greek has been attempted. Less attention has been paid to Livy's narrative ; but his evidence has not been neglected. An examination of the objections brought against the Mont Cenis, and an enquiry into the antiquity of that pass, conclude the inves- tigation. The testimony of Polybius, and that of Livy, have been kept, almost entirely, distinct from one another; and the question of the old roads across the Alps has also been considered by itself, and a third and independent body of evidence deduced from its discussion. The thanks of the Author are due to the Syndics of the Pitt Press for the liberality with which they have undertaken the printing of the present work. St John's Coixegt:, Dec. 23, 1853. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. PAGE Introduction. — Brief notice of Hannibal's march from New Car- thage.— Polybius' estimation of the lengths of the different parts of the whole march from New Carthage to the plains of Italy. — A peculiarity in Polybius' mode of narration observed. — Division of the march from the passage of the Rhone to the country of the Insubrian Gauls into seven stages . . 1 CHAPTER II. Polybius* narrative of Hannibal's march, from the passage of the Rhone to the capture of Turin ...... CHAPTER III. Discussion of the narrative of Polybius, from the passage of the Rhone to the commencement of the ascent of the Alps. — Iden- tification of the Scaras of Polybius with the modern Iscre. — The Island of Polybius the district between the Rhone and the Isere. — Polybius only partially acquainted with this district. — Conclusion drawn that Hannibal must have marched up the left bank of the Isere, and not up the Rhone, from the junc- tion of the two rivers . . . . . . 1 G CHAPTER IV. Discussion of the narrative of Polybius, from the commencement of the ascent of the Alps to the arrival at the summit of the pass. — The defile at the commoncomcnt of tlio ascent. — Con- clusions (h\awn as to its nature and the ch.iractor of the neigh- bouring country. — The ' strong white rock' — Fcaturi's of the country in its vicinity. — Tiio'rock' at a distance of many miles from the summit of the pass ...... 29 vi CONTENTS. CHAPTER V. PAGE Discussion of Polybius' narrative of the events which took place at the summit of the pass and on the descent to Turin. — The plains of Italy visible from the summit of the pass. — Precipi- tous nature of the descent. — The path destroyed by a landslip, — Manner in which the path was re-constructed. — Hannibal arrives in the country of the Taurini. — Journal of the march from the confluence of the Rhone and Isere to the commence- ment of the plains of Italy. — Conditions for the determination • of the pass which Hannibal crossed . . ... 50 CHAPTER VI. Improbability of Hannibal's having crossed the Alps by the Great or Little St Bernard, or by the Mont Genevre. — Probability of his having crossed the Mont Cenis. — Determination of the point where Hannibal would have left the Isere. — The oldest line of road over the Mont Cenis traced and described. — The Little Mont Cenis selected as the pass which Hannibal crossed, in preference to the Great Mont Cenis ..... 68 CHAPTER VII. Application of the conditions deduced from Polybius' narrative to the route of the Mont Cenis. — Accordance of the actual dis- tances with those given by Polybius. — Identification of the defile at the commencement of the ascent of the Alps with the gorge of Le Fay. — Probable identity of the town of the AUo- broges and the modern Alhvard. — Identification of the "strong white rock" with the rock of Baune. — Arrival at the Col of the Little Mont Cenis ........ 89 CHAPTER VIII. Application of the conditions deduced from Polybius' narrative to the route of the Mont Cenis concluded. — Encampment of Han- nibal on the Plateau of tlw Little Mont Cenis. — Point from which the plains of Italy wore most probably seen. — Precipitous character of the descent from the Mont Cenis into Italy. — Pro- bable situation of the place where the path was destroyed. — Arrival at the commencement of the plains of Italy. — Siege and capture of Turin . .114 CONTENTS. vii CHAPTER IX. PAGE Livy's narrative of Hannibal's passage of the Alps. — Its character. — Use to be made of it. — Hannibal's line of approach to the Alps, as indicated by Livy. — His account of the events which took place on the summit of the pass, — The broken path. — Singular story connected with it. — Arrival of Hannibal in the country of the Taurini . . . . . .129 CHAPTER X. Examination of objections brought against the Mont Cenis . , 147 CHAPTER XI. Antiquity of the pass of the Mont Cenis. — First mentioned by name in the year 755 a d. — Probably known in the sixth century. — Described by Ammianus Marcellinus in the fourth century.— The road over the Little Mont Cenis laid down in the Peutingerian table. — The Mont Cenis crossed by Julius Csesar. — Probably mentioned by Strabo as the pass through the country of the Tau- rini, which Hannibal crossed. — Conclusion . . . .159 APPENDIX. A. Note on the Roman roads from Italy, by the Little St Bernard, to Vienna and Geneva ....... 185 B. Note on the position of Ocelum, and of Scingomagus . . 187 Directions for the insertion of tlie Ma^js and Plans. Map of the route of the Mont Ceiiis . at the beginning of the book. Map of the Roman roads ... at the end of the book. Plan of the gorge of Le Fay .... to face p. 8t) Country in the iicighbourhood of the Rock of Bauue . . . 112 Mountain-side on tlie descent from the Mont Ccuis . . . 128 Part of tlio Peuiingeriiin table . . . .... 159 A TREATISE ON HANNIBAL'S PASSAGE OF THE ALPS. CHAPTER I. Introduction. — Brief notice of Hannibal's march from New Carthage. — Polybius' estimation of the lengths of the different parts of the whole march from New Carthage to the plains of Italy. — A pe- culiarity in Polybius' mode of narration observed. — Division of the march from the passage of the Rhone to the country of the Insubrian Gauls into seven stages. A PERIOD of more than twenty years of peace suc- ceeded the close of the first Punic war. It was not however a peace which could be expected to endure. The mutual exhaustion of the contending parties had obliged them for a time to desist from the further prose- cution of hostilities : but the power of neither the Romans nor the Carthaginians was inwardly shattered ; and the rivalry and hatred with which they had long regarded each other were necessarily increased rather than diminished by the losses which both had suffered. These losses, severe as they had been, were gradually repaired ; each nation recovered its former vigour, and looked forward to the renewal of a strife, which the dceply-rootcd animosity, the clashing interests, and the ambitious spirit of both parties, plainly forewarned them could have no end but in the complete subjection of liomc or Carthage. The first Punic war had established an inveterate rivalry between the two cities : the event of the second war Avas to deter- mine which should fall. 1 2 HANNIBAL'S PASSAGE OF THE ALPS. The struggle which was to decide this question at length approached. In the year 219 b. c. the peace be- tween the Romans and Carthaginians was formally broken; hostile declarations were exchanged at Carthage, and pre- parations for the contest were made on both sides. The news of the rupture reached Hannibal at New Carthage in Spain, a country which he had in a great measure reduced under the Carthaginian yoke ; and where the continual growth and consolidation of the power of their enemy had given much umbrage and disquiet to the Romans. It was there he meditated the invasion of Italy and the fall of Rome, and resolved upon that march which has associated his name for ever with the Alps. His preparations for the invasion had commenced before he was aware of the rupture of the peace, and by the spring of the year 218 they were finally completed. A fortunate conjuncture of circumstances had enabled him to secure allies in Italy. The Romans were at this time, and had been for some years previously, making gra- dual encroachments upon the territories of the Cisalpine Gauls : and the Gauls, feeling that they were of themselves incapable of resisting the growing might of Rome, readily embraced the opportunity of forming an alliance with the great enemy of the Roman name. In anticipation of such an event, and before he had received the news that the Romans had declared war against the Carthaginians, Han- nibal had desiDatched an embassy from Spain into Cisalpine Gaul, to ascertain and confirm the disposition of the inhabit- ants towards the Carthaginian alliance, and to discover also, whether the passage of the Alps was practicable or not. The return of his envoys he was now awaiting. At length they arrived at New Carthage, and brought back the intelligence, that the Cisalpine Gauls were very favour- ably disposed towards the Carthaginians. The passage of the Alps they also reported to be practicable, although exceedingly difficult and unavoidably attended with great labour \ Impossible, however, they were assured that it was not. For the Gauls themselves had frequently, not 1 Polvb. HI. 34. HA.NNIBAL'S PASSAGE OF THE ALPS. § only in remote, but also in recent times, crossed the mountains with large armies ' : and although the march of the Carthaginian host, encumbered with its elephants and baggage, would be much less easily performed than that of an army of barbarians ; still the difference was not so great as to lead them to conclude the passage impracticable. The receipt of this intelligence determined the course of Hannibal. His resolution of penetrating across the Alps into Cisalpine Gaul was finally taken, and at the end of May the army began its march from New Carthage. It consisted at first of 90,000 foot and 12,000 horse, besides elephants and baggage-animals. All, however, did not quit the Spanish territory. Some were lost in sub- duing the nations between the Ebro and the Pyrenees : and when the march was resumed after the reduction of these tribes, a detachment of 11,000 was left behind under Hanno, and an equal number of men were dismissed to their own homes. 50,000 foot and 9000 horse were all that crossed the Pyrenees and entered Gaul. After the passage of the Khone this number was diminished to 38,000 foot and 8000 horse 2. Of these, 20,000 foot and COOO horse alone survived the passage of the Alps, and suc- ceeded in reaching the plains of the Po. Hannibars route from New Carthage lay, as just inti- mated, northward ; and was directed along the coast of Spain. The river Ebro was crossed, the nations between it and the Eastern Pyrenees were subdued, the extremity of those mountains was passed, and Transalpine Gaul en- tered. After the passage of the Pyrenees, Hannibal still kept for a time near the sea, but at length turned inland, and crossed the Rhone at a distance of nearly four days' march from the sea. Proceeding subsequently along the left or eastern bank of the llhone for four days more, he 1 Polyb. ni. 48. 2 It is diflicult to account for the loss of 13,000 men between tlio Pyrenees and the Rhone. The ordinary casualties sooni insullicient to exphiin it. I'erhaps a number of the Iberians liad deserted on enter- ing Gaul, and returned to their own country, liaving been disappointed at not being included in the number of those whom Hannibal had allowed to do EO. 1—2 4 HANNIBAL'S PASSAGE OF THE ALPS. reached, at the end of that period, a district called the Island, of which Polybius gives a particular description. Having left the Island, Hannibal struck off towards the Alps, effected his passage across them, and descended into the plains of the Po. The whole of this march, from New Carthage to the Italian plains, has been divided by Poly- bius (iii. 39) into five stages, which terminate, respectively, at the passage of the Ebro, at Ampurias (Emporium), at the passage of the Phone, at the foot of the first Alpine ascent, and at the commencement of the plains of Italy. The last two of these stages, in which the passage of the Alps is included, are all with which this book is immedi- ately concerned. Before, however, proceeding to the examination of this part of Polybius' narrative, it will be necessary to give the distances comprised in each stage of the march, from New Carthage to the commencement of the plains of Italy. They are laid down by Polybius as follows (iii. 39) : " From this city (New Carthage) to the river Ebro the distance is 2600 stadia : again from this river to Emporium 1600 stadia ; and from thence also to the passage of the Rhone about 1600 stadia : for these distances have been now measured in paces and marked carefully by the Ro- mans at intervals of eight stadia. From the passage of the Rhone, as they (the Carthaginians) marched along the bank of the river, in the direction of its sources, as far as the ascent of the Alps on the way to Italy, there was a further distance of 1400 stadia. There still remains to he estimated the passage of the Alps, a march of about 1200 stadia; and, after crossing these mountains Hannibal would immediately arrive at the plains of Italy lying around the Po. The Avhole length of his march from New Car- thage Avould consequently amount to about 9000 stadia ^" The first thing requisite to be observed here is Poly- bius' scale of measurement. He computes, it will be per- ceived, by lengths of 200 stadia, or 25 Roman miles. Doubtless, with his deficient means of estimating distances, 1 Tho sum of the distances given by Polybius only amounts really to 8400 stadia. HANNIBAL'S PASSAGE OF THE ALPS. 5 lie found himself unable to determine the lengths of the seve- ral marches more closely, at least in such parts of the route as the Eomans had not measured. Yet for these parts also he employs the same rale of computation, it not being ap- parently his object to aim at greater accuracy. This fact must always be borne in mind in the investigation of Han- nibal's route, in order that too much stress may not be laid upon discrepancies of distance, when not great : while, at the same time, due attention should still be paid to the statements of distances, given by so careful an authority as Polybius, and a too great laxity avoided in accommo- dating them to actual routes. It must therefore be remem- bered that Polybius' measure of distance is 25 Poman miles, in computing the length of a march of several days' duration. The passage marked in italics, in the quotation given above from Polybius, is more particularly connected with the following investigation. It supplies at once one of the conditions, which the pass to be identified with that which Hannibal crossed must satisfy. This condition may be thus stated : " The length of the route over the Alps, beginning at the commencement of the ascent of the mountains, and terminating at the commencement of the plains of Italy, must be about 150 Iloman miles'." That the termination of this part of the march was at the commencement of the plains of Italy, is clearly stated by Polybius. That " the ascent of the Alps on the way to Italy" means the place where the route first became mountainous, the point Avhere the army was first obliged to ascend the mountains, — this seems also sufKciently plain ; for it ap- pears scarcely probable that any other meaning can be attached to tlie expression of Polybius, tj/v dva(3u\)]u rwv ' AX7r€wi> Ttjw ei? IraXiav. There is however a certain amount of vagueness in it, and a different interpretation might be possible. The narrative of Polybius, from the (inic when the march was resumed after the passage of the Ilhonc, up to 1 Condition H. 6 HANNIBAL'S PASSAGE OF THE ALPS. the time of Hannibal's arrival in the plains of Italy, will now be given in full, with the exception of three chapters and part of a fourth. The passages omitted include the end of the fifty-sixth chapter, and all the fifty-seventh, fifty-eighth, and fifty-ninth chapters. These parts of the narrative are passed over, as not bearing upon the ques- tion of Hannibal's passage of the Alps, but as relating either to the operations of the Roman armies, or else containing general reflections upon the subject of history. There is, however, one peculiarity in Polybius ' style of narration, especially in this part of his history, upon which it will previously be necessary to make some observa- tions. The peculiarity alluded to is this : that the histo- rian, before entering into the details of a particular march, event, or military transaction, gives, in a few lines, what may be regarded as a short statement or summary of the occurrences which took place at that particular period. Having done this, he proceeds to make such observations, and give such explanations, as appear necessary, or to narrate at length the various circumstances that attended the facts in question, whenever they were of such import- ance as to deserve minute consideration. The short sum- mary serves frequently, in point of fact, as an argument to the succeeding and more detailed account. The whole of that portion of Polybius' narrative now about to be given, may be considered with much probability as written in this manner, and will divide itself into seven parts. Four of these relate to the actual passage of the Alps; two to the march from the place where the Rhone was crossed, to the commencement of the mountains ; and one to the march from the foot of the Alps, on the Italian side, to the territories of the Insubrian Gauls, the allies of Han- nibal. The first division will consist of the march from the passage of the Rhone to the district called the Island ; the second, the march from the Island to a certain defile and town at the commencement of the Alps; the third, the march from the town just mentioned to the neigh- bourhood of a certain XevKOTrerpov oy^vpov, or * strong ^ 1 * Strong,' of course, in a military point of view. HANNIBAL'S PASSAGE OF THE ALPS. 7 white rock,' where the army encountered great danger from an attack of the Alpme Gauls ; the fourth, the march from this rock to the summit of the pass; the fifth, the circumstances which took place while the army remained on the summit of the pass ; the sixth, the descent from the summit of the Alps to the commencement of the plains of Italy ; and the seventh, (all of which will not be given) the march from the foot of the Alps to the country of the Insubrians. These form the seven parts, into which the narrative seems to be divided. The correctness of the supposition, that this mode of narration was adopted by Polybius, will be best seen by an inspection of the historian's own words. Accordingly, those parts of his account, which are supposed to be the summaries in question, will, in the extract from Polybius which now follows, be distinguished by being printed in capital letters. Those passages also of the narrative, which bear more particularly on the present question, and afford a clue to the determination of the features of the country through which Hannibal passed, will be brought prominently forward by being printed in italics. Polybius' account of the march, thus arranged, will form the substance of the next chapter. CHAPTER II. Polybius' Narrative of Hannibal's March, from the passage of the Rhone to the capture of Turin. Polybius. Book iii. Part of Chap. 49. HANNIBAL, HAVING CONTINUED HIS MARCH FOR FOUR SUCCESSIVE DAYS FROM THE PASSAGE (oF THE RhONE) CAME TO THE DISTRICT CALLED THE ISLAND, A POPULOUS AND CORN-PRODUCING TRACT OF COUN- TRY, WHICH DERIVES ITS NAME FROM THE VERY CIRCUMSTANCE (OF ITS formation). For the Rhone flowing on one side of this district, and a river called the Scaras^ on the other, sharpen it into a point at their confluence. It is similar in size and form to the so-called Delta in Egypt ; excepting that, in the case of the Delta, the sea forms one side (i. e. the third side) by joining the mouths of the rivers (which form the other two sides) ; whereas the third side of the Island is formed by mountains difficult of approach and entrance, and, it may he said, almost inaccessible. When Hannibal arrived at the Island, he found two brothers contending for the royal power, and encamped with their armies opposite each other ; and when the elder brother tried to induce him to second his efforts in acquiring the sovereignty, he listened to the over- tures which were made to him : for it was sufficiently evident Avhat advantages he Avould derive from the assistance of the Gaul at the present juncture. By their combined forces, the second claimant of the sovereignty was attacked and expelled ; and Han- nibal afterwards received great assistance from the victor. For he not only abundantly supplied the army with corn and all other necessaries, but also exchanged such of their arms and accoutre- ments as were old and worn out, and equipped afresh all the forces at a time when such aid was very opportune. He also furnished the mass of the soldiers with clothing and shoes, a pro- vision which was of great service for the passage of the mountains. The most signal benefit however which he conferred upon them was, that as they were apprehensive of danger while they marched through the territory of the Gauls who are called Allobroges, he covered their rear with his own troops, and secured for them a safe advance until they approached the passage of the Alps. 1 TIio manuscripts have ^mpas or 2K(Spas. 'laapas is only conjectural. It has been thought better to adhero to the MS. reading. HANNIBAL'S PASSAGE OF THE ALPS. 9 Chap. 50. HaXNIBAL, IX THE COURSE OF TEN DAYS, HAVING ADVANCED ALONG THE RIVER-SIDE FOR A DISTANCE OF 800 STADLi, COMMENCED THE ASCENT OP THE AlPS, AND FOUND HIMSELF IN A SITUATION OF THE GREATEST DANGER. For as long as the army continued in the plain, all the petty chieftains of the Allobroges refrained from attacking them, partly from the fear of their cavalry, and partly from fear of the Barbarians who formed their escort. But when these last had returned to their own country, and Hannibal, with his army, was advancing towards the places ichicJi were difficult of joassage, the chieftains of the Allobroges collected a sufficient body of forces, and took possession of tlie advantageoiis posts along the road by which Hannibal was obliged to make his ascent. Had they concealed their plans, they must have altogether destroyed the Carthaginian army ; and, even after their purpose was de- tected, they inflicted great injury upon the troops of Hannibal, although the loss which they themselves incurred was equally great. For, when the Carthaginian general discovered that they had occupied the advantageous posts, he halted his troops, and encamped near the heights : he then sent forward a party of the Gauls, who acted as his guides, to discover the plan of the enemy, and the whole scheme of their operations. The Gauls executed his commission ; and the Carthaginian general found, from the intelligence they brought, that the enemy guarded very vigilantly their posts during the daytime, but withdrew at night to a town in the neighbourhood. To counteract therefore their designs, he determined upon operations of the following nature. He set his army in motion and advanced in open view ; and, when he drew near to the difficult j)laces, he encamped at a short distance from the enemy. When night came on, he ordered the tvatch-fres to be lighted, and left in the camp the mass of his forces ; while he himself, with the most active of his troops, purposely equipped for such a service, penetrated in the night through the dcjile, and seized the i)Osts ivhich had been before occupied by the enemy, tvho had now retired to the town, according to their usual practice. Chap. 51. When this had l^cen accomplished, and day appeared, the Barbarians, observing what had taken i)laco, desisted for a time from their original design ; but when they subsequently saw the numbers of the baggage-animals and tlie cavah-y laboriously, and, in an extended line, dt jiHiig through the diffivult placi's, they were induced, by this circumstance, to attack the line of march. When this was done, and tlie Barbarians had 10 HANNIBAL'S PASSAGE OF THE ALPS. fallen upon them on many points, a great loss ensued to the Car- thaginians, especially in horses and baggage-animals : and this was caused, not so much hy the attacJdng enemy, as hy the nature of the ground. For the way by which the Carthaginians had to advance ivas not only narroiv and rugged, hut also precipitorts, so that at every shocJc or commotion, numbers of the animals ivith their burdens ivere carried doivn the precipices. This confusion was mainly caused by the horses which were wounded. Some of these, rendered unruly by their wounds, fell back upon the bag- gage-animals ; and others, in their impetuous advance, drove before them all that fell in their way upon this difficult ground. Very great confusion was thus created. When Hannibal saw this, and reflected that even those who escaped such dangers would have no chance of preservation ultimately, if the baggage-animals were lost, he set in motion the soldiers who, during the night, had taken possession of the heights, and rushed down to the succour of the foremost column in the line of march ^ By this move- ment many of the enemy were destroyed, in consequence of Hannibal attaching them from the heights above them ; but the loss ichich he caused to his own army was equally great. For the tumult on the line of march was increased on both sides (Alio- broges and Carthaginians) in consequence of the shouts of the newly-arrived troops, and their intermingling in the conflict. But when Hannibal had destroyed the greater number of the AUobroges, and forced the remnant of them to fly homewards, then all the baggage-animals and horses which were left, with much labour and trouble effected their passage through the difficult places. Meanwhile, Hannibal collected as many of his soldiers as he could after this perilous service, and fell upon the town from which the enemy had made their attack : and finding it almost deserted, in consequence of all its inhabitants having gone out in hope of plunder, he became master of it. This capture ensured him many present and subsequent advantages. He recovered im- mediate possession of a number of his horses and beasts of burden, and the men who had been made jyrisoners with them, and gained a supply of corn and cattle sufficient for two or three days' con- sumption. But the chief advantage which resulted was, that he inspired such great alarm among the people adjacent to the ascent 2, that none of them for the future ventured lightly to attack him. ^ Read here with Casaubon, Gronovius, and Bekker, irpoKa^ovcri. 2 (i.e.) adjacent to tho district where ho then was, which was that whore the ascent to the mountains first began. HANNIBAL'S PASSAGE OF THE ALPS. 11 Chap. 52. HAViNa then encamped there and remained one day, he pro- ceeded onwards. During the days iMiiEDiAiELT follotvixg he LED ON THE ARMY SAPELY FOR SOME DISTANCE : BUT ON THE FOURTH DAY HE AGAIN HAD TO ENCOUNTER GREAT DANGERS. For the people who Hved along his route, having formed a treacherous design against him, went out to meet him with crowns and branches of trees , — now these among Barbarians are considered almost uni- versally as tokens of amicable intentions, as is the case with the herald's wand among the Greeks. But Hannibal, cautious of giving too easy credence to them, made careful enquiry into their aims and intentions. They alleged their perfect knowledge of the capture of the town, and the destruction of the people who had attempted to injure Hannibal ; and affirmed that those events had induced them to seek that interview, as they were anxious to prevent the occurrence of mutual hostilities. They also promised to give some of their own people as hostages to the Carthaginians. Hannibal continued for a long time on his guard against them, and distrusted their representations : but when he considered, that if he were to accept their overtures, he would, in all probability, render them more cautious ^ and well disposed ; whereas, if he rejected them, he would certainly incur their open hostility ; — (for these reasons) he assented to their proposals, and affected to engage in alliance with them. The Barbarians gave the hostages they had promised, supplied the troops with cattle in great abundance, and so unreservedly placed themselves in the hands of the Carthaginians, that the latter trusted to them as guides through the difiicult places they next encountered. When these Bai'barifuis had led the ivay in the van for tioo days, the tribes before mentioned having collected their forces and followed on the rear of the Carthaginians, at- tacked them as they were passing through a difficidt and precipi- tous ravine. Chap. 53. All would again have been lost, had it not been that Hannibal, still to a certain extent distrusting the Barbarians, and providing against the issue, had placed his bagrjage-animals aJid cavalry in the van, and his heavy infantry in the rear. The protection which these afforded mitigated the calamity, for the heavy infan- try succeeded in icithstanding the attacks of the JJarbarians. Not- 1 This word pro1)al)ly relates to tho safety of tlio hostages, which would bo coniproiniscd by tho bad faith of the IJarbarinns. 12 HANNIBAL'S PASSAGE OF THE ALPS. withstanding this circumstance however, a considerable number of men, baggage-animals, and horses toere destroyed. For the Bar- barians, being in jjossession of the heights, and marching along the mountain-sides in a parallel line to the Carthaginian columns, Jcept rolling doion rocTcs from above upon part of the army, and ivounded others from a nearer distance by hurling stones at them. So utter was the consternation, and so great the danger occasioned by this attack, that Hannibal was obliged to pass the night ivith half his army near a certain strong white rocJc, away from the cavalry and baggage-animals, thereby affording protection to the latter, until they had with difficulty defiled through the ravine, an operation which occupied the whole night. Hannibal hav- ing ON THE FOLLOWING DAY, WHEN THE ENEMY HAD RETIRED, RE- JOINED HIS CAVALRY AND BAGGAGE-ANIMALS, LED ON HIS ARMY TO THE HIGHEST SUMMITS OP THE AlPS, WITHOUT MEETING AGAIN WITH ANY CONSIDERABLE BODY OF THE BARBARIi\JNS, ALTHOUGH PARTS OF HIS ARMY WERE HARASSED BY THEM AT VARIOUS PLACES ON THE ROAD. For they, watching their opportunity, assaulted and carried off the baggage-animals, sometimes from the reai', and sometimes from the van, of the line of march. Upon these occasions, the elephants were of very great service ; for the Barbarians were so much alarmed at the extraordinary appearance of these animals, that they were deterred from attacking any part of the line of march where the elephants were to be found. On the ninth day Hannibal arrived at the summit op the mountains ; and, en- camping THERE, REMAINED TWO DAYS, AS HE WISHED TO GIVE SOME REPOSE TO THOSE TROOPS WHO HAD ALREADY ARRIVED SAFELY, AND TO WAIT FOR THOSE WHO HAD FALLEN BEHIND. During this period many of the horses Avhich had bioken loose in their fright, and many of the baggage-animals which had got rid of their burdens, unexpectedly joined them in the camp, having followed appa- rently the tracks of the army. Chap. 54. The snow was now gathering around the summits of the moun- tains (for it was near the time of the setting of the Pleiades ^) ; and Hannibal, observing that the soldiers were much dispirited by the sufferings they had already undergone, and the anticipa- tion of those which yet awaited them, called them together and endeavoured to raise their spirits. The prospect of Italy offered itself as the only means by which this result could be attained. For Italy lies extended beneath these mountains in such a manner, that, when both arc seen together, the Alps seem to occupy the 1 The last week in Octoher, HANNIBAL'S PASSAGE OF THE ALPS. 13 position of a citadel to the whole of Italy. Accordingly Hanni- bal, pointing out to Jiis men the plains circumjacent to the Po, and reminding them of the goodwill which the Gauls who dwelt there entertained towards them, and at the same time indicating to them the quarter in ivhich Borne itself^ lay, succeeded to a certain degree in raising their drooping spirits. The following day he BROKE UP HIS CAMP, AND COMMENCED HIS DESCENT, DURING WHICH HE ONLY SUFFERED FROM FURTIVE ATTACKS ON THE PART OP THE ENEMY; YET IN CONSEQUENCE OF THE SNOW AND THE NATURE OF THE GROUND, HIS LOSS WAS NEARLY AS GREAT AS IT HAD BEEN DURING THE AS- CENT. For as the ivay doion ivas narroiv and steep, and the snow made every one uncertain of his path ; all, both men and animals, that fell out of the trach or missed their footing, ivere carried down the precipices. Still, however, they bore these hardships with the patience of men already habituated to similar calamities. But ivhen they arrived at a place ichere it icas impossible for the elephants or baggage-animals to pass on account of the narroiciiess of the ivay {the broJcen ground which previously occurred here for a length of a stadium and a half having recently suffered additional disruption), the army teas again greatly dispirited and perplexed. The Carthaginian general at first proposed to make a circuit round the difficult ground, but as the fresh snow that had fallen rendered this impracticable, he desisted from his attempt. Chap. 55. For the circumstances were peculiar and extraordinary. Upon the snow previously existing, and which had remained from the preceding winter, the snow of the present year had lately fallen. Now they found this latter snow easy to penetrate and soft, because it was fresh, and not as yet of any depth. But as soon as they had trodden through this, and reached the com- pacted snow beneath, they were unable to penetrate it; but both their feet slipped away along its surface, as is sometimes the case with people walking over ground of which the surface is covered with mud. But what ensued was still more calamitous. As the men were unable to penetrate the lower snow, whenever upon falling they tried to support themselves upon their hands and knees and to get up again, they only found that they made them- selves slip still more, and carried with them whatever they laid hold upon for support — for the declivity was one of excessive steepness. The baggage-animals, on the contrary, when they fell, broke through the surface of the lower snow in their attempt to rise, and there remained firmly fixed with their burdens, in con- sequence of the weight they bene, and the compact nature of the old snow. Accordingly Hannibal, giving up all hope of car- ]4 HANNIBAL'S PASSAGE OF THE ALPS. rjdng out his first plan, encamped about the crest of the ridge, having- first cleared away the snow upon it. He then employed large numbers of his soldiers in huilding up the precipice, a task of great labour and difficulty. In one day a way ivas completed stifficient for the passage of the horses and haggage-animals. Hannibal, therefore, made them pass at once ; and then encamp- ing in a position where snow was found no longer, he let them loose to seek pasturage. He then employed parties of the Nu- midians in turn upon the construction (of the path along the broken precipice) ; and, after three days of hardship, he managed with difficulty to make the elephants pass. They were indeed reduced by famine to a miserable condition. For the summits of the Alps, and the acclivities of the passes, are entirely without trees and quite barren, in consequence of the snow which re- mains there both Avinter and summer, while the lower half of the mountains, on both sides, abounds in underwood and trees, and is altogether habitable. Chap. 56. HLynxibal, having reassembled his whole force, continued his descent, and on the third day after leaving the precipices u'Jiich have been described, 7'eached the plain, having lost, during his whole march, many of his soldiers from hostile attacks, and by crossing rivers, and many also in the Alps, on account of the precipices and other difficulties of the route ; while the loss of horses and baggage-animals from the last causes was still greater than that of men. Thus at length, ha\t:xg completed his MARCH FROM NeW CaRTHAGE IN FIVE MONTHS, AND HIS PASSAGE OP THE Alps in fifteen days, he boldly descentjed into the PLAINS OF the Po, AND THE COUNTRY OF THE InSUBRIANS. Of his Libyan forces, 12,000 infantry were all that survived; and of his Iberian forces, 8000 ; the cavalry that were left not amounting to more than 6000 ; and this statement of numbers is given by Hannibal himself in the inscription upon the column at Laci- nium. Chap. 60. We have already mentioned the amount of the forces with which Hannibal invaded Italy. Upon his entry, having encamped at the very foot of the Alps, he spent some time in restoring the strength of his troops. For the whole army had not only sullered very severely during the ascent and descent, and in the rugged country about the summit of the pass ; but they were also in a Avretched condition from the want of provisions HANNIBAL'S PASSAGE OF THE ALPS. 15 they had exiDeriencecl, and the unavoidable neglect of then- bodily health. Many indeed were depressed to the lowest state by the privations and incessant hardships they had undergone. For it was impossible to convey food in quantities sufficient for so many thousand men, through a country which presented such difficulties : and even of the provisions which they did convey with them, the greater part was lost when the beasts which carried them perished. And thus, having begun his march, after the passage of the Rhone, with 38,000 infantry, and more than 8000 cavalry, he lost, as I have before mentioned, nearly half his whole force in the passage of the Alps ; and even those who did survive, had become from incessant hardship quite savage in ap- pearance and condition. Hannibal, therefore, used his utmost efforts to revive the spirits of his army, and to restore the strength of both men and horses. When the army had now completely recovered, Hannibal tried to effect an alliance with the Taurini, a nation dwelling at the foot of the mountains, who were at war with the Insubrians, and distrusted the Carthaginians. Upon their rejection of the offers of Hannibal, he invested then* principal city; and, having taken it after three days' siege, he put to the sword all that had opposed him, and inspired such terror in the minds of the neighbouring barbarians, that they all came imme- diately and threw themselves upon his protection. The remain- ing tribes also of the Celtae, who dwelt in the plains, were very anxious to co-operate with the Carthaginians according to their original intention ; but the lloman legions having already passed through the country where the greater part of them dwelt, and so cut them off (from the Carthaginians), they either remained neu- tral, or were even obliged in some cases to join the Roman army. When Hannibal considered these things, he determined to lose no time, but to advance forward and achieve some success, which might serve to encourage all those who were willing to share the fortunes of the Carthaginians. CHAPTER III. Discussion of the narrative of Polybius, from the passage of the Rhone to the commencement of the ascent of the Alps. — Iden- tification of the Scaras of Polybius with the modern Isere. — The Island of Polybius the district between the Rhone and the Isere. — Polybius only partially acquainted with this district. — Conclusion drawn that Hannibal must have marched up the left bank of the Isere, and not up the Rhone, from the junction of the two rivers. THE course of Hannibars march from New Carthage has been ah-eady traced. After crossing the Pyrenees and the Rhone, he proceeded upwards along the eastern bank of that river until he came to a district called the Island, which Polybius compares in form and size to the Egyptian Delta. One side of this triangular district was formed by the Rhone^ another by the confluent stream of a river called the Scaras, and the third by a range of almost inaccessible mountains extending across from the Scaras to the Rhone. The first division of the march from the passage of the Rhone to the plains of Italy terminates at this district, and must of course be supposed to end at the point where Hannibal first came upon its borders : for that would be the place where he would naturally be said to arrive at it, besides being the only definite point where the march could be broken off". Now, as Hannibal marched along the bank of the Rhone, which formed one side of the Island ; and as the Scaras, a river falling into the Rhone, formed its second side ; it must have been at the junction of these two rivers that the account of Han- nibal's march is broken off* by Polybius ; and it must be from the same place that he afterwards resumes it, when he has completed the narration of the events which took place at the Island. The first point therefore to determine is, what was this river which Polybius calls the Scaras. HANNIBAL'S PASSAGE OF THE ALPS. 17 Now the name Scaras is unknown in Roman geo- graphy, but may be shewn to be virtually identical with Isaras ; and the river Scaras must consequently be the Roman Isara, the modern Isere. The word Isara or Isaras is plainly a compound word, the elements of which are Is-aras. Of the derivation of its latter element aras there can be little doubt. It is of the same origin as the Roman Arar, (the Saone) which is a reduplication of the syllable ar, one of those syllables consisting either of the vowel a alone, or of the same vowel combined with various consonants, which form, either singly or reduplicated, the appellations of water and rivers in many languages, both of the East and the West. There might be cited, as examples, the Persian ah, the Latin aqua, the Ach or Ache of the Aus- trian Alps, the Swiss or French Aa, the Swiss Aar, the Anas of Boetica, and many other words of similar formation. The Is of the word Isaras has however another origin, and is identical with the Celtic uisg or uisge "water," a term which is still applied to some of the streams of the Scotch Highlands, and from which, by corruption, such names of rivers as Ouse, Usk, Esk, Exe, &c., are derived. Of the Celtic uisg, the Romans, as in the case of the Usk, formed the word Isca, which may thus be taken as the classic form of the Celtic word. The two elements therefore, Avhich enter into the name Is-aras are Isca and Aras; which, when blended into one Avord, would give Iscaras as the pri- mitive form of Isaras. By the omission of the initial vowel, the Greek word Scaras at once results ; while the Latin Isara is clearly but a more euphonious form of Iscaras. "We may thus conclude that Scaras and Isara are both merely different forms of one word, Iscaras, and that the river Scaras of Polybius is tlie modern Iscre. The Isca and the Aras would, in all probability, be the names of the two principal rivers which united to form the Iscaras ; the Isca being upon this supposition identified with the U^p])cr Iserc, the river of the Tarantaise ; and the Aras Avith the Arc, the river of the Maurienne\ The distances given by Polybius arc in perfect accord- ' Similar derivations of the iianioa of rivers arc given l>y Dr Donald< BOn in liis Varronianus, p. 45, (2nd Edit.) 2 18 HANNIBAL'S PASSAGE OF THE ALPS. ance with the conclusion that the Scaras and the Isere are identical. From the point where Hannibal passed the Ehone to the "ascent of the Alps," the length of the march w^as 1400 stadia. From the Island also, that is to say, from the junction of the Rhone and the Scaras, there was a march of 800 stadia to the same point. There was there- fore a distance of 600 stadia or 75 Roman miles from the point where the Rhone was crossed, to the junction of the Scaras and the Rhone. The place where the Carthaginians passed the Rhone was also at a distance of about 1600 stadia or 200 Roman miles from Emporium, and nearly four days' march from the sea. These distances are in themselves almost, if not quite, sufficient to prove, that Hannibal crossed the Rhone at or near Roquemaure, and that the Scaras of Polybius was the Isere. The question has been argued satisfactorily by M. Deluc upon these grounds ^ Following the Roman itine- raries as far as possible, he gives the distance between the ancient Emporium and Roquemaure at 206.2 Roman miles; the distance between the eastern embouchure of the Rhone and a point on that river opposite Roquemaure at 64^ Roman miles ; and the distance from this latter point to the junction of the Rhone and Isere at 75 Roman miles. The last of these distances is accurately the same as the distance of 600 stadia, deduced from Polybius as the length of the march from the passage of the Rhone to the confluence of the Scaras. The actual 206.2 Roman miles between Emporium and Roquemaure make also a distance nearly in accordance with that given by Polybius, who states it as being about 1600 stadia or 200 Roman miles. Finally, the distance of 64 1^ Roman miles, from the point on the Rhone opposite Roquemaure to the eastern embou- chure of the Rhone, would be a distance that might be well described as rather under four days' march, as Han- 1 Histoire du passage des Alpes par Annibal. Ukert conjectures tliat Hannibal crossed the river lower down, in the neighbourhood of Beaucaii-e ; a supposition which is also adopted in a very able article in the Philological Museum, on Hannibal's passage of the Alps. On many material points, however, as will be afterwards found, the views advocated in this treatise receive the sanction of the learned writer of the article alluded to. HANNIBAL'S PASSAGE OF THE ALPS. 19 nibal, after having passed the Ehone, marched to the con- fluence of the Scaras, a distance of 75 Eoman miles, in four complete dajs. The description which Polybius gives of the district called the Island, though not minutely accurate, is yet sufficiently so for its recognition. Two sides of it, he says, were bounded by the Rhone and the Scaras : its third side was formed by a chain of almost impracticable mountains. These mountains spoken of by Polybius form what is called the Chartreuse range, the celebrated monastery of the Grande Chartreuse being inclosed among them. They extend northward from Grenoble to the outlet of the lake of Bourget, and form the connecting link between the Alps and the Jura, though not strictly belonging to either mountain-system. On the east, they are separated from the Alps by the Vale of Graisivaudan, (the French part of the valley of the Isere) by the valley of Chambery, and by the lake of Bourget, On the south-west, they are also separated from the Alps by a portion of the Vale of Graisi- vaudan. On the north-west, the Rhone divides them from the Jura : and on the Avest, the river Guiers, which marks the frontier between France and Savoy, and a line drawn from Les Echelles to Moirans, may be assigned as the limits between them and the hilly part of the district bqjtween the Rhone and the Isere. The character which Polybius gives these mountains is perfectly accurate. Tlieir extreme western face rises suddenly and precipi- tously from the country they overlook, and presents a long barrier of rock so apparently impracticable, as fully to bear out Polybius' strong expressions, that these mountains were difficult of approach and entrance, and almost inac- cessible. Yet, though the Island of Polybius may tlnis be iden- tified by tlie nature of the boundaries he lias assigned to it, his acquaintance with it does not seem to have been per- fect. The comparison of it to tlie l^q-yptian Delta is not very fortunate. It is considerably loss in si/c than the Figyptian district, and does not entirely resemble a Delta in form. For, in order that this comparison nu'ght hold, the course of the JUionc, from the conliucnce of the 20 HANNIBAL'S PASSAGE OF THE ALPS. Isere to the foot of tlie Chartreuse mountains near St Genix, ought to be straight. Yet the course of this river (reckoning upwards) is only straight as far as Lyons. It there changes its direction from north to east, assumes subsequently, for a short distance, a north-easterly course, and finally makes a sudden flexure towards the south-east, retaining the same direction as far as St Genix. The only way of accounting for this defective description of the Island seems to be, by supposing Polybius not to have been personally acquainted with the northern parts of that district. It is true that he would have no maps to assist him in forming a conception of the country, but could only judge of its figure and nature by the eye. Yet, even with these disadvantages, it hardly appears probable that he could have been ignorant of the flexures of the Rhone above Lyons, or could have looked upon it as running a straight course. The length also of the base of the Char- treuse mountains, extending from Moirans to St Genix, is much too short to alloAv them to be cited as standing in the same relation to the Island that the sea does to the Egyptian Delta. If, however, we suppose Polybius only to have visited the southern parts of the Island, the resem- blance which he finds between it and the Egyptian Delta is readily understood. The Isere does actually run nearly a straight course from the edge of the base of the Chartreuse mountains near JMoirans down to its confluence with the Rhone, and therefore corresponds perfectly to the eastern arm of the Nile. The course of the Rhone also from Lyons downward may be considered straight, and will thus represent the western branch of the Nile, if its course above Lyons be supposed unknown, and the river be imagined, as was probably the case with Polybius, to pre- serve the same direction above that city which it does below. Upon this supposition, the Rhone above Lyons would be conceived by Polybius, not as penetrating from the lake of Geneva between the Jura and the Chartreuse mountains, but as lying on the west, instead of the east, of the Jura range. The mountains therefore which Poly- bius speaks of as forming the third side of the Island, Avould not now be merely the Chartreuse range, but would HANNIBAL'S PASSAGE OF THE ALPS, 21 include, besides, the extremity of the Jura, extending as a continuation of the Chartreuse mountains from the Rhone to the Ain, and thus nearly reaching the ima- ginary prolongation of the Rhone above Lyons. Both these systems of mountains would appear from the country of the Island as a connected group, and would naturally be considered to form as such one of the boundaries of the district. Upon the supposition therefore that Polybius had not visited the northern parts of the country between the Rhone and the Isere, the discrepancies in the imagined resemblance between the Island and the Egyptian Delta may be accounted for ; for the similarity holds good to the eye, if the course of the Rhone above Lyons be supposed unknown, and the Jura and Chartreuse mountains be taken together as one mountain boundary. That Polybius also exaggerates the size of the Island is another argument that he was not fully acquainted with it. Yet, if he was ignorant of any district in it, that district must have been the northern or more remote portion of the Island : for, if he was acquainted with those parts of it, he could not have been ignorant of the southern parts. That the Island was the country between the Rhone and the Isere, ap- pears clearly, as has been previously shewn, from the dis- tances given by Polybius, and from the identity of the names Scaras and Isaras. The defective resemblance between this tract of country and the Egyptian Delta does not invalidate this fact, but only leads us to conclude that Polybius had not visited the northern parts of the country; a conclusion which will be found of some importance in the investigation of the route by which Hannibal reached the first ascent of the Alps^ 1 It m:iy bo hero observed, that this country, though not conforming accurately to the shape of a Delta, but only taking that form in the mind of one not thorouglily acquainted with it, is yet exceedingly well described by the native name of 'the Island.' With the exception of the lino drawn from tho Iscro near Moirans to tho Rhone near St Gonix, a lino hardly exceeding 20 miles in length, those two rivers form its entire bounflary Consequently, out of a circumference of nearly 180 miles, it is surrounded for about lOO miles, or eight-ninths of tbo wholo circuit, 22 HANNIBAL'S PASSAGE OF THE ALPS. This route is the subject which has now immediately to be considered. After having established the elder of the two contending brothers in the sovereignty of the Island, Hannibal resumed his march under the escort of a band of the men of that district'. This march must be supposed to be resumed from the point where Polybius breaks off his narrative of the previous march ; from the confluence, that is to say, of the Khone and the Isere. And here a difficulty at once arises to be resolved : for the resumed march is said to have lain hy the river side for a distance of 800 stadia or 100 Koman miles. Which then of the two rivers, the Rhone and the Isere, from whose junction he started, was the river which Hannibal followed up? The previous narrative of Polybius would at first lead us to imagine that it was the Rhone. For in the 39th chapter it is stated, that, after the passage of the Rhone, Hannibal went along the very river bank towards its source, until he arrived at the ascent of the Alps on the way to Italy. Now from this account it is certainly most natural to conclude, that it was the same river which was followed up all the way to the beginning of the Alpine ascent ; and not in the first part of the march the Rhone, and in the second the Isere. Another apparent argument in favour of the Rhone is, that Hannibars operations in the Island must have obliged him to cross the Isere, and led him away from the banks of that river. This last argument is however of no weight. The transactions in the Island are quite episodical to the rest of the march, and seem to be kept perfectly distinct by Polybius, who breaks off his nar- rative of the progress of the army, for the purpose of relating them, at the junction of the Rhone and the Isere, by the waters of two large and navigable rivers. Under these circum- stances, and considering that it is an inland district, the name of ' Island/ as applied to it, is a very expressive and appropriate designation. 1 The Island afterwards formed part of the country of the Allobro- ges. This does not, however, appear to have been the case in the time of Hannibal, for Polybius speaks of 'the Gauls called AUobroges,' as if they were entirely a different people. See Philological Museum, ' Han- nibal's Passage of the Alps.' HANNIBAL'S PASSAGE OF THE ALPS. 23 as if to intimate that the bulk of the army went no further northward at that time along the Khone. The transactions at the Island stand indeed, in their relation to this part of the march, quite in the same position as the subjection of the Spanish nations between the Ebro and the Pyrenees does to the march along the coast in that part of Spain. To subdue these nations, Hannibal must have left the coast, and penetrated into the interior of the country ; and yet, in spite of these inevitable deviations, Polybius makes Hannibal's march to lie throughout along the coast of Spain from New Carthage to Emporium. Indeed, had he adopted any other system, great confusion must have been the result, and all estimation of distances nearly imprac- ticable. All the marchings and countermarchings there- fore, which Hannibal performed in the course of his opera- tions against these Spanish tribes, from the time he left the coast-road until the time that he returned to it, are entirely omitted by Polybius in his relation of the progress of the great march. The transactions at the Island seem to be treated by him in the same manner. Before pro- ceeding to relate them, he arrests the march of the army at the confluence of the Iserc with the Rhone, measuring the distance up to that point. Xo distances whatsoever are mentioned while the operations in the Island are related. After concluding his account of those events, the estimation of distances again begins ; and this estimation of distances must clearly be commenced, as has already been often repeated, at the place where the last measure- ment of distances terminated, or at the junction of the lihone and the Iscre. The first argument against the supposition that Han- nibal followed up the Ehone from the junction of the two rivers is derived from the fact, that the whole Carthaginian army must in that case have passed the Iscrc, and that the passage of that river is not mentioned by Polybius. It is true that, in order to carry on his operations in the Island, Hannibal must have crossed the Iscrc with part of his army ; but there is no sufficient reason for concluding that the baggage and the elephants were then l)rought across. Had they been so, the silence of Polybius on the subject 24 HANNIBAL'S PASSAGE OF THE ALPS. •^;^•oulcl be difficult to account for. There were indeed several rivers crossed by Hannibal in Gaul, of which Poly- bius takes no notice ; but these rivers would all be small streams, which the army would pass by wading. The Isere cannot be ranked in this class. It is, at its junction with the Rhone, a navigable river with a deep and rapid current, and presents an obstacle to the passage of an army too important to be omitted in silence in a narrative such as that of Polybius. With the exception of hostile opposition on the part of the inhabitants, all the difficulties and dangers, which attended the passage of the incum- brances of the army across the Rhone, must have been repeated in the case of the Isere, the lesser width of the latter river being the only circumstance that would make any difference. And yet no word about difficulty or dan- ger is spoken by Polybius with respect to the Isere, nor does he take notice of any preparations having been made to effect the passage of the river. Suppose, however, Hannibal to have brought all his army across the Isere, and to have directed his march upon the Alps along the side of the Rhone. In this case, the first mountains that he would encounter upon his way would be the Chartreuse group, the foot of which he would reach ^when he arrived in the neighbourhood of St Genix, at the junction of the Guiers with the Rhone. St Genix would thus be the earliest place, where the first ascent of the Alps could be fixed. But the first ascent of the Alps lay at a distance of 100 Roman miles from the junction of the Rhone and the Isere, reckoned along the river side. St Genix should therefore lie at about that distance from the confluence of these two rivers. Now from Valence to Lyons the Itine- rary of Antoninus reckons 71 Roman miles. Allowing 6 Roman miles for the distance from the confluence of the Rhone and the Isere to Valence, there remain 65 for the distance to Lyons. Above Lyons there are no ancient or modern roads along the Rhone to assist us in determining the distance to St Genix : but the length of the river between St Genix and Lyons is about the same as its length between Lyons and the confluence of the Isere, and HANNIBAL'S PASSAGE OF THE ALPS. 25 we may therefore take the probable length of a march along the river as being the same in both cases. The distance from the junction of the Rhone and Isere to St Genix, reckoned along the Rhone, would thus be about 130 Roman miles, instead of the 100 given by Polybius, a discrepancy which seems greater than ought to occur, though perhaps not so great, considering the manner in which Polybius measures, as to be decidedly conclusive against the supposition of Hannibal's having followed up the Rhone^ It has already been conjectured, in discussing Polybius"* account of the Island, and in endeavouring to account for his imperfect conception of the nature of that district, that he had not visited its northern parts. If such were the case, it would be a strong argument that Hannibal never followed up the Rhone to the foot of the mountains ; for otherwise Polybius, who had examined the whole of Han- nibal's route, must have visited the northern parts of the Island, and have thus been enabled to form a more accu- rate idea of its nature and figure. It may also be mentioned, that the very cursory man- ner in which Polybius speaks of the Chartreuse mountains in his description of the Island, and his not applying to them the name of Alps, would hardly lead us to expect that he considered them as forming the very portion of that great mountain system which Hannibal first encoun- tered. We should rather imagine that he looked upon them as mountains independent of the Alps, and with which he had no further concern, than in as far as they formed one of the boundaries of the district called the Island. 1 M. Dcluc, who supposes that Hannibal brought his whole army into the Island, and subsequently crossed tho Chartreuse mountains, makes him leavo the Rhone at Vienne, and strilcs, i)p. ir.G — 1;'.!) ; and Pisscr- talton on the passage of JIannibal, hu a member of the Univcrsitu ofOj-ford. rp. G2-G7. >^ J J ' 4—2 52 HANNIBAL'S PASSAGE OF THE ALPS. the tenth morning, after they had remained encamped for a whole day, the evdpyeia tj^s 'IraXias, or ' manifestation of Italy,' had not taken place. From their encampment then, at that time, Italy was invisible ; and Hannibal must have brought them to some other point, from whence the pro- spect could be obtained. As to the position of this point of view, Polybius says nothing ; but we are led to infer that it lay not far distant from the road over the summit of the pass. For, had it lain at any great distance, it is rather difficult to imagine how Hannibal had become aware that there was any point commanding such a view ; a circumstance, of which he was probably apprised by his Gallic guides, who would only have been acquainted, froiu previous knowledge, with what lay in the immediate neigh- bourhood of the road; as it was not likely that any one, crossing these desolate regions, would have diverged un- necessarily from the track. Besides, had Hannibal made an excursion of any length for the purpose of obtaining a view of Italy, Polybius would naturally have taken some notice of it, and not have passed it over in complete silence. We are therefore led to conclude, that the point from Avhich Italy was seen lay not far from the road over the summit of the pass, but yet was not included in the ground where the Carthaginians encamped, when they first gained the summit. When Hannibal shewed Italy to his troops, he pointed out to them the plains of the Po, and indicated to them the quarter in which Eome itself lay, rov rrj^ 'Pw/atj^ avrtj^ Toirov. The district described as the plains of the Po is well known. It is the vast tract of country, almost en- tirely level, which lies between the Alps on the North and the Apennines on the south, and which stretches eastward from the roots of the Cottian Alps as far as the Adriatic sea. A part of this country Hannibal pointed out to his soldiers. He also indicated to them the quarter in which Rome itself lay. Here the word is much vaguer than when the plains arc spoken of. In the first case it is evl€iKvvii.cvo^£9, has been already considered above. Only one condition now remains to be deduced. It is supplied by the fact, that the part of the plains into which Hannibal entered, after his passage of the Alps had been effected, was occupied by the Taurini. There is, however, one sentence in Polybius, which seems, at first sight, to imply something different. In Chap. bQ it is stated, that, after Hannibal had passed the Alps, ' he descended boldly into the plains of the Po, and the territory of the Insu- brians.' From this it might be imagined that he emerged at once from the Alps into the country of the Insubrians, the modern Milanese. This supposition would make him pass the Alps as far eastward as the St Gothard, or at least as the Simplon, both which suj^positions arc utterly im- probable'. But there is little doubt, that the passage 1 According to Ptolemy, Novara was a town of the Insubrians. Tlio river Scsla may thus have boon their western boundary. To the west of HANNIBAL'S PASSAGE OF THE ALPS. 61 above cited, concerning the Insubrians, is one of Polybius' succinct accounts, or summaries before mentioned, and that it merely states the direction and end of a march, the details of which are afterwards to be given ^ The nature of Hannibal's dealings with the Taurini, which Polybius afterwards relates, perfectly explains what is meant by the word 'boldly,' as applied to his march into the country of the Insubrians. Though no doubt still anxious not to provoke hostilities, he yet did not avoid them so sedulously as he had done during the passage of the Alps, where he only seems to have fought when driven to extremity. From the foot of the Alps a new and bolder system of action was at once adopted. It is not, however, necessary to take for granted that the passage relating to the Insubrians is a mere summary. It will appear without difficulty, from other considerations, that the country of the Taurini was the first part of the plains which Hannibal entered after he had crossed the Alps. For, from the passage where the name of the Insubrians occurs, we may conclude, that, wherever it was that Hannibal emerged from the Alps, he descended from that point into the plains, KaTtjfje roXju^p^^ eis ra irepi tov UciSov TTc^ia. That he should ever afterwards be close to the Alps is not likely. Yet, in the commencement of the GOth chapter, (the first part of the history relating to Han- nibal after the digression beginning in the middle of the 5Gth chapter) he is spoken of as being encamped vtt' avT}]u Tt]v Trapcopeiav tvov ''tWirewv, under the very slope of the Alps^ at the very roots of the mountains when they first sprino* from the plains. From this mention of the Alps we are led to conclude, that the encampment here spoken of was made before he descended into the ^?/ai?j5 ; that it should, in fact, have been made when he first came out from the Alps, and previously to his entry into the Insubrian country. This Ijccomcs certain from a further examination of the tlio Scsia lay the Libui or Libicii, who are distinguislicd by Polybius (Lib. II. c. 17), from the Insubrians. 1 In order tbat tbo detailed narrative of a niardi may bo clear, it is plainly necessary that its direction and object should bo previously men- tioned. 62 HANNIBAL'S PASSAGE OF THE ALPS. 60th chapter ; for there the encampment just mentioned is said to have been made, fxerd ti^u e't.a^o\t]v, ' after the entry ' (the entry into Italy, that is to say, as appears from the eis 'VToXiav just preceding). Yet this cannot refer to some indefinite date after the entry into Italy, but must mean the actual time when he first entered the country, the period when he reached the commencement of the plains. The account of the losses Avhich the army had suffered, and the hardships that they had endured during the passage of the Alps, — this account, immediately fol- lowing and connected with the statement of the encamp- ment, also tends to fix the place of that encampment at the point of emergence from the Alps. Besides, as the army remained encamped for some time for the express purpose of recovering the strength it had lost in consequence of the hardships it had endured in the Alps, it seems to follow that this encampment should have been made as soon as they came out from the mountains. Mera ^e Tovra, ' after these things,' as soon, that is to say, as the strength of the army was restored, and they were about to leave their encampment, and advance, their transactions with the Taurini commence. Now the Tau- rini are introduced as dwelling near the slope of the mountains, or at their foot, dl rvy^^avovaL ttjOos ty] Trapwpeia KaToiKovi>T6cr woIoIumi cine f^rosso Strasso fiihrt, von doin man an nieliron Stellon die ICbcno Olieiitalion's Bclion kann, was wcdor voni grosscn und klcincn Bornliard, nocli voni Simi>lon niiiglich ist. — Ukcrt, Gcohk, n. 2, p. (JOO. (Tlic Gcncvro should also have boon mentioned by Ukcrt among tbcso latter passes.) 70 HANNIBAL'S PASSAGE OF THE ALPS. at the rate of thirteen Roman miles a day, will be sufficient to allow for the distance between the summit of the pass and the commencement of the plains, especially as not quite three days were spent on the actual march. It may therefore be inferred, that the distance between the summit of the pass and the commencement of the plains of Italy did not exceed forty Roman miles. The roads from the Great and the Little St Bernard into Italy unite at Aosta, and emerge into the plains of Italy near Ivrea, which may for these two passes be fixed upon as the commencement of the plains ^ The roads over the Mont Cenis and the Mont Genevre unite in like manner at Susa, and enter the plains nearly at Avigliana^; although Rivoli is sometimes fixed upon as the place where the plains may rather be said to begin. Yet the irregu- larities in the ground below Avigliana cannot be considered as parts of the mountains : the conspicuous Monte Piri- chiano, crowned by the monastery of San Michele, and at the foot of which Avigliana lies, stands out plainly when seen from any point in the neighbourhood of Turin, as the last of the Alps. There is, besides, ample room about Avigliana for an encampment; and if Hannibal had ad- vanced further with his enfeebled army, he would have lost the protection of the mountains behind him, and ex- posed himself to attack from the Taurini before he was well prepared for hostilities. Ivrea, anciently Eporedia, was a Roman station, and lay, according to the Itineraries, at a distance of 46 miles from Aosta. From Aosta to the summit of the Great St Bernard (Summus Penninus) was a distance of another 15 miles ^: so that the whole distance from Ivrea to the summit of the Great St Bernard Avas 61 Roman miles. 1 See Penny Cyc. Art. * Ivrea.' Blaev, Theatrum Statuum Regice Cel~ situdinis SabaucUce Duels, Art. 'Eporedia.' 2 See Murray's Iland-Book for Northern Italy, ' Avigliana.' 3 According to the Roman Itineraries, 25. The Government Itinerary of the Sardinian States (1839) gives, however, 10 Piedmonteso or 16^ Roman miles, as tho distance from Aosta to the Hospice of the Great St Bernard, so that the xxv miles of the Roman Itinerary is probably a mis- take for XV. HANNIBAL'S PASSAGE OF THE ALPS. 71 From Aosta to Arebrigium (generally identified with Pre St Didier, but perhaps rather Arpi on the road from Morgex leading to La Thuile and the Little St Bernard by the * Camp of Prince Thomas'), the Itineraries give 25 miles. Prom Arebrigium to Artolica (La Thuile) is a distance of another 6 miles: and from La Thuile to the summit of the Little St Bernard (Alpis Graia) there are about 5 miles more. Prom Ivrea to the summit of the Little St Bernard is consequently, according to the Itine- raries, a distance of 82 Eoman miles. Avigliana is the ' Ad Pines ' of the Itineraries, and lay at a distance of 24 Roman miles below Susa. Prom Susa, taking the old road over the Mont Cenis, the distance to La Novalese is about 5 English miles : from La Novalese to La Grande Croix, at the southern extremity of the plateau of the Mont Cenis, the distance is about 6 English miles. To the centre of the lake of the Mont Cenis (which lies nearly in the middle of the plateau of the Great Mont Cenis, and from which the plateau of the Little Mont Cenis branches off at right angles to the other plateau^) the distance will be nearly 3 English miles more : so that, from Susa to the central point of the plateaux of the Mont Cenis, the distance is nearly 14 English, or about 15 Roman miles. Prom Avigliana, then, to the central point of the summit of the Mont Cenis, the distance is 39 Roman miles. Prom Susa to Ad Martis, the modern Oulx, the Itine- raries give IG Roman miles, and 9 more to Gesdao or Cesannc. Prom Ccsanne to the central point of the plain of the Mont Gcncvrc the distance may be taken at 4 Roman miles. Prom Avigliana to the summit of the Mont Gencvre the distance is thus 53 Roman miles. In all these cases it appears, by comparison with the ^ There are two ways of ascending the Mont Cenis from the side of Savoy: (1) by the road over tho great Mont Conis, the present hic;h road, which leaves tlie valley of the Arc at Lanslobourg ; and (2) by the road of the Little Mont Cenis, a mule-path, which turns ofl' from tho valley of the Arc at ]>ranians. Both these passes are of nearly equal height. Tho two roads unite on the sunnnit of the mountain, and tho descent into Italy is tho same for both. 72 HANNIBAL'S PASSAGE OF THE ALPS. present distances, that there is no material error in the Itineraries, excepting in the instance already noticed. From the snmniits of the respective passes to the com- mencement of the plains the distances therefore are : For the Great St Bernard 61 Roman miles. For the Little St Bernard 82 „ „ For the Mont Cenis 39 „ „ For the Mont Genevre 53 „ „ And the actual distance on the pass which) , ^ Hannibal crossed probably did not exceed J " " The Mont Cenis seems here to be plainly indicated as the pass which Hannibal crossed. With respect to either of the St Bernards, the discrepancy in point of distance raises not merely a difficulty, but it may be said an im- possibility to overcome. The fact also, already noticed, of the invisibility of the plains from their summits, opposes another obstacle, equally strong, to the adoption of either of these passes. A third objection arises from the circumstance, that it was not the Taurini, but the Libui, who would have in- habited the plains into which Hannibal entered on his emergence from the Alps, had he crossed either the Great or the Little St Bernard. Yet the Libui, although a tribe known to Polybius, are never mentioned by him in his account of Hannibal's passage of the Alps, the narrative necessarily implying that the Carthaginians found the Tau- rini in their way as soon as they issued out from among the mountains, and began their march to the Insubrian territory. These three objections seem fatal to the Great and the Little St Bernard. The argument from discrepancy of distance presses also strongly, though perhaps not conclu- sively, against the Mont Genevre, from which the plains of Italy are, besides, invisible. The route of the Mont Genevre is, in addition, at variance with Condition I ; for Hannibal would, on the supposition of his having crossed the Genevre, have to leave the Isere near Grenoble, and penetrate into the mountain-valley of the Drac. But the distance between Grenoble and Valence, wliich is of the same length as the distance between Grenoble and the HANNIBAL'S PASSAGE OF THE ALPS. 73 confluence of the Isere and the Ehone, is only 96 kilo- metres, or about 66 Roman miles ; a distance too widely removed from the 800 stadia or 100 Roman miles of Poly- bius, to be admitted. Of the four passes mentioned, three seem thus to be excluded from consideration by strong improbabilities. The Mont Cenis remains alone with likelihood in its favour. The next thing, therefore, to examine is, whether the characteristics of this latter pass are completely in accord- ance with the conditions derived from the narrative of Polybius. Should they prove so, the adoption of the Mont Cenis as the pass which Hannibal crossed, seems an inevi- table conclusion ; for the negative evidence in its favour, arising from the great improbabilities with respect to the other passes, is exceedingly strong. We shall consequently now proceed to apply systematically to the Mont Cenis all the conditions which have been deduced from the dis- cussion of Polybius' account of Hannibal's passage of the Alps. For this purpose it will first be necessary to trace the oldest line of road over the Mont Cenis, which rarely ever, when the mountains are once entered, coincides with the modern road. The marshes and defiles, which the modern road has been enabled to traverse, by the aid of dykes to restrain the rivers, or gunpowder to blast away the rocks, were, in remote times, obstacles not to be directly over- come. They forced the road away from the river, which .flowed through the valley leading to the summit of the pass, and compelled it to skirt or to ascend the flanks of the mountains at the side of the valley, in search of prac- ticable ground on which it might run. From tlie confkience of the Rhone and the Isere as far as Grenoble, there can be no doubt about the direction taken by a road making for the INiont Cenis by the left bank of the Isere. It must always have followed the river, nearly in the line of the modern road, leaving it probably a little to the left on approaching Sasscnnge and (Ire- noble, where there is some marshy ground which might cause it to recede from the Isere. From Grenoble the easiest way of proceeding to tlie ^Mont Cenis would still be 74 HANNIBAL'S PASSAGE OF THE ALPS. to pursue the broad vale of Graisivaudan, (as the French part of the Val Isere is called) and so gain the entrance of the valley of the Arc, the river which waters the Mau- rienne and leads to the Mont Cenis. A much shorter, though, at the same time, a much more difficult way would be, to cross the mountains, if possible, between Grenoble and St Jean de Maurienne, and thus avoid the great circuit which the easier road makes. There was a Roman road which took this shorter course. Remains of it have been found in the neighbourhood of the Col de la Coche, upon the mountains between the Graisivaudan and the valley of the OUe. It would, therefore, in all proba- bility, strike off from the road along the left bank of the Isere, about twelve miles above Grenoble, and a short distance below Froges, — at the point where the stream descending from the Col de la Coche enters the Graisi- vaudan. Having crossed the Col de la Coche, and entered the upper valley of the Olle, its subsequent course, if it was intended to lead into the Maurienne (and this was evi- dently, by its crossing the Col de la Coche, the ultimate design), would be most likely by way of the Col du Glandon. From the summit of this pass it would descend into the valley of the Arvan, and join the other line of road, leading to the Mont Cenis, at St Jean de Maurienne. It is said, and in all probability with justice, as will be seen ia a subsequent chapter, that this road formed part of the route followed by Julius Caesar, when he crossed the Alps in haste to intercept the Helvetii, who had broken into Transalpine Gaul'. ^ With this pass from the Graisivaudan to St Jean de Maurienne I am personally unacquainted. It is mentioned in the following note from. Pilot's Ilistoire de Grenoble, p. 7. Grenoble, 1829. II y avait une autre route qui traversait les montagnes de Theys pour allcr dans la Maurienne. On en trouve encore une partio considerable qui se dirige vers le Col de la Coche ; elle est pavce en blocs bruts de granit, et a pres de dix pieds de largeur. On raconto communcment que Cesar est entre dans les Gaulcs par ce chemin, lorsqu'il partit d'Aquilee. Ab Ocelo, quod est citerioris provincice extremum, in fines Vocontiorum ulterioris provincice pervenit : hide in AUohrogum fines. HANNIBAL'S PASSAGE OF THE ALPS. 75 This route would not be that followed by Hannibal. It leaves the banks of the Isere too soon to be in accordance with the measurements of Polybius ; and the length of the Alpine route would also be too short. Besides, we have no record of any mountains having been crossed by Hannibal, with the exception of the actual pass, * the highest summits of the Alps.' An easier, but longer route, seems to have been the one followed by the Carthaginians, which must also have struck off from the Isere at a greater distance above Grenoble. From Grenoble to the confluence of the Isere and the Arc, the valley of the Isere is bounded on the east by a range of hills, lying in advance of the Alps behind, and cut through by the lateral streams which descend to the Isere. At first, on leaving Grenoble, all these hills are connected ^vith the mountains behind, but at Le Cheylas, about 20 miles above Grenoble, they become distinct. Passing through the gorge of Le Fay, which here breaks through the chain of hills, and affords a passage for the diligence-road to Allevard, a broad and rich valley is reached, lying between the hills and the Alps, and extending for a length of rather less than 20 miles, from St Pierre d'Allevard to the marshes where the Arc joins the Isere. The upper or French part of this valley is called the valley of Allevard ; the lower or Savoyard part, divided from the upper by the river Bredaz, and a small tract of hilly ground to the north of that torrent, is called the valley of La Pochette. Through this valley, according to INF. Albanis de Beaumont, a Roman road formerly ran : he also speaks of the former importance of La Pochette, and of the fertility of the sur- rounding country ^ 1 A I'extrcmitc do cctto valluo est lo bourg do la Tlochcttc, autrefois tres considerable, ot ayant titro do villo ; il est im"mo coiinu, (lu'ancionnc- mont CO bourg so trouvoit sur unc dcs voios roniaincs qui oonduisoit d'Ai- gucbcUo il Vicnne, alors la capitalo do rAilobrogie; j'ai aussi oto .^ nu'-mo do voir plusieurs titrcs qui prouvcnt quo cctto villo (.'toit dans lo douziOmo Bieclo tres considerable, puisqu'Aynion, seigneur do Mont MaTcur, y leva ii cctto i-pocjuc cinq cents lances ot deux cent clnquanto cavaliers. La situ- ation dc la lloclietto est trCs agrcablc, ct scs environs, qui sont tres fcr- tilcs, oflVcnt uno (luantite do sites aussi roinaiitiiiuos (juo pittorcsqucs. — Lea Alpes Grccqus it CoUknnes, Vol. II. p. 505. Paris. 1802. 76 HANNIBAL'S PASSAGE OF THE ALPS. At Pont Charra, four or five miles above Le Cheylas, the line of hills is again broken through, and the Bredaz issues forth. Through this defile a road runs by way of Mou- taret to Allevard ; but the defile does not afford a con- venient access to La Rochette, the road to which place, from Montmelian, evades the defile by passing over the heights to the north. A road to Grenoble, from La Rochette, would be more likely to take the line of Allevard and Le Cheylas than that of Pont Charra. There is also a path from Allevard over the mountains to St Jean de Maurienne. It crosses the Col du Merlet, and descends into a valley which joins that of the Arc at Ste Marie de Cuines. From this tributary valley of the Maurienne a path over a lateral ridge leads to St Jean de Maurienne. This route is probably of some antiquity, as immediately below the crest of the Col du Merlet, on the eastern side, a group of chalets is marked on the Govern- ment map of this country, as the ' Granges de la Vieille Route.' It is solely on this account that it is mentioned here ; for it is not likely to have been the route followed by Hannibal. The last line of route on the left bank of the Isere, by which the Maurienne could be reached from Grenoble, is the modern road, which follows the river over the frontier into Savoy. At a place called La Chavanne, about half or three quarters of a mile from Montmelian, it falls into the high road from Chambery to Turin by the Mont Cenis, which leads by way of Maltaverne to the entrance of the valley of the Arc. Two lines of road have therefore to be considered : (1) The road which branches off* from the Graisi- vaudan at Le Cheylas \ and leads by way of Allevard and La Rochette to Aiguebelle. (2) The road by Pont Charra, La Chavanne, and Maltaverne, to the same place. It is the first of these two roads which is in accordance 1 The oldest pcath probably left the Graisivaudan hero. The modern diligence-road to Allevard branches oflF at Goncclin, and has been con- structed, partly by the aid of gunpowder, along tho Bouthern side of the gorge of Le Fay. HANNIBAL'S PASSAGE OF THE ALPS. 77 with the requisitions of Polybius' narrative. The length of both routes is almost exactly the same ; but the country through which the first route leads is more productive. It is, however, rather the more difficult of the two, though both are partially hilly. Yet the ascent which is requisite on the first road is not very important. The elevation of AUevard, which lies on the highest part of the road, is given as 170 metres, or 560 English feet\ above Gre- noble, which would make it less than 500 feet above Le Cheylas, perhaps not more than 400. There appear, however, sufficient reasons for supposing, that in former times, when the country was in its natural state, its barbarous inhabitants, when they wished to go from Grenoble to Aiguebelle, might not only have chosen, but may have been absolutely obliged, to take their way through Allevard and La llochette. For the road which goes by way of Maltaverne twice crosses great tracts of marsh-land, which in ancient times must have been im- practicable morasses. The first of these lies between Pont Charra and Montmelian, the second between Maltaverne and La Croix d' Aiguebelle. Neither is it possible to skirt these marshes and so avoid them, for they extend, in both cases, to a considerable distance on the right of the road, along the banks of two small streams, which have to be crossed. The first of these streams descends from Malta- verne, and joins the Isere between Pont Charra and Mont- melian ; tlie second is the Gellon, descending from the valley of La Rochette. In fact, with the exception of the part where the road keeps along the range of hills ex- tending from JNIaltaverne to La Chavanne and also a little l)cyond each place, nearly all the route from Pont Charra to La Croix d' Aiguebelle is marshy. There are also small marshes l)y Maltaverne, on the heights, but they miglit have been avoided without difficulty. The marshes between Montmelian and Pont Clmrra arc thus mentioned in a short notice on the territory of La Rochette 2 : 1 Til a small book, called the Guide da Visitcnr ait pm/s d'Alkv,ird, par V. A. lliiroUot ])i>Iavaqncrio. * Richard, (luide en Savoie ct cti I'u'uiont. 78 HANNIBAL'S PASSAGE OF THE ALPS. ' L'etendue de ce territoire est d'environ 20 kilom. ou 4 lieues, sur 3 lieues de large. La partie qui longe I'lsere apres le pont de Montmelian est composee d'une terre d'alluvion tres fertile ; il se deploie ensuite sur les bords de risere, en forme de grands marais, une vaste prairie qui descend j usque vers Pont Charas.' M. Albanis de Beaumont, in his Description des Alpes Grecques et Cottiennes, also mentions these marshes, as they extend by St Helene du Lac towards Coise and INIaltaverne. Speaking of the road between Montmelian and Maltaverne along the crest of the ridge overlooking these marshes, he proceeds : ' Du hameau de la Chavane, (near Montmelian) la route, quoique legerement montueuse, est tres agreable, etant ombragee de chaque cote de gros noyers et divers arbres fruitiers. A une demi-lieue de ce hameau on commence a apercevoir ga et la des bancs de schistes feuil- letes d'une espece argilleuse mais tres tendre ; ces schistes paraissent se prolonger jusqu'a la haute coUine de mont Ma'ieur, situee au sud-est du chemin, dont elle rCest separee que par une suite de belles prairies et de marais qui se pro- long ent jusqii au lac de S*^ Helene; ces prairies ont visiblement ete sous les eaux, et elks ont fait dans un temps partie de ce lac^.' All these marsh-lands are now in a great measure reclaimed by means of drainage and embankments : but in ancient times they must have formed, as may be con- cluded from the passages above cited, and from the appearance of the country, a great swamp, which prevented all passage along the left bank of the Isere, between Pont Charra and Montmelian. In order to reach Aiguebelle from the Graisivaudan, it must have been necessary to pass by Avay of La Rochctte ; or else, (which is however a mere supposition, for no road is known to have adopted such a course) to have proceeded from Pont Charra, along the north-western flank of the ridge of Montmayeur. But even if Maltaverne were reached, the same diffi- culties would occur again. Another large tract of marsh 1 Les Alpes Grecques et Cottiennes, p. C91. The author speaks again (p. 59G) of the lake of Sto Helene, and the marshes adjoining it. HANNIBAL'S PASSAGE OF THE ALPS. 79 defends the entrance of the valley of the Arc. Bourgneuf is already on the fen, and from thence to La Croix d'Ai- guebelle the road lies entirely over marsh-land. A great quantity of ground has indeed been reclaimed here ; yet extensive swamps are still left on the banks of the Isere and the Arc, though both these rivers are now almost entirely confined by dykes ; the vast undertaking of their embankment being nearly completed, down to the place where the Isere enters France \ Fifty years ago, M. Alba- nis de Beaumont remarked the great swamps then existing about the confluence of the Isere and the Arc 2. M. Ber- tolotte also, in the year 1827, took notice of these morasses, ' le paludose lande ove Y Isera riceve le acque dell' Arco f and mentions the swampy meadows, • i prati paludosi,' as being found on the banks of the Gellon as far from the Arc as the neighbourhood of Bettonet^. It seems clear then that, in ancient times, a large marsh lay between INIaltaverne and the entrance of the valley of the Arc ; and it is not likely that any way ever lay across it, before the Romans, in all probability, (as will be seen in a later chapter) constructed a line of road here from the Maurienne to Montmelian. The barbarian inhabitants of the Maurienne, when seeking a way to the Graisivaudan, 1 When these dykes are completed, the high road from Montmelian to Turin will bo carried along them by the sides of the Isere and Arc into the Maurienne, and the present road by Maltavemo will be abandoned. The now road was indeed, in the spring of the present year (18r>3), nearly finished. 2 A unc demi-lieuo de Maltavorne I'on trayerse lo Gelon ; .^ droito la vuo plonge dans la vallee du Bcton, ct a gauche dans cello de I'Iserc, dont on suit les sinuositcs do la riviere jusqu'a Conflans, situo a rcntreo de la vallee do Tarantaisc. Bicntot I'on so trouve vis-jl-vis du confluent do riscre ct do I'Arc, on le voyageur sentimental voit avcc regret les ravages quo causcnt les eaux do ces deux riviores, particulicroment sur la rivo gauche de I'lscre, ou il y a des marais cVum itcnduc dc pluskurs licnc$, dont les exhalaisons ou miasmes qui s'on dcgagent lors des grandcs chalours, poussees par les vents nord-ouest, ct remontant dans I'l'-troito vallOo do Maurienne, y occasionncnt annuellcmcnt des ficvrcs intcnnittentos, ct plusicurs autres cspcccs do maladies cgalcment nuisibles aux habitants. — LcsAlpcs Grccques ct Cottknncs, Vol. II. p. 600. 3 Viaggio in Savoia, Lcttcra LXVI. 80 HANNIBAL'S PASSAGE OF THE ALPS. would, on their arrival at La Croix d'Aiguebelle, have followed the line of the valley of La Rochette. The inha- bitants of the Graisivaudan, in like manner, when wishing to penetrate into the Maurienne, would also, when the marshes beyond Pont Charra hindered their further pro- gress up the Isere, have been induced, if not compelled, to strike into the same valley of La Rochette, either from Pont Charra or Le Cheylas. But from La Rochette to Grenoble, the most natural line of route is by Allevard and Le Cheylas. On this line, then, the old Gallic way would have been made ; and here Hannibal would find his road when on his march from Grenoble to the Mont Cenis. On this road the marshes present no obstacles. There is a narrow tract of marsh on the plain between Allevard and St Pierre d' Allevard, the highest part of the route. This tract, however, the road can skirt without expe- riencing any difficulty, on the gently rising ground at the foot of the ridge of hills called Brame-Farine. As to the marshes at the extremity of the valley of La Rochette, which extend from near Bettonet to the Arc, the road, being already on the ground lying on their south side, cannot, of course, be inconvenienced by them. From the entrance to the valley of the Arc, at La Croix dAiguebelle, to the summit of the Mont Cenis, the way, lying in a valley confined on both sides by mountains, necessarily follows up the Arc, as closely as the difficulties of the ground will allow it. Four lines of way up the Maurienne may be mentioned : (1) The present high road ; (2) the first carriage-road made under Napoleon ; (3) the mule-road of the last century ; and (4) the earlier mule- road, the oldest path known to have existed. These roads are, in places, more or less coincident with one another : the first and the last have, however, an exceedingly small number of miles in common. For the ancient road gene- rally ran, and sometimes at a great height, along the flanks of the mountains, avoiding the marshes in the Lower Maurienne, and the deep defiles in the Upper Maurienne. An artificial line of causeway now carries the high road straight through the marshes ; and the defiles of the Upper Maurienne have been laid open for its passage. HANNIBAL'S PASSAGE OF THE ALPS. 81 either by blasting away the rocks Avhich close in upon the river, or by means of artificial terraces which deprive it of a part of its channel. It is necessarily along the most ancient path, the earliest mule-road, that we must seek for the route of Hannibal. Now, though this road is partially destroyed in several places, the whole line may be almost completely traced. From La Croix d'Aiguebelle, mentioned above, it skirts the bases of the mountains to Aiguebelle. Directly behind Aiguebelle, two hills rise from the bed of the valley, leaving between themselves and the mountains on each side only three narrow openings. Through the most easterly of these openings runs the high road, supported on a causeway occupying part of the old channel of the river, which it follows to the bridge of Argentine. The first carriage-road and second mule-road passed through the opening between the two hills; the oldest path of all passed through the opening between the western hill and the mountains, and fell into the line of the first carriage- road and second mule-road- immediately behind the hill. This first carriage-road joins the present one shortly before reaching the bridge of Argentine, the junction taking- place at the foot of a precipice, which in ancient times must have sprung directly from the river or the marshes, and, in all probability, have barred this line of way. The oldest road is thus, it may be supposed, if there was no passage here, represented for a short distance by a nuile- road, which, after the hills previously mentioned behind Aiguebelle have been passed, strikes oflf from the second mule-road, into which the first has just fallen, and ascends along the heights towards the mines of St George. From this road, in a short time, a foot-path branches off to the left, and, keeping for some distance along the sides of the mountains, eventually descends througli a hollow directly upon the bridge of Argentine. This, it may be conjectured, is the oldest route through the hills and defile of Aiguebelle. From the bridge of Argentine the old line of way is known throughout by the inhabitants of the country as far as the sunnnit of the ISIont Ccnis. It ])asscs throni^h Argentine to the left of the marshes and of the motlcrn 6 82 HANNIBAL'S PASSAGE OF THE ALPS. carriage-roads (though Argentine itself is accessible in a carriage) and encounters no difficult ground until it ap- proaches Epierre. Here there is a spur projecting from the mountains, and presenting towards the west a precipi- tous face, which rises from the marshes. On the crest of this spur is a tract of cultivated ground. Over this tract the old road passed, attaining it by a gradual ascent along the flanks of the mountains which stretch towards Argen- tine. On the northern side of this tract of ground the road has been destroyed, and its line is lost for a short time among the fields. On the summit of the spur it is again recovered, and descends in a well-preserved state upon Epierre, passing through the most ancient part of this village, where the church is situated. Continuing its course through Le Tardy it crosses another, but a lower spur of the mountains, and descends upon Tigny. Erom thence, having passed through La Chapelle, it quits, near Gondran, the large tract of fertile ground which extends into the marshes, and upon which Tigny, La Chapelle, and Gondran are situated; and then pursues its course along the mountain sides through Les Chavannes, till it arrives immediately behind the post-station of La Grande Maison'. Erom thence it reaches La Chambre, keeping along the side of a steep mountain, and coinciding probably with the earliest carriage-road now rapidly falling into complete ruin. Erom La Chambre it passes through St Avre to the bridge of Sainte Marie de Cuines, which is situated about a mile above the village of that name, at a point where a projecting edge of rocks formerly obliged the road to cross the river. It does not however seem unlikely, from the nature of the country, that the river may have been once crossed a little below this bridge, so that the way from La Chambre may have passed through Sainte Marie itself At the bridge of Sainte Marie de Cuines, the great marshes of the Lower Maurienne may be said to terminate. A long defile bounded by precipices of vast height is then 1 From La Grande Maison to St Martin do la Porte, a distance of about 15 English miles, the first three roads up the Maurienne deviate little from each other. HANNIBAL'S PASSAGE OF THE ALPS. 83 entered. The river is again crossed at Pontamafrey, and also a third time at the upper end of the defile. The valley then opens out, and the road emerges upon an open tract of country in Avhich stands St Jean de IMaurienne, the chief town of the province of the same name. From St Jean de Maurienne to St Martin de la Porte, the way lies in the bottom of the valley, which has here for a time a considerable width. The river is again crossed between St Jean and St Julien. The present high road keeps close to the river, and leaves the villages of St Julien and St Martin on the left. Almost immediately beyond St Martin the valley is suddenly terminated. The great rock of Baune, several hundred feet in height, and about three quarters of a mile in length, stretches across the valley from side to side. Between the southern edge of this rock and the precipices on the opposite side of the valley, the Arc has cut itself a narrow passage between the cliffs. Through this passage the three most modern roads were conducted, the face of the precipice having been blasted away by the aid of gunpow der to make room for them. An entrance was thus gained into the little plain of St Michel, and into a series of defiles about ten miles in length, which extends as far as a village called Le Frency, some three miles below Modane. No such course was practicable for the ancient road ; nor, according to the report of the inhabitants, did any way exist, till within the last 150 or 200 years, by the southern extremity of the Jlock of Baune. The old road passed by the northern extremity of that rock, penetrating through the narrow defile of La Porte, which separates the Rock of Baune from the rest of the ridge, of which it forms the prolongation into the valley. Having passed through this defile the road did not descend upon the plain of St ]Michcl (in ancient times probably a morass'), but climbed the heights by Le Village de la Porte and Villard Bcrnond to a village called I^a Traverse ; from whence it ran, nearly on a level, round a projecting moun- ^ According to Bcrtolotti (Viafftry been in the van and centre, and the baggage and cavalry in the lea 1 e Co of march might have been cut through by an attack from the heights of ISauno and La Traverse, he van of the ally isolated from the rear, if not overwhelmed, and all the cavalry and baggage probably taken "'• f f '-X 's'trous The result of the attack was not. however, so d.sastious to the Carthaginians. Wl.eii the Gauls at length fell upon 110 HANNIBAL'S PASSAGE OF THE ALPS. the rear, which they probably did between St Julien and St Martin de la Porte, they were able to make no impression on the heavy infantry of Hannibal. The valley is here open, though rather broken and irregular ; so that the heavy infantry would fight at no great disadvantage on account of the ground, while their superior weapons and military skill would be sufficient to turn the scale in their favour. The position they took up would perhaps be a little to the east of a small hamlet called Crozat. Here their left might rest on the Arc, and their right upon the side of a mountain rising in sheer precipices, along which it would be impossible for an enemy to move and turn their position. Drawn up thus across the valley, they would resist with success all the efforts of the Gauls in the rear. While the Carthaginians thus repulsed the enemy upon their rear, the leading columns, composed of cavalry and baggage-animals, were destroyed by an attack on their flank. How far the Gauls allowed the Carthaginians to proceed along the mountain-road between St Martin and La Traverse is uncertain. All that left St Martin were probably overwhelmed, either crushed beneath rocks rolled down the steep declivities, or killed by great stones, Avhich the Gauls, descending the more gentle slopes, would be enabled to hurl at them from a distance of a few yards. The rest of the horses and other animals would be obliged to remain at St Martin de la Porte, until the passage of the defile, and the road along the mountains, could be made secure. The safety of the rear being by this time assured, Hannibal was enabled to execute in person an attack upon the heights near the defile of La Porte. An attack di- rected immediately upon the defile was not likely to have been attended with success, the ' Porte ' being merely a narrow gap in a very steep ridge. The first point to be captured Avould be the ground about the village of Baune, where the arm of the ridge, which forms the Heights of the Chapel and the Rock of Baune, branches off from the main heights. Though it is a continuous ascent from St Martin to Baune, yet the ground is not difficult, and Hannibal's HANNIBAL'S PASSAGE OF THE ALPS. Ill light infantry, being in great force, avouIcI eventually suc- ceed, though not without loss, in driving back the Gauls. The capture of Baune would give Hannibal possession of the Rock of Baune and the Heights of the Chapel ; for neither of these positions, lying below Baune, could be defended against a superior force with any chance of success. The Gauls, who had previously held them, would be obliged to retreat in the first instance to Villard Bernond, and then to Villard Putier or La Traverse ; for Villard Bernond lies below Baune, and the gully in front of it would not be a sufficient protection against the Car- thaginians. The Gauls, whom Hannibal had driven from Baune would probably retire towards Le Mollard. The capture of Baune would ensure a safe march for the rest of the army from St Martin to the gully. To protect the rest of the line of road, from the gully near Villard Bernond to I^a Traverse and Le Thyl, the posses- sion of the Terrace of La Traverse is also necessar3\ The way to carry this terrace from Baune seems evident. It would be necessary to advance along the Ridge of Baune as far as the neighbourhood of Le Mollard, then to cross the gully, not difficult of passage in this place, to Villard Putier, and finally to march from Villard Putier towards La Traverse, thus taking possession of the Terrace. To this movement from Baune, the Gauls could have offered no effectual opposition. They would have been obliged to evacuate Le Mollard, Villard Putier, and La Traverse, as Hannibal approached, and retire towards the higher ground. All the heights commanding the road having been thus gained by the Carthaginians, Hannibal would encamp along the line represented in the Plan, having the Gauls above him, and completely protecting the road beneath from any attack on their part. In this position on the heights, more, as already mentioned, than two miles ia Icngtli, the half of the Carthaginian army may be supposed to have been stationed. By the time the heights had been carried, the evening had probably almost fallen : but Hannibal did not wait for day to witlulraw the rest of his army from the valley to the high ground. During the night the Carthaginians passed 112 HANNIBAL'S PASSAGE OF THE ALPS. through the defile of La Porte, and by the morning of the next day, but not before, they had all ascended to La Traverse, the first columns having perhaps proceeded further on their Avay. The safety of the Carthaginians was now assured : the Gauls had no longer any opportunity or incli- nation of offering them further molestation, and retired from the contest. They may, perhaps, seeing their posi- tions lost, have retreated in the night. On the fifth day Hannibal rejoined the rest of his army, and resumed his march ^ During the remainder of the march to the summit of the pass, the mountaineers never attacked tlie Carthagi- nians in any force. Small bands, watching their oppor- tunity, fell at times upon the army at different points in the line, and carried off part of the baggage. Where the elephants were found, no attack was ever made, their appearance striking the Gauls with terror and astonish- ment. The march seems here to have lain (as might have been anticipated when Hannibal was approaching towards the summit of the pass) through a country thinly peopled, and inhabited by a wild race of men. There are indeed plausible reasons for conjecturing, that these Gauls were a different tribe from those who dwelt in the Lower Mau- rienne : for they appear to have had no share in the battle of the Kock, nor to have had any previous acquaintance with the Carthaginians, or connexion with the other Gauls 2. After the toils of the battle, and the subsequent night- march or watch, the progress of the Carthaginians might be expected to be a little retarded. The evening and night of the sixth day would probably be spent around Modane : the seventh day would bring them to Bramans ; and on the eighth night a large part of the army would 1 The supposed scene of this contest, and of tlio operations connected with it, is very woU observed from the summit of the rock of Baune. 2 This conjecture is probably well founded. In the Roman times the Upper Maurienne was inhabited by the Cottian Caturiges, whose lowest village seems to have been Orclle, situated four miles above La Traverse. See below, Chap. xi. .1/ '^./ Tlie Coxuitrv //( the Nei/jhhowlwod of tilt- ROCK OF BAUNE wiUidie Supposed Positions CA RTHAOIm'iAKS & GAULS oil the eyeiiiiiif ofthe •I'l'Days marcli fioiii Uie Town. 1 Carlliaijmiiin hearj InAntrj 2 Qutiuufiman Cmab-j.Eltphants. and bagyage. 3 FoMonofBannihalon the hfighb, wiHi half the (hrOuiginlan anny 4 Sttuleiiillie yalUrialherrarofttie CarAaginians 5 IkaJs onthelteightsonthe flank of ArOuihaguuans 6 Foeitwm ofthe Oauh fS) whmManmbcd byan his march, ft- cany ihe he^htt OldSoad line ofjlaiuiibals mardi ahml Ae heights leith half his artm aefjicd Oranqe HANNIBAL'S PASSAGE OF THE ALPS. 113 most likely have gained the summit of the Little Mont Cenis. On the following morning the rear-guard would arrive, and all the army, with the exception of the strag- glers who afterwards rejoined them, would have accom- plished the ascent of the Alps. The transactions which took place on the summit of the pass, and during the descent, will be considered in the next chapter. CHAPTER VIII. Application of the conditions deduced from Polybius' narrative to the route of the Mont Cenis concluded. — Encampment of Hannibal on the Plateau of the Little Ifont Cenis. — Point from which the plains of Italy were most probably seen. — Precipitous character of the descent from the Mont Cenis into Italy. — Probable situation of the place where the i^ath was destroyed. — Arrival at the commence- ment of the plains of Italy. — Siege and capture of Turin. THE summit of the Mont Cenis has already been partly described. It consists of two large plateaux, between 6000 and 7000 English feet above the sea-level, surrounded by mountains elevated, in some instances, more than 4000 feet above the plateaux beneath. The longest of the two plateaux is that of the Great Mont Cenis, extending five miles in length from La Ramasse to La Grande Croix. On the left, towards the east or north-east, this plateau is bounded all the way by the bases of the mountains ; on the right it is bounded, first by the mountains, then by the lake, and finally by a range of hills, running from the lake to the neighbourhood of La Grande Croix, and terminating towards the south in a precipice of great height, which rises from the little plain of St Nicholas. This latter plain lies about 500 feet below La Grande Croix, and is sepa- rated from it by the precipitous descent called the Eourmi- guier. To the W. or S.W. of the lake, extends the plateau of the Little Mont Cenis, about three miles and a half in length, and bounded on both sides by ranges of mountains. The two plateaux form, in a manner, three of the arms of a cross, which meet in the lake. Besides these two pla- teaux, there is a small valley or hollow upon the mountain. It is enclosed between the hills which run from the lake to La Grande Croix, and the mountains on the west. A small stream flows down this valley into the lake. The j)ath from the Col of the Little Mont Cenis, which is at the furthest extremity of the plateau of the same name, leads along the plateau nearly to the lake. It then turns to the HANNIBAL'S PASSAGE OF THE ALPS. 115 right and follows the little valley behind the hills, which conducts it to a depression in that range of heights, through which it descends upon La Grande Croix, at the extremity of the plateau of the Great Mont Cenis. The first condition relating to the summit of the pass is this : V. A place suitable for the encampment of Hanni- baPs army must be found at the summit of the pass. The plateau of the Little Mont Cenis perfectly satisfies this condition. Its great length and ample width would afford abundant room for the encampment. The next condition is the following : VI. From a point, probably not far from the road over the summit of the pass, but yet not upon the ground where the Carthaginians would encamp when they first reached the summit, the plains of the Po, and, in all probability, the Apennines also, ought to be visible. The ground Avhere the Carthaginians would encamp, when they first reached the summit of the pass, would be the plateau of the Little Mont Cenis. From thence no part of Italy, nor even any opening in the encircling ranges of mountains, can be perceived. It seems com- pletely shut in by the Alps on every side. On leaving the plateau of the Little Mont Cenis for La Grande Croix, the path turns sharply to the right, and eventually passes over the hills often mentioned, at a point where there is a depression in the chain. Turning to the south, along the crest of the heights, from this point, so as to ascend out of the hollow through which the path runs, and thus arrive upon the long summit of the ridge, the traveller will gain a prospect of Italy in the course of some five minutes. The view is better seen from the southernmost extremity of these eminences, a walk of a few minutes further. The part of the hilly range from whence this prospect is gained, and which lies to the south of the de- pression through which the path runs, forms a ridge about half a mile in length, without any definite head rising above the general level of its summit. It presents a \cvy steep slope towards La Grande Croix, and terminates, 8—2 116 HANNIBAL'S PASSAGE OF THE ALPS. as before mentioned, above the plain of St Nicholas, in a very lofty precipice. From the crest of this ridge it may be conjectured that Hannibal pointed out Italy to his army. Great numbers might have collected on the long summit, so that many hundreds of men might have looked upon Italy at once. There is no difficulty whatever in arriving here, and the view is seen from a point so close to the path, that the fact of such a prospect being visible could hardly be unknown to those who were acquainted with the pass. It is indeed only a very small portion of Italy that is de- scried ; but the existence of any extensive prospect does not seem to be required by the narrative. In fact, if we suppose the action, intimated by the word evSeiKvuixevos, to have been a natural, and not merely an oratorical, gesture, we should be led to imagine that only a small part of the plains was visible ; for to any very large expanse it would have been superfluous to direct attention. Besides, any prospect of Italy, however limited, would have been suffi- cient for Hannibal's purpose. It would have proved to the Carthaginians, by visible demonstration, that their extri- cation from the Alps was at hand, that the mountains were about to terminate, and that the plains of Italy were almost gained. It is towards the S. E. that the view is open. The country seen would thus be the district to the east of the Po, and the south of the Tanaro, where the cities of Alba and Acqui are situated. This part of the plains is inter- sected by several ranges of hills, one of which may be dis- cerned from the point of view on the Mont Ccnis, even after the hazes, so prevalent in the plains of the Po during a great part of the day, especially in summer, have effiiced the prospect of the flat country. In the extreme distance the chain of the Apennines closes the view, and would have offered to Hannibal, as previously explained, the means of indicating the position of Rome'. ^ Another point on the Mont Cenis, from which the plains of Italy are visible, is mentioned by M. Grosley, who wrote in the middle of the HANNIBAL'S PASSAGE OF THE ALPS. 117 On the morning of the ninth clay the ivhole Cartha- ginian army had gained the summit of the L>ttle Mont Cenis During the remainder of that day, and during the foUowino- night, they remained encamped on the plateau ot [he LMe Moni Cenis. On the morning of the tenth day Hannibal found them in a state of great de^PO" W One resource only, but that an effectual one, and such as could never have'been anticipated by the Carthagnnans offered itself to Hannibal, as a means by which he could restore the courage and fortitude of his army. He had "ecome atvare, probably by the report of the Cisa^^je Gauls who then accompanied him, and who had previously cros ed the pass to meet him on the Rhone, that there was a point on the mountain, by the side of the path some two :r'three miles from the plateau of the Little Mont Cen from which the plains of Italy could be discerned. To this point, accordingly, Hannibal led his "7^;, °'^„* P'^';*/ ''^ and pointed out to them the plains of the Po and the lit! of the Apennines, behind which, as he stated, lay the°eity of Rome itself. He dwelt also upon tlie friendly disposition towards them of the inhabitants of the country then lying beneath their feet, and succeeded eventually o a e'ertfin extent, in dispelling the gloom which had kllen upon their spirits. By this movement to obtain the Dvosnect of Italy, he position of the Carthaginian encamp- LTon the tenth day would be a litUe altered from what last century on tho subject of IlannitaVs route across the Alps. The nns=aM is civon by Ukert in his Gcogyapluc, n. 2. p. COO. ■^ LVS.CCO Jo coupe ouc forme lo plateau du Mont Ccn.s, cs borJeo L csptco ue coupe i ,,>Lcuno nas, au pied do la lettre, lo do falaises trcs cleveos, ct a.nsi il n occupe pa., p f.i,,l.„. j, la sommot do la montagnc. Cost a m.-co.c d une •J« , =» f ^ ^ "^ '^ hauteur du Prioure, .[u'eu dccouvre Ics pUuncs du r.omont, ct cost ■^ f ::;r r ;s:':?r :r~uhi^und . s^r on .,. eastern Bido of the mountain ^'hich lies S. W. froni tl o K k . It s if not quito, impracticable. 118 HANNIBAL'S PASSAGE OF THE ALPS. it was on the ninth : for, from the summit of the hills from which Italy was seen, it is not likely that the Cartha- ginians would have been led back to the plateau of the Little Mont Cenis, but would rather have descended to La Grande Croix. On the tenth night the army probably lay encamped on the eastern extremity of the plateau of the Little Mont Cenis, around La Grande Croix at the southern extremity of the plateau of the Great Mont Cenis, and on the ground between these two positions. On the eleventh morning they began, from La Grande Croix, their descent into Italy, and left the summit of the Mont Cenis, on which they had spent two days and nights. The accordance of the pass of the Mont Cenis with the seventh condition, that ' The commencement of the plains of Italy must be less than three days'* march from the sum- mit of the pass,' has already been shewn in an earlier chapter (p. 72). We pass on therefore to the eighth con- dition. VIII. The first part of the descent from the pass on the Italian side must be of a precipitous character. The precipitous character of the descent into Italy by the old road over the Mont Cenis, has been already men- tioned (p. 87). It is one of the most remarkable features of the pass, and is particularly noticed in many descrip- tions of it^ Between La Grande Croix, where the descent 1 Enfin, a rextremite de la plaine est I'auberge de la Orande-Groixy Oil les voyageurs s'arretent souvent pour se rcposer ou se rechauffer. C'cst dc la quo commence la descente du cote du Piemont. La pente de I'ancien chemin qui passait par Ferrieres, et aboutissait ?x la Novalaise, oh. Ton faisait remonter les voitures, etait si rapide, que plusieurs voya- geurs ont fait la pcinture la plus effrayante des dangers qu'elle presen- tait. — Richard, Guide en Savoie et en Piemont. Dalla Novalesa ultimo villaggio del Piomonte, tale era I'antica strada ; per una raplda o spaventosa sallta, a svolto serpeggiantl si giungeva al villaggio dclle Ferrieres, d'ondo oltrepassato 11 piccolo piano di S. Nlccolo ore ancora si vcdono i limiti che segnavano i confini della Savola e del Plemonte, montate le erte rampe a zlg-zach dctte il Fourmignier, si veniva alia Gran Croce, povero o scarso abituro, e travcrsatono il piano si met- tcva capo alia Ramassa, d'ondo scorrondo pel dorso del monte si calava a Lanslobourg. — Itincrario Fostale degli Stati Sardi. HANNIBAL'S PASSAGE OF THE ALPS. 119 begins, and the village of La Novalese, near which it ter- minates, the road falls, in the course of six miles, more than 3600 feet; so that the rapidity of the descent must necessarily be considerable and long-continued ^ We now come to the ninth condition. IX. At a place, within half a day's march from the summit of the pass, on the Italian side, the path must lie along a precipitous mountain-side, liable to be broken up for a length of nearly 300 yards (English) ; and the country in the vicinity should be of a nature adapted to Polybius' account of the events which took place in the neighbour- hood of the broken path. A remarkable passage in a geographical work of the last century seems to indicate clearly the situation of this place, where Hannibal's path had been destroyed by a landslip^. The passage in question runs thus^ : * From the inn, called La Grand' Croix, on account of the wooden cross which stands by its side, and which forms the boundary between Savoy and Piedmont, the descent begins. On descending, there is found a plain, enclosed M. Deluc also (Histoire du Passage des Alpes par Annibal, p. 280,) notices tho precipitous character of the descent from the Mont Cenis, a circumstance which he brings forward as an argument against the suppo- sition of Hannibal's having crossed this pass. See below. Chap. X. 1 Height of La Grande Croix above tho sea, G211 English feet; of La Novalese, 2577. 2 Biisching's Geography of Italy, enlarged and improved edition, Venice, 1780. Vol. i. p. 78. 3 Dair osteria, detta la Grand' Croix, dalla croco di legno, chc v'o accanto, e che forma il confine tra la Savoja ed il Piemontc, incomincia la scesa. Nello scenderc ritrovasi una pianura rinchiusa fra' monti, detta la Flaine de S. Nicola, passata la quale v'o una scesa, che tempo fa i macigni, ed i sassi talmente rendcvano impraticabilc, che coloro, i quali solevano portar in sedia i viandanti, eran costretti a scender da' sassi a ealti, come da tanti gradini. In qucsta discesa inovitabilc, prcsso il No- valese nel ricmonteso v'erano 3 o 4 luoghi, ovo il sentioro fianchoggiato da prccipizj altissimi era strettissimo, o I'acquo talmente aveano smosso il terrcno, clic la seilia colla persona portatavi, per la mot.^ pondeva in aria sul precipizio. Ma sotto il regno di Enimanuele III. iu fatta una Btrada nuova, ovo non c'e pericolo alcuno ; nondimeno v'o uiio spazio di circa 10 miglia, ove il passaggicro c obbligato a farsi portaro in scdia. 120 HANNIBAL'S PASSAGE OF THE ALPS, by the mountains, called La Plaine de S. Nicola; this plain being passed, there is a descent, which, at one time, the stones and rocks rendered impracticable to such a degree, that those who were accustomed to transport travellers in chairs, were obliged to descend by leaping from rock to rock, as it were down so many steps. Upon this inevit- able descent, towards La NovalPse, there were three or four places, where the path, flanked by very lofty precipices, ivas exceedingly narrow, and the waters had broken away the ground to such an extent, that the chair, luith the person carried in it, hung half in air over the precipice. But under the reign of Emmanuel III. (1730 — 1773), a new road was made, upon which there is no longer any danger ; never- theless there is a distance of about sixteen miles where the traveller is obliged to be carried in a chair.' This part of the old road is again referred to in the same work. It is said, in the description of La Ferriere, that the path leading dov/n to La Novalese was sometimes contracted by the precipices to a width of no more than one foot^ Here then we have direct evidence that, between La Ferriere and La Novalese, the path over the Mont Cenis, a century ago, lay along a precipitous mountain-side liable to be broken up by the falling away of the ground. In the English translation of Biisching (London, 1762) it is men- tioned that these three or four dangerous places were only a few paces in length : they would no doubt be the worst parts of the crumbling precipice, where it was not possible to construct any solid road. The mule-road of Emmanuel lit., a broad and strongly- constructed way, runs from La Ferriere to La Novalese on the right bank of the Cenise : the old road, abandoned on account of the dangers caused by the landslips, ran on the left bank of the stream. This last path is still partially 1 Ferriere, Ferrera, o Ferrara, borgo che giaco alia meta della strada fra la Grande Croix, o la cittil di Novalese, cioe nelle falde del Monte Scnis. La strada fra questo luogo, e fra Novalese in piu luoghi e molto ristrctta fra' dirupi, c passa talvolta in mezzo a' precipizj, che non las- ciano piu d'un piedo di largliezza. HANNIBAL'S PASSAGE OF THE ALPS. 121 used by the inhabitants of the country. It is a distance of about three miles from La Ferriere to La Novalese. For the first mile on the road there was no difficulty, or none of any importance : but with the second mile the dangers began. The Cenise had previously flowed through a series of fields, at no great distance below the path. It now sank in a narrow gorge, and left the path high above it, running along the face of an abrupt declivity composed of earth intermingled with rocks, and continually liable to crumble away. Here the old road, still remaining, forcibly recalls to mind the narrative of Polybius, where he relates how Hannibal found his path destroyed by a landslip, and was eventually obliged to reconstruct it, hy building up the pre- cipice. For the old road is here, in many places, supported on terraces, such as Hannibal must have raised along the mountain-side ^ These have, however, fallen away in many places, the path being now only partially used by the inha- bitants, and having been long abandoned by travellers. From the point where it first begins to skirt the precipice, about a mile below La Ferriere, it runs nearly in a straight line, gradually descending, for about three hundred yards. It then meets with a gully, laying open the mountain-side, and quite impassable where the path first encounters it, on account of the sheerly precipitous character of its eastern face. Repelled at this point, the path makes an angle, and returns for above a hundred yards along the precipice towards La Ferriere, thus gaining a lower level. It then resumes its original direction, and, after a course of about three hundred yards more, reaches the gully again, and succeeds in crossing it. At the point where the gully is crossed, and for a considerable distance beyond, the path, never used now, is quite destroyed. Nothing but a mere cattle track is left, though fragments of the old terrace- walls may still be ])erceivcd where the path has been destroyed. Proceeding towards La NovaKsc, the moun- tain-side, though steep, becomes less precipitous, and the path is well jircscrvcd. Pathcr more than half a mile beyond the gully, the head of the valley of La Novalese is J Sec alioro, pp. ."5 — 57. 122 HANNIBAL'S PASSAGE OF THE ALPS. reached, and another mile across the fields brings the traveller to the village itself. It would be on the first part of this descent that Han- nibaFs path was broken up. The length of the first arm of the ancient zigzag road, about 300 yards, seems to identify this part of the mountain-side with the crumbling precipice, recently broken up, which Polybius mentions as nearly a stadium and a half across. The whole of the ground on the west of the gully was, in all probability, more or less broken up by the landslip which had taken place ^. The distance from La Grande Croix to the com- mencement of this precipice is about four English miles. It was, therefore, within half a day's march from the sum- mit of the pass, the hamlet of La Grande Croix, at the southern extremity of the plateau of the Mont Cenis, being the point from which Hannibal commenced his descent. The first part of Condition IX. is thus fully satisfied : the latter part, relating to the events which took place in this neighbourhood, now requires consideration. These events have been already discussed (pp. 57 — 60). When Hannibal first found that the path was destroyed, he attempted to continue his march by taking a circuit. He arrived however eventually, on making this attempt, upon a very steep slope of old snow, thinly covered with snow which had lately fallen. It has been conjectured above, from this circumstance, and also because such a line of descent would be natural, that Hannibal attempted to bring his army down by some gully ; for in such hollows the old snow frequently lingers, when the ground in the neighbourhood is quite clear. These gullies also form the channels of avalanches, by which, on extraordinary occa- sions, old snow is sometimes found at a very low level, even in the heat of summer. Such a circumstance may be 1 The whole course of this ancient path is well seen from the later mule-road. The old lino of way may still bo followed throughout on foot, though with some little difficulty where the path has been destroyed. 2 The cause of this landslip was, perhaps, the series of heavy rains, which, as may bo gathered from Livy's account of the swelling of the ' Druentia,' had prevailed in the Alps about three weeks before Hannibal arrived at the broken path. HANNIBAL'S PASSAGE OF THE ALPS. 123 alluded to by Polybius in the words 'l^tov kuI TraptjWayixevov (Chap. 55), though it is not absolutely necessary to make such a supposition. For, although no permanent snow is now found anywhere near the path between La Ferriere and La Novalese, or indeed upon any part of the Mont Cenis road ; yet, in ancient times, the climate of Europe must have been much severer than it is at present, and permanent snow would have been found on the passes of the Alps at a considerably lower level than where it is now met with. Indeed, we should be led to conclude, from what Polybius says, not only that the summits of the passes were continually covered with snow, but that the fields of snow even reached half-way down the declivities, on both sides of the Alpine passes, towards the level country ; so that not only patches of snow might be found at a con- siderable distance below the summits of the passes, but even the great snow-field itself may have extended to a distance of several thousand feet below the present line of perpetual snow'. It seems, however, necessary to under- stand these statements of Polybius with some modification, and to suppose that he speaks, not of fields of snow, but rather of isolated patches, which are found, at the present day, in many instances, two or three thousand feet below the snow-line, and, in some places, even more^ It may thus be supposed, without violating probability, that, at the time of Hannibal's descent, the gully on the precipitous way between La Ferriere and La Novalese was filled with old snow, compact and hard ; and that fresh snow may have lain upon it to the depth of a few inches. Now, if all the ground to the west of the gully was broken up, but the path, as appears to have been the case, re- mained uninjured on the cast of the gully ; then the way by which Hannibal Avould naturally have attempted to Tav yap "iWivfutv to. fiiv aKpa Koi ra wp6s t<\s vTrfpi3o\(is cif^Koi^a TfXcwf a8fv8pa KOi yj^ika ttovt ((tt\ 8ia t6 crvvfx^ois fnipfvfiv tijv ;(toi'a Koi Stpovs Koi xfipapos, ra 8 vTri ptarjv r^i/ naptopfiav (^ dp(f)olv Toiv ptpolv {j\o(f)('>pa Kni 8(v(>po(f)6pa Ka\ to oKov oiKqcripa (cmv. ^ On tlio subject of tho prcatcr severity of tlio cliinato of Europe in ancient tiuicR, sec Gibbon's lloman Empire, Cliap. IX., and Arnold's Jlis- tory of Rome, Vol. iii. p. ti'j, and Note M, p. 485. Sco also below, Chap. X. 12i HANNIBAL'S PASSAGE OF THE ALPS. rejoin the path where it was undestroyed, would have been down the gully itself. From the point where the path from La Ferriere first begins to run along the precipice, it would not be very difficult, (for men alone it would be easy) to pursue a directly straight course (represented by the broken line in the sketch) as far as the gully. A great part of the ground which would be traversed is now covered with grass, and quite unlike the crumbling face of the precipice beneath. Hannibal's army however could not cross the gully, for its eastern fiice is quite precipitous, but would be obliged to attempt to descend by its channel. The calamitous results which Polybius mentions would then naturally follow. For the fresh snow, which, by its yielding character, seemed to give a firm hold to the foot which penetrated it, was only a few inches in depth, and had not adhered to the hard snow beneath. This hard snow the feet of the men did not penetrate ; they slipped and fell, attempted in vain to save themselves by clinging to some support, probably to their companions, rolled down the snow with whatever they had clung to, and were lost down the precipices. The animals, however, heavily laden, struck their feet into the old snow in their efforts to save themselves when they slipped, and remained fixed without the power of extricating themselves, being held fast by the tenacity of the hard-compacted snow. Han- nibal, seeing from these misfortunes that it would be impossible to effect his descent, excepting by the line of the old road which had been destroyed, abandoned his attempt to descend by the gully, and determined to re- construct the broken path. When Hannibal had thus relinquished his first project, eaToaTOTreSevae Trepi ri^v payjiv, dianrjadfjievo^ Ttjv eV avrj] ■yiova, he encamped about the back (or crest) of the ridge, having cleared away the snow from it^ Now the descent from the ])lain of St Nicholas to the head of the valley of La NovaU'se is effected down a steep hollow, sloping to the east, and bounded on the north and south by very lofty mountains. This hollow, however, is not single, but is 1 Sec above, p. 59. HANNIBAL'S PASSAGE OF THE ALPS. 125 divided into two minor parallel hollows by a ridge extend- ing from west to east, and originating a little below the plain of St Nicholas. In the northern of these hollows flows the Cenise ; in the southern, and at a distance of about half a mile from the Cenise, runs a small rill of water, which joins the Cenise near La Novalese. It seems probable that it is this ridge, which is alluded to by Polybius under the name of the pdy^i?- Its crest or back, at its eastern ex- tremity, is a nearly level tract of ground, raised on very high precipices above the valley of La Novalese, and having on one side the deep gorge of the Cenise, where the path was destroyed, and on the other a very steep gully, through which the rill of water, previously mentioned, falls down into the valley beneath \ This tract of ground is now almost entirely covered with great blocks of rock, the results, apparently, of some mountain-ftUl. These heaps would at present disqualify it from being the site of an en- campment ; but their fall may have been subsequent to the time of Hannibal. The fields through which the Cenise flows, between La Ferriere and the commencement of the broken precipice, would have afforded in themselves a con- siderable space of ground for the encampment. Yet the whole army could hardly have found sufficient room here, so that Hannibal would have been obliged to pitch part of his camp on the ridge to the south of these fields. If there were no heaps of fallen rocks at that time on the ground at the eastern extremity of the ridge, it would be there that the most eligible position would have been found for a part of the camp. In one day, the path which Hannibal constructed alono* the precipice, by means of terraces, was sufficiently wide and strong for the passage of the horses and baggage-ani- mals. They were immediately brought down from the encampment above, another encampment was made below, on ground perfectly free from snow, and the animals were then left to find pasturage for themselves in the country round. This second ciicampmcnt would be made near La ^ "When Hannibal attempted to descend by talcing a circuit, lie may possibly have tried to bring bis army down by this gully. The gullv, however, on the broken precipice itself, soems the more likely place. 126 HANNIBAL'S PASSAGE OF THE ALPS. Novalese, immediately at the foot of the precipitous and broken descent ; and in the broad fields at the head of this open valley, the animals would be let loose, and left to seek the fodder, of which they were so greatly in need. The upper and lower encampments would probably be less than two miles apart ; and that near La Novalese would be in sight of the one above. On the evening of the thirteenth day, the road was completed for the passage of the elephants, who were by this time almost starved i. They were accordingly brought down, and the whole army was again collected together. In two days more the Carthaginians reached Avigliana, at the commencement of the plains of Italy. The tenth and last condition relates to this point in the route, where the Alpine march was at last brought to a conclusion. X. The plains, into which the road over the pass enters, when it emerges from the mountains on the side of Italy, must anciently have been inhabited by the Taurini. Avigliana is generally identified with the ' Ad fines ' of the Roman Itineraries, the boundary between the district of the Taurini and the Cottian tribe of the Segusini. Hannibal would therefore be, at Avigliana, on the frontier of the Taurini, and at the commencement of the plains which they occupied. No part of HannibaPs passage of the Alps was attended with such disasters as the descent into Italy. Although the Carthaginians encountered no hostility on the part of the inhabitants, (for the furtive aggressions mentioned by Polybius seem to have been too insignificant to merit such a name,) yet their losses, in consequence of the snow and the precipitous character of the descent through the unin- habited country, were nearly as great as they were upon the ascent from the banks of the Isere to the summit of the pass. Between La Grande Croix and La Novalese, a distance of only six miles, nearly 10,000 men, or one-fourth of the whole army which encamped on the summit of the 1 It should seem that fodder might have been brought up to the elephants from below. Nothing of the kind however is mentioned by Polybius. HANNIBAL'S PASSAGE OF THE ALPS. 127 mountain, must have perished without meeting a living enemy. Nothing but the extremely precipitous character of the descent from the Mont Cenis can explain this enor- mous loss. Whole hosts, indeed, must have been destroyed by the precipices of the Fourmiguier, between La Grande Croix and the plain of St Nicholas. All this abrupt decli- vity, probably some 500 feet in perpendicular elevation, would have been, at the time of Hannibal's passage, com- pletely covered by the snow, which had lately fallen, and beneath Avhich the path was lost. A vast and trackless precipice of snow, which there was no possibility of avoid- ing, presented thus the only way by which the army could descend. On this slippery declivity, nothing that fell escaped destruction. Multitudes must have been carried down the precipice, before the survivors succeeded in reaching the plain of St Nicholas. On the descent from this plain, similar losses, but probably on a much smaller scale, would have been experienced. The army, however, it is said, bore all these disasters with fortitude, because they had already encountered calamities of a like nature. Perhaps, on the steep ascent to the Col of the Little Mont Cenis, the path may have been partially con- cealed by the snow, and some losses have ensued in con- sequence. It was, however, the fresh snow which seems to have fallen while they remained for two days on the summit of the pass, by which the dangers of the descent were so terribly increased. At length the progress of the Carthaginians was com- pletely arrested. The path by which they hoped to have descended had been destroyed by a landslip, and they found themselves condemned, in their reduced and starv- ing condition, to fix their encampment in the midst of the snow. Their despair at this calamity, and the bold, and, as it miglit seem at first, the even rash attempt of Hannibal to bring the army down by a new and untrodden route, can readily be understood. They looked down on the broad fields of La NovaKse immediately below them. No snow was there to be seen, and no danger or difficulty was after- wards to be encountered. Could they but succeed in effecting this last descent, all their calamities and priva- tions would be at once greatly mitigated, if not entirely 128 HANNIBAL'S PASSAGE OF THE ALPS. terminated. To gain this end, it was well to risk the dangers of an uncertain descent, before embracing the only alternative which remained, of halting amidst the snow, till the broken path could be reconstructed. This latter course, however, was found inevitable ; and it was only on the thirteenth evening that the elephants de- scended to La Novalese, where all the army was again collected together. No events of importance characterized the rest of the march to the plains of Italy. Indeed, no effectual opposition could have been offered to Hannibal here, on account of the nature of the country. For the valley of the Dora, below Susa, is perfectly open : there are no defiles which might be defended, or which would offer opportunities for any serious attack. On the four- teenth night, Hannibal would probably reach the neigh- bourhood of the village of S. Giorio, and on the fifteenth, all the army would encamp, at the foot of the Alps, about Avigliana. Here Hannibal remained for some time, during which his exhausted forces recovered their strength and condition. He then advanced into the plains and laid siege to Turin, (16 Roman miles from Avigliana') the chief town of the Taurini, who had rejected his overtures of amity and alliance. After three days' siege, the town was taken and all that offered opposition put to the sword. This example of severity brought all the neighbouring people to HannibaVs feet. The other Galhc tribes, also, who inhabited the plains, shewed themselves favourably inclined to the Carthaginian alHance ; and Hannibal pre- pared to advance, and strike some great blow, Avhich might fix them permanently to his side, and induce them to join with him in attempting the overthrow of Rome. 1 In the Roman Itineraries, one measurement (that generally adopt- ed) gives 24 miles as the distance from Segusio to Ad Fines, and 16 miles as the distance from Ad Fines to Augusta Taurinorum. Another mea- surement gives 3.3 (a plain mistake for 28) miles in the first instance, and 18 in the second. If Avigliana stands accurately on the site of Ad Fines, the latter (corrected) measurement would perhaps be nearest the truth. By the roads of 1839, according to the Sardinian Itinerary published in that year, the distance from Turin to Avigliana is 9| Picdmonteso miles (10' Roman miles); and the distance from AvigUana to Susa is 12 Picdmonteso miles (20^ Roman miles.) CHAPTER IX. Livy's narrative of Hannibal's Passage of the Alps. — Its character. — Use to be made of it. — Hannibal's line of approach to the Alps, as in- dicated by Livy. — His account of the events which took place on the summit of the pass. — The broken path. — Singular story con- nected with it. — Arrival of Hannibal in the countiy of the Taurini. IT will not be necessary to examine Livy's account of Hannibal's passage of the Alps at the same length as that of Polybius, the greater importance and accuracy of the Greek narrative being sufficiently evident. Indeed, Livy had none of the peculiar advantages of Polybius. He flourished about a century and a half after the earlier historian, and had therefore no communication with the contemporaries of the expedition. Neither had he ex- amined the scene of Hannibal's passage, as Polybius had, but appears ignorant, not only of that particular pass, but also of the general nature of the Alpine country. The authority of Livy's narrative is also much weakened by his extremely careless mode of composition. He seems to have collected his materials from various sources, and then to have reported them almost in their crude state, without examining their bearing on one another, or digesting them into a consistent story. He also relates some events of a strange and improbable nature, and is glaringly incorrect with respect to dates. Carelessness and love of the mar- vellous are the chief causes of his errors ; his aim is to produce effect, rather than to ensure accuracy and truth. Notwithstanding, however, Livy''s faults, his narrative cannot be totally disregarded, or set aside as entirely false. Some true materials must be worked up in it. Indeed, the chief materials arc clearly furnished by Polybius, though some additional and independent matter is introduced. A part, at least, of this additional matter, is })robably authentic, however disfigured and alloyed by carelessness and extravagance. l'>ut, altliough whatever is clearly ex- travagant must be either rejected or modified, and what- ever contradicts Polybius must be set aside, a considerable 130 HAJ^NIBAL'S PASSAGE OF THE ALPS. part of the history will still be left, and cannot well be neglected. A body of new facts will thus be obtained. Yet, even with respect to these facts, further precautions may be necessary ; for, in the case of such a writer as Livy, the arrangement of his materials, even when the facts they contain may be true, is very likely to be faulty, and may demand re-adjustment. When the materials, on which a history is founded, are collected from various quarters, and arranged by a careless historian, it is not unreasonable to imagine that they may sometimes be wrongly disposed, and that the order in which events actually happened may thus be inverted. The first passage in Livy which will require consideration seems to be vitiated by an error of this nature, and is inexplicable as it stands. In examining his account, it will be necessary partly to undo what he has done ; to resolve his ill-digested narrative into its com- ponent parts, and to arrive in this manner, through the history, at a knowledge of the materials from which it has been made up. There seems to be nothing that calls for notice in Livy's account of the expedition, until he brings the Car- thaginians to the district called the Island. The river designated by Livy the Arar, Bisarar, or Isara, is no doubt the modern Isere. Hannibal, having crossed the Ehone near Orange, would find himself, after his passage, in the country occupied in the Roman times by the Cavares, and a few miles from the southern frontier of the Tricastini. Marching subsequently up the Rhone through the country of the Tricastini and Sego-vellauni or Segalauni, he would arrive at the Isere, the boundary of the district called the Island. The Segalauni are not mentioned by Livy : they are perhaps included by him among the Tricastini. Both these tribes are included by Strabo among the Cavares^: it is by Ptolemy that they are mentioned as distinct tribes^. These three tribes occupied the level country along the Rhone from the Durance to the Isere. On their east, and extending in like manner from the Durance to the Isere, the Vocontii lived among the Alps bordering on the plain. 1 Lib. IV. 2 Lib. II. HANNIBAL'S PASSAGE OF THE ALPS. 131 Vaison^ and Die- were two of their towns ; and their terri- tory along the Durance reached, according to Strabo^ as far as Embrun, where the Cottian land began. Among the Vocontii must therefore be comprised a tribe called the Caturiges, one of whose towns was Caturiges, or Caturigpe, now Chorges. It is necessary to distinguish this tribe carefully from the Cottian Caturiges, who bordered on the Salassi. Some other small tribes may also have been in- cluded among the Vocontii. The eastern, or north-eastern, boundary of the Vocontii seems to have been the river Drac. Their frontier could not well have been far from that river, on whichever bank it may have lain. Before proceeding further with the consideration of Livy's narrative, it will also be advisable to define, in this place, the position of two other tribes, the iMedulli and Tricorii. The Medulli are mentioned in the list, given by Pliny, of the Alpine tribes subdued by Augustus (Hist. Nat. III. 20.)* Their name occurs there between the Acita- vones and the Uceni. Now the Acitavones seem clearly to be the same tribe as the Centrones. For the name of the Centrones does not appear in the list, and the name of the Acitavones is found where that of the Centrones, who dwelt in the Tarentaise, should occur; (i.e.) after the Nantuates, Seduni, Veragri, and Salassi. The Uceni in- habited the Pays d'Oysans, the valley of the Eomanche. The Medulli would thus naturally be sought between the Tarentaise and the Pays d'Oysans, (i.e.) in the Maurienne. According to Ptolemy •\ they lived above the Allobroges, a statement which would also fix them in the INIaurienne, or, at any rate, the Lower Maurienne, as being the only district bordering on the territory of the Allobroges not 1 PtoL Lib. n. 2 Dca Vocontiorum. ^ Lib. IV. * Goritca Alpinio dcvictaj: Tiiumpilini, Camuni, Vciinonctos, Isarci, Brcuni, Nauncs, Focuiiatcs; Viiidclicorum gontcs quatuor, Consuanctos, Virucinatcs, Licatcs, Catenates, Abisoiites, Kugusci, Suanetes, Calucones, Bri.xeiites, Lepontii, Vibori, Nantuates, Seiluni, Veragri, Salasi, Acita- vones, Mcflulli, Uceni, Caturiges, Brigiani, Sogiontii, Ebnnluntii, Neina- loni, Edcnatcs, Esubiani, Veamini, Gallittc, Triulatti, Ectini, Verguuui, Eguituri, Nemcnturi, Oratelli, Nerusi, Velauni, Suctri. 6 Lib. IL 9—2 132 HANNIBAL'S PASSAGE OF THE ALPS. occupied by some other tribe. We should be led also, from Strabo's account', to place the Medulli in the Mauri- enne. ' Above the Cavares,"' Strabo says, ' are the Vocon- tii, the Tricorii, the Iconii, the Medulli.' He states again further on ; ' Beyond the Vocontii are the Siconii, the Tri- corii, and beyond these the Medulli, who inhabit the most lofty mountains.' This description again tends to fix the Medulli in the Maurienne, the Iconii or Siconii being pro- bably the Uceni. The position of the Medulli being thus ascertained, that of the Tricorii is easily found. They dwelt between the Vocontii and the Medulli, bordering also, in all probability, upon the Uceni. Their territory would thus lie to the east of the Drac, and would extend towards the Lower Maurienne and the Pays d'Oysans. How far they reached to the south is uncertain ; perhaps about as far as the present boundary of the department of the Isere. The Medulli, then, were the inhabitants of the Lower Maurienne 2. The Upper Maurienne, it will afterwards appear, was occupied by another tribe. The Tricorii dwelt to the south-west of the Medulli, and to the south of the 1 Lib. IV. 2 The mountains of the Maurienne are very high ; a century ago, they were thought, erroneously, to be the highest of the Alps. Biisching says that " in Maurienne, more than in any other part (i.e. of the Alps) are found mountains of immense height." This agrees with what Strabo says of the position of the Medulli. Strabo speaks also in this place of a pass from the country of the Medulli into that of the Taurini ; but his account is very deficient in accuracy. The pass, however, which he speaks of, seems clearly to bo that of the Little Mont Cenis. The length of the ascent, he says, is stated to be 100 stadia ; and the descent to the frontiers of Italy is said to be of the same length. Now the valley of the Arc is left, and the ascent to the Little Mont Cenis begins, at Bramans ; from which place to Susa, the frontier town of Italy, (it is named as such in the Itine- rary from Bourdeaux to Jerusalem) the distance is very nearly 200 stadia, the lake on the summit of the Mont Cenis being about half-way. Indeed, as will afterwards be shewn, the distance from Bramans to Susa, by the Little Mont Cenis, is given in the Peutingerian Table as 25 Roman miles, or exactly 200 stadia. The great lake which Strabo mentions must be that on the Mont Cenis. The exaggeration, by which this small lake is spoken of as a HANNIBAL'S PASSAGE OF THE ALPS. 133 country of Allevard, and extended probably to Grenoble and the river Drac. Having followed up the Ehone, and arrived on the banks of the Isere, Hannibal reached the confines of the district called the Island. Livy's account of the trans- actions in this country rather differs from that of Polybius. According to Livy, Hannibal was chosen as arbitrator be- tween the two brothers who were contending for the sovereignty ; while Polybius states that the assistance of the Carthaginians was requested by the elder brother alone, and that the younger brother was expelled in consequence of Hannibal's joining his forces with those of the elder. The discrepancy, however, is of no importance with regard to the present question. Livy calls the inhabitants of the Island, Allobroges. They were such in his time, but not in that of Hannibal, as is perfectly clear from the narrative of Polybius. Livy indeed says at first, with respect to the Island, that the Allobroges live near it. He should have said that they lived near it in the time of Hannibal. It was subsequent to that period that the Island was comprised in the ter- ritory of the Allobroges, their name being probably applied in the course of time to all the tribes they absorbed in succession ^ great one, may lead us to infer that Strabo was not personally acquainted with this country. Gray, however, in his letters, speaks of the lake on the Mont Cenis as a 'great lake.' Considering its position, it perhaps is so. It is also a great inaccuracy to speak of the sources of the Durance and tho Dora Baltea, the Salassian Dora, as being near one another, and on the same mountain as tho lake. Strabo has probably confounded with one another tho Dora Susina and the Dora Baltea, and combined together, as if the two were but one pass, the features of the Mont Cenis and tho Mont Gencvre. As both these roads cross the Cottian Alps, unite at Susa, and lead into the country of the Tauriiii, tho mistake may have occurred. A similar error, as will afterwards appear, is made in the Peutingcrian Table, tho ' Alpis Cottia' and tho ' Alpes Cottiro' being there confoundctl. It is perhaps from this lake, tho *Ceann-uisg,' or 'river- head,' that tho pass has taken the name of tho Mont 'Cenis.' 1 Sonicthiiig analogous to the probablo extension of tlio name of tho Allobroges may porha].s bo l\)und in the case of the modorn Switzerland, tho district so called originally comprising scarcely more than one-half of the present Canton of Schwyz. 134 HANNIBAL'S PASSAGE OF THE ALPS. The account which Livy gives of the march of Han- nibal from the Island to the Alps is attended with con- siderable difficulty : indeed, as previously mentioned, it is inexplicable without alteration. The passage runs thus : ' Sedatis certaminibus AUobrogum, cum jam Alpes peteret, non recta regione iter instituit, sed ad Icevam in Tricastinos flexit ; inde per extremam oram Vocontiorum agri tendit in Tricorios, baud usquam impedita via priusquam ad Druentiam flumen pervenit.' When Hannibal had arranged the affairs of the Island, (the inhabitants of which Livy here erroneously calls Allo- broges,) he would resume his march to the Alps, as we have previously concluded from Polybius, from the con- fluence of the Rhone and the Isere. But if from this point he turned to the left, he would be going away from, instead of approaching, the country of the Tricastini. Besides, if Hannibal struck into the territory of the Tri- castini, and then proceeded along the Vocontian frontier till he reached the Tricorii, his movements would be quite inexplicable. He would, on this supposition, have retraced his steps down the Rhone, or nearly so, and then have gained the country of the Tricorii by the very circuitous route of Vaison, the Durance, and the valley of the Drac : for it was along the Vocontian frontier, and not through the Vocontian territory, that Hannibal directed his march towards the Tricorii, It is quite clear that this route is inadmissible, and that Livy's account is erroneous. A single correction, however, grounded on the con- clusions previously drawn from Livy's character, seems to remove the difficulty. All the facts in the passage cited are true, but one of them is misplaced. The transactions at the Island occurred, not before, but after, the passage through the country of the Tricastini. When Hannibal had crossed the Rhone, he had the Alps immediately before him : their passage was the next act of the expedition : then it was ' cum jam Alpes peteret.' Now had lie made directly for the mountains, he would have gone to the east. This, however, he did not do : ' non recta regione iter instituit.' Instead of proceeding in this direction, Han- nibal, being then near Orange, almost on the northern frontier of the Cavarcs, 'ad hevam in Tricastinos flexit,' HANNIBAL'S PASSAGE OF THE ALPS. 335 turned to the left (the north) into the country of the Tri- castini, and thus arrived, marching along the side of the Hhone, at the point where the Isere joins it. The disputes of the men of the Island were then settled, and the march resumed from the confluence of the two rivers. ' Inde per extremam oram Vocontiorum agri tendit in Tricorios,' he directed his march along the left bank of the Isere, the northern boundary of the Vocontian territory, and thus reached the country of the Tricorii, who dwelt beyond the Drac. This seems to be the course indicated by Livy as that which Hannibal followed. It is the same as that which has been deduced from Polybius, and is clearly the only route by which the statements of both historians can be reconciled'. Another difficulty now results from Livy's narrative. He speaks of the Durance (Druentia) as lying on Hanni- bal's way to the Alps. This, however, is not possible. In order to reach the Durance from the neighbourhood of Grenoble, Hannibal must have followed up the valley of the Drac, crossed the mountains to Gap, and thus arrived at the Durance. But, after crossing the Durance, Livy says that Hannibal's route lay through a country of a level character, which certainly would not be found beyond the Durance, or in the valley of that river. Neither could Hannibal arrive by this route in the country of the Allo- broges, the first tribe, according to Polybius, b}^ whom Hannibal was attacked. Livy does not, it is true, call this tribe Allobroges, but Polybius's authority is conclusive upon the subject, and Livy speaks of the attack as being subse- quent to the passage of the Druentia. There seems to be little doubt that Livy has made another error here, and has mistaken some river of similar name for the Durance ; and, under the influence of this deception, has introduced the description he gives of the Durance, of which river it is a sufficiently correct account. 1 It is conjectured by the author of A Dissertation on the passage of Hannibal over the Alps, by a member of the University of Oxford, (p. 95), tliat the text of Livy is corrupt in this place. There seoms however no sufTiciont reason for adopting tliis supposition. The fault is Livy's, rather than his transcrihor's. The text is probably correct, but the his- torian lias fallen into an error. 136 HANNIBAL'S PASSAGE OF THE ALPS. Now the name Durance, a term of Celtic origin, is applied, under different forms, to more than one Alpine river ^ In the Chablais and the Vallais, it occurs under the con- tracted form Dranse, a name so nearly resembling Drac, as to render it not improbable, that it was the Drac which was mistaken by Livy for the Durance^. The Roman name of the Drac is not known : but, as the word Drac, or Dur-ac, is unquestionably Celtic, the river must have borne among its inhabitants, in the Roman times, a name not greatly different from that which it bears at present, and therefore one having a considerable resemblance to Dranse and Durance. It is thus not unreasonable to suppose, that, misled by the similarity of names, Livy mistook, in the accounts given him, the Drac for the Durance, called in consequence the Drac, Druentia, and applied to it the descrijjtion he gives, which he no doubt intended for the Durance. It will be seen at once, on reference to the map, that an army, marching up the left bank of the Isere into the country of the Tricorii, would find the Drac directly in their May, This river is at all times a con- siderable mountain-stream : when swollen with rain, as Livy states it to have been when Hannibal crossed it, the passage would have presented sufficient difficulty to be of the importance he assigns to it^. Having crossed the Drac, Hannibal's future march must have lain up the Graisivaudan; for, according to Livy, the country through which he passed was of a level character. ' Hannibal ab Druentia campestri maxime inti- ncre ad Alpes cum bona pace incolentium ea loca Gallo- rum pervenit.'' This cannot be said of the valley of the Drac or of the valley of the Romanche, through which lie the two routes to the Mont Genovre. It was not then the Mont Gencvre which Hannibal crossed ; but, as far as appears from this portion of the narrative, the Mont Cenis, or else the Great or Little St Bernard, all which passes 1 Tlio first syllable is the word ' dur' or ' dwr,' ' water.' The second clement is found in the Anza, the name of the river of the Val Anzasca. 2 Strabo calls the Dora Baltoa, ' Apovfvria,' Lib. V. 3 The Drac, and the Druentia of Livy, have been previously concluded to be identical by RL Larauza. Sec Ukcrt's Ocographie, Aiipendix on Hannibal's Passage of the Alps. HANNIBAL'S PASSAGE OF THE ALPS 137 might be reached by the way of the Graisivaudan. But Hannibal eventually arrived, after crossing the Alps, ac- cording to Livy, as well as Polybius and Strabo, in the country of the Taurini ; so that he must have passed the Mont Cenis, and not either of the St Bernards, both of the latter roads leading through the country of the Salassi into that of the Libui or Libicii. After noticing the Tricorii, no proper names occur in Livy till the Taurini are mentioned. The historian loses himself among the Alps, a region of which he appears not only personally ignorant, but also to have failed in forming any tolerably accurate conception. Having brought the Carthaginians to the foot of the Alps, he speaks as if the view of the mountains had then for the first time burst upon them, and transplants the features of the high Alps to the country at the commencement of the mountains, which would have been of an entirely different character. ' Turn, quanquam fama prius, qua incerta in majus vero ferri solent, prpecepta res erat, tamen ex propinquo visa montium altitudo nivesque coelo prope immixtae, tecta informia imposita rupibus, pecora jumentaque torrida frigore, homines intonsi et inculti, animalia inanimataque omnia rigentia gelu, csetera visu quam dictu foediora, ter- rorem renovarunt.' This description, eloquent and pic- turesque as it is, and however graphic it may still beS when applied to the high valleys in the Alps, is quite out of place where it stands. Livy's account of the contest with the Allobroges, and the attack made upon Hannibal at the 'strong white rock' of Polybius, may be passed over. Polybius has clearly furnished here the main groundwork of the Latin narrative : and it would have been well if Livy had adhered more closely than he has done to his principal authority. For his accounts of both battles arc very confused, and cannot be correct. His explanation of the separation of the Cartha- ginian army into two parts near the Rock is exceedingly faulty, and <[uite at variance with tlic narrative of Poly- bius, though clearly drawn from it. Livy docs not seem to 1 See Cray's Letters. 138 HANNIBAL'S PASSAGE OF THE ALPS. have understood how the separation of the army into two bodies could have ensured its safety. He therefore aban- dons his authority, and makes the Carthaginian line of march cut in two by the Gauls, who descend from the mountains into the valley, interpose themselves between the two divisions of the army which they have thus broken through, and remain in this position all night. Yet from this important stroke, which must inevitably have brought on a severe contest on the following day, nothing results ; and the two divisions of the Carthaginian army are represented as being reunited on that day with little or no difficulty, the opposition of the Gauls being much relaxed. The heat of the conflict thus subsides, according to Livy, exactly at the time when it ought, as far as can be judged, to have risen to the highest pitchy There must be considerable exaggeration in what Livy relates, of the Carthaginians having been led astray by their guides, and of their endeavouring to find a way for themselves, by following up certain valleys at random. The Cisalpine Gauls, who were with Hannibal, would have been able to act as guides to the Carthaginians sufficiently well to prevent them making any important deviations from the right course. In certain local difficulties they may, however, have had recourse to the inhabitants of the country, and have pressed some of them into their service as guides. By such guides, if they employed them, they might have been led a little out of their way in places ; but that they should have gone astray to any important extent is not likely. As to their seeking a way for them- selves by entering into different valleys on conjecture, the supposition is very improbable, and can hardly be enter- tained for a moment. Livy's account of Hannibal's exhibiting to his soldiers, from the summit of the pass, the prospect of Italy, seems partially drawn from some other source than Polybius, 1 Livy ppoaks of the first meeting with these Gauls, and their subse- quent attack upon Hannibal, as if both events occurred on the same day, (i.e.) the fourth day after leaving the ' town.' Ho omits the two days of guidance mentioned by Polybius. HANNIBAL'S PASSAGE OF THE ALPS. 139 and presents us with some additional circumstances. Two days, Livy says, the Carthaginians remained encamped at the summit of the pass. With this circumstance Poly- bius supplied him : what next follows appears to have been derived from another quarter. At the first dawn of day (the narrative proceeds) the standards were advanced, (apparently leading the way down into Italy). The marching columns followed slowly and without spirit through the snow, while an expression of sluggish and hopeless de- jection was stamped on the faces of all the men. Han- nibal, seeing this, passed on before the standards, and ordered a halt to be made at a certain promontory, which commanded a very extensive view, and from whence he pointed out Italy to his soldiers ^ ' Per omnia nive oppleta cum signis prima luce motis segniter agmen incederet, pigritiaque et desperatio in omnium vultu emineret, prse- gressus signa Hannibal in promontorio qiiodam, unde longe ac late prospectus erat, consistere jussis militibus Italiam ostentat subjectosque Alpinis montibus Circumpadanos campos, mccniaque eos tum transcendere non Italise modo sed etiam urbis Romanse.' The place from which it has been concluded that Han- nibal pointed out Italy to his soldiers, has been already mentioned". It is a narrow ridge about half a mile long, nearly level at the summit, and separated on the north from the rest of the hilly range to which it belongs by the hollow through which runs the road from the Little Mont Cenis. It presents a very steep slope towards the plain of La Grande Croix on the east, and terminates on the south, above the plain of St Nicholas, in a sheer preci- pice many hundreds of feet in height. An eminence of this kind is accurately defined as a promontory : and it is very remarkable, that the consideration of Polybius' narrative alone, who is quite silent as to the natiu'c of the point from which Italy was seen, should have led to the con- clusion, independently of Livy, that it was from this pro- 1 This circumstance rondci-s the adoption of any pass but tlio Mont Cenis irroconcileablo witli Livy's narrative. ^ P. 115. 140 HANNIBAL'S PASSAGE OF THE ALPS. montory that Hannibal pointed out to his soldiers the plains of the Po. According to Polybius, Italy was seen while the Car- thaginians remained on the summit of the pass. According to Livy, it would appear that it was seen at the com- mencement of the descent. The conclusion, which has been drawn, that it was seen from the road, or close to the road, between the plateau of the Little Mont Cenis and La Grande Croix, reconciles this apparent disagree- ment. For the descent from this pass into Italy is con- sidered to begin from La Grande Croix, all the ground above, though varying considerably in level, being included in the plateaux which form the summit of the Mont Cenis. Hannibal, therefore, when on the promontory, or at La Grande Croix, would still be correctly spoken of by Poly- bius as being on the summit of the pass. Yet he might naturally be mentioned by another author as having begun his descent, when on his way from the plateau of the Little Mont Cenis to La Grande Croix. For La Grande Croix is 600 feet below the Col of the Little Mont Cenis, and not less than 400 below the general level of that plateau ; so that the route from the plateau of the Little Mont Cenis to La Grande Croix is, strictly speaking, a descent. It would be very singular, if the Mont Cenis were not the pass crossed by Hannibal, that it should afford so obvious and simple an explanation of what at first sight appears a direct contradiction between the two authors. Livy has not observed, that, if the day on which Italy was seen be included among the days of descent, two days cannot be allowed for the encampment at the summit of the pass. He should therefore have diminished to one the two days he mentions, and which he found given in Polybius. By these means he would have made his narra- tive of the events at the summit of the pass quite con- sistent in itself, and completely in accordance, though at first siglit apparently at variance, with the account of the Greek historian. Livy's statement, that the descent from the Alps, on the side of Italy, is shorter and more rapid than it is on the other side, is quite correct. On the pass of the Mont HANNIBAL'S PASSAGE OF THE ALPS. 141 Cenis this is particularly remarkable ; Susa being more than 5000 feet below either of the Cols of the Great or Little Mont Cenis. In relating the events which occurred at the place where the path was destroyed, Livy has introduced some additional circumstances. It was by the falling- away of the earth, Livy says, that the path was broken up. This is no doubt correct : but when he mentions that the effect of this landslip was to produce a precipice a thousand feet high, he has plainly fallen into an error by misinterpreting Polybius. The broken ground, along which the path ran, was a thousand feet across : the measurement has nothino* to do with the height of the precipice, which the path skirted. This precipice, along which the path lay, was, accord- ing to Livy, so steep, that a light-armed soldier coidd only manage with difficulty to accomplish the descent, by avail- ing himself of the bushes and stumps which presented themselves here and there upon the declivity. The moun- tain-side between La Ferriere and La Novalese, which has been previously mentioned as the place where Hannibal was most probably stopped, is a precipice of exactly this kind. There are several bushes scattered about its sur- face, by which an unencumbered man would be greatly assisted in an attempt to get down, and by the aid of which he might succeed, without much difficulty, in effect- ing a descent. The ' glacies ' of Livy is identical with the ' vetus nix ' he mentions just before. It was old snow, Avhich had be- come hard and solid, and not real ice. It might be merely the want of a word to express this old snow, which induced Livy to call it ' glacies ' or ' ice'.' 1 In SmoUot's Travels through France and Itah/ fjjottor wwii., ho speaks of the hard snow covering in March the Col do Tondo as ' ice.' Latrol)e, also, in his Alpenstock; speaks of * ice' in summer on the Great St Bernard. Ico is likewise spoken of on the passes of the Spliigen, and of the Monte Tonale, in tho account of Macdonald's expedition iu the year 1800. (Alison's Europe, Chap, xxxii.) Indeed, in this latter work, even glaciers are miMitionod as existing on jiassos ]>i'rfoctly free from them, as on tho Susten, tho Niifanen, and tho Wunnser Joch. 142 HANNIBAL'S PASSAGE OF THE ALPS. Hannibal, having been defeated in his attempt to effect a circuitous route, by the difficulties which the old snow presented, was at length obliged to encamp above the broken path. ' Tandem nequicquam jumentis atque hominibus fati- gatis, castra in jugo posita, segerrime ad id ipsum loco purgato : tantum nivis fodiendum atque egerendura fuit. Inde ad rupem muniendam^ per quam unam via esse po- terat, milites ducti, cum csedendum esset saxum, arboribus circa immanibus dejectis detruncatisque struem ingentem lignorum faciunt, eamque, cum et vis venti apta faciendo igni coorta esset, succendunt, ardentiaque saxa infusa aceto putrefaciunt. Ita torridam incendio rupem ferro pandunt, molliuntque amfractibus modicis clivos, ut non jumenta solum sed elephanti etiam deduci possent ' This story seems very extravagant. Polybius makes no mention of this method of breaking up the rock, nor even of cutting a way through the rock at all. Besides, it is certain, both from Polybius and even from Livy himself, that there were no great trees, nor even any trees whatever, in this neighbourhood. Nothing but some bushes would have been found to make a fire with : the vast pile of trees mentioned by Livy could never have been constructed. And even if the materials could have been found for it, it is difficult to say where it could have been placed on the face of a precipice, which seems to be the position Livy assigns to it. The liquid mentioned as ' acetura ' or * vinegar ' would probably be the thin acid wine, which the soldiers may have had with them, and which might have been used because there was little or no water to be found in that snow- covered neighbourhood. They would hardly, however, have had a sufficient quantity of this vinegar to have been em- ployed in making a long zigzag route down a precipice, or even perhaps to have broken up the rock to any extent. Yet it is only snow which could have been found on any of these passes. On the Col dc Tende and the Monte Tonale the snow is not even per- manent through the summer. A word is in fact wanting for this old and hardened snow : the use of the word 'neve' is confined to the upper and snowy parts of glaciers, and is not applied to hard snow generally. 1 TtiJ' KpTjuvov (^uKodufjLdf Pol^b. HANNIBAL'S PASSAGE OF THE ALPS. 143 Yet, although this story is clearly extravagant, it is not satisfactory to reject it as a pure invention. Such tales are generally exaggerations or perversions of something true, and are seldom quite groundless. The foundation of this story is, however, difficult to be discovered, or its omission by Polybius to be accounted for. This omis- sion, indeed, seems of itself to prove that it was not a very important or singular event. The true explanation of the origin of the story must always remain very doubt- ful, and it seems impossible to offer a conjecture on the subject with any confidence^ 1 There is perhaps some room for a suspicion, that it was not the rock, but the old snow hardened almost to the consistency of rock, which was cut through by Hannibal. The want of a proper word for old snow, by which it might have been distinguished from fresh snow, may partially have conduced to such an eiTor, by vitiating the story as it came down from hand to hand till it reached Livy. The manner in which the event is related by Appian gives some colour to this surmise. He says : ' As there was a great quantity of snow, and it had been rendered hard by frost, (this seems the force of Kpiovs here) Hannibal cut some wood near and burnt it, and then poured water and vinegar on the ashes : and the rock being by these means decomposed, he broke it up with iron ham- mers, and made a way.' x'o'""* ^f ttoXX^s oi/'o-tjs Ka\ Kpxiovs, t^v fiev v\t]v Tffjivcov re Ka\ KaraKaiwv, Tr]v be rect)pav (r^evvvs vbari Koi o|«, koi t^v nerpap (K Tovbe yj^acpapav yiyvoptvr)v, <>pais o-iBrjpals BpaCav Koi oSottoicoi/.— Appian, Lib. VII. De Bello Annibalico. There is of course no doubt about Appian's meaning here, the break- ing up of the rock being plainly stated : indeed ho immediately after- wards expressly mentions a particular cutting in the rock as being known by the name of the S(o8os 'Am'/3ov ; a groundless tradition probably, but alluded to in such a manner, as to make Appian's own opinion on the subject perfectly clear. Still, though there can bo no question about Ap- pian's meaning in the passage quoted, its strikingly inconsequent character tends to raise a doubt as to his right apprehension of the accounts from which ho composed his narrative. For there could be no reason why Hannibal should have broken up the rock, on account of the prcsonco of snow solidified by frost : and yet wo can hardly help inferring from Appian's words, that it was this snow which was the cattse of tho cutting, in whatever substance that cutting may have been made. If, however, the words t^i/ nirpav could be referred to tho solid snow, all would bo easy and consistent. Hannibal found his way obstructed by it in some place, and was obliged to cut through tho hardened mass, decomposing it 144 HANNIBAL'S PASSAGE OF THE ALPS. According to Livy, four days were spent in making the new road. This error arises from his misinterpreting Polybius, as will easily be seen on reference to that histo- first by the aid of fire, and the percolation of some warm liquid, and thus enabling himself to break it up with greater facility. Instances are found in modern Alpine campaigns of roads being cut through hard snow. In the winter campaign of Macdonald in the Ehsetian Alps, the best illustrative parallel to Hannibal's expedition, two cases are mentioned. The first relates to the passage of the Splugen. * In the narrow plain between the glaciers, (i. e. on the summit of the pass, beneath the higher glacier-bearing peaks of the ridge crossed) however, they found the road blocked up by an immense mass of snow, formed by an avalanche newly fallen ; upon which the guides refused to enter, and in consequence the soldiers returned, unanimously exclaiming that the passage was closed Put to shame by such an example, the troops and peasants redoubled their efforts; the vast walls of ice and snow were cut through, and although the hurricane increased with fearful rapid- ity, and repeatedly filled up their excavations, they at length succeeded in rendering the passage practicable.' — Alison's Hist, of Europe, iv. 431, 432, 5th Edit. Jomini, however, says nothing of ice or avalanches in this place, but only speaks of the great depth of the snow on the plateau at the summit of the pass, and of the fresh snow continually falling, (i. e. from the sky). In the account of the passage of the ridge of San Zeno, a pass among the low mountains between the lakes of Iseo and Idro, bordering on the Lombard plain, another instance occurs. ' The diffi- culties of the ridge of San Zeno, however, had almost arrested the soldiers whom the snows of the Splugen had been unable to overcome ; a few horses only could be got over by cutting through blocks of ice (compact snow) as hard as rock at the summit, (apres avoir taille un chemin dans la glace vive, Jomini) and the greater part of the cavalry and artillery required to descend by the smiling shores of the Lago Isea (Lago d'Iseo) to Brescia, and ascend again the vine-clad banks of the Chlesa.' — Alison's History of Europe, iv. 446. On the declivity between La Ferriere and La Novalese, where Hanni- bal's path was broken up, he may possibly have been obliged to cut through the mass of solid snow, which, it has been conjectured, filled at that time the gully which penetrates into the mountain-side. For, after the path had been reconstructed along the precipice above (i. e. to tho west of) the gully, it would then have been necessary to cross the gully itself. But the snow, however solid, which filled the gully, would pro- bably not have been capable of supporting the clciiliants ; for oven the beasts of burden had become fixed in it, when the circuitous route was attempted. It might consequently have been necessary to make a lane through tho snow, and perhaps to penetrate to the ground beneath. Yet HANNIBAL'S PASSAGE OF THE ALPS. 145 fian. Had Livy attended to the words ev t]fx€pai9 i-pial KaKOTraO^aa?, he would not have fallen mto this mistake, which would lead us to imagine that the first day spent in the midst of the snow was one of comfort, and that the hardships the army suffered only began on the second day, since there were but three days of hardship in all. The three days (which must be reduced to two) during which the men and baggage-animals, (the cavalry horses should be included) enjoyed an interval of rest, and were enabled to recruit their strength a little, were not, as this lane would not have been long, as the gully is not wide, and as it was probably only in the gully that the old snow lay. An operation of this nature would not have been of any great importance, and might have been passed over by Polybius, or not have come to his knowledge. That he had received no such intimation is perhaps most likely. He does, however, when he first speaks of the pdx^s, (a word he introduces as if he had mentioned an equivalent for it before) employ the expression Sta/^trjo-a/xei/os tiju eV avTfj xt"''a. Now, if paxis could mean the side of a ridge or mountain, the words SiafiTjad- fievos, K. T. X. might signify ' clearing a way through the snow upon it.' The proper meaning of paxn is, however, the top, and not the side of a ridge ; and the removal of the snow is spoken of in connexion with the encampment nepl rrjv pax^v, and cannot well be supposed to refer to the construction of the path. It is true, indeed, that Polybius' informa- tion may have been somewhat defective on this point, or his compre- hension of what was related to him not quite perfect. In his account of the encampment at the summit of the pass, where there must have been snow, nothing is said of its removal. If Hannibal really cut a path through the solid snow, it may possibly have been effected in the following manner. The workmen, perhaps, first levelled the surface of the snow a little, on the line of the intended cutting; and then, collecting the bushes near, arranged them along it, and set them on fire. The surface of tho snow would thus be partially melted, and tho water produced would sink down through tho snow beneath. A quantity of liquid thrown on the hot ashes would also have helped to dissolve this snow to some extent. By these means, the mass, originally hard and firm, would bo decomposed and softened on the line of tho projected path, and might have been broken up witli pickaxes or similar instruments without great difliculty. To cut a way through olil and solid snow, without taking any measures to soften it, would bo a tedious and laborious task. This supposition may possibly explain Livy's story. It must, however, bo looked upon as nothing moro than a mere conjecture. 10 146 HANNIBAL'S PASSAGE OF THE ALPS. might be at first supposed from Livy's account, days subsequent to the passage of the elephants, but the two days which succeeded the passage of the horses and bag- gage-animals, and during which the elephants were de- tained in the higher encampment. Nothing is related by Livy as having occurred, after the new road was completed and passed, during the rest of the descent to the plains of Italy. Hannibal there entered into the country of the Taurini, a fact which Livy says was universally agreed upon. He then proceeds to mention two passes by which it had been erroneously supposed that Hannibal crossed the Alps : the Pennine Alp or Great St Bernard, and the ' Cremonis jugum,' probably the Little St Bernard, the ancient name being apparently preserved in the neighbouring peak of the Crammont. Neither of these, as Livy observes, could have been crossed by Han- nibal, as they both lead, not into the country of the Taurini, but through that of the Salassi into the territory of the Libui. The name of the Salassi, indeed, although a large tribe, is never found at all in Polybius ; and the name of the Libui, although mentioned by him elsewhere, does not occur in his account of HannibaPs passage of the Alps. CHAPTER X. Examination of objections brought against the Mont Cenis. WE have now examined the narratives of Polybius and Livy, the two chief historians of Hannibal's expedi- tion. Both seem to point to the Mont Cenis, as the pass by which the Carthaginian general effected his descent into Italy. To complete the evidence in favour of this pass, it will now be requisite to take some notice of the objec- tions which have been brought against it. Nearly all the objections which can be adduced, are collected together, in his Histoire du jmssage des Alpes par Annibal, by M. Deluc, one of the advocates for the pass of the Little St Bernard. The sixth chapter of the second book of his work is entitled a ' Refutation des auteurs qui conduisent Annibal par le Mont Cenis,* and in it we find the following summary of the objections against this pass. * Ce qu'il y a de tres-remarquable dans la premiere route (the route of the Little St Bernard) c'est qu'elle ne traverse pas une seule fois ITsere, la vallce n'etant nulle part aussi resserrce pour forcer a etablir des ponts sur cette riviere ; dans la vallee de I'Arc, au contrairc, il y a un si grand nombre d'obstacles, que Ton est force de passer dix fois d'une rive a I'autrc pour les eviter. " II serait trop long de detaillcr," dit M. de Saussure, " les nombreux defiles que Ton passe dans cette route, et de noter combien de fois les etranglemcns de la vallee et les sinuosites de I'Arc forcent a passer d'une rive a Tautre." Cette vallee offrait done de trop grandcs difficultes pour que, dans les temps rccules, on y cAt fait passer unc route pour traverser les Alpes. La desccnte du INIont Cenis, du cute de I'ltalie, etait aussi un trop grand obstacle, car les rochcrs y sont prcsque a pic, ct ce n'cst qu'cu taillant le chcmin dans le roc avec un grand nombre dc zigzags, qu'on a pu rcndrc cette desccnte praticablc. 10—2 148 HANNIBAL'S PASSAGE OF THE ALPS. C'est sans cloute a cause de ces difficultes naturelles que la route du Mont Cenis n'a ete ouverte que dans les temps modernes, compares a Tanciennete de la route du Petit Saint-Bernard ; aussi la premiere ne se trouve point dans les itineraires romains, qui, cependant, ont ete faits dans le 4^ et 5® siecles de notre ere, ou six a sept siecles apres Texpedition d'Annibal. La route du Mont Cenis n'etait done pas celle que les Gaulois suivaient pour descendre en Italic, ni celle qu'An- nibal, en marchant sur leurs traces, prit pour entrer dans le meme pays; nous ferons aussi observer qu'elle n'etait pas une des quatres routes qui seules etaient connues du temps de Polybe. Get auteur, en decrivant la route d'An- nibal, la meme qu'il parcourut cinquante ou soixante annees apres, ne pent decrire qu'une route qui etait connue de son temps. Nous observerons encore qu'a la descente du Mont Cenis, il est impossible qu'on pM rencontrer, a la fin d'octo- bre, de la vieille neige conservee depuis I'hiver precedent ; car, outre que ce passage est plus abaisse d'au moins 100 toises que celui du Petit Saint-Bernard, sa descente est tournee vers le sud-est, exposition ou la neige fond plus vite que dans celle du Petit Saint-Bernard, qui est tournee vers le nord est.' The objections embodied above amount to the fol- lowing : (1) The passage of the Mont Cenis must have been very difficult in the time of Hannibal. (2) The road to the Mont Cenis crosses the Arc a great many times. (3) The descent into Italy is very precipitous and difficult. (4) The route of the Mont Cenis is not found in the Roman Itineraries. (5) It was not one of the four routes known to Po- lybius. (6) It would have been impossible for Hannibal to have found old snow on the descent from the Mont Cenis. (1) The fact of the passage of the INTont Cenis having been very difficult in the time of Hannibal may be readily HANNIBAL'S PASSAGE OF THE ALPS. 149 granted. Such must inevitably have been the case with every Alpine route in the GaUic period. Yet, although the Mont Cenis must have been then a difficult pass, that difficulty can scarcely be considered sufficient to disqualify it for being received as the scene of the passage, de- scribed as ' toilsome, and excessively difficult, although not impossible,' eTr'nrovov fxev kuI Ivax^pn \iav, ov (xtjv a^vuarou : for such are the epithets which are applied in Polybius to the pass which Hannibal crossed. Indeed, at the very commencement of the Alpine route, we read of Ta9 ^t;axa)|Otas. Between the town of the Allobroges and the * strong white rock,' we are told again of rd? e^Tjs ^ycrx'*^P''«^* By the Rock itself, also, we read of a cpdpayya Tiva ^vafia- rov Ka\ Kprjinvw^}]. All these expressions certainly imply dif- ficulty ; and, as to the descent into Italy, many thousands of men were lost, viro twv tottwv kuI tj/s -^lovog, m conse- quence of the snow and the difficult or dangerous character of the descent. To shew, then, that the Mont Cenis was a difficult pass in the time of Hannibal, proves nothing against it : for the pass which Hannibal crossed was also difficult. In order to exclude the Mont Cenis on this ground, it would be necessary to bring against it an amount of difficulty insu- perable in ancient times. But this certainly cannot be concluded of a pass, which, however difficult, must rank, relatively to Alpine passes generally, among the easiest known ; a pass which may be shcAvn to have been always a thoroughfare through the Alps, and which is now, what it seems to have been for some centuries, the great high- way from France into Italy. (2) The road from the Valley of the Isere to the Mont Cenis certainly crosses the Arc very often : the old road to the little Mont Cenis would have passed the river six times. Once also, on the descent into Italy, it would have to cross the Dora Susina. But, although the modern road from Chambc ry to the Little St Bernard never crosses the Iscre, yet the older road, the Koman way from Lcmin- cum, probably crossed that river four times, and the Arc once. For, of the Roman stations, Axima, Darantasia, Oblimum, Mantala, and Lemincum, each lay, iu all pro- 150 HANNIBAL'S PASSAGE OF THE ALPS. bability, as will afterwards be shewn ^ on a different side of the Isere from the following station. Besides, on the descent from the Little St Bernard, even the modern road crosses the Dora Baltea three times : and it cannot be conceived, why the Arc should have offered such a great obstacle to Hannibal's progress, and the passage of the Dora Baltea have presented little difficulty. But, in point of fact, the passage of these mountain- streams, at the end of October, would have been attended with no great difficulty, unless, as in the case of the Drac, they were swoln with rain. They would probably have contributed but little to the losses, which Hannibal is said by Polybius to have incurred in crossing rivers. For all these torrents are fed by the melting of the snows and glaciers, and present, during the long Alpine winter, no resemblance to the full and turbid streams, which sweep down the valleys in the summer months. At the end of the month of September, the last summer month, (the Alps, at least the high Alps, may be said to have no autumn) the action of the sun on the snow and ice begins rapidly to diminish in power, and the torrents to shrink in volume. Throughout the winter, little or no water is sup- plied by the glaciers to the mountain-rivers ^ which become ^ See Note A. at the end of the book. 2 Si, comme je I'ai montre par les tableaux du jaugeage de I'Aar, il existe un rapport direct entre I'etat atmospherique et le debit des tor- rents, il doit arriver un moment en automne, ou toutes les rivieres subissent une baisse notable, h raison de la fonte moins considerable qui a lieu k cette saison. Par la meme raison, elles doivent tarir completement en hiver, du moment que toute fonte a cesse li la surface. Voulant m'en assurer par I'observation directe je n'ai pas hesite h entreprendre dans ce but un Toyage hivernal dans les glaciers. Au commencement du mois de mars 1841, par consequent a une epoque ou I'hiver regne encore d'une maniere absolue dans les Hautes-Alpcs, jo me rendis avec M. Desor au glacier do I'Aar que je rcmontai jusqu'il I'Hotel des Neuchatelois (le 12 Mars) [A groat rock on the glacier of the Aar was called by this name]. Aprus avoir sCjourne deux jours au Qrimsel, nous yisitames ensemble le glacier de Rosenlaui (le 14 Mars.) A Meyringcn deja je trouvai I'Aar beaucoup plus faible qu'en etc ; h mcsure quo jo montai, je la vis diminuor toujours plus, si bien qu'zl la Handcck cUo ctait rcduito a un trcs-pctit fdct d'eau, ti peine com- HANNIBAL'S PASSAGE OF THE ALPS. 151 in general clear and shallow streams, with a comparatively gentle current. At the end of the month of October, two thousand years ago, Hannibal would have found no great difficulty in fording the Arc, or any other of the Alpine rivers. (3) The precipitous character of the descent from the Mont Cenis, brought by M. Deluc as an argument against that pass, is in strict accordance with what is related by Polybius with respect to Hannibal's descent from the Alps, and is one of the distinctive features by which the Mont Cenis is identified with the pass which Hannibal crossed. Certainly, not only is the descent of the Fourmiguier pre- cipitous, but, in order to make a path of commodious width down it, it would most probably have been necessary to cut the rock away in places. Nothing but a rugged and narrow path could have existed, in barbarous times, in such a situation. Yet this precipitous and narrow way is precisely what we find mentioned by Polybius. Ovo-»;s yap arevfj^ Kal KaTw(bepov€-^ws CTrifxeveiv Trjv -^iova kuI Oepov^ Kai yei/ucouos' Ta o VTTO fxearjv tt/v Trapwpeiav e^ aix(poiv roiv fxepoiv, uAo- lanities adusque stationem nomine Martis per septem extenditur millia : et hinc alia celsitudo erectior, cegreque super ahilis, ad Matronas j)orrigitur verticem, cujus vo- cabulum casus focminse nobilis dedit. Unde dcclivc quidem iter, sed expeditius adusque castellum Virgantiam patet.' The 'Mons Matrona' is the Mont Gentvre' : the ' praj- celsum jugum,' in the first sentence, is distinguished from the Mons Matrona, as being situated between Ad INIartis and Susa, and thus lying below, and not above, the former station. Its base, that is to say, lay between Susa and Ad Martis ; for no mountain is crossed, but only skirted, on the road between these two places. Ammianus Mar- cellinus, however, is not so clear here as might be wished. He seems not to have fully comprehended the accounts from which he compiled his description : the phenomena of this ' pra)cclsum jugum,' the avalanches, snow-drifts, &c., ^ Seo the Itinorary from Bordeaux to Jerusalem. 11 162 HANNIBAL'S PASSAGE OF THE ALPS. are rather confusedly put together ; although the circum- stantial manner in which they are related, and the truth and accuracy of the details given, shew that the autho- rities which he consulted were perfectly trustworthy. It is the expression, ' a summitate hujus Italici clivi ' which introduces some difficulty. Yet the point indicated by this word ' summitas ' is easily found. For about ten Eoman miles from Susa, in the direction of the Genevre, the Dora flows through a continuous defile, which never opens out into a proper valley till about two miles above Exilles. Here the mountains fall back, and a level plain is entered, which extends, for about six Roman miles, as far as Oulx, the ancient ' Ad Martis.' This level tract is clearly the ' planities ' which ' adusque stationem nomine Martis per septem extenditur millia^' The 'summitas hujus Italici clivi' is therefore the end of the defile, about two miles above Exilles, and one below Salbertrand. Yet this ' summitas ' is clearly not the summit of the ' prsecelsum jugum,' even if Ammianus supposed it to be so. For it is merely a point in the valley of the Dora, and not the crest of a pass at all. Neither would the road from this point to Susa at all answer to the description of the descent from the 'jugum.' Some other meaning must evidently be found for the ' summitas hujus Italici clivi.' The employment of the words ' Italicus ' and * clivus ' leads us readily to the meaning to be affixed to this expres- sion. For all the main chain of the Alps separating Gaul from Italy, and every one of the different mountain-masses into which that chain may be divided, has necessarily an Italian and a Gallic slope, an ' Italicus ' and a * Gallicus clivus.' Now, between the jjoint indicated by Ammianus as the ' summitas,' and the city of Susa, there is a conti- nuous defile, extending from the end of the ' planities ' to the beginning of the open valley called the Combe of Susa. This defile is formed on the north by a mountain- mass, which may be considered to begin at Susa, and to end at the ' summitas.' The lower extremity of the Italian declivity of this mountain-mass, or mountain, is 1 Compare Caesar, Bell. Oall. Lib. in. (beginning) where the 'plani- ties' of Octodurus, or Martigny, is mentioned. HANNIBAL'S PASSAGE OF THE ALPS. 163 thus at Susa ; the ' summitas hiijus Italic! clivi,' (i. e.) the upper extremity of the Italian declivity of this mountain, is at the beginning of the ' planities/ two miles above Ex- illes. These were the limits of the Italian base of the *pr8ecelsum jugum,' across which lay the passage from Gaul of which we are now in search. But over this mountain-mass only three passes exist, regarding the Great and Little Mont Cenis as one. These passes are : the Mont Cenis, the Col de Clairee, and the Col d'Ambin or Col de Galumbre. Yet these two last, of which the names are scarcely known, are merely difficult mountain-tracks : no ' carpentum,' however small and rude a vehicle be supposed to be designated by that term, could ever have crossed either of these cols. Besides, the path from Savoy to the Col de Clairee passes on its way within a few yards of the Col of the Little Mont Cenis, so that the subsequent ascent would be needless. Indeed, the Mont Cenis is the only one of these three ways that can properly be called a pass. The others could never have been used as lines of communication between the valleys of the Arc and the Dora. Yet it is not in position only that this * prsecelsum jugum' is found to coincide with the Mont Cenis. The characters of the two passes, as far as the descent into Italy is concerned, are also identical. For the descent from Gaul by the 'praecelsum jugum' was excessively steep, 'prona humilitate devexum,' flanked on both sides by frightful precipices, ' pendentium saxorum altrinsecus visu terribilc,' and also liable in spring, the time of avalanches, 'nivibus solutis flatu calidiore ventorum,' to be swept by these falling masses of snow. The first part of the de- scent from La Grande Croix on the Mont Cenis, by the plain of St Nicholas to La Ferriere, answers precisely to this description. Of its extreme steepness enough has already been said: the danger from avalanches, and the precipices on both sides of the way, are also noticed in several descriptions of the pass. In a small work, entitled Guide dii voyof^cur n Suse et au passage du Grand Mont-Cenis, (Susa, 1830), the latter part of the ascent from Susa is thus described : 11—2 16 J? HANNIBAL'S PASSAGE OF THE ALPS. 'Au dessous de la route actuelle^ et a sa droite, im peu avant que d'arriver a la plaine de Saint Nicolas, se trouve une ancienne galerie en magonnerie^, que Ton appelait la route couverte ; elle avait ete eonstruite pour garantir les voyageurs de I'irapetuosite des vents et de la coulee des neiges ; elle a 140 metres de longueur et 4 metres 80 centimetres de largeur. Get ouvrage est aujourd'hui presqu'entierement enseveli sous les deblais que Ton a dA faire pour former la nouvelle route qui rejoint Tanci- enne a I'entree de la plaine de St Nicolas, dont I'horrible beaute penetre le voyageur d'admiration et d'effroi. Ce petit bassin est domine du cote droit par des rochers tres- escarpes qui semblent menacer les airs. A sa gauche se trouve la nouvelle route qu'ou avait premierement essaye d'ouvrir a travers d'un rocher taille a pic et d'une hauteur prodigieuse^, mais que, malgre les grands travaux qu'on avait deja faits, Ton a ete force d'abandonner, a cause de la chtlte continuelle des masses enormes de rocher qui se detachaient de la montagne, et des dangers imminents des avalanches auxquels on etait frequemment expose.' M. Albanis de Beaumont, {Les Alpes Grecques et Cotti- ennes, Vol. ii. p. 652) speaking of the descent from the Mont Cenis, says of the plain of St Nicholas : 'Elle est couverte d''une belle verdure et entouree de rochers abruptes, dont les sommets se perdent dans les nues : c'est du haut de ces memes rochers que se pre- cipitent en cascades les eaux limpides de la Cenise. Apres avoir traverse cette plaine. Ton passe sous une longue vo^ite* que Tancien gouvernement Sarde avait fait con- struire afin de 2)revenir les accidents autrefois si communs sur ce 2^(^ssage, occasionts par les avalanges toujours si dange- reuses et si fatales lors de la fonte des neiges ; ici ces ava- langes sont si considerables, qu'en plusieurs occasions elles 1 The present carriage-road is here spoken of. 2 This was on the old road from La Ferriero. 3 The ' promontorium' from which Italy is seen. The cliff in which it terminates is pierced by a tunnel, through which the carriage-road at first ran. 4 The new road was at this time (1802) not yet made. The ' voute' is the * route couverte ' previously mentioned. HANNIBAL'S PASSAGE OF THE ALPS. 165 ont enleve dans leur mouvement de rotation sept a huit mulcts a la fois ainsi que leurs conducteurs, qu'elles ont ensuite ensevelis dans le precipice afFreux ou coulent les eaux de la Cenise, et d'ou leurs cadavres n'ont ete retires qu'apres I'entiere fonte des neiges,' &c. The descent from the Mont Cenis into Italy is thus perfectly identical in character with the descent from the ' prsecelsum jugura ' of Ammianus Marcellinus, with which it has also been concluded to coincide, in respect of position. It may, therefore, be fairly supposed, that the Mont Cenis was, in fact, the pass between Gaul and Italy, of which Ammianus speaks in this place. Before proceeding with the question of the Eomau road laid down in the Peutingerian table, it will be neces- sary to determine the name of the tribe which dwelt in the Upper Maurienne. This tribe will be found to be the Cottian, as distinguished from the Yocontian, Caturiges. It is generally considered that there was in the Alps but one tribe bearing the name of Caturiges, and that they dwelt about the town of Caturigte or Caturiges, now Chorges, between Gap and Embrun. There is, however, no reason why there should not have been two tribes, or two branches of the same tribe, identical in name. In- stances of such a separation occur elsewhere. In the valley of Susa dwelt the tribe of the Segusini or Segusiani ; and in the modern Lyonnais there was also a tribe called Segusiani. The Nantuates are mentioned by Ctusar' as dwelling on the Upper Ilhine ; but there was also a tribe called Nantuates to the S.E. of the lake of Geneva, and perhaps another people of the same name near the modern Nantua in the department of the Ain. Pliny, also, ex- pressly speaks of people descended from the Caturiges, though of different name ; a fact which seems to intimate that they were not confined to one spot in the Alps, but might have been scattered in several places ^ 1 Bell. Gall. Lib. iv. 2 Llgurum celebcrrimi ultra Alpoe Sullyi, Dccoatcs, Oxubii : citra Vcncni, ct Caturigihus orti Vtigicuni, Statyelli, Vibclli, Magolli, Eubu- riatcs, Casinonatcs, Vcliatcs, ct quorum oppida in ora proxiuia dicomus. — • 166 HANNIBAL'S PASSAGE OF THE ALPS. That there was a people in the Alps called Caturiges, who dwelt in some other district than the neighbourhood of Chorges, seems certain. Strabo, in his fourth book, speaks of the Centrones, the Catoriges, the Veragri, and the Nantuates, as dwelling on the mountains above the Salassi. Now the limit of the Salassi on the south seems to have been the Stura, or the Dora Susina^ : they pro- bably inhabited all the valleys on the Italian side of the main chain of the Alps, from the Roche Melon to Monte Ptosa. Yet no part of their territory could be near Chorges, or its district. The whole breadth of the Cottian land intervenes between Embrun, the frontier town of the people of Chorges, and the . Eoche Melon, the nearest point of the country of the Salassi. The people of Chorges, also, could not possibly be associated, in respect of situation, with any one of the tribes of the Centrones, Veragri, or Nantuates, or be spoken of as a Cottian tribe. For the boundary of the Cottian territory was at Embrun, accord- ing to Strabo. Chorges would thus, on the same authority, have belonged to the Vocontii^. The Caturiges, or Catoriges, who bordered on the Salassi, must have inhabited the Upper Maurienne. For the other three tribes borderhig on the Salassi, the Ver- agri, the Nantuates, and the Centrones, occupied the Lower Vallais, and Eastern Savoy as far (inclusive) as the Tarentaise. The Caturiges would therefore be sought, cither in the Upper Vallais, or else in the Upper Mau- rienne or the valley of Susa. But they could not have dwelt in the Upper Vallais, for they are never mentioned among the people inhabiting that district, and were, be- sides, one of the Cottian tribes^ : and the only parts of the Nat. Hist. Lib. ni. Cap, 6. And again : Sunt prseterea Latio donati incolte, ut Octodurenses, et finitimi Centrones, Cottianco civitates ; Catu- riges, et ex Caturigibus orti Vagienni, Ligures, et qui Montani vocantur. — Lib. m. Cap. 20. 1 Tho existence of a village called ' Salassa,' or ' Salazza,' on the right bank of the Orca, seems to intimate that the Salassi extended to tho south beyond that river. 2 Lib. IV. Cap. 1. 3 The names of the Cottian tribes arc found on the Arch of Susa* The following is tho inscription: Imp. Cscsari . Augusto . Divi . F. Pontifici. HANNIBAL'S PASSAGE OF THE ALPS. 167 Cottian territory which touched the country of the Salassi were the Upper Maurienne and the valley of Susa. But the valley of Susa was inhabited by the Segusini : the Caturiges, therefore, should be sought in the Upper Mau- rienne. Again, the Upper Maurienne borders on the Tarentaise. It is, accordingly, with the Centrones, the inhabitants of the Tarentaise, that we find the Caturiges leagued, when C^sar {Bell. Gall. Lib. i.) crossed the Alps to intercept the Helvetii, and had to encounter the opposition of the mountaineers. In the enumeration of the Cottian tribes on the Arch of Susa, the Caturiges are preceded by the Segusini and the Belaci, and followed by the Medulli. Now the Segusini inhabited the valley of Susa ; and the Belaci are placed in the valley of Bardoneche, where the village of Beaulard is supposed to preserve their name. The Medulli dwelt in the Lower Maurienne. We thus find the Caturiges either certainly, or probably, connected in point of position with five tribes; the Salassi, the Centrones, the Medidli, the Belaci, and the Segusini. But the districts occupied by these five tribes completely encircle the Upper Mau- rienne. It is consequently, on the whole, highly probable, not to say certain, that the Cottian Caturiges inhabited the Upper Maurienne. The question of the former existence of a Roman road over the Little Mont Cenis may now be considered. In the part of the Peutingerian table accompanying this book, four Roman roads across the Alps will be found, three proceeding from Turin and one from Ivrca ; the first three being coincident for a certain distance. The first of these roads may be called the Turin and Aries road. It leads maxumo . tribunic . potcstate . xv . imp . xm. M. Julius . Regis . Donni . F. Cottius . Prrcfectus . ceivitatium . qurc . subscriptaj . sunt . Scgoviorum. Sogusinoruiu . Boluooruin . Caturigum . Modulloruiu . Tobavioruni . Ada- natiuin . Savincatiuni . Egidinioruni . Vcaniinioiuiu . Yonicainorum . linc- lioruni . Vcsubiaiiorum . Quadiutium . ot ccivitatcs qua} sub oo privfooto fucrunt. 168 HANNIBAL'S PASSAGE OF THE ALPS. from Turin to Aries, by Siisa, the Mont Genevre, (marked Alpis Cottia on the Table) Brian^on, Embriin, Gap, Sis- teron, and Apt. This road is, as appears by comparison •with the Itineraries, correctly laid down. The second road may be called the Turin and Valence road. It is repre- sented, (erroneously, as will be shewn) as branching off from the first road on the Mont Genevre. The third road may be called the Turin and Vienne road. It is laid down, (erroneously also) as striking off from the second road close to the summit of the Mont Genevre (no station intervening). The fourth road may be called the Ivrea and Vienne road. It leads by the valley of Aosta, the Little St Bernard, the valley of the Isere, Lemincum (near Chambery), the Char- treuse mountains, and Bourgoin, to Vienne. It was the third of these roads, the Turin and Vienne road, which passed over the Little Mont Cenis. It has, however, hitherto been considered to have passed over the Col du Lautaret, between Brian9on and Grenoble. The second of these roads, the Turin and Valence road, is manifestly laid down incorrectly. The station of Lucus (Luc en Diois) is represented as being only 46 miles from the summit of the Mont Genevre. Yet Luc, even in a straight line, is 70 Roman miles from that mountain : the road to Luc must, then, clearly branch off from the Turin and Aries road at some nearer point than the Mont Genevre. Besides, there is only one natural way of reaching Luc from the Mont Genevre ; and that is by the valley of the Durance, down which ran the road to Aries. The road to Luc is not likely to have branched off before reaching Gap. Now a very important line of way, that given in the Itinerary from Bordeaux to Jerusalem, did pass through Luc, and fell into the Turin and Aries road at Gap: so that cither this road must be the one erro- neously laid down in the Pcutingerian table, or else must be totally omitted there, which is not very probable in the case of so important a highway. According to the Itine- rary of Antoninus (Wesscling's Itineraria Romanorum) the distance between Luc and Gap (Vapincum) was 50 miles, a number differing but little from the 46 miles of the Pcutingerian table. It thus appears that the Turin and HANNIBAL'S PASSAGE OF THE ALPS. 169 Valence road of that Table left the Turin and Aries road at Gap, and not on the summit of the Mont Genevre^ The error which has vitiated the Peutingerian table in this place may now be readily perceived. The author has confounded the 'Alpis Cottia' with the 'Alpes Cottite.' For, though the Cottian territory terminated at Embrun the name of the Cottian Alps, when applied to mountains, might have been extended to Gap, and even beyond. The Turin and Valence road did not separate from the Turin and Aries road ' in Alpe Cottia,' but ' in Alpibus Cottiis ;' not on the Mont Genevre, but somewhere in the Cottian Alps. The case would be similar with respect to the Turin and Vienne road. Having now rectified the course of the Turin and Valence road, the Turin and Aries road may be left out of consi- deration : for it was from the Turin and Valence road that the Turin and Vienne road struck off. But at what point did it strike off? This is as yet uncertain: all that we can conclude is, that this point was somewhere in the Cottian Alps. There are consequently four roads, each of which may have a claim to be considered as the Turin and Vienne road : (1) the road of the Croix Haute, which strikes off northward from the present road to Luc, at Aspres ; (the Roman road from Gap to Luc seems to have passed a little to the south of Aspres) : (2) the road from Gap to Grenoble by the valley of the Drac : (3) the road from Briangon to Grenoble by the Col du Lautaret : and (4) the road over the Mont Ccnis. Now the Peutingerian table gives 85 Roman miles as the distance from Vienne to the point where the Turin and Vienne road falls into the Turin and Valence road. But, by the nearest of the four roads mentioned, the route of the Croix Haute, the distance from Vienne to Aspres * The Peutingerian stations between Gap and Luc should probably both bo read ' Gcmincc.' The only station mentioned between these two places in the Itinerary of Antoninus is ' Mons Selcucus,' now 'La Batio Mont Saloon.' The Itinerary from Bordeaux to Jerusalem gives, from Luc : Mutatio Vologatis, (inde ascenditur Gaura Mons), Mutatio Cam- bono, Mansio Mouto Selouci, Mutatio Daviano, Mutatio ad fine, Mansio Vapinco. 170 HANNIBAL'S PASSAGE OF THE ALPS. is more than 120 Eoman miles. The Peutingerian table is, therefore, doubly erroneous with respect to the Turin and Vienne road : that road does not branch off from the Turin and Valence road at the place assigned, nor does it reach Vienne at a distance of 85 miles from the point where it strikes off. We have, therefore, a second error to remove. The principle to be applied is suggested by the detection of the error on the Turin and Valence road. For the road from Luc did not reach the summit of the Cottian Alp at a distance of 46 miles from Luc, but it fell, at about that distance, {i. e. at Gap) into the road leading to the Cottian Alp. The Turin and Vienne road, as it cannot reach Vienne after a course of 85 miles from the point where it leaves the Turin and Valence road, should thus, it may be expected, fall, at the termination of that length of way, into a road on the Table leading to Vienne. But this road, into which it falls, must be the Ivrea and Vienne road, for there is no other. The Turin and Vienne road must either fall into this, or return into the road from which it diverged ; a supposition which is hardly possible. The question, therefore, which has now to be deter- mined, is this : which of the four roads, the route of the Croix Haute, the route of the valley of the Drac, the route of the Lautaret, or the route of the Mont Cenis, (the Little Mont Cenis will be selected) falls, at a distance of about 85 Eoman miles from the point where it leaves the Turin and Valence road, into the Ivrea and Vienne road. 85 Eoman miles are equivalent, neglecting fractions, to 125 French kilometres, or 78 English miles. For the three roads, by the Croix Haute, by the valley of the Drac, and by the Lautaret, the nearest station on the Ivrea and Vienne road is that of Augustum, now Aoste de St Genix. From Aspres to Voirons, by the Croix Haute and Grenoble, the distance is given as 124 kilo- metres. From Gap to Voirons, by the valley of the Drac, the distance is 126 kilometres. From Brian^on to Voreppe, by the Lautaret, the distance is 135 kilometres. Voirons is a])out 20 Eoman miles from Aoste de St Genix, and 9 kilometres from Voreppe. HANNIBAL'S PASSAGE OF THE ALPS. 171 By either of the tv/o routes, that of the Croix Haute, or that by the valley of the Drac, the distance to the Ivrea and Vienne road is thus about 20 Eoman miles longer that it should be. By the Lautaret, the distance is more than 30 Koman miles in excess. The distance from Susa to Aiguebelle by the Little Mont Cenis (see page 91) is 821 Roman miles. The dis- tance from Aiguebelle to Maltaverne is 4^ Piedmontese, or 7 Roman miles. The 85 Roman miles, given in the Table, will therefore bring the road to a point about 3 Roman miles below Aiguebelle, and 4 from INIaltaverne ; in fact, exactly to the point where the valley of the Arc joins that of the Isere, down which ran the road from Ivrea to Vienne. The route of the Little Mont Cenis seems thus to be the road of which we are in search. The station, at or near which the two roads to Vienne would join, must have been that of Mantala, which lay at an equal distance (16 Roman miles) from Lemincum, (Lemenc near Chambcry') and Ad Publicanos, (Le Fay probably-), which was not very far from the modern Albertville. The station of Mantala has been fixed at Freterive, or St Pierre d'Albigny, or Bourg TEvescal, all on the right bank of the Isere, nearly opposite INIaltaverne. There seems, however, not much doubt, from the resemblance of names, that it should rather be placed at Maltaverne, otherwise Malataverne, a word probably compounded of Mantala and Taberna; and that the Roman road down this part of the valley of the Isere ran on the left, and not on the right bank of the rivcr^. The comparison of the names of the stations on the Roman road from Turin to Vienne, with the names of the places with which they arc identified on the supposition of that road having crossed the Little Mont Cenis, will, it is 1 Maltavemo is 11 Picdnionteso, or 18 Roman miles, from Chambery. 2 Sec Note A. at the end of tlio book. 3 Roman remains have been found at Ayton, on tho left bank of tho Isero, as well as at places on tho right bank. See Les Alpc^ Orccqucs et (JoUicnncs, Vol. n. p. GOl. ]72 HANNIBAL'S PASSAGE OF THE ALPS. conceived, remove all doubt as to the fact of the Roman road having passed this way. The following table will shew the modern places which correspond to the old Roman stations, with the actual distances between the various points in Roman miles, and the same distances as given in the Peutingerian Table. Ancient Stations. Modem places. Actual dis- tances in Koman Miles. Peutingerian distances in Roman Miles. Segusio Stabatio Durotincum Mellosedum Catorissium Culabo Morginnum Turecionicum ... Mantala Susa La Ferriere Granges de Dervieux... Bramans Villarodin Orelle St Jean de Maurienne... La Chapelle^ Maltaverne Total 8| 71 101 5 121 141 141 8 7 10 5 12 14 14 15 m 85 Stabatio, the first station on the way from Susa, is here identified with La Ferriere. This village lies half way up the great ascent of the Mont Cenis, beginning at La No- valese, and ending at La Grande Croix, and is the only village or hamlet between those two places. Its site would thus naturally be chosen for a halting place on the ascent. The station of Durotincum falls at the Granges de Der- vieux, a place on the plateau of the Little Mont Cenis. In the word Dervieux, some vestige of the Roman name probably remains. The termination vieux seems, in ad- dition, to indicate the antiquity of the place. The word Durotincum is, as it stands, almost pure Celtic. It resolves itself readily into Dur-tin-cum, all which syllables are Celtic words. Dtir' signifies ' water,' and may mean here * the river ' or possibly * the Dora.' Tin^ signifies * a beginning,' the * source ^ or ' origin ' of the river. Cum will be the same as the Welch Civm, ' a valley,' or ' a hollow in the mountains.' In the ' Combe of Susa ' 1 If XVI. were read instead of XIV., the hamlet of Tardy would correspond to Turecionicum. 2 O'Reilly's Irish. Diet. 3 ibid. HANNIBAL'S PASSAGE OF THE ALPS. 173 and the ' Combe of ]Malval,' the word is still used in this sense among the Alps. Durotincum will thus mean, 'the hollow in the moun- tains where the river (or Dora) rises.' Now it is on the Mont Cenis that the Cenise, one of the affluents of the Dora, takes its rise. The longest of the little rills, which fall into the lake, and give origin to the Cenise, has its source on the Little Mont Cenis. The plateau of the Little Mont Cenis, enclosed by mountains, may therefore properly be called Durotincum. The next station bears the name of Mellosedum. This word also is Celtic in origin. The first syllable exists in Melrose S Meldrum, &c. It is a variation of the word Maol, signifying ' bare,' ' barren,' ' bleak 2.' The word Mellosedum seems thus to be Maol-lon-sead, Lon signifying ' a meadow^,' and Sead ' a way,' ' a road,' or ' a seat*.' The signification of Mellosedum would therefore be, ' the station on the bare (or open) meadow.' These ' open meadows ' are common in the Alps. Most travellers in those mountains must remember having fre- quently emerged from some ravine or narrow valley into a small open plain or basin, surrounded by a circuit of mountains, and sometimes almost entirely bare of every- thing but grass. These open spaces are called ' Matt ' in the German, and 'Pra' or 'Praz' in the French or Piedmontese Alps, words of continual recurrence, and all signifying 'a meadow ^' Names nearly equivalent in 1 * Melros or Maol Ross, (i. e.) tho bare promontory.' — Carlisle, Topo- graphical Dictionary of Scotland, ^ Armstrong's Gaelic Diet. 3 Armstrong's Gaelic Diet. In Anderson's Guide to the Highlands, a ' Lonn' is defined as a ' meadow-strath.' 4 Armstrong's Gaelic Diet. O'Reilly's Irish Did. 6 In tho Diecionario Geografico-estadistico-historico de Espa'>hi by Madoz, five places bearing tho namo of ' Melon' aro enumerated ; all in the province of Orcnso in Galicia, a mountainous country whoso original inhabitants were of Celtic origin. Ono of these places is described as being situated in a hollow surrounded by mountains, ' en una hondonada circuida por los montes denominados Faro y Carbola,' a locality of tho Bamo kind as a 'Matt' or 'Pra' of the Alps. The word Melon is also fou^id in tho name of the mountain of the Roche Melon, an appcUa- 174 HANNIBAL'S PASSAGE OP THE ALPS. meaning to Mellosedum are still found. Andermatt (i. e.) {Der Ort) an der Matt is one of these. Zermatt, probably the same as Zurmatt, (i. e.) :oU der Matt, is another. The position of Bramans is accurately defined by the word Mellosedum, for it lies on a small open plain, 4000 feet above the sea, and is reached by the traveller from Modane after passing through the long defile guarded by the fort of L'Esseillon. It lies also, relatively to the Little Mont Cenis, in the same situation as Andermatt and Zermatt lie, relatively to the passes of the St Gothard and the Cervin ; the valley of the Arc being entered from the Little Mont Cenis at Bramans, and the valleys of the Eeuss and the Visp in the immediate neighbourhood of Andermatt and Zermatt, both these latter places lying on the open ground at the feet of their respective passes. The name Bramans seems, also, nearly identical in meaning with Mellosedum. Bramans is Bra-mans. But Bra appears the same word as Pra, the term by which an open tract or Maol-lon is now designated. Mans also is easily corrupted from Mansio, the name which would be given to one of the more important stations on a Roman road^ Bramans might thus be Prati Mansio. Probably, when the Celtic language was dying out in the Alps, and a Latin or Romance dialect was taking its place, the old name Mel- losedum fell into disuse, and was replaced by an equivalent term of Latin origin. In the next station, Catorissium, (Villarodin), the name of the Caturiges or Catoriges, the people of the Upper Maurienne, appears. All the names of the other stations are in the ablative. Catorissium is clearly the genitive of Catorisses, and vice or some similar word, must be under- stood 2, tion which may be taken as nearly identical in meaning with Matterhorn (Cervin). The Roche Melon rises above the fields of La Novalcso In the same manner as the Matterhorn above those of Zermatt. 1 See the Itineraiy from Bordeaux to Jerusalem, passim. ^ In the Pcutingerian table, Addeam occurs under the word Catoris- sium. This belongs properly to the word Bocontiorum, which is found below on the road from Gap to Valence ; the station Dca Vocontiorum or Ad deam Vocontiorum being indicated. The name of the station Catorissium may possibly, however, have been, in full, Vca Catorissium. HANNIBAL'S PASSAGE OF THE ALPS. 175 In Cidaho we have again a Celtic term. It is preserved most nearly in the Gaelic Ciilaohh^, and appears, in the Piedmontese Culaton'. The name of the Col de la Cvla, a pass at the extremity of the valley of Barcelonnette, seems to derive its designation from this old word, which defines its position. The word Culaho will signify ' extremity ' or * end :' it corresponds to the Ad fines of the Romans. Orelle, which is identified with Culaho, would be probably the last village of the Caturiges ; for it is to the Upper or Caturigan valley, and not to the Lower, that it would naturally be attached ^ The word Orelle seems also to signify ' ex- tremity,' being apparently a diminutive of ora. It is most likely connected with the heraldic orle 'a border,' and with the Italian orlo and the Spanish orilla, both signi- fying 'extremity.' In Ponza's Piedmontese-ltalian Dic- tionary, it will be seen that cula-ton is rendered in Italian orl-iccio, clearly indicating the identity of idea in the two cases. Culaho, like Mellosedum, probably lost its original name with the decay of the Celtic language, and became known by the equivalent Romance appellation of Orelle. The station of Morginnum falls at St Jean de Maur^- enne. Here the similarity of name is at once apparent ; but it is in reality still closer than it seems. For the former name of St Jean was simply Maurienne*, and not The word Dca is probably the Celtic Teagli, ' a house.' See Rcchcrclics sur les lanyues Celtlques, par W. F. Edwards, pp. 466, 467. 1 ' Culaohh, the back part of any tiling.' — Armstrong's Gaelic Dictionari/. 2 ' Culaton, estremitri, parte deretana : culaton d'l pan, orliccio, cstrc- mitil del pane.' — Ponza, Vocaholario Piemontese-Italiano. ' Cularvm sig- nific proprement lieu recule, cxtremite.' — Pilot, Ilistoirc dc Grcnohlc, p. 2. 3 If the frontier of the Caturiges was, in the time of Hannibal, near Orelle, he would, after passing tho Rock of Baunc, soon enter into the territory of a different tribe from the one which had attacked him there. That such was the case, has been previously conjectured. Sec p. 112. ■* Qucsta piccola cittil, di cui s' ignora la fondazione, sino dall' anno 340 avea il noine di Moriaiia ed un proprio vescovo: ne prose il non\o di S. Giovanni clio dopo la niclh del sccolo VI, in cui il re Gontranno di Borgogna, scacciatino i Langobardi, vi foco fabbricaro la cattodralia dedicata al Santo prccursoro. — Idncrario dejli Stati Sardi. 176 HANNIBAL'S PASSAGE OF THE ALPS. St Jean de Maurienne. In mediaeval Latin it is called Mau- rienna or Morienna^, while the more complete, and probably more ancient, form of the word is Maurigenna or 3Iorigenna^. Little doubt can be entertained of the identity of the Ro- man Morginnum and the Morigenna of the dark ages^. The station of Turecionicum falls at La Chapelle, an important village in the Lower Maurienne. It has been already spoken of in the description of the route of the Mont Cenis. (Chap. vi. p. 82.) From 3Iantala, (Maltaverne) the Roman roads to Vienne from the Little Mont Cenis and the Little St ^ See Hadriani Valesii Notitia Galliarum, where several passages are quoted from mediaeval writers, in which St Jean de Maurienne is called ' urbs Maurienna' and ' civitas Maurienna,' or, in either case, ' Morienna.' In Baronius it is mentioned by the name ' Geneva Maurienna,' as one of the six sees subject to Vienne. ' Porro ilia sex oppida vel civitates, Gra- tianopolis videlicet, Valentia, Dia, Alba, Vivarium, Geneva Maurienna, in ejus tanquam in proprii Metropolitani obedientia et subjectione per- maneant.' — Baronii Annates, Vol. xviii. An. 1120. It seems to have been ceded by the Franks, under the name of Geneva, to Theodoric the Ostrogoth. See Lebeau, Histoire du Bas-Empire, Vol. vii. p. 196. 2 Auctoritas quod ex antiquo Morinensis ecclesia Viennensi metropoli subdita Juit. Audiens autem gloriosus Guntramnus rex de reliquiis beati Johannis et de miraculis quse ibi Dominus ostenderat, legates suos Moriennam direxit, qui ecclesiam inibi fabricarent, cum circumjacentibus episcopis et comitibus, ubi reliquias beati Johannis Baptista3 reponeret, eamque perfectam episcopo Viennensi, ad cujus dioecesim pertinebat locus, sancto Isychio sacrare prsecepit. Synodum vero postmodum in civitate Cabillonis congregare sanctorum episcoporum fecit, et ibidem sanctum Felmasium episcopum Morigennce ab episcopo Viennensi ordinatum primum constituit, et civitati Viennensi ipsam Mauriennam ecclesiam cum consensu episcoporum subjectam fecit. Ad quam ecclesiam Morigennensem, ubi beati Johannis Baptistse reliquias posuerat, Secusiam civitatem jamdudum ab Italis acceptam cum omnibus pagensibus ipsius loci subjectam fecit, et consensu etiam Romani Ponti- ficis Viennensi ecclcsiao jure perenni episcopus civitatis et vici Mauri- gennce subditum esse decrovit. — Appendix to the Works of Gregory of Tours. 3 The ' Morginno* of the Peutingcrian Table should, perhaps, be * Morginna* Vienna, in this Table, is written ' Vigenna ;' a further argu- ment, if one were required, for the idontiby of 'Morienna' and 'Mori- genna.' HANNIBAL'S PASSAGE OF THE ALPS. 177 Bernard were coincident. They went, by Lemincum (Le- menc), across the Chartreuse mountains (probably by the Mont du Chat), to Augustum (Aoste de St Genix) ; and thence by way of Bergusium (Bourgoin), to Vienna Allohro- gum, now Vienne. It seems, then, from the agreement of two entirely different lines of argument, that a JRoman road must have crossed the Little Mont Cenis. For that conclusion has been drawn, in the first instance, from considerations quite independent of the names of the stations ; the result hav- ing been arrived at by applying to the Peutingerian table an indispensable correction upon a system naturally sug- gested by a previously discovered and corrected error in the Table. The remarkable coincidences with respect to the names of the Roman stations seem to render it highly improbable, that the conclusion previously drawn should have been erroneous. The grounds, on Avhich it may be presumed that the Mont Cenis was crossed by Julius Caesar, are derived from the following passage in the first book de Bello Gallico : ' Ipse (Caesar) in Italiam magnis itineribus contendit : duasque ibi legiones conscribit ; ct tres, quai circa Aqui- leiam hiemabant, ex hibernis educit; et, qua proximum iter in ultcriorem Galliam per Alpcs erat, cum his quin- que legionibus ire contendit. Ibi Centroncs, et Garoceli, ct Caturiges, locis superioribus occupatis, itinerc exercitum prohibcre conantur. Compluribus his pra^liis pulsis, ab Occlo, quod est citcrioris provincia3 extrcmum, in fines Vocontiorum ulterioris provincise die septimo pervenit: inde in Allobrogum fines, ab Allobrogibus in Scgusianos exercitum ducit. Hi sunt extra provinciam trans Rho- danum primi.' Cesar's passage of the Alps was opposed by three tribes; the Centroncs, the Garoceli, and llie Caturiges. The Centroncs lived in the Tarcntaisc : the Caturiges bor- dering on the Centroncs, (who must be the Caturiges here spoken of) in the Upper Mauricnnc. The third tribe, the 12 178 HANNIBAL'S PASSAGE OF THE ALPS. Garoceli, is mentioned by C?esar only. Their name does not occur in Strabo, Pliny, or Ptolemy. The natural con- clusion from these omissions is, that the Garoceli are mentioned by those authors under some other name. They appear, in fact, to be identical Avith the MeduUi, the city of St Jean de Maurienne being mentioned in old docu- ments as Sanctus Joannes Garocellius, a fact which seems to fix the Garoceli in the Lower Maurienne, the country of the Medulli^ Of the three tribes, then, who opposed Csesar's passage, two lived in the Maurienne, and one in the Tarentaise. Caesar must thus have crossed the Alps either by the Mont Cenis or the Little St Bernard. The Vocontian frontier, which Csesar would arrive at by either of these passes, would be situated near the river Drac, which seems to have formed the eastern boundary of the Yocontii. He would, then, reach the banks of the Drac, or the neighbourhood of Grenoble, on the seventh day after leaving Ocelum. Now Ocelum lay, according to Strabo, at a distance of 27 Koman miles below Scingo- magus or Susa^; a measurement which would place it 1 Incolas (Mauriennfe) quamvis nonnulli putcnt eos esse, quos Pli- nius ac Strabo Medullos appellaverunt, seu qui Brannovices Csesari memorantur, nos tamen in ea sententia sumus, ut esse credamus ejus- dera Ceesaris Lib. i. Belli Gallici Garocellos, medios inter Vocontios ac Centrones, id est, inter Montanos, Delphinates, et Tarentasios : eoque magis huic sententise adhseremus, quo in antiquis tabulis ac monumentis, S. Joannis Garocellii vocabulo appellatur legimus clvitatis primariee, qua de agimus, Ecclesiam Cathedralem. — Blaev. Theatrum S (yyiara tco Ti//)^7i'(«a) 7r«X(iyft" tua ti]v hiu Tavpiixov, ijV \\vvil-ias 8i>jX0fu' ftrn t^v 8ia ^(iX(t(r(Twv' T(T('ij)Trjv fif, Ti)v fii(« 'VuiTtov' I'lTTaads Ky)7/nj'a)(5f«f. — Strabo, Lib. IV. Cap. G. 182 HANNIBAL'S PASSAGE OF THE ALPS. several times, and is himself his own historian, so that the character of his evidence is perfect. Yet he only alludes to two passes, the Mont Cenis, and the pass through the country of the Veragri, (i.e.) the Great St Bernard •. He does not appear ever to have crossed the Mont Genevre. The Little Mont Cenis was thus, it is probable, the most ancient pass of the two which led through the country of the Taurini. The route of the Mont Genevre, as given by Strabo, led, by way of Embrun and the Durance, to Aries and Nimes. The cross road from Gap, to Die and Valence, is not mentioned by him. The route of the Mont Genevre, as far as can be gathered from Strabo, was only known by him as a road to Aries and Nimes, and as leading to the Ehone by way of the Durance. The route of the Little ]Mont Cenis passed through the country of the MeduUi, and would thus lead into the Graisivaudan, and reach the Ehone by way of the Isere. It was however, in the neighbourhood of the embou- chure of the Isere, and not of the Durance, that Hannibal struck off from the banks of the Ehone to cross the Alps. It would therefore, on this account alone, be more pro- bable, from what Strabo says, that Hannibal crossed the Alps by the Little Mont Cenis, and not by the Mont Genevre. It appears then, on the whole, that the Little Mont Cenis has the best claim to be considered as ' the pass through the country of the Taurini, which Hannibal crossed,' it being probably of more ancient date than the Mont Genevre, and more consistent with what is known of Hannibal's march along the Ehone. It is not contended, that it is certain, from this passage in Strabo, and from the fact of the antiquity of the road over the Little Mont Cenis, that it was by this way that Hannibal crossed the 1 De Bello Gallico, Lib. in. These two passes appear to have been known from the most remote historic times. The passes by which the Gauls effected their earliest emigrations into Italy, according to Livy, (v. 34, 35,) were two in number ; one through the country of the Tau- rini, and one by the Pennine Alps. HANNIBAL'S PASSAGE OF THE ALPS. 183 Alps. The evidence, however, derived from the knowledge of the Roman roads, is, as far as it goes, in favour of the Little Mont Cenis ; and the amount of probability, what- ever it be, which can be drawn from such testimony, rests with that pass, and weakens a theory in support of any other ; and thus the very grounds, on the supposed strength of which, the claims of the Mont Cenis to be considered as the pass which Hannibal crossed have been rejected, are found, upon examination, to give additional force to those claims. In fact, on whatever authority the enquiry into Hannibal's route be based ; whether it be grounded upon the narrative of Polybius or of Livy, or upon the know- ledge of the ancient roads across the Alps ; the conclusion reached is always the same, and the Little Mont Cenis is pointed out, in every case, as the pass by which Hannibal effected his descent into the plains of Italy. APPENDIX. Note A. The following routes are taken from Wesseling's Itineraria Romanorum. The first route is directly transcribed from the text. In the second route, three of the various readings given in the notes have been adopted. The reading Cestmria has been preferred to Castiaria. The distance between Cesuaria and Bautas is, also, taken at xxx. instead of xviii. Roman miles. Instead of Cenava, the reading Geneva has been adopted. The modern places supposed to coincide with the ancient stations, have also been set down in the follow ing tables : the reasons for such identification, in addition to those derived from the approxi- mate coincidence of distances, will be afterwards given. ROUTE FROM lYREA TO VIENNE. Ancient Stations. Eporedia Vitricium Augusta Prfetoria. Arebriglum Bergintrum Darantasia Oblimum Ad Publicanos — Mantala Lemincum Labiscone Augustum Bergusium Vienna Modem Places. I Distances given in Ro- man miles. Ivrea Verres Aosta Arpi Bourg St IMaurice Salins (near Moutiers) Ablene Le Fay Maltaverne Lemenc (nearChambery). doubtful Aoste de St Gcnix Bourgoin |Vienne 21 25 25 24 19 13 3 16 16 14 14 16' 20 ROUTE FROM DARANTASIA TO GENEVA. Darantasia. Cesuaria . Bautas — Geneva .... Salins Cesarches Annccy-le-vicux Geneva 24 30 25 13 186 APPENDIX. It will be convenient to consider the second of these routes first. Darantasia must be either at Moutiers or at Salins. In addition to the argument drawn from the agreement of distances, the name of the station indicates tliat it was situated on the Doron, the river wliicli joins the Isere by Moutiers ^ Besides, in the Peutingerian table, Darantasia is placed 10 miles below the station of Axima, clearly the modern Aime. M. Roche, of Mou- tiers, identifies Darantasia rather with Salins than with Moutiers. The signification of the name of the Roman station makes Salins also preferable. The name of Cesarches, and its distance from Salins, point it out as the Roman Cesuaria. Cesarches is a village lying on the left bank of the Arly, a short distance above Albertville. The modern road from Albertville, to Annecy and Geneva, lies on the right bank of the Arly. Bautas is generally placed at Annecy-le-vieux, which appears to be situated at about the right distance from Cesarches, and also from Geneva. The name of Bautas is perhaps identical with that of Pautas (in Italian Pautasso) a place one or two miles to the west of Carignano in Piedmont. Pautass in Piedmontese signi- fies *a marsh,' so that the name Pautas seems identical with the French La Palud, which occurs in several places. The plain where the modern Annecy is built may anciently have been a marshy tract : or if the word Bautas be supposed entirely iden- tical with the Latin Pains, the lake of Annecy itself may be pointed out under this designation 2. It has been already conjectured, that Arebrigium, on the first route, should be placed at Arpi rather than at Pre St Didier. Nothing else, with respect to this route, calls for notice before arriving at Darantasia. Oblimum, (otherwise Ohilonna), the first station after Darantasia, seems fixed, both by name and distance, at Ablene. Ad Publicanos lay three miles below Oblimum. Le Faj', on the left bank of the Isere, is about that distance from Ablene. It would also be at about the right distance from Cesuaria or Cesarches. The river was probably crossed at this place, and the Roman Provincia entered. Toll would be taken in passing by the *Publicani3.' ' The lirst part of the word Daran-tasia seems plainly to be the name of the river Doron. The second part probably remains in the name of the village of Thet/s, not far from Alkvard, in Dauphin^. The Irish Tengliais, ' dwelling-places,' will be another variation of the old Celtic word. Darantasia thus means, ' the dwellings on the Doron.' See also Edwards' Kecherches sur les laugues Celliques, pp. 466, 467- « See Diefenbach's Cellica, i. 183, Art. 278. • The Welsh word 'Fat' means 'an extreme;' ' Faig,' ' an extremity' or 'furthest APPENDIX. 187 The road, having crossed the Isere at Le Fay, would pass, by way of Ayton, and over the Arc, to Mantala or Maltaverne. Recrossing the Isere at Montmelian, it would arrive at Lemincum (Lemenc). The Chartreuse mountains were, in all probability, traversed by the route of the Mont du Chat, from whence the road descended to Yenne, and went by way of Aoste and Boiu-goin to Vienne. Note B. Oil the position of Ocelum, and of Scingomagus. Ocelum is mentioned by Strabo (Lib. iv. Cap. i.) as being situated at the extremity of the Cottian territory, at a distance of 99 miles from Embrun, and 27 from Scingomagus, where Italy began. Ocelum is again mentioned by Strabo (Lib. v. Cap. i.) as being reached from Placentia by a road along the Po and the Dora, the Dora Susina being here plainly meant. This road is said to be about GO miles long. If reckoned from Placentia, this must be a mistake for IGO: if reckoned from the point, where the road would begin to follow up the Po, (i. e. from near the modern Casale) the distance would be nearly correct, if Ocelum lay not far from Avigiiana. As the road from Placentia would skirt the river Po first, Ocelum must have lain by the Dora Susina. At Ocelum, Strabo says, the Alps and Gaul begin. He had previously placed the beginning of Italy at Scingomagus. It was consequently the Alps which began from Ocelum, and then, after the mountains had been entered for some time, Gaul began at Scingomagus. But perhaps Strabo here speaks of the Cottian territory as part of Gaul, in which case it would be cor- rect to say, that Gaul began from Ocelum. Cajsar speaks of Ocelum as the last place in the Koman province of Cisalpine Gaul. It appears then, that Ocelum stood in the province of Cis- alpine Gaul, on the frontier of the Cottian land, at the foot of the Alps, on the banks of the Dora Susina, and a distance of 99 miles from Embrun. Ocelum is generally considered to be identical with Usseau in the \'al Pragelas. The similarity of the name is the only reason for this supposition ^ Usseau is about 70 miles from point.' Owen's Welsh Diet. The name of Le Fay niiglu thus point to the fact of its hcin«5 the limit of the I'rovincia. ' Ocelum was a common name for a Celtic town. Besides tlie Usscait mentioned in the text, the towns and villages of Ossola and Usseylio m Italy, Usscl and Issoh- 188 APPENDIX. Embrun, by the road over the Mont Gen^vre and the Col de Sestri^res, is not on the banks of the Dora Susina, is not at the foot of the Alps, but far within them, and could hardly have stood on the frontier of the Cottian land, but a long way within its borders. Avigliana (Ad Fines), according to the Itineraries, was 94 miles from Embrun, and lay on the banks of the Dora, at the foot of the Alps, and on the frontier between the Cottian land and Cisalpine Gaul. Ocelum must thus have been near Avigliana, if not actually upon that spot. The modern Buttigliera perhaps corresponds most nearly in position to the ancient Ocelum. Scingomagus lay 27 miles from Ocelum, and therefore 72 from Embrun. By the Itineraries, Susa was 70 miles from Embrun, and, by the Peutingerian table, 72. According to Strabo, Italy began at Scingomagus; according to the Jerusalem Itinerary, Italy began at Susa. It seems thus quite evident, that Scingo- magus, and Secusio or Susa, were the same place ^. dun in France, and Ochiltree (i. e. Uchel-tre, ' the high-town,' Chahners' Caledonia) in Scotland, all shew their connexion with the old name. The root of the word is found in the Breton uc^hel and the Welsh ^l^el, both signifying high, towns being commonly built upon heights, as defensible positions. The proper meaning of Oce- lum seems to be a, fort or strong place. The Usseau of the Val Pragelas would pro- bably have been one of those ocela but the mere identity of name, when the appel- lation was so common, is not sufficient to compensate the complete discrepancy, in point of situation, between Usseau and the Ocelum of Cffisar and Strabo. ' The termination magus is not uncommon. Caluriges (now Chorges) is called Catorigomagus in the Peutingerian table. In Rotomagus (Rouen), Noviomagus (Speyer), and Borbetomagus (Worms), it also appears. This termination seems to be the Latin form of the Celtic magh, ' a field,' a word apparently preserved in the names of the Irish towns o( Omagh and Armagh. (See Diefenbach's Cellica, i. 77, Art. 105.) In the first part of the word Scingo-magus, ( SKiyyo/xayos) the name of the tribe Segusini or Seeusini is probably involved. rtx ^. 0 < o '^i^f^H <■' .- > ■ ' '■/, ' I - 'M^ 'M ^1 ■>,•<>'