71. On questions of this sort no certainty can be attained, but I think the balance of probability inclines to some such route as I suggest for Hannibal. The earliest Roman road from Spain to Italy crossed the Rhone at Tarascon and crossed the Durance at (or near) Cavaillon, and then followed the Durance to its source on the pass of Mont Genèvre. I think that Hannibal took this route from Spain as far as Tarascon, but instead of going straight across country (as the road did) from Tarascon to Cavaillon, he followed the Rhone to its confluence with the Durance and then followed the Durance to Cavaillon or somewhere near there. Then he went out of his way, going a little to the north, either to avoid Scipio or obtain supplies; but he returned to the Durance somewhere near Mirabeau and followed it as far as Mont Dauphin--but not as far as Mont Genèvre, for that was Pompey’s pass, and Pompey’s was a different pass from Hannibal’s. Leaving the Durance at Mont Dauphin, he went up the valley of the Guil, seized the gorge below the Château de Queyras on the second night and camped near Ville Vieille on the third and fourth nights; camped near Aiguilles on the fifth night, near La Monta on the sixth and somewhere above Les Chalps on the seventh; went astray into a gorge next day, but reached the summit the day after, and camped there on the ninth, tenth and eleventh nights. On beginning the descent he was stopped by a landslip, and camped there on the twelfth night; camped near Crissolo on the thirteenth night, near Paesana on the fourteenth and near Saluzzo on the fifteenth, but without his elephants, as the landslip stopped them for three days. 72. In speaking of the battle of Raphia, the year after Hannibal’s passage of the Alps, Polybios says (v. 84. 5, 6) that Antiochos had Indian elephants and Ptolemy had African elephants, and that the African gave way before the Indian, being no match for it in size or strength. African elephants might be expected in an army coming from Africa, yet Polybios speaks of the mahouts as Indians (i. 40. 15, iii. 46. 7, xi. 1. 12) not only in Hannibal’s army but in other armies coming from there. The elephants, however, are clearly African (as shown by their large ears) on the coins the Carthaginians struck at Cartagena while they were in possession of Spain. The elephant here, and the other at the beginning, are taken from two of these coins which are nearly contemporary with Hannibal. [Illustration] CAMBRIDGE: PRINTED BY W. LEWIS AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS * * * * * * Transcriber’s note: Punctuation, hyphenation, and spelling were made consistent when a predominant preference was found in the original book; otherwise they were not changed. Simple typographical errors were corrected. Extra blank lines between some sections are indicated by rows of five spaced asterisks.