Dominic Sandbrook

And Hannibal is not at the front of the column, but suddenly, you know, elephants are piling up and horses and mules and Spaniards and Balearic slingers and everything. And so he's forcing his way through this ever-narrowing path to see what the problem is. And he discovers ahead of him the debris of two separate landslides.

And Hannibal is not at the front of the column, but suddenly, you know, elephants are piling up and horses and mules and Spaniards and Balearic slingers and everything. And so he's forcing his way through this ever-narrowing path to see what the problem is. And he discovers ahead of him the debris of two separate landslides.

And the first landslide has carried away an entire stretch of the mountain, so the face of the mountain. And the second one has kind of added to the general impassibility of this path that they've got to take down. And it's clear to Hannibal immediately that there's no way that the horses, let alone the elephants, can get past it. And most of his men won't be able to either.

And the first landslide has carried away an entire stretch of the mountain, so the face of the mountain. And the second one has kind of added to the general impassibility of this path that they've got to take down. And it's clear to Hannibal immediately that there's no way that the horses, let alone the elephants, can get past it. And most of his men won't be able to either.

And the first landslide has carried away an entire stretch of the mountain, so the face of the mountain. And the second one has kind of added to the general impassibility of this path that they've got to take down. And it's clear to Hannibal immediately that there's no way that the horses, let alone the elephants, can get past it. And most of his men won't be able to either.

The situation is very, very tricky because there are rockfalls. There's still snow. You can't go forward. There's no detours that are possible. So it's kind of very, what is it, going on a bear hunt. They can't go over it. They can't go under it. They've somehow got to find a way to go through it.

The situation is very, very tricky because there are rockfalls. There's still snow. You can't go forward. There's no detours that are possible. So it's kind of very, what is it, going on a bear hunt. They can't go over it. They can't go under it. They've somehow got to find a way to go through it.

The situation is very, very tricky because there are rockfalls. There's still snow. You can't go forward. There's no detours that are possible. So it's kind of very, what is it, going on a bear hunt. They can't go over it. They can't go under it. They've somehow got to find a way to go through it.

So what Hannibal does, he orders his men to retreat to a ridge that's looking over this kind of blockage of debris to clear it of snow, to make camp there. And then he thinks, well, what am I going to do? And it's been mentioned by Juvenal in that passage that you read the previous day where he talks about how Hannibal dissolves rock with vinegar.

So what Hannibal does, he orders his men to retreat to a ridge that's looking over this kind of blockage of debris to clear it of snow, to make camp there. And then he thinks, well, what am I going to do? And it's been mentioned by Juvenal in that passage that you read the previous day where he talks about how Hannibal dissolves rock with vinegar.

So what Hannibal does, he orders his men to retreat to a ridge that's looking over this kind of blockage of debris to clear it of snow, to make camp there. And then he thinks, well, what am I going to do? And it's been mentioned by Juvenal in that passage that you read the previous day where he talks about how Hannibal dissolves rock with vinegar.

And if there are scientists listening, perhaps they could let us know if this is actually feasible or not. But I'll report what Livy says. Livy says that the job that faces Hannibal is to essentially to clear away the rubble and somehow construct a new path out of the precipice, out of the kind of the sheer wall of rock.

And if there are scientists listening, perhaps they could let us know if this is actually feasible or not. But I'll report what Livy says. Livy says that the job that faces Hannibal is to essentially to clear away the rubble and somehow construct a new path out of the precipice, out of the kind of the sheer wall of rock.

And if there are scientists listening, perhaps they could let us know if this is actually feasible or not. But I'll report what Livy says. Livy says that the job that faces Hannibal is to essentially to clear away the rubble and somehow construct a new path out of the precipice, out of the kind of the sheer wall of rock.

because there's no other way down so they have to cut through the rock and the way that hannibal does this is he solves it by the ingenious application of heat and moisture large trees were felled and lopped and a huge pile of timber erected this with the opportune help of a strong wind was set on fire and when the rock was sufficiently heated the men's rations of sour wine were flung upon it to render it friable so that's the vinegar the wine essentially has become vinegar

because there's no other way down so they have to cut through the rock and the way that hannibal does this is he solves it by the ingenious application of heat and moisture large trees were felled and lopped and a huge pile of timber erected this with the opportune help of a strong wind was set on fire and when the rock was sufficiently heated the men's rations of sour wine were flung upon it to render it friable so that's the vinegar the wine essentially has become vinegar

because there's no other way down so they have to cut through the rock and the way that hannibal does this is he solves it by the ingenious application of heat and moisture large trees were felled and lopped and a huge pile of timber erected this with the opportune help of a strong wind was set on fire and when the rock was sufficiently heated the men's rations of sour wine were flung upon it to render it friable so that's the vinegar the wine essentially has become vinegar

They then got to work with picks on the heated rock and opened a sort of zigzag track to minimize the steepness of the descent. And you can see why this is a feat that particularly resonates with Hannibal's enemies. And I mean, to his admirers, it must have seemed an astonishing feat to carve a road out of the sheer rock. I mean, it really is the kind of the stuff of a Greek hero.

They then got to work with picks on the heated rock and opened a sort of zigzag track to minimize the steepness of the descent. And you can see why this is a feat that particularly resonates with Hannibal's enemies. And I mean, to his admirers, it must have seemed an astonishing feat to carve a road out of the sheer rock. I mean, it really is the kind of the stuff of a Greek hero.

They then got to work with picks on the heated rock and opened a sort of zigzag track to minimize the steepness of the descent. And you can see why this is a feat that particularly resonates with Hannibal's enemies. And I mean, to his admirers, it must have seemed an astonishing feat to carve a road out of the sheer rock. I mean, it really is the kind of the stuff of a Greek hero.