The Rhone River valley which Hannibal was crossing was the land of the Volcae. This powerful tribe was not going to let Hannibal cross the river. They withdrew most of their people living on the west bank to the opposite bank. When Hannibal arrived, he faced a hostile host on the other bank. It was clear the crossing would be opposed. Hannibal first set about creating a fleet of boats to cross the river. All craft found in the vicinity were confiscated and more were built. Many of these were canoes carved from tree trunks. Pretty was not a goal. Once he had enough craft to get his army across, there was still the problems of getting landlubbers across a river with a strong current and then getting ashore in the face of a large number of ferocious warriors. And the sundial was moving with winter and the Romans coming. There was no time to spare. On the plus side, the army was led by Hannibal Barca.
Hannibal knew he had to distract the Volcae in order to establish a toehold. He sent a force under Hanno, son of Bomilcar, upriver to find a crossing. He was under orders to cross at night and then when he was ready to attack downriver, he was to send a smoke signal to Hannibal. Hanno proceeded to find a spot which allowed his men to reach the far bank during the night. He let his men recuperate for the next day and then he advanced. When he neared the Volcae, he sent the signal. Hannibal’s motley fleet began its crossing. The Gauls awaited them with mouths drooling. What an idiot this Carthaginian must be. He would have a chance on an open battlefield, but for him to try to cross a river to reach us is lunacy. The crossing did not intimidate the Volcae. Some larger vessels were placed upstream to slow the current, but it still was not going to be easy. Hannibal had men paddling the crudest of canoes. Some held the reins of horses that swam alongside. Some swam next to their horses. Some of the cavalry horses crossed with their riders on rafts. These soldiers would clear the bank for the others to come ashore unhindered. That was if they were not thrown back themselves. There must have been a lot of trepidation about that. The Volcae were yelling and snarling like the barbarians that they were. It seemed impossible. And yet, as the first crossers arrived on the far bank, the enemy began to waver. Many headed back to their camp located a distance from the river. Smoke could be seen from its direction. Part of Hanno’s force was attacking the undefended camp. They were burning the Volcae possessions. Many of them rushed back to save their stuff. The rest were left wondering if they should go too. Meanwhile, the first of Hannibal’s men staggered ashore. As the hardier warriors prepared to deal death, that worst of all sensations hit them. There was a threat to their flank. The rest of Hanno’s men had reached the battlefield and were caving in the right side of the Volcae army. And the crossers were attacking their front. Now the fear was on the opposite faces. The Volcae were routed and the rest of Hannibal’s force was able to cross with no trouble. At least, that was true of his humans. The elephants were a different matter.
One of the more famous stories in Livy’s history is the crossing of the Rhone by Hannibal’s elephants. Livy offers two methods that could have been used. The first had a very good swimmer goading the most respected elephant into chasing him into the water. It is unclear what he did to rile up the elephant, but the elephant charged with such desire to stomp that it suddenly found itself in the river with no option other than swimming across. The other elephants then followed their leader into the river. All reached the far shore. That version seemed pretty far-fetched even to Livy. His other version (which he got from Polybius) is the one that caught on with historians. As the first version implied, the trick was getting the elephants to leave solid ground. Perhaps they were tricked by the perfidious Punics. This involved constructing an earthen causeway from the bank to the water’s edge. At the end of this mole a large raft was attached. This raft was covered with earth to simulate solid ground. And then a second raft was attached to the first raft. The elephants could then be herded across the causeway and the first raft until they were on the crossing raft. The female elephants led the way and the bulls followed. So far so good, but you can imagine the elephants’ consternation when the raft was cut loose to be towed to the far bank. This is when they knew something was up. Most milled around in confusion. Some panicked and jumped into the river, drowning their mahouts. But most of these elephants were able to swim to the other side with their trunks above the water like a snorkel. In the end, most of Hannibal’s elephants crossed and I bet their mahouts assured them that the worst was over. Those lying mahouts!
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