06-20-2007, 02:02 AM
To Dan Z. :-
I can see a famous photo op. of "Hannibal" mounted on his elephant happening yet ! 8)
Some more information on this subject. The incident you referred to was Hannibal's triumphal entry into Capua, after it defected to him following Cannae (216 b.c.).
Contrary to popular belief, not all Hannibal's elephants were the North African kind ! Some at least were Indian. Cato recorded that the bravest elephant was called Sura which translates as "the Syrian". Syria was where the Ptolemies had captured Indian elephants from the Seleucids, and Ptolemy had almost certainly supplied Carthage.
During the severe winter of 218/217 b.c. ,Hannibal lost the last of his elephants save one, in all likelihood Cato's Sura. (He also lost an eye, either as a result of opthalmia, or a wound in a skirmish.)
In support of this is a bronze coin found in the Chiana valley, on Hannibal's route to Lake Trasimene, and minted c.217b.c, which shows the head of an African (negroid features,curly hair), and on the reverse, an obviously Indian elephant, rather than the usual African depicted on such coins, and so the coin almost certainly shows Hannibal's last elephant,Sura
This is rather fortuitous, as any circus elephant etc you come across is going to be Indian ! You could get the mahout to wear hooded cloak etc while you ride resplendant in purple and fine armour on the back, accepting the acclamation of the troops and crowds !!
Definitely an impression worth striving toward !!
I can see a famous photo op. of "Hannibal" mounted on his elephant happening yet ! 8)
Some more information on this subject. The incident you referred to was Hannibal's triumphal entry into Capua, after it defected to him following Cannae (216 b.c.).
Contrary to popular belief, not all Hannibal's elephants were the North African kind ! Some at least were Indian. Cato recorded that the bravest elephant was called Sura which translates as "the Syrian". Syria was where the Ptolemies had captured Indian elephants from the Seleucids, and Ptolemy had almost certainly supplied Carthage.
During the severe winter of 218/217 b.c. ,Hannibal lost the last of his elephants save one, in all likelihood Cato's Sura. (He also lost an eye, either as a result of opthalmia, or a wound in a skirmish.)
In support of this is a bronze coin found in the Chiana valley, on Hannibal's route to Lake Trasimene, and minted c.217b.c, which shows the head of an African (negroid features,curly hair), and on the reverse, an obviously Indian elephant, rather than the usual African depicted on such coins, and so the coin almost certainly shows Hannibal's last elephant,Sura
This is rather fortuitous, as any circus elephant etc you come across is going to be Indian ! You could get the mahout to wear hooded cloak etc while you ride resplendant in purple and fine armour on the back, accepting the acclamation of the troops and crowds !!
Definitely an impression worth striving toward !!
"dulce et decorum est pro patria mori " - Horace
(It is a sweet and proper thing to die for ones country)
"No son-of-a-bitch ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country" - George C Scott as General George S. Patton
Paul McDonnell-Staff
(It is a sweet and proper thing to die for ones country)
"No son-of-a-bitch ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country" - George C Scott as General George S. Patton
Paul McDonnell-Staff
