07-06-2011, 11:41 AM
Quote:It's a hell of a long way from the Atlas to Senegal, across some major desert! There are several rivers flowing south from the Atlas, and one of these is perhaps more likely - the Draa, for example, in southern Morocco, which has sizeable palm groves (which I've visited myself, although I saw no snakes or elephants!). Pliny is also rather prone to exaggeration....Perhaps, but of course the desert between Marocco and Senegal was not what it is today. There would have been far less pure desert and the grazing area would have been a lot wider. As to elephants, the Carthaginians had access to those. If getting them North would have been an extremely arduous task, I doubt they would have been able to sustain their number..
Robert Vermaat
MODERATOR
FECTIO Late Romans
THE CAUSE OF WAR MUST BE JUST
(Maurikios-Strategikon, book VIII.2: Maxim 12)
MODERATOR
FECTIO Late Romans
THE CAUSE OF WAR MUST BE JUST
(Maurikios-Strategikon, book VIII.2: Maxim 12)