Elephants in Rome?

[Gladius Hispaniensis]

Ave

I was reading Gibbon's "Decline and Fall" and he writes "The unpracticed elephants, whose uncouth appearance, it was hoped, would strike terror into the army of the north ...". This passage referred to the preparation of Didus Julianus to meet the Pannonian legions of Septimius Severus that were marching on Rome.

How accurate is this? I was rather surprised at the Praetorian Guard having elephants.

Thanks in advance.

[Gladius Hispaniensis]

Sorry I just realised I posted in the wrong section. Oops.

[Epictetus]

I believe Gibbon's source was Cassius Dio.

Julianus, on learning of this, caused the senate to declare Severus a public enemy, and proceeded to prepare against him. In the suburbs he constructed a rampart, provided with gates, so that he might take up a position out there and fight from that base. The city during these days became nothing more nor less than a camp, in the enemy's country, as it were. Great was the turmoil on the part of the various forces that were encamped and drilling, — men, horses, and elephants, — and great, also, was the fear inspired in the rest of the population by the armed troops, because the latter hated them. Yet at times we would be overcome by laughter; for the Pretorians did nothing worthy of their name and of their promise, for they had learned to live delicately; the sailors summoned from the fleet stationed at Misenum did not even know how to drill; and the elephants found their towers burdensome and would not even carry their drivers any longer, but threw them off, too.

Cassius Dio, Roman History, 74.16

I think many people believe the elephants came from the circus, and were not war elephants. This kind of make sense when you read what problems the elephants gave the troops.

[Michael J. Taylor]

One also thinks of the elephants that accompanied Claudius in his invasion of Britain (Cassius Dio, 60.21.2). It may be that war elephants, perhaps by now more for show than for tactical purposes, were simply part of the imperial train when he went on campaign.

[Macedon]

Specifically about the elephants used by Julianus, Herodian (2.11.9) writes that they were being used in Rome for various processions, so they were mainly trained for show rather than war.

[Flavivs Aetivs]

Would have been great psychological warfare considering few soldiers would have seen them before.

[ValentinianVictrix]

There is of course the pen & ink drawings of the Column of Arcadius/Column of Theodosius that shows Elephants being used as part of the baggage train. And there is the famous 5th century AD ivory dyptch that shows an Elephant being used to transport baggage.