Late September 218 BC, the fifth day
The crossing
At the signal Hannibal launches his boats. The large boats with the cavalry cross furthest upstream to break the current, with horses swimming behind them on leads, and the canoes with the infantry cross below them. Hannibal is among the first across. The Gauls crowd the bank, shouting and beating their shields.
Hannibal’s army and elephants crossing the Rhône on boats and rafts, Italian etching of about 1565 to 1630, RijksmuseumWikimedia Commons, Rijksmuseum, CC0 (De olifanten van Hannibal steken de rivier de Rhône over, RP-P-OB-37.731.jpg)
As the first boats reach the shore, Hanno’s men fall on the Gauls from behind, and a detachment sets their camp on fire. Caught between the two, the Gauls give way after a short fight and scatter, leaving the bank to the Carthaginians. By nightfall most of the army is across.
Sources
- Polybius, Histories, book 3, 43.
- Livy, History of Rome, book 21, 27 to 28.
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