ON THE FOSSIL BONES OF THE ELEPHANT OF THE RUSSIANS. 233 



a moment near Fesulce, and must then have passed beneath Arezzo, 

 and followed the valley of Chiana on his way to his position between 



the capture of Placenza, which took place in the winter subsequent to the battle of 

 Trebbia, he speaks of a first attempt to cross the Apennines made by Hannibal, when 

 he was deceived by a false spring; and he eloquently describes the storms that obliged 

 him to renounce that enterprise and fall back upon Placenza. He even states ex- 

 pressly, that it was on this precise occasion that the Carthaginians lost seven of the 

 elephants which had survived the battle of Trebbia, and that they had but one re- 

 maining. Near Placenza, moreover, they had a fresh encounter with the Consul 

 Sempronius, in which they were again successful. After this Hannibal entered Li- 

 guria, while Sempronius fell back upon Lucca. 



Nevertheless, in the commencement of the spring, Hannibal, whose first attempt 

 to cross the Apennines had proved abortive, abandoned his winter-quarters, (book 

 xxii. chap, i.) and having learned that Flaminius was already at Arezzo, although 

 he was shown a longer but a more convenient road, he decided in favour of one tra- 

 versing the marshes, rendered more than usually deep by the inundations of the 

 Arno. Livy then describes the march of the Carthaginian general in terms similar 

 to those of Polybius, and likewise conducts him to Fesulce. He remarks that he was 

 in one of the most fertile countries in Italy, the part of Etruria situated between 

 Fesulce and Arezzo, or, ia other terms, the upper valley of the Amo : then having, 

 like Polybius, stated the estimate formed by Hannibal of the character of Flaminius, 

 he adds (chap, iii.), that, leaving the enemy on his left, and proceeding towards Fe- 

 sulce (Fesulas pet ens), he did his utmost to devastate Etruria. He then speaks of 

 the irritation of Flaminius, and suddenly mentions (chap, iv.) that Hannibal ravaged 

 the country between Cortona and Thrasimenc. The remainder of the narrative of 

 Livy is identical with that of Polybius. 



It is the expression, Fesulas pet ens, that has thrown all the difficulty round the sub- 

 ject : it is either the mistake of Livy or of his copyists. It is very clear that Han- 

 nibal, who is represented as occupying the country between Fesulse and Arezzo, and 

 as anxious to entice Flaminius from Arezzo towards Cortona, could not have 

 taken a road in an opposite direction, and at the same time return towards Fe- 

 sulae. Hence Livy, like Polybius, should have made him leave Fesulce, and not 

 have made him proceed towards it ; perhaps, too, the original expression was Fesulas 

 Hnquens, instead of Fesulas petens. In that case, his narrative would correspond with 

 that of Polybius in this particular, as it does in every other mentioned by them both. 

 Livy's addition would then be confined to the single circumstance, that the marshes 

 in question were those of the Arno, marshes which are in point of fact as dangerous 

 as any in Italy, and a great part of which are remaining to this day, not only in the 

 delta of this river, and farther on to the north, in the direction of Liguria, but in 

 the entire extent of the lower valley of the Arno, and more particularly near Fucec- 

 chio, and wi'rhin a few leagues of Fesulce. 



It only remains for us then to fix upon the precise point where the Apennines 

 were crossed. 



Now Cornelius Nepos tells us (Hannib. ch. iv.), per Ligures Apenninum transiif, 

 petens Etruriam. He crossed the Apennines in Liguria, on his way to Etruria ; 

 and he adds, that it was on this occasion that he lost his eye. 



This fact, thus attested by Cornelius Nepos and Livy, must have suggested itself 

 to every person of common sense. 



For where is itnatural to suppose that Hannibal, setting out from Placenza after 

 the battle of Trebbia, and not choosing to pursue the road that was convenient, but 

 too long, and too well known to the Romans — that is, the road by way of Modena and 

 Bologna — where is it natural to suppose, I say, that he would cross the Apennines ? 

 The answer is simple — At the spot where he then was, near the sources of the 

 Trebbia and the Taro, thence he must have descended towards those of the Magra — " 

 in a word, he must have followed the road of Pontremoli. It is from thence he must 

 have descended on the marshes of the Arno, then much more extensive, and less 

 confined by dykes than they are at present. He must have passed up the valley of 

 the Arno until he reached the firmer ground at the foot of Fesulse and surrounding 

 Florence ; thenoe passing along the upper valley of the Arno, he proceeded onwards 



