Hannibal’s Crossing of the Alps

Hannibals fording of the the the Alps is one of historys almost remarkable military achievements even to this day. There are numerous accounts of the product of the Alps and what happened during those weeks and we enkindle plainly speculate and put on the sources and instruction that has lived through the decay of time. Our chief(prenominal) primary sources that historiographers use to piece together the track of the Alps are by two of capital of Italys most famous historians, Polybius and Livy.Polybius was a rattling rounded and mostly non- colorful historian who got give away of his centering to travel to his locations to document facts and information which he used in his text and who lived during the time of the First and reciprocal ohm perfidious Wars. On the other hand we have Livy who was a very pro-Roman historian who had documented his facts found on other historians who were before him as he lived almost 200 years after the perfidious wars.When we compare the two accounts by both historians we tend to believe and rely more on the accounts make by Polybius as we know him as a reliable and fairly non-biased source whereas Livy was very biased towards capital of Italy and based his information off of other historians. Although we see Polybius as the more reliable source, Livy does happen up with more or less points that concern the crossing that are quite conflicting with the information presented to us by Polybius. By analysing both of these accounts we can get a better understanding of the crossing of Hannibals crossing of the Alps.Polybius who was a very reliable historian who we know lived around 200-118 BC during the time of the two Punic Wars provided a very detailed account of both Punic wars and Hannibals crossing of the Alps. Polybius is known for his determination to get actual factual evidence and firsthand experience of causas that occurred. He resided in Rome for most of his life and occasionally undertaking massive journeys throughout the Mediterranean to get association on historical sites and interview primary sources who were actually at the events.Polybiuss works (The Histories) documents the events between 264 and 146 BC which mainly problematic the rise of the Roman Empire and the effort in which they went to subdue their rival Carthage. Polybius documents the First and Second Punic wars with incredible detail and is our main source for the wars, although Livy also provides some very important facts and information. Titus Livius Patavinus (59 BC AD 17) (more commonly known as Livy) we know as to be a very pro- Roman historian who can be seen as very biased towards the Romans and paints them in an honourable and almighty glow indoors his texts.Some of his texts we can see as just plain lies and so we are reluctant to solely use Livys information to base our research and understanding around. Livy wrote a complete history of Rome from its very foundations all the way up to the reign o f Augustus in Livys own time but the only surviving work of his is the History of Rome. During the reign of Augustus Livy wrote his texts emphasizing the accomplishments and triumphs of Rome, and wrote everything with a pro-Roman view to promote a new type of government which was implemented by the emperor Augustus.With that being said a hatful of Livys texts and accounts mislead to reader into taking a Roman view and often cut out pieces of information which would downgrade the view on Rome, and so we have come to rely more on Polybiuss accounts than Livys, although Livy does also provide many accounts and descriptions of events that are unavailable elsewhere and so his texts and reports are restrained highly valued is one of the main sources we have. Both Polybiuss and Livys accounts of Hannibals crossing of the Alps can be seen to have many similarities and so we can determine that the same source and information has been used.Although there are many similarities between the tw o there are also some differences which can be seen throughout both texts. For example when Hannibal is crossing the Alps and he soon finds his path out of use(p) by a pile of rocks Livy states that he uses Vinegar and Fire to break through the rock. Polybius says nothing of the up to(p) and up to this day there has been no evidence of rock that has been carbonized at the site in which Livy had stated. Livys accounts of the crossing were very much the same as Polybiuss although we can see in some parts of Livys work that his Roman bias has written the work for him.When Hannibal was making a expression to his men after their crossing of the Rhone Polybius wrote that Hannibal spoke of their past achievements and that the hardest part of their journey was already over, but concord to Livy Hannibal told his men that they were going to be fighting against the most powerful and grandest city in the world. This was not the cause in Hannibals time and so we can clearly see that Livy ha d just created a foolish fact and account just to paint Rome in a brighter light.Livys biased for Rome is something that constantly alters Livys accounts. Much of Hannibals ascent and crossing of the Alps documented by Polybius and Livy are very similar with only a few minor alterations in the accounts of some events which took place. The main savvy why the accounts of some events are different is mainly because of Livys biased and attitude towards Rome which makes him document the account and alter it in such a way that it paints Rome in a disposition of glory and success.Another main reason which dictates the differences of the accounts is that Polybius who lived during the time of these events could go to places and get a firsthand experience and knowledge of the event by interviewing the people involved and taking notes on the actual location whereas Livy who lived a long time after the crossing had to rely on other peoples accounts and could not get firsthand knowledge on a lot of the events.The crossing of the Alps is a fairly well documented event during the Second Punic war and one that is the most remarkable. Polybius and Livy both have very detailed accounts of the crossing and we rely on this information to piece together Hannibals crossing of the Alps. Although some of the facts of the crossing hold on disputed and unknown we have sufficient information between both sources to have a unsloped understanding of the crossing.Both historians give a lot of information on the crossing although we tend to use Polybiuss account as it is more reliable and he had firsthand experience and knowledge whereas we know Livy to be a very pro-Roman and did not live during the event but many years later. Both accounts of the crossing have proved to be very useful for our understanding of Hannibals crossing of the Alps.