3 – He Used Innovative Ways to Break the Rocks He Encountered in the Alps
His legendary march through the Alps would have broken a lesser commander. The Carthaginians faced a torrid ordeal that could have ended his plan to attack Rome before it even began. As well as trekking through difficult terrain, there was the small matter of ambushes by mountain tribes. During the course of the march, the Carthaginians lost a significant number of men because of skirmishes and falls.
During the journey, Hannibal was routinely blocked by giant boulders, so he had to think of ingenious ways to get rid of them. On one occasion, the march was halted in a particularly dangerous area by giant rocks. As the men were in no condition to move the rocks through sheer force, Hannibal had to think of a cunning plan to clear the path.
He apparently ordered his men to build fires to heat up the boulders until they became incredibly hot. The next step was to throw vats of wine/vinegar on the stones. The rapid transition from hot to cold caused the boulders to crack. The larger the cracks became, the easier it was to pour more liquid in which caused the cracks to expand even further. Eventually, the rocks were weak enough that Hannibal’s men were able to remove the boulders.
As always, it is worth looking at the likelihood of such a deed. The main issue is: Where did the Carthaginians get such a large supply of wine or vinegar and how they did carry it with them? Polybius doesn’t mention the incident at all although Pliny does write about the vinegar. Regardless of how he achieved it, the passage through the Alps was a remarkable achievement and gave Hannibal the platform to get to the heart of Italy.