Elephants are the largest land animals on the planet. Twice as tall as a man and weighing 60 times as much, they are giant manifestations of nature’s power. As with fire however, it wouldn’t be long before humans sought to tame this raw force. The end result is that as early as the first millennium BC, these animals were forged into tools of war and by the time of antiquity would become the most feared weapons on the battlefield. This is especially true in the west when we turn to the region of North Africa. Today let us explore the famed War Elephants of Carthage. this video was sponsored by Magellan TV they're an awesome documentary streaming service run by filmmakers with a selection of over 2000 videos to choose from among the categories of history science nature space and more when it comes to history documentaries Magellan TV has the richest and most varied content anywhere ancient modern current war biography and even related genres like science and crime which are historical in nature if you like our content I can highly recommend you check out the documentary series ancient Greece the greatest show on earth which covers the fascinating history of ancient Greece through the lens of its theater performances Magellan TV is compatible with roku amazon firetv Apple TV Google Play and iOS which means you can watch it anytime anywhere on your television laptop or mobile device sign up today to get a one-month free membership trial by visiting the link in the description below or going to try Magellan tv.com/invicta Carthage was founded in 814 BC as a Phoenician colony in North Africa.
It inherited much from its mother city, becoming a formidable trade and naval power. However this did not include a strong tradition of land warfare or a familiarity with elephants. Over time though as the Carthaginian Empire expanded so too did its military. This evolution mainly involved augmenting or outright replacing its native troops with auxiliary and mercenary forces. Doing so allowed the Punic army to leverage the military expertise of many nations whilst shielding the Punic citizenry from military losses. In this way, the Carthaginians were able to fight dozens of wars of expansion which won them a vast Empire. We should note that all of this took place in the first 500 years of its history without the use of the famed war elephants. These mighty animals first entered the picture in the late 3rd century BC during the campaigns of Pyrrhus of Epirus.
The ambitious general had come to defend the Greeks in the west and had brought with him not just a crack army, but also 20 war elephants. They were first used against the Romans in Italy and then the Carthaginians in Sicily. Despite their relatively limited killing power, the elephants made quite the psychological impression on the battlefield and were shown to be a promising x-factor. In fact, their use was quickly spreading across the Mediterranean. This was largely a result of Alexander the Great’s campaigns in the east and the escalating warfare between his successors. Carthage did not want to be left behind in the arms race and now seems to have joined the trend.
To do so it likely would have imported elephants and specialists from India through the intermediaries of Egypt and Syria. These were Asian elephants (Elephas Maximus), which stood roughly 3m tall at the shoulder and weighed almost 4 tons. They had a long history of warfare in the east and were highly prized possessions. While Carthage was certainly quite wealthy and capable of buying them in significant quantities, it proved far more economical to source their pachyderms closer to home. As a result, they turned to the exploitation of native African elephants. In these matters they would have had the choice between two options, the Savanna Elephants (Loxodonta Africana) and the Forest Elephants (Loxodonta Cyclotis). The former stood 4m tall at the shoulder and weighed 5 tons while the latter stood only 2.7m tall at the shoulder and weighed 3 tons. Taming the Savanna species would have meant taming the largest terrestrial animal on the planet.
However even the skilled Indian trainers were not up to the task. As a result, Carthage was left to capture the more diminutive Forest Elephants. These were more widespread than today and could have been acquired from the surrounding lands of Libya, Numidia, and Mauretania. The specific method for recruiting and training them is unknown. However it is likely that such activities were similar to those practiced in India. In this case, wild elephants would be captured by herding them into corrals with fire, loud noises, or females. The newly caught animals would then be tied to a post amongst already tamed elephants to lose their aggression by example. If they continued to defy trainers, they might be beaten or starved.
Once submissive, elephants would then be accustomed to the sights, sounds, and smells of battle. Handlers would also teach them how to answer commands, how to maneuver, and even how to kill. This arduous process would be repeated for every war elephant as it proved prohibitively difficult to to breed and raise the animals in captivity given their long reproductive cycle and huge resource demands. But despite these hurdles, Carthage committed itself to the task and within a decade had formed its very own elephant corp. Our earliest record of their use was during the First Punic War. While initially employed quite clumsily they eventually proved to be effective tools and became a staple of the Carthaginian military.
Such was the North African Empire’s commitment to this new weapon system that their capital was supposedly equipped with stables to house up to 300 elephants at a time. If these were full then at its peak, Carthage would have boasted the largest force of war elephants in the Mediterranean. An elephant in and of itself is a terrifying creature to be facing on the battlefield. Their massive size, weight and strength mean they can inflict significant damage against individuals and groups of soldiers. We have records of them trampling men under their feet, goring troops with their tusks, and even picking up and smashing cavalry with their trunks. But as war elephants they would have been equipped with gear to make them even more powerful. Defensively this often meant layering on protection. This might be something as simple as a cloak to offer padding, catch missiles, and make the elephant look more intimidating. Other times though this might be upgraded to actual armour. For instance, vulnerable areas like the legs, neck, and trunk could be wrapped in flexible laminar bands of leather or metal.
Larger swaths of the elephant’s body could be protected by sheets of scale armour. In some cases we even have records of the elephants being outfitted with specialized helmets. Often these included a top plate and frill of feathers to protect the mahout. In terms of offense, this mostly came in the form of human riders. A driver always sat on the elephant's neck but their job was largely restricted to controlling the elephant. Instead, killing power came from additional crew who joined them on the elephants' back wielding close range weapons like a lance or long range weapons like a javelin or bow.
Most war elephants could hold about three of these. The larger elephants might support more weight but given the limited space available they would instead be equipped with a tower. Such howdahs measured about 1 by 2m and were secured on the elephant’s back by way of ropes and chains. Made of wood and adorned with additional armor, they served as robust weapons platforms for mounted warriors. A fully equipped war elephant was thus a fearsome instrument of war. However we should note that not all animals were armed to the maximum extent. In fact, many ancient depictions of war elephants show them virtually bare.
But why? Well for one, specialized gear could be hard to procure and maintain. It also imposed restrictions on mobility. Thus a commander might opt to use stripped down war elephants who were perfectly capable of getting the job done with their own natural advantages. Additionally, there would be limitations imposed by the type of elephant in question. For example, the African forest elephant was on average smaller than its Indian counterpart and thus less suitable for bearing the burdens of heavy gear like a tower. While scholarly debate still surrounds the question of whether standard Punic war elephants carried high tier equipment like howdahs, it is very likely that Carthage was capable of fielding elephants which could when the need arose. Clearly elephants are strong and powerful but how do you use them in battle? This was something of a dilemma that was solved through experimentation on the battlefield. Rather than deal with individual cases we can look broadly at the most common practices. In terms of deployment there were two principle formations. The first involved placing war elephants front and center with a massed line of anywhere from 20 to over 100 beasts.
The second involved placing them on one or both flanks. In either case, the elephant units were placed ahead of the main body of heavy infantry or cavalry. Within the elephant unit, animals were spaced out 15 to 20 m in one or two lines. Between them were placed supporting, light infantry detachments. According to Diodorus, 50 men per elephant was fairly standard in the Mediterranean. These troops would be tasked with softening up enemy formations and keeping them from getting at the vulnerable underbellies and legs of the elephants. Now that we’ve covered deployment, let’s move on to combat. This almost exclusively involved taking the offense in the form of a massive charge. The commander would usually order this attack at the start of the battle with the war elephants thundering across the field towards the enemy like battering rams.
For those on the receiving end, this must have been a terrifying sight. Loose, poorly trained troops often broke before first contact while horses unaccustomed to the strange sights, sounds, and smalls were known to bolt in panic. Strong forces like a phalanx were far more likely to hold their ground. Yet cohesion alone would not protect them as might be the case against cavalry. Elephants and their support team were more than capable of literally ripping apart formations. Here are a couple incredible descriptions from ancient historians: ”Where the creatures joined the fighting some perished underfoot trampled down together with their armour; others were encompassed with their trunks and flung down against the ground: people died a terrible death; many breathed their last pierced through with elephants’ tusks.” “It was especially terrifying to see the elephants seizing armed men with their trunks and passing them overhead to the drivers who slayed them like captured game.” “The action was unlike any of previous contests; for wherever the beasts could wheel round, they rushed forth against the ranks of the infantry and demolished the phalanx of the Macedonians, dense as it was.” Truly war elephants were a force to be reckoned with.
However they were by no means unstoppable. They were animals after all, never fully under control even in the best of circumstances and prone to running amok amongst their own lines. In addition, many militaries eventually devised effective countermeasures to fighting them. But that discussion will have to wait for another time. Let us now turn to the service history of the Carthaginian War Elephants. According to our records, their earliest deployment was in 262 BC at the Battle of Agrigentum during the opening stages of the First Punic War. Here the Carthaginians were only beginning to master this new arm of warfare, apparently deploying their 60 elephants in the second battle line.
They would pay the price for this hesitancy when the retreating front line spooked the elephants, causing them to panic and trample the rest of the army leading to its swift disintegration. Following this humiliating defeat the Carthaginian elephant corp was put on a tight leash. It would only see use again 6 years later when the Roman consul Regulus launched an invasion of North Africa. This time nearly 100 elephants were deployed in a massive line at the front. Their charge struck the Romans like a mighty hammer while cavalry swept around the side and flanks to finish the job. For years, surviving legionaries would tell horror stories of that traumatizing defeat. The Carthaginians had regained confidence in their elephants and now sent them back to Sicily. In response the Romans avoided pitched battle at all costs. However in 251 BC the legions would use a ruse outside of Panormus to draw the feared beats into an ambush beneath the city walls.Thus we see that throughout the First Punic War, elephants would rack up a mixed record of wins and losses.
Shortly after concluding its conflict with Rome, the Carthaginians were embroiled in a bitter internal struggle known as the Mercenary War. Once again the Punic army would turn to its elephants for a miracle. Thankfully they would deliver in the final climactic battle when the general Hamilcar Barca managed to use them to shatter a rebel army twice his size. From this low point, Carthage would bounce back to reassert itself as a powerful empire. War elephants were used in the following campaigns to re-secure North Africa and in the Barcid conquest of Spain. It's from here that they would be roped into Hannibal’s bold plans to invade Rome during the Second Punic War. Famously, 27 of these elephants would brave the alps and make it into the first battle with the Romans at the River Trebia. While they played their part in achieving victory, the presence of the elephants would be short lived when all but one perished in the following weeks.
Elephants would continue to pop up over the course of the Second Punic War. They again appear to have had mixed results and largely take a backseat in the narrative of battles as compared to the more decisive moves of cavalry forces. However they would once again be placed front and center of the action at the epic battle of Zama between Hannibal and Scipio. Here 80 war elephants were unleashed on the Roman lines. In response the legions brilliantly neutralized their charge by opening up lanes, blowing loud horns, and attacking from all sides with skirmishers. Ultimately Carthage was defeated in battle and in turn the war. As a result they were forced to sign a harsh peace treaty with strict military restrictions. These included an absolute ban on the possession of War Elephants. Thus the reign of the Carthaginian elephants had officially come to an end. In reality however their story would not end here. War elephants had proven themselves possible of great achievements and would continue to see action in Mediterranean warfare for years to come. In fact the Romans themselves would even adopt their own war elephants, many of which would come from the same North African herds.
There will be much more to discuss in the future but for now we will conclude our episode. I hope you’ve enjoyed this closer look at one of the most feared units of antiquity. Definitely let us know what Units of History you want us to cover next. A huge thanks is owed to our supporters on Patreon and the many talented researchers, writers, and artists who made this video possible. Please consider contributing to fund future content. If you found this topic interesting, check out these related videos about our fascinating past! Be sure to like and subscribe for more history and check out our description for ways to support the channel. Thanks for watching..
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