The Classical Review http://journals.cambridge.org/CAR Additional services for The Classical Review: Email alerts: Click here Subscriptions: Click here Commercial reprints: Click here Terms of use : Click here Osiander's Route of Hannibal Der Hannibalweg. Von Wilhelm Osiander. Berlin, Weidmannsche Buchhandlung. 1900. Pp. 204. Price 8 Mk. G. E. Marindin The Classical Review / Volume 15 / Issue 05 / June 1901, pp 274 - 278 DOI: 10.1017/S0009840X00030432, Published online: 27 October 2009 Link to this article: http://journals.cambridge.org/abstract_S0009840X00030432 How to cite this article: G. E. Marindin (1901). The Classical Review, 15, pp 274-278 doi:10.1017/ S0009840X00030432 Request Permissions : Click here Downloaded from http://journals.cambridge.org/CAR, IP address: 134.83.1.243 on 25 Mar 2015 274 THE CLASSICAL REVIEW. YEAR. TACITUS 61 Tigranes' invasion of Adiabene. Monaeses' siege of him in Tigrano- xv. 1-6. certa. Negotiations of Corbulo and Vologeses. Evacuation of Armenia by Romans and Parthians. Tigranes quits the country for good. (Winter): Romans in Cappadocia and Syria. 62 Paetus' arrival in Cappadocia and raid into Armenia. Corbulo active xv. 6-17. on the Euphrates in Syria. Withdrawal of Paetus to Rhandeia. Parthian attack. The Disaster of Rhandeia. Roman evacua- tion of Armenia. (Winter): Romans in Cappadocia and Syria. Tiridates restored in Armenia. Parthian envoys go to Rome. Corbulo's invasion of Armenia, Conference at Rhandeia and agree- xv. 24-31. ment with Tiridates. End of the War. BERNAUD W. HENDERSON. Merton College, Oxford. REVIEWS. OSIANDER'S ROUTE OF HANNIBAL. Der Hannibalweg. Von WILHELM OSIANDER. both into line. But I venture to think that Berlin, Weidmannsche Buchhandlung. no judicious critic will approve of the 1900. Pp. 204. Price 8 Mk. expedient whioh he adopts to get over the difficulty. THIS is a treatise full of industry and abun- Livy brings Hannibal to the Druentia; • dant in citation of authorities ; but it adds but the Druentia, now called the Durance, nothing of any importance to the controversy, flows from Mont Genevre and nowhere comes and, it is to be feared, only tends to obscure near the Cenis route. Well, then, says Pro- the issue. There is in the whole book a fessor Osiander, let us suppose that what want of logical argument and a failure to Livy calls the Druentia was really the Drac appreciate' the real value of whatever evi- and not the Durance. This theory was, I dence is brought forward at each step. believe, invented by M. Larauza about In his conclusion Professor Osiander agrees eighty years ago, and was adopted by Mr. with the view maintained, though not, I Ellis in 1854. Professor Osiander has believe, in exactly the same form, by several resuscitated it; but the arguments by which previous writers—that the Mont Cenis was he seeks to justify it are singularly weak Hannibal's pass. This is a theory for which and even misleading—'Livy's Druentia must a good deal is to be said. The arguments be an affluent of the Isere which borders against this pass are not nearly so strong the territory of the Vocontii, because Silius, as those against the Little St. Bernard. As who is ' the echo of Livy,' writes : ' Jam I remarked in an article which appeared in rura Vocontia carpit: Turbidus hie truncis the Classical Review in June 1899, the chief saxisque Druentia, &c.' But Silius does not reason for rejecting the Cenis is that, if mention the Isere at all in this connexion, that route is chosen, all attempt to retain and clearly cannot be taken to mean any- Livy's account must be abandoned. Some thing more precise than that Hannibal previous supporters of that route have said came upon the Vocontii and afterwards in effect, ' Well and good: Livy is a poor reached the Druentia ; ',for Livy, whom Silius authority : throw him overboard.' Professor ' echoes,' and who may be allowed to speak Osiander rightly declines to do this; rightly for himself, says ' per extremam oram Vocon- he recognises that, while Polybius is the tiorum agri tendit in Tricorios, haud us- chief authority, Livy comes next to him, quam impedita via prius quam ad Druentiam and that it is our duty, if possible, to bring flumen pervenit.' It is obvious that, if the THE CLASSICAL REVIEW. 275 Druentia was the Drac, Hannibal would tion ' from an inquiring traveller, with have struck it before he reached the Tricorii; 'Ball's Alpine Guide' in his hand? If and it is rather surprising that Professor Professor Osiander ever becomes a convert Osiander does not mention the Tricorii in to the Traversette theory, he may be expected this particular argument. The Drac, he to produce with equal triumph the fact that continues, was called in the middle ages an inn near Abries has the sign ' l'Ele'phant.' Drancus or Dracus—and so there is no A great deal of course is made of the reason why it should not have been called possibility of a view over the plain of the Druentia by Livy. It is hardly necessary Po from the top of the pass, or rather from to point out that the Druentia of Livy's a point near it. This possibility he regards contemporary Strabo is undoubtedly the as a ' Kardinalpunkt.' Need we suppose Durance, and there is not the least proba- more than that Hannibal pointed to a bility that Livy would have ignored it in downward course—no more uphill path, but favour of the much smaller river Drac. It a valley leading to the plains 1 Must they is curious how his confidence in this very actually see Lombardy 1 ivSeiKvvfievos avrois arbitrary transference of names grows as he TO. Trtpi rbv HaSov •n-eStiz . a/ia Se Kal TOV proceeds. It is put before us on page 74 : at Trj<s P<i/«7S avrljs TOTTOV viroSeucvviov {Pol. iii. the top of page 100 the Drac is called 54); and if stress is laid on the compound ' Druentia-Drac, and by the time we reach prepositions, with the inference that the one the bottom of the same page it is ' Druentia ' participle is of things in sight, the other without further ceremony. not, let me quote another passage from Poly- Of an entirely new argument in favour of bius himself, ' Ka6direp yap iirl rrjs opdcraos the Mont Cenis route it is unnecessary to el6ia-f/.€6a arwarurTpitpuv ael TO. itpoanma, irpos say much. Livy is speaking of the sights TO Kara TT/V hrSei£w VTro8eiKVv/j.evoV' (iii. 38). which inspired terror—the mountains, the In this passage both compounds are of some- snows, etc., and adds the words' cetera visu thing actually visible, and so we have no quam dictu foediora.' These words, says right in chapter 54 to make an arbitrary Professor Osiander, must refer to the charac- distinction. They could not actually see teristics of the dwellers in the valley : it Rome; how can the Greek sentence prove must, therefore, be a physical deformity: that they did actually see the Lombard Desjardins states that goitre is worse in the plain ? Maurienne than anywhere else ; therefore, The route traced by Professor Osiander is Hannibal must have traversed the Mauri- familiar for the most part to all who have enne, i.e., he must have crossed the Cenis. read Ellis or Professor Bonney or other It might be suggested that, whether or not advocates of the Cenis route. In one or two most prevalent in the Cenis route, goitre is points he differs, not, as far as I can see, unfortunately prevalent enough in all the with any advantage. The beginning of the competing routes to strike the traveller with ascent is placed near Aiguebelle : the native dismay. But it is really beside the ques- town which Hannibal took is St. Jean; the tion, since most readers of Livy would be as white rock is l'Esseillon (too near 8p. Jean, little prepared to connect the idea of physical I should have thought, for his purpose). But deformity with the word foedus in this the chief novelty is that, whereas some passage as in Sallust's words (about quite Cenisians have fixed on the pass of the another region) 'loca tetra, inculta, foeda, Cenis proper, and some on the Little Mont formidolosa,' or with Livy's ' foedae tempes- Cenis, Professor Osiander takes both at tates.' The use, apparently in sober earnest, once. From arguments, which I do not of such an argument surely weakens the quite follow, but which seem to be a mis- case which it is desired to support. interpretation of the very simple military There are many minute points of no real narrative in Pol. iii. 53, 9, he deduces that import on which the author dwells, as if Hannibal took part of his army up the they were a corroboration, in a manner Mont Cenis proper, and that the rest of his which is rather irritating to the serious army went up the Little Mont Cenis, con- inquirer. A local road-surveyor remarked triving to join the headquarters on the top that the gorge near St. Jean de Maurienne of the main pass. The historical gain I do was 'Hannibal's ravine.' 'So finden sich not perceive any more than the philological auch hier Lokaltraditionen iiber Hannibal, necessity; the controversial advantage is die jedoch nicht, wie die meisten andern, an that the Cenis is the only competing pass Reste von Kunstbauten, sondern an eine which has two routes at all near one another natiirliche Schlucht ankniipfen.' What if separated by only a?slight intervening ridge. the road-surveyor had got his 'local tradi- On the improbability that the two portions T 2 276 THE CLASSICAL REVIEW.