Famous Men of Rome · Ch. XV, part 1 · Unit 3: Pyrrhus and the wars with Carthage
20. Scipio Africanus, part 1: Spain, and Hannibal crosses the Alps
Goal: Your child can tell how young Scipio won friends in Spain, and can trace Hannibal's march from Spain over the Alps into Italy.
You'll need
- The book, open to this chapter
- A map of Italy and the Mediterranean (a free online map or a globe)
- Paper and colored pencils
- Your timeline strip (see the tips at the top)
What's in the book
Sections I and II of Chapter XV: the Second Punic War begins in 218 B.C. Young Scipio saves his father in battle, commands in Spain at about twenty-seven and wins the Spaniards with kindness. Hannibal, who swore as a boy to hate Rome, takes his army and elephants across the Rhone and over the Alps, escapes Fabius with burning branches tied to oxen, and destroys a Roman army at Cannae.
The lesson, step by step
Set the scene
On the map, trace Hannibal's route with your finger: from Spain, across the south of France and the River Rhone, over the Alps, and down into Italy.
Read the chapter
Read the first two sections of Chapter XV, stopping at section III. It begins:
But peace did not last long between Rome and Carthage.
Tell it back
Prompts:
- How did Scipio win the friendship of the Spaniards?
- How did Hannibal get his elephants across the Rhone?
- How did he escape from the narrow pass?
- What happened at Cannae?
Talk it over
Read this:
When he was but nine years old his father, who was also a great general, made him take an oath that he would hate Rome and the Romans forever.
Ask: What do you think it would do to a boy to make that promise?
Words from Rome
SayFabius was called Cunctator, the delayer, because he would not risk a big battle. Being slow and careful on purpose is still called a Fabian policy.
Remember it
Add to the timeline: "218 B.C. Second Punic War begins. Hannibal crosses the Alps."
Extra (optional)
Draw Hannibal's elephants on rafts on the Rhone, or the oxen with burning branches running up the hill at night.
Answers to the book's problems
Scipio freed captured chiefs, gave presents, and never made slaves of women taken in war. Hannibal tied tree trunks into rafts. He tied vine branches to the horns of oxen, set them alight and drove the oxen up the hills; the Romans thought his army was escaping by torchlight and left the pass. At Cannae he destroyed a Roman army of seventy thousand men.
Worked out for this site from the scan. If a number in your copy differs, trust the book.