Hannibal's Secret Weapons

My friend Patrick Hunt from Stanford University presented this lecture in June for the Archaeological Institute of America.  Before I retired, Patrick kindly invited me to join him on one of his National Geographic-sponsored expeditions in the Alps but I had just returned to work after six months recuperation from a serious fall in Naples. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to keep up with his cohort of burly Stanford athletes at the 8,000 foot altitude of the Clapier-Savine Coche pass. I really enjoyed this lecture and learned some interesting information about the battle of Cannae that I must have overlooked.  Patrick points out that at the battle of Cannae Hannibal took advantage of a seasonal dust storm that is known to blow sand from the Sahara desert into Italy at that time of the year and positioned his troops so that the wind was at their back while it was blowing in the faces of the Romans.  He also mentioned that Hannibal used troops dressed in captured Roman armor from the battles of the Trebia River and Lake Trasimene to help trick the Romans into advancing into his concave center where they could be outflanked.  Patrick's lecture is today's featured "Antiquity Alive" presentation.

Back in 2016, I wrote about another researcher who claimed the Col de Traversette pass was used by Hannibal because of finding a large deposit of horse manure there. Obviously, Patrick disagrees with that conclusion.  You can read my article about it here:

 https://ancientimes.blogspot.com/2016/04/hannibals-route-over-alps-or-just-horse.html

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Roman scissors and the scissores gladiator

The earliest known scissors appeared in Mesopotamia 3,000 to 4,000 years ago. These were of the 'spring scissor' type comprising two bronze blades connected at the handles by a thin, flexible strip of curved bronze which served to hold the blades in alignment, to allow them to be squeezed together, and to pull them apart when released.

Spring scissors continued to be used in Europe until the 16th century. However, pivoted scissors of bronze or iron, in which the blades were pivoted at a point between the tips and the handles, the direct ancestor of modern scissors, were invented by the Romans around 100 CE. They entered common use in not only ancient Rome, but also China, Japan, and Korea.

A specialized weapon known as a scissor was also used by a class of gladiators called scissores. It consisted of a long, thin cylindrical-shaped pipe terminating in a crescent-shaped blade. A handle inside the tube allowed the gladiator to maintain control. The shape of the blade could produce a serious wound from even the slightest contact.

"The scissores class of gladiators often fought with the retiarius class whose specialty was the net-like weapon they used. So the scissors were used to cut this net and slaughter the opponent. The tube-like structure that is attached to the arm was also used as a shield to block attacks. The shape and nature of the weapon made it versatile, lethal, and capable of blocking an opponent’s blows from stabbing and slashing." 

https://www.ancienthistorylists.com/ancient-civilizations/top-10-popular-ancient-weapons/

Inlaid shears with Egyptianizing motifs, 2nd century CE that may have served a ritual function at a sanctuary of Isis in ancient Trebizond (modern Trabzon) on the Black Sea courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. 

Roman Scissore 54mm miniature by Pegaso Models beautifully painted by Alfonsito.

 A gladiator's scissor courtesy of ancienthistorylists.com. 

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The Vermand Treasure

The Vermand Treasure was discovered in the last quarter of the nineteenth century by Benoni Lelaurain.  It was recovered from a cemetery near the modern village of Vermand, which is located beside the Celtic oppidum of Viromandui.  In the 3rd century CE, Vermand served as a castra hiberna within the network of provincial Roman border defenses. It was also a thriving glass production center and home to a large number of refugees following the destruction of Augusta Viromanduorum in the late 3rd century by barabarian invaders.

The treasure was found in one of the few military burials in the cemetery.  However, grave robbers had previously plundered the burial, cracked the stone sarcophagus and scattered the contents. Perhaps they had been interrupted in their violation of the grave as six objects including this gilt silver spear shaft mount were left behind.  Others, documented in the excavation report, remained as well but it is thought the excavator's workmen pilfered the hilt of a sword and the majority of objects, held at the the Musée Lécuyer in St.  Quentin "disappeared" by the end of World War I.  These objects included an iron battle-ax head, ten small javelin heads, a lance head of iron inlaid with silver and copper, two small belt buckles with ferrets, an oval silver plaque, fragments of a sword blade and one or two more small bronze objects.

The grave was likely that of an auxiliary soldier.  The six-pointed interlaced star seen on the mount was not at that time a Jewish symbol.  It appears as a decorative motif in both Roman and Germanic art.

The objects were originally thought to be Merovingian artifacts dating from the 4th - 7th centuries but were reevaluated by The Metropolitan Museum of Art's curator of medieval art and reclassified as late Roman dating to the second half of the 4th century CE.

Image: Gilt silver (niello) mount for a spear shaft from the Vermand Treasure 400 CE courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

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Mycenae at War

Mycenaean dagger, gold and iron, detail, National Archaeological Museum of Athens, 8710, Athens. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Jebulon.

The military nature of the Mycenaean Greeks is evident from the numerous weapons unearthed, the use of warrior and combat representations in contemporary art, and the preserved Greek Linear B records. The Mycenaeans invested in the development of military infrastructure, with military production and logistics being supervised directly from the palatial centers. According to the Linear B records in the palace of Pylos, every rural community (the damos) was obliged to supply a certain number of men who had to serve in the army. Similar service was also performed by the aristocracy.

Mycenaean armies were initially based on heavy infantry, equipped with spears, large shields and in some occasion armor. Later in the 13th century BC, Mycenaean warfare underwent major changes both in tactics and weaponry and armed units became more uniform and flexible, while weapons became smaller and lighter. The spear remained the main weapon among Mycenaean warriors, while the sword played a secondary role in combat. Other offensive weapons used were bows, maces, axes, slings and javelins. The precise role and contribution of chariots on the battlefield is a matter of dispute due to the lack of sufficient evidence. It appears that chariots were initially used as fighting vehicles during the 16th to 14th centuries BC, while later, in the 13th century BC, their role was limited to battlefield transport.

The boar's tusk helmet was the most identifiable piece of Mycenaean armor in use from the beginning to the collapse of Mycenaean culture. It is also known from several depictions in contemporary art in Greece and the Mediterranean. A representative piece of Mycenaean armor is the Dendra panoply (c. 1450–1400 BC) which consisted of a cuirass of a complete set of armor made up of several elements of bronze. In general, most features of the later hoplite panoply of classical Greek antiquity, were already known to Mycenaean Greece. "Figure-of-eight" shields were the most common type of Mycenaean shields. During the Late Mycenaean period, smaller types of shields were adopted, either of completely circular shape, or almost circular with a part cut out from their lower edge.

The fabled Agamemnon, King of Mycenae, was the commander-in-chief of the Greeks during the Trojan War. During the fighting, Agamemnon killed Antiphus and fifteen other Trojan soldiers, according to one source. But in the "Iliad" itself, he's shown to slaughter hundreds more in Book 11 during his aristea loosely translated to "day of glory" which is the most similar to Achilles' aristea in Book 21 (they both are compared to lions and destructive fires in battle, their hands are described as "splattered with gore" and "invincible," the Trojans flee to the walls, they both are appealed to by one of their victims, they are both avoided by Hector, they both get wounded in the arm or hand, and they both kill the one who wounded them). Even before his aristea, Agamemnon was considered to be one of the three best warriors on the Greek side as proven when Hector challenges any champion of the Greek side to fight him in Book 7, and Agamemnon (along with Diomedes and Big Aias) is one of the three most wished for to face him out of the nine strongest Greek warriors who volunteered. And after they reconciled, even Achilles admits in Book 23 that Agamemnon is "the best in strength and in throwing the spear." That claim is further proven by the fact that Agamemnon was the only major warrior on either side never to need the gods' direct intervention to increase his strength or give him any unfair advantages in battle and yet he still caused incredible destruction almost on the scale of Achilles.

Boar’s tusk helmet with cheek-guards and a double bone hook on top. Mycenae, chamber Tomb 515, 14th – 13th cents. BCE at the National Archaeological Museum of Athens courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Jebulon.

Special daggers (ceremonial?) with semiprecious blade. Mycenae, Grave 88. Late Bronze Age. National Archaeological Museum of Athens. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Zde.

Mycenaen sword reconstructions from fragments in the Archaeological Museum in Athens. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor JanMad.

Mycenaean bronze swords, found in the tomb V of Mycenae, 16th century BCE. National Archaeological Museum of Athens. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Dorieo.

Mycenean helmet with punched decoration, 1400-1300 BC Displayed at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Gts-tg.

Male figurine with apron, clay, Palaikastro, 1300-1200 BCE photographed at "The Greeks" exhibit presented at The Field Museum in Chicago, Illinois.

Male figurine with his right hand on his forehead and his left arm by his side performing a "Minoan salute", a gesture used by worshippers when appealing to the gods. Bronze Tylissos, 1600-1450 BCE. Photographed at "The Greeks" exhibit presented at "The Field Museum" in Chicago, Illinois.

Gold goblet with lions parading around the outside. Lions were adopted by Mycenae's powerful rulers as symbols of royalty. Photographed at "The Greeks" exhibit at The Field Museum in Chicago, Illinois.

Reproduction of the so-called "Mask of Agamemnon" photographed at "The Greeks" exhibit at The Field Museum in Chicago, Illinois.

Linear B Tablet bearing the names of 30 men from five different cities enlisted as rowers for the city of Pleuron, clay, Pylos, end of the 13th century BCE, National Archaeological Museum of Athens. Photographed at "The Greeks" exhibit presented in "The Field Museum" in Chicago, Illinois.

Alabaster ceremonial cup equipped with three detachable handles used to offer libations to the gods either by pouring liquid onto the ground from the quatrefoil lip or letting it flow through a small hole in the bottom. Photographed at "The Greeks" exhibit at the Field Museum in Chicago, Illinois.

Mycenaean dagger, bronze, inlaid with silver and gold: Animals. Gold handle. Late Bronze Age. National Archaeological Museum of Athens N 8340.Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Zde.

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