Comments by "Big Blue" (@bigblue6917) on "The War Elephants of Carthage" video.

Suetonius is another Roman historian who is unreliable. The Twelve Caesars reads more like a tabloid journalism.
2
African bush elephants can and are domesticated even today. So Hannibal's would have more likely to have been African bush elephants. The depiction of the elephant on the coin should be taken as that of a man riding and elephant rather then as accurate representation of what the real one would have looked like. There is no reason to believe that the Battle of Zama did not happen. And the description of the battle, and the tactics used by the Roman General Scipio Africanus in that battle, fits in with those he used in other battles. If it was made up then the person that did that would have had to have known how Scipio would have fought the battle, otherwise it would be obvious that it was made up. One of the things worth noting about this battle is that Scipio uses a double envelopment, a classic Carthaginian tactic. Talk about beaten at your own game.
1
I must admit I have never understood why elephants were used in warfare, Indian or otherwise. They seem to be as much a threat to your own side as they are to the enemy. And once you are familiar with how to defeat them any advantage is lost. I am reminded here of the German soldiers reaction to the first tank attack in WW1. At first many of them ran away in fear but once they had methods to deal with them they usually stood their ground and fought them. At least there was no danger of the tanks turning around and running amok in your own lines. So if they could not find these illusive North African elephant remains I assume they found those of their Indian cousins? Two quick thoughts. Firstly, what difference would it make if these were second or third generation domesticated African elephants. And secondly, I seem to remember something about a now extinct African jungle elephants which were smaller. Could these have been the ones Hannabel used? As to Zama I can think of a couple of possibilities here. The elephants may have been there, after all they are closer to the source, but Polybius, or someone else, increased their number but make Scipio's victory even more impressive. Or, over time there was additions to the story, and adding in the famed, or infamous, elephants would be obvious. And bearing in mind the story of Hannibal bringing them over the Alps showing how they could be defeated would stop the citizens of Roman having sleepless nights for fear of being trampled by elephants while they slept. While writing this I was reminded of how things are repeated. I remembered reading of an army were they disguised camels as elephants to make the enemy think they had more elephants then they really had. They fitted the camel with a wooden frame with material on top to make it look like an elephant. During WW2 the British Eighth Army, in preparation for the First Battle of El Alamein, disguised tanks to look like trucks and trucks to look like tanks. The even used trucks to cover the tank tracks and tanks to cover the truck track. Nothing if not thorough. This fooled the German Afrika Corp into thinking that they would be facing infantry when they were, in fact, facing tanks. The thing which puzzles me about the camels disguised as elephants is why didn't anyone wonder why these "elephants" had such thin legs. :) Like you I have a life long love of history and my degree is in archaeology.
1
Watched the Douglass Fairbanks video and I must admit I always find such things very interesting. I wonder how much of this was connected with Operation Mincemeat. It would be interesting to see how much it all fitted together. The British 4th Army help the allies win both World Wars. In 1918 it led the allies in the 100 Day campaign which resulted in the end of the war. In WW 2 it was supposed to Invade Norway, a threat which tied up some quarter of a million Germans during D-Day. Prior to that it was to be employed in the invasion of France. If I mention that it was to take part in the landings a Calais you will no doubt realise that it was part of the deception which convinced Hitler that Calais was the allies intended invasion point. The British 4th Army did not actually exist.
1
Glen Lego I think it was Eastern Turkey. At least that is where he died. I remember watching a TV programme some years ago about two skeletons found in a cave in America which had Roman lamps with them. It's thought that they had been on a ship which may have been caught in a storm, probably around the Bay of Biscay, and driven out into the Atlantic and as the prevailing currents turn on a clockwise direction they ended up in America.
1