SHARRYLAND
Montepaone - Hannibal's Column
An episode from the Second Punic War of which archaeology has so far failed to clarify the exact contours
Where is
A monument that opens a window on great history
A broken column inscribed in capital letters, this memorial located along the coast road between Montepaone Lido and Soverato takes one back to the time of the Second Punic War, the conflict that pitted Rome against Carthage in the late 3rd century B.C.
Roman legions on the trail of the Carthaginian Hannibal.
The absolute protagonist was the Carthaginian Hannibal, who roamed the length and breadth of the peninsula repeatedly defeating the Roman legions. The episode in question occurs at the end of the conflict, after ten years of wearisome fighting: Hannibal stalls in Calabria, relying on the Ionian ports of Locri and Crotone to stay in touch with his motherland. The Romans marked him from near, having taken up positions on the Serres in strategic places to control his movements. The phase of fateful battles had passed, but this does not detract from the fact that even in this phase of lesser intensity memorable clashes were held at least in local history.
The epilogue of the battle suggested by a disturbing find
The battle in question took place on the plain of Montepaone, known as Sajnaro, and ended with the defeat of the Romans, who, according to local sources, left no less than Consul Marcus Claudius Marcellus on the field. Confirming this would come in 1951 a singular archaeological find: an amphora containing a skull pierced by a spear, consistent with the accounts received.
In the uncertainty between history and legend...
Except that other and more authoritative sources place the consul's death on a completely different occasion.... Moral, better to be content with the legend without claiming to elevate it to history.
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