The use of war elephants probably began in Ancient India. The weapon gradually moved westward. Darius III had some at the Battle of Gaugamela (Arbela), but they did not have an impact on the result of the battle. Alexander the Great prevailed. He met elephants again in India at the Battle of the Hydaspes. They played a role because Alexander’s cavalry horses were intimidated by their size and smell. In this battle, Alexander had to rely on his infantry. His seasoned veterans were not panicked by the lumbering pachyderm tanks. According to some accounts, Alexander’s foe King Porus rode on one and when he was hit by a javelin, the elephant pulled it out. Alexander added elephants to his army, but he died before he could use them. His successors (the Diadachi) fought over his empire and their armies had elephants in them. Rome first encountered them when King Pyrrhus came to the aid of one of Rome’s foes. In the Battle of Heraclea, the Roman soldiers were scared by their first sight of elephants and the army was routed. However, the ever-adaptive Romans soon learned how to counter them and in the end Pyrrhus lost the war. Rome’s next challenger was Carthage. Carthage added them to its army and Rome faced them in the 1st and 2nd Punic Wars.
Of course, the most famous use of elephants was by Hannibal. Everyone has heard of his crossing the Alps with them, but it was more than just an amazing mountain journey. They first appear in the chronicle when Hannibal had to get them over the Rhone River. His engineers built a pier out into the river and covered it with earth to make it look like it was solid ground. At the end was a raft. The elephants walked over the pier and onto the raft. When the rafts were set adrift, some of the elephants panicked and jumped overboard. Their mahouts (drivers) drowned, but the elephants put their trunks up like snorkels. On the trip across the Alps, the elephants were useful in cowing barbarians who might have attacked the column. According to Polybius, all 37 of the elephants made it to Italy, but that seems highly unlikely. Regardless, Hannibal definitely had over 30 elephants at the first battle. In this Battle of the Trebia, they helped defeat the Roman cavalry. Most likely, only one elephant survived the battle or the following winter. Hannibal was left with only one, but it was the cream of the crop. Surus (the name is probably a reference to its one tusk). Surus was unique among the elephant corps because it was an Asian elephant. The Asian elephants were bigger than the African elephants that the Carthaginians used. Surus might have been acquired from Syria. (Surus may have meant “The Syrian”.) Surus became Hannibal’s mount. Some coins show Hannibal riding him. He rode the elephant through the Arno marshes. It is unclear what happened to Surus after that. Some historians think he survived the 16 years in Italy and fought in the final battle at Zama. Supposedly, Surus was captured and brought back to Rome. He retired to a pasture outside of Rome. I’d like to think that is what happened. He definitely deserved it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surus
https://issuu.com/haleyclassicaljournal/docs/the_haley__issue_ii_final/s/10730730
https://www.history.com/news/10-famous-elephants-from-history
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