# General Hannibal. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 7, 2005, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-hannibal/315994 "2005-08-07T15:20:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Can\_Handle\_the\_Truth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Can\_Handle\_the\_Truth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Can_Handle_the_Truth)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2005, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-hannibal/315994/21 "2005-08-08T00:33:46Z")
I knew all three; I thought they were just basic history that everyone should know. But then again, I’ve been a lifelong history buff ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2005, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-hannibal/315994/22 "2005-08-08T00:36:49Z")
Knew all 3 but I am a history buff and 4 yrs Latin in HS. What are your conclusions from this unscientific poll? ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2005, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-hannibal/315994/23 "2005-08-08T00:37:30Z")
> [@adam yax](#): > > I was in the company of a few very intellegent people while I was on vacation a few years ago. I was reading _Hannibal_, by Thomas Harris and I made the joke “A book about Hannibal and not one mention of elephants”. At least I thought it was a decent joke but I was met with blank stares of incomprehension. Well you would have gotten a chortle from me. I think everyone ought to know this, and I wonder why they don’t. If you know #1, 2 and 3 are not hard to figure out, if you think about it for a minute. ---
**Author:** ![Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helen_s_Eidolon)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2005, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-hannibal/315994/24 "2005-08-08T02:25:22Z")
What I was interested to learn, reading Livy, was that Hannibal (by the end of his life) had only one eye. Lots of one-eyed ancient history folks. I can now think of three. Musta been hard to hold onto them. ---
**Author:** ![Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speaker_for_the_Dead)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2005, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-hannibal/315994/25 "2005-08-08T02:31:43Z")
I don’t know. Everyone I’ve talked to in real life hasn’t heard of him, which is bizarre. ---
**Author:** ![Strinka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/strinka/32/512_2.png) [@Strinka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strinka)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2005, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-hannibal/315994/26 "2005-08-08T03:56:07Z")
I asked my roommate. He knew all three. ---
**Author:** ![DataZak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ea666f/32.png) [@DataZak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DataZak)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2005, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-hannibal/315994/27 "2005-08-08T04:12:36Z")
> [@Speaker for the Dead](#): > > I don’t know. Everyone I’ve talked to in real life hasn’t heard of him, which is bizarre. Maybe they weren’t interested in ancient history? I don’t think anyone in _my_ family would know all three facts in the spoiler boxes. But then again, we’re not from the West. I knew all three because I have a passing interest in Ancient Rome and I think I saw an old movie about Hannibal once. It was a musical, believe it or not. ---
**Author:** ![Ashes\_Ashes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/db5fbb/32.png) [@Ashes\_Ashes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashes_Ashes)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2005, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-hannibal/315994/28 "2005-08-08T05:21:55Z")
I knew all three, and I think my family would make a good showing, but we’re a bunch of freaks. Sadly, I wouldn’t have laughed at \*\*adam yax’s \*\* joke. I’d have been outraged any biography worth printing wouldn’t have mentioned the elephants. > [@LaurAnge](#): > > What I was interested to learn, reading Livy, was that Hannibal (by the end of his life) had only one eye. > Lots of one-eyed ancient history folks. I can now think of three. Musta been hard to hold onto them. Well sure, all those tusks are right at eye level. Elephants should have been sold with the driver’s eye patch as a standard feature, not an after-market item. [sup]Dangerous beasties, all over everywhere, putting somebody’s eye out on nearly a daily basis during elephant swarming season.[/sup] ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2005, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-hannibal/315994/29 "2005-08-08T12:34:10Z")
> [@Ashes](#): > > Sadly, I wouldn’t have laughed at \*\*adam yax’s \*\* joke. I’d have been outraged any biography worth printing wouldn’t have mentioned the elephants. [/sup] I’m not sure if you got that _Hannibal_ is about the cannibal serial killer. If you did my apologies; I have been whooshed. ---
**Author:** ![Ponder\_Stibbons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponder_stibbons/32/343_2.png) [@Ponder\_Stibbons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponder_Stibbons)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2005, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-hannibal/315994/30 "2005-08-08T13:43:02Z")
Not only did I already know the three items, I know a little bit about what caused the war, how Hannibal waged it, what his downfall ultimately was, the subsequent fate of Carthage, and Hannibal’s last years as a mercenary general, hiring himself out to anyone who dared to stand up to the Romans. ---
**Author:** ![js\_africanus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/87869e/32.png) [@js\_africanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/js_africanus)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2005, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-hannibal/315994/31 "2005-08-08T14:05:48Z")
> [@Ashes](#): > > Elephants should have been sold with the driver’s eye patch as a standard feature, not an after-market item. > [sup]Dangerous beasties, all over everywhere, putting somebody’s eye out on nearly a daily basis during elephant swarming season.[/sup] I was thinking that a bit of cork over the end of the tusk might be a helpful way to protect the eyes of passers-by. ---
**Author:** ![Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speaker_for_the_Dead)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2005, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-hannibal/315994/32 "2005-08-08T16:45:26Z")
> [@js\_africanus](#): > > I was thinking that a bit of cork over the end of the tusk might be a helpful way to protect the eyes of passers-by. But then how would all the goring go on? I mean, you can’t very well try to gore someone and then be all “oh, [Carthaginian curse], I forgot to decork my elephant. Hey, Roman guy, could you take that bit of cork off so we can try again?” ---
**Author:** ![js\_africanus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/87869e/32.png) [@js\_africanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/js_africanus)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2005, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-hannibal/315994/33 "2005-08-08T17:18:20Z")
> [@Speaker for the Dead](#): > > But then how would all the goring go on? I mean, you can’t very well try to gore someone and then be all “oh, [Carthaginian curse], I forgot to decork my elephant. Hey, Roman guy, could you take that bit of cork off so we can try again?” I think of it as something like the pin on a grenade… ---
**Author:** ![fluiddruid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@fluiddruid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fluiddruid)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2005, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-hannibal/315994/34 "2005-08-08T18:10:51Z")
I knew all three of the facts, but I studied ancient history. However, I knew these from high school world history, I believe. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2005, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-hannibal/315994/35 "2005-08-08T18:29:43Z")
> [@adam yax](#): > > I was in the company of a few very intellegent people while I was on vacation a few years ago. I was reading _Hannibal_, by Thomas Harris and I made the joke “A book about Hannibal and not one mention of elephants”. At least I thought it was a decent joke but I was met with blank stares of incomprehension. Of course there weren’t any elephants in the book. Atticus put them all in Claudius’ history scrolls. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2005, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-hannibal/315994/36 "2005-08-08T18:41:28Z")
I knew all three. However, I didn’t learn them in school. Hannibal – and indeed, pretty much the whole of Roman history – was not covered in any of my junior high school or high school history classes. Not a one. You know how I learned who Hannibal was? Sometime in the 80s, I heard the name “Hannibal” in a G.I. Joe toy commercial (this was back when the cartoon was in full swing). Apparently C.O.B.R.A. genetically engineered a new super-villain, who the narrator described as having the attributed of various famous military leaders. Can’t remember who all these leaders were, but I am pretty sure there was a comment about " … the cunning of Hannibal" somewhere in the commercial. So I went to my grandparent’s set of encyclopedias next time I was over there, and I read up a little bit on who Hannibal was and what he was known for. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2005, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-hannibal/315994/37 "2005-08-08T18:49:23Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > Sometime in the 80s, I heard the name “Hannibal” in a G.I. Joe toy commercial (this was back when the cartoon was in full swing). Apparently C.O.B.R.A. genetically engineered a new super-villain, who the narrator described as having the attributed of various famous military leaders. > > Can’t remember who all these leaders were, but I am pretty sure there was a comment about " … the cunning of Hannibal" somewhere in the commercial. Wow – you really can [find anything on the Internet](http://www.midtowncomics.com/eshop/productdetail.asp?PRID=22538&hitby=froogle). The commercial was for the then-new character Serpentor, and here is at least some of the narration: > [@](#): > > A secret cabal of COBRA scientists, under the direction of THE INTERROGATOR and DESTRO, combed the tombs, sarcophagi and relics of the great depots of history to find cells with DNA traces. From these long-dead genetic blueprints they produced a composite clone with the military genius of Napoleon, the ruthlessness of Julius Caesar, **the daring of Hannibal** , and the fiscal acumen of Attila the Hun…the ultimate COBRA Emperor! A master of political intrigue and a brilliant tactician, he is capable of wrestling power from COBRA COMMANDER for the benefit of THE INTERROGATOR and DESTRO. Fortunately for the Joes, the COBRA Emperor’s own ambitions were not taken into consideration by his creators … (or maybe all that was written on the back of Serpentor’s packaging). ---
**Author:** ![bafaa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e480ec/32.png) [@bafaa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bafaa)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2005, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-hannibal/315994/38 "2005-08-08T19:59:57Z")
> [@Neurotik](#): > > Knew all three. > > A few years ago on “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” the first or second question was “Hannibal famously crossed the Alps with these animals” and the choices were camels, elephants, ostriches or llamas. The guy hemmed and hawed, then used his 50/50, which eliminated llamas and ostriches. > > The dude guessed camels. I was going to mention that. It was the first question and the guy said something like “Well, I know it’s not elephants so I’ll pick camels” :smack: I remember the next day at work I commented on how stupid the guy was for not knowing something so easy and of course it turned out none of my co-workers knew it either. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2005, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-hannibal/315994/39 "2005-08-08T20:16:20Z")
Knew the first two, might well have guessed the third. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2005, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-hannibal/315994/40 "2005-08-08T20:30:39Z")
On little follow up to my Hannibal ‘joke’. Like I mentioned the people I told the joke to were quite smart, 2 MDs and a guy with a PhD in material sciences or something like that. I figured that perhaps folks in those fields don’t get the same well rounded education that somebody with a degree in the Arts would get. So, I told the entire story to my good friends John and Michelle. John is ABD (all but dissertation) PhD in Archaeology and Michelle is doing field work to gather data for her PhD in Archaeology as well. Needless to say I was very disappointed when I had to explain the joke to them as well. The whole Hannibal thing must not be the common knowledge that some of us thought. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-hannibal/315994.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-hannibal/315994.md?page=3)