# Question regarding Hannibal's trek through the Arno valley in 217 BCE **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 12, 2022, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-regarding-hannibals-trek-through-the-arno-valley-in-217-bce/974798 "2022-11-12T14:26:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Octagon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/2acd7d/32.png) [@Octagon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octagon)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2022, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-regarding-hannibals-trek-through-the-arno-valley-in-217-bce/974798/1 "2022-11-12T14:26:49Z")
Was Hannibal able to pass through any part of the Appenines to Lake Trasimene as he treked through the Arno valley. Had the Romans blocked every available route? I don’t quite understand the geography of that area. ---
**Author:** ![Octagon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/2acd7d/32.png) [@Octagon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octagon)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2022, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-regarding-hannibals-trek-through-the-arno-valley-in-217-bce/974798/2 "2022-11-12T14:30:55Z")
It looks to me like Hannibal marched between the Appenines and the Arno river. Not sure. ---
**Author:** ![Octagon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/2acd7d/32.png) [@Octagon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octagon)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2022, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-regarding-hannibals-trek-through-the-arno-valley-in-217-bce/974798/3 "2022-11-12T14:34:56Z")
I see now he cross the Appenines (by Poretta? or Colline pass?) and forced his way through the marshes(condidered impassable by the Romans) around the River Arno ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2022, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-regarding-hannibals-trek-through-the-arno-valley-in-217-bce/974798/4 "2022-11-19T04:54:27Z")
As far as I can recall the exact route isn’t known and is a mixture of best guesses and interpretation of the ancient sources (none of which are primary). ---
**Author:** ![Isilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2022, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-regarding-hannibals-trek-through-the-arno-valley-in-217-bce/974798/5 "2022-11-19T11:47:30Z")
The question is about the path between the Battle of River Tribia, leaving the Po, crossing the Appenines and descending to the Abro, after which there was the battle of Lake Trasimene . > **[Battle of Lake Trasimene](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Lake_Trasimene)** > > The Battle of Lake Trasimene was fought when a Carthaginian force under Hannibal ambushed a Roman army commanded by Gaius Flaminius on 21 June 217 BC, during the Second Punic War. It took place on the north shore of Lake Trasimene, to the south of Cortona, and resulted in a heavy defeat for the Romans. Early in 218 BC war had broken out between Rome and Carthage. Hannibal, ruler of the Carthaginian territories in south-east Iberia, marched an army through Gaul, crossed the Alps, and arrived i... So Hannibal was quite shrewd and careful ,and would do things like divide his army into two or three, as they had lived with, and recruited, the gauls they may never have been reassembled for the march to the Arno valley ?? They might have taken a number of routes, as the gauls knew the best way given where they started from. The Battle of Lake Trasimene is where Hannibal takes on the romans next. So he just walked across the Arno without problems. its unguarded,but who knows why.