DID HANNIBAL’S ELEPHANTS PASS THROUGH SAN MIGUEL DE SALINAS?
In May 218BC, the Carthaginians thirsted for revenge on Rome. Their empire, based on the city of Carthage, which is now a ruin in present day Tunisia, had been robbed of Sicily and other territories. Hannibal’s father, Hamilcar, to the alarm of Rome, had instead built up an empire in Spain. The port of Nueva Cartagena was the new Carthage, and it was here that general Hannibal landed with 32,000 infantry, 8000 cavalry and 37 elephants to march north on Rome. His journey would have taken him along the ancient road which had been built by the Cathaginians from Cartagena through Balsicas, near San Javier, to the North passing through the place where San Miguel de Salinas now stands. This road was called the ‘via antigua’ and it later became the Roman Via Augusta.
