In 218 BC, the Carthaginian general Hannibal (247-182) achieved a most extraordinary feat: he crossed both the Pyrenees Mountains and the Alps with an army of about 38.000 soldiers, 8.000 Cavalry and 37 elephants, aiming to win the Second Punic War by a bold invasion of Italy before the Romans were prepared. Even if his attempts to defeat the Roman legions failed in the end, common lore stills tells the story of the elephants crossing the Col du Mont Genevre in deep snow, setting thus an example of a near impossible achievement for generations to come.