Hannibal Documentary
Adam Makin
Hannibal (also known as Hannibal: Rome's Worst Nightmare) is a 2006 television film, presented as a dramatised documentary, made by the BBC.[1][2][3][4] It is narrated by Kenneth Cranham.
The documentary included a number of photographs which were taken between 2013-2015 showing excavations that Professor Mahaney and his team had carried out on previous expeditions. The photos show a layer of disturbed soil between 40 and 50 cm beneath the surface at a location on the French side of the Col de la Traversette. When samples from the disturbed layer were analysed using carbon dating they were found to all be from between 2,000-3,000 years ago. The median date was 2,234 years ago which corresponds with 218 BC the exact year Hannibal crossed the Alps.
At times, the documentary was like an episode of CSI:Miami, especially when Professor Allen explained how he was able to detect high levels of Clostridium bacteria in the sample 40-50 cms beneath the surface. This type of bacteria is normally only found in manure from horses and Professor Allen explained that the high levels of bacteria points to thousands of horses being present on the Col de la Traversette over 2,000 years ago.
Professor Mahaney using string to represent some of the routes Hannibal may have took to cross the Alps. Source: Channel 4.Overall, I was very impressed with the documentary and my favorite scene from the program is shown above. Why bother with fancy graphics and HD maps when you can simply use different colors of string to get your point across. Professor Mahaney used the string to illustrate some of the different routes that historians think Hannibal may have used to cross the Alps. Even when historians agree about the pass Hannibal used , they can still dis-agree about the route he took to that pass. In the scene above, the white string represents the Traversette route while the red string is the Montgenevre route via the Durance valley and the blue string is the Montgenevre route via the Col du Lautaret. Not shown with string are the 3 other major contenders for the pass used by Hannibal, namely the Col du Clapier, Mont Cenis and the Col du Petit Saint Bernard, which are all located much further north than either the Traversette or Montgenevre.
But then they reached a place which was so narrow that it was impossible for the elephants or the baggage animals to move forward at all. There had been a landslide some time previously across nearly one and half stades of the mountainside, and this had been made worse by a second and more recent landslip.
The only way down was across the rock face, so the soldiers were brought in to build foundations for a track. This involved cutting away the rock, so they felled the large trees in the surrounding area, lopped off their branches, and built a huge pile of timber. They then set fire to it, getting considerable help from the strong wind, which fanned the flames. They then softened up the red-hot rocks by pouring vinegar (sour wine), into the cracks. They then broke up the heated rocks with crow bars and made the whole slope more manageable by creating a series of gentle S-bends down the hillside. As a result both the baggage animals and the elephants were able to be led down the mountain.
I was also disappointed that the documentary did not show the Monte Viso tunnel, which is the most famous landmark on the Col de la Traversette. Making a documentary about the Traversette and not mentioning the Pertuis de Viso as the tunnel is called in France is a bit like making a travel show about Pisa and not filming the Tower of Pisa. The tunnel is 75m long and connects France to Italy beneath the summit of the Traversette. It was dug in 1480 and is regarded as one of the oldest and highest tunnels anywhere in Europe. The reason the tunnel was dug was to make life easier for the thousands of donkeys and mules who transported salt up the Col de la Traversette from France to Italy in medieval times. That is why the tunnel is less than 5 ft tall in places because it was designed for donkeys and mules and not for humans who have to stoop down in places to make their way through the tunnel.
6) a route that started in territory controlled by a friendly tribe of French Gauls called the Allobrogues and finished in a location controlled by a friendly tribe of Italian Gauls called the Insubres.
You can understand the rage that this invincible IDF would have felt at the successful mass taking of hostages. However, the speed at which improbable stories of mass baby beheadings, gang rape parties and the like were produced along with the fragments of footage speaks to something more sinister. There was also the almost tragic undisciplined military response, with units milling around with no apparent command structure or purpose, followed by even worse profligate use of heavy weapons in areas of dense concentrations Israeli citizens. For me the most obscene images were of the US president racing to Bibi's side to promise a blank cheque for genocide and then lie about seeing those baby photos.
We watched choreography those first days, a dance macabre of genocide. Just who was conducting the orchestra is not fully clear.
According to Many sources, (Namely the NYT, the messenger, Electronic Intifada) Israeli intelligence was aware of the attack at the kibbutz A YEAR BEFORE, ( The Jericho Wall Directive) !&&p...) making the Jews accomplices in the murder of innocents (illegal settlers). There were no mass rapes, beheading of children. Much of the damage was caused by Israeli helicopters and Tanks. Many of the "victims" were killed by The Israeli Army, under the "Hannibal Directive" (shoot your own). This was planned by the Israelis to instigate a war with Palestine and STEAL more land for further illegal settlements.
Only problem is, AJ did *not* air their feature and showed some older documentary about the Balfour Declaration instead. I thought they might still be working on it, but it's the same for the rest of the schedule this week.
I watched part of the doco and there was mention that at least 800 deaths were all unarmed civilians killed by Hamas fighters. He mentioned they went through more than 8 hours of footage but,
1. I can't see how they could attribute 800 deaths to Hamas fighters unless they verified them, which unless all were caught in the footage (and there just isn't enough) so they can't.
2. As mentioned the only footage we saw from what the Israelis had is only what they want to show us.
3. Everything the Israelis have said has been an outright lie.
It seems a bit convenient for Israeli power interests; notably, western world governments and especially our mainstream news-media basically all fell into line. Also, not widely publicized is that there are considerable fossil fuel reserves beneath long-held Palestinian land that are a plausible motivator for war.
Non-combatant Palestinians' great suffering and deaths are deemed less worthy of actionable Western [our] concern as each day passes along with news-media mentions of civilian death-tolls. Atrociously, the worth of such life can/will be measured by our news-media according to the overabundance of protracted conditions under which it suffers.
It would be useful to have a careful record of Israeli residents definitely known to have been killed by Hamas fighters on 7 October. This would be no more conclusive than the above account of casualties but it would pose a challenge to the Israeli authorities to provide evidence of additional killings. Until or unless they did, Electronic Intifada could use a phrase such as: "On 7 October, when Hamas militants are known to have killed (e.g. 45) Israeli residents...." The Israelis and Mainstream media should not be permitted to carry on with their charade of implying that Hamas killed all 1159 Israeli residents.
AmDocs is also including the Architecture, Design, Art Film Series that would normally run in unison with Modernism Week, which takes place in April this year. The series has been part of the festival for five years, focusing on films about architecture and design.
There were some advantages: AmDocs is able to grow outside of Palm Springs and reach an international audience. Grouya plans to continue streaming the festival while offering the in-person event in the future.
The impacts of COVID-19 on the film industry didn't impact submissions, but some filmmakers were affected on the financial side; some have ceased filming and others are holding off until the return of in-person events.
It's no surprise the submissions are ample: The documentary genre continues to grow in popularity. NPR called 2019 an "undeniable Golden Age" for documentaries thanks to streaming services, making them more accessible.
Even as documentary filmmaking continues to evolve and becomes more mainstream, Grouya believes documentarians have to establish themselves first in independent projects to be successful. This year's festival features documentaries from Oscar winners and first-timers, including students from Northwestern University, the University of Southern California, Florida State University and Chapman University.
Netflix is intending to air a documentary about Tunisian-Carthaginian Hannibal. The military genius of Carthaginian origin claiming he is non-indigenous (Tunisian, North African, Punic, Phoenician, Easterner).
If the aim of this documentary was truly to document history they would have actually searched or even read about Hannibal, and when confronted with the truth they would maybe review the differences.
Hannibal by Serge Lancel, p.9-10 "According to Silius, enlightened by his
Virgilian source, Hannibal's distant ancestor was none other than Dido's brother." " there is scarcely any doubt that Hamilcar and his family belonged to the Punic aristocracy."
Such an achievement required careful planning and strategizing, but with little physical evidence of the journey available today and few recorded details of the crossing, uncertainty remains about how it was accomplished.
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