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The mahouts, or elephant drivers, it seems they wore little else but a tunic and carried a small spike for killing the elephant in case it panicked. What did this spike look like? How big was it and what was its shape? Would it have been a decent weapon in case the elephant was killed out from under the driver? My guess would be no. lol
Michael D. Hafer [aka Mythos Ruler, aka eX | Vesper]
In peace men bury their fathers. In war men bury their sons.
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If I recall it was a "wedge" to be driven by pounding it with a mallet at the point where the spinal column enters the skull or between cervical vertibrae. This would be a weak spot, and the process is called pithing when used to quickly and "painlessly" kill animals.
So, no use as a weapon.
Paul M. Bardunias
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The movie "Alexander" shows it used on a wounded and dying soldier. I thought mahouts used a type of spike. I've seen it in some reconstruction artwork. Specifically the illustration in Vol 1 Issue 4 of Ancient Warfare Magazine, Page 33.
Michael D. Hafer [aka Mythos Ruler, aka eX | Vesper]
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Quote:There was but one sure way of preventing an elephant who had got out of hand from wreaking destruction on his own side, and that a drastic way; namely, to kill him then and there. Hasdrubal, Hamilcar's son, was the first to use it. At the Metaurus he had given each of his mahouts a chisel and a hammer, and ordered them to drive the chisel home into their mounts' spinal column at the point where head and neck joined, as soon as the animals threatened their own side. In that fatal battle more elephants were thus slain by their own mahouts than were killed by the Romans.
The above refers to Livy xxvI, 49.
Paul M. Bardunias
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A Spartan, being asked a question, answered "No." And when the questioner said, "You lie," the Spartan said, "You see, then, that it is stupid of you to ask questions to which you already know the answer!"
