The eastern passes, such as that over the Poenine Alps or the Great St.Bernard--which, moreover, was only converted into a military road by Caesar and Augustus--are, of course, in this case out of the question.
4.

The much-discussed questions of topography, connected with this celebrated expedition, may be regarded as cleared up and substantially solved by the masterly investigations of Messrs.

Wickham and Cramer.
Respecting the chronological questions, which likewise present difficulties, a few remarks may be exceptionally allowed to have a place here.
When Hannibal reached the summit of the St.Bernard, "the peaks were already beginning to be thickly covered with snow" (Pol.iii.

54), snow lay on the route (Pol.iii.

55), perhaps for the most part snow not freshly fallen, but proceeding from the fall of avalanches.