The Mysteries of the Spiral, The Orgin of the Olyphaunt nation, Part 1

Hey guys!

(*UPDATE* Just noticed that we got 5000 views :D! YAY! Will have a separate post about this soon.....maybe something special in there..... ;) )


     I Decided to start this post series called The Mysteries of the Spiral. It is for The Spiral Jigsaw Project, and basically I take a place in Wizard101 and try to match it to real life place, understand the real life history, stuff like that. We will probably have maybe one object of discussion every month. This month I have decided to post about The Olyphaunt nation. I chose it, because there is some discussion of where the idea for it came from, Carthage, or India. So lets get started!

Stone Town in Wizard101 is the main capital of the Olyphaunt nation, a kingdom ruled by Princess Aryanna,  a kingdom whose citizens are humanoid elephants. It is called The Pinnacle of Zafarian culture and has many attractions, including Stone Town Zoo, which houses a vast collection of animals from around the Spiral, and the Stone Town Bazaar, which sells a large variety of items. The town is plagued by rebels called the Musuth Berserkers and a army of very dim Rhinos. The Olyphaunt nation also controls the Waterfront, which is also being attacked by Musuth Berserkers and Rhinos. Some attractions are the Black palace, a small tea shop, a witch doctors hideout,and the Stone Town library. The Olyphant Nation is the only one of the Zafarian nations to control 2 major areas, Stone Town and the Waterfront. It has a Major dungeon( The Black Palace) and has a transformation quest ( Transform into "Bob" ;) ). In Real life there is actually a city called Stone Town which is in Tanzania.(here).



The map of Stone Town. You can see a bit of the Waterfront near the bottom right corner.

Lets get to the main part of the post :D

Now the two sides of the argument are these, Stone Town is of Carthaginian origin, or of Indian origin. Let me just give you some of the reasons of why people might choose each side before I get into the thick of it.
Reasons to think Stone Town is of Carthaginian origin are:
1. Zafaria is based off Africa, and Carthage was located in Northern Africa
2. Queen Elisa is mentioned. The original Queen Elisa( or Dido) founded the city of Carthage.
3. Elephant like creatures are the main beings in Stone Town. Carthage was known for using war elephants, especially Hannibal.
4. Could be Carthaginian Architecture.
5. Weapons are middle eastern, but that could go both ways, as Carthage is near the middle east, and India was invaded by the Mughals, who were middle eastern in origin.
6. Names(Hannibal)

The reasons to think Stone Town is of Indian nature are:
1. Some of the names are of Indian origin( Darajani, ect.)
2. The music sounds like it
3. As I said above, India was actually the first to tame elephants for war and help. First real evidence of taming was in the Indus Valley period, during  roughly 4500 B.C. Elephants were, and are still a big part of Indian culture. The Carthaginians got Elephants from the Selecuids, who got them from India. The Selecuids were half Greek half Macedonians. Alexander the Great, the Macedonian conqueror saw elephants used in war. When Alexander got to the border of India, he fought up against at least a 100 of them and was astounded by their power. He won the battle, but was awed. Alexander's men grew scared, as they feared that the deeper they went into India, the more Elephants they would meet. They were right to leave, as one   king had many 1000 elephants at his control! The Selecuids managed to get some Elephants, and the Carthaginians got the idea to use North African elephants for the same purpose.
4. Could be Indian Architecture
5. Weapons are the same as stated above.

Now Lets take a look at each of the reasons and examine them:
Examination of the Carthaginian side of the Argument:
Reason 1.  Now I don't think a lot of you know what the Carthaginian empire was. Carthage was an empire  located in North Africa. They dominated most of North Africa, and began to work its way north, through Spain, and finally to Rome. Carthage went to war with Rome many times. These wars were called the Punic wars, after the Roman name for Carthaginians, Poeni. There were 3 Punic wars, all of them losses for Carthage. The 3rd Punic war brought the destruction of Carthage. The First Punic war caused by a land dispute and was mainly a naval exchange, which Carthage had the upper hand until Rome began to put their mind to making boats. They added their own invention to stop boats for boarding, a metal spike on a crane like mechanism. Carthage lost the First Punic war and were asked to pay a fine for damages and such. The Second Punic war was,I believe, the most famous Punic war, as it involved, Hannibal Barca, son of Hamilcar Barca. Now before the Second Punic war, Carthage and Rome opened up negotiations and had a time of peace. Then Hannibal attacked Saguntum, a Roman ally. The Romans then officially started the 2nd Punic war. Hannibal hated the Romans, and started marching to Rome. He made the famous journey across the Alps with his elephants, but lost many of them. He destroyed everything in his path, and even beat the Consul of Rome in battle at the battle of Trebia!( It explains it here :P. They are using a Modified version of the game, Rome Total War. Check those links out :D) Hannibal then went to Rome, but he lacked the siege equipment to assault Rome, so he decided to just starve the Romans out. He failed, and then they started to fight in Africa. Finally, Scipio Afrikanus defeated Hannibal at the battle of Zama. The Third Punic war was just a 3 year siege of Carthage by Scipio Amelianus, Scipio Afrikanus' son. The main defender was Hasdrubal Barca, Hannibal's brother. The city was overrun and destroyed by the Romans. LOL not very happy stuff. So basically Carthage's culture was totally crushed by the Romans. But the point is, Yes, Carthage was located in northern Africa. Refer to the map below to locate Rome, Saguntum and Carthage. Oh, and New Carthage was actually called Carthago Nova. It is now Cartegna Spain, and yes, Carthage did conquer some of Spain. Sicily is one of the pieces of land fought over in the 1st Punic war.

Reason 2.Queen Dido is another name for Queen Elisa. A myth about her is that she fell in love with Aeneas, one of the survivors of Troy. It is said that Aeneas was told to go by Mercury, and he sadly went. She commits suicide by falling on one of Aeneas' swords, and says that she feels that her people and his will never get along. Aeneas is said to have founded Rome. The Point is, Queen Elisa was an actual person in Myth and History.
Reason 3. The Carthaginians used War elephants a LOT. They were known in the ancient world for it. The Carthaginians actually got the idea for war elephants from the Selecuids, and the Selecuids got them from the Indians. Carthaginian war elephants are unique though, as they used the now extinct North African Elephant as their war elephant breed, while the Indians used the Asian elephants. Hannibal is talked about above in the 2nd Punic war. The picture below shows a fresco of Hannibal's crossing of the Alps.



Will be continued.......

LOL all those links will keep you busy, I put them there for a reason :P.  So this is the the very first Mystery of The Spiral :D. Please Comment and tell me how it is, because I need your feedback to know if I should keep with this series. Thanks!

P. S: I will try to add a rating system on my posts soon, so some readers don't need to make a Google account or comment. (* Added it!*)

Happy Magiking :D