It is 218 BC during the Second Punic War, and the army of Carthage under Hannibal Barca is undertaking their arduous trek through the Alps into Italy where the Roman menace awaits. Among the Carthaginian army's most remarkable assets are its African war elephants, descended from a population residing along the scrubby coastline of northwestern Africa that will ultimately become extirpated sometime after the Romans seize control of the region from Carthage.

If you're wondering why the soldiers here are portrayed with different skin colors, that's because they're supposed to be intermixed between Carthage's Phoenician founders from the area of modern Lebanon and native Africans. The guys driving the elephants would be native recruits. At the height of its power, Carthage's empire would include not only the Northwest African coast but also several islands in the Mediterranean as well as the southern part of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal).