The Battle of Cannae was an important confrontation near the ancient settlement of Cannae, in Apulia, southeastern Italy, during the Second Punic War. The Romans, with almost 90,000 men, met the 50,000 Carthaginian, allied African, Gallic, and Spanish armies under Hannibal’s command, and Carthaginians defeated the Romans. Hannibal’s army progressively enveloped their adversaries and annihilated them in a classic example of the “double envelopment” strategy. Roman casualties topped 70,000 troops, whereas the Carthaginians lost just approximately 6,000.
Prior to the Second Punic War, a powerful elite army was on the march through the Roman Empire. This army was under the command of one of the greatest generals in history. This commander had a vengeance against the Romans on his mind. The tenuous truce that had brought the expanding empires of Rome and Carthage together in peace was about to come to an end. The city of Saguntum was the ultimate destination of this army. By agreement, the Carthaginian government had sovereignty over all regions on the Iberian Peninsula that are south of the Ebro River. Saguntum, on the other hand, is located within their assigned territory, and it also happens to be a militant Roman ally. Hannibal Barca is the Carthaginian commander in chief. He marched here to seize control of the city and punish Seguntum for the innumerable invasions and acts of violence that Seguntum had perpetrated against Carthage over the years. It took Hannibal eight months to finally capture the city in early 218 BCE, but it was well worth it. When the Romans learned of the incident, they dispatched a diplomatic team to Carthage in order to seek punishment, which the Carthaginians swiftly ignored. The Carthaginian response to Roman diplomacy ensured that the Second Punic War would take place in the near future.
Upon the outbreak of the Second Punic War, the Romans adopted a two-pronged strategy of attack against the enemy. The Romans dispatched one consular army to the west, where it attacked Spain, and another to the east, where it attacked Carthage. The Romans, on the other hand, were completely unaware of how aggressive Hannibal was as a commander. To avoid being forced to remain on the defensive in his own territory, Hannibal marches his army northeast from Seguntum and across the Pyrenees into Gaulish territory. Then he marches along the southern coast of France, until reaching the Rhone River. Despite the fact that native tribes are guarding this massive river, Hannibal devises a way to cross it with his elephants. He had a surprise attack prepared for the Gauls on the other side of the battlefield. On the other hand, when he crossed the river, his army came face to face with a small Roman contingent. This encounter turned out to be nothing more than a prelude to the Romans’ realization that their Carthaginian adversary is on the march.
Following this engagement, the Romans withdraw their soldiers from the field of battle in order to defend their home territory. With his armies stationed in northern Italy, the Roman consul Publius Cornelius Scipio effectively closes off all passages across the nearly impassable Alpine mountains. Scipio even goes so far as to summon his co-counsel Longus from the south in order to beef up his defenses in preparation for the impending attack of the Roman army. Hannibal, who was famous for proclaiming, “I shall either find a way or make a way,” made one of the most audacious military maneuvers in antiquity when he crossed the Alps with his army and his elephants in one of the most daring campaigns in history. Despite losing over half of his forces during the crossing, Hannibal managed to arrive at the Po Valley with approximately 26,000 soldiers. The maneuver exhibits Hannibal’s aggression, creativity, and audacity, and it serves as a sketch of essential characteristics of his character. He will compel the Romans to fight him on his territory and at a time convenient to himself. The consequences for the Romans are likely to be catastrophic….
At the Ticinus River, in November of 218 BCE, Publius Cornelius Scipio comes face to face with Hannibal’s unrivaled cavalry, which he defeats. The Romans are no match for Hannibal’s finest cavalrymen, who annihilated their opponents and came close to killing Scipio in the course of the battle. Later in December, the Carthaginian army would continue its march toward Rome’s other console, Tiberius Sempronius Longus, which is currently in retreat. Longus had compelled his warriors to march from the southern hemisphere. Longus is well aware that his consulship is about to come to an end, and he is eager for a fight. Hannibal hurls him into the ring of battle. As a result, the ingenious Carthaginian arranges his fighting men on the other side of the icy Trebbia River, forcing Longus to cross under harrowing circumstances. The Romans are taken by surprise when the Carthaginian warriors appear out of nowhere and fully encircle Rome’s greatest fighting men. Longus, on the other hand, manages to break through with a piece of his army at the very last minute. Following this engagement, Rome suffers yet another defeat, and this time it is a devastating one, with horrible casualties on both sides.
It was because they regarded Hannibal as a victorious commander who defeated the Roman army that the tribes of northern Italy, who had traditionally despised Rome, decided to join his rising army. Hannibal is preparing to move into the heartland of the Roman Empire with the assistance of these tribes. Hannibal advances down the western coast of Italy in the spring of 217 BCE, completing his conquest of the country. When the Romans dispatch a new console, called Gaius Flaminius, to block the Carthaginians’ progress, Hannibal pulls off the unexpected by leading his soldiers through the Arno’s bog, which was another terrain that had been considered impassable by everyone. Despite the fact that he has lost one of his eyes and a significant portion of his army to sickness in the swamp, Hannibal manages to arrive in the Roman rear and therefore retains the initiative. As a result of Hannibal’s surprise attack, the consul Flaminius grew frustrated and embarrassed. Flaminius hurries his forces in pursuit of Hannibal in order to restore his honor and dignity. This presented an excellent chance for Hannibal. An ambush site on the banks of Lake Trasimene is discovered by him, and he prepares for it. In the midst of a narrow pass flanked to the south by the waters of the lake, Hannibal prepares to meet his doom when the Romans come charging through. Flaminius marches his army right into the trap, causing it to collapse. He is utterly unaware of the peril that his army is putting itself in until the very last moment, when Hannibal orders his troops to launch an assault. The Carthaginian force surrounded the Roman army in record time, with the exception of the southern sector, which was cut off by water. Carthaginian forces annihilate the Roman legions during the fight; the Roman consul perishes along with the rest of the army.
The Romans were thrown into a state of panic following their defeat at Lake Trasimene. The Senate votes to appoint a dictator to cope with the situation that has arisen, marking a rare occurrence in the early Roman Republic. Quintus Fabius Maximus has opted to take the initiative, but instead of taking direct action against Hannibal, Fabius opts to implement a strategy of non-engagement. Fabius wishes to avoid direct confrontation with Hannibal, which he correctly predicts is exactly what Hannibal is looking for. Because of this tactic, Fabius was dubbed “the great delayer” by the Romans. This was essentially a campaign of attrition, which could have actually worked and decimated the Carthaginian army, but it would have required time and patience, which was in direct opposition to the impatient and aggressive character of his fellow Romans, who were impatient and aggressive themselves. In response to Hannibal’s successful avoidance of a trap that Fabius set for him in the Vulturno River Valley, the Senate loses faith in their dictator and his strategy of delay, and instead returns to their original strategic offensive.
The Roman Senate constructs the largest force it is capable of mustering in the year 216 BCE, which was a consular army with twice the strength of the regular army. The Roman army consisted of approximately 95,000 Roman and allied soldiers. The Roman army under the command of Gaius Terentius Varro and Lucius Aemilius Paulus was directed by the councils of Gaius Terentius Varro and Lucius Aemilius Paulus. The Roman strategy called for two consuls to take turns leading the army on alternate days, as dictated by the calendar. The consuls set out to confront Hannibal almost immediately after their arrival. During this time, Hannibal was simply waiting for the arrival of the Roman army in southern Italy, near the town of Cannae, which served as a grain depot. While the Romans were on their way to confront the Carthaginians, Hannibal’s scout forces attacked and harassed them on a number of different occasions. As a result of their repeated attacks, the Carthaginians enraged the Romans, who marched in to exact vengeance. Hannibal once again has complete control over the site of the conflict. He is well aware of his opponent’s strengths and limitations, and he develops his strategy appropriately. Hannibal chose a huge open field bordered on one side by the river of Phidias and on the other by gently rising hills as the location for his battle with the Romans.
After setting up camp, the Romans decide not to confront Hannibal, with Paulus, who was the more level-headed of the two consuls, declining to do so. Hannibal, on the other hand, is well aware that all he has to do now is wait until the following day, when it will be Varro’s time to be in command. Hannibal’s spies informed him that Varro was well-known for being both hotheaded and reckless in battle, which he took to heart.
The Carthaginian army gathered a total of 50,000 soldiers on August 2, 216 BCE. The Romans have nearly twice as many combat men as the Greeks. Hannibal defied antiquity’s military conventions by putting elements of his army, which included Celts, Gauls, and Iberians, at the middle of his military formation, defying the traditional wisdom of the time. It looked like a semicircle, with the edges bulging outwards toward the renowned Roman legions, which was his Carthaginian battlefield formation. Hannibal positions his finest Carthaginian troops on the flanks of his army. These troops have been fighting alongside him for quite some time, and they have always maintained an exceptional level of preparedness at all times. Hannibal positions his cavalrymen on the extreme flanks of his army, who embodied the sense of audacity and movement that is the hallmark of Hannibal’s tactics, and who were akin to his elite infantry, who were some of the best fighting men of antiquity. On this particular day, Varro defied the advice of his fellow co-counsel and threw himself into the fray. The weak Carthaginian Center appeared to be the ideal target for attack, and he assembles his army into a tightly packed force to batter and smash through the Carthaginian line, while utilizing his cavalry on the flanks to provide protection.
Varro is convinced that his advantage in numbers will win the day, and thus the Battle of Cannae is launched in order to prove this. The command is given by Varro, and the Roman legions, with their broad front, begin to march forward. The Carthaginians remained in place. To the west of the battlefield, Hannibal has strategically positioned his forces in order to make it impossible for the Romans to see them as they charge forward into battle. When the Romans arrive in the Carthaginian center, Hannibal immediately begins implementing his own strategy. Having engaged in brief combat, he orders his army to gradually withdraw, and he and his Gen. Mago monitor the men closely to ensure that the frontline does not collapse. As his forces in the center of the battlefield withdraw, they bring the Romans closer. Hannibal then dispatches his Carthaginian cavalry, which is under the direction of his esteemed General Maharbal, to retake the initiative. He orders him to launch a flanking attack ag
PRIMARY SOURCES: Grant, R.G. and others; Battle; DK Publications, 2005. Grant, R.G. and others; Warrior; DK Publications, 2007. Grant, R.G. and others; Weapon; DK Publications, 2010. History Channel Documentary; Battles BC; 2010. Holmes, Richard; Battlefield; Oxford University Press, 2006. Nelson, Eric, Ph.D.; The Roman Empire; Alpha Books, 2002. Zimmerman, Dwight, D.; The Book of Weapons; Tess Press Publications, 2009. Zimmerman, Dwight, D.; The Book Of War; Tess Press Publications, 2008. Flash Point History Videos on The Battle of Cannae 216 B.C.E.