the battle of cannae

Thesecondpunicwar

Hannibal quickly went on the offensive and launched an invasion of Italy with an army of 59,000 men, including 9,000 cavalry . He moved quickly and thus avoided Roman efforts to intercept him in Gaul. The swift passage of his army was not without consequence, however, and Hannibal entered Italy in November 218 BC. with a force greatly weakened by the campaign:only 6,000 cavalry and 20,000 infantry had survived the passage of the Alps. Carthaginian strategy was for Hannibal to engage quickly, and he won a cavalry skirmish on the Ticino River, forcing the Romans to retreat . The following month, Hannibal fought the classic combat of war when he led a Roman army across the Trebia River. Pinning down the Romans with his infantry, Hannibal used his superior cavalry and a hidden force to attack them from the flanks and rear, respectively. The Romans were decisively crushed, losing perhaps three-quarters of their 40,000 men as casualties or prisoners of war .
Hannibal controlled northern Italy and, in the spring of 217 BC, began his march to the center and then to the south of the peninsula. Although the Romans tried to keep Hannibal and his army confined to the north, he inadvertently managed to slip past them. The Carthaginians were pursued by a Roman army and, on the shores of Lake Trasimeno, on June 21, Hannibal ambushed the Roman troops. Caught between the lake and the Carthaginians, the Roman army was pulverized, losing 15,000 men.

Fabio max

After suffering two major defeats, the Romans took the singular step of suspending their constitution, under which the state and army were controlled by two annually elected consuls, and elected a dictator , which would continue the war with supreme powers for a period of six months. The chosen man was Quinto Fabio Máximo. Fabius devised a strategy based on the Romans avoiding fighting Hannibal and following his army. This “Fabian strategy” it allowed the Romans to trade space for time while making it difficult for Hannibal to disperse his forces during the winter. Since the Romans and their allies controlled most of the towns, this posed some logistical difficulties for the Carthaginians. Hannibal had hoped that his victories would convince many of Rome's Italian allies to abandon her, but in reality most of them remained steadfast in their loyalty to the Romans . In addition, the weather favored the Romans, since it allowed them to raise, together with their allies, a large army from their significant reserves, estimated at more than three quarters of a million men. The Roman army consisted of citizen soldiers, recruited annually for training and preparation for the upcoming battle with the Carthaginians. The Romans followed Hannibal's army to Apulia, Samnium and Campania . The strategy seemed to work, as Fabius' lieutenant was even able to inflict a rout on the Carthaginians, when the latter were scattered looking for supplies. The Romans, however, were not happy with Fabius' strategy, especially as Hannibal had, on more than one occasion, been able to outmaneuver the Romans when it seemed they had him trapped.

Thecampaignandthearmies

Although Fabius' tenure as dictator ended at the end of 217 BC, his successors continued to avoid Hannibal, awaiting the arrival of reinforcements under the new consuls by 216 BC These were Lucio Emilio Paulo and Cayo Terencio Varrón. Paulus, a man of considerable military experience, had fought against the Illyrians and had held the consulship on previous occasions. He had even been awarded a win for the campaign. Varro, less experienced, was a popular politician with much support from both the aristocracy and the common people. The consuls, elected in March, had spent the spring recruiting additional soldiers and joined the army guarding Hannibal in Apulia in July . When they arrived, the army under their command was the largest the Romans had ever fielded. It was made up of eight legions, 40,000 infantry and 2,400 cavalry, and an equal number of Italian allies, totaling 40,000 infantry and 3,600 horsemen. Half of the Roman force had some experience, but the rest were newly recruited soldiers, with modest training, and had never fought.
Hannibal, meanwhile, had wintered in the town of Geronium, where he stayed until he was able to harvest a part of the local grain harvest.
He then moved about 100 km to the town of Cannae, at the mouth of the Aufidius river. Cannae was a Roman supply depot and allowed them to control Apulia . At this time the Carthaginian army had about 40,000 foot soldiers and 10,000 cavalry. Some 16,000 of these infantrymen were veterans of the Alpine crossing and subsequent victories; some 10,000 of them were Libyans and 6,000 Spanish. Another 16,000 were Celts recruited from northern Italy. The rest of the infantry were light troops recruited from various sources. Hannibal's cavalry consisted of some 2,000 Spanish and 4,000 Celtic heavy cavalry, and 4,000 Numidian light cavalry. By the end of July, the Romans had cautiously advanced on the Carthaginian army at Cannae . On July 31, the Romans had camped within sight of the Carthaginian positions. Most of the Roman forces were north of the Aufidius River, opposite Hannibal's camp; however, a smaller force held a camp south of the river.

Layouts

On August 1, Hannibal deployed his troops north of the river and offered battle to the Romans. The two consuls alternated command and that day it fell to Paulo. He decided not to accept the offer of battle, probably because Hannibal had lined up north of the river and positioned himself so that the terrain was favorable, both for his soldiers and, most likely, for his superior cavalry. . The next day, when Varro was in command, the Romans deployed their army, with the exception of 10,000 men left to guard the main camp south of the Aufidius, and offered battle. Hannibal accepted, and both sides organized their battle lines.

Romanlayout

The Romans arranged themselves in their customary battle order. The light infantry, called the vélites , was deployed in front of the main line. Behind them, the legions and allies were arranged in companies, called maniples , in three lines of support. This formation was called acies triplex , or triple line of combat, in which the maniples of each line were placed so that those of the next line could come forward to support them:this gave the acies triplex the look of a chessboard. There was, however, one difference from a normal triplex acies, in that the maniples were spread out in much deeper formations than normal. The Romans wanted the legions to have the depth necessary to pierce the Carthaginian heavy infantry. Another factor may have been the sheer size of the Roman army at Cannae, which required deeper formations and a narrower front. The main lines of infantry were protected by the cavalry on the wings, the Roman horsemen on the right and the allied Italian cavalry on the left. The Roman commanders stood with this cavalry:Paul commanded the Romans and Varro the Italians .

Carteginian layout

Hannibal arranged his forces so that he maximized his advantages, especially his larger and better cavalry, while minimizing his weaknesses, in particular his general numerical inferiority. He deployed his light infantry as a screen in front of his main battle line, to hold off the Roman volites. The center of his line was made up of alternating units of Spanish and Celtic infantry, probably hoping that the Spanish veterans would reinforce the notoriously fragile Celts . Furthermore, these female soldiers were placed in a concave formation, so that the center of the line was closer to the enemy than those moving on the wings. On either side of the Spanish and the Celts were the Libyan veterans, arranged in deep columns. Protecting the left flank of the infantry line was the heavy cavalry, Celts and Spaniards. The right flank was occupied by the agile Numidian light cavalry, who were adept at skirmishing tactics. Hannibal stood in the center of this battle line, leaving the cavalry wings to the commanders subordinate to him.

The battle

The battle began with a clash between the opposing light infantry, who clashed with thrown weapons, including javelins and slingshots . Neither side seemed to have gained much of an advantage, and as the opposing main lines closed in on each other, the light infantry withdrew behind their respective heavy infantry. Meanwhile, on the flanks, Spanish and Celtic cavalry sprinted forward to engage the Roman horsemen in close combat. On this flank the advantage lay with the Carthaginian cavalry, who were more numerous and probably more heavily armed, with more armor. The result was that the Roman cavalry was crushed. Paulo was wounded and knocked off his horse in the fight, and was eventually killed. On the other flank, the Numidians engaged the Italian cavalry in a protracted skirmish, with neither side gaining the upper hand. Unfortunately for the Italians, the Celtic and Spanish horsemen, instead of continuing their pursuit of the Roman cavalry, rode behind the Roman army and attacked the Italian horsemen from the flank while they were still fighting the Numidians. This was too much for the Italians, who disbanded and fled. The pursuit of the Italians was left to the Numidians, while the Carthaginian heavy cavalry regrouped in the rear of the Roman army.
As the cavalry battles raged, the two infantry battle lines clashed . In the initial combat, the Romans began to gain the upper hand. The unprotected center of the Celts and Spanish came under heavy pressure from the Romans as the Roman maniples advanced to attack the apex of the concave formation. Although these soldiers were hard pressed by the Romans, they did not disband. At the same time, the veteran Libyan troops advanced to press the flanks of the legionnaires' battle line, which had advanced to attack the Celts and the Spanish.

End of battle

The result was a huge double envelope of the Roman legions. When the Libyans attacked the flanks, the Roman formations could no longer maintain the momentum to push back the Spanish and Celtic infantry in the center. The near total destruction of the Roman army was complete when Spanish and Celtic heavy cavalry charged their rear . The resulting casualties were staggering; the Romans counted some 48,000 dead, including the consul Paulus, and more than 20,000 prisoners, making Cannae one of the bloodiest defeats of any European army in a single day of fighting.

Aftermath

Hannibal, unable to convince Rome's allies to defect, left the city with significant human resources. The Romans opened new theaters of operations in Spain and Africa, which allowed them to obtain the final victory.