2 August 216 BC: The

nd

Battle of Cannae
Quality, not quantity.
 The Road to Cannae
• -The first Punic Wars
toppled Carthage and
elevated Rome as a new
power in the region.
• -Hamilcar Barca was sent
to raise funds from the
Carthaginian-controlled
silver mines in Spain.
• -His actual intention was to
regroup, reequip and
resume the war with
Rome.
• -After being killed in battle,
Barca was succeeded by
Hasdrubal the Fair then
passed onto Hannibal who
had sworn neve to make
peace with Rome.
-Hannibal set off with 100000 troops and
crossed the alps into Italy.
-He then attacked the pro-roman town of
Saguntum which broke the Ebro Treaty
between Carthage and Rome.
-The Romans elected Fabius as dictator
who decided to wage a war of attrition.
-The senate didn’t approve and sent out
Minucius Rufus to deal with the invading
Carthaginians.
-Minucius was ambushed and defeated
at Gerione, with further deployments
leading to defeats at the battles of
Ticino, Lake Trebia and Trasimene.
-The romans, panicked, amassed an army two times it’s
normal size and placed Lucius Aemilius Paulus (d. 216
BCE) and Caius Terentius Varro (served c. 218-200
BCE) in command.
 Key info
-Fought at noon on the 2nd of August( during
the 2nd Punic War) near the fortified grainery
town of Cannae.
-Saw one of Rome’s largest armies (over
87,000 combined troops) clash against a
smaller Carthaginian force(50000 combined
troops).
-Varro was in command of the main
infantry(prim whilst Paullus guarded the
flanks with the calvary.
-Hannibal was in command of the main
Carthaginian infantry whilst Hasdrubal
commanded the calvary.
 Tactical
Deployment

-The romans were formed into three main lines with the lightest
Hastatis in front followed by 2 lines of Principes. They were
flanked by calvary on both sides.
-The roman planned to form a battering ram in order to break
the Carthaginian line whilst using calvary to prevent being
outflanked by the experienced Numidian calvary
-Hannibal formed a crescent-shaped line with his strongest men
and placed his African infantry at the sides to reinforce the line.
He placed his Spanish and Gaulish calvary to clear the roman
calvary in order to encircle the main infantry.
-
-The romans, blinded by the grit blown up by the hot libeccio
wind were forced into a narrow valley, bordered on one side by
the Aufidius river. This disadvantaged the romans as they were
forced to fight in a shorter line that was deeper than it was wide.
 Spa
The battle

ni
sh C
alva
ry
heavy
infantry

Ga
1. The romans surge forward but are thwarted by the Carthaginian

uli
sh
crescent-shaped line.

C
heavy

alv
2. Hannibal orders his troops to “fall but not break” in order to lure

ar
infantry

y
the roman mass into the rapidly closing envelop. He depends on the
factor that the roman calvary be eliminated so that he can outflank the
column.
3. While the romans are occupied at cutting through the weaker
gallic-Spanish center, the heavy calvary chases the flanking roman
calvary divisions until they are eliminated in the nearby woods.
4. The romans, unaware they are being outflanked are tricked into a
premature sense of victory. More and more are drawn in as troops push
against each other as they attempt to break the retreating Carthaginian
line.
5. Hannibal holds the line just enough for the calvary to recovery and
deploy the African heavy infantry previously located at the back to the
sides of the crescent, creating a deeper net for the romans to jump into.
6. The calvary, now rested from the chase of the roman calvary, close
the gap between the heavy infantrymen, thus completing the double
envelopment of the roman forces who thought the calvary to be their
own.
7. Pressed tightly together, the confused romans are unable to
effectively use their arms and are quickly cut to pieces. The Celtiberian
troops’ falcatas, short curved swords played a great role in the
dismemberment of the Roman ranks.

A falcata sword
Aftermath and the end of “No other nation
surely would not have
the war been overwhelmed by
such an accumulation
of misfortune.”
Men
Titus Livius, The Histories

Captured; 6000; 8% At camp; 4000; 5% Escaped; 10000; 13%

Men, Killed, 60000

Hannibal Barca(247BC-183BC)
Escaped Killed Captured At camp
Historical Significance
 Why I Chose this day
There are many reasons why I wish to re-witness battle of Cannae:
1. Historical significance in forcing the construction of a more efficient war machine
that enabled Rome to easily conquer/subjugate other territories
I. The roman military doctrine changed from solely valuing quantity to
employing improved tactics such as the transition from the Phalanx formation
to the Testudo which allowed greater mobility of individual units.
II. The roman command was restructured so that there would be only one
commander for each campaign, thus enabling a more strategical unified army
as seen in the case of Scipio Africanus
2. The possibility of a premature end to Rome(Roma Eterna) which would change the
course of history
III. The fate of Rome could have been sealed if Hannibal had decided to besiege
it: there were barely enough troops to garrison the city and itself.
II. Rome was besieged on many fronts which could have caused total collapse
given they were still trying to fend of the Carthaginians.
Battle of Zama( 202BCE )
Cornelius Cort
Thank you
for
listening!