The Battle of Cannae

Map of Ancient Cannae











                                                The Battle of Cannae


The Battle of Canne was a major battle of the Second Punic War between the Carthaginian Empire and the Roman Republic. The Battle of Cannae took place in southeast Italy in Cannae, a small town in Apuliaon.  This battle occurred on the 2nd of August, 216 BC. The Battle of Cannae, was a result of a major dispute over the city of Saguntum, situated in modern day Sagunto, Spain.   Sagunto supported the Romans in their long history of disputes with the Carthaginians.   Hannibal, the general of the Carthaginian Army, attacked the city of Saguntum in a bloody siege.  This sparked the 2nd Punic War, which played out in the Battle of Cannae.


Carthage and Rome had already fought against one another in the first Punic War, for control of Sicily and the wider Mediterranean area.  The Romans defeated the Carthaginians in the First Punic War.  To try and stop Roman expansion, Hannibal invaded Italy from Spain sometime after 218 BC.


Hannibal successfully defeated Roman armies at Trebbia in 218 BC and Lake Trasimene in 217 BC. He then marched south towards Cannae and captured this important city, it was at this point that the Romans decided to again face Hannibal in battle in order to try and defeat him once and for all. Rome had raised a very large army of around eighty thousand infantry and six thousand cavalry in an attempt to destroy Hannibal.  Hannibal's Army comprised a range of Spanish, Celtic, Carthaginian, Numidian and other mercenaries and is generally considered to have been smaller than the Roman Army, numbering approximately fifty-six thousand infantry and cavalry.

The Roman Legion arranged itself in a series of ranks facing Hannibal's Army which arranged itself in a crescent shape bulging towards the Roman Legion.  In summary the Romans attacked Hannibal's center.  Hannibal withdrew the crescent shape forces leaving his flank forces secure on either side. The Romans pursued what they believed was a withdrawing enemy but in reality Hannibal now encircled the Roman army.  Hannibal destroyed the Roman Legion, it is believed that seventy thousand were killed, ten thousand were captured and the rest escaped.  Only Rome was capable of surviving such a military disaster.  Rome raised more armies and invaded North Africa threatening Carthage itself.  Hannibal was forced to return to defend Carthage and was ultimately defeated at the Battle of Zarma by Scipio Africanus.  From then on Rome has expanded its empire and the Carthaginians were erased from history.

Bibliography:


Books
Banks, J.A (et al). (1995). The world past and present east and west. New York: Macmillan/McGraw-Hill school publishing company.

Yocherer, G. (1996) Classic Double Encirclement. USA: The National Historical Society.

Bahmanyar, M. (2009). Vanquished, Crushing defeats from ancient Rome to the 21st Century. Oxford: Osprey Publishing.