User:Gog the Mild/Battle of Cannae
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The battle of Cannae was fought on 2 August 216 BC between Roman and Carthaginian armies. The Romans, commanded by the consuls Lucius Aemilius Paullus and Gaius Terentius Varro attacked the Carthaginians under Hannibal near the ancient village of Cannae in Apulia, southeast Italy during the Second Punic War. The Carthaginians surrounded and practically annihilated a larger Roman army. It is regarded as one of the greatest tactical feats in military history and one of the worst defeats in Roman history.
Battle of Cannae | |||||||
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Part of the Second Punic War | |||||||
John Trumbull, The Death of Paulus Aemilius at the Battle of Cannae (1773) | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Rome | Carthage | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Gaius Terentius Varro Lucius Aemilius Paullus † | Hannibal | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
86,000
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50,000 men
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Casualties and losses | |||||||
67,500
| 5,700 or 8,000 | ||||||
Having recovered from their losses at Trebia (218 BC) and Lake Trasimene (217 BC), the Romans decided to engage Hannibal at Cannae, with approximately 86,000 Roman and allied troops. They massed their heavy infantry in a deeper formation than usual, while Hannibal used the double envelopment tactic and surrounded his enemy, trapping the majority of the Roman army, who were then slaughtered. The loss of life on the Roman side meant it was one of the most lethal single days of fighting in history. Only about 15,000 Romans, most of whom were from the garrisons of the camps and had not taken part in the battle, escaped death or capture. Following the defeat, Capua and several other Italian city-states defected from the Roman Republic to Carthage.
As news of this defeat reached Rome, the city was gripped in panic. To raise two new legions, the authorities lowered the draft age and enlisted criminals, debtors and even slaves. Despite the extreme loss of men and equipment, and a defeat later that same year by the Gauls at Silva Litana, the Romans refused to negotiate. Subsequently, the Carthaginians campaigned in southern Italy for a further 13 years, repeatedly defeating Roman armies. In 204 BC a Roman army invaded the Carthaginian homeland and defeated the Carthaginians in two major battles. Hannibal and the remnants of his army were recalled from Italy and decisively defeated at the battle of Zama. Carthage agreed to a peace treaty which stripped it of most of its territory and power.
By modern times Cannae acquired a mythic quality, and is often used as an example of the perfect defeat of an enemy army.