Battle of Numistro

The Battle of Numistro was fought in 210 BC between Hannibal's army and one of the Roman consular armies led by consul Marcus Claudius Marcellus. It was the fourth time they met in a battle. Previous encounters were located around the walls of Nola (Campania) in 216, 215, and 214 and had been favourable for the Roman side.

Battle of Numistro
Part of the Second Punic War
Plan of the battle of Numistro (T. A. Dodge, 1891)
Date 210 BC Location Numistro, Lucania 38.975597°N 16.319791°E / 38.975597; 16.319791 Result See Battle section
Belligerents
Carthage	Roman Republic
Commanders and leaders
Hannibal	Marcus Claudius Marcellus

Antecedents

In the early months of the 210 BC, the city of Salapia (Apulia) was betrayed to the Romans, and the Carthaginians lost an important garrison of cavalry.^[1] After this, Hannibal retreated to Brutium and Marcellus conquered the towns of Maronea and Meles in Samnium. Shortly thereafter, the Carthaginian general returned to Apulia and defeated proconsul Gnaeus Fulvius Centumalus Maximus in the Second Battle of Herdonia.^[2] Then Marcellus informed the Senate he would intercept and give battle against the Carthaginian general to restore Roman honour. His was the only full strength Roman army in the south of Italy at the moment (there was another minor army in Capua with one legion of 5,000 men and an allied wing of 7,500 soldiers), so the consequences of a defeat could have been disastrous for the Roman side and its attempt to counter the invasion in that part of the country. Marcellus moved from Samnium and intercepted the Carthaginian army in Numistro, a town north-east of Lucania. The Roman army encamped in the plain while the Carthaginian camp was on a hill.^[3] Numistro was close to Muro Lucano, on a route that the Carthaginian army used between Northern Apulia and Brutium.

Strategic situation in 210 BC