The Battle of Cannes was the largest battle of the Second Punic War.Iit occurred on August 2, 216 BC, near the city of Cannes in Apulia in the southeast of Italy. The Carthaginian army of Hannibal dealt a crushing defeat to the superior Roman army under the command of the consuls Lucius Emilia Paulus and Gaius Terence Varro. Approximately 60,000-70,000 Romans were killed or captured in two Roman army camps. It is believed, according to the number of lives lost in one day, Cannes is one of the thirty most bloody battles in all human history, and at the same time is one of the most famous examples of encirclement of numerically superior enemy forces.
After the Battle of Cannes, Capua and several other Italian city-states broke away from the Roman Republic. Similar to Pyrrhus, and later Spartacus, Hannibal was unable to take advantage of the victory; but even today, the crushing defeat of the Romans at Cannes is one of the most striking examples of tactical skill in military history.
Shortly after the start of the Second Punic War, the Carthaginian commander Hannibal invaded Italy by crossing the Alps during summer and early autumn. He defeated the Romans in the battles of Trebia and Lake Trasimeno. After these defeats, Fabius Maximus was appointed dictator. He started a war of attrition, destroying supplies and avoiding major battles. These military actions were unpopular among the Romans, who were shocked by Hannibal’s victories and puzzled why Fabieva’s tactics gave Carthage a chance to regroup.
When Fabia’s term of dictatorial powers came to an end, the Senate decided not to renew it. In exchange, the command was transferred to the consuls. In 216 BC, after the elections, under their leadership, a fresh army of incredible size was conscripted to fight against Hannibal.
The total size of the Roman army was 79,000 men: 63,000 infantry and 6,000 cavalry, as well as 7,400 light and 2,600 heavy infantry in the two fortified camps. The army used the typical weapons of the republic. The Carthaginian army was a combination of military detachments from various regions, its size varied between 40,000 and 50,000.
Battle
The preferred deployment of armies at that time was to place the infantry in the center and cavalry on two flanks. The Romans followed this strategy, while the infantry was comprised by a closed dense mass at reduced intervals between maniples, an increase in depth was created with the aim of breaking through the infantry of the enemy front. On the right flank, close to the river, Roma cavalry was placed, on the left, the allied cavalry. In the center were the Roman legions.
According to the Roman commander, the Carthaginian army had few opportunities to maneuver and could not retreat, as the river was located directly behind it. With a successful advance of the Roman infantry, enemy troops would retreat to the river, creating panic.
Hannibal placed his forces, taking into account the advantages and disadvantages of each unit. In the center, he placed 20,000 Iberians and Gauls in a single line in the form of a crescent. On the left and right wings was placed a deeper contingent of heavy African infantry to attack the Roman flanks. The calculation of the Carthaginian commander was as follows: the flanking cavalry destroys the weaker Roman cavalry and then attacks the Roman infantry stuck in the center from the rear. Then the battle-hardened African infantry at the decisive moment begins an offensive from the flanks, which completes the encirclement of the enemy.
The Course of the Battle
As the armies approached, Hannibal expanded the center of his line. It is believed that this was done to reduce the impact of the Roman infantry attack and its containment until the time when the use of African infantry would give the best result.
Since the beginning of the battle, the opposing cavalry engaged the flanks. While the Carthaginians defeated the Roman cavalry, both infantries rushed to the center of the field. The wind from the east brought dust to the Romans, narrowing their radius of view. A much more important factor was thirst among Roman ranks, due to Hannibal’s past raids.
Hannibal was in the center of his army. The departure of the Gauls and Iberians formed a convex section of the crescent. This was done at the direct instruction of the commander, who knew about the superiority of the Roman infantry, thanks to which a stiffer horseshoe was created. While the front ranks of the Romans were slowly moving forward, the rest began to lose cohesion. Pretty soon they were compressed to such an extent that they could not use their own weapons. Intending to deal with the retreating Gauls and Iberians, the Romans ignored fresh African units stationed at the protruding ends of the emerging semicircle. This allowed the Carthaginian cavalry to deal with the Romans on both flanks, after which it attacked the center of the enemy. The reduced defense from the flanks of the infantry was now a wedge deeply entangled in a semicircle, that the African infantry began to cut off from the edges. At this point, Hannibal ordered the Africans to move inward against the Roman flanks, creating one of the earliest examples of encirclement with the use of tactics. When the African units, together with the cavalry, attacked the Romans, most of the Roman infantry fell into the cauldron, from which there was no escape.
Outcome
For a short period of time, Rome was in complete disarray. Its best troops were destroyed, and the remaining forces were seriously demoralized. Together with combat losses, Rome suffered a serious loss of prestige.
Immediately after his victory, Hannibal sent ambassadors to Rome with a request to begin peace talks with the republic on moderate terms. But the Senate declined this offer, announcing the full mobilization of the male population of Rome from the age of seventeen, the new legions including landless peasants and slaves. Armed clashes also took place, but the emphasis was on avoiding major battles, according to the Fabian strategy. Hannibal later retreated because of a shortage of soldiers. He was then recalled to participate in the final battle of Zama, which put an end to the war in favor of Rome.
Sources:
- Eliseev MB The Second Punic War.
- Kovalev SI History of Rome. Lecture course
- Polybius. General history
- Titus Livy. The history of Rome from the founding of the city.