Battle of Cannae : Ask Biography

Hannibal's route of invasion.

Military Conflict

Conflict

Battle of Cannae

Date

August 2, 216 BC

Location

Cannae, Italy

Result

Decisive Carthaginian victory

Carthaginian Republic
Allied African, Spanish, and Gallic tribes

Roman Republic
Allied Italian states

Hannibal

Gaius Terentius Varro,
Lucius Aemilius Paullus

50,000:
32,000 heavy infantry,
8,000 light infantry,
10,000 cavalry

86,400:
40,000 Roman infantry,
40,000 Allied infantry,
2,400 Roman cavalry,
4,000 Allied cavalry

Killed:
8,000 (Livy)
5,700 (Polybius)
* 4,000 Gallic
* 1,500 Spanish and African
* 200 cavalry

Killed: (according to Livy)
45,500 Romans and allied infantry
2,700 Roman and allied cavalry
Captured:
3,000 Roman and allied infantry
1,500 Roman and allied cavalry
(See Casualties section)

Home | Military Conflict | Battle of Cannae

The Battle of Cannae (-enˈkæni or ˈkæneɪ) was a major battle of the Second Punic War, which took place on August 2, 216 BC near the town of Cannae in Apulia in southeast Italy. The army of Carthage under Hannibal decisively defeated a numerically superior army of the Roman Republic under command of the consuls Lucius Aemilius Paullus and Gaius Terentius Varro. It is regarded as one of the greatest tactical feats in military history and, in terms of the numbers killed, the second greatest defeat of Rome (second to the Battle of Arausio).

Having recovered from their previous losses at Trebia (218 BC) and Trasimene (217 BC), the Romans decided to engage Hannibal at Cannae, with roughly 86,000 Roman and Allied troops. The Romans massed their heavy infantry in a deeper formation than usual while Hannibal utilized the double-envelopment tactic. This was so successful that the Roman army was effectively destroyed as a fighting force. Following the Battle of Cannae, Capua and several other Italian city-states defected from the Roman Republic to Carthage.