Historical comment on the battle of Cannas
The battle of Cannas was the bloodiest of antiquity between the 2 great powers of Rome and Carthage. Its result was the disappearance of an empire, all caused by excessive hatred, pride, a promise and a man;Aníbal Barca would go down in history as one of the greatest strategists in history, which after this battle, even if he won it would lose everything.
The hatred that the Romans and the Carthaginians had begins with a myth of love and heartbreak;deception and gods;All after the Trojan fall:
The Aeneid
Aeneas who has fled from Troy with his family, at the indications of his mother (Venus) ending in Carthage and there the Queen Dido receives them, Venus sends Cupid so that Dido falls in love with Aeneas and does not leave him abandoned to his fate.
Juno wants to avenge Paris’s trial for the Trojan War and Aeneas is not a king of Troy, so he proposes to marry.
Venus pretends to accept and deceive Juno.
Juno sends a storm, Dido and Aeneas are sheltered in a cave, Mercury reminds Aeneas to leave … He obeys. Dido is broken.
Aeneas will found Rome, Carthage will hate Rome. Dido will not endure it.
When Aeneas travel to hell, he will find her there, wandering among the dead for love. Will want to justify, she won’t listen to him.
Dido, Queen of Carthage, dies burning.
The first conflict between Rome and Carthage was in Sicily in the so -called First Punic War (264 to. C. – 241 a. C.) where Carthaginian, Greek and Etruscan trade routes were disputed, where at the same time Rome grew. There were several peace treaties (in some kind of cold war), but the conflict was inevitable, the Romans managed to dismanthoping that Carthage is no longer a threat, but this only foods the hate of the Carthaginians.
After that Amílcar Barca expands his empire to Hispania, causing the Romans to look with bad eyes those actions so sign a treaty that uses the Ebro river as a border of the areas of influence both Roman and Carthaginas.
ἐπὶ δὲ τοῖς προειρημένοις τελευταῖαι πρὸς ἀσδρούβαν ἐν ἰβηρίᾳ γίνονται διομολογήσεις, ἐφ᾽ ᾧ ὴ μὴ
(Polybio, Stories III, 27.9)
In addition, the last one was agreed in this series of treaties made with Asdrúbal in Iberia, for which the Carthaginians should not cross the Ebro in arms.
The tees begin when Sagunto and Rome sign an alliance (Sagunto was on the Carthaginian side of the Ebro river).
When Hannibal Son of Amílcar becomes King He attacks and destroys the city of Sagunto in defense of the Turbolitans (allies of Carthage) starting a new war against Rome.
The Second Punic War. (218 a. C. – 201 a. C.)
The Romans had a plan to end the fast war, but Aníbal, or friend Aníbal had another plan, one that would go down in history, Marcho with an army of 59,000 North Africans and Iberians through southern France and to avoid theArmy that would be waiting for him in Gaul crossed the Alps in the mid -fall of 218 to. C., The latter cost him more than half of his army.
To the north of Italy in the Po Valley there was resistance of Galas tribes to Rome, Aníbal knew it for what was anxious to establish battle. Tesino was the scene of a skirmish that in itself had little entity, but it has great symbolic value: it is Aníbal’s first victory and the confidence of the Gauls is won.
The first battle is in Trebia (218a.c) Being a victory of Aníbal and added the victory in Tesino encourages the rebellion of the Gauls, which are passed in large numbers to the Bando de Aníbal. Until the arrival of winter where at that time a "truce" type had to be made.
(217a.c) The Romans go on the defensive emphasizing the roads of Flaminia and Eturia, except in Hispania where the scipions have not renounced to harass the enemy in their own territory.
The battle of the transimeno lake occurs in persecution of the Carthaginians who pretend to flee the Romans to a trap moving them away from their reinforcements being Aníbal’s plan to cross the Apennines and enters Etruria allowing him to choose the terrain, where the philamine troops would not intervene.
Unlike what happened between the Gauls of the North, the proclamation "freedom of Aníbal" does not triumph in central Italy making the plan more difficult: he never sought to attack Rome directly, but to blind the source from which he extracted his inexhaustible strength: his gigantic network ofAlliances throughout Italy, when failing, decides to try in the south of the peninsula.
Fabio’s strategy, the prudent one is based on following the Carthaginians, but not engaging in the open field in order to harass their movements waiting for an opportunity, Aníbal had to continually move his army to be able to feed him and look for loot to maintain theMoral of the troops. Looking for a safe base to spend the winter, he decides to return to the Adriatic, but the ways to leave Campania are mountainous. The Romans close his passage and surround him Aníbal in a small valley, but the Punic manages to escape by a brilliant deception maneuver. At night send 2.000 oxen with torches in the horns, thinking that the Carthaginians escape the Romans leave him the free road.
The Senate dissatisfied with Fabio Máximo strategy, Rome chooses for the new year (216a.c) Two more determined consuls, Emilio Paulo and Terencio Varrón, and entrusts them with the greatest army that he had ever put on a war footing: 4 legions to each one, about 75.000 men. This time, there would be a pitched battle.
The consuls march to find Aníbal in Apulia (400 km. from Rome), where another army watched all its movements. Aníbal had just taken the ruins of Cannas, located in a small hill. At his feet a wide plain is extended, traveled by the AUFIDO River.
At the moment when it was exceeded by growing in number, the logical thing would be to have retired, but it was not the case the Carthaginian had a plan, it is what I longed for, a decisive battle that would mark the end of Rome (or that is what he thought)
Cannas (August 2 216a.c)
With lower forces in number and a terrero chosen by the Romans (between the river and the slope), Aníbal directed the one that has been called “perfect battle”, admired and studied by the military of all time to this day. His tactics consisted of taking advantage of the enemy’s same attack force to use it against him.
When the Romans had already penetrated sufficiently their ranks, euphoric when believing victorious, he performed an enveloping maneuver with reserve troops (which he had located in two columns, behind the shock line), surrounding the Romans by 3 flanks.
The final blow was the Punic cavalry that escaped the Roman, and then attacked the enemy for the rear.
Result: 50.000 dead on the Roman side, including Emilio Paulo and about 80 senators, and more than 20.000 prisoners.
After Cannas, everyone thought that Aníbal would march on Rome to conquer her. Historians have always discussed what would have happened if Aníbal had attacked Rome.
Aníbal sent an emissary to Rome to negotiate the rescue of Roman prisoners (many of them children of influential families) and perhaps peace. But the Senate denied him entry into the city and prohibited the payment of any rescue. Rome would fight until death.
Hannibal would be surprised at this decision so marching through southern Italy where many cities (including Capua) are passed from the Carthaginian side, just remaining faithful those of the center causing the 2 rebel areas not to meet. After that the Romans take desperate and prudent measures with the return of Fabio, thus changing the type of war.
Meanwhile, anguish reigned in Rome. ‘Panic and confusion were never so accused within the walls without having been taken the city. They still did not even know the existence of a group of survivors. The only thing that was known is that the greatest army that Rome had ever gathered had been annihilated, and that many cities in Italy were passing to the enemy side.
In Italy he had changed the way of making war since, although Aníbal had solid points to maintain his army he also had to defend territory. With this new type of war, Aníbal had no choice against Rome. Aníbal’s allied Italian troops were lower than the Roman legions, and did not have experience with experience could only request reinforcements from Carthage, but the Senate refused. (Being the end of the end.)
While all this was happening, the Escipion brothers got victory in Iberia making the same play that Aníbal made them destabilizing the power of Carthage little by little until they force Aníbal himself to leave Italy and protect Carthage itself in the battle of Zama (202a.c) Being the end of the war. The end of Carthage would be in the third Punic war that would be both the end of the Phoenician culture.
Aníbal who was the terror of Rome would be banished and committed suicide in what is now Gebze, Turkey. While he was persecuted by Roman emissaries. It is said that he will live as a legend, something to scare Roman children and will go down in history for their ingenuity during the war.
Leave feedback