Hannibal's double envelopment at Cannae annihilated a Roman army of ~86,000, making it one of antiquity's most studied battles of annihilation.
Key Facts
- Date
- 2 August 216 BC
- Roman & allied forces
- ~86,000 troops
- Roman survivors
- ~15,000
- Tactic used
- Double envelopment by Hannibal
- War context
- Second Punic War (218–201 BC)
- Aftermath
- Capua and other Italian cities defected to Carthage
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
After suffering defeats at Trebia (218 BC) and Lake Trasimene (217 BC), the Roman Republic resolved to confront Hannibal decisively. They assembled a large combined force of roughly 86,000 Roman and allied troops near the village of Cannae in Apulia, massing their heavy infantry in an unusually deep formation intended to break through the Carthaginian center.
On 2 August 216 BC, Hannibal executed a double envelopment, deliberately allowing his center to give ground while his stronger flanks swept around to encircle the Roman army. Trapped and unable to maneuver, the densely packed Romans were systematically slaughtered. The battle was one of the deadliest single days of combat in ancient history, leaving tens of thousands of Roman and allied soldiers dead.
The catastrophic defeat triggered panic in Rome, prompting extraordinary measures including consultation of the Sibylline Books and conscription of criminals and slaves. Several Italian city-states, including Capua, defected to Carthage. Despite these losses, Rome refused to negotiate surrender, continuing the war for fourteen more years until defeating Carthage at the Battle of Zama in 202 BC.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
1 belligerent
Lucius Aemilius Paullus, Gaius Terentius Varro.
Side B
1 belligerent
Hannibal.