IV. BOOK gods besieged with prayers and sacrifices; warnings and prophecies of old seers were in everybody's mouth, and every house and every heart was divided between hope and fear.' The battlefield of Cannæ. The Aufidus (now called Ofanto) is the most considerable of the numerous coast-rivers which flow eastward from the Apennines into the Adriatic Sea; but its broad bed is filled only in winter and spring. It was now the early part of summer, about the middle of June; and the river was so narrow and shallow that it could be crossed everywhere without any serious difficulty. In the neighbourhood of the smaller Roman camp the Aufidus made a sudden sharp bend towards the south or southeast, and after a short distance turned again to the northeast, which is the general direction of its course. Here, on the left or northern bank, was the battle-field selected by Varro. In the larger camp on the right bank of the river, and a little way higher up, he left only a garrison of 10,000 men, with orders to attack, during the battle, the Carthaginian camp, which was on the same side of the river, and thus to divide the attention and the forces of the enemy. With the remainder of his infantry and 6,000 horse he crossed the Aufidus, and drew up his army in the usual manner, having the legions in the middle and the cavalry on the wings, with his front looking southward and the river on his right. As the infantry consisted of eight legions, the front ought to have had twice the length of two usual consular armies. But instead of doubling the breadth of front Varro doubled the depth, probably for the purpose of using the new levies, not for the attack, but for increasing the pressure of the attacking column. Thus it happened that, in spite of the great numerical superiority of the Romans, they did not present a broader front than the Carthaginians. On the right flank of the infantry, leaning on the river, stood the Roman horse, which contained the sons of the noblest Compare Livy, xxii. 36, 57. families, and formed the flower of the army. The much more numerous cavalry of the allies was stationed on the left wing. Before the front there were, as usual, the light troops, which always began the engagement, and retired through the intervals of the heavy infantry behind the line after they had discharged their weapons. The Roman cavalry on the right was commanded by Paullus, and the cavalry of the allies on the left wing by Varro, while Cn. Servilius, the consul of the preceding year, and Minucius, the master of the horse under Fabius, led the legions in the centre. CHAP. VIII. FIRST PERIOD, 218-216 B.C. tion of the army. As soon as Hannibal saw that the Romans offered battle, Disposihe also led his troops, 40,000 foot and 10,000 horse, Carthaacross the river, which he had now in his rear. In taking ginian this position he risked no more than his situation at the time warranted, for he knew that a defeat would, under any circumstances, end in the total destruction of his army. He drew up his infantry opposite the Roman legions; but, instead of forming them in a straight line, he advanced the Spaniards and Gauls in a semicircle in the centre, placing the Africans on their right and left, but at some distance behind them. On his left wing, by the bank of the Aufidus, and opposed to the Roman cavalry, were the heavy Spanish and Gaulish horse, under Hasdrubal; on the right, under Hanno, the light Numidians.' Hannibal, with his brave brother Mago, took his position in the centre of his infantry, to be able to survey and to guide the battle in every direction. His African infantry was armed in the Roman fashion with the spoils of his previous victories; the Spaniards wore white linen coats with red borders, and carried short straight swords, fit for cut and thrust; the Gauls, naked down to the waist, brandished their long sabres, suitable only for cutting. The aspect of these huge barbarians, who had after the recent battles regained the prestige of bravery and invincibility, could not fail to make a deep impression upon the Roman soldiers, and to 1 Polybius, iii. 114, § 7. Appian, vii. 20. According to Livy (xxii. 46), Maharbal commanded the Numidians. BOOK IV. Defeat of the Roman cavalry. Destruc Roman infantry. fill them with anxiety and misgivings for the result of the impending conflict. The sun had been two hours risen when the battle began. When the light skirmishers had been scattered, the heavy horsemen of the Carthaginians dashed, in close ranks and with an irresistible shock, upon the Roman cavalry. For one moment these stood their ground, man against man, and horse against horse, as if they were welded into one compact mass. Then this mass began to waver and to be broken up. The Gauls and Spaniards forced their way among the disorganised squadrons of their antagonists, and cut them down almost to a man. Pushing forward, they soon found themselves in the rear of the Roman infantry, and fell upon the allied cavalry on the left wing of the Romans, which was at the same time attacked in front by the Numidians. Their appearance in this quarter soon decided the contest here; the allied horsemen were driven off the field. Hasdrubal intrusted their pursuit to the Numidians, and fell with all his forces upon the rear of the Roman infantry, where the young inexperienced troops were placed, of whom many had never yet met an enemy in the field. Meanwhile the Roman infantry had driven in the tion of the Spaniards and Gauls who formed the advanced centre of the Carthaginian line. Pressing against them from the right and the left, the Romans contracted their front more and more, and advanced like a wedge against the retiring centre of the Carthaginian army. When they were on the point of breaking through it, the African infantry on the right and left fell upon the Roman flanks. At the same time the heavy Spanish and Gaulish cavalry broke upon them from behind, and the retiring hostile infantry in front returned to the charge. Thus the huge unwieldy masses of the Roman infantry were crowded upon one another in helpless confusion and surrounded on all sides. Whilst the outer ranks were falling fast, thousands stood idle in the centre, pressed close against each other, unable to strike a blow, penned in like sheep, and doomed to wait patiently until it should be their turn to be slaughtered. Never before had Mars, the god of battle, gorged himself so greedily with the blood of his children. It seems beyond comprehension that in a close combat, man to man, the conquerors could strike down with cold steel more than their own number. The physical exertion alone must have been almost superhuman. The carnage lasted nearly the whole day. Two hours before the sun went down, the Roman army was annihilated, and more than one-half of it lay dead on the field of battle. The consul Æmilius Paullus had been wounded at the very beginning of the conflict, when his horsemen were routed by the Carthaginian horse. Then he had endeavoured, in spite of his wound, to rally the infantry and to lead them to the charge; but he could not keep his seat in the saddle, and fell, unknown, in the general slaughter. The same fate overtook the proconsul Cn. Servilius, the late master of the horse Minucius, two quæstors, twenty-one military tribunes, and not less than eighty senators-an almost incredible number, which shows that the Roman senate consisted not only of talking but also of fighting men, and was well qualified to be the head of a warlike people. The consul Terentius Varro, who had commanded the cavalry of the allies on the left wing, escaped with about seventy horsemen to Venusia. CHAP. VIII. FIRST PERIOD 218-216 P.C. camps. It was not Hannibal's custom to leave his work half- Capture of the Roman done. Immediately after the battle he took the larger Roman camp. The attack which its garrison of 10,000 men had made on the Carthaginian camp during the battle had failed; and the Romans, driven back behind their ramparts, and despairing of being able to resist the victorious army, were compelled to surrender. The same fate befell the garrison and the fugitives who had sought shelter in the smaller camp. Nevertheless, the number of prisoners was very small in comparison with that of the slain; it amounted to about 10,000 men. In Canusium, BOOK Effects of the battle of Cannæ. Venusia, and other neighbouring towns, about 3,000 fugitives were rallied. Many more were dispersed in all directions. This unparalleled victory, which surpassed his boldest expectations, had cost Hannibal not quite 6,000 men, and among them only two hundred of the brave horsemen to whom it was principally due.' Great as was the material loss of the Romans in this most disastrous battle, it was less serious than the effect produced by it upon the morale of the Roman people. Throughout the whole course of the war they never quite recovered from the shock which their courage and self-confidence had sustained. From this time forward Hannibal was invested in their eyes with supernatural powers. They could no longer venture to face him like a common mortal enemy of flesh and blood. Their knees trembled at the very mention of his name, and the bravest man felt unnerved at the thought of his presence. This dread stood Hannibal in the place of a whole army, and did battle for him when the war had carried off his African and Spanish veterans, and when Italian recruits made up the bulk of his forces. How stupified and bewildered the Romans felt by the stunning blow at Cannæ may be seen from one striking There are, as may be expected, considerable variations among our informants as to the losses of the two armies in the battle. According to Polybius (iii. 117), 72,000 Romans were killed, 20,000 taken, and no more than 4,000 escaped. Livy (xxii. 49) makes the loss of the Romans to consist of 45,000 infantry and 2,700 cavalry killed, 3,000 infantry and 1,500 cavalry taken in the battle, 2,000 men taken in Cannæ, and 16,400 in the two camps; the total loss, therefore, 48,200 killed and 22,900 prisoners, or 71,100 men. According to him (xxii. 52, 54), about 14,000 escaped. This agrees with the statement (xxii. 36) that the strength of the army was 87,200, for this leaves only 2,100 men as 'missing.' The statement of Livy has the appearance of greater accuracy, and agrees better than that of Polybius, at least as far as the fugitives are concerned, with what we are told in the course of the war of the legiones Cannenses,' which, as a punishment for their behaviour at Cannæ, were condemned to serve in Sicily without pay to the end of the war. The statements of the loss of the Carthaginians vary only between 6,000 and 8,000. 2 The Greeks called this with an expressive term avropaλμev. Still stronger is the Shakesperian term 'outstare.' See Merchant of Venice, ii. 1 : 'I would outstare the sternest eyes that look."' |