Guest marco Posted July 31, 2005 Report Share Posted July 31, 2005 I don-t a lot about roman history. During battle of Cannae, about 45 000 legionary were killed by Hannibal forces. Is-it true? How was it possible to defeat ont of the best antiq army and kill so many roman legionaries (welle trained, welle equiped and portected by cuirras)? Thanks for your opions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diegis Posted July 31, 2005 Report Share Posted July 31, 2005 Yes,is true.The romans loose this battle because of tree things.The command of the army was spread betwen two consuls,Paullus and Varro.They fight in principal moment more with heart then with a cold mind.Hannibal was a military genius.The consul who lead the army in the day of battle, Varro,start the fight with out ask the opinion of Paullus.The roman army have in the right wing cavalry,second line infantry(roman legionares),left wing roman allies cavalry and infantry,and first line aux.troops light armed and soldiers armed with javelins.Hannibal army was disposed like this:Gaulles and hispanic cavalry in front of roman cavalry,the numid cavalry in the other wing,and in the center the hispanic and gaulles infantry,flanked by african infantry.After a fight of light troops ,and then of cavalry troops,roman legionares start the atack in center,and push back the carthagians.They believed that enemy is running and is defeated,and they atack with more fervour.But the line front was stabilised after a time.In the wings front remain stabile,and Hannibal can execute a encirclement maneuver of roman army,who advance to much in his formations,with his africans reserve troops.The romans was totally encircled,even if they haved a bigger army,and must fight in all directions.The battle became an disaster for romans,and a lesson for military strategy,but,unfortunately for Hannibal,he win just a battle,not the war,and the romans will come back agaist Carthagina until they win. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Virgil61 Posted July 31, 2005 Report Share Posted July 31, 2005 I don-t a lot about roman history. During battle of Cannae, about 45 000 legionary were killed by Hannibal forces. Is-it true? How was it possible to defeat ont of the best antiq army and kill so many roman legionaries (welle trained, welle equiped and portected by cuirras)? It is true, and some put the numbers at 60,000. Polybius states that this consular army was not well-trained which is one reason why the consul Paullus, declined to engage Hannibal. His co-consul Varro thought otherwise and led the Romans to disaster against his advice. The Romans got sucked into a pocket by Hannibal, who'd put his worst troops in the front-middle knowing they'd fall back. He'd gotten the Romans bunched up and fighting on three sides. His cavalry routed the Roman cavalry , returned and completed the encirclement. Encirclement is a tough-nut to crack by a disciplined veteran army, for a less-experienced one it's fatal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onasander Posted August 1, 2005 Report Share Posted August 1, 2005 I've always wondered about that, from Eastern Strategy works of the same era, encirclement of one's forces was encouraged in thier manuals as a motivating force. Some ever suggested blocking off the routes of escape with chains so the troops would feel trapped and fight harder.... suppose different weaponry and formations were used. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P.Clodius Posted August 2, 2005 Report Share Posted August 2, 2005 Today is the aniversary of Cannae. Happy aniversary Hanninbal, but payback's a bitch!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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