OLIVER BARROS

BATTLE OF ZAMABATTLE OF CANNAE

THE CONSEQUENCES OF THE 2ND PUNIC WAR

CONTENTS • BATTLE OF CANNAE:

- SOURCES

- PRELUDE

- FORCES + EQUIPMENT

- BATTLE EVENTS

- IMPACT

• BATTLE OF ZAMA:

- PRELUDE

- SOURCES

- TROOP DEPLOYMENT

- BATTLE EVENTS

- AFTERMATH AND IMPACT

• CONSEQUENCES OF SECOND PUNIC WAR

BATTLE OF CANNAE

HISTORICAL SOURCES• 3 main accounts of the Battle of Cannae:

MODERN SOURCES

• E.L. Skip KnoxBoise State University

History of Western Civilization

• Gregory Dale, ’Cannae: The Experience of Battle in the Second Punic War ’.

• Gregory Dale on Polybius's source reliability: “Polybius is to regarded as the most important and accurate source for the battle of Cannae, but it is important to realise that his account is not to be taken at face value; his sources were far from perfect, and his use of them seems to have been somewhat naïve.”

BATTLE OF CANNAE – PRELUDE

PRELUDE • 2 Roman Consuls, Lucius Aemilius Paullus + Gaius Terentius Varro

• 216 BC spring, Hannibal’s shows initiative

• POLYBIUS, “caused great commotion in the Roman army; for it was not only the loss of the place and the stores in it that distressed them, but the fact it commanded the surrounding district”

• Consuls replied to Hannibal’s initiative

• Romans were approaching Cannae

• Hannibal harassing the Romans and their water supply

FORCES – ROMANS• Combined forces of ROMAN consuls:

• 80,000 infantry

• 2,400 Roman Cavalry

• 4,000 allied horse

• 2 fortified camps

• 2,600 heavily armed men

• 7,400 lightly armed men

• Approx.: 86,400

FORCES – CARTHAGE • Carthaginian army:

• 40,000 roughly heavy infantry

• 6,000 light infantry

• 10,000 cavalry

• Numerous regions (8,000 Libyans + 8,000 Iberians + 16,000 Gauls + 5,500 Gaetulain infantry

• Hannibal’s cavalry → (4,000 Numidian + 2,000 Spanish + 4,000 Gallic + 450 Liby-phoneican cavalry

• 8,000 skirmishers, consisting of : Balearic slingers + mixed nationality spearmen

• Uniting factor

EQUIPMENT• Rome

• ‘pila’ (heavy javelins) + hastae (thrusting spears) + traditional helmets, shields + body armour

• Carthage

• Iberians (swords + javelins or various types of spear)

• Defence, Iberians warriors carried large oval shields & Gauls similarly equipped

• Heavy Carthaginian cavalry 2 javelins + curved sword

• Numidian Cavalry were lightly equipped with no armour and small shields possibly with either javelins, Knife, or a longer blade

• Libyan’s line infantry, stabbing spears, (Ducan Head) fought with equipment taken from previously defeated romans, (Polybius)

• 1: ARMIES MET:

• Light slingers & spearmen at front

• Celtic & Spanish swordsmen behind them in a crescent in the center

• Left wing Celtic & Spanish Cavalry

• Right his light Numidian cavalry

• Elite African mercenaries acted as reserves

• Also ordered his light troops at front to fall back and act as reserves

• Romans acted as predictable, infantry positioned at front cover their position

• Behind them in centre the main body of the legion took its position also had allied Italian infantry on either side

• Roman Right wing stood Roman Cavalry

• Left Wing allied cavalry

BATTLE OF CANNAE – ARMIES MEET

• 2: ARMIES ENGAGED:

• Rome drove in hard with superior infantry

• Crescent of Celtic & Spanish swordsmen buckled & retreated

• Roman thought they had a powerful drive

• The Carthaginian light troops that pulled back at the beginning had now taken position at the rear of the crescent as well as each side of the crescent

• Roman cavalry on right wing engaged the Spanish + Celtic heavy cavalry on the Carthaginian left

BATTLE OF CANNAE – ARMIES ENGAGE

BATTLE OF CANNAE – EVENTS

• Polybius - "After thus drawing up his whole army in a straight line, he took the central companies of Hispanics and Celts and advanced with them, keeping the rest of them in contact with these companies, but gradually falling off, so as to produce a crescent-shaped formation, the line of the flanking companies growing thinner as it was prolonged, his object being to employ the Africans as a reserve force and to begin the action with the Hispanics and Celts."

• THE TRAP:

• Roman infantry kept driving into Carthaginian lines

• Forcing the Carthaginians back gave the romans a sense of confidence

• As romans pushed forward, and the Carthaginians withdrew so left side on the Carthaginian, light infantry emerged on the Roman flanks

• Hannibal’s Celtic & Spanish heavy cavalry driving the Roman cavalry back

• Combined with the advance of the Roman infantry that there emerged a gaping breach in the Roman line a large body of cavalry now separated from the Carthaginian left wing + charged across the field of battle to the right wing fell into the rear of the cavalry of the roman allies

BATTLE OF CANNAE – THE TRAP

• THE TRAP CLOSES:

• Roman infantry continued to drive forward & had driven itself into an alley which was formed by light Carthaginian infantry stationed at the sides

• Shielded by Carthaginian troops, comrades who had stayed at the rear could now swing around and come in behind the Roman army

• Roman doomed legions were encircled and being attacked from all sides

• Roman infantry had been defeated by opposing infantry and returning Carthaginian cavalry helped further accelerate their victory

BATTLE OF CANNAE – TRAP CLOSES

BATTLE OF CANNAE – IMPACT • Livy records Hannibal's losses at "about 8,000 of his bravest men."

• Polybius reports “5,700 dead: 4,000 Gauls, 1,500 Spanish and Africans, and 200 cavalry”

• “Out of the 70,000 Romans to take the field, about 10,000 survived; the survivors were placed in two special legions that were forced to remain under service for the duration of the war, as a punishment for their failure.” - E.L. Skip Knox

• Hannibal had his men collect more than 200 gold rings

• Hellenistic southern provinces, Apri, Salapia, Herdonia, Uzentum

• Immediately after Cannae, Hannibal sent a delegation

• Rome learnt their lesson

BATTLE OF ZAMA

ANCIENT SOURCES

MODERN SOURCES • ANCIENT ROME FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES DOWN TO 476 A.D

By Robert F. Pennel (1890)

• Boak and Sinnigen, Conquest of the Mediterranean. First phase-The struggle with Carthage: 264 – 201 BC, :

• Theodore Ayrault Dodge, Hannibal: A History of the Art of War Among the Carthaginians and Romans. More on the Second Punic War

BATTLE OF ZAMA – PRELUDE • Rome changed strategy

• Battle of Ilipa 206 BC

• 205 BC, Scipio elected consul

• ‘Battle of Great Plains’ 203 BC

• Carthage panicked and came to term with Scipio

• 203 BC, Carthage recalled Hannibal from Italy

BATTLE OF ZAMA – TROOP DEPLOYMENT • Hannibal’s army:

• 45,000 infantry

• 6,000 cavalry

• 80 war elephants

• Scipio’s army:

• 34,000 infantry

• 6,000 cavalry

BATTLE OF ZAMA – TROOP DEPLOYMENT • Appian says “both sides had the same size infantry, but Hannibal had 50,000 men and 80 war

elephants, while Scipio had 34,000 men plus Numidians. It is claimed that Hannibal lost 20,000 men. Hannibal survived and told the Carthaginian council that the war”

• Livy states that “Hannibal deployed 4000 Macedonians in the second line”

• 1: ARMIES MEET

• Romans drew up their forces in 3 lines

• Maniples(military unit) stood in separate formations

• Gaps loosely filled by skirmishers

• Roman left wing

• Roman right wing

• Hannibal aligned troops in 3 lines

• 1st line

• 2nd line

• 3rd line

• Very front

• Left wing

• Right wing

BATTLE OF ZAMA – EVENTS

• 2: ELEPHANTS CHARGED

• After initial skirmishes between cavalry units, Battle begins

• Purpose of the elephants

• Scipio’s preparation of lining up his troops in separate maniples

• Velites(infantry) in the gaps now engaged the elephants

• Scipio ordered every trumpeter of the army to blow

• This tactic was successful

• However some did drive the Roman ranks + caused considerable damage before escaping up the alleys

BATTLE OF ZAMA – EVENTS

• 3: ROMAN CALVARY CHARGES, THE INFANTRY DEPLOYS:

• Roman cavalry launched attack

• Carthaginian cavalry crumbled

• Both sides gradually advanced each other, until Romans charged

• Initial charge quite expertly halted by Hannibal’s mercenaries in the front line

• Roman discipline

• Carthaginian 2nd line failed to give any support and when the mercenaries tried to fall back

• Hannibal’s veterans stood firm

• Scipio’s response to the sideways move of the Carthaginian front rows

BATTLE OF ZAMA – EVENTS

• 4: CAVALRY RETURNS

• Roman cavalry, driven the fleeing Carthaginian horse away, returned and immediately fell into the rear of Carthaginian lines

• Hannibal’s army began to collapse

BATTLE OF ZAMA – EVENTS

BATTLE OF ZAMA – AFTERMATH/IMPACT • Some sources claim that:

• hannibal’s casualties:

• 20, 000 killed

• 11, 000 wounded

• 15,000 taken prisoner

• Roman casualties:

• 1,500 killed

• 5,000 wounded

BATTLE OF ZAMA – AFTERMATH/IMPACT • War ended with Carthage senate

• The terms that Carthage agreed to were so punishing, that it was never able to challenge Rome for supremacy of the Mediterranean again.

• Terms of the treaty, bankrupted Carthage of any chance at military might in the future

• One provision, Carthaginians not allowed to make war without Roman consent

• ANCIENT ROME FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES DOWN TO 476 A.D By Robert F. Pennel (1890):

• “The power of Carthage was broken, and her supremacy passed to Rome. She was allowed to retain her own territory intact, but all her war-ships, except ten, were given up, and her prisoners restored; an annual tax of about $200,000, for fifty years, was to be paid into the Roman treasury, and she could carry on no war without the consent of Rome.”

CONSEQUENCES OF THE SECOND PUNIC WAR• Carthage reduced to the statues of a client state

• Lost all power of enacting its own treaties and diplomacy

• Forced to pay a tribute of 10,000 Talents + warships + war elephants

• Carthage forbidden to raise an army w/o permission of Rome

• Boak and Sinnigen, Conquest of the Mediterranean. First phase-The struggle with Carthage: 264 – 201 BC, :

• “surender of all territory except the city of Carthage and the surrounding country in Africa, an indemnity of 10,000 talents, surrender of all vessels of war except ten triremes, and of all war elephants and the obligation not to make war anywhere without Rome’s consent.”

BIBLIOGRAPHY • http://ancienthistory.about.com/od/punicwarii/g/010811-Battle-of-Zama.htm

• http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/asbook09.html

• http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/655514/Battle-of-Zama

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hannibal

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Zama

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Cannae

• http://www.roman-empire.net/army/cannae.html

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQNCGqfjaBc