Battle of Canusium
| Battle of Canusium | |
|---|---|
| Part of the 41°14′12″N 16°03′58″E / 41.2366°N 16.0660°E | |
| Result | Carthaginian victory |
Carthage
Roman Republic20,000
5,700 killed
All the rest wounded
The Battle of Canusium also known as the Battle of Asculum was a three-day engagement between the forces of Rome and Carthage. It took place in Apulia during the spring of 209 BC, the tenth year of the Second Punic War. A larger Roman offensive, of which it was a part, aimed to subjugate and to punish cities and tribes that had abandoned the alliance with Rome after the Battle of Cannae, and to narrow the base of the Carthaginian leader, Hannibal, in southern Italy.
The battle of Canusium was also an episode of the years-long contest between Hannibal and the Roman general
Prelude
Battle
It was Marcellus' lot to confront Hannibal directly, for the Carthaginian general chose Apulia for his main operations after winter's end. Hannibal made the first move by encamping near Canusium, hoping to persuade its inhabitants to break their allegiance to Rome.
On the next day Hannibal decided to stand his ground and in the renewed fighting the Romans were heavily beaten. One of the wings of the first battle line, composed of allied levies, was forced to give ground. Marcellus ordered the legion positioned in the rear to relieve the retreating allies. This proved to be an error, as the ensuing manoeuvre and the continuing Carthaginian advance threw the entire Roman army into disorder. The Romans were put to flight and 2,700 of them were killed before the rest could take refuge behind the palisade of the camp.[2][4]
Marcellus was undaunted by this setback, and although many of his men were wounded, he led them to yet another long and inconclusive fight on the third day. Hannibal's elite
Aftermath
As a result of the battle of Canusium, the army of Marcellus was effectively put out of action. Sparing his soldiers, most of whom were wounded, the proconsul retired to Sinuesa (Campania) according to Plutarch, or Venusia (Apulia) according to Livy, where he was inactive the rest of the summer, allowing Hannibal to traverse southern Italy unchecked. This prompted Marcellus' political enemies in Rome to accuse him of bad generalship for two defeats that year, undermining Livy's claim of Marcellus' victory on the third day at Canusium, and to ask the Senate and People to relieve him of his command. Nevertheless, Marcellus was elected consul once again and was authorized to seek a decisive engagement with Hannibal in the following year.[2][9]
Still in the summer of 209 BC, while Marcellus was fighting Hannibal in
Footnotes
- ^ Livy, XXVII.12,14
- ^ a b c d Plutarch, The Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans, Marcellus
- ^ Livy, XXVII.7
- ^ a b c Livy, XXVII.12
- ^ a b c Caven, Punic Wars, p. 194
- ^ Кораблев, И., Ганнибал, Москва, "Наука", 1976, с. 258
- ^ Livy, XXVI.38
- ^ Livy, XXVII.14
- ^ Livy, XXVII.20-21
- ^ a b Livy, XXVII.15-16
- ^ Livy, XXVII.15
- ^ Plutarch, The Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans, Fabius
- Note
- All links to online sources were active on October 17, 2007
References
Note: All links to online sources were active on October 17, 2007
- ISBN 0-19-283159-3.
- Livius, Titus, The History of Rome, Vol. IV (ed. E. Rhys, translated by C. Roberts), University of Virginia Library Electronic Text Center
- Plutarch, The Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans, The Life of Marcellus (Dryden 1683 translation, Arthur Hugh Clough 1859 revision), available on Wikisource
- Smith, William (ed.), Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, University of Michigan
- Caven, Brian, The Punic Wars, Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London 1980, ISBN 0-297-77633-9
- Кораблев, Илья, Ганнибал, Москва, "Наука", 1976, Студенческое научное общество
- Shepherd, William, Historical Atlas, New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1911 (part of Perry–Castañeda Library Map Collection at the University of Texas Libraries, The University of Texas at Austin website)
