Battle of Lake Trasimene

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Site of the battle within modern day Italy

The Battle of Lake Trasimene was fought when a

The Carthaginians then marched towards southern Italy in the hope of winning over some of the ethnic Greek and Italic city-states there. News of the defeat caused a panic in Rome and led to the election of Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus as dictator. Impatient with his Fabian strategy of avoiding major battles, the next year the Romans elected Lucius Paullus and Gaius Varro as consuls. These more aggressive commanders engaged Hannibal at the Battle of Cannae in 216  BC, resulting in a third and even worse disaster for Rome; it was followed by thirteen more years of war.

Background

Pre-war

The

Meanwhile, the major Gallic tribes in Cisalpine Gaul (modern northern Italy), antagonised by the founding of several Roman settlements on traditionally Gallic territory, attacked the Romans, capturing several towns and repeatedly ambushing a Roman relief force.^[12] The Roman Senate reinforced their army in Cisalpine Gaul while also preparing armies to invade Carthaginian territories.^[13]

Carthage invades Italy

Hannibal assembled a Carthaginian army in New Carthage (modern Cartagena) and marched north into Gaul in May 218 BC,^[14][15] leaving his brother, Hasdrubal Barca, in charge of Carthaginian interests in Iberia.^[16][17] The Carthaginian army crossed the Alps in October, surmounting the difficulties of climate, terrain^[14] and the guerrilla tactics of the native tribes.^[18] Hannibal arrived with 20,000 infantry, 6,000 cavalry and an unknown number of war elephants – the survivors of the 37 with which he had left Iberia^[19][20] – in Cisalpine Gaul. The Romans had already withdrawn to their winter quarters and were astonished by Hannibal's appearance.^[21]

The Romans went on the attack and the local Roman commander, the consul

In spring 217 BC, probably in early May,^[37] the Carthaginians crossed the Apennines unopposed, surprising the Romans by taking a difficult but unguarded route. The Carthaginians moved south into Etruria (modern Tuscany), plundering the countryside, looting the plentiful stocks of food, razing the villages and small towns,^[38][39] and killing out of hand all adult men encountered.^[40] Hannibal learned that one Roman army was at Arretium and was eager to bring it to battle, before it could be reinforced:^[41] Hannibal surmised the Romans would have another army on the east coast.^[42]

Once he learned that he had been bypassed, Flaminius, the commander of the Roman army at Arretium, set off in pursuit.^[42] The modern historian Adrian Goldsworthy points out that as they passed through territory devastated by the Carthaginians, there would have been a feeling of military failure and humiliation – the army existed to protect its homeland – and that the small farmers of the legions and their landowner officers would have taken this despoliation as an intense provocation.^[43] The Romans gained the impression, possibly fostered by Hannibal, that the Carthaginians were fleeing south before them; according to the ancient historian Polybius, they anticipated an easy victory.^[44] The Romans were pursuing so rapidly that they were unable to carry out proper reconnaissance, but they closed to less than a day's march behind their opponents.^[41][44] The Carthaginians bypassed the Roman-garrisoned city of Cortona and on 20 June marched along the north shore of Lake Trasimene. Hannibal decided this was a suitable spot to turn and fight.^[44]

Opposing forces

Roman

Most male

Carthage usually recruited foreigners to make up its army. Many would be from North Africa – these were frequently referred to as Libyans – which provided several types of fighters, including: close-order infantry equipped with large shields, helmets, short swords and long thrusting spears; javelin-armed light infantry skirmishers; close-order shock cavalry^{[note 2]} (also known as "heavy cavalry") carrying spears; and light cavalry skirmishers who threw javelins from a distance and avoided close combat.^[52][53] Both Iberia and Gaul provided experienced infantry: unarmoured troops who would charge ferociously, but had a reputation for breaking off if a combat was protracted.^{[52][54][note 3]} Most of the African infantry would fight in a tightly packed formation known as a phalanx, usually forming two or three lines.^[53] Specialist slingers were recruited from the Balearic Islands.^[52][55]

The numbers fielded by the Carthaginians are not known, but an approximation can be made. Hannibal had arrived in Italy with 20,000 infantry and 6,000 cavalry,^[19][56] and had fought at the Trebia in December 218 BC with 31,000 and 11,000 respectively.^[57] In the wake of this victory, he was further heavily reinforced by local Gauls.^[36] In 216 BC, the Carthaginians, not having been reinforced since crossing the Apennines, had 40,000 infantry and 10,000 cavalry. It is usually assumed that more than 50,000 fought at Lake Trasimene.^[58] In any event, the Carthaginian army was considerably larger than the Roman.^[59]

Battle

Setting the ambush

The shoreline has changed since, but at the time of the battle, the road led along the north shore of the lake then turned south, still along the lakeshore, before climbing away from the lake through a defile. To the north of the road were a range of low hills that came closer to the lake towards the east, steadily reducing the open ground between them and the lake. The Carthaginians made camp where the hills were closest to the lake, near the defile. This was clearly visible to the Romans.^[41][44][60]

Once it was dark, Hannibal sent the components of his army on night marches behind the hills to the north of the lake to take up positions from which they could ambush the Roman army.^[61] Night marches are notoriously difficult and often result in units becoming lost in the dark or alerting their enemy. The Carthaginians avoided both of these and took up positions on the reverse slopes of the hills.^[62] The Carthaginian cavalry were positioned furthest to the west, the north-Italian Gallic infantry to their east and the experienced African and Iberian infantry furthest east, relatively close to their camp.^[63] Modern historians place the bulk of the many Carthaginian light infantry either around the defile and its mouth^[62] or as reinforcing the Gauls in the centre of the Carthaginian line.^[64][65]

On the morning of 21 June the Romans set off very early^[61] and marched eastward along the northern edge of the lake. Ancient accounts state that a thick morning mist near the lake limited visibility, but some modern historians have suggested this was either invented or exaggerated to excuse the Romans' subsequent unreadiness for battle.^[66] As Flaminius was expecting battle, the Romans probably marched in three parallel columns, which was their habit before a battle as this was relatively quicker to manoeuvre into a battle line compared with a single line of march. This swiftness was relative, as forming an army up in battle order was a complicated affair which would take several hours under any circumstances.^{[note 4][68]} The Romans would have had a screen of light infantry out to their front and, to a lesser extent, their flank, as skirmishing was usual before a battle with the armies' respective light troops shielding their close-order colleagues while they formed up. Flaminius did not send out cavalry scouts to make a more distant reconnaissance; Roman armies of the time rarely did so.^[62]

Springing the trap

The leading Romans made contact with the most easterly of the Carthaginians, probably some of the African or Iberian close-order infantry and the signal was given for all of the Carthaginians to advance, possibly by the sounding of trumpets. According to some ancient accounts, the Romans could hear these signals on their flank and to their rear, but could not see their enemy, which caused confusion. It would have taken several hours for the Romans to convert their formation into a battle array, even if they had known which direction to face. As it was, with the Carthaginians attacking unexpectedly from the flank and the rear, possibly with poor visibility, there was no chance to form even a rudimentary fighting line. Some Romans fled while others clustered into groups of various sizes, ready to engage the enemy on all sides.^[69] The fugitives and many of the impromptu Roman groups were rapidly cut down or captured. Other groups of Romans put up a stiff fight, especially in the centre, where the attacking Gauls suffered heavy casualties before beating down the trapped Romans after three hours of heavy combat.^[70][71]

According to Polybius, Flaminius was completely surprised and provided no effective leadership. The openly pro-Roman ancient historian Livy,^[72] who otherwise paints a poor picture of Flaminius, recorded two centuries later that he was active and valiant in attempting to rally his army and organise a defence before being cut down by a Gaul, Ducarius. The trapped portion of the Roman army collapsed. Men attempted to swim across the lake and drowned; others waded out until the water was up to their necks and the Carthaginian cavalrymen swam their horses out to chop at their exposed heads.^[73]

The trap failed to close on the 6,000 Romans at the front of the column, who were possibly also those most prepared for battle, and they pushed their way out of the defile against little opposition. Realising that they could not affect the battle behind them, they marched on. Later in the day they were surrounded by pursuing Carthaginians and surrendered to a force under Maharbal on the promise of being disarmed and freed; "with a garment apiece" according to Livy. Hannibal disapproved and only applied this to the allied captives, while selling the Romans into slavery.^[73] Many of the Carthaginian infantry, especially the Libyans, equipped themselves with captured Roman armour.^[67][74]

Casualties and follow up

The ancient sources are unclear as to the fate of the approximately 25,000 Romans known to have been engaged. According to the contemporary annalist and senator Fabius Pictor, 15,000 were killed and 10,000 scattered. The usually reliable Polybius has 15,000 killed and most of the rest captured. Polybius reports losses of 1,500 killed for the Carthaginians, most of them Gauls; Livy gives 2,500 killed on the day and "many" who subsequently died of their wounds.^[75]

The second Roman army, originally positioned on the Adriatic coast and commanded by Gnaeus Geminus, had been marching west, intending to join up with Flaminius. Unaware that the destruction of Flaminius's army had left the Carthaginians able to manoeuvre freely, Geminus's entire cavalry force of 4,000 was scouting ahead when it was surprised by the Carthaginians a few days after Trasimene. Nearly 2,000 were killed in the first clash; the balance were surrounded and captured the next day.^[76][77] Geminus withdrew his infantry back to Ariminum (modern Rimini) on the Adriatic.^[78]

Aftermath

The Roman prisoners were badly treated by the Carthaginians, but the captured Latin allies were treated well and many were freed and sent back to their cities in the hope that they would speak highly of Carthaginian martial prowess and of their own treatment.

The populace of Rome fell into a panic when word of the defeat was received. Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus was elected dictator by the Roman Assembly and adopted the "Fabian strategy" of avoiding pitched conflict, relying instead on low-level harassment to wear the invader down while Rome rebuilt its military strength. Hannibal was left largely free to ravage Apulia for the next year, until the Romans ended the dictatorship and elected Paullus and Varro as consuls in 216 BC.^[86] These more aggressive commanders offered battle to Hannibal, who accepted and won a victory at Cannae, where some 70,000 Romans were killed or captured;^[87] the modern historian Richard Miles describes this as "Rome's greatest military disaster".^[88][89] Subsequently, the Carthaginians campaigned in southern Italy for a further 13 years.^[76]

In 204 BC Publius Cornelius Scipio, the son of the Scipio who had been wounded at Ticinus, invaded the Carthaginian homeland, defeated the Carthaginians in two major battles and won the allegiance of the Numidian kingdoms of North Africa. Hannibal and the remnants of his army were recalled from Italy to confront him.^[90] They met at the Battle of Zama in October 202 BC and Hannibal was decisively defeated.^[91] As a consequence, Carthage agreed to a peace treaty which stripped it of most of its territory and power.^[92]

Evaluation

According to the modern military historian

Citations

Sources

• Polybius' and Livy's accounts side by side in English.