The Battle of Cannae was the third, and most
decisive battle of the three major Italian engagements during the Second Punic War. This single event redefined Roman strategy
for a generation, and has fascinated generals ever since. If you look at my two previous videos, which
were about the Battle of the Trebia River and the Battle of Lake Trasimene, you'll notice
that these were instances where Hannibal clearly outsmarted his opponents. The Romans noticed this too, but they wouldn't
have called it smarts. They would have called it trickery. They hated trickery. To the Romans, the ideal battle took place
on a flat surface, with no obstacles around, where two armies could just come straight
at each other and go at it. They had reason to feel this way. They had some of the best heavy infantry in
the known world. To them it was all about the strength and
grit of head to head fighting, which they excelled at. After losing two entire armies in what the
Romans would have called an unfair fight, they were determined to force a battle on
their terms. In order to make this battle truly decisive,
the each Consul was given two standard sized armies each. These four combined armies totaled an unprecedented
86,000 men. Just like we've seen before, they were mostly
heavy infantry, with only 6,400 cavalry. As the Romans marched south out to meet Hannibal,
they deliberately kept to flat, open land. They knew they had the numerical advantage,
and didn't want to get sucked into another one of Hannibal's tricks. Hannibal's casualties from the previous battle
had replaced themselves yet again with new Gallic allies coming over to his side after
his victory. Gauls now made up a third of his army. In total. he had 50,000 men, consisting of 40,000 infantry
and 10,000 cavalry. Going into the battle, Rome's strategy was
pretty straightforward. Remember how at the Trebia, the Roman heavy
infantry had unexpectedly broke through the Carthaginian centre? And remember at Lake Transimine, how the Roman
heavy infantry had managed to break through the Carthaginians blocking the road? Roman
strategy leading up to this battle was fundamentally about repeating this success. Their plan was to break through the centre
of the Carthaginian line, and then overpower the two halves of the army with Rome's superior
numbers. To this end, Rome invested heavily in the
centre of their own line. This had the added bonus of limiting their
exposure to the elite Carthaginian cavalry on the wings. The only obvious alternative to this strategy
would have had the Romans use their superior numbers to widen their line beyond the point
which the Carthaginians could match them. Then, they could have focused in on the Carthaginian
wings, rather than the centre. This is a much more conventional strategy,
but the only problem with it is that it leaves the infantry on the wings totally exposed. So instead they decided to attack up the centre. Finally, they were thinking ahead, coming
up with a way to mitigate the enemy cavalry. In order to fit even more men in the middle
of their line, the Romans formed up in large, narrow columns. Their cavalry was on the wings like normal,
but their only job was to shield the infantry. The infantry on the wing's only job was to
shield the infantry in the centre. According to the plan, the centre was where
the battle would be won or lost. The Carthaginian strategy was eerily the opposite
of the Roman one. Hannibal wanted to have a very thin centre,
with his elite African and Spanish infantry stacked deep, on the wings. You'll see why, in a minute. The Romans and the Carthaginians now formed
up. The Romans left 10,000 of their 86,000 men
back to guard their camp, with the intent of launching a huge raid against the Carthaginian
camp once the battle started. It seems a little overconfident to leave so
many men behind, but their thinking was that the Carthaginians were pretty poorly supplied,
which meant that a well placed raid could potentially weaken them beyond their ability
to fight. Again, it seems overconfident to me, but whatever. The remaining 76,000 Romans deployed in the
formation I described before, with a river on their right. Immediately, the Carthaginian cavalry charged
the Romans hard, on the right flank. The Romans were significantly outnumbered
and outclassed, and received absolutely no support from the nearby infantry. It was a mess. Apparently somebody mistakenly gave the order
to dismount just as the cavalry were closing in, leaving them totally unprepared. In a matter of minutes the Roman cavalry on
the right were killed or driven off. One of the Consuls may have been killed in
this initial clash. It was a terrible way to start the battle. It's worth noting that each of the Consuls
were commanding from the cavalry on the wings, and not from a central location behind the
infantry. For some reason this really bothers me. It's no wonder the Romans were slow to adapt
at Trebia, and Trasimene, and here at Cannae. Their Consuls were more interested in playing
soldier than commanding the army. My boy Caesar never pulled stuff like this. His HQ was always right behind the thick of
the fighting, with messengers coming and going at all times. Even Hannibal, here at Cannae, put himself
right behind his centre, where his line was thinnest, so that he could quickly move men
around if he needed to. According to their own plan the Roman heavy
infantry in the centre were key to winning this battle. At least one Consul should have been with
them. It's idiocy. Anyway, the Roman horse on the right were
in disarray. Then, the Carthaginian infantry advanced. For some reason they formed a convex shape
with their line as they advanced. It could have been a mistake, or it could
have been a way to exaggerate their weakness of their centre. While this was happening, the cavalry on the
Roman left were playing cat and mouse with each other. The Carthaginians kept on charging and retreating,
charging and retreating, and neither side wanted to commit. As the infantry from both armies met, the
Romans set to work. Their heavy infantry in the centre hit hard,
and began to push the enemy back. However, the Romans didn't know this, but
Hannibal had ordered his centre to deliberately give ground as needed. The Romans thought they were making progress,
when actually they were walking into a trap. At this point, the Carthaginians near the
river had finished with the last of their opponents. They turned, and charged all the way across
the field to help out their buddies on the other side. The Romans on this side were now outnumbered
3 or 4 to 1, and made a hasty retreat. By the way - and I hate to harp on this - with
them went the other Roman Consul. We now have one Consul dead and one Consul
driven off the field. It just makes me crazy. Meanwhile, the Roman infantry continued to
advance right into the Carthaginian line. The centre continued to slowly fall back,
as the wings held strong. Once the entire Roman line was fully committed,
the Carthaginian infantry on the wings suddenly pivoted, and charged inward. Simultaneously, the Carthaginian cavalry,
free from any opposition, charged the Roman rear. Do you see this? This is a disaster. The Romans were now being squeezed from all
directions, and lost all cohesion. The army was now just a confused mess of humanity,
pressed shoulder to shoulder with no room to fight. Now, the battle was more like a mass execution. Of the 86,000 Romans, only 3,400 would escaped. The 10,000 men left at the Roman camp were
captured, and everybody else was killed. The Carthaginians on the other hand, only
lost 8,000, total. I cannot overstate how significant this loss
was. It should have brought the state to its knees. There are estimates that Rome lost 20% of
its adult male population in one day. To put that in context, in World War 1 Germany
lost 6% of its adult male population over a 4 year period. It's so awful, it's hard to imagine how they
dealt with the loss. Yet somehow, miraculously, they carried on. Even more miraculously, after 13 long, hard
years, Rome would actually win the war. That makes Cannae both a testament to Hannibal's
genius, but also to Rome's cultural tenacity. There are very few states in world history
that would have continued to demand an unconditional surrender after such a loss. Cannae also speaks to the limits of military
power. Even after so many victories, Carthage couldn't
project enough power to occupy captured territory, or take the Roman capital. In that respect, so long as his state didn't
back him up, there was a hard limit on what Hannibal could accomplish.
I've been waiting for someone to share one of his videos for so long, I really enjoy him. It's a real shame about how infrequently he posts.
How is this known? Are the exact formations of every battle somehow recorded?
Jesus Christ, 20% of adult males in one day!
For anyone interested in Roman history, I highly reccommend Mike Duncan's podcast. It starts off a little rough (and is rather long), but it is well worth it. I listened to the whole series last semester, and am almost finished my second pass.
WTF do you do with 80,000+ dead bodies?
Wow these videos are fantastic! Shame he does not have many uploads.