- [Narrator] This video was
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our Roman Consul Youtooz before it's too late. Don't make me mention it a third time, or I'll you know what. (ominous music) (dramatic music) Hannibal's army had survived its famous
crossing of the Alps, and he was now in Italy. With Hannibal's arrival,
the Roman Consul Scipio hit the ground running. In typical Roman fashion
he marched his army straight at the enemy, and
Hannibal began preparing for his first combat with
Rome on Italian soil. Before the battle, Hannibal
wanted to inspire his men, so he staged a gladiatorial death match between captured Celt prisoners with the winner getting
prizes and freedom. He then explained that the
whole thing was a metaphor. "A metaphor, for what?" "You, these warriors are you. You're trapped in Italy with no escape. Your only choice now is to fight and win." "What about the dead guy?" "That's you if you don't win." "And the prizes?" "That's what you stand
to gain by winning." "And the fact that I've soiled myself in all this excitement?" "That, no, that's not
part of the metaphor." "Okay." Hannibal also smashed
in the head of a goat, again for inspiration. Scipio, on the other hand,
now arriving in the area, opted for the more classic route of a rousing pre-battle speech. "Look at the men. Weak, starved by the Alps, while we are the strongest
military in the world. This will be easy. Like 10,000 horse-sized ducks
fighting a baby sized baby. It'll be like Mike Tyson in
his prime, kicking a baby. A tug of war between 10
sumo wrestlers and, uh, help me out here, Ralph." "A baby, sir." "Yes, yes, that's it, a baby. The point is, there is
absolutely no possible way we could lose a battle this easy. So if everybody's ready
on my mark, charge." (Roman soldiers yelling) (Roman soldiers screaming) The Battle of Ticinus was over almost as soon as it had begun, as the Romans found themselves
completely outmatched by Hannibal's famed lightning
fast Numidian cavalry, a key element in Hannibal's devastating double envelopment tactics. In the chaos, Scipio was wounded. Thankfully, according
to some ancient writers, his handsome 17-year-old
son, Scipio the Younger, saw his father fall. Scipio the Younger,
supposedly saved his father, and in the process earned
himself a lot of daddy's kisses. The Romans ended up fleeing the area, destroying the bridge
behind them as they went. For a nation so overtly
confident in victory, believing Hannibal to be an easy kill, the Romans found themselves running away with their tail between their legs. It was humiliating. And do you know who thought so as well? The Celts. They began flocking to Hannibal's
side just as he had hoped. Even Celtic troops fighting
for Rome in the Roman camp began to reconsider. "Man, I'm thinking we should
try to join Hannibal." "I hear you, maybe we
should bring him a gift. What do you think he'd like?" "Hmm, oh, I know." "Hey, Hannibal, we wanna join your side and we brought you a present." "A gift for me? I hope it's Roman heads." Oh, please, oh, please be Roman heads. How did you know?" Running away from Hannibal
was humiliating enough, but having dozens of Romans
beheaded in the night. Now that's embarrassing. Ticinus had been a
relatively small battle, but the psychological impact
it had early on was huge. And it was only just a taste of what Hannibal was capable of. Despite the shocking
initial loss, however, Rome still didn't seem to
fully understand the danger posed by the monster now
loose in their territory. The Senate was full of excuses. "It's those traitorous
Celts, that's why we lost. "Yeah, and it was a cavalry battle, wait until Hannibal faces
our almighty legions." "And our Consul was bald, once he faces our other
fully follicled Consul then he'll really pee his pants." That other Consul, Longus had been in the south all this time, preparing to invade Africa. He had seen some success
even capturing Malta, but then he heard the news, "Hannibal's in Italy, and
I'm being ordered home. But, but I was gonna be the big boy. I was gonna invade
Carthage and win the war." "Well, you can be a big boy at home." "No." "Does somebody need a nap, sir?" "No, no, no!" And so Longus brought his army
on the long journey north, when he arrived in the area to decisively neutralize Hannibal. The two Consuls joined
their forces together, creating a double consular army. But the two Consuls weren't
exactly on the same page, "Having a nice rest there, old man?" "I'm wounded, Longus." "Pathetic." "You don't understand. He's more dangerous than we thought." "Maybe for you, whoops." "Listen, we can't just march straight at him like we normally do. We need to train our
man through the winter and we'll try again in spring." "Sorry, I don't take advice
from a bowling bowl." "H-hey, I'll kick your ass, Longus." "Any day now." "I'm coming, just you wait." "Oh, Scipio, you feeble old man." (Longus screeches) Scipio was apparently quite cautious after his recent encounter with Hannibal, while Longus, typically Roman, couldn't wait to give Hannibal a swirly. So who would get their way? Well, when two Consuls
joined their forces, it turned out the Romans had
an interesting system in place. They would each take turns
being the one in charge. Consul one would lead one
day, then Consul two the next, back and forth, back and forth. As you can imagine, when the
two Consuls didn't agree, things didn't go so well. In this case, due to Scipio's injury, Longus probably assumed even
more command than normal. Hannibal had Celtic
spies in the Roman camp. He fully understood the Roman system and Longus's hotheaded nature, and he knew he could exploit it. "For goodness sake." "What's wrong, sir?" "I'm trying to order some pizza, but I keep getting fed
all these personalized ads about being a hothead. I'm not a hothead, am I?" "No, sir." "Look at this, butt insurance? Who would buy butt insurance?" "Yeah, that sounds really stupid." "Sir, it seems like a lot of data brokers have collected data on you. They could sell that data to Hannibal." "What?" "But don't worry because
you can get rid of that data with today's wonderful sponsor, Incogni." "Hooray." I've been getting at you for some time to protect your personal data online. But you're a nimwit, aren't you? You didn't do it, did you? Typical, and now would you look at that? Tons of data brokers have collected a heck of a lot of your personal data and might sell it to third
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supporting my channel. So thank you. Now, where were we? Oh yeah, Roman heads, a double
consular army and a hothead. Hannibal needed to keep
smashing the Romans in battle in order to maintain the
loyalty of the Celts. And so he was eager to
fight another battle. The combined Roman force
possibly outnumbered him. So he carefully crafted a clever trap, and he made sure to spring it, while Longus was still in charge. The plan began with his army
getting an early night's sleep. "All right, boys, time for lights out." (Carthaginian soldiers whine) "Sorry, but we got a big day ahead of us. Tomorrow we're gonna massacre the Romans." (Carthaginian soldiers cheer) "Goodnight boys, dream of revenge." (door clicks) "Gorzog, send out the cavalry." (dramatic music) That night, Hannibal's Numidian cavalry made their way over to the Roman camp arriving just before dawn. "Hey, Romans, wakey, wakey." "What, what the, what's going on?" "Hey, Longus, your butt
smells like a butt." "It does not. Scipio, awaken the troops." "Longus, these playground insults are clearly meant to lure you out." "Well, it's working, send out the troops." "Longus, it's clearly a trap." "And I'm falling for it,
send out the troops." "Hey guys, wake up, you're
heading out for battle." "What? But we haven't had breakfast." "We're skipping breakfast." "I don't think you can do that." As the Romans hurried out of camp, the Numidians began luring them back to the Carthaginian camp,
where these gentle angels were just awakening from their slumber. "Eat up boys we're having pancakes." (Carthaginian soldiers cheer) While the Carthaginians were enjoying their hearty breakfast. The starving Romans
were still on their way. "Hurry up, we have to
catch those Numidians. Hey, why have you stopped marching?" "Longus, there's a freezing
river in front of us." "Well get your gluteus
maximus in the water." (Roman soldiers yelling) "All right, boys, time to lather up. This oil will insulate you from the cold. It also smells like lavender." (Carthaginian soldiers hum) "There's the Carthaginian
camp, get ready to fight men." "Sir, I take the water from the river is beginning to ice over. I can't move." "Oh, oh, I'm sorry, you
thought war would be fun. Sitting around a nice hot campfire playing truth or dare with your friends? Welcome to the real world." "Truth." "Who do you like?" "Sharon." "Ew." "Hey, look, guys, the Romans are here." (Roman soldiers shivering) Having perfectly orchestrated events so that his enemy was
cold, tired, and hungry, while his men were well
rested and covered in oil. When the two sides engaged one another, the Romans were in no condition to fight. And the cherry on top? The previous night, Hannibal had sent out an elite force of men led by his brother to go and hide behind a bush. They suddenly sprung out
encircling the exhausted Romans who were then cut to pieces. Once again, Hannibal's superior cavalry and double envelopment tactics
had flummoxed the Romans. But the key word at Trebia was control. Hannibal used his intel on the enemy and the environment of the battlefield to carefully control the
conditions of battle, creating lots of little
advantages for himself that paved the way to success. And concealing troops for an ambush? All of these things are what make Hannibal the genius he's remembered as today. As for Longus, he managed
to escape the battlefield with a small number of troops. Disgraced, he didn't want this Senate to find out what had happened, and he began obscuring
communications back to Rome. "Longus, where have you been? We've been looking for you." "Uh, nowhere in particular." "Longus, 30,000 men are missing. Do you know where they are?" "Uh, they're taking a bath." "30,000 men, all in a bath." "Yes." "Longus, what's under that rug?" (flies buzzing) "Aurora Borealis." "Aurora Borealis? Oh."
(alarm beeps) "Well, that's my consulship over. Good luck with Hannibal, bye." Trebia had been a disaster for the Romans. And as even more Celts
began flocking to Hannibal, Rome largely lost its
control over Cisalpine Gaul. In Rome, complacency turned to alarm. Hannibal had outwitted
them on their own soil and inflicted a costly defeat. But with that, Scipio and Longus's terms
as Consul were over. They were replaced with two new Consuls, Servilius and Flaminius. The Romans may now have begun to realize the trouble they were in, and the genius Hannibal had
shown in invading Italy. The Romans had expected to be
the ones controlling this war. Remember, they thought they
were going to invade Carthage. Now their plans lay in ruins, and they were levying 11 new legions to deal with the threat, Hannibal had completely redefined the war. But Hannibal had a little
problem of his own. Things had gone well so far, but the Celts were notoriously fickle. And Hannibal needed to ensure
he maintained their alliance and his base of support in Italy. Any Celts he captured fighting for Rome he treated extremely well and allowed them to return to their homes. But the longer he hung
around in their territory, eating all their food and leaving beard
trimmings in their sinks, the more resentful they may become. They wanted to go south and
plunder some Roman booty. And Hannibal also hoped to sway Rome's other Italian allies
in the south to his side. So from here, the path was clear. Hannibal had to move south. Just one problem. There were two main routes Hannibal could take to move south. And wouldn't you know it? That's exactly where the
two new Roman Consuls had taken fortified positions. If Hannibal tried to move on them, he'd be fighting from a
disadvantaged position and could be bottled in. "There is a third option." "Ooh, tell me, tell me." "We could move through this
vast, impassable marshland flooded with dirty, stinky
disease infested water that at times would come up to our necks." "But there's no way we
would attempt that, right? That it'd be crazy, right? (playful music) Hannibal?" Hannibal's four day trek
across the Arno marshlands was hell on Earth, almost as crazy as when
he crossed the Alps. Imagine three full days
unable to sit or lie down because there's nowhere
to sit or lie down. Meaning four full days without sleep slugging through heavy mud. You contract cholera. Your foot falls off and Jimbob directly in front of you won't stop pooping in your path. In fact, everybody's pooping in your path. Some delirious sleepless
men would see clumps of mud and say, "Man, I could
just sink into that." And then they would. When Pack animals died, it gave nearby men a chance to rest, but only for a few moments before they were whipped back into line. Even Hannibal himself couldn't
escape the torture of it. "Hey, Hannibal, if we see
a Starbucks, can we stop? I need to take a leak." (Carthaginian soldiers screaming) "What?" "Geez, Hannibal looks like you picked up a nasty eye infection. Normally for this sort of thing, we'd just wash it out
with some clean water. But as you can see, water everywhere, but it's full of Jimbob's poop." "No worries, doc, I'll just
take care of it myself." (Carthaginian soldiers gasp) "That'll be $3,000." When the now possibly one-eyed Hannibal and his army emerged from the
swamp, they were shattered. But he had just managed to slip 50,000 men right past the Romans
into Rich Etrurian lands where he could replenish his supplies and his Celt allies could go crazy securing Roman loot and booty. As fields and villages went up in flames, one Roman Consul couldn't help but notice. The hotheaded Flaminius, feeling it was his responsibility
to protect these lands. Rather than waiting for his
co-consul to come join him, immediately left to go chase Hannibal. Now this Flaminius was
an interesting character. He was what the Romans called a new man. He came from the lower plebeian
classes of Roman society, and as a result, he reportedly had kind of a screw you attitude
to the establishment and a big old, arrogant
chip on his shoulder. Picture Sid Vicious wearing
a toga, that's Flaminius. And Hannibal, thanks to
his spies, knew everything. Just as with Longus,
Hannibal knew Flaminius was just the kind of man
he could lure into a trap. Hannibal led Flaminius to
the entrance of a narrow pass along the north shore of Lake Trasimene. Flaminius watched as Hannibal's
army entered the pass. "I've done it, I've spotted the enemy." "Uh, sir, that big "Follow us" sign seems kinda like they're
trying to lure you in." "Yes, Gareth, and I'm taking the bait." "Sir, this really seems like a trap." "Yes, Gareth, and I'm falling for it." Daylight was fading, so for
now, the Romans set up camp. The two armies encamped across
the lake from one another and night fell over the two camps. In the morning, Flaminius
would catch up to Hannibal and he would be the hero of Rome. For now, the Romans got nice
and comfy in their beds. Goodnight, Flaminius. Good night, Rome. Good evening, Hannibal. During the night, Hannibal
ordered total stealth (Flaminius snoring) as tens of thousands of troops (Roman soldiers snoring) scaled the wooded hills above the pass, (Roman soldiers snoring) completely undetected by Rome's scouts. (Flaminius snoring) (upbeat music) "Let's go girls." Flaminius took off across the lake shore to try to catch Hannibal. As he did, even the weather
seemed to be on Hannibal's side. A thick fog rose from
the surface of the lake obscuring visibility. "Look at this, this is perfect. The mist will obscure our approach. Hannibal will never see me coming." (battle horns blast) "Sir, why does it sound
like 50,000 Carthaginians are charging down the hill towards us? "You mean 50,000 Carthaginians are charging right into my trap." (Carthaginian soldiers yelling) The Romans found themselves completely hemmed in on all sides. With zero visibility in the fog, the fighting was terrifying and chaotic. Troops were pushed into the
lake in their heavy armor where they were either
cut down or drowned. And Flaminius, who likely
stood out like a sore thumb in his Consul attire caught the attention of one Celt warrior. With his head possibly
swirling with thoughts of how the Romans had
decimated his homeland. According to the ancient writers,
this Celt took his chance. (triumphant music) In the three hour long massacre,
15,000 Romans were killed, and an equal number captured. An entire army completely wiped out along with their Consul. During the battle, the Roman vanguard had managed to break through at the front and climb the hill above the fog. When the mist cleared, what
they saw was a blood red lake and a sea of Roman bodies. Worse yet, when the other
consuls sent cavalry to try to aid Flaminius's doomed legions, they too were caught and defeated. A double disaster. (senators screaming) Rome went into a frenzy. For the second time, Hannibal
had completely decimated an entire Roman army. Romans were dying by
the tens of thousands. Common citizens began flocking
to the city for safety. Women waited by the city gates in tears, hoping to hear news of loved ones. This one man, having just led his battered army across
the Alps the previous year now stood less than a
hundred miles from Rome. To this point, he had been a problem. Now Hannibal was a crisis. And in a crisis, Rome
took desperate measures. They actually had a system in place when dealing with an
emergency of this magnitude. They would forego their two
Consul power sharing system, and instead, temporarily give one man near total power and authority to be as decisive as he needed and hopefully salvage the situation. This all powerful position
in Rome's government had a name, dictator. It's actually where we get the word. But unlike modern dictators, Roman ones didn't score
perfect rounds of golf or ride bears through the Siberian Tundra. They held their power for just six months before they were required to give it up. And in Rome's hour of need, the man chosen to be dictator in 217 BC, one of the most highly esteemed
members of the Roman Senate, Fabius Maximus. So how would Fabius as
dictator confront Hannibal? Well, Fabius understood that marching all of Rome's young men straight into a one-man meat
grinder was bleeding Rome dry. Hannibal was clearly too dangerous to face head on in battle. However, he was also
stuck in their territory with dwindling manpower and
forced to live off the land. It wasn't a sustainable
position to be in long term, and he could only remain
there for so long. So if Rome avoided battle with Hannibal to prevent any more crippling losses, and instead simply maneuvered
around him, blocking supplies and taking out smaller
contingents where possible Hannibal would gradually become weaker while they would
gradually become stronger. And so Fabius presented his
new idea to the Roman Senate. "Okay, guys, I have an idea. See if you can follow me here, okay? Instead of fighting
Hannibal when he approaches, we run away." (senators booing) Fabius's strategy couldn't
have been any less Roman. Romans were meant to march
headfirst into battle, not run away from it. It seemed cowardly and Fabius
was extremely unpopular. At this point, Hannibal
was continuing south. He had to stay on the
move to keep his army fed, and he was still aiming to undermine Rome's
alliances in the south. As he went in a calculated
display of aggression, he devastated the Roman
countryside and killed many Romans, all in plain sight of Fabius and his army. "We're just gonna stand here?" "Yes." "Are you a coward?" "No." "But Fabius, that's my farm." "Well, MacDonald, thank
you for your sacrifice. You're a hero now. Think of the stories you'll tell." "Old McDonald had a farm." (cries) "Shut up." But you know who else
hated Fabius's strategy? Hannibal. He understood the danger he was in. Turning Rome's allies against her, required Hannibal to keep
smashing the Romans in battle. He couldn't do that if
Fabius wouldn't fight him. Multiple times, Hannibal tried
to goad Fabius into a fight, but Fabius wouldn't bite. Failing that he tried to
turn room against Fabius. According to the writer, Livy, he burned down all the farms he could. But any farm he learned
was owned by Fabius himself he left well alone. "Hey, Fabius, why isn't
he burning down your farm? You got some sort of a
secret deal with him." "What, of course not." "Hey, Hannibal!" "What?" "Burn my farm too, please." "What?" "Burn my farm too, please." "No, remember our secret deal." (sighs) Well, you gotta
admit he's a genius. Hannibal's problem, however, was that he had to stay on the move to keep supplying his
army from the local lands. At one point, he entered Campania, one of the richest regions of
Italy, great for resupplying and great for showing up Fabius in front of Rome's south Italian allies. But he was caught in a valley, and Fabius quickly moved
to block his escapes. "Ha ha, we've got him. After he's used up all the valley's supplies, he'll starve." "Uh, sir, what are all those
lights leaving the valley? Is he trying to escape?" "Lights in plain view? Well, that's a trap if
I've ever seen one." "And we're falling for it." Suspecting a trap,
Fabius refused to budge. But other Romans in the valley
rushed to confront Hannibal, only to find the Carthaginian army was actually just a herd of oxen with torches tied to their heads. They then found themselves
caught in an ambush. With the Romans distracted Hannibal's army was able to slip away
into the night unopposed. Classic Hannibal. For all his inaction,
the dissatisfied Romans mockingly dubbed him Fabius the Delayer. But the thing is, Fabius's strategy was probably the best
thing he could have done. He was right that constant
encounters with Hannibal were bleeding Rome dry. And the time he took allowed
Rome some breathing room to recover their forces when
they desperately needed to while putting Hannibal into an increasingly
more difficult position. Modern historians view Fabius's strategy as generally a good idea. To this day, the act of
not engaging an enemy, but instead gradually wearing them down is still referred to
as the Fabian strategy. But when Fabius's term
finally came to an end, the Senate couldn't have been happier. It was time to start fighting again. However, they probably had a little chat about how they were gonna go about it. See, Hannibal's tactics up
until now had been very sneaky. Or if you're a Roman, you
might say dishonorable. "I'm sick of it. Every time we try to take this guy down, we march straight at him. But then, oh, no,
Hannibal's hiding in a bush. Hannibal's got 30,000 men up a tree. At this point, I'm not convinced my wife isn't just Hannibal wearing a disguise." (senator's wife coos) (senator shudders) "Look, this time we obviously
have to switch something up. Now, granted, we're Roman, so we're gonna march straight
at him without thinking. That can't be helped, it's in our blood. But I have a proposition. This time when we march straight at him, we do it with a massive army. I'm talking like 80,000 men. It won't matter what kind
of shenanigans he pulls. He can hide in all the bushes he wants. There's no way he can
possibly beat off 80,000 men." (senators laughing) "Grow up, you know what I mean." And so it was with two new Consuls Rome put together a massive army. The biggest Rome had ever fielded to put Hannibal away once and for all. To gather them in required,
two thirds of them ended up being completely inexperienced. But how much experienced does it take to be expendable war fodder? As this massive army set
out in the summer of 216 BC the Romans knew they
needed to win this battle. Just one victory over Hannibal would likely be enough to
end his entire campaign. And this time, their overwhelming manpower gave them confidence they could do it. Hannibal had taken position
at the town of Cannae where he had captured an
important Roman Supply depot. With Fabius gone, Hannibal knew the battle was likely coming, and he was eager to fight it on his terms. But when his men looked
out at the Roman camp, they couldn't believe
what they were seeing. "That army's huge. There's no way we can possibly
beat off all these men. How are we gonna beat
off all of these men?" "Heh, heh." "You know what I mean." "I think he's right, Hannibal." Hannibal is then said to have replied, "Gisco, my friend, don't worry. There may be a lot of them,
but amongst their ranks, there's not a single man named Gisco." This joke was apparently so funny that his officers began
to laugh and laugh. And when his men in the
camp heard the laughter, they were like, "Hey, they're laughing. I guess that means we're
gonna win the battle." (Carthaginian soldiers cheer) As for the Romans, the
Consuls were another pairing between an inexperienced
hothead and a wise scholar. Although the main historian from this era was good friends with Paullus's family, so take that with a grain of salt. On his day of command,
the rash and hasty Varro, despite the apparent pleas from Paullus sent the army out for battle. And when Hannibal saw
this, he did the same. And here comes the single largest battle of the Second Punic War and one of the most
renowned battles in history. The infamous Battle of Cannae. In all the pre battle maneuvering, Hannibal was able to ensure his army was fighting from the south. This meant the seasonal dust
carrying winds were to his back and blowing directly into
the faces of the Romans. Like I said, control. After two years in Italy,
Hannibal's infantry had dwindled to about 40,000. The Romans possibly
outnumbered him two to one. Their army was so big that their maniple stretched far deeper than they normally would. The Romans plan to charge
Hannibal's thin weak line like a battering ram and break it. They also chose a narrow battlefield in the hopes it would prevent Hannibal's far superior cavalry from being able to outmaneuver them. They wanted an honorable
battle where pure strength, rather than trickery,
would decide the outcome. If Hannibal had his say, however, trickery might end up
having a lot to do with it. He ordered his line to position themselves as an outward bulge with his weakest troops
at the very center. Just behind them out of
sight from the Romans, stood the elite Libyan infantry waiting for their moment to strike. The battle commenced as
the massive Roman troops smashed into the Carthaginian center. The shape of Hannibal's line ensured the overwhelming
weight of the Romans hit his weakest troops first, and they were pushed back. Hannibal's outward bulge reversed inward with the Romans being funneled
in towards the weak center. Hannibal had positioned
himself at the center to encourage the troops to hold out as long as possible against
the Roman onslaught, because while the Romans were on leashing carnage on the center, Hannibal's cavalry needed
time to do their job. The heavy cavalry on the left after a barbaric fight sent
the Roman horse packing with the Consul Paullus even sustaining a severe head injury. He managed to move into the
center to keep the battle going. Then the heavy cavalry turned and approached Varro's
cavalry from behind. At the first sight of the
coming Carthaginian envelopment Varro ordered his horsemen
to flee the battlefield, the Carthaginians had
won the cavalry battle. But back in the center,
according to some accounts, Hannibal's line did
eventually end up caving to the massive weight of the
Romans, and they began to flee. The Romans pushed deeper and organization within
the army likely broke down, as they became a giant mass trying to massacre the
fleeing Carthaginians. They didn't realize that they were playing
right into Hannibal's hands. At that moment, Hannibal's elite units having done no fighting yet,
and therefore fresh as a daisy turned and smashed into the Roman sides. Many of these troops were
wearing Roman helmets and armor they had picked up after previous battles, and the confused Romans
may not have even realized they were the enemy. As Hannibal managed to regain
the composure of his center and encourage them back into the fight, the Carthaginian cavalry
swooped in from behind. And look at what lies before you. A military general's wet dream the total encirclement
of a much larger force by a much smaller force. The Romans were trapped. Hannibal had unbelievably managed to use their own superiority
in numbers against them, rather than simply encircling them, he had actually allowed them
to use their own immense power and push themselves into
an encircled position. This was the genius of Cannae And with that, the annihilation began. For hours the Carthaginians slaughtered the helpless
Romans from all sides. The terrified Romans were so
tightly packed that at times they couldn't even lift their
arms to defend themselves. The killing went on so
long that the Carthaginians became exhausted from
the nonstop massacre. And by the time the
butchery came to an end, the grim toll spoke for itself. To Hannibal several thousand lost. The Romans suffered 60 to
80,000 dead or captured. Yet another entire army
wiped out by Hannibal. Many high-ranking Romans
met their end at Cannae. Paullus for one, but also
80 senators and more. It's been estimated that 20% of Rome's male population,
aged 18 to 50 died at Cannae. This was it, Hannibal's vengeance. The stunned Carthaginians as they searched for their
own survivors among the dead, couldn't believe the sight of it. An estimated 30,000 gallons of blood now lay spilled on the battlefield. Rome's defeat at Cannae sent
shockwaves throughout Italy. Just as Hannibal had hoped, most of southern Italy
now defected to his side, including the second largest
city on the peninsula. "Wow, Hannibal, this is incredible. What could possibly come next?" "Next? Jimbob, I've killed 150,000 Romans. I've turned her allies against her. That's it, that's vengeance. So let me tell you what comes next. Rome surrenders. (dramatic music) Their territories are reduced. We recover our lost islands. And Carthage dominates the
Mediterranean once again." "But sir, what if they don't surrender?" "Jimbob, did you miss what just happened? Of course, they're gonna surrender." Throughout his campaign
Hannibal had shown himself to be very adept at
reading the Roman mind. But if he now thought
that Rome might surrender, it was the first time he
severely underestimated them. And he was about to discover an extremely inconvenient fact about Rome. Rome never surrenders. At a Roman survivor's camp near Cannae. One young officer overheard some troops discussing how they would flee Rome. Drawing his sword he
threatened to cut down any man that would abandon Rome
in its hour of need. That officer was Scipio the Younger, but soon enough, the Romans
would come to call him Scipio Africanus, the hero of Rome. (dramatic music)
