World History
One of the most devastating battle losses in history happened in 216 BC. The Roman Republic suffered a huge military defeat at the hands of Hannibal in the Second Punic War.
The Encyclopadiea Britannica notes of the battle, "The Romans, with 80,000 men, met the 50,000 Carthaginian and allied African, Gallic, and Spanish troops under Hannibal's command and were crushed by them. Hannibal's troops gradually surrounded their foes and annihilated them in a classic example of the double envelopment maneuver. Roman losses exceeded 65,000 men, while the Carthaginians lost only about 6,000."
What is shocking about this battle is the high number of losses. The Romans lost over 70,000 men. The Carthaginians lost over 6,000 men. All of the losses happened on the same day. This makes this battle one of the bloodiest in world history. Fatalities at this level would not be seen again until World War One.
Wikipedia noted, "The total number of lives lost surpasses the number of servicemen killed in the Royal Air Force throughout the First and Second World Wars. More men were killed at Cannae than in all the four months of the Battle of Passchendaele, which is considered one of the bloodiest battles of World War One. So devastating were these losses, that the total number of casualties represents just under one third of the total number of American soldiers, sailors, and airmen killed in four years of fighting during the Second World War. In fact, the losses suffered within a single day on the battlefield of Cannae (no larger than a few square miles), would not be equaled until the first day of fighting on the Somme in 1916 and which took place on a 25-mile front nearly 2,000 years later."
The loss almost shattered the Roman Republic. Many of Rome's allies in southern Italy declared for Carthage. King Philip V of Macedonia took advantage of the Roman situation to begin the First Macedonian War. Many Romans considered Rome doomed and fled Italy.
Rome survived and won the war. Eventually, after the Third Punic War, Carthage was razed. However, history almost took a very different course. What if Hannibal had followed up his win with a siege of Rome? He didn't do this due to a lack of siege equipment but if he had he may have won anyway. There would have been no Roman Empire and Carthage would have ruled the world instead.
The Battle of Cannae was a major event in the history of the Roman Republic. It defined an entire generation of Romans. Everyone knew someone who died at the battle. I imagine that people talked about where they were and what they were doing when they first heard about the Battle of Cannae. The death of so many Roman men must have seriously disrupted the government, the economy, and the ability of the Romans to continue the war.
Here are some additional links with more information:
Battle of Cannae from Wikipedia
Battle of Cannae from Roman-Empire.net
Ancient History Sourcebook: Polybius (c.200-after 118 BCE): The Battle of Cannae, 216 BCE
Punic Wars - Battle of Cannae 216 BC
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World History
Battle of Cannae
One of the most devastating battle losses in history happened in 216 BC. The Roman Republic suffered a huge military defeat at the hands of Hannibal in the Second Punic War.The Encyclopadiea Britannica notes of the battle, "The Romans, with 80,000 men, met the 50,000 Carthaginian and allied African, Gallic, and Spanish troops under Hannibal's command and were crushed by them. Hannibal's troops gradually surrounded their foes and annihilated them in a classic example of the double envelopment maneuver. Roman losses exceeded 65,000 men, while the Carthaginians lost only about 6,000."
What is shocking about this battle is the high number of losses. The Romans lost over 70,000 men. The Carthaginians lost over 6,000 men. All of the losses happened on the same day. This makes this battle one of the bloodiest in world history. Fatalities at this level would not be seen again until World War One.
Wikipedia noted, "The total number of lives lost surpasses the number of servicemen killed in the Royal Air Force throughout the First and Second World Wars. More men were killed at Cannae than in all the four months of the Battle of Passchendaele, which is considered one of the bloodiest battles of World War One. So devastating were these losses, that the total number of casualties represents just under one third of the total number of American soldiers, sailors, and airmen killed in four years of fighting during the Second World War. In fact, the losses suffered within a single day on the battlefield of Cannae (no larger than a few square miles), would not be equaled until the first day of fighting on the Somme in 1916 and which took place on a 25-mile front nearly 2,000 years later."
The loss almost shattered the Roman Republic. Many of Rome's allies in southern Italy declared for Carthage. King Philip V of Macedonia took advantage of the Roman situation to begin the First Macedonian War. Many Romans considered Rome doomed and fled Italy.
Rome survived and won the war. Eventually, after the Third Punic War, Carthage was razed. However, history almost took a very different course. What if Hannibal had followed up his win with a siege of Rome? He didn't do this due to a lack of siege equipment but if he had he may have won anyway. There would have been no Roman Empire and Carthage would have ruled the world instead.
The Battle of Cannae was a major event in the history of the Roman Republic. It defined an entire generation of Romans. Everyone knew someone who died at the battle. I imagine that people talked about where they were and what they were doing when they first heard about the Battle of Cannae. The death of so many Roman men must have seriously disrupted the government, the economy, and the ability of the Romans to continue the war.
Here are some additional links with more information:
Battle of Cannae from Wikipedia
Battle of Cannae from Roman-Empire.net
Ancient History Sourcebook: Polybius (c.200-after 118 BCE): The Battle of Cannae, 216 BCE
Punic Wars - Battle of Cannae 216 BC
- Hannibal: The Annihilator
The History Channel has a new series. And amazingly, it has nothing to do with the occult, monsters, UFOs, or Hitler! It is called Battles BC. The first episode was on last night and it was titled Hannibal: The Annihilator. Here is a description from...
- German Battlefield Yields Roman Surprises
I came across ancient history in the news today. CNN has an article titled German battlefield yields Roman surprises. The unsigned article covers the finding of relics from a 3rd century battle between Romans and barbarians in Northern Germany. Why is...
- Battle Of Nu`uanu
The Battle of Nu`uanu was fought in the late 18th century on the Hawaiian island of O?ahu. It was the battle that allowed Kamehameha I to annex the entire island of O'ahu. Wikipedia notes of the battle, "The Nu?uanu Pali was the site of one of the...
- Ancient World Battles
Ancient World Battles - This site has short accounts of ancient Greek and Roman battles, starting with Marathon in 490BC. This site has not been updated in some time (since 2001) and it is biased towards Greek and Roman battles, but it is still a nice...
- Battle Of Beaumont Hamel
Battle of Beaumont Hamel. The recent losses of the Ohio National Guard in the Iraq War have hit Northeast Ohio hard. However, by comparison to many past wars, the losses are light. In the American Civil War and World War One, entire regiments of men from...