Gaius Terentius Varro

The Battle of Cannae, August 2, 216 BC, was a significant battle of the Second Punic War. Although the Carthaginian army under Hannibal destroyed a numerically superior Roman army under the consuls Lucius Aemilius Paullus and Gaius Terentius Varro near the town of Cannae in Apulia (SE Italy), it failed to decide the outcome of the war in the favour of Carthage. The battle is famous for Hannibal's tactics as much as for the role it played in Roman history. Battle of Cannae - Prelude. At the start of the Seco ...

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• Battle of Cannae - Prelude
• Battle of Cannae - Battle
• Battle of Cannae - Aftermath

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Varro was a Roman cognomen carried by: Gaius Terentius Varro, the consul defeated at the battle of Cannae Marcus Terentius Varro (known as Varro Reatinus), the scholar Publius Terentius Varro (known as Varro Atacinus), the poet Other related archivesGaius Terentius Varro, Marcus Terentius Varro, Publius Terentius Varro, Roman, battle of Cannae, cognomen, consul

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August 2 is the 214th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (215th in leap years), with 151 days remaining. August 2 - Events. 338 BC - Rise of Macedon: Philip II of Macedon crushes Athens and Thebes in the Battle of Chaeronea. 216 BC - Punic Wars: In the Battle of Cannae, Hannibal destroys the Roman army of Lucius Aemilius Paullus and Gaius Terentius Varro in what is considered one of the great masterpieces of the tactical art. 461 - Majorian resig ...

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Hannibal anticipated that a consular army would move along the coast towards Hispania, and so took a combined army of 40,000 North Africans and Iberians across southern France by an inland route and crossed the Alps over the winter. His invasion of Italia came as a surprise to the Romans, for he had constructed no fleet, and it was believed his army could not possibly make it through the mountains. Indeed, it sustained very heavy casualties, including all but three of his 37 war elephants. Nevertheless, that spring he came into Northe ...

See also:

Second Punic War, Second Punic War - Background, Second Punic War - The war in Italy, Second Punic War - The war in Hispania, Second Punic War - The attack on Carthage, Second Punic War - Results, Second Punic War - List of battles

Read more here: » Second Punic War: Encyclopedia II - Second Punic War - The war in Italy

The consular forces at the battle amounted to 16 legions, 8 of them Roman plus an equal number of Latin allied legions, for a total of 100,000 men. Subtracting 10,000 for those left to guard the camp, the Romans brought to the field the following forces: 75,000 heavy infantry 20,000 light infantry 5,000 cavalry Opposing them was a Carthaginian army made up of: 30,000 heavy infantry 6,000 l ...

See also:

Battle of Cannae, Battle of Cannae - Prelude, Battle of Cannae - Battle, Battle of Cannae - Aftermath

Read more here: » Battle of Cannae: Encyclopedia II - Battle of Cannae - Battle

Hispania was lost to Carthage forever, and she was reduced to a client state. A war indemnity of 10,000 talents was imposed, her navy was limited to 10 ships to ward off pirates, and she was forbidden from raising an army without Rome's permission. Numidia took the opportunity to capture and plunder Carthaginian territory. Half a century later, when Carthage raised an army to defend itself from these incursions, it was destroyed by Rome in the Third Punic War. Rome on the other hand, by her victory, had taken a ...

See also:

Second Punic War, Second Punic War - Background, Second Punic War - The war in Italy, Second Punic War - The war in Hispania, Second Punic War - The attack on Carthage, Second Punic War - Results, Second Punic War - List of battles

Read more here: » Second Punic War: Encyclopedia II - Second Punic War - Results

While all this was happening, the Romans had carried the war into Hispania. Over the years Rome had gradually expanded along the coast until in 211 BC it captured Saguntum. This prevented Hasdrubal from sending his brother any aid and also diverted Carthaginian reinforcements away from Italia. That same year Rome recaptured Capua and Syracuse, the second falling after what was now a two-year siege, made famous by the defense engines made by Archimedes, who was killed in the sack of the city. However, Hasdrubal was able to defeat the Romans i ...

See also:

Second Punic War, Second Punic War - Background, Second Punic War - The war in Italy, Second Punic War - The war in Hispania, Second Punic War - The attack on Carthage, Second Punic War - Results, Second Punic War - List of battles

Read more here: » Second Punic War: Encyclopedia II - Second Punic War - The war in Hispania

Scipio returned to Rome a great hero, and, although he was technically ineligible, was elected consul in 205 BC. He resolved to end the war by attacking Carthage itself, and appealed directly to the Centuriate Assembly when he found the Senate opposed this. Thus he was given command of the two legions in Sicily, plus 7,000 volunteers he had recruited, and the next year brought the war to North Africa when he landed at Utica, about twenty miles away from Carthage. Here he was counting on support from the Numidians, who resented Cart ...

See also:

Second Punic War, Second Punic War - Background, Second Punic War - The war in Italy, Second Punic War - The war in Hispania, Second Punic War - The attack on Carthage, Second Punic War - Results, Second Punic War - List of battles

Read more here: » Second Punic War: Encyclopedia II - Second Punic War - The attack on Carthage