Battle of Cannae

A 216 BC battle in southern Italy in which Hannibal’s Carthaginian army encircled and decisively defeated a larger Roman force.

Double envelopment: A military maneuver in which forces attack both flanks of an enemy formation and converge around it. Hannibal’s converging wings turned the Roman advance into a complete encirclement.
Second Punic War: A war fought between Rome and Carthage from 218 to 201 BC, including Hannibal’s invasion of Italy. Cannae was the war’s most devastating Roman battlefield defeat.
Hannibal’s crossing of the Alps: Hannibal’s 218 BC passage into Italy with an army that included war elephants. It began the Italian campaign that culminated in Cannae.
Livy: A Roman historian whose history of Rome recounts the Second Punic War and the battle of Cannae. His account is a major ancient narrative source for the battle and its aftermath.
Hannibal: A Carthaginian general who led campaigns against Rome during the Second Punic War. He arranged the battle’s flexible center and counterattacking wings.
Battle of the Trebia: A 218 BC battle in northern Italy where Hannibal defeated a Roman army near the Trebia River. It preceded Cannae in Hannibal’s series of victories on Italian soil.
Battle of the Rhône Crossing: A 218 BC confrontation in which Hannibal’s forces crossed the Rhône while evading Roman opposition. The crossing formed an early stage of Hannibal’s march toward Italy.
Polybius: A Greek historian whose surviving work covers Rome’s rise and the Second Punic War. His account offers an early narrative of Hannibal’s campaign and Roman defeat.
Cavalry: Military forces mounted on horses or other riding animals. Carthaginian cavalry drove off Roman cavalry and helped close the encirclement.
Battle of Lake Trasimene: A 217 BC battle in which Hannibal ambushed and destroyed a Roman army beside Lake Trasimene. Like Cannae, it exposed Roman forces to a devastating Carthaginian encirclement.

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