So, I've recently completed a part of my English Holiday Homework about the Battle of Cannae. I'm not sure if this is good or sucks horribly, and need some the opinion of more experienced forummers, mods etc.
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The Battle Of Cannae
The Battle of Cannae in the summer of 216 BC is a milestone in Roman history.
It was Hannibal's finest hour and was his greatest military victory ever over Rome and it forced the Romans to learn a painful lesson.
The Roman legions were perhaps the finest military units of their day. Their methods of fighting, their training and their equipment were highly sophisticated and very effective.
But an army on its own, no matter how devastating, will not win battles. It stands or falls with its commander. The long line of brilliant Roman military leaders should largely arise from the lessons learnt against Hannibal.
Having famously crossed the Alps with his elephants, Hannibal descended into Italy and wrought havoc against the Roman forces.
Major battles took place at Trebia and at Lake Trasimene, in both of which Hannibal crushed the armies that faced him with his superior tactics and strategies.
A lot is made of the psychological impact his elephants had on terrified Roman troops.
But by the battle of Cannae all Hannibal's elephants had died.
Hannibal Barca, also known as Hannibal the Great, was a great Carthaginian general of Phoenician origin. He is sometimes known to be even greater than Alexander the Great.
In 900 BC, the Phoenician civilization is known to have flourished in the Mediterranean, having been the first to invent ships and use them for commercial purposes. By 850 BC, the Phoenician cities in Syria and the eastern Mediterranean were known to have a large number of dependencies in North Africa, what is now known as Libya, Tunisia, Algeria and eastern parts of Morocco. Carthage was no more than a Phoenician Colony which is known to have originated under the Leadership of Queen Dido. Mainly, Carthage was of Phoenician origin, and their navy was a force to be reckoned with.
Rome put a massive infantry force into the field against him. Force was to be conquered by greater force. Such was the Roman way. The Roman commanders L.Aemilius Paullus and C.Terrentius Varro led a force of 86'000 men against Hannibal, who could had 40'000 or less to face them. More so, Hannibal's troops were most likely not of the same quality as Roman legionaries. They were a colourful mix of Gauls, Spaniards, Numidians and Carthaginians.
In theory the Roman sledgehammer should have crushed the Great General, but for the way it was to be wielded. Near the town of Cannae next to the River Aufius (Ofanto) the armies met.
~~~~~THIS SECTION IS PURELY FICTIONAL~~~~~
August 1, 216 BC.
Roman Encampment Near Cannae
“Consul Varro. Our Scouts have spotted a large number of light cavalry approaching the camp.” said Captain Decius.
“Let us wait for them. Bring back the cavalry guarding the supply routes to the camp, and deploy them on both flanks and the rear.” ordered the Consul.
“Yes, sir.” replied Captain Decius, as he rode off with his bodyguards to rally the cavalry.
“Lucius, what do you think he is trying to do?” asked Varro.
“It is obvious he wants to attack our camp, to try to weaken the morale of our men before the battle. “ replied the experienced Consul, Lucius Aemilius Paullus.
“An attack with light cavalry will be useless. “ remarked Consul Varro.
The Numidian Cavalry started closing in on the Roman camp. It was not long before the Roman Cavalry arrived at the camp. Amidst the lush forests, appeared a man who’s sight alone was fearful for the bravest of men. It was Hannibal. Following him were a large number of heavy Celtic and Hispanic cavalry. The Romans were not aware of Hannibal’s plan, until now.
“They are surrounding us! Pull the cavalry back and close the gates!”
Ordered Varro.
Soon, the Numidians unleashed volleys of javelins at the helpless Roman infantry. Hundreds were killed every minute. The Romans were cowering behind their poorly built palisade. Some tried to run, but they were not fast enough to escape the volleys of javelins.
“I am sure that the barbarian seeks to disrupt our supply lines! We must do something, lest be stranded with no food or water!” yelled Paullus.
Volley after volley, the Romans were in a state of panic, until Consul Varro decided to strike back, hoping to have not made a mistake by doing so.
“Open the gates! Legions, form a perimeter around the camp! Cavalry, with me!” ordered the Consul.
Out marched the Legionary Infantry from the camp, and hurriedly set up a perimeter around the camp, trying to avoid death from above. They were waiting for some kind of Divine Intervention to save them from the Numidian onslaught.
Varro’s plan was to take his cavalry and try to outflank the occupied Numidian Cavalry. His plan worked, as he managed to drive off the Numidians, but not for long. He tried to pursue the much faster Numidian cavalry, but to no use. He did not realize the actual reason why he and his heavy cavalry weren’t able to keep up with the Numidian Cavalry. It was a matter of weight. His men were heavily armed, while the Numidians were lightly armed with Javelins and no armor. The Roman Cavalry were being slaughtered by the Numidians, as they were being picked off of their horses, one by one, by the battle-hardened Numidian Cavalry at high speed. Soon Varro, having realized he can’t keep up with the Numidian Cavalry in any way, ordered a retreat to the camp. By noon, over a thousand bodies littered the Roman camp.
A few hours later, a Messenger barged into the Consul’s Praetorium
“Consul! I have a message from Captain Julius, Chief of the Guard in Apulia!”
“Speak, messenger” said Varro
“Captain Julius says that over Five Hundred Roman Legionaries and One Thousand Roman Cavalry were killed guarding the supply route of Apulia. A large number of Carthaginian Heavy Cavalry have ambushed the convoys’ going through the route. The town of Caralisum was sacked and the Convoys have been completely destroyed, and their cargo was looted or spoilt.”
Varro glared at the messenger, “Get out, NOW!”
The Romans were hopelessly cut off from any form of supplies, with one day left for the battle. They were at a serious disadvantage.
The Romans were acting just as Hannibal wanted them to. Soon Varro was left with no supplies in his camp granaries, and an ill-fed army. But, he still remained positive of his situation in Apulia. He was confident that Hannibal’s weak 50,000 troops would not hold against 86,000 of Rome’s finest men. He was wrong.
The next morning came, and Varro marched with his army to the designated Battlefield.
August 2, 216 BC
The Battle of Cannae
Hannibal’s army lay by the Aufidus river, with the river flowing on Hannibal’s left flank. His army was formed in a crescent shape.
“Ha! He thinks he can defeat us with that formation?” Varro remarked.
“Indeed. The Barbarian’s formation is useless. He cannot maneuver efficiently, nor can his men fight efficiently” replied Paullus.
As the armies advanced on one another, Hannibal gradually extended the center of his line, extending the crescent shaped formation. His battle hardened African infantry lay waiting at the flanks.
Soon, the 10,000 Celtic, Hispanic and Numidian Cavalry engaged the 6,400 Roman and Allied Cavalry. On the left flank, the Hispanic and Celtic cavalry annihilated the Roman cavalry, while on the right flank, the Numidians were engaging in a way that merely kept the allied cavalry occupied. When the victorious Hispanic and Celtic cavalry came up, the Allied cavalry broke and the Numidian Cavalry pursued them off the field, leaving the Romans with a handful of Cavalry bodyguards guarding the Roman Consuls.
“Ah! What is that?!?” yelled Varro.
“It’s - It’s dust!” replied Lucius
As the numerous Romans advanced, the south easterly winds blew dust into their eyes, obscuring their view.
Soon, the Romans engaged with Hannibal’s outermost center. Swords and shields clashed, in a fierce exchange between the two sides.
Hannibal pulled his men in the center back to a controlled retreat. The crescent of Hispanic and Celtic troops buckled inwards as they gradually withdrew. The Romans, ignoring the fact that they were trapping their ownselves, drove deeper and deeper into Hannibal’s crescent formation in an attempt to attack his center. Knowing the Superiority of the Roman infantry, Hannibal had instructed his infantry to withdraw deliberately, thus creating an even tighter semicircle around the attacking Romans. By doing so, Hannibal had turned the strength of the Roman infantry to a weakness.
Varro soon realized that he had no hope of winning this battle. But before he could mount on his horse and retreat along with whats left of his Bodyguards and the rest of his commanders, Paullus let out an agonizing scream, when a spear was thrust into his chest. It was not very long before he bled his last drop of blood, and has passed into the afterlife. Varro jumped up to mount his horse, and then ran away at a speed not known to man. He dare not face Hannibal’s army.
While the front ranks were gradually advancing, the bulk of the Roman troops began to lose their cohesion, as they began crowding themselves into the growing gap. Soon they were compacted together so closely that they had little space to wield their weapons. In pressing so far forward in their desire to destroy the retreating and collapsing line of Hispanic and Celtic troops, the Romans had ignored the African troops that stood uncommitted on the projecting ends of this now reversed-crescent. Soon the Carthaginian Cavalry charged into the rear of the Roman Center. At this decisive point, Hannibal ordered his African Infantry to engage the Roman flanks, creating a complete encirclement of the Roman Consular Army.
When the Carthaginian cavalry attacked the Romans in the rear, and the African flanking echelons had assailed them on their right and left, the advance of the Roman infantry was brought to an abrupt halt. The trapped Romans were enclosed in a pocket with no means of escape.
As their outer ranks were continually cut down, and the survivors forced to pull back and huddle together, they were finally all killed where they stood.
Many thousands of Romans lay dead. Some, who were able to live by hiding under the heaps of the slain and who emerged in the next day, were overpowered the Carthaginians. Many were found with their heads dug into the earth, in what appeared as pits they have plunged their heads into to suffocate themselves. Six Hundred Legionaries were being killed every minute. When night had come, there were no more Romans left to kill.
Of the Roman and allied infantry, 70,000 were killed, 10,000 captured, and perhaps 3,000 survived. It was Rome’s most crushing defeat ever.
On the other hand, Hannibal’s army lost only 8,000 of his bravest men.
The Battle of Cannae was a crushing defeat for Rome. In the battle alone, Rome had lost over half of its finest military commanders, to only one General. Hannibal. Historians today are most amazed by Hannibal’s brilliant tactics and strategies used by Hannibal in Three battles against the Romans, in which he had killed over 117,000 Roman Legionaries and Cavalry. He truly was the Greatest General of All Time.(In my opinion )
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Is it good, or is it not good?
Thanks,
Hannibal
"I long for Darkness."
- Cormac McCarthy, The Sunset Limited.
"We are a species that ravages, plunders, kills, destroys, rapes and enslaves in the name of progress."
----------------------------
The Battle Of Cannae
The Battle of Cannae in the summer of 216 BC is a milestone in Roman history.
It was Hannibal's finest hour and was his greatest military victory ever over Rome and it forced the Romans to learn a painful lesson.
The Roman legions were perhaps the finest military units of their day. Their methods of fighting, their training and their equipment were highly sophisticated and very effective.
But an army on its own, no matter how devastating, will not win battles. It stands or falls with its commander. The long line of brilliant Roman military leaders should largely arise from the lessons learnt against Hannibal.
Having famously crossed the Alps with his elephants, Hannibal descended into Italy and wrought havoc against the Roman forces.
Major battles took place at Trebia and at Lake Trasimene, in both of which Hannibal crushed the armies that faced him with his superior tactics and strategies.
A lot is made of the psychological impact his elephants had on terrified Roman troops.
But by the battle of Cannae all Hannibal's elephants had died.
Hannibal Barca, also known as Hannibal the Great, was a great Carthaginian general of Phoenician origin. He is sometimes known to be even greater than Alexander the Great.
In 900 BC, the Phoenician civilization is known to have flourished in the Mediterranean, having been the first to invent ships and use them for commercial purposes. By 850 BC, the Phoenician cities in Syria and the eastern Mediterranean were known to have a large number of dependencies in North Africa, what is now known as Libya, Tunisia, Algeria and eastern parts of Morocco. Carthage was no more than a Phoenician Colony which is known to have originated under the Leadership of Queen Dido. Mainly, Carthage was of Phoenician origin, and their navy was a force to be reckoned with.
Rome put a massive infantry force into the field against him. Force was to be conquered by greater force. Such was the Roman way. The Roman commanders L.Aemilius Paullus and C.Terrentius Varro led a force of 86'000 men against Hannibal, who could had 40'000 or less to face them. More so, Hannibal's troops were most likely not of the same quality as Roman legionaries. They were a colourful mix of Gauls, Spaniards, Numidians and Carthaginians.
In theory the Roman sledgehammer should have crushed the Great General, but for the way it was to be wielded. Near the town of Cannae next to the River Aufius (Ofanto) the armies met.
~~~~~
August 1, 216 BC.
Roman Encampment Near Cannae
“Consul Varro. Our Scouts have spotted a large number of light cavalry approaching the camp.” said Captain Decius.
“Let us wait for them. Bring back the cavalry guarding the supply routes to the camp, and deploy them on both flanks and the rear.” ordered the Consul.
“Yes, sir.” replied Captain Decius, as he rode off with his bodyguards to rally the cavalry.
“Lucius, what do you think he is trying to do?” asked Varro.
“It is obvious he wants to attack our camp, to try to weaken the morale of our men before the battle. “ replied the experienced Consul, Lucius Aemilius Paullus.
“An attack with light cavalry will be useless. “ remarked Consul Varro.
The Numidian Cavalry started closing in on the Roman camp. It was not long before the Roman Cavalry arrived at the camp. Amidst the lush forests, appeared a man who’s sight alone was fearful for the bravest of men. It was Hannibal. Following him were a large number of heavy Celtic and Hispanic cavalry. The Romans were not aware of Hannibal’s plan, until now.
“They are surrounding us! Pull the cavalry back and close the gates!”
Ordered Varro.
Soon, the Numidians unleashed volleys of javelins at the helpless Roman infantry. Hundreds were killed every minute. The Romans were cowering behind their poorly built palisade. Some tried to run, but they were not fast enough to escape the volleys of javelins.
“I am sure that the barbarian seeks to disrupt our supply lines! We must do something, lest be stranded with no food or water!” yelled Paullus.
Volley after volley, the Romans were in a state of panic, until Consul Varro decided to strike back, hoping to have not made a mistake by doing so.
“Open the gates! Legions, form a perimeter around the camp! Cavalry, with me!” ordered the Consul.
Out marched the Legionary Infantry from the camp, and hurriedly set up a perimeter around the camp, trying to avoid death from above. They were waiting for some kind of Divine Intervention to save them from the Numidian onslaught.
Varro’s plan was to take his cavalry and try to outflank the occupied Numidian Cavalry. His plan worked, as he managed to drive off the Numidians, but not for long. He tried to pursue the much faster Numidian cavalry, but to no use. He did not realize the actual reason why he and his heavy cavalry weren’t able to keep up with the Numidian Cavalry. It was a matter of weight. His men were heavily armed, while the Numidians were lightly armed with Javelins and no armor. The Roman Cavalry were being slaughtered by the Numidians, as they were being picked off of their horses, one by one, by the battle-hardened Numidian Cavalry at high speed. Soon Varro, having realized he can’t keep up with the Numidian Cavalry in any way, ordered a retreat to the camp. By noon, over a thousand bodies littered the Roman camp.
A few hours later, a Messenger barged into the Consul’s Praetorium
“Consul! I have a message from Captain Julius, Chief of the Guard in Apulia!”
“Speak, messenger” said Varro
“Captain Julius says that over Five Hundred Roman Legionaries and One Thousand Roman Cavalry were killed guarding the supply route of Apulia. A large number of Carthaginian Heavy Cavalry have ambushed the convoys’ going through the route. The town of Caralisum was sacked and the Convoys have been completely destroyed, and their cargo was looted or spoilt.”
Varro glared at the messenger, “Get out, NOW!”
The Romans were hopelessly cut off from any form of supplies, with one day left for the battle. They were at a serious disadvantage.
The Romans were acting just as Hannibal wanted them to. Soon Varro was left with no supplies in his camp granaries, and an ill-fed army. But, he still remained positive of his situation in Apulia. He was confident that Hannibal’s weak 50,000 troops would not hold against 86,000 of Rome’s finest men. He was wrong.
The next morning came, and Varro marched with his army to the designated Battlefield.
August 2, 216 BC
The Battle of Cannae
Hannibal’s army lay by the Aufidus river, with the river flowing on Hannibal’s left flank. His army was formed in a crescent shape.
“Ha! He thinks he can defeat us with that formation?” Varro remarked.
“Indeed. The Barbarian’s formation is useless. He cannot maneuver efficiently, nor can his men fight efficiently” replied Paullus.
As the armies advanced on one another, Hannibal gradually extended the center of his line, extending the crescent shaped formation. His battle hardened African infantry lay waiting at the flanks.
Soon, the 10,000 Celtic, Hispanic and Numidian Cavalry engaged the 6,400 Roman and Allied Cavalry. On the left flank, the Hispanic and Celtic cavalry annihilated the Roman cavalry, while on the right flank, the Numidians were engaging in a way that merely kept the allied cavalry occupied. When the victorious Hispanic and Celtic cavalry came up, the Allied cavalry broke and the Numidian Cavalry pursued them off the field, leaving the Romans with a handful of Cavalry bodyguards guarding the Roman Consuls.
“Ah! What is that?!?” yelled Varro.
“It’s - It’s dust!” replied Lucius
As the numerous Romans advanced, the south easterly winds blew dust into their eyes, obscuring their view.
Soon, the Romans engaged with Hannibal’s outermost center. Swords and shields clashed, in a fierce exchange between the two sides.
Hannibal pulled his men in the center back to a controlled retreat. The crescent of Hispanic and Celtic troops buckled inwards as they gradually withdrew. The Romans, ignoring the fact that they were trapping their ownselves, drove deeper and deeper into Hannibal’s crescent formation in an attempt to attack his center. Knowing the Superiority of the Roman infantry, Hannibal had instructed his infantry to withdraw deliberately, thus creating an even tighter semicircle around the attacking Romans. By doing so, Hannibal had turned the strength of the Roman infantry to a weakness.
Varro soon realized that he had no hope of winning this battle. But before he could mount on his horse and retreat along with whats left of his Bodyguards and the rest of his commanders, Paullus let out an agonizing scream, when a spear was thrust into his chest. It was not very long before he bled his last drop of blood, and has passed into the afterlife. Varro jumped up to mount his horse, and then ran away at a speed not known to man. He dare not face Hannibal’s army.
While the front ranks were gradually advancing, the bulk of the Roman troops began to lose their cohesion, as they began crowding themselves into the growing gap. Soon they were compacted together so closely that they had little space to wield their weapons. In pressing so far forward in their desire to destroy the retreating and collapsing line of Hispanic and Celtic troops, the Romans had ignored the African troops that stood uncommitted on the projecting ends of this now reversed-crescent. Soon the Carthaginian Cavalry charged into the rear of the Roman Center. At this decisive point, Hannibal ordered his African Infantry to engage the Roman flanks, creating a complete encirclement of the Roman Consular Army.
When the Carthaginian cavalry attacked the Romans in the rear, and the African flanking echelons had assailed them on their right and left, the advance of the Roman infantry was brought to an abrupt halt. The trapped Romans were enclosed in a pocket with no means of escape.
As their outer ranks were continually cut down, and the survivors forced to pull back and huddle together, they were finally all killed where they stood.
Many thousands of Romans lay dead. Some, who were able to live by hiding under the heaps of the slain and who emerged in the next day, were overpowered the Carthaginians. Many were found with their heads dug into the earth, in what appeared as pits they have plunged their heads into to suffocate themselves. Six Hundred Legionaries were being killed every minute. When night had come, there were no more Romans left to kill.
Of the Roman and allied infantry, 70,000 were killed, 10,000 captured, and perhaps 3,000 survived. It was Rome’s most crushing defeat ever.
On the other hand, Hannibal’s army lost only 8,000 of his bravest men.
The Battle of Cannae was a crushing defeat for Rome. In the battle alone, Rome had lost over half of its finest military commanders, to only one General. Hannibal. Historians today are most amazed by Hannibal’s brilliant tactics and strategies used by Hannibal in Three battles against the Romans, in which he had killed over 117,000 Roman Legionaries and Cavalry. He truly was the Greatest General of All Time.(In my opinion
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Is it good, or is it not good?
Thanks,
Hannibal
- Cormac McCarthy, The Sunset Limited.
"We are a species that ravages, plunders, kills, destroys, rapes and enslaves in the name of progress."