2 August 216 BC
The cavalry battle
The battle opens on the wings. Between the river and the Roman infantry there is little room to manoeuvre, and Polybius writes that many horsemen dismount and fight on foot. Hasdrubal’s heavier Iberian and Gallic cavalry cut down the Roman horsemen and drive the survivors off along the river.
The battle of Cannae in a French manuscript of Livy, illumination of about 1390 to 1400Wikimedia Commons, follower of the Luçon Master or Ravenelle Master, Public domain (The battle of Cannae.jpg)
Hasdrubal keeps his men together and leads them behind the Roman army to the far wing, where the Numidians are keeping the allied cavalry busy. Attacked from two sides, the allied horse break before Hasdrubal reaches them, and the Numidians pursue them from the field.
In the centre the light troops skirmish and withdraw through their own lines. The Roman infantry advance and push back the Gauls and Iberians, whose crescent first flattens and then bends inwards. Hannibal stays with his centre and keeps the withdrawal under control.
Sources
- Polybius, Histories, book 3, 115.
- Livy, History of Rome, book 22, 47.
- Adrian Goldsworthy, Cannae (2001).
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