212 – 211 BC
The siege lines
The consuls Quintus Fulvius Flaccus and Appius Claudius Pulcher return and blockade Capua, joined by a third army under the praetor Gaius Claudius Nero. They gather supplies at Casilinum and build strongholds along the Volturnus to keep their supply lines safe.
Bronze coin of Capua with the head of Apollo and a lyre, struck while the city sided with Hannibal, 216 to 211 BCWikimedia Commons, Classical Numismatic Group, CC BY-SA 2.5 (Capua Æ 1460004.jpg)
Around the city they dig a ditch and raise a wall facing Capua, and a second ditch and wall facing outward against a relieving army. The three armies camp between the two lines. Livy writes that Roman light infantry ride into action behind the cavalrymen and drive off the forays of the Capuan horsemen.
Sources
- Polybius, Histories, book 9, 3.
- Livy, History of Rome, books 25, 22 and 26, 4.
- Adrian Goldsworthy, The Fall of Carthage (2006).
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