The Battle of Cannae (216 B.C.E.)

Music is Beethoven's Sonata No. 32 in C Minor, Op. 111 - I. Maestoso - Allegro con brio ed appassionato, performed by Daniel Veesey

[luqcrusher]

"My boy Caesar would've never done this"

Best line.

[Burkutace]

To paraphrase Christopher Walken; Hannibal's art was war, and Cannae was his masterpiece.

[nastrael]

Huh, it kinda looked like Hannibal was painting Rome red at the end, there.

[artman]

0:41 No ambushes, infantry only, flat field!

[skowollon]

the convex shape of the frontline was no mistake. with light troops in the center the higher flexibility was given. the flanks with the heavy troops did not have to move much meaning they did not have to "waste" fitness on running or charging but on fighting completly. with the flexible center that could avoid the roman heavy attack, that was like a sword steam roller, from getting their advantage and the surrounding of the horsemen this convex shape was a true masterpiece of tactical schedule.
hannibal took the strength of the romans and converted it into a weakness. what a genius !!

[Pokemonlin]

Hannibal was in the center, controlling the people there, but he was also there fighting. Perhaps it was a morale booster.

[KomodoDojo]

This happened today Aug 2nd exactly 2, 200 years ago

[JollyRogersBoy]

the only reason Rome eventually won the war is because they were mainly fighting Hannibal, not another comparable empire.

[hnhaha]

Btw, should cover Fabian strategy, pretty sick stuff but hated by the Romans.

[alpha]

A lot of people seem to be focusing on the ingenious tactics that Hannibal implemented, I give him credit for that as well since the three battles that I've seen so far surprised me with how well he led his armies. But the biggest surprise and admiration that I had when watching this goes to the Roman government. That unyielding spirit really resonates with me, they had 3 consecutive VERY heavy losses but did not yield the fight and albeit won the war in the end. That is harder to accomplish than winning a battle or two and shows how not everything can be won by military might, though don't get me wrong Hannibal's feats were truly out of this world as well.

[trance]

Perhaps it would be good to include that the 70.000 death are according to Polybius, while most historians follow the 42600 stated by Livius.
14.000 Legionairies managed to break through the Carthaginian center and flee to Canusium.

[privatparts]

Hannibal also put his heavy pikes on the flanks with them he could force the Romans together. You also completly miss one more fatal mistake by the Romans, they reduced the space in between the soldiers so they could get more men in(sounds good). However this gave little space to swing the sword and to maneuver and the soldiers where not trained to fight that densely packed. And once they where being pushed together even more by the Carthaginians it was impossible for them to fight.

[RoaringEgg]

Wonder what would of happened if Hannibal won the war against Rome.

[kunven]

i like how the music intensifies when you say "its a disaster" at 7:10

[Marcow]

Wasn't Scipio at the battle and lived to later defeat Hannibal ?

[lilestfozzy]

Some suspect the convex formation was to mitigate the effect of any skirmishers and javelins the Romen infantry might have. A bent line looks perfectly flat when neither side has an advantage In height after all.

[peterryan]

The Roman maniple formation was created specifically for fighting on mountainous Italian terrain as a direct result of the failure of the phalanx on said terrain. This was learned early on in the Republic in the Samnite Wars where they replaced the phalanx--borrowed from the Greeks--with the three line maniple, or "phalanx with joints." That is why it seems odd to say that the Romans would have preferred a fair fight on flat land, when their formations were specifically adept at hill fighting from their experience fighting other Italian city-states along the Apennine Mountains.

[RacinZilla]

And then the forces of House Arryn came and saved the Romans...

oh, wrong battle

[pepevillamor]

Congratulations for your battle videos they are awesome. It would be great to see more of them.

[carlos]

Impressive that Hannibal. Now I understand: - "Hannibal ad portas"
And after all that 30 more years... Oh man! No wonder the Romans had such a spirit of fight and took almost every land they could reach.
Great channel! Excellent work.