The Battle of Cannae: how Hannibal surrounded a Roman army
Hannibal won the Battle of Cannae in 216 BC by drawing Roman infantry into his centre, attacking both flanks, and closing their escape with cavalry.
0:38 · Episode film
AI-generated historical dramatization.
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Explore the Battle of Cannae in 216 BC: Hannibal’s tactics in diagrams, the battlefield’s location today, casualties, and why Rome kept fighting.
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Apulia, 216 BC. Rome sends a vast army against Hannibal at Cannae. As the legions drive into his centre, his infantry closes on their flanks. Carthaginian cavalry returns behind them, sealing the trap. Thousands of Roman soldiers and their allies die with scarcely room to fight. The consul Paullus falls; scattered survivors escape into the countryside. Hannibal has destroyed an army, but Rome still has allies, resources and the will to continue. New forces take the field, and the war that seemed lost at Cannae stretches on.
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