Battle of Canusium - The Three Days Battle

The Three Days Battle

It was Marcellus’ lot to confront Hannibal directly, for the Carthaginian general chose Apulia for his main operations after winter's end. Hannibal made the first move by encamping near Canusium, hoping to persuade its inhabitants to break their allegiance to Rome. Canusium was not far from Salapia, a town whose Numidian garrison had been betrayed to and slaughtered by Marcellus the preceding year. Hannibal’s intention was to restore his influence in the area. However, as soon as the proconsul approached, the Carthaginian withdrew from Canusium. The loss of the Numidian contingent in Salapia had deprived him of one of his advantages over the Romans – his strong cavalry, so the open and flat terrain was no longer as favorable as it had been at the time of Cannae. That is why Hannibal retreated, endeavoring to lure Marcellus into an ambush. The Romans, relentlessly pursuing, forced a battle. Initial skirmishes grew to a general battle which ended only when night fell and both sides disengaged and fortified their camps.

On the next day Hannibal decided to stand his ground and in the renewed fighting the Romans were heavily beaten. One of the wings of the first battle line, composed of allied levies, was forced to give ground. Marcellus ordered the legion positioned in the rear to relieve the retreating allies. This proved to be an error, as the ensuing manoeuvre and the continuing Carthaginian advance threw the entire Roman army into disorder. The Romans were put to flight and 2,700 of them were killed before the rest could take refuge behind the palisade of the camp.

Marcellus was undaunted by this setback, and although many of his men were wounded, he led them to yet another long and inconclusive fight on the third day. Hannibal's elite Iberian troops were unable to break the Romans, and the Carthaginian brought up his war elephants. At first they produced the desired effect by trampling and scattering the Roman front, but a successful counterstrike by a maniple of hastati turned the beasts against their own troops and caused disorder among the Carthaginian ranks. Marcellus seizing the opportunity, threw his cavalry, kept so far in reserve, into the action. The cavalry charge was followed by an all-out and irresistible infantry attack. Hannibal's forces fell back to their camp with heavy losses. The toll on Marcellus' troops was even heavier than that of the preceding day (3,000 killed and many wounded), so he declined to pursue Hannibal when the latter broke camp and marched south the following night.