The Battle of Petelia was an
ambush during the
Second Punic War
The Second Punic War (218 to 201 BC) was the second of three wars fought between Carthage and Rome, the two main powers of the western Mediterranean in the 3rd century BC. For 17 years the two states struggled for supremacy, primarily in Ital ...
that took place in the summer of 208 BC near
Petelia
Petilia or Petelia ( grc, Πετηλία) was a city name found in some ancient works of classical antiquity. It's widely accepted that in antiquity there were two cities with this name, both located in Southern Italy. One of them, Petilia, was ...
. The
Carthaginian The term Carthaginian ( la, Carthaginiensis ) usually refers to a citizen of Ancient Carthage.
It can also refer to:
* Carthaginian (ship), a three-masted schooner built in 1921
* Insurgent privateers; nineteenth-century South American privateers, ...
general
Hannibal
Hannibal (; xpu, 𐤇𐤍𐤁𐤏𐤋, ''Ḥannibaʿl''; 247 – between 183 and 181 BC) was a Carthaginian general and statesman who commanded the forces of Carthage in their battle against the Roman Republic during the Second Puni ...
surprised and destroyed a large
Roman detachment.
Prelude
In the summer of 208 BC, the
Roman consuls
Marcus Claudius Marcellus and Titus Quinctius Crispinus ordered a part of the Roman garrison of
Tarentum Tarentum may refer to:
* Taranto, Apulia, Italy, on the site of the ancient Roman city of Tarentum (formerly the Greek colony of Taras)
**See also History of Taranto
* Tarentum (Campus Martius), also Terentum, an area in or on the edge of the Cam ...
to move up and assist in an
offensive
Offensive may refer to:
* Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative
* Offensive (military), an attack
* Offensive language
** Fighting words or insulting language, words that by their very utterance inflict inj ...
against the Carthaginian-allied town of
Locri. Hannibal received word from the people of
Thurii of the Roman move and laid an ambush along the road from Tarentum with 3,000
infantry and 2,000
cavalry
Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from "cheval" meaning "horse") are soldiers or warriors who fight mounted on horseback. Cavalry were the most mobile of the combat arms, operating as light cavalry ...
.
Battle
The Carthaginian force was hidden at the foot of the hill of Petelia. The Romans failed to conduct a
reconnaissance and the Carthaginians achieved complete surprise. They killed 2,000 Romans and captured 1,500. The rest of the Roman force fled cross-country back to Tarentum.
References
Bibliography
*
Petelia
Petilia or Petelia ( grc, Πετηλία) was a city name found in some ancient works of classical antiquity. It's widely accepted that in antiquity there were two cities with this name, both located in Southern Italy. One of them, Petilia, was ...
Petelia
Petilia or Petelia ( grc, Πετηλία) was a city name found in some ancient works of classical antiquity. It's widely accepted that in antiquity there were two cities with this name, both located in Southern Italy. One of them, Petilia, was ...
Petelia
Petilia or Petelia ( grc, Πετηλία) was a city name found in some ancient works of classical antiquity. It's widely accepted that in antiquity there were two cities with this name, both located in Southern Italy. One of them, Petilia, was ...
Battles involving the Roman Republic
Battles involving Carthage
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