The Battle of the Aufidus was a battle during the Social War.Appian, ''Bellum Civile'', i. 52. Shortly after taking

Cannae Cannae (now Canne della Battaglia, ) is an ancient village of the Apulia region of south east Italy. It is a ''frazione'' (civil parish) of the ''comune'' (municipality) of Barletta. Cannae was formerly a bishopric, and is presently (2022) a Lati ...

but losing a subsequent hard-fought battle to the rebels, the Roman commander,

Gaius Cosconius Gaius, sometimes spelled ''Gajus'', Kaius, Cajus, Caius, was a common Latin praenomen; see Gaius (praenomen). People * Gaius (jurist) (), Roman jurist *Gaius Acilius *Gaius Antonius *Gaius Antonius Hybrida *Gaius Asinius Gallus *Gaius Asinius P ...

, decided to make a stand at the

Aufidus The Ofanto (), known in ancient times as Aufidus or Canna, is a river in southern Italy that flows through the regions of Campania, Basilicata, and Apulia, into the Gulf of Manfredonia near Barletta. Geography The river's source is on the Irpi ...

near

. The rebel commander, Trebatius, sent word to Cosconius to either cross the river and fight, or withdraw and allow the Samnite army to cross. Cosconius retreated, letting the rebels cross, but when they were in the process of crossing he attacked them, killing 15,000. Samnite commander Marius Egnatius was slain, and Trebatius was forced to withdraw inside the walls of Canusium. This victory brought the Romans control of the whole of

Apulia it, Pugliese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographic ...

and the Iapygian Peninsula which they plundered and burned. At the same time

Sulla Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix (; 138–78 BC), commonly known as Sulla, was a Roman general and statesman. He won the first large-scale civil war in Roman history and became the first man of the Republic to seize power through force. Sulla had ...

was campaigning equally successful in the south-west, contrasting the many early defeats of the Roman army during the Social War.

References

Aufidius Aufidius {{AncientRome-battle-stub