The Battle of the Silarus was fought in 212 BC between

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 ...

's army and a Roman force led by

centurion A centurion (; la, centurio , . la, centuriones, label=none; grc-gre, κεντυρίων, kentyríōn, or ) was a position in the Roman army during classical antiquity, nominally the commander of a century (), a military unit of around 80 ...

Marcus Centenius Penula. The Carthaginians were victorious, destroying the entire Roman army and killing 15,000 Roman soldiers in the process.

Prelude

Hannibal had lifted the siege of Capua after mauling two Roman consular armies in the

Battle of Capua The First Battle of Capua was fought in 212 BC between Hannibal and two Roman consular armies. The Roman force was led by two consuls, Quintus Fulvius Flaccus and Appius Claudius Pulcher. The Roman force was defeated, but managed to escape. Han ...

. The Roman consuls had split their forces, with Fulvius Flaccus moving towards Cumae, while Appius Claudius Pulcher marched towards

Lucania Lucania was a historical region of Southern Italy. It was the land of the Lucani, an Oscan people. It extended from the Tyrrhenian Sea to the Gulf of Taranto. It bordered with Samnium and Campania in the north, Apulia in the east, and Brutti ...

. It is not sure why they had done so, because their forces still outnumbered Hannibal's army, even with the losses suffered in the battle. Hannibal decided to follow Claudius. Claudius managed to evade the pursuit of Hannibal, but a

, Marcus Centenius Penula, had appealed to the Roman Senate for independent command against Hannibal, claiming that with his knowledge of Campania he could best the Carthaginians. His appeal was granted and 4,000 citizen soldiers and 4,000 allies were detached to serve under him, possibly from the army of Gracchus which was stationed in Lucania. To this force another 8,000 volunteers from Campania, Lucania, and Samnium were added. While Appius Claudius and his consular army marched west to join his fellow consul, Centenius set off to attack Hannibal in Lucania. Hannibal learned of the Romans' approach and halted his pursuit of Claudius. Prior to the battle, Hannibal had his

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 ...

secure all roads in the area to stop any Roman retreat.

Battle

The opposing columns spotted their enemies and immediately drew up into battle lines. The poorly equipped Romans held off Hannibal's veterans for two hours until Centenius was killed in action. The Roman army collapsed into a rout and 15,000 Roman soldiers were killed in the battle and pursuit, with only 1,000 escaping the Carthaginian cavalry blockade.

Aftermath

After the battle, Hannibal did not pursue the army of Claudius. Instead, he marched east into

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

, where a Roman army under Praetor Gnaeus Flavius Flaccus was operating against towns allied to

Carthage Carthage was the capital city of Ancient Carthage, on the eastern side of the Lake of Tunis in what is now Tunisia. Carthage was one of the most important trading hubs of the Ancient Mediterranean and one of the most affluent cities of the classi ...

. The Roman consular armies, free of Hannibal, united and resumed their harassment of Capua. Hanno the Elder remained in Bruttium.

Casualties

Out of 16,000 Romans, only 1,000 survived. These survivors were sent to join the disgraced legions of Cannae survivors after they had been rounded up.

References

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Battle Of The Silarus 212 BC Silarus 212 BC Silarus Silarus Hannibal Battles involving the Roman Republic