Il Prof. Yozan D.Mosig, docente presso la University of Nebraska-Kearney e socio straniero del nostro Comitato, ci offre una serie di articoli dedicati alla Battaglia di Canne ed ai suoi risvolti nella letteratura storica a carattere mondiale.

Egli ha raccolto nel tempo e possiede la più estesa libreria-emeroteca dedicata ad Annibale esistente al mondo, con la più completa rassegna riguardante il condottiero cartaginese.

Ecco il secondo articolo dedicato alle strategia della cavalleria, l'arma segreta di Annibale contro i Romani a Canne...

CANNAE: POINTS OF CONTROVERSY IN THE CLASSICAL RECORD OF POLYBIUS AND LIVY

A SERIES OF ARTICLES IN COMMEMORATION OF THE 2228th ANNIVERSARY OF HANNIBALâÂ?Â?S VICTORY AT THE BATTLE OF CANNAE, August 2, 2012, by Prof. Yozan Mosig (University of Nebraska-Kearney) FOREIGN MEMBER OF COMITATO ITALIANO PRO CANNE DELLA BATTAGLIA.

2. What was the numerical strength of the opposing armies at Cannae, and especially of the cavalry?

After being defeated in the cavalry encounter at the Ticinus river (218 BCE), at the battle of the river Trebia (218 BCE), and at Lake Trasimene (217 BCE), the Romans decided to raise a massive army to get rid of Hannibal once and for all. Polybius (3:107) tells us that the Romans recruited no less than eight legions, to be matched by an equal number of legions from their Italian allies, for a grand total of 16 legions, and that the numerical strength of each legion was increased from 4,000 to 5,000. Consequently, the size of the infantry forces marshaled by the Romans totaled 80,000. Hannibal's army at Cannae, on the other hand, numbered 40,000 foot soldiers, giving the Romans a 2:1 numerical advantage. These numbers are usually accepted as valid by most historians and there is no reason to challenge them. The only additional factor is the number of troops staying back in the Roman and Carthaginian camps and therefore not actually participating in the battle. The 10,000 number usually given seems too large, as this was a decisive conflict and both sides would have wanted to field the largest possible number of actual combatants in the field. It must also be remembered that the camps would have included a large number of support personnel that typically accompanied ancient armies in the field, and these may have led to the inflated number reported by the sources.