Cannae (Battle of Cannae)

In the sweltering heat of August 216 BCE, the fields of Cannae in southern Italy bore witness to one of the most devastating defeats in Roman military history. The mighty Roman Republic, seeking to crush the Carthaginian threat led by Hannibal Barca, assembled a colossal force of nearly 90,000 men. Confident in their numerical superiority, the Romans sought a decisive confrontation to end Hannibal’s rampage across Italy.

But Hannibal, using a brilliant double envelopment strategy, he lured the Romans into a tightening noose. His lightly armed Numidian cavalry outmaneuvered the Roman horsemen, while his center, appearing to waver, drew the Roman legions deeper into the battlefield. Then, at the decisive moment, his veteran Libyan infantry closed in from the sides, encircling the entire Roman force. What followed was a slaughter, tens of thousands of legionaries were cut down, with Roman commanders desperate to escape the carnage.

The Battle of Cannae was more than just a defeat. Nearly 70,000 Roman soldiers perished in a single day, including senators and noblemen who fought alongside their men. It was Rome’s darkest hour, yet from the ashes of this catastrophe, a young officer named Publius Cornelius Scipio would escape to one day rise to turn the tide against Hannibal.


'Cannae' is the fifth of eleven songs that form the 'Hannibal Ante Portas' Rock Opera, the second historical rock opera project I have embarked on after the Alexander Rock Opera (356 - 323 BC) I finished in January 2025.

Alexander Rock Opera link:

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