A General Who Caught an Elusive Enemy – and Regretted it
Hannibal formed his heavy infantry in front of the camp, faced down the road along which the Romans would arrive, to challenge them into battle. On the forested hills that skirted the road to the north, he concealed his cavalry, light infantry, Gaulish allies, and waited. When Flaminius arrived at the defile’s entrance on the morning of June 24th, he saw the Carthaginian camp with forces arrayed in front of it to offer battle. Flaminius was relieved to have finally caught up with his quarry, and did not want to give Hannibal an opportunity to slip away again. So he immediately marched in to get at the Carthaginians. In his eagerness, Flaminius did not scout the hills to the north of the road before he marched his army into the defile.
The result was a Roman disaster. The hidden Carthaginians’ concealment was further helped by a fortuitous fog that morning, which reduced visibility. Once the last Roman entered the defile, trumpets were blown and the trap was sprung. The concealed forces rushed down from the hills to fall on the flank and rear of the Romans, who suddenly found themselves surrounded on east, north, and west by the enemy, while the lake blocked them to the south. Flaminius’ army was wiped out. Out of the 30,000 men he took into battle that day, about half were killed or drowned, while the other half were taken prisoner.
