Why did Hannibal defeat a superior Roman Army at the Battle of Cannae?

Hannibal and the Battle of Cannae

The Battle of Cannae was a major battle of the Punic War near the town of Cannae , an ancient Village in the Apulian region on the southern part of Italy . The battle was between the outnumbered Carthaginian Army under Hannibal against the overhwelming Roman Army commanded by consuls Lucius Aemilius Paullus and Gaius Terentius Varro , in which the vast number of the Roman army was overpowered by the Carthaginians . The Battle of Cannae was one of the greatest strategic victories in military history

Background p

Fresh from a huge victory over mercenaries , the Carthaginians instantly sent Hamilcar Barca and sons Hasdrubal and Hannibal to Spain in 237 B .C , to establish a Carthginian empire in the region as atonement for their recent losses from the Roman empire . The Carthaginians opted for direct utilization of Spanish resources rather than depending on trading partners which gave the Romans a great deal of concern since Carthage poses a threat to Roman ally Massilia and its commercial interests on Spain and sent an embassy six years later to the region to investigate on Carthage 's reasons for its occupation there . Hamilcar , then claimed that the settlement 's only purpose was to pay off Carthage 's war indemnities to Rome . Hamilcar 's claim then blatantly manifested Rome of Carthage 's territorial expansion

The Roman senate sent subsequent embassies to Hamilcar 's sons to hinder Carthaginian expansion on Spain . The second embassy posed a treay forbidding Carthaginian campign on the northern part of Iber river . The Roman intervention on the southern Spanish town of Saguntum forced Hannibal to take Carthaginian liberty from Rome to his own hands by harassing Saguntum despite Roman appeals . These events led to the Second Punic War

Subsequently , after the second Punic War began , the Romans already suffered two quick losses in Trebia and Lake Trasimene from Carthaginian general Hannibal who , through traversal in the Alps , has already crossed the bs of Italy . The Romans then appointed Fabius Maximus to face this indication of danger . Maximus then attempted to weaken Hannibal by cutting of his supply lines refusing to engage in a confrontation

Hannibal primarily placed himself in the middle of Roman sources of supplies by forcibly acquiring a depot with large amount of supplies in the plains of Apulia . The Romans were deeply concerned for Hannibal 's apparent conquest of Cannae due to the mere fact that the Apulian village was in command of every surrounding district in the region . The Carthaginians , particularly Hannibal , did not start a war because of personal anguish over the Romans , the Carthaginians only felt constant Roman intervention restricted their attempts to make for losses from the first Punic War , which ,in turn , was damaging to Carthginian pride

Hannibal 's Strategy

Hannibal 's strategy cannot be universally defined in the modern context it is , conversely , plausible to dwell on the premise that his war with Rome and the Battle of Cannae is not of a defensive kind . Hannibal 's strategy was...