(anc. geog.), a mean hamlet of Apulia in the Adriatic, at the mouth of the river Aufidus; raised out of obscurity by a most terrible overthrow given the Romans by the Carthaginians under Hannibal. The Roman consuls were C. Terentius Varro, and L. Emilius Paulus. Their army was vastly superior in numbers to the Carthaginians; but the latter were superior in cavalry. Notwithstanding, however, that the Romans were no fewer than 87,000, so great was the fame of Hannibal, that the consuls were divided in their opinion as to the venturing of an engagement. Emilius was for avoiding a battle, and accordingly encamped on the eminences where the cavalry of the enemy could not act; but next day, it being Varro's turn to command, he advanced into the plain in which Cannæ was situated, and brought the army into such a situation that an engagement became unavoidable. The Romans were then drawn up in the usual manner; the hastati in the first line, the principes in the second, and the triarii in the third. The cavalry were posted on the wings. On the right, the Roman knights flanked the legionaries; in the left, the cavalry of the allies covered their own infantry. The two consuls commanded the two wings, Emilius the right, and Terentius the left; and the two proconsuls Servilius and Atilius the main body. On the other hand, Hannibal, whose army consisted of 40,000 foot, and 10,000 horse, placed his Gaulish and Spanish cavalry in his left wing, to face the Roman knights; and the Numidian horse in his right, over against the cavalry of the allies of Rome. As to his infantry, he divided the African battalions into two bodies; one of which he posted near the Gaulish and Spanish horse, the other near the Numidian. Between these two bodies were placed on one side the Gaulish, on the other the Spanish infantry, drawn up in such a manner as to form an obtuse angle projecting a considerable way beyond the two wings. Behind this line he drew up a second which had no projection. Afdralbal commanded the left wing; Maheralbal the right; and Hannibal himself, with his brother Mago, the main body. He had also taken care to post himself in such a manner that the wind Vulturinus, which rises at certain stated times, should blow directly in the faces of the Romans during the fight, and cover them with dust. The onset was begun by the light-armed infantry; the Romans discharging their javelins, and the balæares their stones, with pretty equal success; nevertheless, the consul Emilius was wounded. Then the Roman cavalry in the right wing advanced against the Gaulish and Spanish in Hannibal's left. As they were flint in by the river Aufidus on one side, and by their infantry on the other, they did not fight, as usual, by charging and wheeling off, and then returning to the charge; but continued fighting each man against his adversary, till one of them was killed or retired. After they had made prodigious efforts on both sides to overpower each other, they all on a sudden dismounted, and fought on foot with great fury. In this attack the Gauls and Spaniards soon prevailed; put the Romans to the rout; and, pursuing them along the river, trenched the ground with their dead bodies, Afdralbal giving no quarter. This ac- action was scarce over, when the infantry on both sides advanced. The Romans first fell upon the Spaniards and Gauls, who, as already observed, formed a kind of triangle projecting beyond the two wings. They gave ground, and, pursuant to Hannibal's directions, sunk into the void space in their rear; by which means they insensibly brought the Romans into the centre of the African infantry, and then the fugitives rallying, attacked them in front, while the Africans charged them in both flanks. The Romans, being by this artful retreat drawn into the snare and surrounded, no longer kept their ranks, but formed several platoons, in order to face every way. Emilius, who was on the right wing, seeing the danger of the main body, at the head of his legionaries acted the part both of a folder and general, penetrating into the heart of the enemy's battalions, and cutting great numbers of them in pieces. All the Roman cavalry that were left, attended the brave consul on foot; and, encouraged by his example, fought like men in despair. But, in the mean time, Asdrubal, at the head of a detachment of Gaulish and Spanish infantry brought from the centre, attacked Emilius's legionaries with such fury, that they were forced to give ground and fly: the consul being all covered with wounds, was at last killed by some of the enemy who did not know him. In the main body, the Romans, though invested on all sides, continued to sell their lives dear; fighting in platoons, and making a great slaughter of the enemy. But being at length overpowered, and disheartened by the death of the two proconsuls Servilius and Attilius who headed them, they dispersed and fled, some to the right, and others to the left, as they could find opportunity; but the Numidian horse cut most of them in pieces: the whole plain was covered with heaps of dead bodies, insomuch that Hannibal himself, thinking the butchery too terrible, ordered his men to put a stop to it.—There is a great disagreement among authors as to the number of Romans killed and taken at the battle of Cannae. According to Livy, the republic lost 50,000 men including the auxiliaries. According to Polybius, of 6000 Roman horse, only 70 escaped to Venetia with Terentius Varro, and 300 of the auxiliary horse. As to the infantry, that writer tells us, that 70,000 of the Roman foot died on the field of battle fighting like brave men; and that 13,000 were made prisoners. According to Dionysius of Halicarnassus, of 6000 horse, only 370 escaped the general slaughter, and of 80,000 foot, 3000 only were left. The most moderate computation makes the number of Romans killed to amount to 45,000.