Lake+Trasimene

Battle of Lake Trasimene In autumn 218BCE Hannibal had led an army through the Alps and defeated the Roman army at the river Ticinus and Trebia. The Romans aware of the danger decides to fight back against Hannibal. They decide to fight at Etruria, a place at north-central Italy, where the hills would benefit the Roman infantry and disadvantage the Carthaginian cavalry. The two armies meet at Lake Trasimene. The Romans, led by Flaminius, had around 40,000 men while Hannibal had around 50,000 men. The battlefield was at the north side of the lake where hills surrounded a small area of plains. There were bushes around the hills and morning lake fog too.

media type="youtube" key="hog0mygIBd4?rel=0" height="446" width="620" align="left" This short clip at the left is an intro from the strategy game Rome: Total War, it shows what happens at the start of the battle. Hannibal sets an ambush around the battlefield of Lake Trasimene and waits for the Romans to come. Flaminius, unaware of the danger, ordered attack upon seeing the Carthaginians. Hannibal orders his troops to come out of the bush and start pushing the Romans against the north side of Lake Trasimene. Most Romans were either killed in a combat or drowned by the lake. The lake was too big for anyone to swim across and also too cold. It was a decisive victory for Hannibal and his army. The Romans lost at least 30,000 men while the Carthaginians lost only around 2,500 including many due to injury. There was also thick fog that day to assist on hiding the Carthaginians and confusing the Romans. The Romans couldn't see anything and were slaughtered within this battle. Only some really lucky Roman cavalry at the front and some infantry managed to escape. The Roman commander Flaminius was also killed during the battle.



Hannibal has demonstrated one of the most brilliant tactics in the battle of Lake Trasimene. The battle of Lake Trasimene has been regarded as one of the best tactics and ambush ever. A good ambush requires strong discipline and patience. There are too many examples in the history of the army waiting to attack attacked before the order came and the battle was lost due to this reason. In some armies through the history disobedience equals to death and heavy punishments still apply these days in an army when disobedience occurs. Hannibal has insured that his army waits until the right moment to strike the fatal disaster upon the Romans. If the Carthaginians attacked before order things might have changed and history would have to be rewritten. Only strong discipline insured successful armies and decisive victories.

As one of the most famous battles studied during the Second Punic war, the battle of Lake Trasimene had its own speciality. First is Hannibal's ability to use the terrain wisely in a way so that it can benefit the Carthaginians and disadvantage the Romans. He can recognise where to set the ambush around a place he has never been before and actually use the place as assistance in a battle. The second point is how Hannibal actually won the battle. Hannibal had 50,000 men while Flaminius had 40,000 men but the Romans were well trained, prepared for battles and equipped with better armour and weapons. It is still an even match for both sides. Yet Hannibal wiped out at least seventy-five precent of the Romans and suffered casualties of less than 3,000. The reason for this victory is due to his beautiful planning of how to set out his troops. Although Hannibal might still be able to win the battle without the ambush an ambush insured that the Romans were massacred in a battle other than killed and after the battle it took Romans some time to recover.

Hannibal has used a small army as the video shows as a door to a trap and Flaminius walks into that door, leading the Romans to a place where they will be massacred. After the battle it has been a shocking defeat for the Romans and besides panic the Romans elected Quintus Fabius Maximus as dictator. Fabius plans to avoid conflict with Hannibal and tries to wear him down, this is called the Fabian strategy. This is a terrific strategy as it wears down Hannibal's army by both letting his men lose their spirit to fight and losing their supplies since it is harder to supply with longer distances. This strategy did work but the Romans eventually recovered from the battle of Lake Trasimene and decided to attack Hannibal again which proven to be a wrong tactic since it resulted in another great defeat known as the battle of Cannae.

=Sources:= The Battle of Lake Trasimene: Rome Rashly Pursues Hannibal To The Trasimeno, Eager For Victory [] Accessed on 27 March 2012, webpage made by James Tennant on 27 November 2009

The Battle of Lake Tresimene, Italy 217 B.C.E: Hannibal's Preparation, The Roman Approach, The Ambush [] Accessed on 27 March 2012, webpage made by Miles Burk on 8 December 2008

Trasimene Lake [] Accessed on 27 March 2012, made by Jona Lendering for [|http://www.livius.org/], last edited 4 August 2008

[] Accessed on 9 April 2012, picture used

Battle of Lake Trasimene, 217 BC-The Art of Battle [] Accessed on 30 March 2012, __Powerpoint__ made by Jonathan Webb 2008 used, website made by Weider Histor Group