Battle_of_Petelia

Battle of Petelia

Battle of Petelia

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The Battle of Petelia was an ambush during the Second Punic War that took place in the summer of 208 BC near Petelia. The Carthaginian general Hannibal surprised and destroyed a large Roman detachment.

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Prelude

In the summer of 208 BC, the Roman consuls Marcus Claudius Marcellus and Titus Quinctius Crispinus ordered a part of the Roman garrison of Tarentum to move up and assist in an offensive against the Carthaginian-allied town of Locri.[1] Hannibal received word from the people of Thurii of the Roman move and laid an ambush along the road from Tarentum with 3,000 infantry and 2,000 cavalry.[1]

Battle

The Carthaginian force was hidden at the foot of the hill of Petelia.[1] The Romans failed to conduct a reconnaissance and the Carthaginians achieved complete surprise.[1] They killed 2,000 Romans and captured 1,500.[1] The rest of the Roman force fled cross-country back to Tarentum.[1]

References

  1. [1]
    Livius 2006, p. 415.

Bibliography

  • Livius, Titus (2006). Hannibal's War: Books Twenty-One to Thirty. Translated by J.C. Yardley, introduction and notes by Dexter Hoyos. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-283159-3.
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