Battle of Geronium: Difference between revisions

{{Short description|Battle  of the Second Punic War}}

| date = Summer to autumnAutumn 217 BC

| combatant1 = [[File:Carthage standard.svg|12px]] [[Carthage]]

| combatant2 = [[File:Vexilloid of the Roman Empire.svg|20px]] [[Roman Republic]]

| commander1 = [[File:Carthage standard.svg|12px]] [[Hannibal]]

The '''Battle of Geronium''' (alternatively spelt as "Gerunium" andor "Geronium Battle") was a military engagement that occurred during the [[Second Punic War]]. The conflict encompassed a full-scale battle in the summer and autumn months of 217 BC, respectively.fought Thebetween event[[Ancient hasCarthage]] beenand regardedthe as[[Roman a pivotal momentRepublic]] in the war,[[Second asPunic itWar]]. involved the armies of Rome and Carthage, two of the most powerful civilizations of the time, andIt resulted in a decisive victory for the Carthaginian forces led by the legendaryrenowned general [[Hannibal|Hannibal Barca.]], increasing his confidence while stranded on the [[Italian Peninsula]].

Subsequent to his triumph in the [[Battle of Ager Falernus]], HannibalBarca's army proceeded on a northerlynorthward path before veering eastwardeast towards [[Molise]], traversing the region of [[Samnium]]. Throughout this trek, HannibalBarca's movement was closely monitored by the [[Romania|Roman]] army led by [[Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus]], who adhered to the so-calledhis [[Fabian strategy]]. This tactic of avoiding direct confrontation with Hannibal's forces was met with increasing discontent in Rome, culminating in Fabius being obligated to make a return to Romethe city. This was ostensibleostensibly to perform religious observances, though his actual intention was to defend his strategies against the mounting criticism.

[[Marcus Minucius Rufus]], who was left in command, managed to catch the Carthaginians off guard near their camp in Geronium and inflicted heavy losses on them in a large skirmish, whilst 5,000 [[Roman people|Romans]] were killed. This action caused the Romans, who were disgruntled with [[Fabius]] at the time, to elevate Minucius to the equal rank of a dictator. [[Minucia gens|Minucius]] took command of half the army and camped separately from Fabius near Geronium. [[Hannibal]], informed of this development, laid an elaborate trap, which drew out Minucius and his army in detail, and then attacked it from all sides. The timely arrival of Fabius with the other half of the army enabled Minucius to escape, but with a substantial number of [[Roman people|Roman]] deaths. After the battle, Minucius turned over his army to Fabius and resumed the duties of [[Master of the Horse]].

While the Carthaginians had been busy at Geronium, Fabius had left Minucius in charge of the Roman army with instructions to follow the ‘Fabian‘[[Fabian Strategy’strategy|Fabian Strategy]]’ and journeyed to Rome to observe religious duties. He possibly also engaged in political bickering because of his unpopularity among the Roman citizens.<ref>Bagnall, Nigel, ''The Punic Wars'', p. 188 {{ISBN|0-312-34214-4}}</ref> Minucius, who had always advocated a more forward strategy against Hannibal, moved down from the hills after a few days and set up a new camp in the plain of Larinum to the north of Geronium. The Romans then began harassing the Carthaginian foragers from their new camp as Minucius sought to provoke Hannibal into battle. In response, Hannibal moved near the Roman camp from Geronium with two-thirds of his army, and built a temporary camp,<ref name=lazenby71/> and occupied a hill overlooking the Roman camp with 2,000 [[Punic people|Libyphoenician]] [[Pike (weapon)|pikemen]].<ref>Bagnall, Nigel, ''The Punic Wars'', p. 188 {{ISBN|0-312-34214-4}}</ref> The mobility of the Carthaginians was restricted at this time as their cavalry horses were being rested.<ref>[[George Philip Baker|Baker, G.P.]], ''Hannibal'', p. 120 {{ISBN|0-8154-1005-0}}</ref> This had also deprived Hannibal of his best weapon against the Romans, a fact which would come into play soon. Minucius promptly attacked with his light infantry, driving back the pikemen posted on the hill, and moved his camp to the top of the captured hill.

Minucius' success was hailed as a great victory in Rome. The Roman army commanded by [[Fabius]] did little except follow Hannibal around and watch him ruin the Roman economy, while the same army under a different general had caused [[Hannibal]] to retreat. So, the Roman senate sought a way to reward [[Minucia gens|Minucius]] for his service to the state.

The Roman political tradition and system did not allow the removal of a dictator during his term in office. Because Fabius was a dictator who had been elected by the senate (not the usual way to become dictator), the senate considered other options to minimize his powers. A [[praetor]] named “Metellus”<ref>Livy, 22.25-26.</ref> or, according to other sources, G. [[Terentius Varro]] (the future consul in 216 BC),<ref>Baker, G.P., ''Hannibal'', p. 123 {{ISBN|0-8154-1005-0}}</ref> proposed a bill to elevate Minucius to the equal rank of Fabius. The bill was promptly passed, giving [[Roman Empire|Rome]] two dictators at once for the first time in history and for practical purposes reducing the status of a dictator to that of a consul. Upon returning to the army, Fabius proposed to either command the whole army on alternate days or split their army into two independent commands. Minucius chose to split the army and took legions numbers II and III, and two allied legions. They encamped one and a half miles south of where Fabius camped,<ref>Peddie, John, ''Hannibal’s War'', p. 96 {{ISBN|0-7509-3797-1}}</ref> possibly on the site of Hannibal’s temporary camp.<ref>Polybius 3.103.7-8.</ref> In the coming days, Minucius would act just as the senate had expected, but he would almost end up rendering the type of "service" to Rome that it could ill afford and the likes of which [[Fabius]] had striven to avoid in the preceding months of the campaign.

The ground between the [[Carthaginian Iberia|Carthaginian]] and Roman camps was flat and treeless, with a low ridge sitting midway between the camps. There were hollows and dead patches of land behind and beside the hill where soldiers could hide without being noticed.<ref>Lazenby, J.F., ''Hannibal’s War'', p. 72 {{ISBN|0-8061-3004-0}}</ref> Hannibal selected a picked body of 5,000 infantry and 500<ref name=bagnall189>Bagnall, Nigel, ''The Punic Wars'', p. 189, {{ISBN|0-312-34214-4}}</ref> cavalry, and ordered them to conceal themselves in groups of 200-300 in the hollows and dead ground on the night before the battle. The skill and discipline of the Carthaginians is evident through their flawless execution of this potentially hazardous operation. At dawn, a contingent of Carthaginian light infantry took position on the hill in full view of the Romans. From their vantage point, the Carthaginians on the hill could spy on the Romans, just like those [[Minucius]] had dislodged from a hill at the start of the previous skirmish. However, unlike that encounter, Hannibal was fully prepared for the [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] response.

Seeing the Carthaginians deployed on the hill, Minucius sent a group of elitesvelites to drive them off. In turn, Hannibal reinforced the hill with just enough soldiers to fight the Romans to a stalemate. This caused Minucius to send the Roman and Italian allied cavalry up the hill, which Hannibal immediately countered with his light [[Numidian cavalry]] and heavy [[Spanish people|Spanish]] and [[Libyo-phoenicians|Libyphoenician]] cavalry. With the cavalry engaged, Minucius lost his best tool for scouting the battleground and discovering the trap Hannibal had set for him. After skirmishing for a while, the Roman cavalry slowly began to give ground against their more skilled opponents.

Minucius, observing the situation, now called out his four legions and marched towards and then up the hill. Hannibal had also deployed his infantry beyond the hill and now advanced to meet the advancing Romans. The sequence and timing of events, all planned and orchestrated by Hannibal, did not give the Roman general any time to examine the ground or scout the area.<ref>Baker, G.P., ''Hannibal'', p. 124 {{ISBN|0-8154-1005-0}}<name="baker124"/ref> Fabius, who was watching the events unfold from his camp, called his army to arms but did not move out to help his fellow general.

Possibly Hannibal did not wish to fight a battle of attrition against a still superior army, over half of which was fresh while the Carthaginians had been fighting for years.<ref name=bagnall189/> Strategically, the destruction of the Roman army would not have changed the balance of power significantly for Hannibal at the time. While the Carthaginians wintered at Geronium the Romans would have raised another army to deal with him. On the other hand, had Hannibal lost the battle, he might have lost the war on the spot. Still, the Carthaginians had inflicted severe casualties on the [[Ancient Rome|Romans]], and only the timely action of Fabius saved Rome from dealing with a new disaster, all in the space of six months.

After the battle, Minucius turned over supreme command to [[Fabius]], resuming his duties as the Master of the Horse, and billeted his remaining troops with those of Fabius. Minucius, after his rescue, hailed Fabius as his father, and instructed his troops to treat the troops of Fabius as their patrons.<ref name=fallofcarthage195>Goldsworthy, Adrian, ''The Fall of Carthage'', p. 195 {{ISBN|0-304-36642-0}}</ref> Fabius, for his part, did not humiliate Minucius for the debacle and allowed him all the honours due to his position. Both [[Ancient Rome|Romans]] and Carthaginians then went to winter quarters, and no large actions were fought during the winter. After the term of Fabius as dictator expired in December of 217 BC, the army was turned over to the incoming consuls Attilus Regulus and Servillus Geminus. The armies of Carthage and Rome remained in Geronium until June 216 BC, when [[Hannibal]] decided to start for [[Cannae]].

* {{cite book | title = The Punic Wars | year = 1990 | author = Bagnall, Nigel | publisher = Macmillan | isbn = 0-312-34214-4 | url = https://archive.org/details/punicwars00bagn }}

[[Category:BattlesHistory inof Molise|Geronium]]