Battle of Canusium 209 BC
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Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Year | 209 BC | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
|---|---|---|
| Era | Ancient (before 500) | derived from year |
| Location | Italy | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Europe | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Second Punic War | Wikidata P361 |
| Coordinates | 41.2366, 16.0660 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of Canusium also known as the Battle of Asculum was a three-day engagement between the forces of Rome and Carthage. It took place in Apulia during the spring of 209 BC, the tenth year of the Second Punic War. A larger Roman offensive, of which it was a part, aimed to subjugate and to punish cities and tribes that had abandoned the alliance with Rome after the Battle of Cannae, and to narrow the base of the Carthaginian leader, Hannibal, in southern Italy.
The battle of Canusium was also an episode of the years-long contest between Hannibal and the Roman general Marcus Claudius Marcellus for control over that territory. As neither side gained a decisive victory and both suffered considerable losses (up to 14,000 killed overall), the outcome of this engagement was open to differing interpretations by both ancient and modern historians. While Marcellus took a heavy blow at Canusium, he nevertheless checked for some time the movements of the main Punic forces and thus contributed to the simultaneous Roman successes against Hannibal's allies in Magna Graecia and Lucania.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Canusium (revision 1370436117), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
- Battle of Cannae 216 BC · 10 km
- Battle of Cannae (1018) 1018 · 10 km
- Battle of Cerignola 1503 · 14 km
- Battle of Montemaggiore 1041 · 18 km
- Battle of Olivento 1041 · 33 km
- Battle of Herdonia (212 BC) 212 BC · 37 km
Other battles of the Second Punic War
- Battle of the Upper Baetis 211 BC
- Siege of Capua (211 BC) 211 BC
- Battle of Herdonia (210 BC) 210 BC
- Battle of Numistro 210 BC
- Battle of Sapriportis 210 BC
- Battle of New Carthage 209 BC
- Battle of Tarentum (209 BC) 209 BC
- Battle of Baecula 208 BC
- Battle of Petelia 208 BC
- Battle of Grumentum 207 BC
All 50 battles of the Second Punic War →
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