Battle of Lake Trasimene 217 BC
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Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Year | 217 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 | 43.1975, 12.0850 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of Lake Trasimene was fought when a Carthaginian force under Hannibal ambushed a Roman army commanded by Gaius Flaminius on 21 June 217 BC, during the Second Punic War. The battle took place on the north shore of Lake Trasimene, to the south of Cortona, and resulted in a heavy defeat for the Romans.
War had broken out between Rome and Carthage early in 218 BC. Hannibal, ruler of the Carthaginian territories in south-east Iberia, marched an army through Gaul, crossed the Alps and arrived in Cisalpine Gaul (northern Italy) later that year. The Romans rushed reinforcements north from Sicily but were badly defeated at the Battle of the Trebia.
The following spring, the Romans positioned an army on each side of the Apennine Mountains, but were surprised when a Carthaginian army more than 50,000 strong crossed the range by a difficult but unguarded route. The Carthaginians moved south into Etruria, plundering, razing the villages and killing all men encountered. Flaminius, in charge of the nearest Roman army, set off in pursuit. Hannibal arranged an ambush on the north shore of Lake Trasimene and trapped the Romans.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Lake Trasimene (revision 1381119002), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
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- Siege of Mutina (218 BC) 218 BC
- Battle of Ager Falernus 217 BC
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- Battle of Geronium 217 BC
- Battle of Cannae 216 BC
- Battle of Nola (216 BC) 216 BC
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