BATTLE OF LAKE TRASIMENUS

The battle of Lake Trasimenus was one of the biggest Roman defeats by the Carthaginian commander Hannibal in the Second Punic War. It should be remembered that it took place in the territory of the city of Perusia, a city of the Etruscan Dodecapoli. Afterwards I will discuss the battle in greater depth, but what is most interesting is the political and military implications before and after the battle.

In an earlier post, I discussed the strategic plan of the Barcidi, which was to instigate a series of rebellions in Italy with the objective of rousing all peoples subjugated to Rome. Hannibal and the Barcidi family were convinced that it could establish once more, under a Punic banner, an anti-roman force, similar to that in the battle of Sentinus in 295 BCE. Hannibal knew that the final numbers of his new allies would depend on his initial successes and in accordance with his expectations, the Celts flocked to his side en mass following the victorious battles of TICINO and TREBBIA .

217 BCE ; (May) Hannibal crossed the Alpine region and headed towards Bologna and then to Pistoia and Fiesole, via the Apennine pass of Collina (932 or 1042 meters). He crossed the Arno river a little above Fiesole and headed towards the South sacking the territory. The consul Caius Flaminius followed him, while the consul Gnaeus Servilius Geminus marched in force along the Via Flaminia towards Rome, with the purpose to send his cavalry via Foligno-Perusia as reinforcement to his compatriot. Hannibal descended the Vale of Chiana and from there, headed toward Perusia.

(June 21) The Land Battle of LAKE TRASIMENO. The consul Flaminius left the field of buon mattino, in the Borghetto area where the Cortona road touches the northern shore of lake Trasimeno and crossed with his legions the narrow passage between the steep slopes of the Gualandro mountain and the lake. He entered a plain 3 kilometers wide and 5 kilometers long, along the bank between the lake and the mountains, and fell into an ambush where Hannibal had hidden his troops. (the entrance and the exit at the valley were opportunely busy by the Punics), assisted by the fog, and without any way of escape having to the flanks the marshy waters of the lake, Flaminius an Insubrine Gaul rider was heavily defeated and killed by Ducarius.

Considerations:

The defeat of Lake Trasimeno opened the way for Hannibal to Rome but the great master of tactics once more trusted his strategic plan and did not march toward the city. Instead, he stayed faithful to his original plan of instigating rebellions, and marching towards the South of the peninsula through the territory of the Umbrians, he continued his search for new allies.

He did not make use of siege engines to place a big siege to the Urbs and did not have time to build them. From the facts handed down by the ancient sources, we begin to question why the Etruscan and Umbrian peoples did not rise against Rome like the Celts.

The answer to this question is not known, and a reasonable explanation does not readily come to mind. Perhaps at the individual level, groups of Etruscan youths may have joined up with the Punic army but no town of the Dodecapoli officially rebelled against Rome.

Perhaps the Concilium Duodecim Populi Etruriae considered such action as ill advised and decided to wait. The next opportunity was the following year - 216 BCE.

But not even after the defeat of Canne did the Etruscan nation rise. Perhaps by this time it was too late. Had Etruria forgotten about its affinities with the Punic world, this ancient alliance with the African power, and its role as Leader of the Italic peninsula?

Or perhaps this was the true desire of the immortal gods .... destined to disappear for ever in a protagonist role and to see Rome master of the ancient world and Etruria relegated to Charun and the kingdom of the dead.