The
Battle of the Metaurus was a pivotal battle in the
Second Punic WarThe Second Punic War, also referred to as The Hannibalic War and The War Against Hannibal, lasted from 218 to 201 BC and involved combatants in the western and eastern Mediterranean. This was the second major war between Carthage and the Roman Republic, who had three warring conflicts against each...
between
RomeRome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated municipality , with over 2.7 million residents in , while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat to be 3.46 million. The metropolitan area of Rome is estimated by OECD to have a population of 3.7 million...
and
CarthageCarthage refers both to an ancient city in present-day Tunisia, and a modern-day suburb of Tunis. The civilization that developed within the city's sphere of influence is referred to as Punic or Carthaginian...
, fought in
207 BC-Roman Republic:* The Roman general Gaius Claudius Nero fights an indecisive battle with the Carthaginian general Hannibal at Grumentum. Nero is unable to stop Hannibal's advance into Canusium...
near the Metauro River in present-day
ItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...
.
The Carthaginians were led by Hannibal's brother
Hasdrubal BarcaHasdrubal, son of Hamilcar Barca , was Hamilcar Barca's second son and a Carthaginian general in the Second Punic War. He was a younger brother of Hannibal, also son of Hamilcar.-Youth and Iberian leadership:...
, who was supposed to bring the siege equipment and reinforcements needed in order for Hannibal to defeat Rome. The Roman armies were led by the
consul-Ancient Rome:During the time of ancient Rome as a Republic, the consuls were the highest civil and military magistrates, serving as the heads of government for the Republic. New consuls were elected every year. There were two consuls, and they ruled together...
s
Marcus LiviusMarcus Livius Salinator , the son of Marcus , was a Roman consul who fought in both the First Punic wars and Secon Punic wars most notably during the Battle of the Zama....
, who would later be nicknamed the Salinator, and
Gaius Claudius NeroGaius Claudius Nero was a Roman consul who fought in the Battle of the Metaurus . He was member of the gens Claudia.In 207 BC he was elected consul with Marcus Livius Salinator, and with his colleague he led the army that defeated the Carthaginians at the river Metaurus, killing their commander,...
.
Claudius Nero had just fought Hannibal in
GrumentumThe Battle of Grumentum was fought in 207 BC between Romans led by Gaius Claudius Nero, and Hannibal's Carthaginian army. The battle was a minor Roman victory, and Nero marched north where he defeated and killed Hannibal's brother Hasdrubal at Metaurus. The battle is described by Livy at 27.41-42....
, some hundreds of kilometers south of the Metaurus river, and reached Marcus Livius with a forced march which went unnoticed by both Hannibal and Hasdrubal, so that the Carthaginians suddenly found themselves outnumbered.
Hasdrubal's campaign to come to his brother's aid in Italy had gone remarkably well up to that point.
The
Battle of the Metaurus was a pivotal battle in the
Second Punic WarThe Second Punic War, also referred to as The Hannibalic War and The War Against Hannibal, lasted from 218 to 201 BC and involved combatants in the western and eastern Mediterranean. This was the second major war between Carthage and the Roman Republic, who had three warring conflicts against each...
between
RomeRome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated municipality , with over 2.7 million residents in , while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat to be 3.46 million. The metropolitan area of Rome is estimated by OECD to have a population of 3.7 million...
and
CarthageCarthage refers both to an ancient city in present-day Tunisia, and a modern-day suburb of Tunis. The civilization that developed within the city's sphere of influence is referred to as Punic or Carthaginian...
, fought in
207 BC-Roman Republic:* The Roman general Gaius Claudius Nero fights an indecisive battle with the Carthaginian general Hannibal at Grumentum. Nero is unable to stop Hannibal's advance into Canusium...
near the Metauro River in present-day
ItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...
.
The Carthaginians were led by Hannibal's brother
Hasdrubal BarcaHasdrubal, son of Hamilcar Barca , was Hamilcar Barca's second son and a Carthaginian general in the Second Punic War. He was a younger brother of Hannibal, also son of Hamilcar.-Youth and Iberian leadership:...
, who was supposed to bring the siege equipment and reinforcements needed in order for Hannibal to defeat Rome. The Roman armies were led by the
consul-Ancient Rome:During the time of ancient Rome as a Republic, the consuls were the highest civil and military magistrates, serving as the heads of government for the Republic. New consuls were elected every year. There were two consuls, and they ruled together...
s
Marcus LiviusMarcus Livius Salinator , the son of Marcus , was a Roman consul who fought in both the First Punic wars and Secon Punic wars most notably during the Battle of the Zama....
, who would later be nicknamed the Salinator, and
Gaius Claudius NeroGaius Claudius Nero was a Roman consul who fought in the Battle of the Metaurus . He was member of the gens Claudia.In 207 BC he was elected consul with Marcus Livius Salinator, and with his colleague he led the army that defeated the Carthaginians at the river Metaurus, killing their commander,...
.
Claudius Nero had just fought Hannibal in
GrumentumThe Battle of Grumentum was fought in 207 BC between Romans led by Gaius Claudius Nero, and Hannibal's Carthaginian army. The battle was a minor Roman victory, and Nero marched north where he defeated and killed Hannibal's brother Hasdrubal at Metaurus. The battle is described by Livy at 27.41-42....
, some hundreds of kilometers south of the Metaurus river, and reached Marcus Livius with a forced march which went unnoticed by both Hannibal and Hasdrubal, so that the Carthaginians suddenly found themselves outnumbered.
Prelude
Hasdrubal's campaign to come to his brother's aid in Italy had gone remarkably well up to that point. After adeptly escaping
Publius ScipioPublius Cornelius Scipio was a general and statesman of the Roman Republic.A member of the Cornelia gens, Scipio served as consul in 218 BC, the first year of the Second Punic War, and sailed with an army from Pisa to Massilia , with the intention of arresting Hannibal's advance on Italy...
in
HispaniaHispania was the name given by the Romans to the whole of the Iberian Peninsula . When Rome was a republic, Hispania was divided into two provinces: Hispania Citerior and Hispania Ulterior...
and making his way into
GaulGaul is a historical name used in the context of the Roman Empire in references to the region of Western Europe approximating present day France and Belgium, but also sometimes including the Po Valley, western Switzerland, and the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the west bank of the River...
in the winter of 208, Hasdrubal waited until the spring of 207 to make his way through the Alps and into Northern Italy. Hasdrubal made much faster progress than his brother had during his crossing, partly due to the constructions left behind by Hannibal's army a decade earlier, but also due to the removal of the Gallic threat that had plagued Hannibal during that expedition. The Gauls now feared and respected the Carthaginians, and not only was Hasdrubal allowed to pass through the Alps unmolested, his ranks were swelled by many enthusiastic Gauls. Hasdrubal, in the same fashion as his brother, succeeded in bringing his war elephants, raised and trained in Hispania, over the Alps.
Rome was still reeling from the series of devastating defeats Hannibal had put on it ten years earlier, and the prospect of fighting two sons of "the Thunderbolt" (a rough translation of
Hamilcar BarcaHamilcar Barca or Barcas was a Carthaginian general and statesman, leader of the Barcid family, and father of Hannibal, Hasdrubal and Mago. He was also father-in-law to Hasdrubal the Fair....
's surname) at once, terrified the Romans. The hastily elected consuls Claudius Nero and Marcus Livius were dispatched to face Hannibal and Hasdrubal respectively. Neither consul engaged his intended target initially. Claudius Nero's force of over 40,000 men was too formidable for Hannibal to engage openly, and so the two played an unproductive game of cat and mouse in Bruttium; meanwhile, Marcus Livius, despite the added bulwark of two of the many Roman armies scattered across Italy - yielded cautiously to Hasdrubal, allowed him to push beyond the Metaurus as far south as the town of Sena.
It was not until Hasdrubal sent messengers to Hannibal that decisive measures were finally taken. Hasdrubal wished to meet with his brother in South Umbria. However, Hasdrubal's messengers were captured, and his plans fell into the hands of the consul Claudius Nero. Nero quickly marched to the North with 7,000 men, 1,000 of whom were cavalry, in order to join up with Marcus Livius. Nero, recognizing the urgency of the situation and the enormous threat that a merging of the Carthaginian brothers' armies would present to Rome, circumvented the authority of the Senate, instead advising them to organize levies for their own protection.
Union of the two consuls
Claudius Nero quickly reached Marcus Livius, who was camped at Sena along with the praetor Porcius. Hasdrubal was camped approximately a half-mile to the north. However, since Claudius Nero had conveniently arrived at night, his presence was not detected until the next day, when the Romans drew themselves up for battle. Hasdrubal drew his army up as well, but upon closer observation of the forces assembled before him, noticed that Marcus Livius' army seemed to have grown considerably over the course of the night, and that he had a much larger contingent of cavalry. Hasdrubal remembered hearing a trumpet in the Roman camp heralding the arrival of an important figure the night before - a sound he had become familiar with during his entanglements with the Romans in Hispania - and correctly concluded that he was now facing two Roman armies. Unnerved, he retired his troops from the field.
The rest of the day passed without event, for the Romans did not endeavour to advance on Hasdrubal's fortifications. When nightfall came, Hasdrubal quietly led his army out of his camp with the intent of retreating into Gaul, where he could safely establish communications with Hannibal. Early on in the march, however, Hasdrubal's guides betrayed him, and left him lost and confused along the banks of the Metaurus, searching futilely for a ford at which to cross.
The night passed with no change in Hasdrubal's misfortunes, and the morning found his army disarrayed, trapped against the banks of the Metaurus, and a great many of his Gallic troops drunk. With the Roman cavalry fast approaching and the legions under the two consuls not far behind, Hasdrubal reluctantly prepared for battle.
The battle
The exact numbers of troops on both sides are not known. The data given by the ancient sources are either insufficient or very contradictory.
AppianAppianus , of Alexandria was a Roman historian who flourished during the reigns of Trajan, Hadrian and Antoninus Pius. He is commonly referred to by the anglicised form of his name, Appian....
for instance says that the Carthaginian force numbered 48,000 infantry, 8,000 cavalry and 15 elephants.
LivyTitus Livius , known as Livy in English, was a Roman historian who wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, Ab Urbe Condita Libri, "Chapters from the Foundation of the City," covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome well before the traditional foundation in 753 BC...
claims that there were more than 61,000 slain or captured Carthaginian soldiers at the end of the battle and there were still more who escaped the slaughter. These figures look inflated, especially when one compares them with the account left by
PolybiusPolybius was a Greek historian of the Hellenistic Period noted for his book called The Histories covering in detail the period of 220–146 BC...
. Modern estimates suggest Hasdrubal's army was about 30,000 in strength, and Marcus Livius' army of roughly equal numbers. According to Livy, 27.36. The propraetor L. Porcius Licinius commanded two legions - as many men as the consul. This means that Livius and Porcius had between them four legions - equal to 32,000-40,000 men, including their Allies. However, the numbers of the allied contingents could have been less than usual due to the refusal of some of the Roman clients to provide auxiliaries. The Roman force was probably further diminished by earlier fighting with Hasdrubal the evidence of which is the presence of several thousand prisoners in Hasdrubal's camp. About 7,000 troops accompanied Claudius Nero. Therefore, it is certain that Hasdrubal was significantly outnumbered. Furthermore, he lacked cavalry, of which the Romans had a substantial number. Nonetheless, he arrayed his troops in the manner best available to him.
Like most Carthaginian armies, Hasdrubal's was a mix of many different cultures and ethnicities, few of which were of African origins. Hasdrubal's best troops were
IberiansThe Iberians were a set of peoples that Greek and Roman sources identified with that name in the eastern and southern coasts of the Iberian peninsula at least from the 6th century BC...
, armed with shields and swords, and these troops he placed on his right flank along with the few African troops that he did have (not much is known about these troops - they may have been spearmen drawn from some Carthaginian territory, or from another part of Africa). In his center he drew up a formidable force of
LiguresThe Ligures were an ancient people who gave their name to Liguria, which once stretched from Northern Italy into southern Gaul. According to Plutarch they called themselves Ambrones which means ¨people of the water¨...
who were not as well-trained as the men on his right flank. Finally, on his left, he placed the disorderly Gauls, who he hoped would be shielded by the intraversable terrain (a deep ravine) in front of them. Hasdrubal also had ten elephants in his army.
The Romans advanced on Hasdrubal in disciplined fashion. Claudius Nero was given command of the Roman right flank, facing the inaccessible Gauls. It was Marcus Livius who initiated battle, charging the veteran Iberian infantry, and Porcius followed soon after by attacking Hasdrubal's Ligurians. The initial combat was favorable to Hasdrubal, whose elephants succeeded in breaking the Roman line and spreading mass confusion throughout Marcus Livius' troops. Hasdrubal's right wing held firmly, and his Ligurians, too, held their ground. Claudius Nero struggled to overcome the terrain that blocked his path to the unprepared Gauls on Hasdrubal's left, and, seeing the futility in wasting further time attempting to reach them, instead took some of his men and led them away from the Gauls, behind Marcus Livius and Porcius, who were preoccupied with battle, and marched to the extreme Roman left, swinging his troops around and crashing into the Iberians' flank with such sudden force and intensity that the Iberians panicked and fled in confusion, collapsing onto the Ligurians, who continued to fight until they were cut down.
Hasdrubal's only remaining forces, the Gauls, who were still totally unfit for combat following their activities the night before, were no longer protected by their sober comrades who had been guarding their flank. The Romans descended mercilessly upon them, meeting almost no resistance.
The Carthaginian general, seeing that there was nothing more he could do, and presumably doubtful of his own prospects of escape, or simply unwilling to be taken captive, charged into the thick of the nearly concluded battle and met a glorious, if pointless death. Depending on whether one believes Polybius or Livy 10,000 or 56,000 of Hasdrubal's soldiers perished with him. According to the same authorities the casualty figure among the Romans was between 2,000 and 8,000.
Aftermath
Claudius Nero showed no respect for his fallen adversary. He had Hasdrubal's head severed from his body, taken south, and thrown into Hannibal's camp as a token of the brother's defeat.
Lord Byron wrote of the battle:
Though history may not well remember Nero the Consul, the consequences of the battle he won and the Empire which it safeguarded are certainly well-known. With his brother dead and his soldiers routed or killed, and no hope of help from Carthage - which was too preoccupied with its own political infighting to send him aid - Hannibal's hopes of mustering a force sufficient in size and strength for the achievement of his war aims were utterly dashed. He remained in Italy for several more years, unmolested by Rome, and attempted to maintain the loyalty of the Italian allies whom he had won early on in his campaign. It was not until Scipio Africanus led a campaign directly against Carthage that Hannibal left Italy. The two generals faced one another at the
Battle of ZamaThe Battle of Zama, fought around October 19, 202 BC, marked the final and decisive end of the Second Punic War. A Roman army led by Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus defeated a Carthaginian force led by Hannibal...
in 202 BC, where Hannibal, like his brother, faced a superior force - in numbers and quality - offered a good fight, and was defeated.
Had Hasdrubal succeeded in linking up with his brother, the outcome of the Second Punic War might have been very different. The addition of Hasdrubal's men to his ranks would have swelled Hannibal's army to a number great enough for him to lead a direct advance on Rome itself, and in the event of such a siege, it is quite possible that Hannibal's forces would have succeeded in taking the city. Even if Rome did not fall to Hannibal, the presence of the brothers' combined armies in Italy would only add to the political strife that already existed there, not to mention the anxiety that lingered throughout Rome. History is too unpredictable to say what might have happened had the Battle of the Metaurus not occurred; however, the fact that it did was clearly in the best interests of Rome.
The significance of the Battle of the Metaurus is recognized amongst historians. It is included in Edward Creasy's
The Fifteen Decisive Battles of the WorldThe Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World: from Marathon to Waterloo is a book written by Sir Edward Shepherd Creasy and published in 1851. This book tells the story of the fifteen military engagements which, according to the author, had a significant impact on world history.-Chapters:Each...
(1851), the rationale being that it effectively removed the Carthaginian threat from Rome's ascendancy to global dominion by leaving Hannibal stranded in Italy. Paul K. Davis sees its importance as the "Carthaginian defeat ended the attempt to reinforce Hannibal, dooming his effort in Italy, and Rome was able to establish dominance over Spain." The Battle of the Metaurus is overshadowed by other battles of the Second Punic War, such as Hannibal's great victory at the
Battle of CannaeThe Battle of Cannae was a major battle of the Second Punic War, taking place on August 2, 216 BC near the town of Cannae in Apulia in southeast Italy. The army of Carthage under Hannibal decisively defeated a numerically superior army of the Roman Republic under command of the consuls Lucius...
or his ultimate defeat at the
Battle of ZamaThe Battle of Zama, fought around October 19, 202 BC, marked the final and decisive end of the Second Punic War. A Roman army led by Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus defeated a Carthaginian force led by Hannibal...
. Nonetheless, the effects of Claudius Nero and Marcus Livius' victory at the Metaurus have earned it a significant standing amongst historians; not only of the history of Rome, but in that of the entire world.
In literature
F. L. Lucas's story "The Fortune of Carthage", (
Athenæum, 28 Jan. 1921), slanted from Claudius Nero's perspective, is mainly about the prelude to the battle, focusing on the dilemma the Roman consul faced in Apulia on intercepting Hasdrubal's letter to Hannibal. The closing section gives the Carthaginians' perspective in the aftermath of the battle.
See also
- Battles of macrohistorical importance involving invasions of Europe
In the battles of macrohistorical importance involving invasions of Europe, there were eight distinct conflicts that greatly affected the history of Europe, ranging from the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 BC to the Battle of Vienna in 1683...
- Monte Nerone
The Monte Nerone is a mountain in the central Apennines, in the province of Pesaro e Urbino, Marche, central Italy. The highest peak is at 1,525 m above sea level.The Monte Nerone is a limestone massif, including several aspects of Karst topography....