26.5
Such was
the position of affairs at Capua. During this time Hannibal was drawn in two
directions; he was anxious to get possession of the citadel of Tarentum and
he was equally anxious to retain his hold on Capua. Regard for Capua
however carried the day, for he saw that it was the spot to which all eyes
were turned, of friends and foes alike, and its fate would show conclusively,
one way or the other, the consequences of defection from Rome. Leaving
therefore his baggage and heavy-armed troops in Bruttium, he hurried into
Campania with a force of horse and foot selected for their capacity for rapid
marching. Swift as his advance was, however, three and thirty elephants
followed him. He took up his position in a secluded valley at the back of
Mount Tifata which overlooked Capua. On his march he captured the
fortified post of Calatia. He then turned his attention to the besiegers of
Capua, and sent a message to the city telling them at what time he intended
to attack the Roman lines, so that they might be ready to make a sortie and
pour in full strength out of all their gates. The investing force was thrown
into a state of great alarm, for while Hannibal was delivering his assault on
one side, the whole of the forces of Capua, mounted and unmounted,
supported by the Punic garrison under Bostar and Hanno were making a
vigorous sortie on the other. Realising their critical position and the danger
of leaving a portion of their lines unprotected by concentrating their defence
in any one direction, the Romans divided their force; Appius Claudius
confronted the Capuans, Fulvius was opposed to Hannibal; the propraetor C.
Nero with the cavalry of the six legions held the road to Suessula, and C.
Fulvius Flaccus with the cavalry of the allies took up a position towards the
Volturnus. There was not only the usual shouting and uproar when the battle
commenced; the din of horses and men and arms was aggravated by the
non-combatant population of Capua. They crowded on to the walls, and by
clashing brazen vessels together, as people do in the dead of the night when
there is an eclipse of the moon, they made such a dreadful noise that it even
distracted the attention of the combatants.
Appius had no difficulty in driving the Capuans from his
earthworks, but Fulvius had to meet a much heavier attack from Hannibal
and his Carthaginians on the other side. Here the sixth legion gave way and a
cohort of Spaniards with three elephants succeeded in getting up to the
breastwork. They had penetrated the Roman line, and whilst they saw their
chance of breaking through into the camp they saw also the danger of being
cut off from their supports. When Fulvius saw the disorder of the legion and
the danger which threatened the camp, he called upon Q. Navius and other
centurions of the first rank to charge the enemy's cohort which was fighting
just under the breastwork. "It is a most critical moment," he told them;
"either you must allow the enemy to go on, in which case they will break
into the camp with less difficulty than they found in breaking through the
closed ranks of the legion, or you must dispose of them whilst they are still
below the breastwork. It will not be a hard fight; they are a small body, cut
off from their support; and the very fact of the Roman line being broken will
be an advantage if both sections close on the enemy's flanks, who would then
be hemmed and exposed to a double attack." On hearing this Navius took
the standard of the second maniple of hastati from the bearer and advanced
with it against the enemy, threatening at the same time to throw it into their
midst if his men did not promptly follow him and take their share in the
fighting. He was a huge man and his armour set him off, and as he lifted the
standard high in the air, he attracted all eyes. But when he was close to the
Spaniards they hurled their javelins at him from all sides, and almost the
whole of their line turned their attention to this one man. Neither the number
of the enemy, however, nor the force of their missiles were able to check the
gallant fellow's onset.
