27.14
When
this was reported to Hannibal, he remarked, "Evidently we have to do with
an enemy who cannot endure either good fortune or bad. If he is victorious
he follows up the vanquished in fierce pursuit; if he is defeated he renews the
struggle with his conquerors." Then he ordered the advance to be sounded,
and led his men on to the field. The fighting was much hotter than on the
previous day; the Carthaginians did their utmost to maintain the prestige they
had gained, the Romans were equally determined to wipe out the disgrace of
their defeat. The contingents who had formed the Roman left and the
cohorts who had lost their standards were fighting in the front line, and the
twentieth legion was stationed on their right. L. Cornelius Lentulus and C:
Claudius Nero commanded the wings; Marcellus remained in the centre to
encourage his men and mark how they bore themselves in battle. Hannibal's
front line consisted of his Spanish troops, the flower of his army. After a
long and undecided struggle he ordered the elephants to be brought up into
the fighting line, in the hope that they would create confusion and panic
among the enemy. At first they threw the front ranks into disorder, trampling
some underfoot and scattering those round in wild alarm. One flank was thus
exposed, and the rout would have spread much farther had not C. Decimius
Flavus, one of the military tribunes, snatched the standard of the foremost
maniple of hastati and called on them to follow him. He took them to where
the animals trotting close to one another were creating the greatest tumult,
and told his men to hurl their javelins at them. Owing to the short distance
and the huge mark presented by the beasts, crowded as they were together,
every missile went home. They were not all hit, but those in whose flanks the
javelins were sticking turned the uninjured ones to flight, for these animals
cannot be depended upon. Not only the men who first attacked them, but
every soldier within reach hurled his javelin at them as they galloped back
into the Carthaginian ranks, where they caused much more destruction than
they had caused amongst the enemy. They dashed about much more
recklessly and did far greater damage when driven by their fears, than when
directed by their drivers. Where the line was broken by their charge, the
Roman standards at once advanced, and the broken and demoralised enemy
was put to rout without much fighting. Marcellus sent his cavalry after the
fugitives, and the pursuit did not slacken till they had been driven in wild
panic to their camp. To add to their confusion and terror two of the
elephants had fallen and blocked up the camp gate, and the men had to
scramble into their camp over fosse and rampart. It was here that they
suffered the heaviest loss; 8000 men were killed and five elephants. The
victory was anything but a bloodless one for the Romans; out of the two
legions some 1700 men were killed and 1300 of the allied contingents,
besides a very large number of wounded in both divisions. The following
night Hannibal shifted his camp. Marcellus, though anxious to follow him,
was unable to do so owing to the enormous number of wounded.
Reconnoitring parties who were sent out to watch his movements reported
that he had taken the direction of Bruttium.