Battle of Cannae men and equipment, and a second massive defeat later that same year at Silva Litana, the Romans refused to surrender to Hannibal. His offer to ransom survivors was brusquely refused. With grim determination the Romans fought for 14 more years until they achieved victory at the Battle of Zama. Although for most of the following decades the battle was seen solely as a major Roman disaster, by modern times Cannae acquired a mythic quality, and is often used as an example of the perfect defeat of an enemy army. It was studied by German strategists prior to World War II,
Gaius Octavius (tribune 216 BC) Gaius Octavius (tribune 216 BC) Gaius Octavius (fl. 216 BC) was a Roman army officer who was active during the third century BC. He was the son of the equestrian Gaius Octavius and grandson of the quaestor Gnaeus Octavius Rufus, also the father of Velitrae's magistrate Gaius Octavius, grandfather of praetor Gaius Octavius and great-grandfather of Roman emperor Augustus (reigning 27 BC - 14 AD). When Marcus Antonius tried to show his contempt against Augustus, he said that Octavius was a freedman and rope-maker from Thurii. During the Second Punic War, Octavius served as military tribune and participated in the