Battle of Cannae required Hannibal to subdue a considerable part of the hinterland to cut the enemy's supplies and secure his own. Even after the tremendous losses suffered at Cannae and the defection of a number of her allies, Rome still had abundant manpower to prevent this and maintain considerable forces in Iberia, Sicily, Sardinia and elsewhere despite Hannibal's presence in Italy. Hannibal's conduct after the victories at Trasimene (217 BC) and Cannae, and the fact that he first attacked Rome only five years later, in 211 BC, suggests that his strategic aim was not the destruction of his foe but to dishearten
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