Roman army of the mid-Republic placed unprecedented strains on Roman manpower, not least on the Order of Knights and the First Class of commoners which provided the cavalry. During Hannibal's apocalyptic march through Italy (218–216 BC), thousands of Roman cavalrymen were killed in the field. The losses were especially serious for the equestrian order, which also provided the army's senior officers. Livy relates how, after Cannae, gold rings (a badge of knightly rank), recovered from the corpses of Roman knights formed a pile one "modius" (about 9 litres) large. In the succeeding years 214–203 BC, the Romans kept at least 21 legions in the field
Roger of Cannae Roger of Cannae Saint Roger of Cannae (1060 – December 30, 1129) was an Italian bishop. The Catholic Church honours him as a saint. Roger (in Italian: "Ruggero di Canne") was elected bishop of the town of Cannae, where a small diocese already had risen in the 10th century. In 1083 there was the destruction by Robert Guiscard, king of the Normans. Roger contributed to the moral and material reconstruction of the ancient city of Apulia, supporting his fellow citizens with the consolations of faith and the material aid. The "Cannes Anonymous", an ancient local biographical sources of the 14th