Roman army of the mid-Republic to the charge followed by close melee combat, had no effective response. Nevertheless, in the years following Cannae (216-203 BC), the record of Roman cavalry in operations against Hannibal in southern Italy was creditable, scoring a number of successes in cavalry encounters although never depriving the enemy of overall cavalry superiority. The Romans finally succeeded in closing the light cavalry gap with the Carthaginians by winning over the Numidian king Massinissa, previously an ally of Carthage. This enabled the Romans to field at least an equal number of Numidians at the battle of Zama (202 BC), who, outnumbering the Roman/Italian
Ancient Celtic music The recital of "barbaric songs" is reported for a member of the Celtiberian infantry during the battle of Cannae in 216 BC, as he was attacked by the Roman consul. National songs are already attested by Tacitus for the Caledonians. Livius reports Gallic war songs that were heard at the river Allia. After the Gallic victory (ca. 387 BC) the city's inhabitants had to endure the dissonant battle chants. A sole Gallic warrior is reported to have gone into a fight singing. Livius on the other hand only describes the Roman Titus Manlius, who would defeat him in 361 BC,