Norman conquest of southern Italy Ofanto near Cannae, the site of Hannibal's victory over the Romans in 216 BC, and the Battle of Cannae was a decisive Byzantine victory; Amatus wrote that only ten Normans survived from a contingent of 250. After the battle, Ranulf Drengot (one of the Norman survivors) was elected leader of their company. Boioannes protected his gains by building a fortress at the Apennine pass, guarding the entrance to the Apulian plain. In 1019 Troia (as the fortress was known) was garrisoned by Boioannes' Norman troops, an indication of Norman willingness to fight on either side. With Norman mercenaries on both
Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus (consul 215 BC) Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus (consul 215 BC) Tiberius Sempronius Ti. f. Ti. n. Gracchus (died 212 BC) was a Roman Republican consul in the Second Punic War. He was son of Tiberius Sempronius Ti. f. Gracchus, who was apparently the first man from his branch of the family to become a consul. Gracchus is first mentioned in 216 BC as a curule aedile, in which capacity he was inducted as the Master of the Horse to the newly elected Dictator Marcus Junius Pera after the defeat at Cannae. He was elected consul in 216 BC, at the recommendation of the Dictator,