Battle of Cannae shaping the military structure and tactical organization of the Roman Republican army. At Cannae, the Roman infantry assumed a formation similar to the Greek phalanx. This left them vulnerable to Hannibal's tactic of double envelopment since their inability to maneuver independently from the mass of the army made it impossible for them to counter the strategic encirclement used by the Carthaginian cavalry. The laws of the Roman state requiring command to alternate between the two consuls restricted strategic consistency. In the years following Cannae, striking reforms were introduced to address these deficiencies. First, the Romans "articulated the phalanx, then divided
Sanitation in ancient Rome sanitation artifacts of the ancient world. Most sources believe it was built during the reign of the three Etruscan kings in the sixth century BC. This "greatest sewer" of Rome was originally built to drain the low-lying land around the Forum. It is not known how effective the sewers were, especially in removing excrement. From very early times the Romans, in imitation of the Etruscans, built underground channels to drain rainwater that might otherwise wash away precious topsoil, used ditches to drain swamps (such as the Pontine Marshes), and dug subterranean channels to drain marshy areas. Over time, the Romans