Battle of Cannae Hannibal at Cannae, with approximately 86,000 Roman and allied troops. They massed their heavy infantry in a deeper formation than usual, while Hannibal used the double-envelopment tactic and surrounded his enemy, trapping the majority of the Roman army, who were then slaughtered. The loss of life on the Roman side was one of the most lethal single day's fighting in history; Adrian Goldsworthy equates the death toll at Cannae to "the massed slaughter of the British Army on the first day of the Somme offensive in 1916." Only about 15,000 Romans, most of whom were from the garrisons of the
Cannae Cannen(sis) (Latin adjective). It has had the following incumbents, of the fitting Episcopal (lowest) rank, "with an archiepiscopal exception : Cannae Cannae (now Canne della Battaglia) is an ancient village of the Apulia region of south east Italy. It is a "frazione" (civil parish) of the "comune" (municipality) of Barletta, a former bishopric and presently a Latin Catholic titular see. It is situated near the river Aufidus (the modern Ofanto), on a hill on the right (i.e., south) bank, southwest from its mouth, and 9 km southwest from Barletta. It is primarily known for the Battle of Cannae, in which