Battle of Silva Litana the Romans postponed military operations against the Gauls until the conclusion of the Second Punic War. In 216 BC, the Romans elected Lucius Aemilius Paullus and Gaius Terentius Varro as consuls. The consuls gave a legion to Lucius Postumius Albinus to punish the Gallic tribes in Cisalpine Gaul that had supplied troops to Hannibal's Carthaginian army. After Hannibal's crushing victory at the Battle of Cannae, Postumius was elected Roman consul for the third time and "in absentia", since he was in command of the Roman legion in Cisalpine Gaul. Postumius' army strength was increased to two Roman legions and he
Ancient maritime history and the Bay of Bengal. South Asia had multiple maritime trade routes which connected it to Southeast Asia, thereby making the control of one route resulting in maritime monopoly difficult. Indian connections to various Southeast Asian states buffered it from blockages on other routes. By making use of the maritime trade routes, bulk commodity trade became possible for the Romans in the 2nd century BC. A Roman trading vessel could span the Mediterranean in a month at one-sixtieth the cost of over-land routes. The Ancient Egyptians had knowledge of sail construction. The first warships of Ancient Egypt were constructed during