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When the news reached Rome it caused universal panic and
consternation among the inhabitants, the thing being so sudden and so
entirely unexpected, as Hannibal had never before been so close to the
city. Besides this, a suspicion prevailed that the enemy would never
have approached so near and displayed such audacity if the legions
before Capua had not been destroyed. The men, therefore, occupied
the walls and the most advantageous positions outside the town, while
the women made the round of the temples and implored the help of
the gods, sweeping the pavements of the holy places with their hair -
for such is their custom when their country is in extreme peril.
Adapted from Paton, 2000, 13-15.
The „problem‟ for Hannibal is the Roman assumption that his arrival was a sign that
their army at Capua had been destroyed (i.e. another Cannae), leading people to believe
that they will have to defend their city for themselves. Furthermore, in this version,
Hannibal mistimed his arrival for preventing or disrupting the enlistment process. The
incoming consuls, Gnaeus Fulvius and Publius Sulpicius, 199 had completed the
enrolment of one legion and were in the process of recruiting another when Hannibal
appeared outside the city. Consequently Rome was full of men (Hist. 9.6.5-6). 200
Polybius implies that this is the „stroke of luck‟ that saves Rome, causing Hannibal to
abandon his plan to attack (Hist. 9.6.8-9). Hannibal withdraws completely after a few
days, ostensibly because one of the consuls sets up camp within 10 stades of Hannibal‟s
camp, although Polybius modifies the level of that threat by adding that Hannibal
decided to leave because he thought enough time had elapsed since he left Capua to
allow Appius Claudius to come to Rome (Hist. 9.7.2).
Livy comments that there were many different versions of events for the action at
Capua in 211. He opts for an exciting account in which Hannibal‟s cavalry and
elephants almost break into the Roman camp with much fierce fighting during which
Appius Claudius is wounded (Livy 26.5.3-6.13 cf. Hist. 9.3.2). Despite Hannibal‟s
fierce attack, he fails to dislodge the Romans from their siege and decides on impulse to
march on Rome:
199 Polybius only uses „Publius‟ for Sulpicius i.e. the same name that as he uses for Scipio Africanus;
leaving a lingering suspicion that the potential confusion for who „defends‟ Rome is a deliberate
obfuscation.
200 Walbank, 1957, v2, 126 suggests that Polybius meant two legiones urbanae. Contra Brunt, 1971, 628;
see also Rich, 1983, 287-331 and Rosenstein, 2004, 38-9.
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