Alexander at Cannae?!

This moderated forum is for discussion of Alexander the Great. Inappropriate posts will be deleted without warning. Examples of inappropriate posts are:
* The Greek/Macedonian debate
* Blatant requests for pre-written assignments by lazy students - we don't mind the subtle ones ;-)
* Foul or inappropriate language

Moderator: pothos moderators

Post Reply
Hypaspist
Pezhetairos (foot soldier)
Posts: 67
Joined: Fri Mar 07, 2014 10:57 pm
Location: Sweden

Alexander at Cannae?!

Post by Hypaspist »

I watched a documentary on Hannibal vs Rome at Cannae. An absolute perfect victory there. What tactics would Alexander use if we timeswapped him? If memory serves me right (I could be deadwrong here) Hannibal knew a lot of his forces were not on par with the roman legionnaires, thus he had to device a clever plan? Also, he knew he had to destroy the roman army once and for all. So how would Alexander fare? Perhaps unfair to compare two armies a century apart? The problem as I see it is that Alexander would totally view his forces as on par with the roman army, and he would have total confidence in them. So, my issue here is that I think that Alex would take them on head to head, a real clash in other words, a total bloodbath. I have trouble viewing him devising ambushes on the flanks like Hannibal did at Cannae. However, he could have been worried too by legions and subsequently devised different tactics. Just my opinion here, what do you think?
Alexias
Strategos (general)
Posts: 1416
Joined: Thu Nov 26, 2009 11:16 am
Has thanked: 5 times
Been thanked: 34 times

Re: Alexander at Cannae?!

Post by Alexias »

Hi, sorry I know very little about Cannae, but it is my understanding that half the Roman infantry were poorly trained, and some of the commanders, at best, amateurs.

I don't think Alexander would have been lured into a position where his troops couldn't be effectively deployed and enveloped by the Carthaginians. He would have spotted the potential danger and made contingency plans, maybe holding back troops for a second wave to break the Carthaginian centre, or making a counter-move on the flanks maybe. He might even have seen the trap and refused to engage. I really don't know enough to say!
system1988
Hetairos (companion)
Posts: 780
Joined: Sun Feb 06, 2011 11:20 am
Location: Athens, Greece
Been thanked: 4 times

Re: Alexander at Cannae?!

Post by system1988 »

As about Alexander and Rome ... Javier Negrete, Alejandro Magno y las 'aquilas de Roma
:D :D :lol: :lol: :evil: :twisted:
Πάντες άνθρωποι του ειδέναι ορέγονται φύσει
Hypaspist
Pezhetairos (foot soldier)
Posts: 67
Joined: Fri Mar 07, 2014 10:57 pm
Location: Sweden

Re: Alexander at Cannae?!

Post by Hypaspist »

Thank you, Alexias. But I was wondering how Alex would fare against the roman army at Cannae?
User avatar
marcus
Somatophylax
Posts: 4865
Joined: Fri Aug 16, 2002 7:27 am
Location: Nottingham, England
Has thanked: 32 times
Been thanked: 3 times

Re: Alexander at Cannae?!

Post by marcus »

I really think it's an impossible question to answer, as the Roman army was a very different beast by that time than it had been before Hannibal began his campaign. At the end of the day, Alexander never had to face the Roman army in any form, so we cannot say how he would have fared against the pre-Hannibal army, let alone the army that faced Hannibal at Cannae. The Romans were certainly very different from the Persians, Sogdians, Bactrians, Indians, etc. ... but were they demonstrably 'better' or 'worse'?

If I were pushed to answer, I would suggest that Alexander *would* have prevailed, simply because Hannibal did - Alexander's ability to read a battlefield, and choose and adapt his tactics, suggests that he would have had the same level of success that Hannibal did, because the Roman war machine was not adaptable enough - and, as already pointed out, the system of recruitment and leadership appointment was too rigid (and not meritocratic). However, I'd rather not be pushed to answer ... :-)
Marcus
Sine doctrina vita est quasi mortis imago
At Amazon US
At Amazon UK
Alexias
Strategos (general)
Posts: 1416
Joined: Thu Nov 26, 2009 11:16 am
Has thanked: 5 times
Been thanked: 34 times

Re: Alexander at Cannae?!

Post by Alexias »

system1988 wrote: Sat Jan 18, 2025 8:43 pm As about Alexander and Rome ... Javier Negrete, Alejandro Magno y las 'aquilas de Roma
:D :D :lol: :lol: :evil: :twisted:
Unfortunately I can't find an English translation of this! There only seems to be French and Greek from the original Spanish.
Alexias
Strategos (general)
Posts: 1416
Joined: Thu Nov 26, 2009 11:16 am
Has thanked: 5 times
Been thanked: 34 times

Re: Alexander at Cannae?!

Post by Alexias »

Hypaspist wrote: Sat Jan 18, 2025 11:54 pm Thank you, Alexias. But I was wondering how Alex would fare against the roman army at Cannae?
Would the Macedonian sarissas have been able to penetrate the heavy, overlapping, body shields of the Romans? I am really not sure - and it has undoubtedly been argued to death elsewhere, but the Romans struggled against the phalanx at Pydna (168 BC) and it was the uneven ground that broke the cohesion of the phalanx at that battle. Did the Romans have the heavy shields at Cannae, or were they later? At Cannae they may not have had the discipline to withstand the sarissa phalanx. As for the cavalry, I think the Companions would have beaten the Roman cavalry hands down - until the Romans started using stirrups, but that was several centuries away. Doubtless someone will say that that this is all rubbish, but at their peak, the experience, discipline and overwhelming confidence, as well as their confidence in their commanders and in Alexander, would have made Alexander's army very difficult for anyone to beat.
hiphys
Pezhetairos (foot soldier)
Posts: 218
Joined: Tue Apr 03, 2012 2:59 am
Has thanked: 4 times
Been thanked: 4 times

Re: Alexander at Cannae?!

Post by hiphys »

There is also an Italian translation of Negrete's book :'Alessandro e l'aquila di Roma'. I read it, but it's useless for a strategic comparison between Alexander and the Romans. I found it definitely boring.
User avatar
marcus
Somatophylax
Posts: 4865
Joined: Fri Aug 16, 2002 7:27 am
Location: Nottingham, England
Has thanked: 32 times
Been thanked: 3 times

Re: Alexander at Cannae?!

Post by marcus »

hiphys wrote: Mon Jan 20, 2025 6:21 am There is also an Italian translation of Negrete's book :'Alessandro e l'aquila di Roma'. I read it, but it's useless for a strategic comparison between Alexander and the Romans. I found it definitely boring.
I won't be reading that, then! :-) :-)
Marcus
Sine doctrina vita est quasi mortis imago
At Amazon US
At Amazon UK
system1988
Hetairos (companion)
Posts: 780
Joined: Sun Feb 06, 2011 11:20 am
Location: Athens, Greece
Been thanked: 4 times

Re: Alexander at Cannae?!

Post by system1988 »

About the novel ' Alejandro Magno y las aguilas de Roma'
Opinions are of course always subjective...I am of the opinion that the novel is not only not boring (!!!) but provides high quality scientific knowledge on topic such as astronomy ,martial arts, ways of life , religion customs, and a myriad of things of Macedonian , Romans and of other populations that lived in Italy during the 3 cent.BC The book would be a sort of achievement only for that matter ... The reader anxiously wants to know how Alexander will defeat the Romans , something which Alexander certainly achieves thanks to his superior intelligence.The plot is exciting and all the characters are developed wonderfully in many sub-stories .In the 575 pages (Greek edition) we find the brilliant Alexander again , but also we feel his psycological decline after the death of his lover , and his physical decline after so many cruel battles.

Dear Marco since you can read in Spanish ,Greek , French or Italian try to read at least one page of this novel in a bookstore ... (why pay after all ?)
Πάντες άνθρωποι του ειδέναι ορέγονται φύσει
Post Reply