Cannae, ancient village, Apulia, SE Italy, scene in 216 B.C. of Hannibal's crushing defeat of the Romans. Hannibal's troops assumed a crescent-shaped formation to meet the Roman troops, which ...

Varro, Caius Terentius, fl. 216 B.C., Roman statesman and general. Consul in 216 B.C., he opposed Hannibal at the battle of Cannae, where the Roman army was destroyed. Probably more blame for ...

Arrowroot, any plant of the genus Maranta, usually large perennial herbs, of the family Marantaceae, found chiefly in warm, swampy forest habitats of the Americas and sometimes cultivated for ...

Canosa di Puglia, Lat. Canusium, city (1991 pop. 31,240), Apulia, S Italy, on the Ofanto River. It is a commercial and agricultural center. The city flourished under the Romans and was noted f...

Petal, one of the four basic parts of a flower, next innermost organ from the sepal. The whorl of petals is known collectively as the corolla [Lat.,=little crown]. The number of petals is usua...

Manlius, ancient Roman gens, chiefly patrician but later containing plebeian families. Marcus Manlius Capitolinus, d. 384? B.C., consul (392 B.C.), took refuge in the Capitol when Rome was tak...

Scipio Africanus Major (Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus), 236–183 B.C., Roman general, the conqueror of Hannibal in the Punic Wars. He was the son of Publius Cornelius Scipio, and from a ve...

Fabius, ancient Roman gens. The family was most distinguished from the 5th cent. B.C. onward. However, little is known of the early members. Quintus Fabius Vibulanus, fl. 450 B.C., was consul ...

Hannibal, b. 247 B.C., d. 183 or 182 B.C. Carthaginian general, an implacable and formidable enemy of Rome. Although knowledge of him is based primarily on the reports of his enemies, Hannibal...

Strategy and tactics, in warfare, related terms referring, respectively, to large-scale and small-scale planning to achieve military success. Strategy may be defined as the general scheme of t...