Lake Trasimene, ItalyAncient
217Hannibal Strikes at Trasimene
Rome walks into history's deadliest ambush
On the misty shores of Lake Trasimene in central Italy, the Carthaginian general Hannibal sprang one of the most devastating ambushes in military history on a Roman army under Consul Gaius Flaminius. Hidden in the hills above the lake, Hannibal's forces trapped the Romans between the water and the mountains, killing or capturing nearly the entire army of twenty-five thousand. The disaster at Trasimene was Rome's worst defeat since the Battle of the Allia -- and worse was still to come at Cannae.
217 BC
