The Dangerous Book for Boys. Conn Iggulden
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were far superior. They crushed one Roman flank almost immediately, circling behind them to destroy the other wing as well. They then wreaked havoc on Roman lines from behind.
Varro pressed on, however, his front line pushing the forces of Carthage further and further back, like a bow bending. Hannibal’s front line had become completely concave and Varro had no idea that it was part of the plan. The Roman force marched further and further into the cup Hannibal had created for them. They believed they were winning.
Hannibal signalled for the wings to move and the cup began to close. Hannibal’s cavalry completed the boxing-in of the Roman legions behind. They were so compressed they could hardly move and their numerical advantage had been completely cancelled out. More than 60,000 died over the next few hours as they were butchered, unable to escape. Hannibal lost 6,000 men.
One result of this battle was that the Romans learned from it. Three years later they had more than 200,000 men under arms and had renewed the struggle. There were successes and disasters on both sides, and Rome teetered on the brink of destruction until they appointed Publius Cornelius Scipio – known as Scipio Africanus. He had the vision and tactical skill to counter Hannibal. Though Rome was near bankruptcy and Italy was starving, the fortunes of Rome began to turn.
3. Julius Caesar’s Invasions of Britain – 55 and 54 BC
Though neither invasion really came to anything, this has traditionally been the official starting point of recorded British history. In fact, Julius Caesar’s own commentary is the only written source for some of the information that has survived today, such as the names of tribes around the south coast.
The Romans’ first landing was on the beaches near Deal in Kent, having sailed from Gaul (France). The Britons (meaning ‘painted ones’, as they painted themselves blue) fought in the sea to prevent the landing, accompanied by huge dogs. Caesar’s reference to the dogs makes the English mastiff the oldest recorded breed. The Roman force fought their way onto dry land and made a truce with the local inhabitants. It is important to remember that Britain was practically off the edge of maps at this time. The existence of ‘foggy islands’ or ‘tin islands’ somewhere past Gaul was considered a myth in some places. Caesar was overstretched and spent only three weeks in Britain before heading back across the Channel to Gaul.
The second landing in 54 BC was much better organised. Caesar returned with a fleet of 800 ships, five legions and 2,000 cavalry. As the Spanish Armada would discover fifteen hundred years later, the coast can be violent and a storm smashed a large number of his ships, scattering many more.
Caesar marched north, destroying the tribes who had gathered under their war chief, Cassivellaunus of the Catuvellauni. Cassivellanus was forced to sue for peace near modern St Albans. Caesar accepted and returned to Gaul. Events such as the great Gaul rebellion under Vercingetorix, a civil war in Rome, falling in love with the Egyptian queen Cleopatra and, finally, assassination would prevent him ever returning. The Romans did not come back to Britain untilAD 43, under Emperor Claudius.
This is one of the most famous dates in English history – the last successful invasion up to modern times. At first, after the Romans left, Britain was almost constantly invaded. First the Saxons proved bothersome, then just as everyone was settling down to being Anglo-Saxon, the Vikings arrived. The Danish king, Canute (sometimes written Cnut), created a small, stable empire early in the eleventh century, ruling England, Norway, Sweden and Denmark. He had taken the English throne from Ethelred the Unready and after Canute’s death, his feckless sons lost it back to Ethelred’s son Edward, known as the Confessor for his piety. He named Harold Godwinson as his heir, crowned King Harold in January 1066 – the last Anglo-Saxon king before the Normans arrived and spoiled it for everyone.
In fact, William of Normandy had probably been named heir by Edward the Confessor – as far back as 1051. William had also extracted a promise from Harold Godwinson to support that claim when Harold was shipwrecked off Normandy in 1064. In that sense, the 1066 landing was to protect his rightful throne, though that isn’t the usual view. We don’t know the exact size of his army and estimates vary enormously. It was probably around 12,000 cavalry and 20,000 infantry.
In September, Harold was busy repulsing Norwegian invasions. They had promised Harold’s brother Tostig an earldom for his aid. Harold marched north from London to relieve York from a Norse army. He met them at Stamford Bridge on 25 September, fighting for many hours. Of the 300 ships the Norwegians had brought over, only twenty-four were needed for the survivors. Tostig was killed. Stamford Bridge resulted in heavy casualties amongst Harold’s best soldiers, which was to prove of vital importance to the later battle at Hastings.
On 28 September, William of Normandy landed on the Sussex coast. Harold heard of the landing by 2 October and immediately marched 200 miles south – which his army covered in less than five days. That is forty miles a day with weapons and armour.
Harold rested his men in London from 6 to 11 October, then marched to Hastings, covering fifty-six miles in forty-eight hours. Again we have only estimates of the size of his army, but it is believed to have been around 9,000 men. He was badly outnumbered and only a third of his men were first-rate troops. Still, it is difficult to see what else he could have done. Harold took position on Senlac Ridge, about eight miles north-west of Hastings. On 14 October, the Norman army advanced in three lines: archers, pikemen and cavalry. William’s archers fired first at too long a range, then fell back through their own lines to allow the pikemen to reach the enemy. The second line stormed forward, but were battered back from the ridge by rocks, spears and furious hand-to-hand fighting.
William then led a charge up the ridge, but it too failed to penetrate. The Normans’ left wing fell back and Harold’s soldiers rushed forward to take advantage of their weakness. Harold’s army was set to crush the invaders as a rumour went around that William had fallen.
William threw off his helmet and rode up and down his lines to let his men see he was alive. As well as being a splendid moment, his action does show the importance of charismatic leadership at this time, a tradition going back to Thermopylae and beyond. When they saw William, the Normans rallied and crushed their pursuers. Seeing how this strategy had worked to his advantage, William used the technique again. He staged a false cavalry panic and succeeded in drawing more of Harold’s men from their position, his cavalry returning to cut them down. Yet most of Harold’s men remained on the ridge and the battle was far from over.
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