(A bit of a tongue in cheek report for my first real game of CCA ever!)
This account of the battle of Bagradas (253BC) has recently come to light and believe to have been penned by one of the “lost” historians of the era and a contemporary of the great Polybius, Titus Marius Arcangeli.
In the tradition of ancient writers this account appears to have been written some time after the battle so some of the minor details of the battle seem to have been lost.
The account begins:
“The Roman army under the command of Regulus was drawn up in the traditional style; the Legions in the centre of the line with the allied contingents protecting the flanks. The army of Carthage was formed with a strong centre fronted by elephants and cavalry massed on the flanks. 1.1
The battle began with the elephants of Carthage advancing at a great pace towards the Roman line. Regulus, seeing the danger, instructed his light infantry to engage the beasts with javelins and rocks. 1.2
The elephants were checked for but a moment as they crashed into the main Roman line sowing panic and disorder within the infantry. Regulus advanced through the ranks crying out to his men “Do not fear these beasts! How craven are the men of Carthage who send animals to do a man’s work?” 1.3
Goaded by these words of Regulus, the Carthaginian general, a Greek by the name of Xanthippus, rashly committed his heavy infantry and Gallic allies into the melee. As the two lines of infantry clashed, the elephants began to wreak havoc on both sides resulting in a tribe of the Gauls being destroyed by the swords of the Romans and the tusks of the Elephants. 1.4
As the infantry continued to clash shields and splinter spears in the centre of the battlefield the Carthaginian cavalry advanced on both flanks and pushed the Roman army closer together, thus making it impossible for the maniples to manoeuvre and bring their superior training to bear. 1.5
The struggle in the centre of the field now reached its bloody climax as the infantry from both sides fought between the remaining elephants. Regulus was wounded by a wild sword slash and he was forced to move back through the lines and shelter with the Triarii. An unnamed Roman officer took his place at the front of the line but was cut down by the soldiers of Carthage who were now pressing at every point of the field. 1.6
With this final blow the Roman army realised they had been abandoned by fate and fortune and began to withdraw from the field swearing great oaths at the victorious African soldiers. 1.7”
