The year 216 B.C. brought new consuls into the command position: C. Terentius Varro and L. Aemilius Paullus. They readied their armies in the spring and picked up Hannibal’s trail that summer, arriving at Cannae on the last day of July. Both commanders knew how important it was to operate with a combined force as they agreed to alternate command on a daily basis. On the day of the battle Varro served as the overall commander. His plan was to apply the lessons of Trebbia by eliminating the wings that were decimated in that battle so he collapsed his maniples into a phalanx of overwhelming strength designed to destroy the center of the Punic line. The absence of wings meant that the infantry contingent had to be protected by cavalry or it would be vulnerable on all sides.
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