May 213 BC — the Second Punic War
Chapter III · After Cannae — After Cannae — the great defection of the south.
This month
- Siege of Syracuse begins — Marcellus assaults by land and sea and is thrown back by Archimedes’ engines — the claws that lift ships, the catapults ranged to every distance. The Romans settle down to blockade. (Polybius 8.3–7; Livy 24.33–34)
- Arpi returns to Rome — Fabius the younger enters Arpi on a night of rain; the Spanish garrison changes sides in the street and the Punic troops are let go. Apulia begins to come back. (Livy 24.45–47)
- Akragas opens its gates to Carthage — Himilco’s expedition lands at Heraclea Minoa with twenty-five thousand men and Agrigentum receives it; western Sicily returns to Carthage for three years. (Livy 24.35)
Where the commanders stand
- Philip V of Macedon: In Pella · king of macedon
- Hasdrubal son of Gisco: Operating in the region of the Upper Baetis, from Castulo · 12th month
- Mago Barca: Operating in the region of the Upper Baetis, from Castulo · 2nd year
- C. Claudius Nero: Operating in the region of Castra Claudiana above Suessula · 2nd year
- Q. Fabius Maximus: In Rome · since Autumn 214 BC
- Hannibal Barca: Operating in the region of Repulse at Nola · 2nd year
- M. Claudius Marcellus: Besieging Syracuse · 1st month
- Publius & Gnaeus Scipio: Operating in the region of Dertosa — the unsung salvation · 3rd year