October 215 BC — the Second Punic War
Chapter III · After Cannae — After Cannae — the great defection of the south.
This month
- Syracuse takes the hand of Carthage — Hiero’s grandson Hieronymus, fifteen and flattered by Hannibal’s envoys, asks Carthage for half of Sicily and then all of it. Rome’s oldest ally has become the war’s next front. (Livy 24.5–7; Polybius 7.2–5)
Where the commanders stand
- Philip V of Macedon: In Pella · king of macedon
- Mago Barca: Operating in the region of the Upper Baetis, from Castulo · 1st month
- Q. Fabius Maximus: Encamped at Castra Claudiana above Suessula · since Autumn 215 BC
- Hannibal Barca: Operating in the region of Repulse at Nola · 5th month
- M. Claudius Marcellus: Winter quarters at Castra Claudiana above Suessula · 215/14
- Publius & Gnaeus Scipio: Operating in the region of Dertosa — the unsung salvation · 7th month