🏺 Ancient Greece & Romehard
Battle of Lake Trasimene
217 BCE · Italy
Quick Facts
- Year
- 217 BCE
- Location
- Italy
- Era
- 🏺 Ancient Greece & Rome
- Difficulty
- hard

Hannibal executed the largest ambush in military history, hiding his army in the hills above Lake Trasimene and springing the trap on the Roman consul Flaminius as his legions marched along the narrow lakeside road. Dense morning fog concealed the Carthaginian forces until they struck. The entire Roman army of roughly 25,000 was killed or captured in just three hours, including the consul himself.
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Lake Trasimene was such a complete surprise that many Roman soldiers were killed while still trying to put on their armor, and some drowned in the lake trying to escape.