Cannae (mod. Canne), an ancient village of Apulia, near the river Aufidus, situated on a hill on the right bank, 6 m. S.W. from its mouth. It is celebrated for the disastrous defeat which the Romans received there from Hannibal in 216 b.c. (see Punic Wars). There is a considerable controversy as to whether the battle took place on the right or the left bank of the river. In later times the place became a municipium, and unimportant Roman remains still exist upon the hill known as Monte di Canne. In the middle ages it became a bishopric, but was destroyed in 1276.
See O. Schwab, Das Schlachtfeld von Canna (Munich, 1898), and authorities under Punic Wars.
