Battle of Kroton
Late Summer, 278 B.C.
Tiberius Coruncanius continues to get all the 'fun' stuff. After reaching the outskirts of the capital, he noticed that more men have been recruited there in an effort to stave off his invasion. Additionally, from the west arrived an old friend of his son-in-law the younger consul ...
Aegon. They struck first, not even allowing him time to properly set up a siege.
Slightly outnumbered, he turned his cavalry on Aegon before he could join the city troops marching out to meet him. Soon the young upstart was no longer an annoyance ... permanently.
The main part of the battle was quite unusual. Rather than an organized clash of the main lines, the enemy's disorganized approach led to several pockets of fighting all over the field, some in the open, some in the woods, some on the edge of the two such as this depiction of Aiakid Brutii swordsmen and the Principes of the Republican troops.
Despite the fact that he was slightly outnumbered to start the battle, Coruncanius faced an enemy lacking much sense, and certainly lacking any kind of coherent strategy. A thousand Romans still fell, but about 8500 of the enemy did as well, the few who remained were last seen running back to the capital as fast as they could.