Atlas of Battles

battle, major, ancient

Battle of the Metaurus

Battle of the Metaurus was a battle fought in 207 BC at Metauro, in what is now Italy. It was part of Second Punic War, which ran from 218 BC to 201 BC. The recorded result: Roman victory. Recorded strength: 37,000 men against 30,000 men; 10 elephants.

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La seconde Guerre Punique (218 - 202 Av. J. -C.): Rome profite d'une révolte des mercenaires pour obtenir de Carthage la Corse et la Sardaigne. Le général Hamilcar Barca de son côté occupe une partie
La seconde Guerre Punique (218 - 202 Av. J. -C.): Rome profite d'une révolte des mercenaires pour obtenir de Carthage la Corse et la Sardaigne. Le général Hamilcar Barca de son côté occupe une partie . YassineMrabet, traduction made by Pinpin This W3C-unspecified vector image was created with Inkscape ., CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Fought207 BC
WhereMetauro, Italy43.782N, 13.015E
OutcomeRoman victory
BelligerentsRoman RepublicagainstCarthage
Part ofSecond Punic War218 BC to 201 BC

Where it sits in Second Punic War

Battle of Cissa, 218 BCBattle of Lilybaeum, 218 BCSiege of Mutina, 218 BCBattle of Rhone Crossing, 218 BCBattle of Ticinus, 218 BCBattle of the Trebia, 218 BCBattle of Ebro River, 217 BCBattle of Geronium, 217 BCBattle of Ager Falernus, 217 BCBattle of Plaisance, 217 BCBattle of Lake Trasimene, 217 BCBattle of Nola, 216 BCBattle of Silva Litana, 216 BCSiege of Petelia, 216 BCSiege of Acerra, 216 BCBattle of Cannae, 216 BCBattle of Dertosa, 215 BCBattle of Cornus, 215 BCBattle of Cumae, 215 BCBattle of Nola, 215 BCSiege of Syracuse, 214 BCBattle of Nola, 214 BCBattle of Beneventum, 214 BCBattle of Munda, 214 BCSiege of Arpi, 213 BCBattle of the Silarus, 212 BCBattle of Herdonia, 212 BCBattle of Capua, 212 BCBattle of Beneventum, 212 BCFirst Battle of Tarentum, 212 BCSecond Battle of Beneventum, 212 BCSiege of Capua, 212 BCBattle of Tarentum, 212 BCBattle of the Upper Baetis, 211 BCBattle of Capua, 211 BCBattle of Herdonia, 210 BCBattle of Numistro, 210 BCBattle of Sapriportis, 210 BCBattle of Castulo, 210 BCBattle of New Carthage, 209 BCBattle of Canusium, 209 BCBattle of Tarentum, 209 BCSecond Battle of Tarentum, 209 BCSiege of Baria, 209 BCBattle of Baecula, 208 BCBattle of Petelia, 208 BCBattle of the Metaurus, 207 BCBattle of Grumentum, 207 BCBattle of Carmona, 207 BCBattle of Ilipa, 206 BCBattle of Carteia, 206 BCBattle of Carteia, 206 BCBattle of Cartagena, 206 BCBattle of Iliturgi, 206 BCBattle of Crotona, 204 BCSiege of Utica, 204 BCBattle of the Great Plains, 203 BCBattle of Utica, 203 BCPo Valley Raid, 203 BCBattle of Cirta, 203 BCBattle of Zama, 202 BC218 BC202 BCBattle of the Metaurus, 207 BC
62 placed engagements of Second Punic War in time order; taller ticks are more widely documented. Each tick is a link.

Record

Date207 BC (year precision)
PlaceMetauro, Italy
43.782N, 13.015E
KindBattle, ancient
Strength37,000 men30,000 men; 10 elephants
Casualties and losses2,000–8,000 killed10,000 men killed; 5,400 men captured; 6 elephants killed; 4 elephants captured
Commanders
Battle of the MetaurusBattle of the MetaurusBattle of FanoBattle of CesanoBattle of ScapezzanoBattle of PesaroBattle of Sena GallicaBattle of ScapezzanoBattle of PesaroFlorenceBolognaPerugiaRavennaFerraraArezzoZadarPula100 km43.782N, 13.015E
The recorded site, with the nearest other engagements in the atlas. Present-day coastlines, rivers and borders; towns from Natural Earth.

The ground today

Relief of the ground around the site of Battle of the Metaurus
Relief within about 10.0 km of the site, contours every 10 m. Copernicus DEM GLO-30, ESA.
Satellite view of the site of Battle of the Metaurus today
The same ground from Sentinel-2 on 2023-08-13. Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2023.

The recorded site stands at about 17 m; within 10.0 km the ground runs from 0 to 187 m, 187 m of relief, hilly country and today it is 63% cropland, 13% grassland, 12% tree cover.

cropland: 63%grassland: 13%tree cover: 12%built-up: 11%cropland 63%grassland 13%tree cover 12%built-up 11%
west to east, 10.0 km0 to 117 mnorth to south, 10.0 km16 to 165 m
Elevation from the Copernicus DEM GLO-30 (ESA, Airbus); land cover from ESA WorldCover 2021 (CC BY 4.0), within about 5 km of the recorded site. Computed, not recorded.

Nearest engagements

In the same war

Elsewhere in 207 BC

Battle of the Metaurus is one of 184 engagements of the 3rd century BC in the atlas and one of 942 in present-day Italy.

Sources

Identity, coordinates, dates and the war from Wikidata Q848056, released under CC0. Result, belligerents, commanders, strength and casualties from the infobox of the English Wikipedia article Battle of the Metaurus, revision 1383791678, read 2026-11-14, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; the article's text is not reproduced here. Present-day country and state from Natural Earth. Dates before 1582 follow the Julian calendar as recorded.