Cannae: The Ancient Carthage Strategy Game Created by Ruth Paget for AP Students

Cannae: The Ancient Carthage Strategy Game Created by Ruth Paget for AP Students

Objectives:

1-Learn to break down large books as a team to learn quickly

2-Learn about strategy and its modern-day applications

3-Obtain a glimpse into ancient Roman culture

4-Obtain a glimpse into ancient Carthaginian culture

5-Write a media release for radio about the Battle at Cannae

6-Play the ancient Greek game of knucklebones, which was also played in ancient Rome

7-Sample Tunisian food (Ancient Carthage was located in what is now a suburb of the modern city of Tunis, Tunisia)

8-Learn about storytelling

Historical Background:

In 216 BC, the forces of the ancient Carthaginians under the command of Hannibal Barca (247 BC – 183 or 182 BC) clashed with those of the Roman army under consul Varro at Cannae located in what is now Apulia (Puglia) in southeastern Italy.

Ancient Carthage was located outside the modern-day city of Tunis in the North African country of Tunisia.  Carthage was founded in 814 BC by Phoenicians to serve as a trading post for the Phoenician city of Tyre.

The Punic Wars, a series of three wars fought between Carthage and Rome, took place between 264 BC – 146 BC.  (Punic refers to the Phoenician origins of Carthage.)

The Battle at Cannae 216 BC was fought during the Second Punic War.  Its battle outcome forced Rome to rally to protect its civilization.

Battle Outcome:

50,000 Carthaginian troops under Hannibal Barca defeated 80,000 Roman troops under Roman consul Varro.

Strategy was all-important for Hannibal Barca’s win at Cannae 216 BC against overwhelming Roman forces.

However, ancient Rome eventually won the Second Punic War by cutting off supplies to the Carthaginian army.

Managing Team Reading:

To divide reading up, imagine you have a book with 33 chapters and 8 team members.

If you divide 33 chapters by 8 team members, you can reduce reading time and learn the material quickly.  The method for doing this follows:

33 chapters ÷ 8 team members = 4 chapters for each team member to read plus 1 remaining chapter to be assigned as decided by the team.  (Maybe a team member with a short assigned chapter among their readings could read the remaining chapter.)

For each assigned chapter, team members will note 5 to 10 main points to be typed up and sent to the team secretary for grouping into a single document.

Team Set-Up:

Break a group into two groups.

Both teams will complete tasks 1 – 4 as a team.

For task 5, the two teams will come together to write a media release for radio about Cannae, play the ancient Greek game of knucklebones (also played in ancient Rome), and sample Tunisian food.  (Ancient Carthage is located outside modern-day Tunis, Tunisia.)

Number of Tasks to Complete: 5

Task 1: Learn About the Battle of Cannae 216 BC

Read about the Battle at Cannae 216 in encyclopedias and books and on websites.  Compare the information to look for any differences.  Note sources.

Read about Hannibal Barca in encyclopedias and books and on websites.  Compare information to look for any differences.  Note sources.

Read about Consul Varro in encyclopedias and books and on websites.  Compare information to look for any differences.  Note sources.

If you find differences, set up guidelines about how to establish the facts to use.

Task 2: Learn about Strategy and its Modern-Day Applications

Strategy allowed Hannibal Barca to defeat the Roman troops at Cannae in 216 BC.  To learn more about strategy, read the following books as a team noting 5 to 10 main points for each assigned chapter:

The Art of Strategy: A Game Theorists’s Guide to Success in Business and Life by Avinash K. Dixit

The Art of War by Sun Tzu

Good Strategy Bad Strategy: The Differences and and Why it Matters by Richard Rumelt

Task 3: Obtain a Glimpse into Ancient Roman Culture

As a team, read the following books about ancient Roman culture noting 5 to 10 main points for each team member’s assigned chapters:

The Aeneid by Virgil

The national poem of ancient Rome recounts the story of the Trojan hero Aeneas who sets out to find a new homeland after the sack of Troy.

His quest leads him to Carthage, which he forsakes along with his love Dido for his eventual founding of Rome.

Another book to read gives background on the religious life of ancient Rome.  Most of the Roman gods corresponded to Greek ones.  Read the following book about Roman gods and goddesses as a team, noting 5 to 10 main points for each team member’s assigned chapters:

Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes by Edith Hamilton

The Roman Way by Edith Hamilton

The stories in The Aeneid and in Roman myths highlight what is important to Western civilization.  They have remained with us for millennia for this reason.

Read the following book for ideas on how to write stories that remain in the memory as a team, noting 5 to 10 main points for each assigned chapter:

Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die by Charles Kahlenberg, Chip Heath, and Dan Heath.

Another book to read is about dining traditions in ancient Rome follows.  Read it as a team, noting 5 to 10 main points for each assigned chapter:

Cooking and Dining in Imperial Rome by Apicius

Task 4: Obtain a Glimpse into Ancient Carthaginian Culture

The French writer Gustave Flaubert wrote a novel about the Punic Wars entitled Salambô with North Africa as its location.  I read this book in my fourth-year French class at Cass Technical High School in Detroit, Michigan and liked how it appealed to my multicultural high school population.

As a team read the following books about Carthage noting 5 to 10 main points for each assigned chapter:

Salambô by Gustave Flaubert

The Empire of Africa: The Rise and Fall of Carthage, 850 – 145 BC by Alfred J. Church

The Punic Wars: Rome, Carthage, and the Struggle for the Mediterranean by Nigel Bagnall

Pride of Carthage by David Anthony Durham

The Ghosts of Cannae: Hannibal and the Darkest Hour of the Roman Republic by Robert L. O’Connell

Preparing for Task 5:

Before the combined teams meeting, team members will type up their main points from their assigned chapters and send them to the team secretary via email to be compiled into one document.

Team secretaries will email the single document to their team members and the other team’s secretary for distribution.

Team members should read both documents before the task 5 combined teams meeting.

Task 5: Media Release Meeting and Party

The combined teams will write a 2-minute media release for radio about the Battle at Cannae 216 BC.

The release should answer the following questions in order:

Who?

What?

When?

Where?

Why?

How?

Once the release is written, read it to see if it is 2 minutes long.

If it is too long, edit it down to 2 minutes.

If it is too short, add in detail to make it 2 minutes long.

(This activity should take 30 to 45 minutes to complete.)

Once the meeting is over, play the ancient Greek game of knucklebones.  (This game was also played in ancient Rome.)

Knucklebones games are sold for $27.99 on Amazon as of 3/13/2020.

Sample some Tunisian food at your party.  Ancient Carthage is located in a suburb outside the modern city of Tunis, Tunisia.  The following cookbook has recipes for several dishes that may have been eaten in ancient Carthage:

A Kitchen in Tunisia: Tunisian Recipes from North Africa by Umm Maryam

Have fun!

Cannae Game Created by Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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