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The Cannae Problem

It's August 2, 216 BCE. The Roman army stands in formation under the blistering Italian sun. Eight legions strong—the largest force Rome has ever fielded—nearly 80,000 men await the order to advance. Across the plain at Cannae stands Hannibal's army, outnumbered almost two-to-one. The Roman commanders, Consuls

Contradictory evidence—like Hannibal's earlier victories at Trebia and Lake Trasimene—was rationalized away as anomalies caused by bad terrain or poor leadership, not fundamental flaws in the Roman system. Historical records suggest that Consul Paullus had reservations about the battle plan, but social pressure to conform to established doctrine—especially with his co-commander Varro's enthusiasm—prevented those concerns from altering their approach. Their conventional wisdom—that phones needed physical keyboards, that battery life was paramount, that their Symbian operating system was superior—left them vulnerable to Apple's completely different mental model centered on software experience.

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