Editing Battle of Cannae (section)

=== Estimates of Roman troop numbers ===
Rome typically employed four legions each year, each consisting of 4,000 foot soldiers and 200 cavalry.<ref>Polybius, ''Histories'', i.16</ref> Per contemporary Roman sources, for the first time ever the Senate introduced eight legions, each consisting of 5,000 foot soldiers and 300 cavalry, with allied troops numbering the same number of foot soldiers but 900 cavalry per legion—more than triple the legion numbers.<ref name="Polybius iii.107">Polybius, ''Histories'', iii.107</ref> Eight legions—some 40,000 Roman soldiers and an estimated 2,400 cavalry—formed the core of this massive new army.<ref>''The Cambridge Ancient History VIII: Rome and the Mediterranean 218–133 BC'', Cambridge University Press, 1965.</ref> Livy quotes one source stating the Romans added only 10,000 men to their usual army.<ref>Livy, ''Ab urbe condita'', xxii.36</ref>