According to the poem, his Lusitanian forces scored a feat in the poem by taking down Roman officer Mamercus at the Battle of Lake Trasimene. Afterwards, Viriathus got his own individual participation in the Battle of Cannae. He and his contingent attacked the positions nearby to the consul Gaius Terentius Varro, where Viriathus killed the proconsul Gnaeus Servilius Geminus by capitalizing on his battle fatigue. This attracted the attention of Lucius Aemilius Paullus, Servilius's superior, who charged at the Spaniards and killed Viriathus while the latter was shouting a song of victory. However, Lucius would be immediately disabled by a slinger and later killed by surrounding Carthaginian soldiers.