Well was it for the Carthaginians that Hannibal had opened
communications with the Gaulish tribes in the plains at the foot of
the Alps, and that on its issue from the mountain passes his army found
itself among friends, for had it been attacked it was in no position to
offer a vigorous resistance, the men being utterly broken down by their
fatigues and demoralized by their losses. Many were suffering terribly
from frostbites, the cavalry were altogether unable to act, so worn out
and enfeebled were the horses. Great numbers of the men could scarce
drag themselves along owing to the state of their feet; their shoes and
sandals, well enough adapted for sandy plains, were wholly unfitted for
traversing rocky precipices, and the greater part of the army was almost
barefoot.
So long as they had been traversing the mountains they had struggled on
doggedly and desperately; to lag behind was to be slain by the natives,
to lie down was to perish of cold; but with the cessation of the
absolute necessity for exertion the power for exertion ceased also.
Worn out, silent, exhausted, and almost despairing, the army of Hannibal
presented the appearance of one which had suffered a terrible defeat,
rather than that of a body of men who had accomplished a feat of arms
unrivalled in the history of war.
Happily they found themselves among friends. The Insubres, who had been
looking forward eagerly to their coming, flocked in great numbers to
receive them as they issued out into the plain, bringing with them
cattle, grain, wine, and refreshments of all kinds, and inviting the
army to take up their quarters among them until recovered from their
fatigues. This offer Hannibal at once accepted. The army was broken
up and scattered among the various towns and villages, where the
inhabitants vied with each other in attending to the comforts of the
guests. A fortnight's absolute rest, an abundance of food, and the
consciousness that the worst of their labours was over, did wonders for
the men.
Malchus had arrived in a state of extreme exhaustion, and had, indeed,
been carried for the last two days of the march on the back of one of
the elephants. The company which he commanded no longer existed; they
had borne far more than their share of the fatigues of the march; they
had lost nearly half their number in the conflict among the precipices
with the natives, and while the rest of the army had marched along a
track where the snow had already been beaten hard by the cavalry in
front of them, the scouts ahead had to make their way through snow knee
deep. Inured to fatigue and hardship, the Arabs were unaccustomed to
cold, and every day had diminished their numbers, until, as they issued
out into the plain, but twenty men of the company remained alive.
Hannibal committed his young kinsman to the care of one of the chiefs
of the Insubres. The latter caused a litter to be constructed by his
followers, and carried the young Carthaginian away to his village, which
was situated at the foot of the hills on the banks of the river Orcus.
Here he was handed over to the care of the women. The wounds and bruises
caused by falls on the rocks and ice were bathed and bandaged, then he
was placed in a small chamber and water was poured on to heated stones
until it was filled with hot steam, and Malchus began to think that
he was going to be boiled alive. After being kept for an hour in this
vapour bath, he was annointed with oil, and was rubbed until every limb
was supple, he was then placed on a couch and covered with soft skins,
and in a few more minutes was sound asleep.
It was late next day before he woke, and on rising he found himself a
new man. A breakfast of meat, fresh cheese formed from goats' milk, and
flat cakes was set before him, and, had it not been that his feet were
still completely disabled from the effects of the frostbites, he felt
that he was fit again to take his place in the ranks. The chief's wife
and daughters waited upon him. The former was a tall, majestic looking
woman. She did not belong to the Insubres, but was the daughter of a
chief who had, with a portion of his tribe, wandered down from their
native home far north of the Alps and settled in Italy.
Two of the daughters were young women of over twenty, tall and robust in
figure like their mother, the third was a girl of some fifteen years of
age. The girls took after their German mother, and Malchus wondered at
the fairness of their skins, the clearness of their complexion, and the
soft light brown of their hair, for they were as much fairer than the
Gauls as these were fairer than the Carthaginians. Malchus was able to
hold little converse with his hosts, whose language differed much from
that of the Transalpine Gauls.
His stay here was destined to be much longer than he had anticipated,
for his feet had been seriously frostbitten, and for some time it
was doubtful whether he would not lose them. Gradually, however, the
inflammation decreased, but it was six weeks after his arrival before he
was able to walk. From time to time messengers had arrived from Hannibal
and his father to inquire after him, and from them he learned that the
Carthaginians had captured the towns of Vercella, Valentinum, and
Asta, and the less important towns of Ivrea, Chivasso, Bodenkmag, and
Carbantia.
By the time he was cured he was able to talk freely with his hosts, for
he soon mastered the points of difference between their language and
that of the Gauls, with which he was already acquainted. The chief, with
the greater part of his followers, now started and joined the army of
Hannibal, which laid siege to the town of Turin, whose inhabitants were
in alliance with Rome. It was strongly fortified. Hannibal erected an
intrenchment at a distance of sixty yards from the wall, and under cover
of this sank a well, and thence drove a wide gallery, the roof above
being supported by props.
Divided in brigades, each working six hours, the troops laboured night
and day, and in three days from its commencement the gallery was carried
under the walls. It was then driven right and left for thirty yards each
way, and was filled with wood, combustibles, and explosives. The workers
then retired and the wood was fired, the props supporting the roof were
soon burned away, the earth above fell in bringing down the walls, and
a great breach was made, through which the besiegers, drawn up in
readiness, rushed in and captured the town.
On the same day that Hannibal captured Turin, Scipio entered Piacenza.
After finding that Hannibal had escaped him on the Rhone, he had
despatched the principal part of his army, under his brother Cneius, to
Spain, their original destination, and with the rest sailed to Pisa and
landed there. Marching with all haste north he enlisted 10,000 troops
from among the inhabitants of the country, many of them having already
served in the Roman army. He then marched north to Tenneto, where he was
joined by the praetors Manlius and Attilius with over 20,000 men, with
whom he marched to Piacenza.
Hannibal, after, as usual, rousing the enthusiasm of his soldiers by
an address, marched towards Scipio. The latter, with his cavalry, had
crossed the Ticino and was within five miles of Vercella, when Hannibal,
also with his cavalry, came within sight. Scipio's front was covered
with a swarm of foot skirmishers mixed with irregular Gaulish horsemen;
the Roman cavalry and the cavalry of the Italian allies formed his main
body.
Hannibal ordered the Carthaginian horse to charge full upon the centre
of the enemy, and the Numidians to attack them on both flanks. The
Romans, in those days, little understood the use of cavalry, the troops
frequently dismounting and fighting on foot. Hannibal's soldiers were,
on the other hand, trained to fight in tactics resembling those
of modern days. No sooner was the word given to charge than the
Carthaginian horse, delighted at being at last, after all their toils
and sufferings, within striking distance of their foes, gave a mighty
shout, and setting spurs to their splendid horses flung themselves at
the enemy.
The charge of this solid mass of picked cavalry was irresistible. They
swept before them the skirmishers and Gaulish horse, and fell with fury
upon the main body, cleaving a way far into its ranks. Before the Romans
could recover from their confusion the Numidian horse burst down upon
their flanks. The charge was irresistible; large numbers of the
Romans were killed and the rest fled in panic, hotly pursued by the
Carthaginians, until they reached the shelter of the Roman infantry,
which was advancing behind them. Scipio, who had been wounded in the
fight, at once led his army back to Piacenza.
The news of this battle reached Malchus just as he was preparing to
depart. The messenger who brought it brought also a lead horse, which
Hamilcar had sent for his son's use. Resuming his armour Malchus mounted
and rode off at once, after many warm thanks to his friends, whom he
expected to see again shortly, as they, with the rest of that section
of the tribe, were about to join the chief--the Gaulish women frequently
accompanying their husbands in their campaigns.
Malchus was delighted to rejoin the army, from which he had now been
separated more than two months. He saw with pleasure that they had now
completely recovered from the effects of their hardships, and presented
as proud and martial an appearance as when they had started from
Carthagena.
The issue of their first fight with the Romans had raised their spirits
and confidence, and all were eager to enter upon the campaign which
awaited them. Malchus, upon his arrival, was appointed to the command of
the company of Gauls who formed the bodyguard of the general. Hannibal
moved up the Po and prepared to cross that river at Gambio, two days'
easy march above its junction with the Ticino. The army was accompanied
by a considerable number of the Insubres. The work of constructing a
bridge was at once commenced.
Malchus, riding through the camp, came upon the tents of his late host,
who had been joined that day by his family. To them Malchus did the
honours of the camp, took them through the lines of the Carthaginian
cavalry, showed them the elephants, and finally conducted them to
Hannibal, who received them most kindly, and presented them with many
presents in token of his thanks for their care of his kinsman. The next
day the bridge was completed and the troops began to pass over, the
natives crowding to the banks and even venturing on the bridge to
witness the imposing procession of the troops.
Malchus remained with Hannibal in the rear, but seeing that there was a
delay as the elephants crossed, he was ordered to ride on to the bridge
and see what was the matter. Finding the crowd too great to enable him
to pass on horseback, Malchus gave his horse to a soldier and pressed
forward on foot. When he reached the head of the column of elephants he
found that one of the leading animals, entertaining a doubt as to the
stability of the bridge at this point, obstinately refused to move
further. Ordering the mahout to urge the animal forward, and telling
some soldiers to prick the beast with a spear from behind, Malchus
entered into conversation with the wife and daughters of the Insubrian
chief, who had received from Hannibal a special order allowing them to
take up their position on the bridge to witness their crossing.
While he was speaking to them the elephant suddenly wheeled round
and, trumpeting loudly, tried to force his way back. A scene of wild
confusion ensued. The crowd gave way before him, several soldiers were
thrust off the bridge into the river, and Malchus and his companions
were borne along by the crowd; there was a little cry, and Malchus saw
the youngest of the girls pushed off the bridge into the river.
He flung off his helmet, unbuckled the fastenings of his breast plate
and back piece, undid the belt of his sword, and leaped in. As he rose
to the surface he heard a merry laugh beside him, and saw the girl
swimming quietly close by. Although mortified at having so hastily
assumed that she was unable to take care of herself he joined in her
laugh, and swam by her side until they reached the bank some distance
down. Encumbered by the trappings which he still retained, Malchus had
far more difficulty than the girl in gaining the shore.
“What, did you think,” she asked, laughing as he struggled up the bank,
“that I, a Gaulish maiden, could not swim?”
“I did not think anything about it,” Malchus said; “I saw you pushed in
and followed without thinking at all.”
Although they imperfectly understood each other's words the meaning was
clear; the girl put her hand on his shoulder and looked frankly up in
his face.
“I thank you,” she said, “just the same as if you had saved my life. You
meant to do so, and it was very good of you, a great chief of this army,
to hazard your life for a Gaulish maiden. Clotilde will never forget.”
By the time they reached the bridge the column had moved on. A more
docile elephant had been placed in front, and this having moved across
the doubtful portion of the bridge, the others had quickly followed.
Just as Malchus and his companion reached the end of the bridge they met
her mother and sisters coming to meet them.
There was a smile of amusement on their faces as they thanked Malchus
for his attempt at rescue, and Clotilde's sisters whispered some
laughing remarks into her ear which caused the girl to flush hotly,
and to draw her slight figure indignantly to its full height. Malchus
retired to his tent to provide himself with fresh armour and sword, for
he doubted not that those thrown aside had been carried over the bridge
in the confusion. The soldier had returned with his horse, and in a few
minutes he took his place at the head of the Gauls who were drawn up
near Hannibal's tent.
The general himself soon appeared, and mounting his horse rode forward.
Malchus followed with his command, waving an adieu to the party who
stood watching the departure, and not ill pleased that those who had
before known him only as a helpless invalid, should now see him riding
at the head of the splendid bodyguard of the great commander.
Hannibal was marching nearly due east, with the intention of forcing
Scipio to give battle south of the Po. A strong Roman fortress,
Castegglo (Clastidium), lying at the foot of the hills, should have
barred his way; but Hannibal, by the medium of one of his native allies,
bribed the Roman commander to abstain from interrupting his march. Then
he pressed forward until on the third day after crossing the Po he came
within sight of Piacenza, under whose walls the Roman army were ranged.
Scipio, after his disastrous cavalry conflict, had written to Rome
urging his inability, with the force under his command, to give
battle single handed to Hannibal, and begging that he might be at
once reinforced by the army under Sempronius, then lying at Ariminum
(Rimini). The united consular armies, he represented, should take up
their position on the river Trebia.
This river rose in the Apennines but a short distance from Genoa, and
flowed nearly due north into the Po at Piacenza. The Roman army there
would therefore effectually bar Hannibal's march into the rich plains
to the east, and would prevent him from making across the Apennines and
following the road by the coast, as they would, should he undertake such
a movement, be able to fall on his rear.
Hannibal pitched his camp on the Nure, about five miles from Piacenza,
but Scipio remained immovable in his lines waiting for the arrival of
his colleague. Hannibal's position was a difficult one. He had traversed
the Pyrenees and the Alps that he might attack Rome; but between him and
Southern Italy lay yet another barrier, the Apennines. Scipio had missed
him after he had crossed the Pyrenees, had been too late to attack him
when, exhausted and worn out, his army emerged from the Alps; but
now, united with Sempronius, he hoped to crush him at the foot of the
Apennines. Hannibal wished, if possible, to prevent a junction of the
two Roman armies, but if that could not be done he determined to fight
them together.
Scipio perceived the danger of his position; and in order to be able
the better to join Sempronius he left Piacenza under cover of night,
and took up a strong position on the banks of the Trebia. Here he
could maintain his communications direct with Rome, and, if absolutely
necessary, fall back and join his colleague advancing towards him.
Hannibal, when he perceived Scipio's change of position, broke up his
camp and took post on the Trebiola, a little stream running into the
Trebia and facing the Roman camp at a distance of four miles.
He was now powerless to prevent the junction of the two Roman armies,
and for nearly a month Scipio and Hannibal lay watching each other. By
that time Sempronius was within a day's march of Scipio. Hannibal
had not been idle during this time of rest. He had been occupied in
cementing his alliance with the Gaulish tribes inhabiting the Lombard
plains. These, seeing how rapidly Hannibal had cleared the province of
the Romans, believed that their deliverance would be accomplished, and
for the most part declared for the Carthaginians.
Hannibal's agents had also been at work at Clastidium, and the prefect
of the garrison was induced by a bribe to surrender the place to him.
This was of enormous advantage to Hannibal, and a corresponding blow
to the Romans, for Clastidium was the chief magazine north of the
Apennines. The news of the fall of this important place filled
Sempronius, an energetic and vigorous general, with fury. He at once
rode down from his camp to that of Scipio and proposed that Hannibal
should be attacked instantly.
Scipio, who was still suffering from the wound he had received in the
cavalry engagement, urged that the Roman army should remain where they
were, if necessary, through the coming winter. He pointed out that
Hannibal's Gaulish allies would lose heart at seeing him inactive, and
would cease to furnish him with supplies, and that he would be obliged
either to attack them at a disadvantage or to retire from the position
he occupied. But Sempronius was an ambitious man, the time for the
consular election was approaching, and he was unwilling to leave for his
successor the glory of crushing Hannibal.
The fact, too, that Scipio was wounded and unable to take part in the
battle added to his desire to force it on, since the whole glory of the
victory would be his. He therefore told his colleague that although he
saw the force of his arguments, public opinion in Rome was already so
excited at Hannibal having been allowed, without a battle, to wrest so
wide a territory from Rome, that it was absolutely necessary that an
action should be fought. The two armies were now united on the Trebia,
and opinion was among the officers and troops, as between the consuls,
widely divided as to the best course to be pursued.
Hannibal's spies among the natives kept him acquainted with what was
going on in the Roman camp, and he determined to provoke the Romans to
battle. He therefore despatched two thousand infantry and a thousand
cavalry to ravage the lands of some Gaulish allies of the Romans.
Sempronius sent off the greater part of his cavalry, with a thousand
light infantry, to drive back the Carthaginians.
In the fight which ensued the Romans were worsted. Still more furious,
Sempronius marched to support them with his army. Hannibal called in
his troops and drew them off before Sempronius would arrive. The
disappointment and rage of the Roman general were great, and Hannibal
felt that he could now bring on a battle when he would. He determined
to fight in the plain close to his own position. This was flat and bare,
and was traversed by the Trebiola. This stream ran between steep banks
below the level of the plain; its banks were covered with thick bushes
and reeds, and the narrow gap across the plain was scarce noticeable.
On the evening of the twenty-fifth of December Hannibal moved his army
out from the camp and formed up on the plain facing the Trebia,
ordering the corps commanded by his brother Mago to enter the bed of the
Trebiola, and to conceal themselves there until they received his orders
to attack. The position Mago occupied would bring him on the left rear
of an army which had crossed the Trebia, and was advancing to attack
the position taken up by Hannibal. Having thus prepared for the battle,
Hannibal proceeded to provoke it.
At daybreak on the twenty-sixth he despatched a strong body of horsemen
across the river. Crossing the Trebia partly by ford and partly by
swimming, the Carthaginian horse rode up to the palisade surrounding
the Roman camp, where, with insulting shouts and the hurling of their
javelins, they aroused the Roman soldiers from their slumber. This
insult had the desired effect, Sempronius rushed from his tent, furious
at what he deemed the insolence of the Carthaginians, and called his
troops to arms. With their accustomed discipline the Romans fell into
their ranks. The light cavalry first issued from the palisade, the
infantry followed, the heavy cavalry brought up the rear. The insulting
Numidians had already retired, but Sempronius was now determined to
bring on the battle. He marched down the river and crossed at a ford.
The water was intensely cold, the river was in flood, the ford waist
deep as the soldiers marched across it. Having gained the opposite bank,
the Roman general formed his army in order of battle. His infantry,
about forty-five thousand strong, was formed in three parallel lines;
the cavalry, five thousand strong, was on the flanks. The infantry
consisted of sixteen thousand Roman legionary or heavy infantry, and
six thousand light infantry. The Italian tribes, allied to Rome, had
supplied twenty thousand infantry; the remaining three thousand were
native allies. The infantry occupied a front of two and a half miles in
length; the cavalry extended a mile and a quarter on each flank. Thus
the Roman front of battle was five miles in extent.
Hannibal's force was inferior in strength; his infantry of the line were
twenty thousand strong. He had eight thousand light infantry and ten
thousand cavalry. The Carthaginian formation was much deeper than the
Roman, and Hannibal's line of battle was less than two miles long. In
front of it were the elephants, thirty-six in number, divided in pairs,
and placed in intervals of a hundred yards between each pair.
While the Romans, exposed to a bitterly cold wind, chilled to the bone
by their immersion in the stream, and having come breakfastless from
camp, were forming their long order of battle, Hannibal's troops,
gathered round blazing fires, were eating a hearty breakfast; after
which, in high spirits and confidence, they prepared for the fight.
Hannibal called the officers together and addressed them in stirring
words, which were repeated by them to the soldiers. The Roman
preparations had occupied a long time, and it was afternoon before
they advanced in order of battle. When within a short distance of the
Carthaginians they halted, and the trumpets and musical instruments on
both sides blew notes of defiance. Then the Carthaginian slingers
stole out between the ranks of their heavy infantry, passed between the
elephants, and commenced the battle.
Each of these men carried three slings, one of which was used for long
distances, another when nearer to the foe, the third when close at hand.
In action one of these slings was wound round the head, one round the
body, the third carried in hand. Their long distance missiles were
leaden bullets, and so skilful were they that it is said they could hit
with certainty the face of a foe standing at slinging distance.
Naked to the waist they advanced, and with their long distance slings
hurled the leaden bullets at the Roman infantry. When closer they
exchanged their slings and discharged from them egg shaped pebbles which
they had gathered from the bed of the Trebia. When within still closer
distance with the third slings they poured in volleys of much larger and
heavier stones, with such tremendous force that it seemed as though they
were sent from catapults. Against such a storm of missiles the Roman
skirmishers could make no stand, and were instantly driven back.
Their Cretan archers, after shooting away their arrows with but small
effect, for the strings had been damped in crossing the river, also fled
behind the heavy troops; and these in turn were exposed to the hail of
stones. Disorganized by this attack, the like of which they had never
experienced before, their helmets crushed in, their breastplates and
shields battered and dented, the front line of the Romans speedily
fell into confusion. Sempronius ordered up his war machines for casting
stones and javelins, but these too had been injured in their passage
across the river.
The hail of Carthaginian missiles continued until the Roman light
infantry were forced to fall back; and the slingers were then recalled,
and the heavy infantry of the two armies stood facing each other. The
Carthaginians took up close order, and, shoulder to shoulder, their
bodies covered with their shields, they advanced to meet the legions of
Rome. As they moved, their music--flute, harp, and lyre--rose on the
air in a military march, and keeping step the long line advanced with
perfect order and regularity. In the centre were the Carthaginian foot
soldiers and their African allies, clothed alike in a red tunic, with
helmet of bronze, steel cuirass and circular shield, and carrying,
besides their swords, pikes of twenty feet in length. On the left were
the Spaniards, in white tunics bordered with purple, with semicircular
shields four feet in length and thirty-two inches in width, armed with
long swords used either for cutting or thrusting.
On the left were the native allies, naked to the waist, armed with
shields and swords similar to those of the Gauls, save that the swords
were used only for cutting.
Sempronius brought up his second line to fill the intervals in the
first, and the Romans advanced with equal steadiness to the conflict;
but the much greater closeness of the Carthaginian formation served
them in good stead. They moved like a solid wall, their shields locked
closely together, and pressed steadily forward in spite of the desperate
efforts of the Roman centre in its more open order to resist them; for
each Roman soldier in battle was allowed the space of a man's width
between him and his comrade on either side, to allow him the free use of
his weapon. Two Carthaginians were therefore opposed to each Roman, in
addition to which the greater depth of the African formation gave them a
weight and impetus which was irresistible.
While this fight was going on the Numidian horsemen, ten thousand
strong, charged the Roman cavalry. These, much more lightly armed than
their opponents and inferior in numbers, were unable for a moment to
withstand the shock, and were at once driven from the field. Leaving the
elephants to pursue them and prevent them from rallying, the Numidian
horsemen turned and fell on the flanks of the long Roman line; while at
the same moment the Carthaginian slingers, issuing out again from behind
the main body, opened a tremendous fire with stones heated in furnaces
brought to the spot.
Although taken in flank, crushed under a storm of missiles, with their
cavalry defeated and their centre broken, the Romans fought steadily and
well. Hannibal now launched against their ranks the elephants attached
to the infantry, which, covered in steel armour and trumpeting loudly,
carried death and confusion into the Roman ranks. But still the legions
fought on obstinately and desperately until the sound of wild music
in their rear filled them with dismay, as Mago, with his division of
Numidian infantry, emerged from his hiding place and fell upon the
Romans from behind.
Struck with terror at the sudden appearance of these wild soldiers, of
whose ferocity they had heard so much, the Romans lost all heart and
strove now only to escape. But it was in vain. The Carthaginian infantry
were in their front, the cavalry on their flank, the Numidians in their
rear.
Some ten thousand Roman soldiers only, keeping in a solid body, cut
their way through the cavalry and reached Piacenza.
Thirty thousand were slaughtered on the plain. Many were drowned in
trying to swim the Trebia, and only the legion which had remained to
guard the camp, the broken remains of the cavalry, and the body which
had escaped from Piacenza remained of the fifty thousand men whom
Sempronius commanded.
The exultation of the victors was unbounded. The hitherto invincible
legions of Rome had been crushed. The way to Rome was clear before them.
All the fatigues and hardships they had undergone were forgotten in the
hour of triumph, and their native allies believed that their freedom
from Rome was now assured.
The verdict of great commanders of all ages has assigned to the battle
of the Trebia the glory of being the greatest military exploit ever
performed. The genius of Hannibal was shown not only in the plan of
battle and the disposition of his troops, but in the perfection with
which they were handled, in the movements which he had himself invented
and taught them, and the marvellous discipline with which he had
inculcated them.
Napoleon the First assigned to Hannibal the leading place among the
great generals of the world, and the Trebia was his masterpiece. But the
Carthaginians, exulting in their victory, did not gauge the extent
of the stubbornness and resources of Rome. Sempronius himself set the
example to his countrymen. At Piacenza he rallied the remnants of his
army, and wrote to Rome, saying that he had been victorious, but that a
sudden storm had saved the enemy from destruction.
The senate understood the truth, but acted in the spirit in which he had
written. They announced to the people that a victory had been won, and
ordered the consular election to take place as usual, at the same time
issuing orders to all parts of the Roman dominion for the enrolment of
fresh troops.
Hannibal attempted to surprise Piacenza, but Scipio issued out with his
cavalry and inflicted a check upon him, Hannibal himself being slightly
wounded. The Carthaginians then marched away and stormed the town of
Vicumve, and during their absence the two consuls evacuated Piacenza
and marched south. Scipio led his portion of the little army to Ariminum
(Rimini), Sempronius took his command to Arretium (Mezzo), where they
both speedily received reinforcements. Hannibal made an attempt to cross
the Apennines, but the snow lay deep among the mountains, and, unable to
effect his purpose, he fell back again to winter in the plain.
In the meantime Cneius Servilius Geminus and Caius Flaminius had been
elected consuls. Flaminius succeeded Sempronius in command of the Roman
army at Arretium, while Geminus took the command of that at Rimini.
Between these consuls, as was usually the case in Rome, a bitter
jealousy existed. Geminus was the nominee of the aristocratic party,
while Flaminius was the idol of the populace, and, as has often been
the case in war, this rivalry between two generals possessing equal
authority wrought great evil to the armies they commanded.