THE BATTLE OF TREBIA
After the hardships they had endured while crossing the Alps Hannibal
and his army were forced to rest. But in a short time Hannibal was
ready to lead his men along the left bank of the river Po, having sent
a corps of cavalry forward to reconnoitre.
Scipio, you remember, had determined to await Hannibal in the valley of
the Po, and he was now also marching along the left bank of the river.
As he crossed the Ticinus, a tributary of the Po, he suddenly found
himself face to face with the cavalry of the enemy.
A fierce struggle at once took place, but before long the Roman
soldiers turned and fled, in spite of all the Consul could do to rally
them. He himself showed the greatest courage, fighting in the forefront
of the battle and so being wounded. Had it not been for the bravery of
his young son, he would indeed have been captured or killed.
Seeing that his father was wounded and surrounded by the enemy, the
lad, who was only sixteen years of age, dashed into their midst. He
was followed by his men, who were ashamed to linger behind their
young leader. His daring attack scattered the foe, and the Consul was
carried off the field in safety. This lad of sixteen was the Scipio who
afterwards became known as Scipio Africanus, the conqueror of Hannibal.
The battle at the Ticinus was in reality only a skirmish. But Scipio
was warned by this defeat to be cautious, and he determined to withdraw
across the Po. There he would await his colleague Sempronius, who had
been recalled from Sicily, when it became known that Hannibal meant to
invade Italy.
Although the fight at Ticinus was only a skirmish, yet the victory of
Hannibal’s cavalry encouraged many Gallic tribes to throw off their
fear of Rome and join the Carthaginians.
Even those Gauls who had joined the Roman camp were eager to
escape, and one night more than two thousand of them mutinied, and,
overpowering the sentinels, left the Romans to join Hannibal.
After the flight of the Gauls, Scipio thought it would be wise to
move to a safer position, so he marched to the upper Trebia, another
tributary of the Po. Here he was joined by Sempronius.
Hannibal was eager to fight while the Gauls were still faithful to him,
for he, as well as the Romans, knew their unstable character. Scipio
on the other hand, wished to delay meeting the enemy, for he was still
wounded. Moreover, he thought that if a battle did not take place soon,
the Gauls would be more than likely to forsake their new ally.
But Sempronius, who had entire charge of both the Roman armies since
Scipio was wounded, could brook no delay.
The Carthaginian general had already discovered that it would be easy
to tempt the second Consul to fight. He therefore determined to entice
him to cross the river Trebia.
It was winter. Heavy rains and sleet had fallen, and the river was
flooded, when, early one bleak morning, Hannibal ordered his brave
young brother Mago, with a large number of troops, to lie in ambush in
a dried-up watercourse, where they were hidden by high banks and tall
bushes. Until a signal bade them dash out upon the enemy, they were not
to stir.
Meanwhile a body of Carthaginian cavalry had been sent across the
river, close to the Roman camp. The cavalry was to tempt Sempronius to
leave his camp and offer battle.
The Consul no sooner saw the enemy, than without waiting for his men
to have breakfast, he ordered the horsemen to advance at once, and the
infantry to follow as soon as possible.
Cold and hungry, the Roman army obeyed, and the Punic cavalry retreated
across the river before the enemy.
The Roman foot soldiers were ordered to follow, although the water was
cold as ice, and reached almost to their shoulders. When they scrambled
up on the other bank, they were chilled to the bone as well as faint
for want of food. More miserable bedraggled Roman soldiers had never
been seen. They were scarcely fit to attack a small body of the enemy,
much less to face the main body of the Carthaginian army, which, well
fed and warm, awaited them in battle array.
Hannibal, with his usual care for his soldiers, had seen that they had
a good meal, after which he had bade them rub their bodies with oil in
front of the camp fires, before they buckled on their armour.
It was soon plain that the Romans were not fit to cope with the
comfortable Carthaginian troops.
Yet in spite of the elephants, that trampled them underfoot, and in
spite, too, of the Punic cavalry which was stronger than their own, the
Roman legions held their ground.
It was only when the signal had been given, and Mago, with two thousand
men rushed from his ambush, and attacked them in the rear, that the
Romans gave way.
Then they turned and fled towards the Trebia, hoping to be able to
cross it and to regain their camp. But many of them were cut down
before they reached the river, while, of those who attempted to recross
the cold and swollen waters, many were drowned.
Only ten thousand in the centre of the Roman army succeeded in keeping
their ranks unbroken. These brave soldiers pushed their way through
the enemy and retreated to Placentia, a town on the river Po, which had
already been taken and fortified by their own legions.
Before the day was over the Carthaginians, too, had suffered severely
from the weather. Showers of rain and snow forced them at length to
give up the pursuit of the Romans and hasten to their tents for shelter
and warmth. Many of the elephants perished in the storm.
When Rome heard of the defeat of her two armies, and that both her
Consuls were shut up in Placentia with a remnant of their soldiers, she
was dismayed at the greatness of the disaster. Moreover, she was well
aware that this victory would make the Gauls cleave more steadfastly
than before to the successful general.
Thus the year 218 B.C. drew to a close, while signs of evil omen added
to the anxiety of the citizens of Rome.
Rain fell; no gentle, refreshing showers, but rain of red-hot stones.
In the market-place a bull ran up the third story of a house and leapt
from thence into the street. And who ever heard of a child of six
months old being able to speak! Yet one of just such tender age was
heard to shout ‘Triumph.’
Even the least superstitious saw in these strange portents the hand of
the gods, and they trembled for what might next befall.