Battle of Ticinus
Encyclopedia
Second Punic War
The Second Punic War, also referred to as The Hannibalic War and The War Against Hannibal, lasted from 218 to 201 BC and involved combatants in the western and eastern Mediterranean. This was the second major war between Carthage and the Roman Republic, with the participation of the Berbers on...
fought between the Carthaginian
Carthage
Carthage , implying it was a 'new Tyre') is a major urban centre that has existed for nearly 3,000 years on the Gulf of Tunis, developing from a Phoenician colony of the 1st millennium BC...
forces of Hannibal and the Romans
Roman Republic
The Roman Republic was the period of the ancient Roman civilization where the government operated as a republic. It began with the overthrow of the Roman monarchy, traditionally dated around 508 BC, and its replacement by a government headed by two consuls, elected annually by the citizens and...
under Publius Cornelius Scipio
Publius Cornelius Scipio
Publius Cornelius Scipio was a general and statesman of the Roman Republic.A member of the Corneliagens, Scipio served as consul in 218 BC, the first year of the Second Punic War, and sailed with an army from Pisa to Massilia , with the intention of arresting Hannibal's advance on Italy...
in November 218 BC
218 BC
Year 218 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Scipio and Longus...
. The battle took place in the flat country of Pavia
Pavia
Pavia , the ancient Ticinum, is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy, northern Italy, 35 km south of Milan on the lower Ticino river near its confluence with the Po. It is the capital of the province of Pavia. It has a population of c. 71,000...
county on the right bank of the Ticino River
Ticino River
The river Ticino is a left-bank tributary of the Po River. It has given its name to the Swiss canton through which its upper portion flows.-The course:...
not far north from its confluence (from the north) with the Po River
Po River
The Po |Ligurian]]: Bodincus or Bodencus) is a river that flows either or – considering the length of the Maira, a right bank tributary – eastward across northern Italy, from a spring seeping from a stony hillside at Pian del Re, a flat place at the head of the Val Po under the northwest face...
. The battle is named from the river, not the contemporaneous settlement of Ticinum
Ticinum
Ticinum was an ancient city of Gallia Transpadana, founded on the banks of the river of the same name a little way above its confluence with the Padus ....
(today's Pavia
Pavia
Pavia , the ancient Ticinum, is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy, northern Italy, 35 km south of Milan on the lower Ticino river near its confluence with the Po. It is the capital of the province of Pavia. It has a population of c. 71,000...
) nearby. Although the precise location is not known, it is generally accepted that a settlement known today as Vigevano
Vigevano
Vigevano is a town and comune in the province of Pavia, Lombardy, northern Italy, which possesses many artistic treasures and runs a huge industrial business. It is at the center of a district called Lomellina, a great rice-growing agricultural centre...
is mentioned in the text of Livy
Livy
Titus Livius — known as Livy in English — was a Roman historian who wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people. Ab Urbe Condita Libri, "Chapters from the Foundation of the City," covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome well before the traditional foundation in 753 BC...
and that Scipio's camp was at Gambolo
Gambolò
Gambolò is a comune in the Province of Pavia in the Italian region Lombardy, located about 35 km southwest of Milan and about 25 km northwest of Pavia....
to the south, whose coordinates are given on the map. The conflict would have been west of there. It was the first battle of the war against Romans on Italian soil and the first battle of the war to employ legion-sized forces. Its loss by the Romans and temporary disablement of Scipio's command set the stage for the Roman disaster at the Battle of Trebbia in December.
This battle was mainly a cavalry engagement. It was so fast-moving that the javelin-throwers deployed by the Romans had no chance to fire even a single volley and milled around on the field, being a major cause of the Roman defeat. Scipio was wounded and barely escaped with his life. He was in fact rescued on the field by his 18-year-old son, the later Scipio Africanus
Scipio Africanus
Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus , also known as Scipio Africanus and Scipio the Elder, was a general in the Second Punic War and statesman of the Roman Republic...
.
The two main sources on the battle are the History of Rome by Livy
Livy
Titus Livius — known as Livy in English — was a Roman historian who wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people. Ab Urbe Condita Libri, "Chapters from the Foundation of the City," covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome well before the traditional foundation in 753 BC...
(Book XXI) and Histories of Polybius
Polybius
Polybius , Greek ) was a Greek historian of the Hellenistic Period noted for his work, The Histories, which covered the period of 220–146 BC in detail. The work describes in part the rise of the Roman Republic and its gradual domination over Greece...
(Book III). Polybius makes it clear in his account that he visited the places and monuments and looked at documents. The two vary in some of the details.
Destruction of Saguntum
Second Punic War
The Second Punic War, also referred to as The Hannibalic War and The War Against Hannibal, lasted from 218 to 201 BC and involved combatants in the western and eastern Mediterranean. This was the second major war between Carthage and the Roman Republic, with the participation of the Berbers on...
began with a decision by Hannibal, new commander of troops in the Carthaginian
Carthage
Carthage , implying it was a 'new Tyre') is a major urban centre that has existed for nearly 3,000 years on the Gulf of Tunis, developing from a Phoenician colony of the 1st millennium BC...
province of Iberia
Iberian Peninsula
The Iberian Peninsula , sometimes called Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe and includes the modern-day sovereign states of Spain, Portugal and Andorra, as well as the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar...
, to consolidate power by provoking and defeating the surrounding Iberian
Iberians
The Iberians were a set of peoples that Greek and Roman sources identified with that name in the eastern and southern coasts of the Iberian peninsula at least from the 6th century BC...
tribesmen in battle. He was 26 years old. He had been voted commander by the army in Iberia on the assassination of the previous commander, Hasdrubal
Hasdrubal the Fair
Hasdrubal the Fair was a Carthaginian military leader.He was the brother-in-law of Hannibal and son-in-law of Hamilcar Barca...
, in 221 BC. Hasdrubal had ruled by diplomacy rather than by victory. The military commander was also provincial governor. He did not need the permission of the Carthaginian Senate to conduct operations.
From 226 BC the Romans and Carthaginians were bound by a treaty
Ebro Treaty
The Ebro Treaty was a treaty signed in 226 BC by Hasdrubal the Fair of Carthage and the Roman Republic, which fixed the river Ebro in Iberia as the boundary between the two powers. Under the terms of the treaty, Carthage would not expand north of the Ebro, as long as Rome likewise did not expand to...
specifying the Ebro River as the boundary between the two interests. The Romans were not to operate south of it nor the Carthaginians north. An exception was made for the large town of Saguntum, whose ruins are located just north of Valencia south of the Ebro. It was to be neutral. At some unspecified time Rome made a separate treaty with it. This made it a key element to Carthage but not Rome.
Having subdued all the tribes south of the Ebro Hannibal undertook the siege of Saguntum
Siege of Saguntum
The Siege of Saguntum was a battle which took place between 219 BC and 218 BC between the Carthaginians and the Saguntines. The battle is mainly remembered today because it triggered one of the most important wars of antiquity, the Second Punic War....
in 219 BC with 15000 men.The motives are obscure. Livy and Polybius present a range of speculations: the oath sworn as a child by Hannibal to his father never to make peace with Rome, intervention on behalf of the pro-Carthaginian party at Saguntum, provocation of Rome as an excuse for invasion, enforcement of the Ebro boundary, greed, etc. After holding out for several months Saguntum sent envoys to Rome asking for assistance. These arrived at the beginning of the consulships of Publius Cornelius and Tiberius Sempronius, who took office on March 15, 218 BC.Livy, Book XXI, Chapter 15, points out that "some writers" (Polybius, Book III, Chapter 34) have Hannibal wintering at New Carthage before setting out for Italy in "early spring" (March 15; see under Roman Calendar
Roman calendar
The Roman calendar changed its form several times in the time between the founding of Rome and the fall of the Roman Empire. This article generally discusses the early Roman or pre-Julian calendars...
). The fall of Saguntum would have been over and the consuls mentioned could not have received their envoys. Livy keeps the consuls and moves the fall of Saguntum to after March but he does not reconcile all his information. Polybius' account with the winter encampment appears later in the text. Hearing the envoys the Roman Senate resolved to send Publius Valerius Flaccus and Quintus Baebius Tamphilus
Quintus Baebius Tamphilus
Quintus Baebius Tamphilus was a praetor of the Roman Republic who participated in negotiations with Hannibal attempting to forestall the Second Punic War....
to Hannibal at Saguntum to demand that he cease and desist. Being turned back by him at the coast they went on to Carthage to lodge a criminal complaint of treaty violation with the Carthaginian Senate and demand his arrest and extradition to Rome. The complaint was rejected. The two envoys returned to Rome just in time to hear the news that Saguntum had fallen and was destroyed, nearly all the population had been executed and all the moveable wealth had been removed to Carthage.
We give you war
Quinquereme
From the 4th century BC on, new types of oared warships appeared in the Mediterranean Sea, superseding the trireme and transforming naval warfare. Ships became increasingly bigger and heavier, including some of the largest wooden ships ever constructed...
s and 20 light ships. Then they called an assembly of all free Romans to vote on the question of war.For another point of view: Even immediately after the events, the Romans did not have a clear and consistent understanding of what happened. The vote was for war. Tiberius was to take two legions to Sicily
Sicily
Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...
and wait there for orders to invade Carthage, while Publius was sent north to counter an expected invasion of Italy from the north. He was given two legions and could operate freely. The aged but experienced Lucius Manlius
Lucius Manlius Vulso Longus
Lucius Manlius Vulso Longus was a patrician who became one of the Roman consuls in both 256 and 250 BC. The term for being consul was one year. Two consuls ruled at a time and one could serve up to two terms. It was the consuls’ job to govern provinces, lead armies in major wars, and run the Senate...
was given the praetor
Praetor
Praetor was a title granted by the government of Ancient Rome to men acting in one of two official capacities: the commander of an army, usually in the field, or the named commander before mustering the army; and an elected magistratus assigned varied duties...
ship of two more legions to be kept in reserve in Cisalpine Gaul
Cisalpine Gaul
Cisalpine Gaul, in Latin: Gallia Cisalpina or Citerior, also called Gallia Togata, was a Roman province until 41 BC when it was merged into Roman Italy.It bore the name Gallia, because the great body of its inhabitants, after the expulsion of the Etruscans, consisted of Gauls or Celts...
, where issues with the Gauls were beginning to develop. Each army corps of two legions was supported by greater numbers of Italian and other allied troops.
The Senate now sent a delegation of "all oldish men - Quintus Fabius
Fabius Maximus
Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus Cunctator was a Roman politician and general, born in Rome around 280 BC and died in Rome in 203 BC. He was Roman Consul five times and was twice Dictator in 221 and again in 217 BC. He reached the office of Roman Censor in 230 BC...
, Marcus Livius
Marcus Livius Salinator
Marcus Livius Drusus Salinator , the son of Marcus , was a Roman consul who fought in both the First Punic wars and Second Punic wars most notably during the Battle of Zama....
, Lucius Aemilius, Gaius Licinius, and Quintus Baebius
Quintus Baebius Tamphilus
Quintus Baebius Tamphilus was a praetor of the Roman Republic who participated in negotiations with Hannibal attempting to forestall the Second Punic War....
" with plenipotentiary
Plenipotentiary
The word plenipotentiary has two meanings. As a noun, it refers to a person who has "full powers." In particular, the term commonly refers to a diplomat fully authorized to represent his government as a prerogative...
powers: the right to withhold or declare war on an ad hoc
Ad hoc
Ad hoc is a Latin phrase meaning "for this". It generally signifies a solution designed for a specific problem or task, non-generalizable, and not intended to be able to be adapted to other purposes. Compare A priori....
basis. Having brought copies of past treaties they asked the Carthaginian Senate to determine if Hannibal had acted as an individual or with the approval of the Senate. The Carthaginians denied that Rome had a treaty with Carthage, pointing out that they had repudiated the Ebro Treaty, claiming that it was unratified, in order to make another with Saguntum, which had previously been defined as neutral.
After hours of study and debate nothing could be resolved concerning Hannibal's legality. Fabius gathered a fold of his toga to his chest and offered it, saying "Here, we bring you peace and war. Take which you will." The Carthaginians replied "Whichever you please - we do not care." Fabius let the fold drop and proclaimed "We give you war." The senators shouted "We accept it; and in the same spirit we will fight it to the end."
The delegation returned through Spain trying to encourage the tribes to revolt with little success, as Rome had lost credibility by failing to assist Saguntum. In Gaul they were shouted down by assemblies of derisive citizens in full armor.
Invasion of Italy
Regardless of whether Hannibal had intended to invade Italy during or before the siege of Saguntum, when he heard from the Senate of Rome's declaration of war, knowing he would have to fight in Spain if not Italy, he opted for Italy. According to Polybius the total trek was 9000 stadia, about 1598 km (993 mi). Leaving New Carthage with 90000 infantry and 12000 cavalry he arrived in Italy 5 months later with about 1/3 of that number: staggering losses never counted in reckoning the cost of the campaign. The mere 200 miles a month, averaging 6 to 7 miles a day, were consumed mainly in defeating or negotiating with the tribesmen in his path.
Ebro
The Ebro or Ebre is one of the most important rivers in the Iberian Peninsula. It is the biggest river by discharge volume in Spain.The Ebro flows through the following cities:*Reinosa in Cantabria.*Miranda de Ebro in Castile and León....
in approximately May, 218 BC. There, says Livy, he experienced a dream in which he saw a god-like man claiming to be a messenger of God telling him to invade Italy and not look back. He looked back and saw a serpent spreading devastation, which the dream messenger said meant he should lay waste to Italy. Crossing the Ebro he defeated the tribes between the Ebro and the Pyrenees
Pyrenees
The Pyrenees is a range of mountains in southwest Europe that forms a natural border between France and Spain...
and occupied the Pyrenees. He placed his brother Hasdrubal in command of Spain, dismissed 7000 recalcitrant expeditionaries and poised with 50000 infantry and 9000 cavalry began to send emissaries to the Gallic tribes.
At Rome the Senate, deciding to accelerate the process of placing colonists in north Italy, gave 30 days notice to the colonists to assemble at Piacenza
Piacenza
Piacenza is a city and comune in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Piacenza...
and Cremona
Cremona
Cremona is a city and comune in northern Italy, situated in Lombardy, on the left bank of the Po River in the middle of the Pianura Padana . It is the capital of the province of Cremona and the seat of the local City and Province governments...
to receive confiscated land, but the Boii
Boii
The Boii were one of the most prominent ancient Celtic tribes of the later Iron Age, attested at various times in Cisalpine Gaul , Pannonia , in and around Bohemia, and Transalpine Gaul...
, whose country this now was, and their allies, the Insubres
Insubres
The Insubres were a Gaulish population settled in Insubria, in what is now Lombardy . They were the founders of Milan . Though ethnically Celtic at the time of Roman conquest , they were most likely the result of the fusion of pre-existing Ligurian, Celtic and "Italic" population strata with Gaulish...
, forced the colonists to take refuge in Mutina. Lucius Manlius would have come to their rescue but he and his small force (he did not use the two legions) were forced into a defensive camp at Vicus Tannetis. The Senate removed a legion and 5000 allies from Publius' command and sent it north under Gaius Atilius to the relief of Manlius. Publius was instructed to raise another legion from the allies, which he did. At some undetermined time when the Carthaginians were between the Pyrenees and the Rhone they and the Boii made contact and promised mutual assistance. The Boii offered guides and warm clothing for the march over the Alps.
Defense on the Rhone
Receiving intelligence of the operation while the Carthaginians were still in the Pyrenees, the Romans sent a force commanded by one of the consuls for the year, Publius Cornelius ScipioPublius Cornelius Scipio
Publius Cornelius Scipio was a general and statesman of the Roman Republic.A member of the Corneliagens, Scipio served as consul in 218 BC, the first year of the Second Punic War, and sailed with an army from Pisa to Massilia , with the intention of arresting Hannibal's advance on Italy...
, via naval transport along the coast of Liguria
Liguria
Liguria is a coastal region of north-western Italy, the third smallest of the Italian regions. Its capital is Genoa. It is a popular region with tourists for its beautiful beaches, picturesque little towns, and good food.-Geography:...
to the mouth of the Rhone River
Rhône River
The Rhone is one of the major rivers of Europe, rising in Switzerland and running from there through southeastern France. At Arles, near its mouth on the Mediterranean Sea, the river divides into two branches, known as the Great Rhone and the Little Rhone...
, where their unshakeable Greek allies at Marseille
Marseille
Marseille , known in antiquity as Massalia , is the second largest city in France, after Paris, with a population of 852,395 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Marseille extends beyond the city limits with a population of over 1,420,000 on an area of...
were located and the Gauls were all friendly to Rome. They encamped on the left bank to wait for the Carthaginians.
Bypassing Marseilles the Carthaginians reached the Rhone four days' march to the north but were impeded from crossing by a Gallic force friendly to Rome (the Volcae
Volcae
The Volcae were a tribal confederation constituted before the raid of combined Gauls that invaded Macedon circa 270 BC and defeated the assembled Greeks at the Battle of Thermopylae in 279 BC...
). Sending one-third of his army north along the right bank under Hanno
Hanno, son of Bomilcar
Hanno, son of Bomilcar, was a Carthaginian officer in the Second Punic War, and nephew of Hannibal Barca, Carthages leading General as his mother was one of Hannibals three elder sisters. When Hannibal's army reached the Western bank of the Rhône River they began preparations to cross. A group of...
, Hannibal instructed them to coordinate an attack on the Gauls with his own river crossing. They crossed successfully. The two-pronged attack succeeded in driving the Gauls from their camp. The elephants were brought across on large rafts. Hearing of the crossing Scipio sent a few hundred cavalry to the north to reconnoiter, which encountering a similar force sent south by Hannibal, routed the enemy cavalry and inflicted heavy losses on them.
The rush for northern Italy
Hannibal and his army vanished to the north while Scipio perceiving that he had lost them sent the main force against New Carthage under command of his brother while he returned by ship to PisaPisa
Pisa is a city in Tuscany, Central Italy, on the right bank of the mouth of the River Arno on the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa...
, marched through Etruria
Etruria
Etruria—usually referred to in Greek and Latin source texts as Tyrrhenia—was a region of Central Italy, an area that covered part of what now are Tuscany, Latium, Emilia-Romagna, and Umbria. A particularly noteworthy work dealing with Etruscan locations is D. H...
, acquired the legions of Manlius and Atilius and camped along the Po to wait for Hannibal.
Isère River
The Isère is a 286 km long river in southeastern France, in the Rhône-Alpes région. Its source is in the Alps on the border with Italy, near the ski resort Val d'Isère. It flows into the Rhône River in Pont-de-l'Isère, a few km north of Valence...
hoping to cross the passes from there to Italy. He found his way blocked by the Allobroges
Allobroges
The Allobroges were a Celtic tribe of ancient Gaul, located between the Rhône River and the Lake of Geneva in what later became Savoy, Dauphiné, and Vivarais. Their cities were in the areas of modern-day Annecy, Chambéry and Grenoble, the modern of Isère, and modern Switzerland...
. Learning that they occupied their posts only by day he took control of the paths by night and slipped the army by, fighting a rear-guard action all the way to the top.A different version is to be found in Livy XXI.31, 33, which has Hannibal settling a dispute of the Allobroges, being rewarded with guides and clothing and taking the paths from and being opposed by other unnamed savages. The Selincourt translation suggests a highest point at Col de la Traversette
Cottian Alps
The Cottian Alps are a mountain range in the southwestern part of the Alps. They form the border between France and Italy...
, 9680 feet, which in 1911 was a bridle path. Livy has the pack animals plunging over precipices "almost like masonry stones." There they rested while gathering stragglers of men and animals. Worse challenges waited on the descent: the road had been collapsed by an avalanche, it snowed, and the animals bogged down in the snow. He camped the army, swept the snow from the ridge and rebuilt the path along a cliff. Even Livy, a pro-Roman historian, speaks admiringly of this event. The Carthaginians cut a path across a thousand-foot cliff, picking out rock that had been made friable with alternate heating in log fires and cooling with the men's wine rations.
After a 15-day crossing Hannibal arrived finally in north Italy with 12000 African infantry, 8000 Iberian infantry and 6000 cavalry. Many of the elephants had survived. Polybius is sure of these numbers because, he reports, he read them in an inscription on a column erected by Hannibal himself at Lacinium. Polybius says that they had begun the Alpine venture with 38000 men and 8000 cavalry.Livy XXI.39 reports that many authors gave many opinions. He favors, he says, the account of Lucius Cincius Alimentus, who was taken prisoner by Hannibal, and relates that Hannibal told him he had lost 38000 men and large numbers of pack animals in the mountains. The survivors were emaciated, exhausted, and without supplies, having lost most of them in the mountains. Obtaining supplies wherever he could, Hannibal rested his men.
Interdiction of neutrality
The northern tribes, being bound to Rome by treaty, knew that sooner or later they would be required to answer to Rome for their behavior regarding the hostility of the BoiiBoii
The Boii were one of the most prominent ancient Celtic tribes of the later Iron Age, attested at various times in Cisalpine Gaul , Pannonia , in and around Bohemia, and Transalpine Gaul...
and the Insubres
Insubres
The Insubres were a Gaulish population settled in Insubria, in what is now Lombardy . They were the founders of Milan . Though ethnically Celtic at the time of Roman conquest , they were most likely the result of the fusion of pre-existing Ligurian, Celtic and "Italic" population strata with Gaulish...
. Intending to march on Rome Hannibal knew that he had to secure his rear. He had entered Italy between the Insubres and a tribe of the Ligurians
Ligures
The Ligures were an ancient people who gave their name to Liguria, a region of north-western Italy.-Classical sources:...
called the Taurini
Taurini
The Taurini were an ancient Celto-Ligurian Alpine people, who occupied the upper valley of the river Po, in the centre of modern Piedmont.In 218 BC, they were attacked by Hannibal since his allies were the Insubres. The Taurini and the Insubres had a long-standing feud. Their chief town was...
, after whom the Romans were to name their later colony of Turin
Turin
Turin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat...
.The colony that became Turin was founded as Augusta Taurinorum, but, like Roman Carthage, it was probably placed over the destroyed former settlement. Grundy (1896) page 83. The two tribes were at war; however, momentarily Hannibal's army was in no position to intervene.
The Taurini
Taurini
The Taurini were an ancient Celto-Ligurian Alpine people, who occupied the upper valley of the river Po, in the centre of modern Piedmont.In 218 BC, they were attacked by Hannibal since his allies were the Insubres. The Taurini and the Insubres had a long-standing feud. Their chief town was...
were not friendly to Carthage. After the army's recovery Hannibal offered them peace by formal alliance and when it was refused surrounded their chief settlement, leveled it and executed all his opponents as an object lesson to the other tribes in the north. This act of terror was effective for the time being in securing a nominal alliance with the other Gauls but it caused the immediate announcement of his presence throughout Italy rendering further surprise impossible. Hannibal looked for a victory of any sort to secure the confidence of his newfound allies. Livy adds that he believes the ranks of the Carthaginians were expanded by contingents of Ligurians and Gauls to reach 80000 infantry and 10000 cavalry (the figure given by Lucius Cincius Alimentus
Lucius Cincius Alimentus
Lucius Cincius Alimentus was a celebrated Roman annalist and jurist, who was praetor in Sicily in 209 BC, with the command of two legions. He wrote principally in Greek. He and Fabius Pictor are considered the first two Roman historians, though both wrote in Greek as a more conventionally...
).
Receiving news of the massacre Publius was incredulous that Hannibal should have crossed the Alps and be in Italy so soon. Decamping he crossed the Po and marched upstream on the left bank looking for him. Receiving intelligence of Publius' impending arrival Hannibal was equally incredulous that he should have made the difficult voyage from Marseille and now be at hand with an army. The most astounded of all at the news that both Hannibal and Publius were in Italy, when they were believed to be in Spain, were the Roman Senate and People. They sent orders posthaste to the second consul, Tiberius Sempronius Longus
Tiberius Sempronius Longus (consul 218 BC)
Tiberius Sempronius Longus was a Roman consul during the Second Punic War and a contemporary of Publius Cornelius Scipio. In 218 BC, Sempronius was sent to Africa with 160 quinqueremes to gather forces and supplies, while Scipio was sent to Iberia to intercept Hannibal...
, conducting leisurely operations in Sicily
Sicily
Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...
, that he was to abandon his current project and proceed to the assistance of Publius.
Sending his fleet in advance Tiberius determined that individuals could travel more swiftly than armies. He released his men from service having exacted an oath that they would present themselves at Ariminum south of the mouth of the Po on a certain day. Even with these measures events moved too swiftly for Tiberius to be of any use to Publius in the immediate future.
Battle
Livy
Titus Livius — known as Livy in English — was a Roman historian who wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people. Ab Urbe Condita Libri, "Chapters from the Foundation of the City," covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome well before the traditional foundation in 753 BC...
and Polybius
Polybius
Polybius , Greek ) was a Greek historian of the Hellenistic Period noted for his work, The Histories, which covered the period of 220–146 BC in detail. The work describes in part the rise of the Roman Republic and its gradual domination over Greece...
both give accounts of the battle, which agree on the main events, but differ in some of the details.
On the day before the battle Scipio was encamped in the base (castra
Castra
The Latin word castra, with its singular castrum, was used by the ancient Romans to mean buildings or plots of land reserved to or constructed for use as a military defensive position. The word appears in both Oscan and Umbrian as well as in Latin. It may have descended from Indo-European to Italic...
) at Piacenza
Piacenza
Piacenza is a city and comune in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Piacenza...
, where the colonists had planned to build. This settlement being in a loop on the right bank of the Po river
Po River
The Po |Ligurian]]: Bodincus or Bodencus) is a river that flows either or – considering the length of the Maira, a right bank tributary – eastward across northern Italy, from a spring seeping from a stony hillside at Pian del Re, a flat place at the head of the Val Po under the northwest face...
, he had to construct a bridge to access it from the left bank, which is confused in Livy with the bridge constructed over the Ticinus some miles away. Polybius makes it clear that there were two bridges, one from the right to the left bank of the Po at Piacenza and one from the left to the right bank of the Ticinus, location unknown, but the best crossing is at Pavia
Pavia
Pavia , the ancient Ticinum, is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy, northern Italy, 35 km south of Milan on the lower Ticino river near its confluence with the Po. It is the capital of the province of Pavia. It has a population of c. 71,000...
, which was founded by Roman colonists as Ticinum, perhaps at the site of the fortifications Publius threw up to protect his new bridge. A fine permanent bridge stands there today. The ground on the right bank of the Ticinus north of there was swampy, no place for an army to become bogged down.
After building the bridge over the Ticinus and crossing it Scipio entered the level plain (farmland today) and camped five miles from Victumulae, in the country of the Insubres, believed to be Vigevano
Vigevano
Vigevano is a town and comune in the province of Pavia, Lombardy, northern Italy, which possesses many artistic treasures and runs a huge industrial business. It is at the center of a district called Lomellina, a great rice-growing agricultural centre...
now. There is a town to the south of Vigevano, between Pavia and it, Gambolo
Gambolò
Gambolò is a comune in the Province of Pavia in the Italian region Lombardy, located about 35 km southwest of Milan and about 25 km northwest of Pavia....
, which still has some of the features of a large Roman camp, such as the ditch. The main road to Milano passes to the south of Gambolo. From it 19th-century travelers were told they could see the battlefield.
Scipio as consul superseded the praetors Manlius and Atilius. He could therefore have commanded three legions, about 12000 infantry and several thousand allies, possibly around 20000 men. The regular cavalry of three legions amounts to 900. Some Gallic cavalry, which fought in the battle but later defected, were about 2000. In addition were 1000 allied cavalry attached to Manlius at Rome, a total of about 4000 cavalry.
At the same time as Scipio was making camp, Hannibal was camping upstream along the Po. The two were unknown to each other but making the discovery through scouts the next day both commanders decided on the same tactic: a reconnaissance
Reconnaissance
Reconnaissance is the military term for exploring beyond the area occupied by friendly forces to gain information about enemy forces or features of the environment....
in force to discover and test the strength of the enemy. Hannibal probably took the majority of his 6000 cavalry that remained after crossing the Alps, while Scipio took all of his cavalry and a small number of velites
Velites
Velites were a class of infantry in the Polybian legions of the early Roman republic. Velites were light infantry and skirmishers who were armed with a number of light javelins, or hastae velitares, to fling at the enemy, and also carried short thrusting swords, or gladii for use in melee...
(light infantry
Light infantry
Traditionally light infantry were soldiers whose job was to provide a skirmishing screen ahead of the main body of infantry, harassing and delaying the enemy advance. Light infantry was distinct from medium, heavy or line infantry. Heavy infantry were dedicated primarily to fighting in tight...
armed with javelin
Pilum
The pilum was a javelin commonly used by the Roman army in ancient times. It was generally about two metres long overall, consisting of an iron shank about 7 mm in diameter and 60 cm long with pyramidal head...
s). This last decision was not in keeping with a fast-moving reconnaissance and was to cost Scipio the battle and nearly his life.
Coming within observation distance of each other at last the two armies stopped to form ranks. Hannibal offered his strongest motivations to the troops if they would fight to win: tax-free land in Italy, Spain or Africa, Carthaginian citizenship to allies and freedom to all slaves. He then placed his heavy, or "bridled", cavalry in the center and the light and swift-moving Numidia
Numidia
Numidia was an ancient Berber kingdom in part of present-day Eastern Algeria and Western Tunisia in North Africa. It is known today as the Chawi-land, the land of the Chawi people , the direct descendants of the historical Numidians or the Massyles The kingdom began as a sovereign state and later...
n cavalry on the wings: a classic formation in which the wings would break off to ride around and attack the enemy rear. Scipio's less effective technique used the cavalry more like the infantry in a fixed line. The Gallic cavalry would be out front screening a line of javelin-throwers who would cast volleys into the front of the advancing enemy and then retreat through the ranks to the rear.
Hannibal seeing the infantry beginning to form ordered an immediate, all-out charge, which rode down upon the javelin-throwers before they could cast a single volley and sent them running for their lives through the ranks behind them. Livy portrays this retreat as some sort of cowardice but Polybius gives the additional detail. The main cavalry ranks then fought until the Numidian cavalry performed their planned envelopment and attacked the rear. Unable to maneuver because of the infantry milling about the Roman cavalry broke into small groups, some dismounting and fighting as infantry. Scipio was wounded. He found himself isolated with few to defend him and was soon surrounded.
The rescue of the consul by his son
It was in this setting that the consul's 18-year-old son, the future Scipio Africanus, evidenced his first aptitude for the res militaris, military matters. Livy says only that he rescued his father, that Coelius AntipaterLucius Coelius Antipater
Lucius Coelius Antipater was a Roman jurist and historian. He is not to be confused with Coelius Sabinus, the Coelius of the Digest. He was a contemporary of C. Gracchus ; L...
, chronicler of the second Punic war, attributes the rescue to a Ligurian slave, but the general belief and opinion of most historians identifies the rescuer as the young Scipio.
Polybius reports that Gaius Laelius
Gaius Laelius
Gaius Laelius — also Caius Lelius — general and statesman, was a friend of Scipio Africanus, whom he accompanied on his Iberian campaign...
, a close friend of the young Scipio since boyhood, "narrated" (apparently in person) that his friend, "Having, it is likely, his 17th year" (age 16 if one does not count the birth year) and "having entered the field for the first time" (that is, on campaign or on expedition) and "his father having assigned to him a turma
Turma
A turma was a cavalry squadron in the Roman army of the Republic and Empire. In the Byzantine Empire, it became applied to the larger, regiment-sized military-cum-administrative divisions of a thema....
of top cavalrymen" (about 30 veterans) performed his first "remarkable exploit" in the "cavalry engagement" against Hannibal "in the vicinity of the Po." Seeing that his father was in danger with only two or three to defend him Scipio the younger "called upon those with him to go to the assistance of his father."
The words for "call upon" are unfortunately not clear; they could mean "to give a military order to" or just "to exhort." The interpretation of this passage to those outside the time and place is problematic. On the one hand it could portray the young Scipio as an honored guest of the consul roaming about the battlefield under the protection of a whole troop with nothing else to do but guard him. This is an unlikely scenario in the Roman Republic, which did not pamper the sons of generals. These sons were looking to get a start by occupying the lowest ranks of the military and the government. The interpretation most in keeping with the culture is that the young Scipio was under military discipline; he was in the army, and this was his first command as a junior officer.
When the troop failed to respond to the order, fearing, Polybius speculates, the large number of enemies around the consul, Scipio drove his horse into the enemy. The others "were forced to charge" and opened a path through the "frightened enemy" to the consul. They escorted him off the field, which would have been to the fort. The younger Scipio was subsequently publicly honored by the consul, which was the beginning of public confidence in him. According to Pliny
Pliny the Elder
Gaius Plinius Secundus , better known as Pliny the Elder, was a Roman author, naturalist, and natural philosopher, as well as naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and personal friend of the emperor Vespasian...
, he was offered a civic crown
Civic Crown
The Civic Crown was a chaplet of common oak leaves woven to form a crown. During the Roman Republic, and the subsequent Principate, it was regarded as the second highest military decoration to which a citizen could aspire...
before the men in camp at Piacenza but for some reason turned it down (see under Civic crown
Civic Crown
The Civic Crown was a chaplet of common oak leaves woven to form a crown. During the Roman Republic, and the subsequent Principate, it was regarded as the second highest military decoration to which a citizen could aspire...
).
Aftermath
Piacenza
Piacenza is a city and comune in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Piacenza...
before Hannibal knew he had left camp. Finding the camp empty the next morning Hannibal followed the Roman trail to the river, capturing the 600-man guard over a torn-up bridge. He decided not to force a subsequent crossing of the Po under hostile fire at Piacenza
Piacenza
Piacenza is a city and comune in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Piacenza...
, but turned, went up its left bank, found a convenient crossing and descended the right bank to camp before Piacenza two days later.
In the early morning before first light after the arrival of Hannibal some 2200 Gallic allies in the Roman camp attacked the Romans closest to them sleeping in their tents, took the heads of the slain and crossed to the Carthaginian camp, where they were well received. Hannibal subsequently sent them as emissaries to raise all the Celts in Italy. Scipio meanwhile again anticipating the consequences immediately broke camp before dawn on that same night (or the next, in Livy) and slipping up the right bank of the Po to the west in the same direction from which Hannibal had come crossed the Trebia River, a right-bank tributary of the Po. Then he headed south along its left bank to the hills from which it flows, keeping the river between him and Hannibal. The Numidian cavalry sent in pursuit made the mistake of burning the camp first, giving all but Scipio's rear guard time to cross the river. A day's march to the south, Scipio reached the hills, fortified the slope of one of them and settled down to rest and wait for the arrival of the second consul, Tiberius Sempronius Longus. The most likely site is a 4.5 km (2.8 mi) ridge on the left bank across from Rivergaro
Rivergaro
Rivergaro is a comune in the Province of Piacenza in the Italian region Emilia-Romagna, located about 150 km northwest of Bologna and about 20 km southwest of Piacenza...
some 20 km (12.4 mi) south of the Po. The locality was called ripa alta, "high bank", by the Romans, becoming Rivalta Trebbia. It is noted for the Castello di Rivalta, built over a permanent Roman castra
Castra
The Latin word castra, with its singular castrum, was used by the ancient Romans to mean buildings or plots of land reserved to or constructed for use as a military defensive position. The word appears in both Oscan and Umbrian as well as in Latin. It may have descended from Indo-European to Italic...
of unknown origin. South of Rivalta the mountains offer no opportunity for cavalry to deploy or armies to march or fight in the open. Hannibal camped at a distance in the plain below, enthusiastically supplied by the Gallic population.
Fortune did not smile on the Romans that year. The result of Longus' arrival would be the Battle of the Trebia
Battle of the Trebia
The Battle of the Trebia was the first major battle of the Second Punic War, fought between the Carthaginian forces of Hannibal and the Roman Republic in December of 218 BC, on or around the winter solstice...
, another Roman disaster.
In Modern Fiction
In the Science Fiction story "Delenda EstDelenda Est
"Delenda Est" is a short story written by Poul Anderson, part of his Time Patrol series. The title alludes to the Latin phrase Carthago delenda est from the Third Punic War.-Plot summary:...
", renegade time travelers from the far future interfere at the Battle of Ticinus, with the result that Publius Cornelius Scipio and his son, the future Scipio Africanus
Scipio Africanus
Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus , also known as Scipio Africanus and Scipio the Elder, was a general in the Second Punic War and statesman of the Roman Republic...
, are killed. With their generalship removed from the scene, Hannibal eventually wins the war and destroys Rome - after which the adventurers from the future assassinate him and take over Carthago.
In the climax of the story, the protagonist - Time Patrolman Manse Everard - travels back to restore the original history and save the Scipios. The story includes a vivid description of the battle purportedly from the common soldier's point of view.