225 BC
The fight for the hill
Regulus puts his army in fighting order and leads his cavalry ahead to take a hill above the road, which would block the Gauls’ way north. The Gauls think Papus has sent horsemen on ahead and send their own cavalry and light infantry to hold the hill.
The Gauls enclosed between two Roman armies at Telamon, plate from the French edition of Polybius by Jean-Charles de Folard, about 1728Wikimedia Commons, unknown engraver, Public domain (Battle of Telamon - The Gauls captured between two Roman armies.jpg)
When they see that a second consular army stands in front of them, the Gauls deploy their infantry facing both ways. The Gaesatae and the Insubres face Papus at the rear, and the Boii and the Taurisci face Regulus. Wagons and chariots cover both flanks, and a small force guards the plunder on another hill nearby.
The cavalry fight for the hill is hard, and Papus sends his own horsemen to help. Regulus is killed and his head brought to the Gallic kings, but the Roman cavalry win the hill.
Sources
- Polybius, Histories, book 2, 27 to 28.
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