22 or 23 December 218 BC
Mago’s attack
The allied infantry on the Roman flanks turn to face the Carthaginian light troops, and the elephants at the ends of Hannibal’s line keep the allied infantry from closing in, so the Roman push against the Africans and Iberians loses its force. Mago’s 2,000 men come out of the watercourse and charge into the velites behind the Roman left. Some of the triarii turn round to help them.
Memorial to the battle of the Trebia at Rivalta, with one of Hannibal’s elephantsWikimedia Commons, Florival fr, CC BY-SA 4.0 (2018 05 11 Rivalta Trebbia, mémorial bataille de la Trebbia.jpg)
More and more of the Carthaginian cavalry break off their pursuit and return to attack the Roman rear. Under this pressure the Latin allies and the Gauls on the flanks and the velites at the rear begin to break up.
Sources
- Polybius, Histories, book 3, 74.
- Adrian Goldsworthy, The Fall of Carthage (2006).
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