22 or 23 December 218 BC
The cavalry on the wings
Hannibal draws up 8,000 Gauls in the centre, with 6,000 Africans and Iberians on either side of them, 12,000 in all, half of his 30 elephants beyond each of these, and 5,000 cavalry on each wing. Sempronius has about 30,000 heavy infantry, the Roman legions in the centre and the allied legions on both sides, and 2,000 cavalry on each wing. The Balearic slingers and javelinmen outrange the tired, hungry velites and drive them back through the gaps in their own infantry.
A Balearic slinger with a spare sling round his head and a bag of stones, modern drawing by Johnny ShumateWikimedia Commons, Johnny Shumate, Public domain (Balearic Slinger.jpg)
On each wing 5,000 Carthaginian horsemen charge 2,000 Roman ones, whose horses are worn out from chasing the Numidians. Both Roman wings break at once and flee back over the Trebia, with most of the Carthaginian cavalry in pursuit. The Carthaginian light infantry move round to the open flanks of the Roman infantry, and the two main lines meet.
Sources
- Polybius, Histories, book 3, 72 to 73.
- Adrian Goldsworthy, The Fall of Carthage (2006).
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