December 218 BC · Trebia River, northern Italy (Cisalpine Gaul) Theater
December 218 BC
Hannibal's army had just completed the legendary crossing of the Alps — losing perhaps half its force to cold, starvation, and ambush — yet struck immediately. He lured the Roman consul Sempronius into crossing the icy Trebia River on a freezing December morning by using Numidian cavalry to raid the Roman camp. The legions crossed the river hungry, cold, and wet. Hannibal's brother Mago, hidden with 1,000 cavalry and infantry in the reed beds along the bank, burst from ambush into the Roman rear. The double envelopment was almost complete; only the Roman centre, fighting its way through the Carthaginian line, escaped. Some 20,000 Romans died.
Commanders