Battle of the Ticinius, Northern Italy 218 B.C.E
Circumstances, Tactics, and Aftermath
Circumstances
After his famous crossing of the Alps, Hannibal entered Italy with 26,000 men who were battered and hungry, but also very tough and experienced. Those who were not had died during the long march from Spain.
Hannibal was positioned in the Po valley, where he could rest safely because most of its Celtic inhabitants supported him.* Those who did not, he intimidated.
Roman consul Publius Scipio+, had recently arrived in Italy by ship and taken command of a newly-raised legion already nearby, and now waited for Hannibal to descend the Alps.{}
Tactics
The armies met on the northern bank of the Po river, just west of a tributary stream called the Ticinius. They approached each other head-on, Romans from the west and Carthaginians from the east. Hannibal and his heavy cavalry formed the Carthaginian center; half his light cavalry rode on each flank. These last men were Numidians from North Africa, a group feared for their expert riding and lethality with javelins.
On the Roman side, Scipio advanced his smaller cavalry force as a single line; to compensate for the numerical disadvantage, his horsemen rode just behind a line of javelin-infantry. These men were intended to thin out the enemy before the lines met, then retreat. Both armies kept their main infantry force well to the rear.
The two armies’ horsemen closed with each other quickly; the Roman javelin-men fled without throwing, to avoid being trampled. Still, the battle began evenly-matched in the center, if bloody. Polybius claims the Romans had the upper hand, but if so it did not last long. Hannibal’s Numidian cavalry got around the Roman flanks and rear, slaughtering the javelin-infantry and scattering Scipio’s cavalry.
Though he escaped and led his remaining forces to safety, Scipio was horribly wounded in the fighting. Some sources say he was saved through his son's+ heroism.
Aftermath
Scipio withdrew across the Ticinius river, and camped at the fortified Roman colony of Placentia to tend the wounded and await reinforcement. However, when Hannibal drew near, Scipio’s few Celtic troops launched a bloody night-time mutiny, and then defected to the enemy. Badly shaken, the Romans withdrew again.
Ticinius had little effect on morale in Rome itself, because Romans viewed a cavalry-only battle as minor. Yet those infantry present had watched the defeat unfold, endured the shameful retreat and the Celtic mutiny. For them, it must have been a devastating week.
Further, Rome’s dominance in Italy depended on subservient allies, which made it vulnerable to loss of face on the battlefield. This is evidenced by the Celtic mutiny, and the fact many city-states defected to Hannibal’s cause after Ticinius.
Sources
1. Polybius. The Rise of the Roman Empire. Translation by Scott-Kilvert, Ian. New York: Penguin Group, 1979. Penguin Press, Inc., New York 10014.
2.Cottrell, Leonard. Hannibal: Enemy of Rome. New York: Da Capo Press, 1992. Da Capo Press Inc, New York 10013.
*3. Livy. The War with Hannibal. Translation by De Selincourt, Aubrey. New York: Penguin Group, 1965. Penguin Press, Inc., New York 10014.
*primarily for fact-checking. In-text citations were omitted because Cottrell and Polybius closely agreed on everything.
* Livy suggests Hannibal owed their support largely to advance planning and bribery on his own part.
+ Scipio Africanus, who later won the war for Rome by defeating Hannibal at Zama, was Publius Scipio’s son.He also fought at Ticinius.
{} The army with which he had failed to intercept Hannibal in southern France, he had sent to Spain.
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