Battle of the Trebia 218 BC
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Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Year | 218 BC | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
|---|---|---|
| Era | Ancient (before 500) | derived from year |
| Location | Italy | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Europe | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Second Punic War | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | Hannibal, Tiberius Sempronius Longus | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 44.9875, 9.5675 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of the Trebia (or Trebbia) was the first major battle of the Second Punic War, fought between the Carthaginian forces of Hannibal and a Roman army under Sempronius Longus on 22 or 23 December 218 BC. Each army had a strength of about 40,000 men; the Carthaginians were stronger in cavalry, the Romans in infantry. The battle took place on the flood plain of the west bank of the lower Trebia River, not far from the settlement of Placentia (modern Piacenza), and resulted in a heavy defeat for the Romans.
War broke out between Carthage and Rome in 218 BC. The leading Carthaginian general, Hannibal, responded by leading a large army out of Iberia (modern Spain and Portugal), through Gaul, across the Alps and into Cisalpine Gaul (in northern Italy). The Romans went on the attack against the reduced force which had survived the rigours of the march, and Publius Scipio personally led the cavalry and light infantry of the army he commanded against the Carthaginian cavalry at the Battle of Ticinus. The Romans were soundly beaten and Scipio was wounded. The Romans retreated to near Placentia, fortified their camp and awaited reinforcement. The Roman army in Sicily under Sempronius was redeployed to the north and joined with Scipio's force.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of the Trebia (revision 1370602563), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
- Battle of Rottofreddo 1746 · 7 km
- Battle of Trebbia (1799) 1799 · 7 km
- Battle of Placentia (194 BC) 194 BC · 12 km
- Battle of Placentia (271) 271 · 13 km
- Battle of Piacenza 1746 · 13 km
- Battle of Fombio 1796 · 21 km
Other battles of the Second Punic War
- Siege of Saguntum 219 BC
- Battle of Cissa 218 BC
- Battle of Lilybaeum 218 BC
- Battle of Ticinus 218 BC
- Battle of the Rhône Crossing 218 BC
- Siege of Mutina (218 BC) 218 BC
- Battle of Ager Falernus 217 BC
- Battle of Ebro River 217 BC
- Battle of Geronium 217 BC
- Battle of Lake Trasimene 217 BC
All 50 battles of the Second Punic War →
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