Editing 218 BC (section)

==== Roman Republic ====
*Second Punic War
:* In response to the threat of Hannibal the Romans assemble three armies:
::* The [[consul]] prior, [[Publius Cornelius Scipio (consul 218 BC)|Publius Cornelius Scipio]], raises two [[Roman legions]] and two Latin [[Ala (Roman allied military unit)|alae]] for a total of 22,000 infantry and 2,200 cavalry. He is also assigned 60 warships and hundreds of transports. Scipio receives the [[Iberian Peninsula]] as his area of operations (his imperium).<ref name=Goldsworthy>{{cite book | title=The Fall of Carthage | first1=Adrian | last1=Goldsworthy | page=151 | publisher=Orion Books Ltd | place=London | year=2006 | isbn=978-0-3043-6642-2}}</ref>
::* The consul posterior, [[Tiberius Sempronius Longus (consul 218 BC)|Tiberius Sempronius Longus]], also raises two Roman legions and two Latin alae for a total of 24,000 infantry and 2,400 cavalry. He gathers a fleet of 180 warships and hundreds of transports. Longus receives [[Sicily]] and [[Africa (Roman province)|Africa]] as his area of operation (his imperium) and was to invade Africa and attack [[Ancient Carthage|Carthage]] directly.<ref name=Goldsworthy/>
::* [[Praetor]] Lucius Manlius Vulso also receives two legions and raises 10,000 allied infantry and 1,000 allied cavalry (for a total of 18,000 infantry and 1,600 cavalry) and is sent into [[Cisalpine Gaul]] to keep an eye on the [[Celtic people|Celtic tribes]].<ref name=Goldsworthy/>
:* The Roman army, under consul, [[Tiberius Sempronius Longus (consul 218 BC)|Tiberius Sempronius Longus]], assembles in [[Sicily]] to embark for Northern Africa. Longus managed to [[Capture of Malta (218 BC)|capture Malta]] from the Carthaginians.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Castillo |first1=Dennis Angelo |title=The Maltese Cross: A Strategic History of Malta |date=2006 |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |isbn=9780313323294 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i5ns5LNtoiUC |pages=20–26}}</ref>
:* [[Hannibal's crossing of the Alps]]: Hannibal took 38 North African war elephants across the Alps from [[Gaul]] into [[Cisalpine Gaul]] to invade Rome. Almost none of the elephants survived the harsh conditions of the Alps. This led to the Romans cancelling their invasion of Africa.
:* [[Battle of Ticinus]]: Hannibal defeats Scipio.
* The [[Roman Senate]] orders Sempronius Longus to travel from Sicily to reinforce Scipio's troops.
* [[December 18]]: [[Battle of the Trebia]]: Hannibal defeats the combined Roman armies under Sempronius and Scipio.