Editing Hannibal (section)

===Battle of Trebia===
{{Main|Battle of the Trebia}}
[[File:Battle Trebia-numbers.svg|thumb|300px|A diagram depicting the tactics used in the [[Battle of the Trebia]]]]
Hannibal's perilous march brought him into the Roman territory and frustrated the attempts of the enemy to fight out the main issue on foreign ground. His sudden appearance among the [[Gaul]]s of the Po Valley, moreover, enabled him to detach those tribes from their new allegiance to the Romans before the Romans could take steps to check the rebellion. [[Publius Cornelius Scipio (consul 218 BC)|Publius Cornelius Scipio]] was the consul who commanded the Roman force sent to intercept Hannibal. He was also the father of Scipio Africanus.<ref name="dodge_old"/>

He had not expected Hannibal to make an attempt to cross the Alps, since the Romans were prepared to fight the war in the Iberian Peninsula. With a small detachment still positioned in Gaul, Scipio made an attempt to intercept Hannibal. He succeeded, through prompt decision and speedy movement, in transporting his army to Italy by sea in time to meet Hannibal. Hannibal's forces moved through the Po Valley and were engaged in the [[Battle of Ticinus]]. Here, Hannibal forced the Romans to evacuate the plain of [[Lombardy]], by virtue of his superior cavalry.<ref name="dodge_old">[[Theodore Ayrault Dodge|Dodge, Theodore]]. ''Hannibal''. Cambridge Massachusetts: Da Capo Press, 1891; {{ISBN|0-306-81362-9}}</ref> The victory was minor, but it encouraged the Gauls and Ligurians to join the Carthaginian cause. Their troops bolstered his army back to around 40,000 men. Scipio was severely injured, his life only saved by the bravery of his son who rode back onto the field to rescue his fallen father. Scipio retreated across the Trebia to camp at [[Piacenza|Placentia]] with his army mostly intact.<ref name="dodge_old" />

The other [[Roman consul]]ar army was rushed to the Po Valley. Even before news of the defeat at Ticinus had reached Rome, the Senate had ordered Consul [[Tiberius Sempronius Longus (consul 218 BC)|Tiberius Sempronius Longus]] to bring his army back from Sicily to meet Scipio and face Hannibal. Hannibal, by skillful maneuvers, was in position to head him off, for he lay on the direct road between Placentia and Arminum, by which Sempronius would have to march to reinforce Scipio. He then captured Clastidium, from which he drew large amounts of supplies for his men. But this gain was not without loss, as Sempronius avoided Hannibal's watchfulness, slipped around his flank, and joined his colleague in his camp near the [[Trebbia|Trebia River]] near [[Piacenza|Placentia]]. There Hannibal had an opportunity to show his masterful military skill at the Trebia in December of the same year, after wearing down the superior Roman infantry, when he cut it to pieces with a surprise attack and ambush from the flanks. However, most or all of his war elephants had died of injuries or the cold that winter and none took part in the succeeding battles at Lake Trasimene and/or Cannae.{{cn|date=February 2024}}