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Battle of the Ticinus, fought in 218 BCE during the Second Punic War, was Hannibal’s first clash with Roman forces in Italy and ended in a Carthaginian victory.
Historical Background
During the march on Rome, Hannibal greatly reduced the size of his army. At the beginning of the expedition, it numbered 50,000 infantry and 9,000 cavalry, but by the time they left the Alps, it had only 20,000 infantry and 6,000 cavalry. It should be noted that the Punic cavalry suffered relatively fewer losses than the infantry during the march and became a key factor in Hannibal’s later victories. The cavalry were the elite of the Punic army and may have been better paid than the infantry. The Carthaginian army, reduced in numbers by the difficult march from Spain, descended from the mountainous terrain of the Alps to the plains of northern Italy near the center of the Taurines (modern Turin). The Carthaginian leader now faced two tasks: providing food for his subordinates and recruiting local Gauls for the invading army. Since the Taurines were not interested in helping Hannibal, he besieged their main city (oppidum). After three days, the Taurines’ center fell to the Punics, along with their food stores. It was at this point that Hannibal received word that Publius Cornelius Scipio was operating in the Po River valley. After giving his troops a rest, Barcisus set off in that direction, and Scipio marched out of the colony of Placentia (today’s Piacenza) to meet him. Hannibal, wanting to inspire his subordinates, asked that the Allobrogean prisoners fight each other to the death. The victor was to take his weapons and the horse of the defeated and go free. This episode was to show the Carthaginians their own situation by analogy.
Battle of the Ticinus, November 218 BC
The two armies advanced toward each other along the northern bank of the Po River. On its tributary, the Ticinus, Scipio constructed a bridge of boats, an ancient version of a pontoon bridge. After two days, scouts from both armies reported the enemy’s approach. Both leaders halted their armies’ advance and set up camp. The next day, Scipio and Hannibal led out large forces and set out to reconnoiter. Hannibal’s forces made up the bulk of his entire cavalry, numbering 6,000 men; Scipio led his entire cavalry, although considerably smaller than the Carthaginians, consisting of Romans, Latins, and Gauls. Scipio’s force was accompanied by light infantry (velites). Both leaders began the battle confident of victory. Scipio placed his velites in the front row, accompanied by the Romans’ Gallic allies, while the Italian cavalry stood in reserve. The Romans’ positioning indicates that their leader planned a long cannonade of missiles at the beginning of the battle, in which, in addition to the velites, the cavalry would also play a role, moving quickly at the enemy to throw missiles and retreating just as quickly to their own. Hannibal formed his center with the Spanish cavalry, and on both flanks he placed the Numidians, cavalry “as fast as the sand of the Sahara”. Before the velites threw out their “pila”, Scipio and Hannibal threw their cavalry units into the charge in close formation. It should be emphasized that some of the riders fought on foot – not the only time in history. The groups of foot cavalry provided excellent support for their colleagues fighting on horseback, who could retreat behind the “foot soldiers” for a moment to cool down after the fight and prepare for another charge. The battle remained indecisive until the Numidians “flooded” the Roman flanks. The Velites fled and were eliminated from the fight by the Punic cavalry. Some of the Numidians rushed to the rear of the Roman cavalry, causing it to flee. It was then that the episode later mentioned by historians took place. The severely wounded Roman commander was saved by his 17-year-old son, who later defeated Hannibal. However, the earlier version of events stated that it was a Ligurian slave who saved the Roman leader. The most popular version states that the young Publius was at the rear at the head of a cavalry unit, and then went to rescue his father. Thanks to this, the Roman commander, escorted by the cavalry, could freely retreat to his own.
Significance of the Battle
The Battle of the Ticinus was the first clash between the Punics and the Romans on Italian soil. It showed Carthage’s superiority over Rome and was a foreshadowing of Hannibal’s future victories. The battle showed that the Punic cavalry was in better shape than the Romans. The clash confirmed the possibility of further fighting by the Carthaginian army on Italian soil. The battle also had an impact on the morale of the Romans: before the battle, the Roman commander showed energy and enthusiasm for the fight, while the defeat at the Ticinus destroyed his self-confidence.
