Rout of the Roman army near Trebia
At the moment when, in their terror, they were about to fall back on the Carthaginians themselves, Hannibal ordered them to pass from the center towards the extremities, and to direct them on the left wing, against the auxiliary Gauls:the rout was not not for a moment doubtful. Increased alarm for the Romans, at the sight of the flight of the auxiliaries. Also, obliged to fight at all points, about ten thousand men, for the rest could not escape, opened a passage, by the massacre of many enemies, through the center of the African army, reinforced auxiliary Gauls; and, as it was impossible for them to regain the camp, the entrance to which was closed by Trebia, or to distinguish enough, because of the rain, the places where they could have come to the aid of their people, they went straight to Placentia. . Everyone then tried to escape one way or another. Those who ran towards the river were engulfed in the waters, or overwhelmed by the Carthaginians, if they hesitated to attempt the passage. Those who, in their flight, had dispersed across the fields, took the road to Plaisance, in the footsteps of the army corps which was making its retreat. Still others, emboldened by the very fear of the enemy, rushed into Trebia, crossed it successfully, and took refuge in their lines. A rain mixed with snow, and the intolerable rigor of the cold, caused the death of a great number of horses and almost all the elephants. The Carthaginians did not pursue the Romans beyond the river, and they returned to their camp, so chilled and frozen, that they hardly felt the joy of their victory. So the following night, when the detachment assigned to guard our intrenchments, and the weak remnants of our numerous troops, crossed the Trebia on rafts, the Carthaginians did not notice it; either because the rain was falling in torrents, or because, unable, by their lassitude and their wounds, to make any movement, they pretended not to hear anything. Scipio, without being disturbed in his silent march, led his division to Piacenza:from there, crossing the Po, he reached Cremona, so that the cantonment of two armies would not remain the responsibility of a single colony.