Battle of Tizin

The most important sources describing the battle of Titsin are Polybius 's “General History” (II century BC) and “The History from the Foundation of the City” by Titus Livius (I century BC). The works of earlier authors - the Romans Quintus Ennius , Fabius Pictor , Tsintsiy Aliment , Cato the Elder , Celius Antipater , Valery Antsiat , Claudius Quadragaria and the pro-Carthaginian historians Sosil, Silenus, Filin of Sicily - either did not fully survive, or came in insignificant fragments ^[1] .

Information from them is often contradictory and has several disadvantages. So, the advantages of Polybius's work include awareness and the critical method of selecting sources used by him, and his shortcomings include his sympathy for the Romans and the Scipio family ^[2] . The works of Titus Livius, according to S. Lansel, the work of Livius should be taken with caution, given the pro-Roman sympathies of the historian ^[3] . In addition, Titus Livy lived much later than the events described and, most likely, often used the work of Polybius in describing the Hannibal War ^[4] .

In the fall of 218 BC e. the Carthaginian army descended from the Alps into the fertile valley of the Po River. The goal of the trek through the Alps was achieved at a high price. If at the beginning of the campaign Hannibal had about 80 thousand infantry, 10 thousand cavalry and 37 elephants, then he brought to Italy only 20 thousand infantry, 6 thousand cavalry and several elephants ^[5] .

Scipio came from the mouth of the Rhone to Pisa , having received there two legions under his command. Learning that Hannibal was in Italy, the consul hastily moved to Placenza to intercept the Carthaginians there and not give them the necessary rest. After descending from the Alps, Hannibal, as a result of miscalculations of the Romans, gave his soldiers several days of rest. The Carthaginians captured the capital of the Taurine tribe (future Turin ), which refused to form an alliance with them, taking it after a three-day siege. The appearance of Hannibal in Italy came as a surprise to the Romans ^[6] . This led to the collapse of the Roman war plan, which did not imply the appearance of an adversary on Italian soil. As a result, the Carthaginians were able to recover from the losses incurred and retain the strategic initiative ^[7] . The senators immediately called the second consul of Tiberius Sempronius Long from Lilibey . The consul immediately dismissed the fleet and assigned his soldiers a gathering place in Arimin ^[7] .

Some Gallic tribes began to side with the Carthaginians, but the presence of the Romans prevented other tribes from joining Hannibal ^[8] . Scipio, who was in Placencia , crossed the Pad River and moved towards Hannibal. Hannibal also counted on the battle, hoping that after the victory the Gauls would go over to his side ^[8] .

Scipio crossed the Titin River over the hastily erected bridge, leaving a small detachment for his protection. At this time, Hannibal was moving along the opposite bank of the Pada ^[9] .

Scipio crossed to the left bank of the Pada and stopped at the confluence of the Titsin River. His army now controlled the path north of Pada, where Hannibal was supposed to go, and if he wanted to cross, the Placencia fortress would stand in his way, and the Romans could threaten his flank and rear. However, Scipio left his advantageous position, apparently fearing that Hannibal would nevertheless cross over imperceptibly. In addition, the army of Sempronius was already moving to help, and Scipio could not allow all the glory to go to him ^[10] . Therefore, he ordered to cross over Titsin, and he himself addressed the army with a speech ^[11] . He pointed out that the Carthaginians had previously suffered defeats from the Romans, and now they are still tired and bloodless after crossing the Alps, and the battle with them will inevitably end in victory. This speech had an effect, and the legionnaires were now eager for battle ^[12] .

In this situation, Hannibal paid special attention to the psychological preparation of the soldiers. For this, the youngest and most hardy were selected from the captured highlanders captured during the passage through the Alps. Prior to that, they were deliberately mistreated. Hannibal ordered the horses to be brought out, good weapons and raincoats to be carried out. After that, he turned to the prisoners through translators and asked which of them wanted to fight on the conditions that the winner would receive the displayed items as a reward, and the loser would be freed from death by death. Everyone agreed, and since there were many, the Carthaginian commander ordered to cast lots ^{[12] [13]} .

At the end of the match, Hannibal made a speech to the army, the contents of which are summarized in the work of Polybius and in more detail with Libya ^[13] . He said that what they saw was a clear embodiment of their own destiny - to defeat, die or fall alive into the hands of enemies ^[13] . He also pointed out that under his leadership the veterans of Spain gathered, and Scipio himself was not experienced, and was leading recruits into battle ^[14] . In the end, Hannibal urged his people to find the great will to win in themselves ^[15] .

The Romans completed the construction of a bridge over Titsin and crossed to the other side of the river. Hannibal sent five hundred Numidians, led by Magarbal, to plunder the lands of the Roman allies, but to spare the Gauls ^[14] . When news of the approach of the Romans reached him, Hannibal, who was near the town of Victumul, recalled Magarbal and made another speech before his soldiers, promising rewards for military valor. He promised each of them land allotment, freedom from paying taxes to them and their descendants, at the request of Carthaginian citizenship, promised slaves freedom, and he promised the owners to provide two slaves as compensation ^[16] . Then, according to Titus Livius, Hannibal, taking a lamb in his left hand and a stone in his right hand, called upon the gods to testify that if he breaks the word, then he will be the same with him as a lamb, and with one blow smashed the animal’s head ^{[ 17]} .

On the third day after the crossing of the Romans to the other side of Titsin, Scipio, taking cavalry and Velites with him, went on reconnaissance of the Carthaginian positions. At the same time, Hannibal came forward to meet him, taking with him only cavalry ^[14] .

Both commanders had serious doubts about the fighting qualities of their warriors. That is why, perhaps, they both did not bring infantry with them (Scipio took only the Velites). Their calculation was based on the use of cavalry, perhaps because it was in better shape ^[18] .

Carthaginians

According to Polybius, all the horsemen that had Hannibal went with him to scout. This amounted to at least 6 thousand Spanish and Numidian warriors who crossed the Alps. There is no information about the Gallic cavalry, but perhaps there were Gallic horsemen with Hannibal. Judging by the fact that Hannibal was able to send 500 Numidian horsemen for foraging , he had numerous cavalry. However, the forces of Scipio exceeded his own at least three times ^[18] .

When the enemy approached, Hannibal ordered the formation of a battle formation. The center of the Carthaginian army was occupied by heavily armed and Iberian horsemen, and Numidian horsemen were located on the flanks. The task of the latter was to inflict attacks on the Roman army on the flanks and rear ^[19] .

Romans

Scipio had an army of 15 thousand foot soldiers (who participated in this battle only partially), 600 Roman horsemen, 900 allied horsemen and about 2 thousand Gallic horsemen ^[18] .

Scipio placed dart throwers (velites) and an allied Gallic cavalry in the front ranks of his construction, and Roman and allied horsemen stood behind them ^[19] .

The meeting of the opponents took place suddenly, they learned about each other's approach from the thick clouds of dust and began to be built in battle order. The battle took place north of the left bank of the Pada, between its tributaries Titsin and Sesia , at approximately the same distance from both. It is believed that this battle took place in the vicinity of Lomello ^[16] .

Opponents bonded to each other. The Roman slingers barely managed to fire one shell each at a time when they were forced to retreat into the “corridors” between their horse troops, as the heavily armed enemy horsemen approached them. Now the Roman cavalry entered the battle, and for some time the horse battle continued. Many Carthaginian horsemen dismounted to fight the Velites, and soon the horse battle turned into a horse-foot battle ^[16] .

The Numidian horsemen circumvented the Romans from the flanks and suddenly hit them in the rear, where the Velites stood. In the ranks of the Romans began to panic. The Roman cavalry for some time restrained the onslaught of the Numidians, but soon they also trembled and fled. During this panic, Scipio was injured, but was saved by his son . According to Celius Antipater, the consul was saved by a certain Ligurian slave ^[20] . Polybius reports the salvation of the consul by his son in a description of the events of 210 BC. e. and writes that he heard this story from a friend of Scipio the Younger Guy Lelia ^[21] .

There is no exact data on losses of both parties. Polybius’s claim that the Romans inflicted more damage on the Carthaginians than they themselves suffered, according to the historian E. Rodionov, clearly does not correspond to reality ^[22] .

Hannibal expected that Scipio and his infantry would soon be ready to fight again with him. Since Hannibal had only cavalry, he refused to storm the Roman camp and retreated to his camp. Scipio already had little cavalry, and so he decided to retreat. At night, the Roman army left the camp and crossed, according to Polybius, over the bridge to the other side of Titsin ^[23] . According to Libya, Scipio crossed to the other side of the Pada. Probably, the Romans first crossed the bridge over Titsin, and then over the floating bridge over the Pad ^[24] . When the Romans were already approaching Placencia, Hannibal found out that they were gone.

When he approached Titsin, the Romans were already out of reach, and the bridge over the river was destroyed. The Carthaginians could only capture 600 Romans left to guard the crossing. Hannibal set off east, about to cross the Pad. For two days, the Carthaginians walked upstream until they found a convenient place for the construction of a pontoon bridge. At the same time, ambassadors from Gallic tribes arrived at Hannibal with offers of friendship, assistance with supplies, and a joint struggle against Rome. Thus, his plan began to be implemented. The Roman tribes began to cross to the side of Carthage ^[25] .

During the crossing, the cavalry, on an accelerated march, had already approached Placenia. On the third day after the crossing, the whole Carthaginian army approached Placenia, which immediately formed a battle formation. However, Scipio did not answer this challenge and did not withdraw his soldiers from the camp. At night, the Celts, planning to run to Hannibal, staged a massacre in one part of the Roman camp and fled ^[26] .

Fears that the Gauls would rise soon made Scipio retreat even further. Hannibal sent the Numidians in pursuit, but having hesitated in the abandoned Roman camp, they could not catch up with the Romans, who camped by the River Trebia , waiting for the approach of the army of Tiberius Sempronius Long ^[27] .

Sources

• Titus Livy . History from the founding of the city
• Polybius . General history
• Appian . Roman history

Research

• Gabriel R.A. Hannibal. Military Biography of Rome's Greatest Enemy = Hannibal: The Military Biography of Rome's Greatest Enemy. - M .: Centerpolygraph, 2012 .-- 318 p. - 3000 copies. - ISBN 978-5-227-03130-3 .
• Korablev I. Sh . Hannibal . - M .: Science, 1976.
• Lancel S. Hannibal. - M .: Young Guard, 2002 .-- 356 p. - (The life of wonderful people).
• Rodionov E. Roman legions against Hannibal. Carthage must be destroyed !. - M .: Yauza: Eksmo, 2012 .-- 608 p. - (Legions in battle. Roman wars).
• Shustov V.E. Wars and battles of the Ancient World. - Rostov-on-Don: Phoenix, 2006 .-- 521 p. - ISBN 5-222-09075-2 .
• Hoyos D. Hannibal's Dinasty: Power and Politics in the Western Mediterranean, 247 - 183 BC. - London: Routledge, 2003.
• Lazenby JF Hannibal's War: A Military History of the Second Punic War. - Norman: Unversity of Oklahoma Press, 1994.