ntrive some plan to draw the latter out into
battle under circumstances in which he would have to act at a great
disadvantage. He did contrive such a plan. It succeeded admirably; and
the case was one of those numerous instances which occurred in the
history of Hannibal, of successful stratagem, which led the Romans to
say that his leading traits of character were treachery and cunning.

Hannibal's plan was, in a word, an attempt to draw the Roman army out
of its encampment on a dark, cold, and stormy night in December, and
get them into the river. This river was the Trebia. It flowed north
into the Po, between the Roman and Carthaginian camps. His scheme, in
detail, was to send a part of his army over the river to attack the
Romans in the night or very early in the morning. He hoped that by
this means Sempronius would be induced to come out of his camp to
attack the Carthaginians. The Carthaginians were then to fly and
recross the river, and Hannibal hoped that Sempronius would follow,
excited by the ardor of pursuit. Hannibal was then to have a strong
reserve of the army, that had remained all the time in warmth and
safety, to come out and attack the Romans with unimpaired strength and
vigor, while the Romans themselves would be benumbed by the cold and
wet, and disorganized by the confusion produced in crossing the
stream.

A part of Hannibal's reserve were to be placed in an ambuscade. There
were some meadows near the water, which were covered in many places
with tall grass and bushes. Hannibal went to examine the spot, and
found that this shrubbery was high enough for even horsemen to be
concealed in it. He determined to place a thousand foot soldiers and a
thousand horsemen here, the most efficient and courageous in the
army. He selected them in the following manner:

He called one of his lieutenant generals to the spot, explained
somewhat of his design to him, and then asked him to go and choose
from the cavalry and the infantry, a hundred each, the best soldiers
he could find. This two hundred were then assembled, and Hannibal,
after surveying them with looks of approbation and pleasure, said,
"Yes, you are the men I want, only, instead of two hundred, I need two
thousand. Go back to the army, and select and bring to me, each of
you, nine men like yourselves." It is easy to be imagined that the
soldiers were pleased with this commission, and that they executed it
faithfully. The whole force thus chosen was so