, exhausted by the hardships and fatigues they had undergone.
After a short interval of repose, he turned his arms against the
Taurinians (a tribe bordering on, and hostile to, the Insubrians), whom
he quickly reduced, and took their principal city (Turin). The news of
the approach of P. Scipio next obliged him to turn his attention toward
a more formidable enemy. In the first action, which took place in the
plains westward of the Ticinus, the cavalry and light-armed troops of
the two armies were alone engaged, and the superiority of Hannibal's
Numidian horse at once decided the combat in his favor. The Romans were
completely routed, and Scipio himself severely wounded; in consequence
of which he hastened to retreat beyond the Ticinus and the Po, under the
walls of Placentia. Hannibal crossed the Po higher up, and, advancing to
Placentia, offered battle to Scipio; but the latter declined the combat,
and withdrew to the hills on the left bank of the Trebia. Here he was
soon after joined by the other Consul, Ti. Sempronius Longus, who had
hastened from Ariminum to his support. Their combined armies were
greatly superior to that of the Carthaginians, and Sempronius was eager
to bring on a general battle, of which Hannibal, on his side, was not
less desirous, notwithstanding the great inferiority of his force. The
result was decisive; the Romans were completely defeated, with heavy
loss; and the remains of their shattered army, together with the two
Consuls, took refuge within the walls of Placentia. The battles of the
Ticinus and Trebia had been fought in December, and the winter had
already begun with unusual severity, so that Hannibal's troops suffered
severely from cold, and all his elephants perished except one. But his
victory had caused all the wavering tribes of the Gauls to declare in
his favor, and he was now able to take up his winter quarters in
security, and to levy fresh troops among the Gauls while he awaited the
approach of spring.

[Illustration: Coasts of the Mediterranean, illustrating the History of
the Punic.]

As soon as the season permitted the renewal of military operations (B.C.
217), Hannibal entered the country of the Ligurian tribes, who had
lately declared in his favor, and descended by the valley of the Macra
into the marshes on the banks of the Arno. He had apparently chosen this
route in order to avoid the Roman armies, which guarded the more obvious
passes of the Apennines; but the hardship