The Young Carthaginian: A Story of The Times of Hannibal

by G. A. Henty

  CHAPTER XIII: THE BATTLE OF THE TREBIA

  Well was it for the Carthaginians that Hannibal had openedcommunications with the Gaulish tribes in the plains at the foot ofthe Alps, and that on its issue from the mountain passes his army founditself among friends, for had it been attacked it was in no position tooffer a vigorous resistance, the men being utterly broken down by theirfatigues and demoralized by their losses. Many were suffering terriblyfrom frostbites, the cavalry were altogether unable to act, so worn outand enfeebled were the horses. Great numbers of the men could scarcedrag themselves along owing to the state of their feet; their shoes andsandals, well enough adapted for sandy plains, were wholly unfitted fortraversing rocky precipices, and the greater part of the army was almostbarefoot.

  So long as they had been traversing the mountains they had struggled ondoggedly and desperately; to lag behind was to be slain by the natives,to lie down was to perish of cold; but with the cessation of theabsolute necessity for exertion the power for exertion ceased also.Worn out, silent, exhausted, and almost despairing, the army of Hannibalpresented the appearance of one which had suffered a terrible defeat,rather than that of a body of men who had accomplished a feat of armsunrivalled in the history of war.

  Happily they found themselves among friends. The Insubres, who had beenlooking forward eagerly to their coming, flocked in great numbers toreceive them as they issued out into the plain, bringing with themcattle, grain, wine, and refreshments of all kinds, and inviting thearmy to take up their quarters among them until recovered from theirfatigues. This offer Hannibal at once accepted. The army was brokenup and scattered among the various towns and villages, where theinhabitants vied with each other in attending to the comforts of theguests. A fortnight's absolute rest, an abundance of food, and theconsciousness that the worst of their labours was over, did wonders forthe men.

  Malchus had arrived in a state of extreme exhaustion, and had, indeed,been carried for the last two days of the march on the back of one ofthe elephants. The company which he commanded no longer existed; theyhad borne far more than their share of the fatigues of the march; theyhad lost nearly half their number in the conflict among the precipiceswith the natives, and while the rest of the army had marched along atrack where the snow had already been beaten hard by the cavalry infront of them, the scouts ahead had to make their way through snow kneedeep. Inured to fatigue and hardship, the Arabs were unaccustomed tocold, and every day had diminished their numbers, until, as they issuedout into the plain, but twenty men of the company remained alive.

  Hannibal committed his young kinsman to the care of one of the chiefsof the Insubres. The latter caused a litter to be constructed by hisfollowers, and carried the young Carthaginian away to his village, whichwas situated at the foot of the hills on the banks of the river Orcus.

  Here he was handed over to the care of the women. The wounds and bruisescaused by falls on the rocks and ice were bathed and bandaged, then hewas placed in a small chamber and water was poured on to heated stonesuntil it was filled with hot steam, and Malchus began to think thathe was going to be boiled alive. After being kept for an hour in thisvapour bath, he was annointed with oil, and was rubbed until every limbwas supple, he was then placed on a couch and covered with soft skins,and in a few more minutes was sound asleep.

  It was late next day before he woke, and on rising he found himself anew man. A breakfast of meat, fresh cheese formed from goats' milk, andflat cakes was set before him, and, had it not been that his feet werestill completely disabled from the effects of the frostbites, he feltthat he was fit again to take his place in the ranks. The chief's wifeand daughters waited upon him. The former was a tall, majestic lookingwoman. She did not belong to the Insubres, but was the daughter of achief who had, with a portion of his tribe, wandered down from theirnative home far north of the Alps and settled in Italy.

  Two of the daughters were young women of over twenty, tall and robust infigure like their mother, the third was a girl of some fifteen years ofage. The girls took after their German mother, and Malchus wondered atthe fairness of their skins, the clearness of their complexion, and thesoft light brown of their hair, for they were as much fairer than theGauls as these were fairer than the Carthaginians. Malchus was able tohold little converse with his hosts, whose language differed much fromthat of the Transalpine Gauls.

  His stay here was destined to be much longer than he had anticipated,for his feet had been seriously frostbitten, and for some time itwas doubtful whether he would not lose them. Gradually, however, theinflammation decreased, but it was six weeks after his arrival before hewas able to walk. From time to time messengers had arrived from Hannibaland his father to inquire after him, and from them he learned that theCarthaginians had captured the towns of Vercella, Valentinum, andAsta, and the less important towns of Ivrea, Chivasso, Bodenkmag, andCarbantia.

  By the time he was cured he was able to talk freely with his hosts, forhe soon mastered the points of difference between their language andthat of the Gauls, with which he was already acquainted. The chief, withthe greater part of his followers, now started and joined the army ofHannibal, which laid siege to the town of Turin, whose inhabitants werein alliance with Rome. It was strongly fortified. Hannibal erected anintrenchment at a distance of sixty yards from the wall, and under coverof this sank a well, and thence drove a wide gallery, the roof abovebeing supported by props.

  Divided in brigades, each working six hours, the troops laboured nightand day, and in three days from its commencement the gallery was carriedunder the walls. It was then driven right and left for thirty yards eachway, and was filled with wood, combustibles, and explosives. The workersthen retired and the wood was fired, the props supporting the roof weresoon burned away, the earth above fell in bringing down the walls, anda great breach was made, through which the besiegers, drawn up inreadiness, rushed in and captured the town.

  On the same day that Hannibal captured Turin, Scipio entered Piacenza.After finding that Hannibal had escaped him on the Rhone, he haddespatched the principal part of his army, under his brother Cneius, toSpain, their original destination, and with the rest sailed to Pisa andlanded there. Marching with all haste north he enlisted 10,000 troopsfrom among the inhabitants of the country, many of them having alreadyserved in the Roman army. He then marched north to Tenneto, where he wasjoined by the praetors Manlius and Attilius with over 20,000 men, withwhom he marched to Piacenza.

  Hannibal, after, as usual, rousing the enthusiasm of his soldiers byan address, marched towards Scipio. The latter, with his cavalry, hadcrossed the Ticino and was within five miles of Vercella, when Hannibal,also with his cavalry, came within sight. Scipio's front was coveredwith a swarm of foot skirmishers mixed with irregular Gaulish horsemen;the Roman cavalry and the cavalry of the Italian allies formed his mainbody.

  Hannibal ordered the Carthaginian horse to charge full upon the centreof the enemy, and the Numidians to attack them on both flanks. TheRomans, in those days, little understood the use of cavalry, the troopsfrequently dismounting and fighting on foot. Hannibal's soldiers were,on the other hand, trained to fight in tactics resembling thoseof modern days. No sooner was the word given to charge than theCarthaginian horse, delighted at being at last, after all their toilsand sufferings, within striking distance of their foes, gave a mightyshout, and setting spurs to their splendid horses flung themselves atthe enemy.

  The charge of this solid mass of picked cavalry was irresistible. Theyswept before them the skirmishers and Gaulish horse, and fell with furyupon the main body, cleaving a way far into its ranks. Before the Romanscould recover from their confusion the Numidian horse burst down upontheir flanks. The charge was irresistible; large numbers of theRomans were killed and the rest fled in panic, hotly pursued by theCarthaginians, until they reached the shelter of the Roman infantry,which was advancing behind them. Scipio, who had been wounded in thefight, at once led his army back to Piacenza.

  The news of this battle reached Malchus just as
he was preparing todepart. The messenger who brought it brought also a lead horse, whichHamilcar had sent for his son's use. Resuming his armour Malchus mountedand rode off at once, after many warm thanks to his friends, whom heexpected to see again shortly, as they, with the rest of that sectionof the tribe, were about to join the chief--the Gaulish women frequentlyaccompanying their husbands in their campaigns.

  Malchus was delighted to rejoin the army, from which he had now beenseparated more than two months. He saw with pleasure that they had nowcompletely recovered from the effects of their hardships, and presentedas proud and martial an appearance as when they had started fromCarthagena.

  The issue of their first fight with the Romans had raised their spiritsand confidence, and all were eager to enter upon the campaign whichawaited them. Malchus, upon his arrival, was appointed to the command ofthe company of Gauls who formed the bodyguard of the general. Hannibalmoved up the Po and prepared to cross that river at Gambio, two days'easy march above its junction with the Ticino. The army was accompaniedby a considerable number of the Insubres. The work of constructing abridge was at once commenced.

  Malchus, riding through the camp, came upon the tents of his late host,who had been joined that day by his family. To them Malchus did thehonours of the camp, took them through the lines of the Carthaginiancavalry, showed them the elephants, and finally conducted them toHannibal, who received them most kindly, and presented them with manypresents in token of his thanks for their care of his kinsman. The nextday the bridge was completed and the troops began to pass over, thenatives crowding to the banks and even venturing on the bridge towitness the imposing procession of the troops.

  Malchus remained with Hannibal in the rear, but seeing that there was adelay as the elephants crossed, he was ordered to ride on to the bridgeand see what was the matter. Finding the crowd too great to enable himto pass on horseback, Malchus gave his horse to a soldier and pressedforward on foot. When he reached the head of the column of elephants hefound that one of the leading animals, entertaining a doubt as to thestability of the bridge at this point, obstinately refused to movefurther. Ordering the mahout to urge the animal forward, and tellingsome soldiers to prick the beast with a spear from behind, Malchusentered into conversation with the wife and daughters of the Insubrianchief, who had received from Hannibal a special order allowing them totake up their position on the bridge to witness their crossing.

  While he was speaking to them the elephant suddenly wheeled roundand, trumpeting loudly, tried to force his way back. A scene of wildconfusion ensued. The crowd gave way before him, several soldiers werethrust off the bridge into the river, and Malchus and his companionswere borne along by the crowd; there was a little cry, and Malchus sawthe youngest of the girls pushed off the bridge into the river.

  He flung off his helmet, unbuckled the fastenings of his breast plateand back piece, undid the belt of his sword, and leaped in. As he roseto the surface he heard a merry laugh beside him, and saw the girlswimming quietly close by. Although mortified at having so hastilyassumed that she was unable to take care of herself he joined in herlaugh, and swam by her side until they reached the bank some distancedown. Encumbered by the trappings which he still retained, Malchus hadfar more difficulty than the girl in gaining the shore.

  "What, did you think," she asked, laughing as he struggled up the bank,"that I, a Gaulish maiden, could not swim?"

  "I did not think anything about it," Malchus said; "I saw you pushed inand followed without thinking at all."

  Although they imperfectly understood each other's words the meaning wasclear; the girl put her hand on his shoulder and looked frankly up inhis face.

  "I thank you," she said, "just the same as if you had saved my life. Youmeant to do so, and it was very good of you, a great chief of this army,to hazard your life for a Gaulish maiden. Clotilde will never forget."

  By the time they reached the bridge the column had moved on. A moredocile elephant had been placed in front, and this having moved acrossthe doubtful portion of the bridge, the others had quickly followed.Just as Malchus and his companion reached the end of the bridge they mether mother and sisters coming to meet them.

  There was a smile of amusement on their faces as they thanked Malchusfor his attempt at rescue, and Clotilde's sisters whispered somelaughing remarks into her ear which caused the girl to flush hotly,and to draw her slight figure indignantly to its full height. Malchusretired to his tent to provide himself with fresh armour and sword, forhe doubted not that those thrown aside had been carried over the bridgein the confusion. The soldier had returned with his horse, and in a fewminutes he took his place at the head of the Gauls who were drawn upnear Hannibal's tent.

  The general himself soon appeared, and mounting his horse rode forward.Malchus followed with his command, waving an adieu to the party whostood watching the departure, and not ill pleased that those who hadbefore known him only as a helpless invalid, should now see him ridingat the head of the splendid bodyguard of the great commander.

  Hannibal was marching nearly due east, with the intention of forcingScipio to give battle south of the Po. A strong Roman fortress,Castegglo (Clastidium), lying at the foot of the hills, should havebarred his way; but Hannibal, by the medium of one of his native allies,bribed the Roman commander to abstain from interrupting his march. Thenhe pressed forward until on the third day after crossing the Po he camewithin sight of Piacenza, under whose walls the Roman army were ranged.

  Scipio, after his disastrous cavalry conflict, had written to Romeurging his inability, with the force under his command, to givebattle single handed to Hannibal, and begging that he might be atonce reinforced by the army under Sempronius, then lying at Ariminum(Rimini). The united consular armies, he represented, should take uptheir position on the river Trebia.

  This river rose in the Apennines but a short distance from Genoa, andflowed nearly due north into the Po at Piacenza. The Roman army therewould therefore effectually bar Hannibal's march into the rich plainsto the east, and would prevent him from making across the Apennines andfollowing the road by the coast, as they would, should he undertake sucha movement, be able to fall on his rear.

  Hannibal pitched his camp on the Nure, about five miles from Piacenza,but Scipio remained immovable in his lines waiting for the arrival ofhis colleague. Hannibal's position was a difficult one. He had traversedthe Pyrenees and the Alps that he might attack Rome; but between him andSouthern Italy lay yet another barrier, the Apennines. Scipio had missedhim after he had crossed the Pyrenees, had been too late to attack himwhen, exhausted and worn out, his army emerged from the Alps; butnow, united with Sempronius, he hoped to crush him at the foot of theApennines. Hannibal wished, if possible, to prevent a junction of thetwo Roman armies, but if that could not be done he determined to fightthem together.

  Scipio perceived the danger of his position; and in order to be ablethe better to join Sempronius he left Piacenza under cover of night,and took up a strong position on the banks of the Trebia. Here hecould maintain his communications direct with Rome, and, if absolutelynecessary, fall back and join his colleague advancing towards him.Hannibal, when he perceived Scipio's change of position, broke up hiscamp and took post on the Trebiola, a little stream running into theTrebia and facing the Roman camp at a distance of four miles.

  He was now powerless to prevent the junction of the two Roman armies,and for nearly a month Scipio and Hannibal lay watching each other. Bythat time Sempronius was within a day's march of Scipio. Hannibalhad not been idle during this time of rest. He had been occupied incementing his alliance with the Gaulish tribes inhabiting the Lombardplains. These, seeing how rapidly Hannibal had cleared the province ofthe Romans, believed that their deliverance would be accomplished, andfor the most part declared for the Carthaginians.

  Hannibal's agents had also been at work at Clastidium, and the prefectof the garrison was induced by a bribe to surrender the place to him.This was of enormous advantage to Hannibal, and a corresponding b
lowto the Romans, for Clastidium was the chief magazine north of theApennines. The news of the fall of this important place filledSempronius, an energetic and vigorous general, with fury. He at oncerode down from his camp to that of Scipio and proposed that Hannibalshould be attacked instantly.

  Scipio, who was still suffering from the wound he had received in thecavalry engagement, urged that the Roman army should remain where theywere, if necessary, through the coming winter. He pointed out thatHannibal's Gaulish allies would lose heart at seeing him inactive, andwould cease to furnish him with supplies, and that he would be obligedeither to attack them at a disadvantage or to retire from the positionhe occupied. But Sempronius was an ambitious man, the time for theconsular election was approaching, and he was unwilling to leave for hissuccessor the glory of crushing Hannibal.

  The fact, too, that Scipio was wounded and unable to take part in thebattle added to his desire to force it on, since the whole glory of thevictory would be his. He therefore told his colleague that although hesaw the force of his arguments, public opinion in Rome was already soexcited at Hannibal having been allowed, without a battle, to wrest sowide a territory from Rome, that it was absolutely necessary that anaction should be fought. The two armies were now united on the Trebia,and opinion was among the officers and troops, as between the consuls,widely divided as to the best course to be pursued.

  Hannibal's spies among the natives kept him acquainted with what wasgoing on in the Roman camp, and he determined to provoke the Romans tobattle. He therefore despatched two thousand infantry and a thousandcavalry to ravage the lands of some Gaulish allies of the Romans.Sempronius sent off the greater part of his cavalry, with a thousandlight infantry, to drive back the Carthaginians.

  In the fight which ensued the Romans were worsted. Still more furious,Sempronius marched to support them with his army. Hannibal called inhis troops and drew them off before Sempronius would arrive. Thedisappointment and rage of the Roman general were great, and Hannibalfelt that he could now bring on a battle when he would. He determinedto fight in the plain close to his own position. This was flat and bare,and was traversed by the Trebiola. This stream ran between steep banksbelow the level of the plain; its banks were covered with thick bushesand reeds, and the narrow gap across the plain was scarce noticeable.

  On the evening of the twenty-fifth of December Hannibal moved his armyout from the camp and formed up on the plain facing the Trebia,ordering the corps commanded by his brother Mago to enter the bed of theTrebiola, and to conceal themselves there until they received his ordersto attack. The position Mago occupied would bring him on the left rearof an army which had crossed the Trebia, and was advancing to attackthe position taken up by Hannibal. Having thus prepared for the battle,Hannibal proceeded to provoke it.

  At daybreak on the twenty-sixth he despatched a strong body of horsemenacross the river. Crossing the Trebia partly by ford and partly byswimming, the Carthaginian horse rode up to the palisade surroundingthe Roman camp, where, with insulting shouts and the hurling of theirjavelins, they aroused the Roman soldiers from their slumber. Thisinsult had the desired effect, Sempronius rushed from his tent, furiousat what he deemed the insolence of the Carthaginians, and called histroops to arms. With their accustomed discipline the Romans fell intotheir ranks. The light cavalry first issued from the palisade, theinfantry followed, the heavy cavalry brought up the rear. The insultingNumidians had already retired, but Sempronius was now determined tobring on the battle. He marched down the river and crossed at a ford.

  The water was intensely cold, the river was in flood, the ford waistdeep as the soldiers marched across it. Having gained the opposite bank,the Roman general formed his army in order of battle. His infantry,about forty-five thousand strong, was formed in three parallel lines;the cavalry, five thousand strong, was on the flanks. The infantryconsisted of sixteen thousand Roman legionary or heavy infantry, andsix thousand light infantry. The Italian tribes, allied to Rome, hadsupplied twenty thousand infantry; the remaining three thousand werenative allies. The infantry occupied a front of two and a half miles inlength; the cavalry extended a mile and a quarter on each flank. Thusthe Roman front of battle was five miles in extent.

  Hannibal's force was inferior in strength; his infantry of the line weretwenty thousand strong. He had eight thousand light infantry and tenthousand cavalry. The Carthaginian formation was much deeper than theRoman, and Hannibal's line of battle was less than two miles long. Infront of it were the elephants, thirty-six in number, divided in pairs,and placed in intervals of a hundred yards between each pair.

  While the Romans, exposed to a bitterly cold wind, chilled to the boneby their immersion in the stream, and having come breakfastless fromcamp, were forming their long order of battle, Hannibal's troops,gathered round blazing fires, were eating a hearty breakfast; afterwhich, in high spirits and confidence, they prepared for the fight.

  Hannibal called the officers together and addressed them in stirringwords, which were repeated by them to the soldiers. The Romanpreparations had occupied a long time, and it was afternoon beforethey advanced in order of battle. When within a short distance of theCarthaginians they halted, and the trumpets and musical instruments onboth sides blew notes of defiance. Then the Carthaginian slingersstole out between the ranks of their heavy infantry, passed between theelephants, and commenced the battle.

  Each of these men carried three slings, one of which was used for longdistances, another when nearer to the foe, the third when close at hand.In action one of these slings was wound round the head, one round thebody, the third carried in hand. Their long distance missiles wereleaden bullets, and so skilful were they that it is said they could hitwith certainty the face of a foe standing at slinging distance.

  Naked to the waist they advanced, and with their long distance slingshurled the leaden bullets at the Roman infantry. When closer theyexchanged their slings and discharged from them egg shaped pebbles whichthey had gathered from the bed of the Trebia. When within still closerdistance with the third slings they poured in volleys of much larger andheavier stones, with such tremendous force that it seemed as though theywere sent from catapults. Against such a storm of missiles the Romanskirmishers could make no stand, and were instantly driven back.

  Their Cretan archers, after shooting away their arrows with but smalleffect, for the strings had been damped in crossing the river, also fledbehind the heavy troops; and these in turn were exposed to the hail ofstones. Disorganized by this attack, the like of which they had neverexperienced before, their helmets crushed in, their breastplates andshields battered and dented, the front line of the Romans speedilyfell into confusion. Sempronius ordered up his war machines for castingstones and javelins, but these too had been injured in their passageacross the river.

  The hail of Carthaginian missiles continued until the Roman lightinfantry were forced to fall back; and the slingers were then recalled,and the heavy infantry of the two armies stood facing each other. TheCarthaginians took up close order, and, shoulder to shoulder, theirbodies covered with their shields, they advanced to meet the legions ofRome. As they moved, their music--flute, harp, and lyre--rose on theair in a military march, and keeping step the long line advanced withperfect order and regularity. In the centre were the Carthaginian footsoldiers and their African allies, clothed alike in a red tunic, withhelmet of bronze, steel cuirass and circular shield, and carrying,besides their swords, pikes of twenty feet in length. On the left werethe Spaniards, in white tunics bordered with purple, with semicircularshields four feet in length and thirty-two inches in width, armed withlong swords used either for cutting or thrusting.

  On the left were the native allies, naked to the waist, armed withshields and swords similar to those of the Gauls, save that the swordswere used only for cutting.

  Sempronius brought up his second line to fill the intervals in thefirst, and the Romans advanced with equal steadiness to the conflict;but the much greater closeness of the Carthaginian formation servedthe
m in good stead. They moved like a solid wall, their shields lockedclosely together, and pressed steadily forward in spite of the desperateefforts of the Roman centre in its more open order to resist them; foreach Roman soldier in battle was allowed the space of a man's widthbetween him and his comrade on either side, to allow him the free use ofhis weapon. Two Carthaginians were therefore opposed to each Roman, inaddition to which the greater depth of the African formation gave them aweight and impetus which was irresistible.

  While this fight was going on the Numidian horsemen, ten thousandstrong, charged the Roman cavalry. These, much more lightly armed thantheir opponents and inferior in numbers, were unable for a moment towithstand the shock, and were at once driven from the field. Leaving theelephants to pursue them and prevent them from rallying, the Numidianhorsemen turned and fell on the flanks of the long Roman line; while atthe same moment the Carthaginian slingers, issuing out again from behindthe main body, opened a tremendous fire with stones heated in furnacesbrought to the spot.

  Although taken in flank, crushed under a storm of missiles, with theircavalry defeated and their centre broken, the Romans fought steadily andwell. Hannibal now launched against their ranks the elephants attachedto the infantry, which, covered in steel armour and trumpeting loudly,carried death and confusion into the Roman ranks. But still the legionsfought on obstinately and desperately until the sound of wild musicin their rear filled them with dismay, as Mago, with his division ofNumidian infantry, emerged from his hiding place and fell upon theRomans from behind.

  Struck with terror at the sudden appearance of these wild soldiers, ofwhose ferocity they had heard so much, the Romans lost all heart andstrove now only to escape. But it was in vain. The Carthaginian infantrywere in their front, the cavalry on their flank, the Numidians in theirrear.

  Some ten thousand Roman soldiers only, keeping in a solid body, cuttheir way through the cavalry and reached Piacenza.

  Thirty thousand were slaughtered on the plain. Many were drowned intrying to swim the Trebia, and only the legion which had remained toguard the camp, the broken remains of the cavalry, and the body whichhad escaped from Piacenza remained of the fifty thousand men whomSempronius commanded.

  The exultation of the victors was unbounded. The hitherto invinciblelegions of Rome had been crushed. The way to Rome was clear before them.All the fatigues and hardships they had undergone were forgotten in thehour of triumph, and their native allies believed that their freedomfrom Rome was now assured.

  The verdict of great commanders of all ages has assigned to the battleof the Trebia the glory of being the greatest military exploit everperformed. The genius of Hannibal was shown not only in the plan ofbattle and the disposition of his troops, but in the perfection withwhich they were handled, in the movements which he had himself inventedand taught them, and the marvellous discipline with which he hadinculcated them.

  Napoleon the First assigned to Hannibal the leading place among thegreat generals of the world, and the Trebia was his masterpiece. But theCarthaginians, exulting in their victory, did not gauge the extentof the stubbornness and resources of Rome. Sempronius himself set theexample to his countrymen. At Piacenza he rallied the remnants of hisarmy, and wrote to Rome, saying that he had been victorious, but that asudden storm had saved the enemy from destruction.

  The senate understood the truth, but acted in the spirit in which he hadwritten. They announced to the people that a victory had been won, andordered the consular election to take place as usual, at the same timeissuing orders to all parts of the Roman dominion for the enrolment offresh troops.

  Hannibal attempted to surprise Piacenza, but Scipio issued out with hiscavalry and inflicted a check upon him, Hannibal himself being slightlywounded. The Carthaginians then marched away and stormed the town ofVicumve, and during their absence the two consuls evacuated Piacenzaand marched south. Scipio led his portion of the little army to Ariminum(Rimini), Sempronius took his command to Arretium (Mezzo), where theyboth speedily received reinforcements. Hannibal made an attempt to crossthe Apennines, but the snow lay deep among the mountains, and, unable toeffect his purpose, he fell back again to winter in the plain.

  In the meantime Cneius Servilius Geminus and Caius Flaminius had beenelected consuls. Flaminius succeeded Sempronius in command of the Romanarmy at Arretium, while Geminus took the command of that at Rimini.Between these consuls, as was usually the case in Rome, a bitterjealousy existed. Geminus was the nominee of the aristocratic party,while Flaminius was the idol of the populace, and, as has often beenthe case in war, this rivalry between two generals possessing equalauthority wrought great evil to the armies they commanded.