Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume II.djvu/1248

 1224 TREBIA. to the W. ; where the town of Clastidium was be- trayed into bis hands. Meanwhile Senipronius, who was newly arrived, after a short interval of repose, was eager for a general engagement, and his confi- dence was increased by a partial success in a combat of cavalry, in the plain between the Trebia and the Padus {lb. 69.) Hannibal, who on his side was equally desirous of a battle, took advantage of this disposition of Sempronius, and succeeded in drawing hiui out of his camp, where he could not venture to attack him, into the plain below, which was favour- able to the operations of the Carthaginian cavalry and elephants. For this purpose he sent forward a body of Numidian horse, who crossed the Trebia and approached the Roman camp, but, as soon as a body of Roman cavalry and light-armed troops were sent out against them, retreated skirmishing until they had recrossed the river. Sempronius followed with his whole army, and crossed the Trebia, not without difficulty, for the river was swollen with late rains, and was only just fordable for the infantry. His troops sufiered severely from cold and wet, and when the two armies met in order of battle, early began to feel themselves inferior to the enemy : but the victory was decided by a body of 1000 foot and 1000 horse, under the command of Mago, the brother of Hannibal, which had been placed by that general in ambuscade, in the hollow bed of a stream which crossed the field of battle, and by a sudden onset on the rear of the Roman army, threw it into complete confusion. A body of about 10,000 Roman infantry succeeded in forcing their way through the centre of the enemy's line, but finding themselves isolated, and their retreat to their camp quite cut ofl', they directed their march at once towards Placentia, and succeeded in reaching that city in safety. The other troops Avere thrown back in confusion upon the Trebia, and suflered very heavy loss in passing that river ; but those who succeeded in crossing it, fell back upon the body already mentioned and made good their retreat with them to Placentia. Thither also Scipio on the following day repaired with that part of the Roman forces which had not been engaged in the battle. (Pol. iii. 70—74.) From the view above given of the battle and the operations that preceded it, which coincides with that of General Vaudoncourt (^Cavipagnes d'Annibal en Jtalie, vol. i. pp. 93 — 130), it seems certain that the battle itself was fought on the left bank of the Trebia, in the plain, but a short distance from the foot of the hills ; while the Roman camp was on the hills, and on the right bank of the Trebia. It is certain that this view afiFords much the most intelli- gible explanation of the operations of the armies, and there is nothing in the narrative of Polybius (which has been exclusively followed in the above account) inconsistent with it, though it must be admitted that some difficulties remain unexplained. Livys narrative on the contrary is confused, and though based for the most part on that of Polybius, seems to be mixed up with that of other writers. (Liv. xxi. 52 — 56.) From his account of the retreat of the Roman army and of Scipio to Placentia after the battle, it seems certain that he considered tlie Roman camp to be situated on the left bank of the river, so that Scipio must necessarily cross it in order to arrive at Placentia, and therefore he must have conceived the battle as fought on the right bank : and this view has been adopted by many modern writers, in- cluding Xiebuhr and Arnold ; but the difficulties in its way greatly exceed those which arise on the con- TREBULA. trary hypothesis. Niebulu" indeed summarily disposes of some of these, by maintaining, in opposition to the distinct statements of Polybius, that Hannibal had crossed the Padus below Placentia, and that Sempro- nius joined Scipio from Genua and not from Ariminuni. Such arbitary assumptions as these are worthless in discussing a question, the decision of which must rest mainly, if not entirely, on the authority of Polybius. (Niebuhr's Lectures on Roman Eistori/ vol. ii. pp. 94 — 96 ; Arnold, Hkl. of Rome, vol. iii. pp. 94 — 101.) Cramer adopts the views of General Vaudoncourt. (^Anct. Italy, vol. i. p. 82.) The battle on the Trebia is alluded to by Lucan, and described by Silius Italicus : it is noticed also by all the epitoniisers of Roman history ; but none of these writers add anything to our knowledge of the details. (Lucan, ii. 46 ; Sil. Ital. iv. 484 — 666 ; Corn. Nep. Hann. 4 ; Eutrop. iii. 9 ; Oros. iv. 14 ; Flor. ii. 6. § 12.) [E. H. B.] TREBULA (Tp7i§ouAa: Eth. Trebulanus: Tre- glki), a city of Campania, situated in the district N. of the Vulturnus, in the mountain tract which ex- tends from near Cajazzo (Calatia) to the Via La- tina. Pliny terms the citizens " Trebulani cogno- mine Balinienses," probably to distinguish tliem from those of the two cities of the same name among the Sabines (Plin. iii. 5. s. 9); but the Cam- panian town seems to have been the most consider- able of the three, and is termed simply Trebula by Ptolemy, as well as by Livy. The first mention of the name occurs in b. c. 303, when we are told that the Trebulani received the Roman franchise at the same time with the Arpinates. (Liv. x. 1.) There seems no doubt that the Campanian city is here meant: and this is quite certain in regard to the next notice in Livy, where he tells us that the three cities of Compulteria, Trebula, and Saticula, which had re- volted to Hannibal, were recovered by Fabius in B. c. 215. (Id. xxiii. 39.) The " Trebulanus ager " is mentioned also by Cicero among the fertile dis- tricts of Campania, which Rullus proposed to dis- tribute among the poorer Roman citizens (Cic. de JU Leg. Agr. ii. 25); and we learn from Pliny that it was noted for its wines, which had rapidly risen in estimation in his day. (Plin. xiv. 6. s. 8.) The Liber Coloniarum also mentions Trebula among the municipal 'towns of Campania. It appears to have received a fresh body of settlers under Augustus, but without attaining the rank of a colony. (^Lib. Col. p. 238; Plin. iii. 5. s. 9; Ptol. iii. 1. § 68.) The site of Trebula, which was erroneously fixed by Cluverius and some local writers to the S. of the Vulturnus, appears to be coiTectly identified by local antiquarians with a place called Treglia or Tregghia, at the foot of the Pizzo S. Salvatore, about 6 miles N. of the Vulturnus and 8 NE. of Capua. There are said to be considerable ancient remains upon the spot, which together with the resemblance of name would seem clearly to establish the position of tiie ancient city. (Romanelli, vol. iii. pp. 575, 576; Trutta, Antichita AlUfane. Diss, sxiii; Abeken, Mittel-Italien, p. 99.) [E. H. B.] TREBULA (Tp7]§ova: Eth. Trebulanus), was the name of two cities or towns of the Sabines, appa- rently at no great distance from one another, which were called for the sake of distinction Trebula 51u- tusca and Trebula Suifenas. 1. Tkebula Wutusca, called by Virgil simply iIuTUSCAE, while the full name is preserved to us by Pliny, the only author who mentions both places (" Trebulani qui cognominantur JIutuscaei, et qui