ABSTRACT
The Boii and Insubres around the new Latin colonies of Placentia and Cremona rebelled, doubtless at Hannibal's instigation, and the two legions which Scipio had prepared for Spain had to be directed to suppress the insurrection. But two-thirds of the Roman army was destroyed and Hannibal had won the first real battle of the war. Meanwhile the Roman infantry gradually forced back Hannibal's centre; if it broke before the cavalry could assail the Roman rear, Hannibal had lost the battle and probably the war. In Spain, where the war had started, the tide of war first rolled back on the Carthaginians. Thus Pompey's first plan of attack against Sertorius failed because he lacked the last two, while centuries later in different circumstances Wellington, entrenched at Torres Vedras with the command of the sea, threw into relief the vain attempt of Sir John Moore to advance inland without an adequate base.
