How Roman Traditionalism Shot them in the Foot

Polybius gives an account of the Battle of Trebia. The battle started when Tiberius, the Roman commander, arrived on the scene. He “drew up his infantry in the usual Roman order”. Confident in their winning streak, he took this traditional Roman approach that had served them time and again. What he didn’t account for was that the Roman troops “suffered much from cold and also from hunger”, while the Carthaginians were “fresh and in first-rate condition” and had about 25 thousand men more than him. He advanced in a slow march into the center of the Carthaginian troops, who gave way for the bloc and then closed their flanks around them. The Romans were encircled in a pincer movement. Tired, hungry, and spearless, the Romans could not do much against the onslaught from all sides of the Carthaginians and their allies. The battle ended with few Carthaginian lives lost and the Roman army diminished by 11,000 troops. <a href="https://medium.com/@cecily.reed/how-roman-traditionalism-shot-them-in-the-foot-6b70791d6f16">Website</a>