ORDER OF BATTLE // -217 BCE
Battle of Ticinus
Estimated force strength by side, with confidence labels per surviving record.
Forces engaged
2 sides catalogued · combined 9,600 estimated
Carthage
6,000
Medium-confidence figure
Rome
3,600
Medium-confidence figure
Battle context
The Battle of Ticinus, fought on the right bank of the river Ticinus in the flat country west of modern Pavia, was an early engagement of the Second Punic War following Hannibal's crossing into northern Italy. It brought together Hannibal's Libyan and Iberian cavalry against a Roman force under Publius Cornelius Scipio composed of Roman, Italian, and Gallic cavalry supported by light infantry javelinmen. As one of the first direct clashes of the Italian campaign, the engagement established early contact between the two commands at a critical moment when Hannibal was consolidating his position in the Po valley.
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