claim: The left hand side of the Trebbia River is the location of the Battle of the Trebia.
evidence: The Battle of the Trebia -LRB- or Trebbia -RRB- was the first major battle of the Second Punic War , fought between the Carthaginian forces of Hannibal and the Roman Republic in December of 218 BC , on or around the winter solstice .. Second Punic War. Second Punic War. Roman Republic. Roman Republic. Hannibal. Hannibal. Trebbia. Trebbia. Carthaginian. Carthaginian Empire. winter solstice. winter solstice. It was a resounding Roman defeat with heavy losses , and yet some 10,000 and more Romans , over 2.5 legions , survived on the field and retreated in order to Placentia -LRB- Piacenza -RRB- .. Piacenza. Piacenza. In this battle , Hannibal got the better of the Romans by exercising the careful and innovative planning for which he was famous .. Hannibal. Hannibal. The impetuous and short-sighted opposing general , the consul Tiberius Sempronius Longus , allowed himself to be provoked into a frontal assault under physically difficult circumstances and failed to see that he was being led into a trap .. Tiberius Sempronius Longus. Tiberius Sempronius Longus ( consul 218 BC ). The battle took place in the flat country of the Province of Piacenza on the left bank of the Trebbia River , a shallow , braided stream , not far south from its confluence -LRB- from the south -RRB- with the Po river .. Trebbia River. Trebbia River. Trebbia. Trebbia. Piacenza. Piacenza. Province of Piacenza. Province of Piacenza. Po river. Po river. The battle is named for the river .. Although the precise location is not known for certain , it is generally accepted as being visible from the Via Emilia , now paralleled by highway A21 / E70 and a railroad trunk line , all of which come from Piacenza , a contemporaneously placed Roman colony -LRB- though perhaps on an existing settlement -RRB- , and cross the river north of where the Romans did in the battle .. Piacenza. Piacenza. Via Emilia. Via Emilia. The area is possibly in the comune of Rottofreno at its main settlement , San Nicolo a Trebbia , in the vicinity of the coordinates given at the head of this article.Over the course of more than two millennia the precise configuration of the Trebbia and its streams as well as that of the Po have changed geologically .. Trebbia. Trebbia. comune. comune. Rottofreno. Rottofreno. Although the location of Placentia is believed to be roughly the same , the original surfaces are under new layers of sediment and the locations of the bends , the depths and widths of the streams all have changed .. Construction in the area also has been extensive , not to mention the turning over of the soil and obliteration of features by heavy bombing when the bridges and rail lines were destroyed in World War II .. The Trebbia and the Po are currently heavily diked .. Trebbia. Trebbia