History of Rome (Ab Urbe Condita)

after it was reported to Rome, and the fathers learned that the Punic war had been added to the Gallic one, they ordered the praetor Gaius Atilius to bring aid to Manlius with one Roman legion and five thousand allies, recruited by a new levy by the consul. He reached Tannetum without any conflict, for the enemy had withdrawn in fear.

And Publius Cornelius, having started from the city with a new legion transferred in place of that which had been sent with the praetor, arrived at Massilia with sixty ships of war, coasting past Etruria and Liguria and thence the mountains of the Saluvii, and pitched camp at the nearest mouth of the Rhône—for the river flows into the sea divided into several channels—scarcely yet believing enough that Hannibal had crossed the Pyrenees mountains. When he noticed that Hannibal was also agitating about the crossing of the Rhône, uncertain at what place he might encounter him, and with his soldiers not yet sufficiently recovered from the tossing of the sea, he sent ahead three hundred picked cavalry in the meantime, with Massilian guides and auxiliary Gauls, to scout everything and view the enemy from a safe position. Hannibal had already arrived in the territory of the Volcae, a powerful tribe, having appeased the others with fear or price. They dwell around both banks of the Rhône, but distrusting that the Carthaginian could be warded off from the nearer territory if they had the river as a fortification, they had transported almost all their own people across the Rhône and were holding the further bank of the river with arms. Hannibal, through gifts, persuaded the other inhabitants of the river and those whom their own settlements had held, both to collect and build ships from everywhere, and because they themselves also desired that his army be transported and their region relieved as soon as possible from such a great crowd of men pressing upon it. Therefore, a huge force of ships and boats was collected, hastily prepared for local use. The Gauls, beginning new ones, first hollowed them out from single trees; then the soldiers themselves, induced by both the abundance of material and the ease of the work, were making crude hulls in a rush, not caring about anything, provided only that they could float on the water and carry burdens, in order to transport themselves and their belongings. XXVII. And now, with everything sufficiently prepared for crossing, the enemy was creating fear from the opposite side, occupying the entire bank with horsemen and foot soldiers. To divert them, he ordered Hanno, son of Bomilcar, to go with a part of the troops, mostly Spaniards, at the first watch of the night, one day's journey up the river, and as soon as possible, to cross the river as secretly as possible and bring his column around, so that when the need for action arose, he might attack the enemy from the rear. The Gallic guides given for this purpose taught that about twenty-five miles upstream, the river, flowing around a small island, was wider where it was divided, and for that reason, showed a crossing with a less deep channel. There, timber was hastily cut and rafts were built, upon which horses, men, and other burdens might be crossed. The Spaniards, without any difficulty, threw their clothes into leather bags, and laying themselves on top of their bucklers, swam across the river. The rest of the army, having crossed on joined rafts and positioned their camp near the river, was refreshed by one day's rest, exhausted by the night march and the labor of the work, with the leader intent on executing his plan at the opportune moment. The next day, having set out from the disclosed location, they signaled by smoke that they had crossed and were not far away. When Hannibal received this, so that he might not miss the time, he gave the signal to cross. He already had the boats prepared and fitted for the infantry: the cavalry mostly...