But it was in vain.

The Carthaginian infantry were in their front, the cavalry on their flank, the Numidians in their rear.
Some ten thousand Roman soldiers only, keeping in a solid body, cut their way through the cavalry and reached Piacenza.
Thirty thousand were slaughtered on the plain.

Many were drowned in trying to swim the Trebia, and only the legion which had remained to guard the camp, the broken remains of the cavalry, and the body which had escaped from Piacenza remained of the fifty thousand men whom Sempronius commanded.
The exultation of the victors was unbounded.

The hitherto invincible legions of Rome had been crushed.

The way to Rome was clear before them.
All the fatigues and hardships they had undergone were forgotten in the hour of triumph, and their native allies believed that their freedom from Rome was now assured.
The verdict of great commanders of all ages has assigned to the battle of the Trebia the glory of being the greatest military exploit ever performed.