 The plan was to entice Minucius with a careful and timed maneuver into thinking that he was fighting a repeat of the skirmish he had earlier fought at Geronium, while springing a trap similar to the one Hannibal had sprung on the Romans at the Battle of Trebbia in 218 BC on the unsuspecting army of Minucius.It had been suggested that Hannibal deliberately lost the skirmish to obtain an opportunity, but that speculation seems a bit far-fetched.The ground between the Carthaginian and Roman camps was flat, treeless, and barren, with a low ridge sitting midway between the camps.