Titus Livius (Livy), The History of Rome, Book 21
Benjamin Oliver Foster, Ph.D., Ed.

25. In Italy meanwhile nothing more was known than that Hannibal had crossed the Ebro —which was the news that Massiliot envoys brought to Rome —when, as though he had already crossed the Alps, the Boi, after rousing up the Insubres, revolted.¹ To this they were incited not so much by their old animosity against the Roman People as by vexation at the recent establishment of colonies in Gallic territory, near the Po, at Placentia and [3] Cremona.² Flying to arms they made an incursion into that very district, and spread such terror and confusion that not only the rural population, but the Roman commissioners themselves, who had come for the purpose of assigning lands, not trusting to the [p. 71]walls of Placentia, fled to Mutina. (Their names³ were Gaius Lutatius, Gaius Servilius, and Marcus Annius. There is no question about Lutatius: for Annius and Servilius, some annals have Manius Acilius and Gaius Herennius, others Publius Cornelius Asina and Gaius Papirius [4] Maso. This, too, is uncertain, whether envoys sent to expostulate with the Boi were maltreated, or an attack was made upon the three commissioners as they were measuring off the [5] land.) Whilst they lay shut up in Mutina, the Gauls —who know nothing of the art of assaulting cities, and, besides, are very indolent in regard to siege-works, and were now sitting idly down before the walls without attempting them [6] —feigned a readiness to treat for peace; and their leaders having invited the Romans to send out spokesmen to confer with them, they seized these envoys, in violation not only of the [7??] law of nations, but also of a pledge which they had given for this time, and declared that they would not let them go unless their own hostages were restored to them.⁴ When word arrived of this affair of the envoys, and Mutina and its garrison were in danger, Lucius Manlius, the praetor, blazing with resentment, set out for Mutina with his army in loose marching [8] order.⁵ In those days the road led through a forest, as the country was not, for the most part, under cultivation, and Manlius, advancing without reconnaissance, plunged into an ambush, and after sustaining heavy losses, managed with difficulty to get through into the open [9] fields. There he entrenched [p. 73]a camp, and since the Gauls lacked heart to assail it,⁶ [10??] the soldiers recovered their spirits, though it was no secret that as many as five hundred men had [11] fallen. Then they began their march again, nor, so long as the column advanced through open country, was the enemy to be seen; but when they had once more got into the woods, the Gauls attacked [12??] their rear, and throwing the whole column into terror and confusion, slew seven hundred soldiers and carried off six ensigns.⁷ The alarming onsets of the Gauls and the panic of the Romans ended when they got clear of the trackless [13] woods and thickets. Thereafter, marching across open ground, the Romans had no difficulty in protecting their column, and hastened to Tannetum, a village lying near the Po, where by means of temporary fortifications and [14??] supplies got in by the river, and with the help also of the Brixian Gauls, they defended themselves against the enemy, whose numbers were increasing daily.⁸