After the Vocontii had been eliminated as a terrorizing threat to the area, many local villagers returned to their homes. In the mornings, they came to the camp’s marketplace to trade for goods, and when they heard the army was buying boats, coracles, and rafts in preparation for the river crossing, they brought in all sorts of small watercraft to sell.
The construction of the large raft and assembly of small boats along the riverbank drew the attention of the inhabitants on the other side.
Cartharlo and Tendao reported to Hannibal that agitators from Marseilles, allied with the Romans, had stirred up the tribes of Volcae, telling them the Carthaginian army would kill their cattle, steal their wives, and burn their children alive.
Thus provoked, the Volcae gathered a sizable army on the
