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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Hannibal, by Jacob Abbott
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Hannibal
+       Makers of History
+
+Author: Jacob Abbott
+
+Release Date: December 17, 2008 [EBook #27551]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HANNIBAL ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by D Alexander and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ Makers of History
+
+ Hannibal
+
+ BY JACOB ABBOTT
+
+ WITH ENGRAVINGS
+
+ NEW YORK AND LONDON
+ HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS
+ 1901
+
+
+
+
+ Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year one thousand
+ eight hundred and forty-nine, by
+
+ HARPER & BROTHERS,
+
+ in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Southern District
+ of New York.
+
+ Copyright, 1876, by JACOB ABBOTT.
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE
+
+
+The author of this series has made it his special object to confine
+himself very strictly, even in the most minute details which he
+records, to historic truth. The narratives are not tales founded upon
+history, but history itself, without any embellishment or any
+deviations from the strict truth, so far as it can now be discovered
+by an attentive examination of the annals written at the time when the
+events themselves occurred. In writing the narratives, the author has
+endeavored to avail himself of the best sources of information which
+this country affords; and though, of course, there must be in these
+volumes, as in all historical narratives, more or less of imperfection
+and error, there is no intentional embellishment. Nothing is stated,
+not even the most minute and apparently imaginary details, without
+what was deemed good historical authority. The readers, therefore, may
+rely upon the record as the truth, and nothing but the truth, so far
+as an honest purpose and a careful examination have been effectual in
+ascertaining it.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+ Chapter                                                    Page
+
+    I. THE FIRST PUNIC WAR                                    13
+
+   II. HANNIBAL AT SAGUNTUM                                   33
+
+  III. OPENING OF THE SECOND PUNIC WAR                        52
+
+   IV. THE PASSAGE OF THE RHONE                               69
+
+    V. HANNIBAL CROSSES THE ALPS                              90
+
+   VI. HANNIBAL IN THE NORTH OF ITALY                        126
+
+  VII. THE APENNINES                                         144
+
+ VIII. THE DICTATOR FABIUS                                   163
+
+   IX. THE BATTLE OF CANNÆ                                   185
+
+    X. SCIPIO                                                205
+
+   XI. HANNIBAL A FUGITIVE AND AN EXILE                      235
+
+  XII. THE DESTRUCTION OF CARTHAGE                           262
+
+
+
+
+ENGRAVINGS.
+
+
+                                                            Page
+
+ MAP                                             _Frontispiece._
+
+ THE BATTLE IN THE RIVER                                      42
+
+ THE ELEPHANTS CROSSING THE RHONE                             87
+
+ HANNIBAL ON THE ALPS                                        111
+
+ CROSSING THE MARSHES                                        161
+
+ HASDRUBAL'S HEAD                                            227
+
+ THE BURNING OF THE CARTHAGINIAN FLEET                       242
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: MAP]
+
+
+
+
+HANNIBAL.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+THE FIRST PUNIC WAR.
+
+B.C. 280-249
+
+Hannibal.--Rome and Carthage.--Tyre.--Founding of Carthage.--Its
+commercial spirit.--Gold and silver mines.--New Carthage.--Ships
+and army.--Numidia.--Balearic Isles.--The sling.--The government
+of Carthage.--The aristocracy.--Geographical relations of the
+Carthaginian empire.--Rome and the Romans.--Their character.--Progress
+of Carthage and Rome.--Origin of the first Punic war.--Rhegium and
+Messina.--A perplexing question.--The Romans determine to build a
+fleet.--Preparations.--Training the oarsmen.--The Roman fleet puts to
+sea.--Grappling irons.--Courage and resolution of the Romans.--Success
+of the Romans.--The rostral column.--Government of Rome.--The
+consuls.--Story of Regulus.--He is made consul.--Regulus marches against
+Carthage.--His difficulties.--Successes of Regulus.--Arrival of
+Greeks.--The Romans put to flight.--Regulus a prisoner.--Regulus before
+the Roman senate.--Result of his mission.--Death of Regulus.--Conclusion
+of the war.
+
+
+Hannibal was a Carthaginian general. He acquired his great distinction
+as a warrior by his desperate contests with the Romans. Rome and
+Carthage grew up together on opposite sides of the Mediterranean Sea.
+For about a hundred years they waged against each other most dreadful
+wars. There were three of these wars. Rome was successful in the end,
+and Carthage was entirely destroyed.
+
+There was no real cause for any disagreement between these two
+nations. Their hostility to each other was mere rivalry and
+spontaneous hate. They spoke a different language; they had a
+different origin; and they lived on opposite sides of the same sea. So
+they hated and devoured each other.
+
+Those who have read the history of Alexander the Great, in this
+series, will recollect the difficulty he experienced in besieging and
+subduing Tyre, a great maritime city, situated about two miles from
+the shore, on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. Carthage was
+originally founded by a colony from this city of Tyre, and it soon
+became a great commercial and maritime power like its mother. The
+Carthaginians built ships, and with them explored all parts of the
+Mediterranean Sea. They visited all the nations on these coasts,
+purchased the commodities they had to sell, carried them to other
+nations, and sold them at great advances. They soon began to grow rich
+and powerful. They hired soldiers to fight their battles, and began to
+take possession of the islands of the Mediterranean, and, in some
+instances, of points on the main land. For example, in Spain: some of
+their ships, going there, found that the natives had silver and gold,
+which they obtained from veins of ore near the surface of the ground.
+At first the Carthaginians obtained this gold and silver by selling
+the natives commodities of various kinds, which they had procured in
+other countries; paying, of course, to the producers only a very small
+price compared with what they required the Spaniards to pay them.
+Finally, they took possession of that part of Spain where the mines
+were situated, and worked the mines themselves. They dug deeper; they
+employed skillful engineers to make pumps to raise the water, which
+always accumulates in mines, and prevents their being worked to any
+great depth unless the miners have a considerable degree of scientific
+and mechanical skill. They founded a city here, which they called New
+Carthage--_Nova Carthago_. They fortified and garrisoned this city,
+and made it the center of their operations in Spain. This city is
+called Carthagena to this day.
+
+Thus the Carthaginians did every thing by power of money. They
+extended their operations in every direction, each new extension
+bringing in new treasures, and increasing their means of extending
+them more. They had, besides the merchant vessels which belonged to
+private individuals, great ships of war belonging to the state. These
+vessels were called galleys, and were rowed by oarsmen, tier above
+tier, there being sometimes four and five banks of oars. They had
+armies, too, drawn from different countries, in various troops,
+according as different nations excelled in the different modes of
+warfare. For instance, the Numidians, whose country extended in the
+neighborhood of Carthage, on the African coast, were famous for their
+horsemen. There were great plains in Numidia, and good grazing, and it
+was, consequently, one of those countries in which horses and horsemen
+naturally thrive. On the other hand, the natives of the Balearic
+Isles, now called Majorca, Minorca, and Ivica, were famous for their
+skill as slingers. So the Carthaginians, in making up their forces,
+would hire bodies of cavalry in Numidia, and of slingers in the
+Balearic Isles; and, for reasons analogous, they got excellent
+infantry in Spain.
+
+The tendency of the various nations to adopt and cultivate different
+modes of warfare was far greater, in those ancient times, than now.
+The Balearic Isles, in fact, received their name from the Greek word
+_ballein_, which means to throw with a sling. The youth there were
+trained to perfection in the use of this weapon from a very early age.
+It is said that mothers used to practice the plan of putting the bread
+for their boys' breakfast on the branches of trees, high above their
+heads, and not allow them to have their food to eat until they could
+bring it down with a stone thrown from a sling.
+
+Thus the Carthaginian power became greatly extended. The whole
+government, however, was exercised by a small body of wealthy and
+aristocratic families at home. It was very much such a government as
+that of England is at the present day, only the aristocracy of England
+is based on ancient birth and landed property, whereas in Carthage it
+depended on commercial greatness, combined, it is true, with
+hereditary family distinction. The aristocracy of Carthage controlled
+and governed every thing. None but its own sons could ordinarily
+obtain office or power. The great mass of inhabitants were kept in a
+state of servitude and vassalage. This state of things operated then,
+as it does now in England, very unjustly and hardly for those who were
+thus debased; but the result was--and in this respect the analogy with
+England still holds good--that a very efficient and energetic
+government was created. The government of an oligarchy makes sometimes
+a very rich and powerful state, but a discontented and unhappy people.
+
+Let the reader now turn to the map and find the place of Carthage upon
+it. Let him imagine a great and rich city there, with piers, and
+docks, and extensive warehouses for the commerce, and temples, and
+public edifices of splendid architecture, for the religious and civil
+service of the state, and elegant mansions and palaces for the
+wealthy aristocracy, and walls and towers for the defense of the
+whole. Let him then imagine a back country, extending for some hundred
+miles into the interior of Africa, fertile and highly cultivated,
+producing great stores of corn, and wine, and rich fruits of every
+description. Let him then look at the islands of Sicily, of Corsica,
+and Sardinia, and the Baleares, and conceive of them as rich and
+prosperous countries, and all under the Carthaginian rule. Look, also,
+at the coast of Spain; see, in imagination, the city of Carthagena,
+with its fortifications, and its army, and the gold and silver mines,
+with thousands and thousands of slaves toiling in them. Imagine fleets
+of ships going continually along the shores of the Mediterranean, from
+country to country, cruising back and forth to Tyre, to Cyprus, to
+Egypt, to Sicily, to Spain, carrying corn, and flax, and purple dyes,
+and spices, and perfumes, and precious stones, and ropes and sails for
+ships, and gold and silver, and then periodically returning to
+Carthage, to add the profits they had made to the vast treasures of
+wealth already accumulated there. Let the reader imagine all this with
+the map before him, so as to have a distinct conception of the
+geographical relations of the localities, and he will have a pretty
+correct idea of the Carthaginian power at the time it commenced its
+dreadful conflicts with Rome.
+
+Rome itself was very differently situated. Rome had been built by some
+wanderers from Troy, and it grew, for a long time, silently and
+slowly, by a sort of internal principle of life and energy. One region
+after another of the Italian peninsula was merged in the Roman state.
+They formed a population which was, in the main, stationary and
+agricultural. They tilled the fields; they hunted the wild beasts;
+they raised great flocks and herds. They seem to have been a race--a
+sort of variety of the human species--possessed of a very refined and
+superior organization, which, in its development, gave rise to a
+character of firmness, energy, and force, both of body and mind, which
+has justly excited the admiration of mankind. The Carthaginians had
+sagacity--the Romans called it cunning--and activity, enterprise and
+wealth. Their rivals, on the other hand, were characterized by genius,
+courage, and strength, giving rise to a certain calm and indomitable
+resolution and energy, which has since, in every age, been strongly
+associated, in the minds of men, with the very word Roman.
+
+The progress of nations was much more slow in ancient days than now,
+and these two rival empires continued their gradual growth and
+extension, each on its own side of the great sea which divided them,
+for _five hundred years_, before they came into collision. At last,
+however, the collision came. It originated in the following way:
+
+By looking at the map, the reader will see that the island of Sicily
+is separated from the main land by a narrow strait called the Strait
+of Messina. This strait derives its name from the town of Messina,
+which is situated upon it, on the Sicilian side. Opposite Messina, on
+the Italian side, there was a town named Rhegium. Now it happened that
+both these towns had been taken possession of by lawless bodies of
+soldiery. The Romans came and delivered Rhegium, and punished the
+soldiers who had seized it very severely. The Sicilian authorities
+advanced to the deliverance of Messina. The troops there, finding
+themselves thus threatened, sent to the Romans to say that if they,
+the Romans, would come and protect them, they would deliver Messina
+into their hands.
+
+The question, what answer to give to this application, was brought
+before the Roman senate, and caused them great perplexity. It seemed
+very inconsistent to take sides with the rebels of Messina, when they
+had punished so severely those of Rhegium. Still the Romans had been,
+for a long time, becoming very jealous of the growth and extension of
+the Carthaginian power. Here was an opportunity of meeting and
+resisting it. The Sicilian authorities were about calling for direct
+aid from Carthage to recover the city, and the affair would probably
+result in establishing a large body of Carthaginian troops within
+sight of the Italian shore, and at a point where it would be easy for
+them to make hostile incursions into the Roman territories. In a word,
+it was a case of what is called political necessity; that is to say, a
+case in which the _interests_ of one of the parties in a contest were
+so strong that all considerations of justice, consistency, and honor
+are to be sacrificed to the promotion of them. Instances of this kind
+of political necessity occur very frequently in the management of
+public affairs in all ages of the world.
+
+The contest for Messina was, after all, however, considered by the
+Romans merely as a pretext, or rather as an occasion, for commencing
+the struggle which they had long been desirous of entering upon. They
+evinced their characteristic energy and greatness in the plan which
+they adopted at the outset. They knew very well that the power of
+Carthage rested mainly on her command of the seas, and that they could
+not hope successfully to cope with her till they could meet and
+conquer her on her own element. In the mean time, however, they had
+not a single ship and not a single sailor, while the Mediterranean was
+covered with Carthaginian ships and seamen. Not at all daunted by this
+prodigious inequality, the Romans resolved to begin at once the work
+of creating for themselves a naval power.
+
+The preparations consumed some time; for the Romans had not only to
+build the ships, they had first to learn how to build them. They took
+their first lesson from a Carthaginian galley which was cast away in a
+storm upon the coast of Italy. They seized this galley, collected
+their carpenters to examine it, and set woodmen at work to fell trees
+and collect materials for imitating it. The carpenters studied their
+model very carefully, measured the dimensions of every part, and
+observed the manner in which the various parts were connected and
+secured together. The heavy shocks which vessels are exposed to from
+the waves makes it necessary to secure great strength in the
+construction of them; and, though the ships of the ancients were very
+small and imperfect compared with the men-of-war of the present day,
+still it is surprising that the Romans could succeed at all in such a
+sudden and hasty attempt at building them.
+
+They did, however, succeed. While the ships were building, officers
+appointed for the purpose were training men, on shore, to the art of
+rowing them. Benches, like the seats which the oarsman would occupy in
+the ships, were arranged on the ground, and the intended seamen were
+drilled every day in the movements and action of rowers. The result
+was, that in a few months after the building of the ships was
+commenced, the Romans had a fleet of one hundred galleys of five banks
+of oars ready. They remained in harbor with them for some time, to
+give the oarsmen the opportunity to see whether they could row on the
+water as well as on the land, and then boldly put to sea to meet the
+Carthaginians.
+
+There was one part of the arrangements made by the Romans in preparing
+their fleets which was strikingly characteristic of the determined
+resolution which marked all their conduct. They constructed machines
+containing grappling irons, which they mounted on the prows of their
+vessels. These engines were so contrived, that the moment one of the
+ships containing them should encounter a vessel of the enemy, the
+grappling irons would fall upon the deck of the latter, and hold the
+two firmly together, so as to prevent the possibility of either
+escaping from the other. The idea that they themselves should have any
+wish to withdraw from the encounter seemed entirely out of the
+question. Their only fear was that the Carthaginian seamen would
+employ their superior skill and experience in naval maneuvers in
+making their escape. Mankind have always regarded the action of the
+Romans, in this case, as one of the most striking examples of military
+courage and resolution which the history of war has ever recorded. An
+army of landsmen come down to the sea-shore, and, without scarcely
+having ever seen a ship, undertake to build a fleet, and go out to
+attack a power whose navies covered the sea, and made her the sole and
+acknowledged mistress of it. They seize a wrecked galley of their
+enemies for their model; they build a hundred vessels like it; they
+practice maneuvers for a short time in port; and then go forth to
+meet the fleets of their powerful enemy, with grappling machines to
+hold them, fearing nothing but the possibility of their escape.
+
+The result was as might have been expected. The Romans captured, sunk,
+destroyed, or dispersed the Carthaginian fleet which was brought to
+oppose them. They took the prows of the ships which they captured and
+conveyed them to Rome, and built what is called a _rostral pillar_ of
+them. A rostral pillar is a column ornamented with such beaks or
+prows, which were, in the Roman language, called _rostra_. This column
+was nearly destroyed by lightning about fifty years afterward, but it
+was repaired and rebuilt again, and it stood then for many centuries,
+a very striking and appropriate monument of this extraordinary naval
+victory. The Roman commander in this case was the consul Duilius. The
+rostral column was erected in honor of him. In digging among the ruins
+of Rome, there was found what was supposed to be the remains of this
+column, about three hundred years ago.
+
+The Romans now prepared to carry the war into Africa itself. Of course
+it was easy, after their victory over the Carthaginian fleet, to
+transport troops across the sea to the Carthaginian shore. The Roman
+commonwealth was governed at this time by a senate, who made the laws,
+and by two supreme executive officers, called consuls. They thought it
+was safer to have two chief magistrates than one, as each of the two
+would naturally be a check upon the other. The result was, however,
+that mutual jealousy involved them often in disputes and quarrels. It
+is thought better, in modern times, to have but one chief magistrate
+in the state, and to provide other modes to put a check upon any
+disposition he might evince to abuse his powers.
+
+The Roman consuls, in time of war, took command of the armies. The
+name of the consul upon whom it devolved to carry on the war with the
+Carthaginians, after this first great victory, was Regulus, and his
+name has been celebrated in every age, on account of his extraordinary
+adventures in this campaign, and his untimely fate. How far the story
+is strictly true it is now impossible to ascertain, but the following
+is the story, as the Roman historians relate it:
+
+At the time when Regulus was elected consul he was a plain man, living
+simply on his farm, maintaining himself by his own industry, and
+evincing no ambition or pride. His fellow citizens, however, observed
+those qualities of mind in him which they were accustomed to admire,
+and made him consul. He left the city and took command of the army. He
+enlarged the fleet to more than three hundred vessels. He put one
+hundred and forty thousand men on board, and sailed for Africa. One or
+two years had been spent in making these preparations, which time the
+Carthaginians had improved in building new ships; so that, when the
+Romans set sail, and were moving along the coast of Sicily, they soon
+came in sight of a larger Carthaginian fleet assembled to oppose them.
+Regulus advanced to the contest. The Carthaginian fleet was beaten as
+before. The ships which were not captured or destroyed made their
+escape in all directions, and Regulus went on, without further
+opposition, and landed his forces on the Carthaginian shore. He
+encamped as soon as he landed, and sent back word to the Roman senate
+asking what was next to be done.
+
+The senate, considering that the great difficulty and danger, viz.,
+that of repulsing the Carthaginian fleet, was now past, ordered
+Regulus to send home nearly all the ships and a very large part of the
+army, and with the rest to commence his march toward Carthage.
+Regulus obeyed: he sent home the troops which had been ordered home,
+and with the rest began to advance upon the city.
+
+Just at this time, however, news came out to him that the farmer who
+had had the care of his land at home had died, and that his little
+farm, on which rested his sole reliance for the support of his family,
+was going to ruin. Regulus accordingly sent to the senate, asking them
+to place some one else in command of the army, and to allow him to
+resign his office, that he might go home and take care of his wife and
+children. The senate sent back orders that he should go on with his
+campaign, and promised to provide support for his family, and to see
+that some one was appointed to take care of his land. This story is
+thought to illustrate the extreme simplicity and plainness of all the
+habits of life among the Romans in those days. It certainly does so,
+if it is true. It is, however, very extraordinary, that a man who was
+intrusted by such a commonwealth, with the command of a fleet of a
+hundred and thirty vessels, and an army of a hundred and forty
+thousand men, should have a family at home dependent for subsistence
+on the hired cultivation of seven acres of land. Still, such is the
+story.
+
+Regulus advanced toward Carthage, conquering as he came. The
+Carthaginians were beaten in one field after another, and were
+reduced, in fact, to the last extremity, when an occurrence took place
+which turned the scale. This occurrence was the arrival of a large
+body of troops from Greece, with a Grecian general at their head.
+These were troops which the Carthaginians had hired to fight for them,
+as was the case with the rest of their army. But these were _Greeks_,
+and the Greeks were of the same race, and possessed the same
+qualities, as the Romans. The newly-arrived Grecian general evinced at
+once such military superiority, that the Carthaginians gave him the
+supreme command. He marshaled the army, accordingly, for battle. He
+had a hundred elephants in the van. They were trained to rush forward
+and trample down the enemy. He had the Greek phalanx in the center,
+which was a close, compact body of many thousand troops, bristling
+with long, iron-pointed spears, with which the men pressed forward,
+bearing every thing before them. Regulus was, in a word, ready to meet
+Carthaginians, but he was not prepared to encounter Greeks. His army
+was put to flight, and he was taken prisoner. Nothing could exceed
+the excitement and exultation in the city when they saw Regulus and
+five hundred other Roman soldiers, brought captive in. A few days
+before, they had been in consternation at the imminent danger of his
+coming in as a ruthless and vindictive conqueror.
+
+The Roman senate were not discouraged by this disaster. They fitted
+out new armies, and the war went on, Regulus being kept all the time
+at Carthage as a close prisoner. At last the Carthaginians authorized
+him to go to Rome as a sort of commissioner, to propose to the Romans
+to exchange prisoners and to make peace. They exacted from him a
+solemn promise that if he was unsuccessful he would return. The Romans
+had taken many of the Carthaginians prisoners in their naval combats,
+and held them captive at Rome. It is customary, in such cases, for the
+belligerent nations to make an exchange, and restore the captives on
+both sides to their friends and home. It was such an exchange of
+prisoners as this which Regulus was to propose.
+
+When Regulus reached Rome he refused to enter the city, but he
+appeared before the senate without the walls, in a very humble garb
+and with the most subdued and unassuming demeanor. He was no longer,
+he said, a Roman officer, or even citizen, but a Carthaginian
+prisoner, and he disavowed all right to direct, or even to counsel,
+the Roman authorities in respect to the proper course to be pursued.
+His opinion was, however, he said, that the Romans ought not to make
+peace or to exchange prisoners. He himself and the other Roman
+prisoners were old and infirm, and not worth the exchange; and,
+moreover, they had no claim whatever on their country, as they could
+only have been made prisoners in consequence of want of courage or
+patriotism to die in their country's cause. He said that the
+Carthaginians were tired of the war, and that their resources were
+exhausted, and that the Romans ought to press forward in it with
+renewed vigor, and leave himself and the other prisoners to their
+fate.
+
+The senate came very slowly and reluctantly to the conclusion to
+follow this advice. They, however, all earnestly joined in attempting
+to persuade Regulus that he was under no obligation to return to
+Carthage. His promise, they said, was extorted by the circumstances of
+the case, and was not binding. Regulus, however, insisted on keeping
+his faith with his enemies. He sternly refused to see his family,
+and, bidding the senate farewell, he returned to Carthage. The
+Carthaginians, exasperated at his having himself interposed to prevent
+the success of his mission, tortured him for some time in the most
+cruel manner, and finally put him to death. One would think that he
+ought to have counseled peace and an exchange of prisoners, and he
+ought not to have refused to see his unhappy wife and children; but it
+was certainly very noble in him to refuse to break his word.
+
+The war continued for some time after this, until, at length, both
+nations became weary of the contest, and peace was made. The following
+is the treaty which was signed. It shows that the advantage, on the
+whole, in this first Punic war, was on the part of the Romans:
+
+     "There shall be peace between Rome and Carthage. The
+     Carthaginians shall evacuate all Sicily. They shall not make
+     war upon any allies of the Romans. They shall restore to the
+     Romans, without ransom, all the prisoners which they have
+     taken from them, and pay them within ten years three
+     thousand two hundred talents of silver."
+
+The war had continued twenty-four years.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+HANNIBAL AT SAGUNTUM.
+
+B.C. 234-218
+
+Parentage of Hannibal.--Character of Hamilcar.--Religious
+ceremonies.--Hannibal's famous oath of enmity to Rome.--Hamilcar
+in Spain.--Hasdrubal.--Death of Hamilcar.--Hannibal sent for to
+Spain.--Opposition of Hanno.--Hannibal sets out for Spain.--Favorable
+impression on the army.--Character of Hannibal.--He is elevated to
+the supreme command.--The River Iberus.--Hannibal seeks a war with
+the Romans.--Stratagem of Hannibal.--Fording the river.--Great
+battle in the River Tagus.--Victory of Hannibal.--Saguntum.--Hannibal
+attacks it.--Progress of the siege.--Hannibal wounded.--Hannibal
+recovers.--The falarica.--Arrival of the Roman embassadors.--Hannibal's
+policy.--Hannibal sends embassadors to Carthage.--The Roman
+embassadors.--Parties in the Carthaginian senate.--Speech of
+Hanno.--Hanno proposes to give up Hannibal.--Defense of Hannibal's
+friends.--Hannibal triumphant.--Saguntum falls.
+
+
+The name of Hannibal's father was Hamilcar. He was one of the leading
+Carthaginian generals. He occupied a very prominent position, both on
+account of his rank, and wealth, and high family connections at
+Carthage, and also on account of the great military energy which he
+displayed in the command of the armies abroad. He carried on the wars
+which the Carthaginians waged in Africa and in Spain after the
+conclusion of the war with the Romans, and he longed to commence
+hostilities with the Romans again.
+
+At one time, when Hannibal was about nine years of age, Hamilcar was
+preparing to set off on an expedition into Spain, and, as was usual in
+those days, he was celebrating the occasion with games, and
+spectacles, and various religious ceremonies. It has been the custom
+in all ages of the world, when nations go to war with each other, for
+each side to take measures for propitiating the favor of Heaven.
+Christian nations at the present day do it by prayers offered in each
+country for the success of their own arms. Heathen nations do it by
+sacrifices, libations, and offerings. Hamilcar had made arrangements
+for such sacrifices, and the priests were offering them in the
+presence of the whole assembled army.
+
+Young Hannibal, then about nine years of age, was present. He was a
+boy of great spirit and energy, and he entered with much enthusiasm
+into the scene. He wanted to go to Spain himself with the army, and he
+came to his father and began to urge his request. His father could not
+consent to this. He was too young to endure the privations and
+fatigues of such an enterprise. However, his father brought him to one
+of the altars, in the presence of the other officers of the army, and
+made him lay his hand upon the consecrated victim, and swear that, as
+soon as he was old enough, and had it in his power, he would make war
+upon the Romans. This was done, no doubt, in part to amuse young
+Hannibal's mind, and to relieve his disappointment in not being able
+to go to war at that time, by promising him a great and mighty enemy
+to fight at some future day. Hannibal remembered it, and longed for
+the time to come when he could go to war against the _Romans_.
+
+Hamilcar bade his son farewell and embarked for Spain. He was at
+liberty to extend his conquests there in all directions west of the
+River Iberus, a river which the reader will find upon the map, flowing
+southeast into the Mediterranean Sea. Its name, Iberus, has been
+gradually changed, in modern times, to Ebro. By the treaty with the
+Romans the Carthaginians were not to cross the Iberus. They were also
+bound by the treaty not to molest the people of Saguntum, a city lying
+between the Iberus and the Carthaginian dominions. Saguntum was in
+alliance with the Romans and under their protection.
+
+Hamilcar was, however, very restless and uneasy at being obliged thus
+to refrain from hostilities with the Roman power. He began,
+immediately after his arrival in Spain, to form plans for renewing the
+war. He had under him, as his principal lieutenant, a young man who
+had married his daughter. His name was Hasdrubal. With Hasdrubal's
+aid, he went on extending his conquests in Spain, and strengthening
+his position there, and gradually maturing his plans for renewing war
+with the Romans, when at length he died. Hasdrubal succeeded him.
+Hannibal was now, probably, about twenty-one or two years old, and
+still in Carthage. Hasdrubal sent to the Carthaginian government a
+request that Hannibal might receive an appointment in the army, and be
+sent out to join him in Spain.
+
+On the subject of complying with this request there was a great debate
+in the Carthaginian senate. In all cases where questions of government
+are controlled by _votes_, it has been found, in every age, that
+_parties_ will always be formed, of which the two most prominent will
+usually be nearly balanced one against the other. Thus, at this time,
+though the Hamilcar family were in power, there was a very strong
+party in Carthage in opposition to them. The leader of this party in
+the senate, whose name was Hanno, made a very earnest speech against
+sending Hannibal. He was too young, he said, to be of any service. He
+would only learn the vices and follies of the camp, and thus become
+corrupted and ruined. "Besides," said Hanno, "at this rate, the
+command of our armies in Spain is getting to be a sort of hereditary
+right. Hamilcar was not a king, that his authority should thus descend
+first to his son-in-law and then to his son; for this plan of making
+Hannibal," he said, "while yet scarcely arrived at manhood, a high
+officer in the army, is only a stepping-stone to the putting of the
+forces wholly under his orders, whenever, for any reason, Hasdrubal
+shall cease to command them."
+
+The Roman historian, through whose narrative we get our only account
+of this debate, says that, though these were good reasons, yet
+strength prevailed, as usual, over wisdom, in the decision of the
+question. They voted to send Hannibal, and he set out to cross the sea
+to Spain with a heart full of enthusiasm and joy.
+
+A great deal of curiosity and interest was felt throughout the army to
+see him on his arrival. The soldiers had been devotedly attached to
+his father, and they were all ready to transfer this attachment at
+once to the son, if he should prove worthy of it. It was very evident,
+soon after he reached the camp, that he was going to prove himself
+thus worthy. He entered at once into the duties of his position with a
+degree of energy, patience, and self-denial which attracted universal
+attention, and made him a universal favorite. He dressed plainly; he
+assumed no airs; he sought for no pleasures or indulgences, nor
+demanded any exemption from the dangers and privations which the
+common soldiers had to endure. He ate plain food, and slept, often in
+his military cloak, on the ground, in the midst of the soldiers on
+guard; and in battle he was always foremost to press forward into the
+contest, and the last to leave the ground when the time came for
+repose. The Romans say that, in addition to these qualities, he was
+inhuman and merciless when in open warfare with his foes, and cunning
+and treacherous in every other mode of dealing with them. It is very
+probable that he was so. Such traits of character were considered by
+soldiers in those days, as they are now, virtues in themselves, though
+vices in their enemies.
+
+However this may be, Hannibal became a great and universal favorite in
+the army. He went on for several years increasing his military
+knowledge, and widening and extending his influence, when at length,
+one day, Hasdrubal was suddenly killed by a ferocious native of the
+country whom he had by some means offended. As soon as the first shock
+of this occurrence was over, the leaders of the army went in pursuit
+of Hannibal, whom they brought in triumph to the tent of Hasdrubal,
+and instated him at once in the supreme command, with one consent and
+in the midst of universal acclamations. As soon as news of this event
+reached Carthage, the government there confirmed the act of the army,
+and Hannibal thus found himself suddenly but securely invested with a
+very high military command.
+
+His eager and restless desire to try his strength with the Romans
+received a new impulse by his finding that the power was now in his
+hands. Still the two countries were at peace. They were bound by
+solemn treaties to continue so. The River Iberus was the boundary
+which separated the dominions of the two nations from each other in
+Spain, the territory east of that boundary being under the Roman
+power, and that on the west under that of the Carthaginians; except
+that Saguntum, which was on the western side, was an ally of the
+Romans, and the Carthaginians were bound by the treaty to leave it
+independent and free.
+
+Hannibal could not, therefore, cross the Iberus or attack Saguntum
+without an open infraction of the treaty. He, however, immediately
+began to move toward Saguntum and to attack the nations in the
+immediate vicinity of it. If he wished to get into a war with the
+Romans, this was the proper way to promote it; for, by advancing thus
+into the immediate vicinity of the capital of their allies, there was
+great probability that disputes would arise which would sooner or
+later end in war.
+
+The Romans say that Hannibal was cunning and treacherous, and he
+certainly did display, on some occasions, a great degree of adroitness
+in his stratagems. In one instance in these preliminary wars he gained
+a victory over an immensely superior force in a very remarkable
+manner. He was returning from an inroad upon some of the northern
+provinces, laden and encumbered with spoil, when he learned that an
+immense army, consisting, it was said, of a hundred thousand men, were
+coming down upon his rear. There was a river at a short distance
+before him. Hannibal pressed on and crossed the river by a ford, the
+water being, perhaps, about three feet deep. He secreted a large body
+of cavalry near the bank of the stream, and pushed on with the main
+body of the army to some little distance from the river, so as to
+produce the impression upon his pursuers that he was pressing forward
+to make his escape.
+
+[Illustration: THE BATTLE IN THE RIVER.]
+
+The enemy, thinking that they had no time to lose, poured down in
+great numbers into the stream from various points along the banks;
+and, as soon as they had reached the middle of the current, and were
+wading laboriously, half submerged, with their weapons held above
+their heads, so as to present as little resistance as possible to the
+water, the horsemen of Hannibal rushed in to meet and attack them. The
+horsemen had, of course, greatly the advantage; for, though their
+horses were in the water, they were themselves raised above it, and
+their limbs were free, while their enemies were half submerged, and,
+being encumbered by their arms and by one another, were nearly
+helpless. They were immediately thrown into complete confusion, and
+were overwhelmed and carried down by the current in great numbers.
+Some of them succeeded in landing below, on Hannibal's side; but, in
+the mean time, the main body of his army had returned, and was ready
+to receive them, and they were trampled under foot by the elephants,
+which it was the custom to employ, in those days, as a military force.
+As soon as the river was cleared, Hannibal marched his own army across
+it, and attacked what remained of the enemy on their own side. He
+gained a complete victory, which was so great and decisive that he
+secured by it possession of the whole country west of the Iberus,
+except Saguntum, and Saguntum itself began to be seriously alarmed.
+
+The Saguntines sent embassadors to Rome to ask the Romans to interpose
+and protect them from the dangers which threatened them. These
+embassadors made diligent efforts to reach Rome as soon as possible,
+but they were too late. On some pretext or other, Hannibal contrived
+to raise a dispute between the city and one of the neighboring tribes,
+and then, taking sides with the tribe, he advanced to attack the city.
+The Saguntines prepared for their defense, hoping soon to receive
+succors from Rome. They strengthened and fortified their walls, while
+Hannibal began to move forward great military engines for battering
+them down.
+
+Hannibal knew very well that by his hostilities against this city he
+was commencing a contest with Rome itself, as Rome must necessarily
+take part with her ally. In fact, there is no doubt that his design
+was to bring on a general war between the two great nations. He began
+with Saguntum for two reasons: first, it would not be safe for him to
+cross the Iberus, and advance into the Roman territory, leaving so
+wealthy and powerful a city in his rear; and then, in the second
+place, it was easier for him to find pretexts for getting indirectly
+into a quarrel with Saguntum, and throwing the odium of a declaration
+of war on Rome, than to persuade the Carthaginian state to renounce
+the peace and themselves commence hostilities. There was, as has been
+already stated, a very strong party at Carthage opposed to Hannibal,
+who would, of course, resist any measures tending to a war with Rome,
+for they would consider such a war as opening a vast field for
+gratifying Hannibal's ambition. The only way, therefore, was to
+provoke a war by aggressions on the Roman allies, to be justified by
+the best pretexts he could find.
+
+Saguntum was a very wealthy and powerful city. It was situated about a
+mile from the sea. The attack upon the place, and the defense of it by
+the inhabitants, went on for some time with great vigor. In these
+operations, Hannibal exposed himself to great danger. He approached,
+at one time, so near the wall, in superintending the arrangements of
+his soldiers and the planting of his engines, that a heavy javelin,
+thrown from the parapet, struck him on the thigh. It pierced the
+flesh, and inflicted so severe a wound that he fell immediately, and
+was borne away by the soldiers. It was several days before he was free
+from the danger incurred by the loss of blood and the fever which
+follows such a wound. During all this time his army were in a great
+state of excitement and anxiety, and suspended their active
+operations. As soon, however, as Hannibal was found to be decidedly
+convalescent, they resumed them again, and urged them onward with
+greater energy than before.
+
+The weapons of warfare in those ancient days were entirely different
+from those which are now employed, and there was one, described by an
+ancient historian as used by the Saguntines at this siege, which might
+almost come under the modern denomination of fire-arms. It was called
+the _falarica_. It was a sort of javelin, consisting of a shaft of
+wood, with a long point of iron. This point was said to be three feet
+long. This javelin was to be thrown at the enemy either from the hand
+of the soldier or by an engine. The leading peculiarity of it was,
+however, that, near to the pointed end, there were wound around the
+wooden shaft long bands of _tow_, which were saturated with pitch and
+other combustibles, and this inflammable band was set on fire just
+before the javelin was thrown. As the missile flew on its way, the
+wind fanned the flames, and made them burn so fiercely, that when the
+javelin struck the shield of the soldier opposing it, it could not be
+pulled out, and the shield itself had to be thrown down and abandoned.
+
+While the inhabitants of Saguntum were vainly endeavoring to defend
+themselves against their terrible enemy by these and similar means,
+their embassadors, not knowing that the city had been attacked, had
+reached Rome, and had laid before the Roman senate their fears that
+the city would be attacked, unless they adopted vigorous and immediate
+measures to prevent it. The Romans resolved to send embassadors to
+Hannibal to demand of him what his intentions were, and to warn him
+against any acts of hostility against Saguntum. When these Roman
+embassadors arrived on the coast, near to Saguntum, they found that
+hostilities had commenced, and that the city was hotly besieged. They
+were at a loss to know what to do.
+
+It is better for a rebel not to hear an order which he is determined
+beforehand not to obey. Hannibal, with an adroitness which the
+Carthaginians called sagacity, and the Romans treachery and cunning,
+determined not to see these messengers. He sent word to them, at the
+shore, that they must not attempt to come to his camp, for the country
+was in such a disturbed condition that it would not be safe for them
+to land; and besides, he could not receive or attend to them, for he
+was too much pressed with the urgency of his military works to have
+any time to spare for debates and negotiations.
+
+Hannibal knew that the embassadors, being thus repulsed, and having
+found, too, that the war had broken out, and that Saguntum was
+actually beset and besieged by Hannibal's armies, would proceed
+immediately to Carthage to demand satisfaction there. He knew, also,
+that Hanno and his party would very probably espouse the cause of the
+Romans, and endeavor to arrest his designs. He accordingly sent his
+own embassadors to Carthage, to exert an influence in his favor in the
+Carthaginian senate, and endeavor to urge them to reject the claims of
+the Romans, and allow the war between Rome and Carthage to break out
+again.
+
+The Roman embassadors appeared at Carthage, and were admitted to an
+audience before the senate. They stated their case, representing that
+Hannibal had made war upon Saguntum in violation of the treaty, and
+had refused even to receive the communication which had been sent him
+by the Roman senate through them. They demanded that the Carthaginian
+government should disavow his acts, and deliver him up to them, in
+order that he might receive the punishment which his violation of the
+treaty, and his aggressions upon an ally of the Romans, so justly
+deserved.
+
+The party of Hannibal in the Carthaginian senate were, of course,
+earnest to have these proposals rejected with scorn. The other side,
+with Hanno at their head, maintained that they were reasonable
+demands. Hanno, in a very energetic and powerful speech, told the
+senate that he had warned them not to send Hannibal into Spain. He had
+foreseen that such a hot and turbulent spirit as his would involve
+them in inextricable difficulties with the Roman power. Hannibal had,
+he said, plainly violated the treaty. He had invested and besieged
+Saguntum, which they were solemnly bound not to molest, and they had
+nothing to expect in return but that the Roman legions would soon be
+investing and besieging their own city. In the mean time, the Romans,
+he added, had been moderate and forbearing. They had brought nothing
+to the charge of the Carthaginians. They accused nobody but Hannibal,
+who, thus far, alone was guilty. The Carthaginians, by disavowing his
+acts, could save themselves from the responsibility of them. He
+urged, therefore, that an embassage of apology should be sent to Rome,
+that Hannibal should be deposed and delivered up to the Romans, and
+that ample restitution should be made to the Saguntines for the
+injuries they had received.
+
+On the other hand, the friends of Hannibal urged in the Carthaginian
+senate their defense of the general. They reviewed the history of the
+transactions in which the war had originated, and showed, or attempted
+to show, that the Saguntines themselves commenced hostilities, and
+that consequently they, and not Hannibal, were responsible for all
+that followed; that, under those circumstances, the Romans ought not
+to take their part, and if they did so, it proved that they preferred
+the friendship of Saguntum to that of Carthage; and that it would be
+cowardly and dishonorable in the extreme for them to deliver the
+general whom they had placed in power, and who had shown himself so
+worthy of their choice by his courage and energy, into the hands of
+their ancient and implacable foes.
+
+Thus Hannibal was waging at the same time two wars, one in the
+Carthaginian senate, where the weapons were arguments and eloquence,
+and the other under the walls of Saguntum, which was fought with
+battering rains and fiery javelins. He conquered in both. The senate
+decided to send the Roman embassadors home without acceding to their
+demands, and the walls of Saguntum were battered down by Hannibal's
+engines. The inhabitants refused all terms of compromise, and resisted
+to the last, so that, when the victorious soldiery broke over the
+prostrate walls, and poured into the city, it was given up to them to
+plunder, and they killed and destroyed all that came in their way. The
+disappointed embassadors returned to Rome with the news that Saguntum
+had been taken and destroyed by Hannibal, and that the Carthaginians,
+far from offering any satisfaction for the wrong, assumed the
+responsibility of it themselves, and were preparing for war.
+
+Thus Hannibal accomplished his purpose of opening the way for waging
+war against the Roman power. He prepared to enter into the contest
+with the utmost energy and zeal. The conflict that ensued lasted
+seventeen years, and is known in history as the second Punic war. It
+was one of the most dreadful struggles between rival and hostile
+nations which the gloomy history of mankind exhibits to view. The
+events that occurred will be described in the subsequent chapters.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+OPENING OF THE SECOND PUNIC WAR.
+
+B.C. 217
+
+Fall of Hanno's party.--Power of Hannibal.--Desperate valor of the
+Saguntines.--Hannibal's disposition of the spoils.--Hannibal chosen
+one of the suffetes.--Nature of the office.--Great excitement at
+Rome.--Fearful anticipations.--New embassy to Carthage.--Warm
+debates.--Fruitless negotiations.--The embassadors return.--Reply of
+the Volscians.--Council of Gauls.--Tumultuous scene.--Repulse of the
+embassadors.--Hannibal's kindness to his soldiers.--He matures his
+designs.--Hannibal's plan for the government of Spain in his
+absence.--Hannibal's brother Hasdrubal.--He is left in charge of
+Spain.--Preparations of the Romans.--Their plan for the war.--The
+Roman fleet.--Drawing lots.--Religious ceremonies.--Hannibal's
+march.--The Pyrenees.--Discontent in Hannibal's army.--Hannibal's
+address.--The discontented sent home.--Hannibal's sagacity.--The
+Pyrenees passed.
+
+
+When the tide once turns in any nation in favor of war, it generally
+rushes on with great impetuosity and force, and bears all before it.
+It was so in Carthage in this instance. The party of Hanno were thrown
+entirely into the minority and silenced, and the friends and partisans
+of Hannibal carried not only the government, but the whole community
+with them, and every body was eager for war. This was owing, in part,
+to the natural contagiousness of the martial spirit, which, when felt
+by one, catches easily, by sympathy, in the heart of another. It is a
+fire which, when once it begins to burn, spreads in every direction,
+and consumes all that comes in its way.
+
+Besides, when Hannibal gained possession of Saguntum, he found immense
+treasures there, which he employed, not to increase his own private
+fortune, but to strengthen and confirm his civil and military power.
+The Saguntines did every thing they could to prevent these treasures
+from falling into his hands. They fought desperately to the last,
+refused all terms of surrender, and they became so insanely desperate
+in the end, that, according to the narrative of Livy, when they found
+that the walls and towers of the city were falling in, and that all
+hope of further defense was gone, they built an enormous fire in the
+public streets, and heaped upon it all the treasures which they had
+time to collect that fire could destroy, and then that many of the
+principal inhabitants leaped into the flames themselves, in order that
+their hated conquerors might lose their prisoners as well as their
+spoils.
+
+Notwithstanding this, however, Hannibal obtained a vast amount of gold
+and silver, both in the form of money and of plate, and also much
+valuable merchandise, which the Saguntine merchants had accumulated in
+their palaces and warehouses. He used all this property to strengthen
+his own political and military position. He paid his soldiers all the
+arrears due to them in full. He divided among them a large additional
+amount as their share of the spoil. He sent rich trophies home to
+Carthage, and presents, consisting of sums of money, and jewelry, and
+gems, to his friends there, and to those whom he wished to make his
+friends. The result of this munificence, and of the renown which his
+victories in Spain had procured for him, was to raise him to the
+highest pinnacle of influence and honor. The Carthaginians chose him
+one of the _suffetes_.
+
+The suffetes were the supreme executive officers of the Carthaginian
+commonwealth. The government was, as has been remarked before, a sort
+of aristocratic republic, and republics are always very cautious about
+intrusting power, even executive power, to any one man. As Rome had
+_two_ consuls, reigning jointly, and France, after her first
+revolution, a Directory of _five_, so the Carthaginians chose annually
+two _suffetes_, as they were called at Carthage, though the Roman
+writers call them indiscriminately suffetes, consuls, and kings.
+Hannibal was now advanced to this dignity; so that, in conjunction
+with his colleague, he held the supreme civil authority at Carthage,
+besides being invested with the command of the vast and victorious
+army in Spain.
+
+When news of these events--the siege and destruction of Saguntum, the
+rejection of the demands of the Roman embassadors, and the vigorous
+preparations making by the Carthaginians for war--reached Rome, the
+whole city was thrown into consternation. The senate and the people
+held tumultuous and disorderly assemblies, in which the events which
+had occurred, and the course of proceeding which it was incumbent on
+the Romans to take, were discussed with much excitement and clamor.
+The Romans were, in fact, afraid of the Carthaginians. The campaigns
+of Hannibal in Spain had impressed the people with a strong sense of
+the remorseless and terrible energy of his character; they at once
+concluded that his plans would be formed for marching into Italy, and
+they even anticipated the danger of his bringing the war up to the
+very gates of the city, so as to threaten _them_ with the destruction
+which he had brought upon Saguntum. The event showed how justly they
+appreciated his character.
+
+Since the conclusion of the first Punic war, there had been peace
+between the Romans and Carthaginians for about a quarter of a century.
+During all this time both nations had been advancing in wealth and
+power, but the Carthaginians had made much more rapid progress than
+the Romans. The Romans had, indeed, been very successful at the onset
+in the former war, but in the end the Carthaginians had proved
+themselves their equal. They seemed, therefore, to dread now a fresh
+encounter with these powerful foes, led on, as they were now to be, by
+such a commander as Hannibal.
+
+They determined, therefore, to send a second embassy to Carthage, with
+a view of making one more effort to preserve peace before actually
+commencing hostilities. They accordingly elected five men from among
+the most influential citizens of the state--men of venerable age and
+of great public consideration--and commissioned them to proceed to
+Carthage and ask once more whether it was the deliberate and final
+decision of the Carthaginian senate to avow and sustain the action of
+Hannibal. This solemn embassage set sail. They arrived at Carthage.
+They appeared before the senate. They argued their cause, but it was,
+of course, to deaf and unwilling ears. The Carthaginian orators
+replied to them, each side attempting to throw the blame of the
+violation of the treaty on the other. It was a solemn hour, for the
+peace of the world, the lives of hundreds of thousands of men, and the
+continued happiness or the desolation and ruin of vast regions of
+country, depended on the issue of the debate. Unhappily, the breach
+was only widened by the discussion. "Very well," said the Roman
+commissioners, at last, "we offer you peace or war, which do you
+choose?" "Whichever you please," replied the Carthaginians; "decide
+for yourselves." "War, then," said the Romans, "since it must be so."
+The conference was broken up, and the embassadors returned to Rome.
+
+They returned, however, by the way of Spain. Their object in doing
+this was to negotiate with the various kingdoms and tribes in Spain
+and in France, through which Hannibal would have to march in invading
+Italy, and endeavor to induce them to take sides with the Romans. They
+were too late, however, for Hannibal had contrived to extend and
+establish his influence in all that region too strongly to be shaken;
+so that, on one pretext or another, the Roman proposals were all
+rejected. There was one powerful tribe, for example, called the
+Volscians. The embassadors, in the presence of the great council of
+the Volscians, made known to them the probability of war, and invited
+them to ally themselves with the Romans. The Volscians rejected the
+proposition with a sort of scorn. "We see," said they, "from the fate
+of Saguntum, what is to be expected to result from an alliance with
+the Romans. After leaving that city defenseless and alone in its
+struggle against such terrible danger, it is in vain to ask other
+nations to trust to your protection. If you wish for new allies, it
+will be best for you to go where the story of Saguntum is not known."
+This answer of the Volscians was applauded by the other nations of
+Spain, as far as it was known, and the Roman embassadors, despairing
+of success in that country, went on into Gaul, which is the name by
+which the country now called France is known in ancient history.
+
+On reaching a certain place which was a central point of influence and
+power in Gaul, the Roman commissioners convened a great martial
+council there. The spectacle presented by this assembly was very
+imposing, for the warlike counselors came to the meeting armed
+completely and in the most formidable manner, as if they were coming
+to a battle instead of a consultation and debate. The venerable
+embassadors laid the subject before them. They descanted largely on
+the power and greatness of the Romans, and on the certainty that they
+should conquer in the approaching contest, and they invited the Gauls
+to espouse their cause, and to rise in arms and intercept Hannibal's
+passage through their country, if he should attempt to effect one.
+
+The assembly could hardly be induced to hear the embassadors through;
+and, as soon as they had finished their address, the whole council
+broke forth into cries of dissent and displeasure, and even into
+shouts of derision. Order was at length restored, and the officers,
+whose duty it was to express the sentiments of the assembly, gave for
+their reply that the Gauls had never received any thing but violence
+and injuries from Rome, or any thing but kindness and goodwill from
+Carthage; and that they had no idea of being guilty of the folly of
+bringing the impending storm of Hannibal's hostility upon their own
+heads, merely for the sake of averting it from their ancient and
+implacable foes. Thus the embassadors were every where repulsed. They
+found no friendly disposition toward the Roman power till they had
+crossed the Rhone.
+
+Hannibal began now to form his plans, in a very deliberate and
+cautious manner, for a march into Italy. He knew well that this was an
+expedition of such magnitude and duration as to require beforehand the
+most careful and well-considered arrangements, both for the forces
+which were to go, and for the states and communities which were to
+remain. The winter was coming on. His first measure was to dismiss a
+large portion of his forces, that they might visit their homes. He
+told them that he was intending some great designs for the ensuing
+spring, which might take them to a great distance, and keep them for a
+long time absent from Spain, and he would, accordingly, give them the
+intervening time to visit their families and their homes, and to
+arrange their affairs. This act of kind consideration and confidence
+renewed the attachment of the soldiers to their commander, and they
+returned to his camp in the spring not only with new strength and
+vigor, but with redoubled attachment to the service in which they were
+engaged.
+
+Hannibal, after sending home his soldiers, retired himself to New
+Carthage, which, as will be seen by the map, is further west than
+Saguntum, where he went into winter quarters, and devoted himself to
+the maturing of his designs. Besides the necessary preparations for
+his own march, he had to provide for the government of the countries
+that he should leave. He devised various and ingenious plans to
+prevent the danger of insurrections and rebellions while he was gone.
+One was, to organize an army for Spain out of soldiers drawn from
+_Africa_, while the troops which were to be employed to garrison
+Carthage, and to sustain the government there, were taken from Spain.
+By thus changing the troops of the two countries, each country was
+controlled by a foreign soldiery, who were more likely to be faithful
+in their obedience to their commanders, and less in danger of
+sympathizing with the populations which they were respectively
+employed to control, than if each had been retained in its own native
+land.
+
+Hannibal knew very well that the various states and provinces of
+Spain, which had refused to ally themselves with the Romans and
+abandon him, had been led to do this through the influence of his
+presents or the fear of his power, and that if, after he had
+penetrated into Italy, he should meet with reverses, so as to diminish
+very much their hope of deriving benefit from his favor or their fear
+of his power, there would be great danger of defections and revolts.
+As an additional security against this, he adopted the following
+ingenious plan. He enlisted a body of troops from among all the
+nations of Spain that were in alliance with him, selecting the young
+men who were enlisted as much as possible from families of
+consideration and influence, and this body of troops, when organized
+and officered, he sent into Carthage, giving the nations and tribes
+from which they were drawn to understand that he considered them not
+only as soldiers serving in his armies, but as _hostages_, which he
+should hold as security for the fidelity and obedience of the
+countries from which they had come. The number of these soldiers was
+four thousand.
+
+Hannibal had a brother, whose name, as it happened, was the same as
+that of his brother-in-law, Hasdrubal. It was to him that he committed
+the government of Spain during his absence. The soldiers provided for
+him were, as has been already stated, mainly drawn from Africa. In
+addition to the foot soldiers, he provided him with a small body of
+horse. He left with him, also, fourteen elephants. And as he thought
+it not improbable that the Romans might, in some contingency during
+his absence, make a descent upon the Spanish coast from the sea, he
+built and equipped for him a small fleet of about sixty vessels, fifty
+of which were of the first class. In modern times, the magnitude and
+efficiency of a ship is estimated by the number of guns she will
+carry; then, it was the number of banks of oars. Fifty of Hasdrubal's
+ships were _quinqueremes_, as they were called, that is, they had five
+banks of oars.
+
+The Romans, on the other hand, did not neglect their own preparations.
+Though reluctant to enter upon the war, they still prepared to engage
+in it with their characteristic energy and ardor, when they found that
+it could not be averted. They resolved on raising two powerful armies,
+one for each of the consuls. The plan was, with one of these to
+advance to meet Hannibal, and with the other to proceed to Sicily, and
+from Sicily to the African coast, with a view of threatening the
+Carthaginian capital. This plan, if successful, would compel the
+Carthaginians to recall a part or the whole of Hannibal's army from
+the intended invasion of Italy to defend their own African homes.
+
+The force raised by the Romans amounted to about seventy thousand men.
+About a third of these were Roman soldiers, and the remainder were
+drawn from various nations dwelling in Italy and in the islands of the
+Mediterranean Sea which were in alliance with the Romans. Of these
+troops six thousand were cavalry. Of course, as the Romans intended
+to cross into Africa, they needed a fleet. They built and equipped
+one, which consisted of two hundred and twenty ships of the largest
+class, that is, quinqueremes, besides a number of smaller and lighter
+vessels for services requiring speed. There were vessels in use in
+those times larger than the quinqueremes. Mention is occasionally made
+of those which had six and even seven banks of oars. But these were
+only employed as the flag-ships of commanders, and for other purposes
+of ceremony and parade, as they were too unwieldy for efficient
+service in action.
+
+Lots were then drawn in a very solemn manner, according to the Roman
+custom on such occasions, to decide on the assignment of these two
+armies to the respective consuls. The one destined to meet Hannibal on
+his way from Spain, fell to a consul named Cornelius Scipio. The name
+of the other was Sempronius. It devolved on him, consequently, to take
+charge of the expedition destined to Sicily and Africa. When all the
+arrangements were thus made, the question was finally put, in a very
+solemn and formal manner, to the Roman people for their final vote and
+decision. "Do the Roman people decide and decree that war shall be
+declared against the Carthaginians?" The decision was in the
+affirmative. The war was then proclaimed with the usual imposing
+ceremonies. Sacrifices and religious celebrations followed, to
+propitiate the favor of the gods, and to inspire the soldiers with
+that kind of courage and confidence which the superstitious, however
+wicked, feel when they can imagine themselves under the protection of
+heaven. These shows and spectacles being over, all things were ready.
+
+In the mean time Hannibal was moving on, as the spring advanced,
+toward the banks of the Iberus, that frontier stream, the crossing of
+which made him an invader of what was, in some sense, Roman territory.
+He boldly passed the stream, and moved forward along the coast of the
+Mediterranean, gradually approaching the Pyrenees, which form the
+boundary between France and Spain. His soldiers hitherto did not know
+what his plans were. It is very little the custom _now_ for military
+and naval commanders to communicate to their men much information
+about their designs, and it was still less the custom then; and
+besides, in those days, the common soldiers had no access to those
+means of information by which news of every sort is now so
+universally diffused. Thus, though all the officers of the army, and
+well-informed citizens, both in Rome and Carthage, anticipated and
+understood Hannibal's designs, his own soldiers, ignorant and
+degraded, knew nothing except that they were to go on some distant and
+dangerous service. They, very likely, had no idea whatever of Italy or
+of Rome, or of the magnitude of the possessions, or of the power held
+by the vast empire which they were going to invade.
+
+When, however, after traveling day after day they came to the foot of
+the Pyrenees, and found that they were really going to pass that
+mighty chain of mountains, and for this purpose were actually entering
+its wild and gloomy defiles, the courage of some of them failed, and
+they began to murmur. The discontent and alarm were, in fact, so
+great, that one corps, consisting of about three thousand men, left
+the camp in a body, and moved back toward their homes. On inquiry,
+Hannibal found that there were ten thousand more who were in a similar
+state of feeling. His whole force consisted of over one hundred
+thousand. And now what does the reader imagine that Hannibal would do
+in such an emergency? Would he return in pursuit of these deserters,
+to recapture and destroy them as a terror to the rest? or would he let
+them go, and attempt by words of conciliation and encouragement to
+confirm and save those that yet remained? He did neither. He called
+together the ten thousand discontented troops that were still in his
+camp, and told them that, since they were afraid to accompany his
+army, or unwilling to do so, they might return. He wanted none in his
+service who had not the courage and the fortitude to go on wherever he
+might lead. He would not have the faint-hearted and the timid in his
+army. They would only be a burden to load down and impede the courage
+and energy of the rest. So saying, he gave orders for them to return,
+and with the rest of the army, whose resolution and ardor were
+redoubled by this occurrence, he moved on through the passes of the
+mountains.
+
+This act of Hannibal, in permitting his discontented soldiers to
+return, had all the effect of a deed of generosity in its influence
+upon the minds of the soldiers who went on. We must not, however,
+imagine that it was prompted by a spirit of generosity at all. It was
+policy. A seeming generosity was, in this case, exactly what was
+wanted to answer his ends. Hannibal was mercilessly cruel in all
+cases where he imagined that severity was demanded. It requires great
+sagacity sometimes in a commander to know when he must punish, and
+when it is wisest to overlook and forgive. Hannibal, like Alexander
+and Napoleon, possessed this sagacity in a very high degree; and it
+was, doubtless, the exercise of that principle alone which prompted
+his action on this occasion.
+
+Thus Hannibal passed the Pyrenees. The next difficulty that he
+anticipated was in crossing the River Rhone.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+THE PASSAGE OF THE RHONE.
+
+B.C. 217
+
+Difficulties anticipated.--Reconnoitering party.--Some tribes
+reduced.--Alarm of the Gauls.--The Alps.--Difficulty of their
+passage.--Hannibal's message to the Gauls.--Success of his
+policy.--Cornelius Scipio.--He embarks his army.--Both armies on
+the Rhone.--Exploring party.--Feelings of the Gauls in respect
+to Hannibal.--The Gauls beyond the river oppose Hannibal's
+passage.--Preparations for crossing the river.--Boat
+building.--Rafts.--The enemy look on in silence.--Difficulties of
+crossing a river.--Hannibal's tactics.--His stratagem.--Detachment
+under Hanno.--Success of Hanno.--The signal.--Passage of the
+river.--Scene of confusion.--Attack of Hanno.--Flight of the
+Gauls.--Transportation of the elephants.--Manner of doing it.--A
+new plan.--Huge rafts.--The elephants got safely over.--The
+reconnoitering parties.--The detachments meet.--A battle ensues.
+
+
+Hannibal, after he had passed the Pyrenees, did not anticipate any new
+difficulty till he should arrive at the Rhone. He knew very well that
+that was a broad and rapid river, and that he must cross it near its
+mouth, where the water was deep and the banks low; and, besides, it
+was not impossible that the Romans who were coming to meet him, under
+Cornelius Scipio, might have reached the Rhone before he should arrive
+there, and be ready upon the banks to dispute his passage. He had sent
+forward, therefore, a small detachment in advance, to reconnoiter the
+country and select a route to the Rhone, and if they met with no
+difficulties to arrest them there, they were to go on till they
+reached the Alps, and explore the passages and defiles through which
+his army could best cross those snow-covered mountains.
+
+It seems that before he reached the Pyrenees--that is, while he was
+upon the Spanish side of them, some of the tribes through whose
+territories he had to pass undertook to resist him, and he,
+consequently, had to attack them and reduce them by force; and then,
+when he was ready to move on, he left a guard in the territories thus
+conquered to keep them in subjection. Rumors of this reached Gaul. The
+Gauls were alarmed for their own safety. They had not intended to
+oppose Hannibal so long as they supposed that he only wished for a
+safe passage through their country on his way to Italy; but now, when
+they found, from what had occurred in Spain, that he was going to
+conquer the countries he traversed as he passed along, they became
+alarmed. They seized their arms, and assembled in haste at Ruscino,
+and began to devise measures of defense. Ruscino was the same place as
+that in which the Roman embassadors met the great council of the Gauls
+on their return to Italy from Carthage.
+
+While this great council, or, rather, assembly of armies, was
+gathering at Ruscino, full of threats and anger, Hannibal was at
+Illiberis, a town at the foot of the Pyrenean Mountains. He seems to
+have had no fear that any opposition which the Gauls could bring to
+bear against him would be successful, but he dreaded the delay. He
+was extremely unwilling to spend the precious months of the early
+summer in contending with such foes as they, when the road to Italy
+was before him. Besides, the passes of the Alps, which are difficult
+and laborious at any time, are utterly impracticable except in the
+months of July and August. At all other seasons they are, or were in
+those days, blocked up with impassable snows. In modern times roads
+have been made, with galleries cut through the rock, and with the
+exposed places protected by sloping roofs projecting from above, over
+which storms sweep and avalanches slide without injury; so that now
+the intercourse of ordinary travel between France and Italy, across
+the Alps, is kept up, in some measure, all the year. In Hannibal's
+time, however, the mountains could not be traversed except in the
+summer months, and if it had not been that the result justified the
+undertaking, it would have been considered an act of inexcusable
+rashness and folly to attempt to cross with an army at all.
+
+Hannibal had therefore no time to lose, and that circumstance made
+this case one of those in which forbearance and a show of generosity
+were called for, instead of defiance and force. He accordingly sent
+messengers to the council at Ruscino to say, in a very complaisant and
+affable manner, that he wished to see and confer with their princes in
+person, and that, if they pleased, he would advance for this purpose
+toward Ruscino; or they might, if they preferred, come on toward him
+at Illiberis, where he would await their arrival. He invited them to
+come freely into his camp, and said that he was ready, if they were
+willing to receive him, to go into theirs, for he had come to Gaul as
+a friend and an ally, and wanted nothing but a free passage through
+their territory. He had made a resolution, he said, if the Gauls would
+but allow him to keep it, that there should not be a single sword
+drawn in his army till he got into Italy.
+
+The alarm and the feelings of hostility which prevailed among the
+Gauls were greatly allayed by this message. They put their camp in
+motion, and went on to Illiberis. The princes and high officers of
+their armies went to Hannibal's camp, and were received with the
+highest marks of distinction and honor. They were loaded with
+presents, and went away charmed with the affability, the wealth, and
+the generosity of their visitor. Instead of opposing his progress,
+they became the conductors and guides of his army. They took them
+first to Ruscino, which was, as it were, their capital, and thence,
+after a short delay, the army moved on without any further molestation
+toward the Rhone.
+
+In the mean time, the Roman consul Scipio, having embarked the troops
+destined to meet Hannibal in sixty ships at the mouth of the Tiber,
+set sail for the mouth of the Rhone. The men were crowded together in
+the ships, as armies necessarily must be when transported by sea. They
+could not go far out to sea, for, as they had no compass in those
+days, there were no means of directing the course of navigation, in
+case of storms or cloudy skies, except by the land. The ships
+accordingly made their way slowly along the shore, sometimes by means
+of sails and sometimes by oars, and, after suffering for some time the
+hardships and privations incident to such a voyage--the sea-sickness
+and the confinement of such swarming numbers in so narrow a space
+bringing every species of discomfort in their train--the fleet entered
+the mouth of the Rhone. The officers had no idea that Hannibal was
+near. They had only heard of his having crossed the Iberus. They
+imagined that he was still on the other side of the Pyrenees. They
+entered the Rhone by the first branch they came to--for the Rhone,
+like the Nile, divides near its mouth, and flows into the sea by
+several separate channels--and sailed without concern up to
+Marseilles, imagining that their enemy was still hundreds of miles
+away, entangled, perhaps, among the defiles of the Pyrenees. Instead
+of that, he was safely encamped upon the banks of the Rhone, a short
+distance above them, quietly and coolly making his arrangements for
+crossing it.
+
+When Cornelius got his men upon the land, they were too much exhausted
+by the sickness and misery they had endured upon the voyage to move on
+to meet Hannibal without some days for rest and refreshment.
+Cornelius, however, selected three hundred horsemen who were able to
+move, and sent them up the river on an exploring expedition, to learn
+the facts in respect to Hannibal, and to report them to him.
+Dispatching them accordingly, he remained himself in his camp,
+reorganizing and recruiting his army, and awaiting the return of the
+party that he had sent to explore.
+
+Although Hannibal had thus far met with no serious opposition in his
+progress through Gaul it must not, on that account, be supposed that
+the people, through whose territories he was passing, were really
+friendly to his cause, or pleased with his presence among them. An
+army is always a burden and a curse to any country that it enters,
+even when its only object is to pass peacefully through. The Gauls
+assumed a friendly attitude toward this dreaded invader and his horde
+only because they thought that by so doing he would the sooner pass
+and be gone. They were too weak, and had too few means of resistance
+to attempt to stop him; and, as the next best thing that they could
+do, resolved to render him every possible aid to hasten him on. This
+continued to be the policy of the various tribes until he reached the
+river. The people on the _further_ side of the river, however, thought
+it was best for them to resist. They were nearer to the Roman
+territories, and, consequently, somewhat more under Roman influence.
+They feared the resentment of the Romans if they should, even
+passively, render any co-operation to Hannibal in his designs; and, as
+they had the broad and rapid river between them and their enemy, they
+thought there was a reasonable prospect that, with its aid, they could
+exclude him from their territories altogether.
+
+Thus it happened that, when Hannibal came to the stream, the people on
+one side were all eager to promote, while those on the other were
+determined to prevent his passage, both parties being animated by the
+same desire to free their country from such a pest as the presence of
+an army of ninety thousand men; so that Hannibal stood at last upon
+the banks of the river, with the people on _his_ side of the stream
+waiting and ready to furnish all the boats and vessels that they could
+command, and to render every aid in their power in the embarkation,
+while those on the other were drawn up in battle array, rank behind
+rank, glittering with weapons, marshaled so as to guard every place of
+landing, and lining with pikes the whole extent of the shore, while
+the peaks of their tents, in vast numbers, with banners among them
+floating in the air, were to be seen in the distance behind them. All
+this time, the three hundred horsemen which Cornelius had dispatched
+were slowly and cautiously making their way up the river from the
+Roman encampment below.
+
+After contemplating the scene presented to his view at the river for
+some time in silence, Hannibal commenced his preparations for crossing
+the stream. He collected first all the boats of every kind which
+could be obtained among the Gauls who lived along the bank of the
+river. These, however, only served for a beginning, and so he next got
+together all the workmen and all the tools which the country could
+furnish, for several miles around, and went to work constructing more.
+The Gauls of that region had a custom of making boats of the trunks of
+large trees. The tree, being felled and cut to the proper length, was
+hollowed out with hatchets and adzes, and then, being turned bottom
+upward, the outside was shaped in such a manner as to make it glide
+easily through the water. So convenient is this mode of making boats,
+that it is practiced, in cases where sufficiently large trees are
+found, to the present day. Such boats are now called canoes.
+
+There were plenty of large trees on the banks of the Rhone. Hannibal's
+soldiers watched the Gauls at their work, in making boats of them,
+until they learned the art themselves. Some first assisted their new
+allies in the easier portions of the operation, and then began to fell
+large trees and make the boats themselves. Others, who had less skill
+or more impetuosity chose not to wait for the slow process of
+hollowing the wood, and they, accordingly, would fell the trees upon
+the shore, cut the trunks of equal lengths, place them side by side in
+the water, and bolt or bind them together so as to form a raft. The
+form and fashion of their craft was of no consequence, they said, as
+it was for one passage only. Any thing would answer, if it would only
+float and bear its burden over.
+
+In the mean time, the enemy upon the opposite shore looked on, but
+they could do nothing to impede these operations. If they had had
+artillery, such as is in use at the present day, they could have fired
+across the river, and have blown the boats and rafts to pieces with
+balls and shells as fast as the Gauls and Carthaginians could build
+them. In fact, the workmen could not have built them under such a
+cannonading; but the enemy, in this case, had nothing but spears, and
+arrows, and stones, to be thrown either by the hand, or by engines far
+too weak to send them with any effect across such a stream. They had
+to look on quietly, therefore, and allow these great and formidable
+preparations for an attack upon them to go on without interruption.
+Their only hope was to overwhelm the army with their missiles, and
+prevent their landing, when they should reach the bank at last in
+their attempt to cross the stream.
+
+If an army is crossing a river without any enemy to oppose them, a
+moderate number of boats will serve, as a part of the army can be
+transported at a time, and the whole gradually transferred from one
+bank to the other by repeated trips of the same conveyances. But when
+there is an enemy to encounter at the landing, it is necessary to
+provide the means of carrying over a very large force at a time; for
+if a small division were to go over first alone, it would only throw
+itself, weak and defenseless, into the hands of the enemy. Hannibal,
+therefore, waited until he had boats, rafts, and floats enough
+constructed to carry over a force all together sufficiently numerous
+and powerful to attack the enemy with a prospect of success.
+
+The Romans, as we have already remarked, say that Hannibal was
+cunning. He certainly was not disposed, like Alexander, to trust in
+his battles to simple superiority of bravery and force, but was always
+contriving some stratagem to increase the chances of victory. He did
+so in this case. He kept up for many days a prodigious parade and
+bustle of building boats and rafts in sight of his enemy, as if his
+sole reliance was on the multitude of men that he could pour across
+the river at a single transportation, and he thus kept their
+attention closely riveted upon these preparations. All this time,
+however, he had another plan in course of execution. He had sent a
+strong body of troops secretly up the river, with orders to make their
+way stealthily through the forests, and cross the stream some few
+miles above. This force was intended to move back from the river, as
+soon as it should cross the stream, and come down upon the enemy in
+the rear, so as to attack and harass them there at the same time that
+Hannibal was crossing with the main body of the army. If they
+succeeded in crossing the river safely, they were to build a fire in
+the woods, on the other side, in order that the column of smoke which
+should ascend from it might serve as a signal of their success to
+Hannibal.
+
+This detachment was commanded by an officer named Hanno--of course a
+very different man from Hannibal's great enemy of that name in
+Carthage. Hanno set out in the night, moving back from the river, in
+commencing his march, so as to be entirely out of sight from the Gauls
+on the other side. He had some guides, belonging to the country, who
+promised to show him a convenient place for crossing. The party went
+up the river about twenty-five miles. Here they found a place where
+the water spread to a greater width, and where the current was less
+rapid, and the water not so deep. They got to this place in silence
+and secrecy, their enemies below not having suspected any such design.
+As they had, therefore, nobody to oppose them, they could cross much
+more easily than the main army below. They made some rafts for
+carrying over those of the men that could not swim, and such munitions
+of war as would be injured by the wet. The rest of the men waded till
+they reached the channel, and then swam, supporting themselves in part
+by their bucklers, which they placed beneath their bodies in the
+water. Thus they all crossed in safety. They paused a day, to dry
+their clothes and to rest, and then moved cautiously down the river
+until they were near enough to Hannibal's position to allow their
+signal to be seen. The fire was then built, and they gazed with
+exultation upon the column of smoke which ascended from it high into
+the air.
+
+Hannibal saw the signal, and now immediately prepared to cross with
+his army. The horsemen embarked in boats, holding their horses by
+lines, with a view of leading them into the water so that they might
+swim in company with the boats. Other horses, bridled and accoutered,
+were put into large flat-bottomed boats, to be taken across dry, in
+order that they might be all ready for service at the instant of
+landing. The most vigorous and efficient portion of the army were, of
+course, selected for the first passage, while all those who, for any
+cause, were weak or disabled, remained behind, with the stores and
+munitions of war, to be transported afterward, when the first passage
+should have been effected. All this time the enemy, on the opposite
+shore, were getting their ranks in array, and making every thing ready
+for a furious assault upon the invaders the moment they should
+approach the land.
+
+There was something like silence and order during the period while the
+men were embarking and pushing out from the land, but as they advanced
+into the current, the loud commands, and shouts, and outcries
+increased more and more, and the rapidity of the current and of the
+eddies by which the boats and rafts were hurried down the stream, or
+whirled against each other, soon produced a terrific scene of tumult
+and confusion. As soon as the first boats approached the land, the
+Gauls assembled to oppose them rushed down upon them with showers of
+missiles, and with those unearthly yells which barbarous warriors
+always raise in going into battle, as a means both of exciting
+themselves and of terrifying their enemy. Hannibal's officers urged
+the boats on, and endeavored, with as much coolness and deliberation
+as possible, to effect a landing. It is perhaps doubtful how the
+contest would have ended, had it not been for the detachment under
+Hanno, which now came suddenly into action. While the Gauls were in
+the height of their excitement, in attempting to drive back the
+Carthaginians from the bank, they were thunderstruck at hearing the
+shouts and cries of an enemy behind them, and, on looking around, they
+saw the troops of Hanno pouring down upon them from the thickets with
+terrible impetuosity and force. It is very difficult for an army to
+fight both in front and in the rear at the same time. The Gauls, after
+a brief struggle, abandoned the attempt any longer to oppose
+Hannibal's landing. They fled down the river and back into the
+interior, leaving Hanno in secure possession of the bank while
+Hannibal and his forces came up at their leisure out of the water,
+finding friends instead of enemies to receive them.
+
+The remainder of the army, together with the stores and munitions of
+war, were next to be transported, and this was accomplished with
+little difficulty now that there was no enemy to disturb their
+operations. There was one part of the force, however, which occasioned
+some trouble and delay. It was a body of elephants which formed a part
+of the army. How to get these unwieldy animals across so broad and
+rapid a river was a question of no little difficulty. There are
+various accounts of the manner in which Hannibal accomplished the
+object, from which it would seem that different methods were employed.
+One mode was as follows: the keeper of the elephants selected one more
+spirited and passionate in disposition than the rest, and contrived to
+teaze and torment him so as to make him angry. The elephant advanced
+toward his keeper with his trunk raised to take vengeance. The keeper
+fled; the elephant pursued him, the other elephants of the herd
+following, as is the habit of the animal on such occasions. The keeper
+ran into the water as if to elude his pursuer, while the elephant and
+a large part of the herd pressed on after him. The man swam into the
+channel, and the elephants, before they could check themselves, found
+that they were beyond their depth. Some swam on after the keeper, and
+crossed the river, where they were easily secured. Others, terrified,
+abandoned themselves to the current, and were floated down, struggling
+helplessly as they went, until at last they grounded upon shallows or
+points of land, whence they gained the shore again, some on one side
+of the stream and some on the other.
+
+This plan was thus only partially successful, and Hannibal devised a
+more effectual method for the remainder of the troop. He built an
+immensely large raft, floated it up to the shore, fastened it there
+securely, and covered it with earth, turf, and bushes, so as to make
+it resemble a projection of the land. He then caused a second raft to
+be constructed of the same size, and this he brought up to the outer
+edge of the other, fastened it there by a temporary connection, and
+covered and concealed it as he had done the first. The first of these
+rafts extended two hundred feet from the shore, and was fifty feet
+broad. The other, that is, the outer one, was only a little smaller.
+The soldiers then contrived to allure and drive the elephants over
+these rafts to the outer one, the animals imagining that they had not
+left the land. The two rafts were then disconnected from each other,
+and the outer one began to move with its bulky passengers over the
+water, towed by a number of boats which had previously been attached
+to its outer edge.
+
+As soon as the elephants perceived the motion, they were alarmed, and
+began immediately to look anxiously this way and that, and to crowd
+toward the edges of the raft which was conveying them away. They found
+themselves hemmed in by water on every side, and were terrified and
+thrown into confusion. Some were crowded off into the river, and were
+drifted down till they landed below. The rest soon became calm, and
+allowed themselves to be quietly ferried across the stream, when they
+found that all hope of escape and resistance were equally vain.
+
+[Illustration: THE ELEPHANTS CROSSING THE RHONE.]
+
+In the mean time, while these events were occurring, the troop of
+three hundred, which Scipio had sent up the river to see what tidings
+he could learn of the Carthaginians, were slowly making their way
+toward the point where Hannibal was crossing; and it happened that
+Hannibal had sent down a troop of _five_ hundred, when he first
+reached the river, to see if they could learn any tidings of the
+Romans. Neither of the armies had any idea how near they were to
+the other. The two detachments met suddenly and unexpectedly on the
+way. They were sent to explore, and not to fight; but as they were
+nearly equally matched, each was ambitious of the glory of capturing
+the others and carrying them prisoners to their camp. They fought a
+long and bloody battle. A great number were killed, and in about the
+same proportion on either side. The Romans say _they_ conquered. We do
+not know what the Carthaginians said, but as both parties retreated
+from the field and went back to their respective camps, it is safe to
+infer that neither could boast of a very decisive victory.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+HANNIBAL CROSSES THE ALPS.
+
+B.C. 217
+
+The Alps.--Their sublimity and grandeur.--Perpetual cold in the
+upper regions of the atmosphere.--Avalanches.--Their terrible
+force.--The glaciers.--Motion of the ice.--Crevices and
+chasms.--Situation of the Alps.--Roads over the Alps.--Sublime
+scenery.--Beauty of the Alpine scenery.--Picturesque
+scenery.--Hannibal determines to cross the Alps.--Hannibal's
+speech to his army.--Its effects.--His army follows.--Scipio moves
+after Hannibal.--Sad vestiges.--Perplexity of Scipio.--He sails back
+to Italy.--Hannibal approaches the Alps.--A dangerous defile.--The
+army encamps.--The mountaineers.--Hannibal's stratagem.--Its
+success.--Astonishment of the mountaineers.--Terrible conflict in
+the defile.--Attack of Hannibal.--The mountaineers defeated.--The
+army pauses to refresh.--Scarcity of food.--Herds and flocks upon
+the mountains.--Foraging parties.--Collecting cattle.--Progress of
+the army.--Cantons.--An embassage.--Hostages.--Hannibal's
+suspicions.--Treachery of the mountaineers.--They attack
+Hannibal.--The elephants.--Hannibal's army divided.--Hannibal's
+attack on the mountaineers.--They embarrass his march.--Hannibal's
+indomitable perseverance.--He encamps.--Return of straggling
+parties.--Dreary scenery of the summit.--Storms in the mountains.--A
+dreary encampment.--Landmarks.--A snow storm.--The army resumes its
+march.--Hannibal among the pioneers.--First sight of Italy.--Joy of
+the army.--Hannibal's speech.--Fatigues of the march.--New
+difficulties.--March over the glacier.--A formidable barrier.--Hannibal
+cuts his way through the rocks.--The army in safety on the plains of
+Italy.
+
+
+It is difficult for any one who has not actually seen such mountain
+scenery as is presented by the Alps, to form any clear conception of
+its magnificence and grandeur. Hannibal had never seen the Alps, but
+the world was filled then, as now, with their fame.
+
+Some of the leading features of sublimity and grandeur which these
+mountains exhibit, result mainly from the perpetual cold which reigns
+upon their summits. This is owing simply to their elevation. In every
+part of the earth, as we ascend from the surface of the ground into
+the atmosphere, it becomes, for some mysterious reason or other, more
+and more cold as we rise, so that over our heads, wherever we are,
+there reigns, at a distance of two or three miles above us, an intense
+and perpetual cold. This is true not only in cool and temperate
+latitudes, but also in the most torrid regions of the globe. If we
+were to ascend in a balloon at Borneo at midday, when the burning sun
+of the tropics was directly over our heads, to an elevation of five
+or six miles, we should find that although we had been moving nearer
+to the sun all the time, its rays would have lost, gradually, all
+their power. They would fall upon us as brightly as ever, but their
+heat would be gone. They would feel like moonbeams, and we should be
+surrounded with an atmosphere as frosty as that of the icebergs of the
+frigid zone.
+
+It is from this region of perpetual cold that hail-stones descend upon
+us in the midst of summer, and snow is continually forming and falling
+there; but the light and fleecy flakes melt before they reach the
+earth, so that, while the hail has such solidity and momentum that it
+forces its way through, the snow dissolves, and falls upon us as a
+cool and refreshing rain. Rain cools the air around us and the ground,
+because it comes from cooler regions of the air above.
+
+Now it happens that not only the summits, but extensive portions of
+the upper declivities of the Alps, rise into the region of perpetual
+winter. Of course, ice congeals continually there, and the snow which
+forms falls to the ground as snow, and accumulates in vast and
+permanent stores. The summit of Mount Blanc is covered with a bed of
+snow of enormous thickness, which is almost as much a permanent
+geological stratum of the mountain as the granite which lies beneath
+it.
+
+Of course, during the winter months, the whole country of the Alps,
+valley as well as hill, is covered with snow. In the spring the snow
+melts in the valleys and plains, and higher up it becomes damp and
+heavy with partial melting, and slides down the declivities in vast
+avalanches, which sometimes are of such enormous magnitude, and
+descend with such resistless force, as to bring down earth, rocks, and
+even the trees of the forest in their train. On the higher
+declivities, however, and over all the rounded summits, the snow still
+clings to its place, yielding but very little to the feeble beams of
+the sun, even in July.
+
+There are vast ravines and valleys among the higher Alps where the
+snow accumulates, being driven into them by winds and storms in the
+winter, and sliding into them, in great avalanches, in the spring.
+These vast depositories of snow become changed into ice below the
+surface; for at the surface there is a continual melting, and the
+water, flowing down through the mass, freezes below. Thus there are
+valleys, or rather ravines, some of them two or three miles wide and
+ten or fifteen miles long, filled with ice, transparent, solid, and
+blue, hundreds of feet in depth. They are called _glaciers_. And what
+is most astonishing in respect to these icy accumulations is that,
+though the ice is perfectly compact and solid, the whole mass is found
+to be continually in a state of slow motion down the valley in which
+it lies, at the rate of about a foot in twenty-four hours. By standing
+upon the surface and listening attentively, we hear, from time to
+time, a grinding sound. The rocks which lie along the sides are
+pulverized, and are continually moving against each other and falling;
+and then, besides, which is a more direct and positive proof still of
+the motion of the mass, a mark may be set up upon the ice, as has been
+often done, and marks corresponding to it made upon the solid rocks on
+each side of the valley, and by this means the fact of the motion, and
+the exact rate of it, may be fully ascertained.
+
+Thus these valleys are really and literally rivers of ice, rising
+among the summits of the mountains, and flowing, slowly it is true,
+but with a continuous and certain current, to a sort of mouth in some
+great and open valley below. Here the streams which have flowed over
+the surface above, and descended into the mass through countless
+crevices and chasms, into which the traveler looks down with terror,
+concentrate and issue from under the ice in a turbid torrent, which
+comes out from a vast archway made by the falling in of masses which
+the water has undermined. This lower end of the glacier sometimes
+presents a perpendicular wall hundreds of feet in height; sometimes it
+crowds down into the fertile valley, advancing in some unusually cold
+summer into the cultivated country, where, as it slowly moves on, it
+plows up the ground, carries away the orchards and fields, and even
+drives the inhabitants from the villages which it threatens. If the
+next summer proves warm, the terrible monster slowly draws back its
+frigid head, and the inhabitants return to the ground it reluctantly
+evacuates, and attempt to repair the damage it has done.
+
+The Alps lie between France and Italy, and the great valleys and the
+ranges of mountain land lie in such a direction that they must be
+_crossed_ in order to pass from one country to the other. These ranges
+are, however, not regular. They are traversed by innumerable chasms,
+fissures, and ravines; in some places they rise in vast rounded
+summits and swells, covered with fields of spotless snow; in others
+they tower in lofty, needle-like peaks, which even the chamois can
+not scale, and where scarcely a flake of snow can find a place of
+rest. Around and among these peaks and summits, and through these
+frightful defiles and chasms, the roads twist and turn, in a zigzag
+and constantly ascending course, creeping along the most frightful
+precipices, sometimes beneath them and sometimes on the brink,
+penetrating the darkest and gloomiest defiles, skirting the most
+impetuous and foaming torrents, and at last, perhaps, emerging upon
+the surface of a glacier, to be lost in interminable fields of ice and
+snow, where countless brooks run in glassy channels, and crevasses
+yawn, ready to take advantage of any slip which may enable them to
+take down the traveler into their bottomless abysses.
+
+And yet, notwithstanding the awful desolation which reigns in the
+upper regions of the Alps, the lower valleys, through which the
+streams finally meander out into the open plains, and by which the
+traveler gains access to the sublimer scenes of the upper mountains,
+are inexpressibly verdant and beautiful. They are fertilized by the
+deposits of continual inundations in the early spring, and the sun
+beats down into them with a genial warmth in summer, which brings out
+millions of flowers, of the most beautiful forms and colors, and
+ripens rapidly the broadest and richest fields of grain. Cottages, of
+every picturesque and beautiful form, tenanted by the cultivators, the
+shepherds and the herdsmen, crown every little swell in the bottom of
+the valley, and cling to the declivities of the mountains which rise
+on either hand. Above them eternal forests of firs and pines wave,
+feathering over the steepest and most rocky slopes with their somber
+foliage. Still higher, gray precipices rise and spires and pinnacles,
+far grander and more picturesque, if not so symmetrically formed, than
+those constructed by man. Between these there is seen, here and there,
+in the background, vast towering masses of white and dazzling snow,
+which crown the summits of the loftier mountains beyond.
+
+Hannibal's determination to carry an army into Italy by way of the
+Alps, instead of transporting them by galleys over the sea, has always
+been regarded as one of the greatest undertakings of ancient times. He
+hesitated for some time whether he should go down the Rhone, and meet
+and give battle to Scipio, or whether he should leave the Roman army
+to its course, and proceed himself directly toward the Alps and
+Italy. The officers and soldiers of the army, who had now learned
+something of their destination and of their leader's plans, wanted to
+go and meet the Romans. They dreaded the Alps. They were willing to
+encounter a military foe, however formidable, for this was a danger
+that they were accustomed to and could understand; but their
+imaginations were appalled at the novel and awful images they formed
+of falling down precipices of ragged rocks, or of gradually freezing,
+and being buried half alive, during the process, in eternal snows.
+
+Hannibal, when he found that his soldiers were afraid to proceed,
+called the leading portions of his army together, and made them an
+address. He remonstrated with them for yielding now to unworthy fears,
+after having successfully met and triumphed over such dangers as they
+had already incurred. "You have surmounted the Pyrenees," said he,
+"you have crossed the Rhone. You are now actually in sight of the
+Alps, which are the very gates of access to the country of the enemy.
+What do you conceive the Alps to be? They are nothing but high
+mountains, after all. Suppose they are higher than the Pyrenees, they
+do not reach to the skies; and, since they do not, they can not be
+insurmountable. They _are_ surmounted, in fact, every day; they are
+even inhabited and cultivated, and travelers continually pass over
+them to and fro. And what a single man can do, an army can do, for an
+army is only a large number of single men. In fact, to a soldier, who
+has nothing to carry with him but the implements of war, no way can be
+too difficult to be surmounted by courage and energy."
+
+After finishing his speech, Hannibal, finding his men reanimated and
+encouraged by what he had said, ordered them to go to their tents and
+refresh themselves, and prepare to march on the following day. They
+made no further opposition to going on. Hannibal did not, however,
+proceed at once directly toward the Alps. He did not know what the
+plans of Scipio might be, who, it will be recollected, was below him,
+on the Rhone, with the Roman army. He did not wish to waste his time
+and his strength in a contest with Scipio in Gaul, but to press on and
+get across the Alps into Italy as soon as possible. And so, fearing
+lest Scipio should strike across the country, and intercept him if he
+should attempt to go by the most direct route, he determined to move
+northwardly, up the River Rhone, till he should get well into the
+interior, with a view of reaching the Alps ultimately by a more
+circuitous journey.
+
+It was, in fact, the plan of Scipio to come up with Hannibal and
+attack him as soon as possible; and, accordingly, as soon as his
+horsemen, or, rather, those who were left alive after the battle had
+returned and informed him that Hannibal and his army were near, he put
+his camp in motion and moved rapidly up the river. He arrived at the
+place where the Carthaginians had crossed a few days after they had
+gone. The spot was in a terrible state of ruin and confusion. The
+grass and herbage were trampled down for the circuit of a mile, and
+all over the space were spots of black and smouldering remains, where
+the camp-fires had been kindled. The tops and branches of trees lay
+every where around, their leaves withering in the sun, and the groves
+and forests were encumbered with limbs, and rejected trunks, and trees
+felled and left where they lay. The shore was lined far down the
+stream with ruins of boats and rafts, with weapons which had been lost
+or abandoned, and with the bodies of those who had been drowned in the
+passage, or killed in the contest on the shore. These and numerous
+other vestiges remained but the army was gone.
+
+There were, however, upon the ground groups of natives and other
+visitors, who had come to look at the spot now destined to become so
+memorable in history. From these men Scipio learned when and where
+Hannibal had gone. He decided that it was useless to attempt to pursue
+him. He was greatly perplexed to know what to do. In the casting of
+lots, Spain had fallen to him, but now that the great enemy whom he
+had come forth to meet had left Spain altogether, his only hope of
+intercepting his progress was to sail back into Italy, and meet him as
+he came down from the Alps into the great valley of the Po. Still, as
+Spain had been assigned to him as his province, he could not well
+entirely abandon it. He accordingly sent forward the largest part of
+his army into Spain, to attack the forces that Hannibal had left
+there, while he himself, with a smaller force, went down to the
+sea-shore and sailed back to Italy again. He expected to find Roman
+forces in the valley of the Po, with which he hoped to be strong
+enough to meet Hannibal as he descended from the mountains, if he
+should succeed in effecting a passage over them.
+
+In the mean time Hannibal went on, drawing nearer and nearer to the
+ranges of snowy summits which his soldiers had seen for many days in
+their eastern horizon. These ranges were very resplendent and grand
+when the sun went down in the west, for then it shone directly upon
+them. As the army approached nearer and nearer to them, they gradually
+withdrew from sight and disappeared, being concealed by intervening
+summits less lofty, but nearer. As the soldiers went on, however, and
+began to penetrate the valleys, and draw near to the awful chasms and
+precipices among the mountains, and saw the turbid torrents descending
+from them, their fears revived. It was, however, now too late to
+retreat. They pressed forward, ascending continually, till their road
+grew extremely precipitous and insecure, threading its way through
+almost impassable defiles, with rugged cliffs overhanging them, and
+snowy summits towering all around.
+
+At last they came to a narrow defile through which they must
+necessarily pass, but which was guarded by large bodies of armed men
+assembled on the rocks and precipices above, ready to hurl stones and
+weapons of every kind upon them if they should attempt to pass
+through. The army halted. Hannibal ordered them to encamp where they
+were, until he could consider what to do. In the course of the day he
+learned that the mountaineers did not remain at their elevated posts
+during the night, on account of the intense cold and exposure,
+knowing, too, that it would be impossible for an army to traverse such
+a pass as they were attempting to guard without daylight to guide
+them, for the road, or rather pathway, which passes through these
+defiles, follows generally the course of a mountain torrent, which
+flows through a succession of frightful ravines and chasms, and often
+passes along on a shelf or projection of the rock, hundreds and
+sometimes thousands of feet from the bed of the stream, which foams
+and roars far below. There could, of course, be no hope of passing
+safely by such a route without the light of day.
+
+The mountaineers, therefore, knowing that it was not necessary to
+guard the pass at night--its own terrible danger being then a
+sufficient protection--were accustomed to disperse in the evening, and
+descend to regions where they could find shelter and repose, and to
+return and renew their watch in the morning. When Hannibal learned
+this, he determined to anticipate them in getting up upon the rocks
+the next day, and, in order to prevent their entertaining any
+suspicion of his design, he pretended to be making all the
+arrangements for encamping for the night on the ground he had taken.
+He accordingly pitched more tents, and built, toward evening, a great
+many fires, and he began some preparations indicating that it was his
+intention the next day to force his way through the pass. He moved
+forward a strong detachment up to a point near the entrance to the
+pass, and put them in a fortified position there, as if to have them
+all ready to advance when the proper time should arrive on the
+following day.
+
+The mountaineers, seeing all these preparations going on, looked
+forward to a conflict on the morrow, and, during the night, left their
+positions as usual, to descend to places of shelter. The next morning,
+however, when they began, at an early hour, to ascend to them again,
+they were astonished to find all the lofty rocks, and cliffs, and
+shelving projections which overhung the pass, covered with
+Carthaginians. Hannibal had aroused a strong body of his men at the
+earliest dawn, and led them up, by steep climbing, to the places which
+the mountaineers had left, so as to be there before them. The
+mountaineers paused, astonished, at this spectacle, and their
+disappointment and rage were much increased on looking down into the
+valley below, and seeing there the remainder of the Carthaginian army
+quietly moving through the pass in a long train, safe apparently from
+any molestation, since friends, and not enemies, were now in
+possession of the cliffs above.
+
+The mountaineers could not restrain their feelings of vexation and
+anger, but immediately rushed down the declivities which they had in
+part ascended, and attacked the army in the defile. An awful scene of
+struggle and confusion ensued. Some were killed by weapons or by rocks
+rolled down upon them. Others, contending together, and struggling
+desperately in places of very narrow foothold, tumbled headlong down
+the rugged rocks into the torrent below; and horses, laden with
+baggage and stores, became frightened and unmanageable, and crowded
+each other over the most frightful precipices. Hannibal, who was
+above, on the higher rocks, looked down upon this scene for a time
+with the greatest anxiety and terror. He did not dare to descend
+himself and mingle in the affray, for fear of increasing the
+confusion. He soon found, however, that it was absolutely necessary
+for him to interpose, and he came down as rapidly as possible, his
+detachment with him. They descended by oblique and zigzag paths,
+wherever they could get footing among the rocks, and attacked the
+mountaineers with great fury. The result was, as he had feared, a
+great increase at first of the confusion and the slaughter. The horses
+were more and more terrified by the fresh energy of the combat, and by
+the resounding of louder shouts and cries, which were made doubly
+terrific by the echoes and reverberations of the mountains. They
+crowded against each other, and fell, horses and men together, in
+masses, over the cliffs to the rugged rocks below, where they lay in
+confusion, some dead, and others dying, writhing helplessly in agony,
+or vainly endeavoring to crawl away.
+
+The mountaineers were, however, conquered and driven away at last, and
+the pass was left clear. The Carthaginian column was restored to
+order. The horses that had not fallen were calmed and quieted. The
+baggage which had been thrown down was gathered up, and the wounded
+men were placed on litters, rudely constructed on the spot, that they
+might be borne on to a place of safety. In a short time all were ready
+to move on, and the march was accordingly recommenced. There was no
+further difficulty. The column advanced in a quiet and orderly manner
+until they had passed the defile. At the extremity of it they came to
+a spacious fort belonging to the natives. Hannibal took possession of
+this fort, and paused for a little time there to rest and refresh his
+men.
+
+One of the greatest difficulties encountered by a general in
+conducting an army through difficult and dangerous roads, is that of
+providing food for them. An army can transport its own food only a
+very little way. Men traveling over smooth roads can only carry
+provisions for a few days, and where the roads are as difficult and
+dangerous as the passes of the Alps, they can scarcely carry any. The
+commander must, accordingly, find subsistence in the country through
+which he is marching. Hannibal had, therefore, now not only to look
+out for the safety of his men, but their food was exhausted, and he
+must take immediate measures to secure a supply.
+
+The lower slopes of lofty mountains afford usually abundant sustenance
+for flocks and herds. The showers which are continually falling there,
+and the moisture which comes down the sides of the mountains through
+the ground keep the turf perpetually green, and sheep and cattle love
+to pasture upon it; they climb to great heights, finding the herbage
+finer and sweeter the higher they go. Thus the inhabitants of mountain
+ranges are almost always shepherds and herdsmen. Grain can be raised
+in the valleys below, but the slopes of the mountains, though they
+produce grass to perfection, are too steep to be tilled.
+
+As soon as Hannibal had got established in the fort, he sent around
+small bodies of men to seize and drive in all the cattle and sheep
+that they could find. These men were, of course, armed, in order that
+they might be prepared to meet any resistance which they might
+encounter. The mountaineers, however, did not attempt to resist them.
+They felt that they were conquered, and they were accordingly
+disheartened and discouraged. The only mode of saving their cattle
+which was left to them, was to drive them as fast as they could into
+concealed and inaccessible places. They attempted to do this, and
+while Hannibal's parties were ranging up the valleys all around them,
+examining every field, and barn, and sheepfold that they could find,
+the wretched and despairing inhabitants were flying in all directions,
+driving the cows and sheep, on which their whole hope of subsistence
+depended, into the fastnesses of the mountains. They urged them into
+wild thickets, and dark ravines and chasms, and over dangerous
+glaciers, and up the steepest ascents, wherever there was the readiest
+prospect of getting them out of the plunderer's way.
+
+These attempts, however, to save their little property were but very
+partially successful. Hannibal's marauding parties kept coming home,
+one after another, with droves of sheep and cattle before them, some
+larger and some smaller, but making up a vast amount in all. Hannibal
+subsisted his men three days on the food thus procured for them. It
+requires an enormous store to feed ninety or a hundred thousand men,
+even for three days; besides, in all such cases as this, an army
+always waste and destroy far more than they really consume.
+
+During these three days the army was not stationary, but was moving
+slowly on. The way, though still difficult and dangerous, was at least
+open before them, as there was now no enemy to dispute their passage.
+So they went on, rioting upon the abundant supplies they had obtained,
+and rejoicing in the double victory they were gaining, over the
+hostility of the people and the physical dangers and difficulties of
+the way. The poor mountaineers returned to their cabins ruined and
+desolate, for mountaineers who have lost their cows and their sheep
+have lost their all.
+
+The Alps are not all in Switzerland. Some of the most celebrated peaks
+and ranges are in a neighboring state called Savoy. The whole country
+is, in fact, divided into small states, called _cantons_ at the
+present day, and similar political divisions seem to have existed in
+the time of the Romans. In his march onward from the pass which has
+been already described, Hannibal, accordingly, soon approached the
+confines of another canton. As he was advancing slowly into it, with
+the long train of his army winding up with him through the valleys, he
+was met at the borders of this new state by an embassage sent from the
+government of it. They brought with them fresh stores of provisions,
+and a number of guides. They said that they had heard of the terrible
+destruction which had come upon the other canton in consequence of
+their effort to oppose his progress, and that they had no intention of
+renewing so vain an attempt. They came, therefore, they said, to offer
+Hannibal their friendship and their aid. They had brought guides to
+show the army the best way over the mountains, and a present of
+provisions; and to prove the sincerity of their professions they
+offered Hannibal hostages. These hostages were young men and boys, the
+sons of the principal inhabitants, whom they offered to deliver into
+Hannibal's power, to be kept by him until he should see that they were
+faithful and true in doing what they offered.
+
+[Illustration: HANNIBAL ON THE ALPS.]
+
+Hannibal was so accustomed to stratagem and treachery himself, that he
+was at first very much at a loss to decide whether these offers and
+professions were honest and sincere, or whether they were only made to
+put him off his guard. He thought it possible that it was their design
+to induce him to place himself under their direction, so that they
+might lead him into some dangerous defile or labyrinth of rocks, from
+which he could not extricate himself, and where they could attack and
+destroy him. He, however, decided to return them a favorable answer,
+but to watch them very carefully, and to proceed under their guidance
+with the utmost caution and care. He accepted of the provisions they
+offered, and took the hostages. These last he delivered into the
+custody of a body of his soldiers and they marched on with the rest of
+the army. Then, directing the new guides to lead the way, the army
+moved on after them. The elephants went first, with a moderate force
+for their protection preceding and accompanying them. Then came long
+trains of horses and mules, loaded with military stores and baggage,
+and finally the foot soldiers followed, marching irregularly in a long
+column. The whole train must have extended many miles, and must have
+appeared from any of the eminences around like an enormous serpent,
+winding its way tortuously through the wild and desolate valleys.
+
+Hannibal was right in his suspicions. The embassage was a stratagem.
+The men who sent it had laid an ambuscade in a very narrow pass,
+concealing their forces in thickets and in chasms, and in nooks and
+corners among the rugged rocks, and when the guides had led the army
+well into the danger, a sudden signal was given, and these concealed
+enemies rushed down upon them in great numbers, breaking into their
+ranks, and renewing the scene of terrible uproar, tumult, and
+destruction which had been witnessed in the other defile. One would
+have thought that the elephants, being so unwieldy and so helpless in
+such a scene, would have been the first objects of attack. But it was
+not so. The mountaineers were afraid of them. They had never seen
+such animals before, and they felt for them a mysterious awe, not
+knowing what terrible powers such enormous beasts might be expected to
+wield. They kept away from them, therefore, and from the horsemen, and
+poured down upon the head of the column of foot soldiers which
+followed in the rear.
+
+They were quite successful at the first onset. They broke through the
+head of the column, and drove the rest back. The horses and elephants,
+in the mean time, moved forward, bearing the baggage with them, so
+that the two portions of the army were soon entirely separated.
+Hannibal was behind, with the soldiers. The mountaineers made good
+their position, and, as night came on, the contest ceased, for in such
+wilds as these no one can move at all, except with the light of day.
+The mountaineers, however, remained in their place, dividing the army,
+and Hannibal continued, during the night, in a state of great suspense
+and anxiety, with the elephants and the baggage separated from him and
+apparently at the mercy of the enemy.
+
+During the night he made vigorous preparations for attacking the
+mountaineers the next day. As soon as the morning light appeared, he
+made the attack, and he succeeded in driving the enemy away, so far,
+at least, as to allow him to get his army together again. He then
+began once more to move on. The mountaineers, however, hovered about
+his way, and did all they could to molest and embarrass his march.
+They concealed themselves in ambuscades, and attacked the
+Carthaginians as they passed. They rolled stones down upon them, or
+discharged spears and arrows from eminences above; and if any of
+Hannibal's army became, from any reason, detached from the rest, they
+would cut off their retreat, and then take them prisoners or destroy
+them. Thus they gave Hannibal a great deal of trouble. They harassed
+his march continually, without presenting at any point a force which
+he could meet and encounter in battle. Of course, Hannibal could no
+longer trust to his guides, and he was obliged to make his way as he
+best could, sometimes right, but often wrong, and exposed to a
+thousand difficulties and dangers, which those acquainted with the
+country might have easily avoided. All this time the mountaineers were
+continually attacking him, in bands like those of robbers, sometimes
+in the van, and sometimes in the rear, wherever the nature of the
+ground or the circumstances of the marching army afforded them an
+opportunity.
+
+Hannibal persevered, however, through all these discouragements,
+protecting his men as far as it was in his power, but pressing
+earnestly on, until in nine days he reached the summit. By the summit,
+however, is not meant the summit of the mountains, but the summit of
+the _pass_, that is, the highest point which it was necessary for him
+to attain in going over. In all mountain ranges there are depressions,
+which are in Switzerland called _necks_,[A] and the pathways and roads
+over the ranges lie always in these. In America, such a depression in
+a ridge of land, if well marked and decided, is called a _notch_.
+Hannibal attained the highest point of the _col_, by which he was to
+pass over, in nine days after the great battle. There were, however,
+of course, lofty peaks and summits towering still far above him.
+
+[Footnote A: The French word is _col_. Thus, there is the Col de
+Balme, the Col de Géant, &c.]
+
+He encamped here two days to rest and refresh his men. The enemy no
+longer molested him. In fact, parties were continually coming into the
+camp, of men and horses, that had got lost, or had been left in the
+valleys below. They came in slowly, some wounded, others exhausted
+and spent by fatigue and exposure. In some cases horses came in alone.
+They were horses that had slipped or stumbled, and fallen among the
+rocks, or had sunk down exhausted by their toil, and had thus been
+left behind, and afterward, recovering their strength, had followed
+on, led by a strange instinct to keep to the tracks which their
+companions had made, and thus they rejoined the camp at last in
+safety.
+
+In fact, one great reason for Hannibal's delay at his encampment on or
+near the summit of the pass, was to afford time for all the missing
+men to join the army again, that had the power to do so. Had it not
+been for this necessity, he would doubtless have descended some
+distance, at least, to a more warm and sheltered position before
+seeking repose. A more gloomy and desolate resting-place than the
+summit of an Alpine pass can scarcely be found. The bare and barren
+rocks are entirely destitute of vegetation, and they have lost,
+besides, the sublime and picturesque forms which they assume further
+below. They spread in vast, naked fields in every direction around the
+spectator, rising in gentle ascents, bleak and dreary, the surface
+whitened as if bleached by the perpetual rains. Storms are, in fact,
+almost perpetual in these elevated regions. The vast cloud which, to
+the eye of the shepherd in the valley below, seems only a fleecy cap,
+resting serenely upon the summit, or slowly floating along the sides,
+is really a driving mist, or cold and stormy rain, howling dismally
+over interminable fields of broken rocks, as if angry that it can make
+nothing grow upon them, with all its watering. Thus there are seldom
+distant views to be obtained, and every thing near presents a scene of
+simple dreariness and desolation.
+
+Hannibal's soldiers thus found themselves in the midst of a dismal
+scene in their lofty encampment. There is one special source of
+danger, too, in such places as this, which the lower portions of the
+mountains are less exposed to, and that is the entire obliteration of
+the pathway by falls of snow. It seems almost absurd to speak of
+pathway in such regions, where there is no turf to be worn, and the
+boundless fields of rocks, ragged and hard, will take no trace of
+footsteps. There are, however, generally some faint traces of way, and
+where these fail entirely the track is sometimes indicated by small
+piles of stones, placed at intervals along the line of route. An
+unpracticed eye would scarcely distinguish these little landmarks, in
+many cases, from accidental heaps of stones which lie every where
+around. They, however, render a very essential service to the guides
+and to the mountaineers, who have been accustomed to conduct their
+steps by similar aids in other portions of the mountains.
+
+But when snow begins to fall, all these and every other possible means
+of distinguishing the way are soon entirely obliterated. The whole
+surface of the ground, or, rather, of the rocks, is covered, and all
+landmarks disappear. The little monuments become nothing but slight
+inequalities in the surface of the snow, undistinguishable from a
+thousand others. The air is thick and murky, and shuts off alike all
+distant prospects, and the shape and conformation of the land that is
+near; the bewildered traveler has not even the stars to guide him, as
+there is nothing but dark, falling flakes, descending from an
+impenetrable canopy of stormy clouds, to be seen in the sky.
+
+Hannibal encountered a snow storm while on the summit of the pass, and
+his army were very much terrified by it. It was now November. The army
+had met with so many detentions and delays that their journey had been
+protracted to a late period. It would be unsafe to attempt to wait
+till this snow should melt again. As soon, therefore, as the storm
+ended, and the clouds cleared away, so as to allow the men to see the
+general features of the country around, the camp was broken up and the
+army put in motion. The soldiers marched through the snow with great
+anxiety and fear. Men went before to explore the way, and to guide the
+rest by flags and banners which they bore. Those who went first made
+paths, of course, for those who followed behind, as the snow was
+trampled down by their footsteps. Notwithstanding these aids, however,
+the army moved on very laboriously and with much fear.
+
+At length, however, after descending a short distance, Hannibal,
+perceiving that they must soon come in sight of the Italian valleys
+and plains which lay beyond the Alps, went forward among the pioneers,
+who had charge of the banners by which the movements of the army were
+directed, and, as soon as the open country began to come into view, he
+selected a spot where the widest prospect was presented, and halted
+his army there to let them take a view of the beautiful country which
+now lay before them. The Alps are very precipitous on the Italian
+side. The descent is very sudden, from the cold and icy summits, to a
+broad expanse of the most luxuriant and sunny plains. Upon these
+plains, which were spread out in a most enchanting landscape at their
+feet, Hannibal and his soldiers now looked down with exultation and
+delight. Beautiful lakes, studded with still more beautiful islands,
+reflected the beams of the sun. An endless succession of fields, in
+sober autumnal colors, with the cottages of the laborers and stacks of
+grain scattered here and there upon them, and rivers meandering
+through verdant meadows, gave variety and enchantment to the view.
+
+Hannibal made an address to his officers and men, congratulating them
+on having arrived, at last, so near to a successful termination of
+their toils. "The difficulties of the way," he said, "are at last
+surmounted, and these mighty barriers that we have scaled are the
+walls, not only of Italy, but of Rome itself. Since we have passed the
+Alps, the Romans will have no protection against us remaining. It is
+only one battle, when we get down upon the plains, or at most two, and
+the great city itself will be entirely at our disposal."
+
+The whole army were much animated and encouraged, both by the
+prospect which presented itself to their view, and by the words of
+Hannibal. They prepared for the descent, anticipating little
+difficulty; but they found, on recommencing their march, that their
+troubles were by no means over. The mountains are far steeper on the
+Italian side than on the other, and it was extremely difficult to find
+paths by which the elephants and the horses, and even the men, could
+safely descend. They moved on for some time with great labor and
+fatigue, until, at length, Hannibal, looking on before, found that the
+head of the column had stopped, and the whole train behind was soon
+jammed together, the ranks halting along the way in succession, as
+they found their path blocked up by the halting of those before them.
+
+Hannibal sent forward to ascertain the cause of the difficulty, and
+found that the van of the army had reached a precipice down which it
+was impossible to descend. It was necessary to make a circuit in hopes
+of finding some practicable way of getting down. The guides and
+pioneers went on, leading the army after them, and soon got upon a
+glacier which lay in their way. There was fresh snow upon the surface,
+covering the ice and concealing the _crevasses_, as they are
+termed--that is, the great cracks and fissures which extend in the
+glaciers down through the body of the ice. The army moved on,
+trampling down the new snow, and making at first a good roadway by
+their footsteps; but very soon the old ice and snow began to be
+trampled _up_ by the hoofs of the horses and the heavy tread of such
+vast multitudes of armed men. It softened to a great depth, and made
+the work of toiling through it an enormous labor. Besides, the surface
+of the ice and snow sloped steeply, and the men and beasts were
+continually falling or sliding down, and getting swallowed up in
+avalanches which their own weight set in motion, or in concealed
+crevasses where they sank to rise no more.
+
+They, however, made some progress, though slowly, and with great
+danger. They at last got below the region of the snow, but here they
+encountered new difficulties in the abruptness and ruggedness of the
+rocks, and in the zigzag and tortuous direction of the way. At last
+they came to a spot where their further progress appeared to be
+entirely cut off by a large mass of rock, which it seemed necessary to
+remove in order to widen the passage sufficiently to allow them to go
+on. The Roman historian says that Hannibal removed these rocks by
+building great fires upon them, and then pouring on vinegar, which
+opened seams and fissures in them, by means of which the rocks could
+be split and pried to pieces with wedges and crowbars. On reading this
+account, the mind naturally pauses to consider the probability of its
+being true. As they had no gunpowder in those days, they were
+compelled to resort to some such method as the one above described for
+removing rocks. There are some species of rock which are easily
+cracked and broken by the action of fire. Others resist it. There
+seems, however, to be no reason obvious why vinegar should materially
+assist in the operation. Besides, we can not suppose that Hannibal
+could have had, at such a time and place, any very large supply of
+vinegar on hand. On the whole, it is probable that, if any such
+operation was performed at all, it was on a very small scale, and the
+results must have been very insignificant at the time, though the fact
+has since been greatly celebrated in history.
+
+In coming over the snow, and in descending the rocks immediately
+below, the army, and especially the animals connected with it,
+suffered a great deal from hunger. It was difficult to procure forage
+for them of any kind. At length, however, as they continued their
+descent, they came first into the region of forests, and soon after to
+slopes of grassy fields descending into warm and fertile valleys. Here
+the animals were allowed to stop and rest, and renew their strength by
+abundance of food. The men rejoiced that their toils and dangers were
+over, and, descending easily the remainder of the way, they encamped
+at last safely on the plains of Italy.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+HANNIBAL IN THE NORTH OF ITALY.
+
+B.C. 217
+
+Miserable condition of the army.--Its great losses.--Feelings of
+Hannibal's soldiers.--Plans of Scipio.--The armies approach each
+other.--Feelings of Hannibal and Scipio.--Address of Scipio to the
+Roman army.--Hannibal's ingenious method of introducing his
+speech.--Curious combat.--Effect on the army.--Hannibal's speech
+to his army.--His words of encouragement.--Hannibal's promises.--His
+real feelings.--Hannibal's energy and decision.--His steady
+resolution.--Hannibal's unfaltering courage.--Movements of
+Scipio.--Scipio's bridge over the Po.--The army crosses the
+river.--Hannibal's warlike operations.--He concentrates his
+army.--Hannibal addresses his soldiers.--He promises them
+lands.--Ratifying a promise.--Omens.--The battle.--The Romans
+thrown into confusion.--Scipio wounded.--The Romans driven back
+across the river.--The Romans destroy the bridge over the Ticinus.
+
+
+When Hannibal's army found themselves on the plains of Italy, and sat
+down quietly to repose, they felt the effects of their fatigues and
+exposures far more sensibly than they had done under the excitement
+which they naturally felt while actually upon the mountains. They
+were, in fact, in a miserable condition. Hannibal told a Roman officer
+whom he afterward took prisoner that more than thirty thousand
+perished on the way in crossing the mountains; some in the battles
+which were fought in the passes, and a greater number still, probably,
+from exposure to fatigue and cold, and from falls among the rocks and
+glaciers, and diseases produced by destitution and misery. The remnant
+of the army which was left on reaching the plain were emaciated,
+sickly, ragged, and spiritless; far more inclined to lie down and die,
+than to go on and undertake the conquest of Italy and Rome.
+
+After some days, however, they began to recruit. Although they had
+been half starved among the mountains, they had now plenty of
+wholesome food. They repaired their tattered garments and their broken
+weapons. They talked with one another about the terrific scenes
+through which they had been passing, and the dangers which they had
+surmounted, and thus, gradually strengthening their impressions of the
+greatness of the exploits they had performed, they began soon to
+awaken in each other's breasts an ambition to go on and undertake the
+accomplishment of other deeds of daring and glory.
+
+We left Scipio with his army at the mouth of the Rhone, about to set
+sail for Italy with a part of his force, while the rest of it was sent
+on toward Spain. Scipio sailed along the coast by Genoa, and thence to
+Pisa, where he landed. He stopped a little while to recruit his
+soldiers after the voyage, and in the mean time sent orders to all the
+Roman forces then in the north of Italy to join his standard. He hoped
+in this way to collect a force strong enough to encounter Hannibal.
+These arrangements being made, he marched to the northward as rapidly
+as possible. He knew in what condition Hannibal's army had descended
+from the Alps, and wished to attack them before they should have time
+to recover from the effects of their privations and sufferings. He
+reached the Po before he saw any thing of Hannibal.
+
+Hannibal, in the mean time, was not idle. As soon as his men were in a
+condition to move, he began to act upon the tribes that he found at
+the foot of the mountains, offering his friendship to some, and
+attacking others. He thus conquered those who attempted to resist him,
+moving, all the time, gradually southward toward the Po. That river
+has numerous branches, and among them is one named the Ticinus. It was
+on the banks of this river that the two armies at last came together.
+
+Both generals must have felt some degree of solicitude in respect to
+the result of the contest which was about to take place. Scipio knew
+very well Hannibal's terrible efficiency as a warrior, and he was
+himself a general of great distinction, and a _Roman_, so that
+Hannibal had no reason to anticipate a very easy victory. Whatever
+doubts or fears, however, general officers may feel on the eve of an
+engagement, it is always considered very necessary to conceal them
+entirely from the men, and to animate and encourage the troops with a
+most undoubting confidence that they will gain the victory.
+
+Both Hannibal and Scipio, accordingly, made addresses to their
+respective armies--at least so say the historians of those times--each
+one expressing to his followers the certainty that the other side
+would easily be beaten. The speech attributed to Scipio was somewhat
+as follows:
+
+"I wish to say a few words to you, soldiers, before we go into battle.
+It is, perhaps, scarcely necessary. It certainly would not be
+necessary if I had now under my command the same troops that I took
+with me to the mouth of the Rhone. They knew the Carthaginians there,
+and would not have feared them here. A body of our horsemen met and
+attacked a larger body of theirs, and defeated them. We then advanced
+with our whole force toward their encampment, in order to give them
+battle. They, however, abandoned the ground and retreated before we
+reached the spot, acknowledging, by their flight, their own fear and
+our superiority. If you had been with us there, and had witnessed
+these facts, there would have been no need that I should say any thing
+to convince you now how easily you are going to defeat this
+Carthaginian foe.
+
+"We have had a war with this same nation before. We conquered them
+then, both by land and sea; and when, finally, peace was made, we
+required them to pay us tribute, and we continued to exact it from
+them for twenty years. They are a conquered nation; and now this
+miserable army has forced its way insanely over the Alps, just to
+throw itself into our hands. They meet us reduced in numbers, and
+exhausted in resources and strength. More than half of their army
+perished in the mountains, and those that survive are weak,
+dispirited, ragged, and diseased. And yet they are compelled to meet
+us. If there was any chance for retreat, or any possible way for them
+to avoid the necessity of a battle, they would avail themselves of it.
+But there is not. They are hemmed in by the mountains, which are now,
+to them, an impassable wall, for they have not strength to scale them
+again. They are not real enemies; they are the mere remnants and
+shadows of enemies. They are wholly disheartened and discouraged,
+their strength and energy, both of soul and body, being spent and
+gone, through the cold, the hunger, and the squalid misery they have
+endured. Their joints are benumbed, their sinews stiffened, and their
+forms emaciated. Their armor is shattered and broken, their horses are
+lamed, and all their equipments worn out and ruined, so that really
+what most I fear is that the world will refuse us the glory of the
+victory, and say that it was the Alps that conquered Hannibal, and not
+the Roman army.
+
+"Easy as the victory is to be, however, we must remember that there is
+a great deal at stake in the contest. It is not merely for glory that
+we are now about to contend. If Hannibal conquers, he will march to
+Rome, and our wives, our children, and all that we hold dear will be
+at his mercy. Remember this, and go into the battle feeling that the
+fate of Rome itself is depending upon the result."
+
+An oration is attributed to Hannibal, too, on the occasion of this
+battle. He showed, however, his characteristic ingenuity and spirit of
+contrivance in the way in which he managed to attract strong attention
+to what he was going to say, by the manner in which he introduced it.
+He formed his army into a circle, as if to witness a spectacle. He
+then brought in to the center of this circle a number of prisoners
+that he had taken among the Alps--perhaps they were the hostages which
+had been delivered to him, as related in the preceding chapter.
+Whoever they were, however, whether hostages or captives taken in the
+battles which had been fought in the defiles, Hannibal had brought
+them with his army down into Italy, and now introducing them into the
+center of the circle which the army formed, he threw down before them
+such arms as they were accustomed to use in their native mountains,
+and asked them whether they would be willing to take those weapons and
+fight each other, on condition that each one who killed his antagonist
+should be restored to his liberty, and have a horse and armor given
+him, so that he could return home with honor. The barbarous monsters
+said readily that they would, and seized the arms with the greatest
+avidity. Two or three pairs of combatants were allowed to fight. One
+of each pair was killed, and the other set at liberty according to the
+promise of Hannibal. The combats excited the greatest interest, and
+awakened the strongest enthusiasm among the soldiers who witnessed
+them. When this effect had been sufficiently produced, the rest of the
+prisoners were sent away, and Hannibal addressed the vast ring of
+soldiery as follows:
+
+"I have intended, soldiers, in what you have now seen, not merely to
+amuse you, but to give you a picture of your own situation. You are
+hemmed in on the right and left by two seas, and you have not so much
+as a single ship upon either of them. Then there is the Po before you
+and the Alps behind. The Po is a deeper, and more rapid and turbulent
+river than the Rhone; and as for the Alps, it was with the utmost
+difficulty that you passed over them when you were in full strength
+and vigor; they are an insurmountable wall to you now. You are
+therefore shut in, like our prisoners, on every side, and have no hope
+of life and liberty but in battle and victory.
+
+"The victory, however, will not be difficult. I see, wherever I look
+among you, a spirit of determination and courage which I am sure will
+make you conquerors. The troops which you are going to contend against
+are mostly fresh recruits, that know nothing of the discipline of the
+camp, and can never successfully confront such war-worn veterans as
+you. You all know each other well, and me. I was, in fact, a pupil
+with you for many years, before I took the command. But Scipio's
+forces are strangers to one another and to him, and, consequently,
+have no common bond of sympathy; and as for Scipio himself, his very
+commission as a Roman general is only six months old.
+
+"Think, too, what a splendid and prosperous career victory will open
+before you. It will conduct you to Rome. It will make you masters of
+one of the most powerful and wealthiest cities in the world. Thus far
+you have fought your battles only for glory or for dominion; now, you
+will have something more substantial to reward your success. There
+will be great treasures to be divided among you if we conquer, but if
+we are defeated we are lost. Hemmed in as we are on every side, there
+is no place that we can reach by flight. There is, therefore, no such
+alternative as flight left to us. We _must conquer_."
+
+It is hardly probable that Hannibal could have really and honestly
+felt all the confidence that he expressed in his harangues to his
+soldiers. He must have had some fears. In fact, in all enterprises
+undertaken by man, the indications of success, and the hopes based
+upon them, will fluctuate from time to time, and cause his confidence
+in the result to ebb and flow, so that bright anticipations of success
+and triumph will alternate in his heart with feelings of
+discouragement and despondency. This effect is experienced by all; by
+the energetic and decided as well as by the timid and the faltering.
+The former, however, never allow these fluctuations of hope and fear
+to influence their action. They consider well the substantial grounds
+for expecting success before commencing their undertaking, and then go
+steadily forward, under all aspects of the sky--when it shines and
+when it rains--till they reach the end. The inefficient and undecided
+can act only under the stimulus of present hope. The end they aim at
+must be visible before them all the time. If for a moment it passes
+out of view, their motive is gone, and they can do no more, till, by
+some change in circumstances, it comes in sight again.
+
+Hannibal was energetic and decided. The time for him to consider
+whether he would encounter the hostility of the Roman empire, aroused
+to the highest possible degree, was when his army was drawn up upon
+the banks of the Iberus, before they crossed it. The Iberus was his
+Rubicon. That line once overstepped, there was to be no further
+faltering. The difficulties which arose from time to time to throw a
+cloud over his prospects, only seemed to stimulate him to fresh
+energy, and to awaken a new, though still a calm and steady
+resolution. It was so at the Pyrenees; it was so at the Rhone; it was
+so among the Alps, where the difficulties and dangers would have
+induced almost any other commander to have returned; and it was still
+so, now that he found himself shut in on every hand by the stern
+boundaries of Northern Italy, which he could not possibly hope again
+to pass, and the whole disposable force of the Roman empire,
+commanded, too, by one of _the consuls_, concentrated before him. The
+imminent danger produced no faltering, and apparently no fear.
+
+The armies were not yet in sight of each other. They were, in fact,
+yet on opposite sides of the River Po. The Roman commander concluded
+to march his troops across the river, and advance in search of
+Hannibal, who was still at some miles' distance. After considering the
+various means of crossing the stream, he decided finally on building a
+bridge.
+
+Military commanders generally throw some sort of a bridge across a
+stream of water lying in their way, if it is too deep to be easily
+forded, unless, indeed, it is so wide and rapid as to make the
+construction of the bridge difficult or impracticable. In this latter
+case they cross as well as they can by means of boats and rafts, and
+by swimming. The Po, though not a very large stream at this point, was
+too deep to be forded, and Scipio accordingly built a bridge. The
+soldiers cut down the trees which grew in the forests along the banks,
+and after trimming off the tops and branches, they rolled the trunks
+into the water. They placed these trunks side by side, with others,
+laid transversely and pinned down, upon the top. Thus they formed
+rafts, which they placed in a line across the stream, securing them
+well to each other and to the banks. This made the foundation for the
+bridge, and after this foundation was covered with other materials, so
+as to make the upper surface a convenient roadway, the army were
+conducted across it, and then a small detachment of soldiers were
+stationed at each extremity of it as a guard.
+
+Such a bridge as this answers a very good temporary purpose, and in
+still water, as, for example, over narrow lakes or very sluggish
+streams, where there is very little current, a floating structure of
+this kind is sometimes built for permanent service. Such bridges will
+not, however, stand on broad and rapid rivers liable to floods. The
+pressure of the water alone, in such cases, would very much endanger
+all the fastenings; and in cases where drift wood or ice is brought
+down by the stream, the floating masses, not being able to pass under
+the bridge, would accumulate above it, and would soon bear upon it
+with so enormous a pressure that nothing could withstand its force.
+The bridge would be broken away, and the whole accumulation--bridge,
+drift-wood, and ice--would be borne irresistibly down the stream
+together.
+
+Scipio's bridge, however, answered very well for his purpose. His army
+passed over it in safety. When Hannibal heard of this, he knew that
+the battle was at hand. Hannibal was himself at this time about five
+miles distant. While Scipio was at work upon the bridge, Hannibal was
+employed, mainly, as he had been all the time since his descent from
+the mountains, in the subjugation of the various petty nations and
+tribes north of the Po. Some of them were well disposed to join his
+standard. Others were allies of the Romans, and wished to remain so.
+He made treaties and sent help to the former, and dispatched
+detachments of troops to intimidate and subdue the latter. When,
+however, he learned that Scipio had crossed the river, he ordered all
+these detachments to come immediately in, and he began to prepare in
+earnest for the contest that was impending.
+
+He called together an assembly of his soldiers, and announced to them
+finally that the battle was now nigh. He renewed the words of
+encouragement that he had spoken before, and in addition to what he
+then said, he now promised the soldiers rewards in land in case they
+proved victorious. "I will give you each a farm," said he, "wherever
+you choose to have it, either in Africa, Italy, or Spain. If, instead
+of the land, any of you shall prefer to receive rather an equivalent
+in money, you shall have the reward in that form, and then you can
+return home and live with your friends, as before the war, under
+circumstances which will make you objects of envy to those who
+remained behind. If any of you would like to live in Carthage, I will
+have you made free citizens, so that you can live there in
+independence and honor."
+
+But what security would there be for the faithful fulfillment of these
+promises? In modern times such security is given by bonds, with
+pecuniary penalties, or by the deposit of titles to property in
+responsible hands. In ancient days they managed differently. The
+promiser bound himself by some solemn and formal mode of adjuration,
+accompanied, in important cases, with certain ceremonies, which were
+supposed to seal and confirm the obligation assumed. In this case
+Hannibal brought a lamb in the presence of the assembled army. He held
+it before them with his left hand, while with his right he grasped a
+heavy stone. He then called aloud upon the gods, imploring them to
+destroy him as he was about to slay the lamb, if he failed to perform
+faithfully and fully the pledges that he had made. He then struck the
+poor lamb a heavy blow with the stone. The animal fell dead at his
+feet, and Hannibal was thenceforth bound, in the opinion of the army,
+by a very solemn obligation indeed, to be faithful in fulfilling his
+word.
+
+The soldiers were greatly animated and excited by these promises, and
+were in haste to have the contest come on. The Roman soldiers, it
+seems, were in a different mood of mind. Some circumstances had
+occurred which they considered as bad omens, and they were very much
+dispirited and depressed by them. It is astonishing that men should
+ever allow their minds to be affected by such wholly accidental
+occurrences as these were. One of them was this: a wolf came into
+their camp, from one of the forests near, and after wounding several
+men, made his escape again. The other was more trifling still. A swarm
+of bees flew into the encampment, and lighted upon a tree just over
+Scipio's tent. This was considered, for some reason or other, a sign
+that some calamity was going to befall them, and the men were
+accordingly intimidated and disheartened. They consequently looked
+forward to the battle with uneasiness and anxiety, while the army of
+Hannibal anticipated it with eagerness and pleasure.
+
+The battle came on, at last, very suddenly, and at a moment when
+neither party were expecting it. A large detachment of both armies
+were advancing toward the position of the other, near the River
+Ticinus, to reconnoiter, when they met, and the battle began. Hannibal
+advanced with great impetuosity, and sent, at the same time, a
+detachment around to attack his enemy in the rear. The Romans soon
+began to fall into confusion; the horsemen and foot soldiers got
+entangled together; the men were trampled upon by the horses, and the
+horses were frightened by the men. In the midst of this scene, Scipio
+received a wound. A consul was a dignitary of very high consideration.
+He was, in fact, a sort of semi-king. The officers, and all the
+soldiers, so fast as they heard that the consul was wounded, were
+terrified and dismayed, and the Romans began to retreat. Scipio had a
+young son, named also Scipio, who was then about twenty years of age.
+He was fighting by the side of his father when he received his wound.
+He protected his father, got him into the center of a compact body of
+cavalry, and moved slowly off the ground, those in the rear facing
+toward the enemy and beating them back, as they pressed on in pursuit
+of them. In this way they reached their camp. Here they stopped for
+the night. They had fortified the place, and, as night was coming on,
+Hannibal thought it not prudent to press on and attack them there. He
+waited for the morning. Scipio, however, himself wounded and his army
+discouraged, thought it not prudent for him to wait till the morning.
+At midnight he put his whole force in motion on a retreat. He kept the
+camp-fires burning, and did every thing else in his power to prevent
+the Carthaginians observing any indications of his departure. His army
+marched secretly and silently till they reached the river. They
+recrossed it by the bridge they had built, and then, cutting away the
+fastenings by which the different rafts were held together, the
+structure was at once destroyed, and the materials of which it was
+composed floated away, a mere mass of ruins, down the stream. From
+the Ticinus they floated, we may imagine, into the Po, and thence down
+the Po into the Adriatic Sea, where they drifted about upon the waste
+of waters till they were at last, one after another, driven by storms
+upon the sandy shores.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+THE APENNINES.
+
+B.C. 217
+
+Hannibal pursues the Romans.--He takes some prisoners.--Revolt of
+some Gauls from the Romans.--Hannibal crosses the river.--Dismay of
+the Romans.--Sempronius recalled to Italy.--Sufferings of Scipio
+from his wound.--He is joined by Sempronius.--The Roman commanders
+disagree.--Skirmishes.--Sempronius eager for a battle.--Hannibal's
+stratagem.--Details of Hannibal's scheme.--The ambuscade.--Two
+thousand chosen men.--Hannibal's manner of choosing them.--Attack on
+the Roman camp.--Success of Hannibal's stratagem.--Sempronius crosses
+the river.--Impetuous attack of Hannibal.--Situation of the Roman
+army.--Terrible conflict.--Utter defeat of the Romans.--Scene after
+the battle.--Various battles of Hannibal.--Scarcity of food.--Valley
+of the Arno.--Crossing the Apennines.--Terrific storm.--Death of the
+elephants.--Hannibal's uneasiness.--He crosses the Apennines.--Perilous
+march.--Hannibal's sickness.
+
+
+As soon as Hannibal was apprised in the morning that Scipio and his
+forces had left their ground, he pressed on after them, very earnest
+to overtake them before they should reach the river. But he was too
+late. The main body of the Roman army had got over. There was,
+however, a detachment of a few hundred men, who had been left on
+Hannibal's side of the river to guard the bridge until all the army
+should have passed, and then to help in cutting it away. They had
+accomplished this before Hannibal's arrival, but had not had time to
+contrive any way to get across the river themselves. Hannibal took
+them all prisoners.
+
+The condition and prospects of both the Roman and Carthaginian cause
+were entirely changed by this battle, and the retreat of Scipio across
+the Po. All the nations of the north of Italy, who had been subjects
+or allies of the Romans, now turned to Hannibal. They sent embassies
+into his camp, offering him their friendship and alliance. In fact,
+there was a large body of Gauls in the Roman camp, who were fighting
+under Scipio at the battle of Ticinus, who deserted his standard
+immediately afterward, and came over in a mass to Hannibal. They made
+this revolt in the night, and, instead of stealing away secretly, they
+raised a prodigious tumult, killed the guards, filled the encampment
+with their shouts and outcries, and created for a time an awful scene
+of terror.
+
+Hannibal received them, but he was too sagacious to admit such a
+treacherous horde into his army. He treated them with great
+consideration and kindness, and dismissed them with presents, that
+they might all go to their respective homes, charging them to exert
+their influence in his favor among the tribes to which they severally
+belonged.
+
+Hannibal's soldiers, too, were very much encouraged by the
+commencement they had made. The army made immediate preparations for
+crossing the river. Some of the soldiers built rafts, others went up
+the stream in search of places to ford. Some swam across. They could
+adopt these or any other modes in safety, for the Romans made no stand
+on the opposite bank to oppose them, but moved rapidly on, as fast as
+Scipio could be carried. His wounds began to inflame, and were
+extremely painful.
+
+In fact, the Romans were dismayed at the danger which now threatened
+them. As soon as news of these events reached the city, the
+authorities there sent a dispatch immediately to Sicily to recall the
+other consul. His name was Sempronius. It will be recollected that,
+when the lots were cast between him and Scipio, it fell to Scipio to
+proceed to Spain, with a view to arresting Hannibal's march, while
+Sempronius went to Sicily and Africa. The object of this movement was
+to threaten and attack the Carthaginians at home, in order to distract
+their attention and prevent their sending any fresh forces to aid
+Hannibal, and, perhaps, even to compel them to recall him from Italy
+to defend their own capital. But now that Hannibal had not only passed
+the Alps, but had also crossed the Po, and was marching toward
+Rome--Scipio himself disabled, and his army flying before him--they
+were obliged at once to abandon the plan of threatening Carthage. They
+sent with all dispatch an order to Sempronius to hasten home and
+assist in the defense of Rome.
+
+Sempronius was a man of a very prompt and impetuous character, with
+great confidence in his own powers, and very ready for action. He came
+immediately into Italy, recruited new soldiers for the army, put
+himself at the head of his forces, and marched northward to join
+Scipio in the valley of the Po. Scipio was suffering great pain from
+his wounds, and could do but little toward directing the operations of
+the army. He had slowly retreated before Hannibal, the fever and pain
+of his wounds being greatly exasperated by the motion of traveling. In
+this manner he arrived at the Trebia, a small stream flowing northward
+into the Po. He crossed this stream, and finding that he could not go
+any further, on account of the torturing pain to which it put him to
+be moved, he halted his army, marked out an encampment, threw up
+fortifications around it, and prepared to make a stand. To his great
+relief, Sempronius soon came up and joined him here.
+
+There were now two generals. Napoleon used to say that one bad
+commander was better than two good ones, so essential is it to success
+in all military operations to secure that promptness, and confidence,
+and decision which can only exist where action is directed by one
+single mind. Sempronius and Scipio disagreed as to the proper course
+to be pursued. Sempronius wished to attack Hannibal immediately.
+Scipio was in favor of delay. Sempronius attributed Scipio's
+reluctance to give battle to the dejection of mind and discouragement
+produced by his wound, or to a feeling of envy lest he, Sempronius,
+should have the honor of conquering the Carthaginians, while he
+himself was helpless in his tent. On the other hand, Scipio thought
+Sempronius inconsiderate and reckless, and disposed to rush heedlessly
+into a contest with a foe whose powers and resources he did not
+understand.
+
+In the mean time, while the two commanders were thus divided in
+opinion, some skirmishes and small engagements took place between
+detachments from the two armies, in which Sempronius thought that the
+Romans had the advantage. This excited his enthusiasm more and more,
+and he became extremely desirous to bring on a general battle. He
+began to be quite out of patience with Scipio's caution and delay. The
+soldiers, he said, were full of strength and courage, all eager for
+the combat, and it was absurd to hold them back on account of the
+feebleness of one sick man. "Besides," said he, "of what use can it be
+to delay any longer? We are as ready to meet the Carthaginians now as
+we shall ever be. There is no _third_ consul to come and help us; and
+what a disgrace it is for us Romans, who in the former war led our
+troops to the very gates of Carthage, to allow Hannibal to bear sway
+over all the north of Italy, while we retreat gradually before him,
+afraid to encounter now a force that we have always conquered before."
+
+Hannibal was not long in learning, through his spies, that there was
+this difference of opinion between the Roman generals, and that
+Sempronius was full of a presumptuous sort of ardor, and he began to
+think that he could contrive some plan to draw the latter out into
+battle under circumstances in which he would have to act at a great
+disadvantage. He did contrive such a plan. It succeeded admirably; and
+the case was one of those numerous instances which occurred in the
+history of Hannibal, of successful stratagem, which led the Romans to
+say that his leading traits of character were treachery and cunning.
+
+Hannibal's plan was, in a word, an attempt to draw the Roman army out
+of its encampment on a dark, cold, and stormy night in December, and
+get them into the river. This river was the Trebia. It flowed north
+into the Po, between the Roman and Carthaginian camps. His scheme, in
+detail, was to send a part of his army over the river to attack the
+Romans in the night or very early in the morning. He hoped that by
+this means Sempronius would be induced to come out of his camp to
+attack the Carthaginians. The Carthaginians were then to fly and
+recross the river, and Hannibal hoped that Sempronius would follow,
+excited by the ardor of pursuit. Hannibal was then to have a strong
+reserve of the army, that had remained all the time in warmth and
+safety, to come out and attack the Romans with unimpaired strength and
+vigor, while the Romans themselves would be benumbed by the cold and
+wet, and disorganized by the confusion produced in crossing the
+stream.
+
+A part of Hannibal's reserve were to be placed in an ambuscade. There
+were some meadows near the water, which were covered in many places
+with tall grass and bushes. Hannibal went to examine the spot, and
+found that this shrubbery was high enough for even horsemen to be
+concealed in it. He determined to place a thousand foot soldiers and a
+thousand horsemen here, the most efficient and courageous in the
+army. He selected them in the following manner:
+
+He called one of his lieutenant generals to the spot, explained
+somewhat of his design to him, and then asked him to go and choose
+from the cavalry and the infantry, a hundred each, the best soldiers
+he could find. This two hundred were then assembled, and Hannibal,
+after surveying them with looks of approbation and pleasure, said,
+"Yes, you are the men I want, only, instead of two hundred, I need two
+thousand. Go back to the army, and select and bring to me, each of
+you, nine men like yourselves." It is easy to be imagined that the
+soldiers were pleased with this commission, and that they executed it
+faithfully. The whole force thus chosen was soon assembled, and
+stationed in the thickets above described, where they lay in ambush
+ready to attack the Romans after they should pass the river.
+
+Hannibal also made arrangements for leaving a large part of his army
+in his own camp, ready for battle, with orders that they should
+partake of food and refreshments, and keep themselves warm by the
+fires until they should be called upon. All things being thus ready,
+he detached a body of horsemen to cross the river, and see if they
+could provoke the Romans to come out of their camp and pursue them.
+
+"Go," said Hannibal, to the commander of this detachment, "pass the
+stream, advance to the Roman camp, assail the guards, and when the
+army forms and comes out to attack you, retreat slowly before them
+back across the river."
+
+The detachment did as it was ordered to do. When they arrived at the
+camp, which was soon after break of day--for it was a part of
+Hannibal's plan to bring the Romans out before they should have had
+time to breakfast--Sempronius, at the first alarm, called all the
+soldiers to arms, supposing that the whole Carthaginian force was
+attacking them. It was a cold and stormy morning, and the atmosphere
+being filled with rain and snow, but little could be seen. Column
+after column of horsemen and of infantry marched out of the camp. The
+Carthaginians retreated. Sempronius was greatly excited at the idea of
+so easily driving back the assailants, and, as they retreated, he
+pressed on in pursuit of them. As Hannibal had anticipated, he became
+so excited in the pursuit that he did not stop at the banks of the
+river. The Carthaginian horsemen plunged into the stream in their
+retreat, and the Romans, foot soldiers and horsemen together,
+followed on. The stream was usually small, but it was now swelled by
+the rain which had been falling all the night. The water was, of
+course, intensely cold. The horsemen got through tolerably well, but
+the foot soldiers were all thoroughly drenched and benumbed; and as
+they had not taken any food that morning, and had come forth on a very
+sudden call, and without any sufficient preparation, they felt the
+effects of the exposure in the strongest degree. Still they pressed
+on. They ascended the bank after crossing the river, and when they had
+formed again there, and were moving forward in pursuit of their still
+flying enemy, suddenly the whole force of Hannibal's reserves, strong
+and vigorous, just from their tents and their fires, burst upon them.
+They had scarcely recovered from the astonishment and the shock of
+this unexpected onset, when the two thousand concealed in the
+ambuscade came sallying forth in the storm, and assailed the Romans in
+the rear with frightful shouts and outcries.
+
+All these movements took place very rapidly. Only a very short period
+elapsed from the time that the Roman army, officers and soldiers, were
+quietly sleeping in their camp, or rising slowly to prepare for the
+routine of an ordinary day, before they found themselves all drawn out
+in battle array some miles from their encampment, and surrounded and
+hemmed in by their foes. The events succeeded each other so rapidly as
+to appear to the soldiers like a dream; but very soon their wet and
+freezing clothes, their limbs benumbed and stiffened, the sleet which
+was driving along the plain, the endless lines of Carthaginian
+infantry, hemming them in on all sides, and the columns of horsemen
+and of elephants charging upon them, convinced them that their
+situation was one of dreadful reality. The calamity, too, which
+threatened them was of vast extent, as well as imminent and terrible;
+for, though the stratagem of Hannibal was very simple in its plan and
+management, still he had executed it on a great scale, and had brought
+out the whole Roman army. There were, it is said, about forty thousand
+that crossed the river, and about an equal number in the Carthaginian
+army to oppose them. Such a body of combatants covered, of course, a
+large extent of ground, and the conflict that ensued was one of the
+most terrible scenes of the many that Hannibal assisted in enacting.
+
+The conflict continued for many hours, the Romans getting more and
+more into confusion all the time. The elephants of the Carthaginians,
+that is, the few that now remained, made great havoc in their ranks,
+and finally, after a combat of some hours, the whole army was broken
+up and fled, some portions in compact bodies, as their officers could
+keep them together, and others in hopeless and inextricable confusion.
+They made their way back to the river, which they reached at various
+points up and down the stream. In the mean time, the continued rain
+had swollen the waters still more, the low lands were overflowed, the
+deep places concealed, and the broad expanse of water in the center of
+the stream whirled in boiling and turbid eddies, whose surface was
+roughened by the December breeze, and dotted every where with the
+drops of rain still falling.
+
+When the Roman army was thoroughly broken up and scattered, the
+Carthaginians gave up the further prosecution of the contest. They
+were too wet, cold, and exhausted themselves to feel any ardor in the
+pursuit of their enemies. Vast numbers of the Romans, however,
+attempted to recross the river, and were swept down and destroyed by
+the merciless flood, whose force they had not strength enough
+remaining to withstand. Other portions of the troops lay hid in
+lurking-places to which they had retreated, until night came on, and
+then they made rafts on which they contrived to float themselves back
+across the stream. Hannibal's troops were too wet, and cold, and
+exhausted to go out again into the storm, and so they were unmolested
+in these attempts. Notwithstanding this, however, great numbers of
+them were carried down the stream and lost.
+
+It was now December, too late for Hannibal to attempt to advance much
+further that season, and yet the way before him was open to the
+Apennines, by the defeat of Sempronius, for neither he nor Scipio
+could now hope to make another stand against him till they should
+receive new re-enforcements from Rome. During the winter months
+Hannibal had various battles and adventures, sometimes with portions
+and detachments of the Roman army, and sometimes with the native
+tribes. He was sometimes in great difficulty for want of food for his
+army, until at length he bribed the governor of a castle, where a
+Roman granary was kept, to deliver it up to him, and after that he was
+well supplied.
+
+The natives of the country were, however, not at all well disposed
+toward him, and in the course of the winter they attempted to impede
+his operations, and to harass his army by every means in their power.
+Finding his situation uncomfortable, he moved on toward the south, and
+at length determined that, inclement as the season was, he would cross
+the Apennines.
+
+By looking at the map of Italy, it will be seen that the great valley
+of the Po extends across the whole north of Italy. The valley of the
+Arno and of the Umbro lies south of it, separated from it by a part of
+the Apennine chain. This southern valley was Etruria. Hannibal decided
+to attempt to pass over the mountains into Etruria. He thought he
+should find there a warmer climate, and inhabitants more well-disposed
+toward him, besides being so much nearer Rome.
+
+But, though Hannibal conquered the Alps, the Apennines conquered him.
+A very violent storm arose just as he reached the most exposed place
+among the mountains. It was intensely cold, and the wind blew the hail
+and snow directly into the faces of the troops, so that it was
+impossible for them to proceed. They halted and turned their backs to
+the storm, but the wind increased more and more, and was attended with
+terrific thunder and lightning, which filled the soldiers with alarm,
+as they were at such an altitude as to be themselves enveloped in the
+clouds from which the peals and flashes were emitted. Unwilling to
+retreat, Hannibal ordered the army to encamp on the spot, in the best
+shelter they could find. They attempted, accordingly, to pitch their
+tents, but it was impossible to secure them. The wind increased to a
+hurricane. The tent poles were unmanageable, and the canvas was
+carried away from its fastenings, and sometimes split or blown into
+rags by its flapping in the wind. The poor elephants, that is, all
+that were left of them from previous battles and exposures, sunk down
+under this intense cold and died. One only remained alive.
+
+Hannibal ordered a retreat, and the army went back into the valley of
+the Po. But Hannibal was ill at ease here. The natives of the country
+were very weary of his presence. His army consumed their food, ravaged
+their country, and destroyed all their peace and happiness. Hannibal
+suspected them of a design to poison him or assassinate him in some
+other way. He was continually watching and taking precautions against
+these attempts. He had a great many different dresses made to be used
+as disguises, and false hair of different colors and fashion, so that
+he could alter his appearance at pleasure. This was to prevent any spy
+or assassin who might come into his camp from identifying him by any
+description of his dress and appearance. Still, notwithstanding these
+precautions, he was ill at ease, and at the very earliest practicable
+period in the spring he made a new attempt to cross the mountains, and
+was now successful.
+
+On descending the southern declivities of the Apennines he learned
+that a new Roman army, under a new consul, was advancing toward him
+from the south. He was eager to meet this force, and was preparing to
+press forward at once by the nearest way. He found, however, that this
+would lead him across the lower part of the valley of the Arno, which
+was here very broad, and, though usually passable, was now overflowed
+in consequence of the swelling of the waters of the river by the
+melting of the snows upon the mountains. The whole country was now, in
+fact, a vast expanse of marshes and fens.
+
+Still, Hannibal concluded to cross it, and, in the attempt, he
+involved his army in difficulties and dangers as great, almost, as he
+had encountered upon the Alps. The waters were rising continually;
+they filled all the channels and spread over extended plains. They
+were so turbid, too, that every thing beneath the surface was
+concealed, and the soldiers wading in them were continually sinking
+into deep and sudden channels and into bogs of mire, where many were
+lost. They were all exhausted and worn out by the wet and cold, and
+the long continuance of their exposure to it. They were four days and
+three nights in this situation, as their progress was, of course,
+extremely slow. The men, during all this time, had scarcely any sleep,
+and in some places the only way by which they could get any repose was
+to lay their arms and their baggage in the standing water, so as to
+build, by this means, a sort of couch or platform on which they could
+lie. Hannibal himself was sick too. He was attacked with a violent
+inflammation of the eyes, and the sight of one of them was in the end
+destroyed. He was not, however, so much exposed as the other officers;
+for there was one elephant left of all those that had commenced the
+march in Spain, and Hannibal rode this elephant during the four days'
+march through the water. There were guides and attendants to precede
+him, for the purpose of finding a safe and practicable road, and by
+their aid, with the help of the animal's sagacity, he got safely
+through.
+
+[Illustration: CROSSING THE MARSHES.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+THE DICTATOR FABIUS.
+
+B.C. 216
+
+Alarm at Rome.--The consul Flaminius.--Another stratagem.--Confidence
+of Flaminius.--Complete rout of the Romans.--Effects of the
+battle.--Panic of the Romans.--Their superstitious fears.--Omens and
+bad signs.--Curious transformations.--Their influence.--Importance
+attached to these stories.--Feverish excitement at Rome.--News of the
+battle.--Gatherings of the people.--Arrival of stragglers.--Appointment
+of a dictator.--Fabius.--Measures of Fabius.--Religious
+ceremonies.--Minucius.--Supreme authority of a dictator.--Proclamation
+of Fabius.--Progress of Hannibal.--Policy of Fabius.--He declines
+fighting.--Hannibal's danger.--Stratagem of the fiery
+oxen.--Unpopularity of Fabius.--Hannibal's sagacity.--Plots against
+Fabius.--He goes to Rome.--Minucius risks a battle.--Speech of
+Fabius.--Fabius returns to the army.--He is deprived of the supreme
+power.--Division of power.--Ambuscade of Hannibal.--Hannibal's
+success.--Fabius comes to the rescue.--Speech of Minucius.--The Roman
+army again united.--Character of Fabius.--His integrity.
+
+
+In the mean time, while Hannibal was thus rapidly making his way
+toward the gates of Rome, the people of the city became more and more
+alarmed, until at last a general feeling of terror pervaded all the
+ranks of society. Citizens and soldiers were struck with one common
+dread. They had raised a new army and put it under the command of a
+new consul, for the terms of service of the others had expired.
+Flaminius was the name of this new commander, and he was moving
+northward at the head of his forces at the time that Hannibal was
+conducting his troops with so much labor and difficulty through the
+meadows and morasses of the Arno.
+
+This army was, however, no more successful than its predecessors had
+been. Hannibal contrived to entrap Flaminius by a stratagem, as he had
+entrapped Sempronius before. There is in the eastern part of Etruria,
+near the mountains, a lake called Lake Thrasymene. It happened that
+this lake extended so near to the base of the mountains as to leave
+only a narrow passage between--a passage but little wider than was
+necessary for a road. Hannibal contrived to station a detachment of
+his troops in ambuscade at the foot of the mountains, and others on
+the declivities above, and then in some way or other to entice
+Flaminius and his army through the defile. Flaminius was, like
+Sempronius, ardent, self-confident, and vain. He despised the power of
+Hannibal, and thought that his success hitherto had been owing to the
+inefficiency or indecision of his predecessors. For his part, his only
+anxiety was to encounter him, for he was sure of an easy victory. He
+advanced, therefore, boldly and without concern into the pass of
+Thrasymene, when he learned that Hannibal was encamped beyond it.
+
+Hannibal had established an encampment openly on some elevated ground
+beyond the pass, and as Flaminius and his troops came into the
+narrowest part of the defile, they saw this encampment at a distance
+before them, with a broad plain beyond the pass intervening. They
+supposed that the whole force of the enemy was there, not dreaming of
+the presence of the strong detachments which were hid on the slopes of
+the mountains above them, and were looking down upon them at that
+very moment from behind rocks and bushes. When, therefore, the Romans
+had got through the pass, they spread out upon the plain beyond it,
+and were advancing to the camp, when suddenly the secreted troops
+burst forth from their ambuscade, and, pouring down the mountains,
+took complete possession of the pass, and attacked the Romans in the
+rear, while Hannibal attacked them in the van. Another long, and
+desperate, and bloody contest ensued. The Romans were beaten at every
+point, and, as they were hemmed in between the lake, the mountain, and
+the pass, they could not retreat; the army was, accordingly, almost
+wholly cut to pieces. Flaminius himself was killed.
+
+The news of this battle spread every where, and produced the strongest
+sensation. Hannibal sent dispatches to Carthage announcing what he
+considered his final victory over the great foe, and the news was
+received with the greatest rejoicings. At Rome, on the other hand, the
+news produced a dreadful shock of disappointment and terror. It seemed
+as if the last hope of resisting the progress of their terrible enemy
+was gone, and that they had nothing now to do but to sink down in
+despair, and await the hour when his columns should come pouring in
+through the gates of the city.
+
+The people of Rome were, in fact, prepared for a panic, for their
+fears had been increasing and gathering strength for some time. They
+were very superstitious in those ancient days in respect to signs and
+omens. A thousand trifling occurrences, which would, at the present
+day, be considered of no consequence whatever, were then considered
+bad signs, auguring terrible calamities; and, on occasions like these,
+when calamities seemed to be impending, every thing was noticed, and
+circumstances which would not have been regarded at all at ordinary
+times, were reported from one to another, the stories being
+exaggerated as they spread, until the imaginations of the people were
+filled with mysterious but invincible fears. So universal was the
+belief in these prodigies and omens, that they were sometimes formally
+reported to the senate, committees were appointed to inquire into
+them, and solemn sacrifices were offered to "expiate them," as it was
+termed, that is, to avert the displeasure of the gods, which the omens
+were supposed to foreshadow and portend.
+
+A very curious list of these omens was reported to the senate during
+the winter and spring in which Hannibal was advancing toward Rome. An
+ox from the cattle-market had got into a house, and, losing his way,
+had climbed up into the third story, and, being frightened by the
+noise and uproar of those who followed him, ran out of a window and
+fell down to the ground. A light appeared in the sky in the form of
+ships. A temple was struck with lightning. A spear in the hand of a
+statue of Juno, a celebrated goddess, shook, one day, of itself.
+Apparitions of men in white garments were seen in a certain place. A
+wolf came into a camp, and snatched the sword of a soldier on guard
+out of his hands, and ran away with it. The sun one day looked smaller
+than usual. Two moons were seen together in the sky. This was in the
+daytime, and one of the moons was doubtless a halo or a white cloud.
+Stones fell out of the sky at a place called Picenum. This was one of
+the most dreadful of all the omens, though it is now known to be a
+common occurrence.
+
+These omens were all, doubtless, real occurrences, more or less
+remarkable, it is true, but, of course, entirely unmeaning in respect
+to their being indications of impending calamities. There were other
+things reported to the senate which must have originated almost wholly
+in the imaginations and fears of the observers. Two shields, it was
+said, in a certain camp, sweated blood. Some people were reaping, and
+bloody ears of grain fell into the basket. This, of course, must have
+been wholly imaginary, unless, indeed, one of the reapers had cut his
+fingers with the sickle. Some streams and fountains became bloody;
+and, finally, in one place in the country, some goats turned into
+sheep. A hen, also, became a cock, and a cock changed to a hen.
+
+Such ridiculous stories would not be worthy of a moment's attention
+now, were it not for the degree of importance attached to them then.
+They were formally reported to the Roman senate, the witnesses who
+asserted that they had seen them were called in and examined, and a
+solemn debate was held on the question what should be done to avert
+the supernatural influences of evil which the omens expressed. The
+senate decided to have three days of expiation and sacrifice, during
+which the whole people of Rome devoted themselves to the religious
+observances which they thought calculated to appease the wrath of
+Heaven. They made various offerings and gifts to the different gods,
+among which one was a golden thunderbolt of fifty pounds' weight,
+manufactured for Jupiter, whom they considered the thunderer.
+
+All these things took place before the battle at Lake Thrasymene, so
+that the whole community were in a very feverish state of excitement
+and anxiety before the news from Flaminius arrived. When these tidings
+at last came, they threw the whole city into utter consternation. Of
+course, the messenger went directly to the senate-house to report to
+the government, but the story that such news had arrived soon spread
+about the city, and the whole population crowded into the streets and
+public squares, all eagerly asking for the tidings. An enormous throng
+assembled before the senate-house calling for information. A public
+officer appeared at last, and said to them in a loud voice, "We have
+been defeated in a great battle." He would say no more. Still rumors
+spread from one to another, until it was generally known throughout
+the city that Hannibal had conquered the Roman army again in a great
+battle, that great numbers of the soldiers had fallen or been taken
+prisoners, and that the consul himself was slain.
+
+The night was passed in great anxiety and terror, and the next day,
+and for several of the succeeding days, the people gathered in great
+numbers around the gates, inquiring eagerly for news of every one that
+came in from the country. Pretty soon scattered soldiers and small
+bodies of troops began to arrive, bringing with them information of
+the battle, each one having a different tale to tell, according to his
+own individual experience in the scene. Whenever these men arrived,
+the people of the city, and especially the women who had husbands or
+sons in the army, crowded around them, overwhelming them with
+questions, and making them tell their tale again and again, as if the
+intolerable suspense and anxiety of the hearers could not be
+satisfied. The intelligence was such as in general to confirm and
+increase the fears of those who listened to it; but sometimes, when it
+made known the safety of a husband or a son, it produced as much
+relief and rejoicing as it did in other cases terror and despair. That
+maternal love was as strong an impulse in those rough days as it is in
+the more refined and cultivated periods of the present age, is evinced
+by the fact that two of these Roman mothers, on seeing their sons
+coming suddenly into their presence, alive and well, when they had
+heard that they had fallen in battle, were killed at once by the
+shock of surprise and joy, as if by a blow.
+
+In seasons of great and imminent danger to the commonwealth, it was
+the custom of the Romans to appoint what they called a dictator, that
+is, a supreme executive, who was clothed with absolute and unlimited
+powers; and it devolved on him to save the state from the threatened
+ruin by the most prompt and energetic action. This case was obviously
+one of the emergencies requiring such a measure. There was no time for
+deliberations and debates; for deliberations and debates, in periods
+of such excitement and danger, become disputes, and end in tumult and
+uproar. Hannibal was at the head of a victorious army, ravaging the
+country which he had already conquered, and with no obstacle between
+him and the city itself. It was an emergency calling for the
+appointment of a dictator. The people made choice of a man of great
+reputation for experience and wisdom, named Fabius, and placed the
+whole power of the state in his hands. All other authority was
+suspended, and every thing was subjected to his sway. The whole city,
+with the life and property of every inhabitant, was placed at his
+disposal; the army and the fleets were also under his command, even
+the consuls being subject to his orders.
+
+Fabius accepted the vast responsibility which his election imposed
+upon him, and immediately began to take the necessary measures. He
+first made arrangements for performing solemn religious ceremonies, to
+expiate the omens and propitiate the gods. He brought out all the
+people in great convocations, and made them take vows, in the most
+formal and imposing manner, promising offerings and celebrations in
+honor of the various gods, at some future time, in case these
+divinities would avert the threatening danger. It is doubtful,
+however, whether Fabius, in doing these things, really believed that
+they had any actual efficiency, or whether he resorted to them as a
+means of calming and quieting the minds of the people, and producing
+that composure and confidence which always results from a hope of the
+favor of Heaven. If this last was his object, his conduct was
+eminently wise.
+
+Fabius, also, immediately ordered a large levy of troops to be made.
+His second in command, called his _master of horse_, was directed to
+make this levy, and to assemble the troops at a place called Tibur, a
+few miles east of the city. There was always a master of horse
+appointed to attend upon and second a dictator. The name of this
+officer in the case of Fabius was Minucius. Minucius was as ardent,
+prompt, and impetuous, as Fabius was cool, prudent, and calculating.
+He levied the troops and brought them to their place of rendezvous.
+Fabius went out to take the command of them. One of the consuls was
+coming to join him, with a body of troops which he had under his
+command. Fabius sent word to him that he must come without any of the
+insignia of his authority, as all his authority, semi-regal as it was
+in ordinary times, was superseded and overruled in the presence of a
+dictator. A consul was accustomed to move in great state on all
+occasions. He was preceded by twelve men, bearing badges and insignia,
+to impress the army and the people with a sense of the greatness of
+his dignity. To see, therefore, a consul divested of all these marks
+of his power, and coming into the dictator's presence as any other
+officer would come before an acknowledged superior, made the army of
+Fabius feel a very strong sense of the greatness of their new
+commander's dignity and power.
+
+Fabius then issued a proclamation, which he sent by proper messengers
+into all the region of country around Rome, especially to that part
+toward the territory which was in possession of Hannibal. In this
+proclamation he ordered all the people to abandon the country and the
+towns which were not strongly fortified, and to seek shelter in the
+castles, and forts, and fortified cities. They were commanded, also,
+to lay waste the country which they should leave, and destroy all the
+property, and especially all the provisions, which they could not take
+to their places of refuge. This being done, Fabius placed himself at
+the head of the forces which he had got together, and moved on,
+cautiously and with great circumspection, in search of his enemy.
+
+In the mean time, Hannibal had crossed over to the eastern side of
+Italy, and had passed down, conquering and ravaging the country as he
+went, until he got considerably south of Rome. He seems to have
+thought it not quite prudent to advance to the actual attack of the
+city, after the battle of Lake Thrasymene; for the vast population of
+Rome was sufficient, if rendered desperate by his actually threatening
+the capture and pillage of the city, to overwhelm his army entirely.
+So he moved to the eastward, and advanced on that side until he had
+passed the city, and thus it happened that Fabius had to march to the
+southward and eastward in order to meet him. The two armies came in
+sight of each other quite on the eastern side of Italy, very near the
+shores of the Adriatic Sea.
+
+The policy which Fabius resolved to adopt was, not to give Hannibal
+battle, but to watch him, and wear his army out by fatigue and delays.
+He kept, therefore, near him, but always posted his army on
+advantageous ground, which all the defiance and provocations of
+Hannibal could not induce him to leave. When Hannibal moved, which he
+was soon compelled to do to procure provisions, Fabius would move too,
+but only to post and intrench himself in some place of security as
+before. Hannibal did every thing in his power to bring Fabius to
+battle, but all his efforts were unavailing.
+
+In fact, he himself was at one time in imminent danger. He had got
+drawn, by Fabius's good management, into a place where he was
+surrounded by mountains, upon which Fabius had posted his troops, and
+there was only one defile which offered any egress, and this, too,
+Fabius had strongly guarded. Hannibal resorted to his usual resource,
+cunning and stratagem, for means of escape. He collected a herd of
+oxen. He tied fagots across their horns, filling the fagots with
+pitch, so as to make them highly combustible. In the night on which he
+was going to attempt to pass the defile, he ordered his army to be
+ready to march through, and then had the oxen driven up the hills
+around on the further side of the Roman detachment which was guarding
+the pass. The fagots were then lighted on the horns of the oxen. They
+ran about, frightened and infuriated by the fire, which burned their
+horns to the quick, and blinded them with the sparks which fell from
+it. The leaves and branches of the forests were set on fire. A great
+commotion was thus made, and the guards, seeing the moving lights and
+hearing the tumult, supposed that the Carthaginian army were upon the
+heights, and were coming down to attack them. They turned out in great
+hurry and confusion to meet the imaginary foe, leaving the pass
+unguarded, and, while they were pursuing the bonfires on the oxens'
+heads into all sorts of dangerous and impracticable places, Hannibal
+quietly marched his army through the defile and reached a place of
+safety.
+
+Although Fabius kept Hannibal employed and prevented his approaching
+the city, still there soon began to be felt a considerable degree of
+dissatisfaction that he did not act more decidedly. Minucius was
+continually urging him to give Hannibal battle, and, not being able to
+induce him to do so, he was continually expressing his discontent and
+displeasure. The army sympathized with Minucius. He wrote home to Rome
+too, complaining bitterly of the dictator's inefficiency. Hannibal
+learned all this by means of his spies, and other sources of
+information, which so good a contriver as he has always at command.
+Hannibal was, of course, very much pleased to hear of these
+dissensions, and of the unpopularity of Fabius. He considered such an
+enemy as he--so prudent, cautious, and watchful--as a far more
+dangerous foe than such bold and impetuous commanders as Flaminius and
+Minucius, whom he could always entice into difficulty, and then easily
+conquer.
+
+Hannibal thought he would render Minucius a little help in making
+Fabius unpopular. He found out from some Roman deserters that the
+dictator possessed a valuable farm in the country, and he sent a
+detachment of his troops there, with orders to plunder and destroy
+the property all around it, but to leave the farm of Fabius untouched
+and in safety. The object was to give to the enemies of Fabius at Rome
+occasion to say that there was secretly a good understanding between
+him and Hannibal, and that he was kept back from acting boldly in
+defense of his country by some corrupt bargain which he had
+traitorously made with the enemy.
+
+These plans succeeded. Discontent and dissatisfaction spread rapidly,
+both in the camp and in the city. At Rome they made an urgent demand
+upon Fabius to return, ostensibly because they wished him to take part
+in some great religious ceremonies, but really to remove him from the
+camp, and give Minucius an opportunity to attack Hannibal. They also
+wished to devise some method, if possible, of depriving him of his
+power. He had been appointed for six months, and the time had not yet
+nearly expired: but they wished to shorten, or, if they could not
+shorten, to limit and diminish his power.
+
+Fabius went to Rome, leaving the army under the orders of Minucius,
+but commanding him positively not to give Hannibal battle, nor expose
+his troops to any danger, but to pursue steadily the same policy
+which he himself had followed. He had, however, been in Rome only a
+short time before tidings came that Minucius had fought a battle and
+gained a victory. There were boastful and ostentatious letters from
+Minucius to the Roman senate, lauding the exploit which he had
+performed.
+
+Fabius examined carefully the accounts. He compared one thing with
+another, and satisfied himself of what afterward proved to be the
+truth, that Minucius had gained no victory at all. He had lost five or
+six thousand men, and Hannibal had lost no more, and Fabius showed
+that no advantage had been gained. He urged upon the senate the
+importance of adhering to the line of policy he had pursued, and the
+danger of risking every thing, as Minucius had done, on the fortunes
+of a single battle. Besides, he said, Minucius had disobeyed his
+orders, which were distinct and positive, and he deserved to be
+recalled.
+
+In saying these things Fabius irritated and exasperated his enemies
+more than ever. "Here is a man," said they, "who will not only not
+fight the enemies whom he is sent against himself, but he will not
+allow any body else to fight them. Even at this distance, when his
+second in command has obtained a victory, he will not admit it, and
+endeavors to curtail the advantages of it. He wishes to protract the
+war, that he may the longer continue to enjoy the supreme and
+unlimited authority with which we have intrusted him."
+
+The hostility to Fabius at last reached such a pitch, that it was
+proposed in an assembly of the people to make Minucius his equal in
+command. Fabius, having finished the business which called him to
+Rome, did not wait to attend to the discussion of this question, but
+left the city, and was proceeding on his way to join the army again,
+when he was overtaken with a messenger bearing a letter informing him
+that the decree had passed, and that he must thenceforth consider
+Minucius as his colleague and equal. Minucius was, of course,
+extremely elated at this result. "Now," said he, "we will see if
+something can not be done."
+
+The first question was, however, to decide on what principle and in
+what way they should share their power. "We can not both command at
+once," said Minucius. "Let us exercise the power in alternation, each
+one being in authority for a day, or a week, or a month, or any other
+period that you prefer."
+
+"No," replied Fabius, "we will not divide the time, we will divide the
+men. There are four legions. You shall take two of them, and the other
+two shall be mine. I can thus, perhaps, save half the army from the
+dangers in which I fear your impetuosity will plunge all whom you have
+under your command."
+
+This plan was adopted. The army was divided, and each portion went,
+under its own leader, to its separate encampment. The result was one
+of the most curious and extraordinary occurrences that is recorded in
+the history of nations. Hannibal, who was well informed of all these
+transactions, immediately felt that Minucius was in his power. He knew
+that he was so eager for battle that it would be easy to entice him
+into it, under almost any circumstances that he himself might choose
+to arrange. Accordingly, he watched his opportunity when there was a
+good place for an ambuscade near Minucius's camp, and lodged five
+thousand men in it in such a manner that they were concealed by rocks
+and other obstructions to the view. There was a hill between this
+ground and the camp of Minucius. When the ambuscade was ready,
+Hannibal sent up a small force to take possession of the top of the
+hill, anticipating that Minucius would at once send up a stronger
+force to drive them away. He did so. Hannibal then sent up more as a
+re-enforcement. Minucius, whose spirit and pride were now aroused,
+sent up more still, and thus, by degrees, Hannibal drew out his
+enemy's whole force, and then, ordering his own troops to retreat
+before them, the Romans were drawn on, down the hill, till they were
+surrounded by the ambuscade. These hidden troops then came pouring out
+upon them, and in a short time the Romans were thrown into utter
+confusion, flying in all directions before their enemies, and entirely
+at their mercy.
+
+All would have been irretrievably lost had it not been for the
+interposition of Fabius. He received intelligence of the danger at his
+own camp, and marched out at once with all his force, and arrived upon
+the ground so opportunely, and acted so efficiently, that he at once
+completely changed the fortune of the day. He saved Minucius and his
+half of the army from utter destruction. The Carthaginians retreated
+in their turn, Hannibal being entirely overwhelmed with disappointment
+and vexation at being thus deprived of his prey. History relates that
+Minucius had the candor and good sense, after this, to acknowledge
+his error, and yield to the guidance and direction of Fabius. He
+called his part of the army together when they reached their camp, and
+addressed them thus: "Fellow-soldiers, I have often heard it said that
+the wisest men are those who possess wisdom and sagacity themselves,
+and, next to them, those who know how to perceive and are willing to
+be guided by the wisdom and sagacity of others; while they are fools
+who do not know how to conduct themselves, and will not be guided by
+those who do. We will not belong to this last class; and since it is
+proved that we are not entitled to rank with the first, let us join
+the second. We will march to the camp of Fabius, and join our camp
+with his, as before. We owe to him, and also to all his portion of the
+army, our eternal gratitude for the nobleness of spirit which he
+manifested in coming to our deliverance, when he might so justly have
+left us to ourselves."
+
+The two legions repaired, accordingly, to the camp of Fabius, and a
+complete and permanent reconciliation took place between the two
+divisions of the army. Fabius rose very high in the general esteem by
+this transaction. The term of his dictatorship, however, expired soon
+after this, and as the danger from Hannibal was now less imminent,
+the office was not renewed, but consuls were chosen as before.
+
+The character of Fabius has been regarded with the highest admiration
+by all mankind. He evinced a very noble spirit in all that he did. One
+of his last acts was a very striking proof of this. He had bargained
+with Hannibal to pay a certain sum of money as ransom for a number of
+prisoners which had fallen into his hands, and whom Hannibal, on the
+faith of that promise, had released. Fabius believed that the Romans
+would readily ratify the treaty and pay the amount; but they demurred,
+being displeased, or pretending to be displeased, because Fabius had
+not consulted them before making the arrangement. Fabius, in order to
+preserve his own and his country's faith unsullied, sold his farm to
+raise the money. He did thus most certainly protect and vindicate his
+own honor, but he can hardly be said to have saved that of the people
+of Rome.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+THE BATTLE OF CANNÆ.
+
+B.C. 215
+
+Interest excited by the battle of Cannæ.--Various military
+operations.--State of the public mind at Rome.--The plebeians
+and patricians.--The consuls Æmilius and Varro.--A new army
+raised.--Self-confidence of Varro.--Caution of Æmilius.--Views of
+Æmilius.--Counsel of Fabius.--Conversation between Fabius and
+Æmilius.--Resolution of Æmilius.--The consuls join the army.--Situation
+of Hannibal.--Scarcity of food.--Sufferings of Hannibal's
+troops.--Defeat of a foraging party.--Hannibal's pretended abandonment
+of his camp.--Mission of Statilius.--The stratagem discovered.--Chagrin
+of Hannibal and the Romans.--Apulia.--Hannibal marches into
+Apulia.--The Romans follow him.--The new encampments.--Dissensions
+between the consuls.--Flight of the inhabitants.--Maneuvers.--The
+battle of Cannæ.--Another stratagem.--Defeat of the Romans.--Æmilius
+wounded.--Death of Æmilius.--Escape of Varro.--Condition of the
+battle-field.--The wounded and dying.--The Roman and Carthaginian
+soldier.--Immense plunder.
+
+
+The battle of Cannæ was the last great battle fought by Hannibal in
+Italy. This conflict has been greatly celebrated in history, not only
+for its magnitude, and the terrible desperation with which it was
+fought, but also on account of the strong dramatic interest which the
+circumstances attending it are fitted to excite. This interest is
+perhaps, however, quite as much due to the peculiar skill of the
+ancient historian who narrates the story, as to the events themselves
+which he records.
+
+It was about a year after the close of the dictatorship of Fabius that
+this battle was fought. That interval had been spent by the Roman
+consuls who were in office during that time in various military
+operations, which did not, however, lead to any decisive results. In
+the mean time, there were great uneasiness, discontent, and
+dissatisfaction at Rome. To have such a dangerous and terrible foe, at
+the head of forty thousand men, infesting the vicinage of their city,
+ravaging the territories of their friends and allies, and threatening
+continually to attack the city itself, was a continual source of
+anxiety and vexation. It mortified the Roman pride, too, to find that
+the greatest armies they could raise, and the ablest generals they
+could choose and commission, proved wholly unable to cope with the
+foe. The most sagacious of them, in fact, had felt it necessary to
+decline the contest with him altogether.
+
+This state of things produced a great deal of ill humor in the city.
+Party spirit ran very high; tumultuous assemblies were held; disputes
+and contentions prevailed, and mutual criminations and recriminations
+without end. There were two great parties formed: that of the middling
+classes on one side, and the aristocracy on the other. The former were
+called the Plebeians, the latter the Patricians. The division between
+these two classes was very great and very strongly marked. There was,
+in consequence of it, infinite difficulty in the election of consuls.
+At last the consuls were chosen, one from each party. The name of the
+patrician was Paulus Æmilius. The name of the plebeian was Varro. They
+were inducted into office, and were thus put jointly into possession
+of a vast power, to wield which with any efficiency and success would
+seem to require union and harmony in those who held it, and yet
+Æmilius and Varro were inveterate and implacable political foes. It
+was often so in the Roman government. The consulship was a
+double-headed monster, which spent half its strength in bitter
+contests waged between its members.
+
+The Romans determined now to make an effectual effort to rid
+themselves of their foe. They raised an enormous army. It consisted of
+eight legions. The Roman legion was an army of itself. It contained
+ordinarily four thousand foot soldiers, and a troop of three hundred
+horsemen. It was very unusual to have more than two or three legions
+in the field at a time. The Romans, however, on this occasion,
+increased the number of the legions, and also augmented their size, so
+that they contained, each, five thousand infantry and four hundred
+cavalry. They were determined to make a great and last effort to
+defend their city, and save the commonwealth from ruin. Æmilius and
+Varro prepared to take command of this great force, with very strong
+determinations to make it the means of Hannibal's destruction.
+
+The characters of the two commanders, however, as well as their
+political connections, were very dissimilar, and they soon began to
+manifest a very different spirit, and to assume a very different air
+and bearing, each from the other. Æmilius was a friend of Fabius, and
+approved of his policy. Varro was for greater promptness and decision.
+He made great promises, and spoke with the utmost confidence of being
+able to annihilate Hannibal at a blow. He condemned the policy of
+Fabius in attempting to wear out the enemy by delays. He said it was a
+plan of the aristocratic party to protract the war, in order to put
+themselves in high offices, and perpetuate their importance and
+influence. The war might have been ended long ago, he said; and he
+would promise the people that he would now end it, without fail, the
+very day that he came in sight of Hannibal.
+
+As for Æmilius, he assumed a very different tone. He was surprised, he
+said, that any man could pretend to decide before he had even left the
+city, and while he was, of course, entirely ignorant, both of the
+condition of their own army, and of the position, and designs, and
+strength of the enemy, how soon and under what circumstances it would
+be wise to give him battle. Plans must be formed in adaptation to
+circumstances, as circumstances can not be made to alter to suit
+plans. He believed that they should succeed in the encounter with
+Hannibal, but he thought that their only hope of success must be based
+on the exercise of prudence, caution, and sagacity; he was sure that
+rashness and folly could only lead in future, as they had always done
+in the past, to discomfiture and ruin.
+
+It is said that Fabius, the former dictator, conversed with Æmilius
+before his departure for the army, and gave him such counsel as his
+age and experience, and his knowledge of the character and operations
+of Hannibal, suggested to his mind. "If you had a colleague like
+yourself," said he, "I would not offer you any advice; you would not
+need it. Or, if you were yourself like your colleague, vain,
+self-conceited, and presumptuous, then I would be silent; counsel
+would be thrown away upon you. But as it is, while you have great
+judgment and sagacity to guide you, you are to be placed in a
+situation of extreme difficulty and peril. If I am not mistaken, the
+greatest difficulty you will have to encounter will not be the open
+enemy you are going to meet upon the field. You will find, I think,
+that Varro will give you quite as much trouble as Hannibal. He will be
+presumptuous, reckless, and headstrong. He will inspire all the rash
+and ardent young men in the army with his own enthusiastic folly, and
+we shall be very fortunate if we do not yet see the terrible and
+bloody scenes of Lake Thrasymene acted again. I am sure that the true
+policy for us to adopt is the one which I marked out. That is always
+the proper course for the invaded to pursue with invaders, where there
+is the least doubt of the success of a battle. We grow strong while
+Hannibal grows continually weaker by delay. He can only prosper so
+long as he can fight battles and perform brilliant exploits. If we
+deprive him of this power, his strength will be continually wasting
+away, and the spirit and courage of his men waning. He has now scarce
+a third part of the army which he had when he crossed the Iberus, and
+nothing can save this remnant from destruction if we are wise."
+
+Æmilius said, in reply to this, that he went into the contest with
+very little of encouragement or hope. If Fabius had found it so
+difficult to withstand the turbulent influences of his master of
+horse, who was his subordinate officer, and, as such, under his
+command, how could _he_ expect to restrain his colleague, who was
+entitled, by his office, to full equality with him. But,
+notwithstanding the difficulties which he foresaw, he was going to do
+his duty, and abide by the result; and if the result should be
+unfavorable, he should seek for death in the conflict, for death by
+Carthaginian spears was a far lighter evil, in his view, than the
+displeasure and censures of his countrymen.
+
+The consuls departed from Rome to join the army, Æmilius attended by a
+moderate number of men of rank and station, and Varro by a much larger
+train, though it was formed of people of the lower classes of society.
+The army was organized, and the arrangements of the encampments
+perfected. One ceremony was that of administering an oath to the
+soldiers, as was usual in the Roman armies at the commencement of a
+campaign. They were made to swear that they would not desert the army,
+that they would never abandon the post at which they were stationed in
+fear or in flight, nor leave the ranks except for the purpose of
+taking up or recovering a weapon, striking an enemy, or protecting a
+friend. These and other arrangements being completed, the army was
+ready for the field. The consuls made a different arrangement in
+respect to the division of their power from that adopted by Fabius and
+Minucius. It was agreed between them that they would exercise their
+common authority alternately, each for a day.
+
+In the mean time, Hannibal began to find himself reduced to great
+difficulty in obtaining provisions for his men. The policy of Fabius
+had been so far successful as to place him in a very embarrassing
+situation, and one growing more and more embarrassing every day. He
+could obtain no food except what he got by plunder, and there was now
+very little opportunity for that, as the inhabitants of the country
+had carried off all the grain and deposited it in strongly-fortified
+towns; and though Hannibal had great confidence in his power to cope
+with the Roman army in a regular battle on an open field, he had not
+strength sufficient to reduce citadels or attack fortified camps. His
+stock of provisions had become, therefore, more and more nearly
+exhausted, until now he had a supply for only ten days, and he saw no
+possible mode of increasing it.
+
+His great object was, therefore, to bring on a battle. Varro was ready
+and willing to give him battle, but Æmilius, or, to call him by his
+name in full, Paulus Æmilius, which is the appellation by which he is
+more frequently known, was very desirous to persevere in the Fabian
+policy till the ten days had expired, after which he knew that
+Hannibal must be reduced to extreme distress, and might have to
+surrender at once to save his army from actual famine. In fact, it was
+said that the troops were on such short allowance as to produce great
+discontent, and that a large body of Spaniards were preparing to
+desert and go over together to the Roman camp.
+
+Things were in this state, when, one day, Hannibal sent out a party
+from his camp to procure food, and Æmilius, who happened to hold the
+command that day, sent out a strong force to intercept them. He was
+successful. The Carthaginian detachment was routed. Nearly two
+thousand men were killed, and the rest fled, by any roads they could
+find, back to Hannibal's camp. Varro was very eager to follow them
+there, but Æmilius ordered his men to halt. He was afraid of some
+trick or treachery on the part of Hannibal, and was disposed to be
+satisfied with the victory he had already won.
+
+This little success, however, only inflamed Varro's ardor for a
+battle, and produced a general enthusiasm in the Roman army; and, a
+day or two afterward, a circumstance occurred which raised this
+excitement to the highest pitch. Some reconnoiterers, who had been
+stationed within sight of Hannibal's camp to watch the motions and
+indications there, sent in word to the consuls that the Carthaginian
+guards around their encampment had all suddenly disappeared, and that
+a very extraordinary and unusual silence reigned within. Parties of
+the Roman soldiers went up gradually and cautiously to the
+Carthaginian lines, and soon found that the camp was deserted, though
+the fires were still burning and the tents remained. This
+intelligence, of course, put the whole Roman army into a fever of
+excitement and agitation. They crowded around the consuls' pavilions,
+and clamorously insisted on being led on to take possession of the
+camp, and to pursue the enemy. "He has fled," they said, "and with
+such precipitation that he has left the tents standing and his fires
+still burning. Lead us on in pursuit of him."
+
+Varro was as much excited as the rest. He was eager for action.
+Æmilius hesitated. He made particular inquiries. He said they ought
+to proceed with caution. Finally, he called up a certain prudent and
+sagacious officer, named Statilius, and ordered him to take a small
+body of horsemen, ride over to the Carthaginian camp, ascertain the
+facts exactly, and report the result. Statilius did so. When he
+reached the lines he ordered his troops to halt, and took with him two
+horsemen on whose courage and strength he could rely, and rode in. The
+three horsemen rode around the camp and examined every thing with a
+view of ascertaining whether Hannibal had really abandoned his
+position and fled, or whether some stratagem was intended.
+
+When he came back he reported to the army that, in his opinion, the
+desertion of the camp was not real, but a trick to draw the Romans
+into some difficulty. The fires were the largest on the side toward
+the Romans, which indicated that they were built to deceive. He saw
+money, too, and other valuables strewed about upon the ground, which
+appeared to him much more like a bait set in a trap, than like
+property abandoned by fugitives as incumbrances to flight. Varro was
+not convinced; and the army, hearing of the money, were excited to a
+greater eagerness for plunder. They could hardly be restrained. Just
+then, however, two slaves that had been taken prisoners by the
+Carthaginians some time before, came into the Roman camp. They told
+the consuls that the whole Carthaginian force was hid in ambush very
+near, waiting for the Romans to enter their encampment, when they were
+going to surround them and cut them to pieces. In the bustle and
+movement attendant on this plan, the slaves had escaped. Of course,
+the Roman army were now satisfied. They returned, chagrined and
+disappointed, to their own quarters, and Hannibal, still more
+chagrined and disappointed, returned to his.
+
+He soon found, however, that he could not remain any longer where he
+was. His provisions were exhausted, and he could obtain no more. The
+Romans would not come out of their encampment to give him battle on
+equal terms, and they were too strongly intrenched to be attacked
+where they were. He determined, therefore, to evacuate that part of
+the country, and move, by a sudden march, into Apulia.
+
+Apulia was on the eastern side of Italy. The River Aufidus runs
+through it, having a town named Cannæ near its mouth. The region of
+the Aufidus was a warm and sunny valley, which was now waving with
+ripening grain. Being further south than the place where he had been,
+and more exposed to the influence of the sun, Hannibal thought that
+the crops would be sooner ripe, and that, at least, he should have a
+new field to plunder.
+
+He accordingly decided now to leave his camp in earnest, and move into
+Apulia. He made the same arrangements as before, when his departure
+was a mere pretense. He left tents pitched and fires burning, but
+marched his army off the ground by night and secretly, so that the
+Romans did not perceive his departure; and the next day, when they saw
+the appearances of silence and solitude about the camp, they suspected
+another deception, and made no move themselves. At length, however,
+intelligence came that the long columns of Hannibal's army had been
+seen already far to the eastward, and moving on as fast as possible,
+with all their baggage. The Romans, after much debate and uncertainty,
+resolved to follow. The eagles of the Apennines looked down upon the
+two great moving masses, creeping slowly along through the forests and
+valleys, like swarms of insects, one following the other, led on by a
+strange but strong attraction, drawing them toward each other when at
+a distance but kept asunder by a still stronger repulsion when near.
+
+The Roman army came up with that of Hannibal on the River Aufidus,
+near Cannæ, and the two vast encampments were formed with all the
+noise and excitement attendant on the movements of two great armies
+posting themselves on the eve of a battle, in the neighborhood of each
+other. In the Roman camp, the confusion was greatly aggravated by the
+angry disputes which immediately arose between the consuls and their
+respective adherents as to the course to be pursued. Varro insisted on
+giving the Carthaginians immediate battle. Æmilius refused. Varro said
+that he must protest against continuing any longer these inexcusable
+delays, and insist on a battle. He could not consent to be responsible
+any further for allowing Italy to lie at the mercy of such a scourge.
+Æmilius replied, that if Varro did precipitate a battle, he himself
+protested against his rashness, and could not be, in any degree,
+responsible for the result. The various officers took sides, some with
+one consul and some with the other, but most with Varro. The
+dissension filled the camp with excitement, agitation, and ill will.
+
+In the mean time, the inhabitants of the country into which these two
+vast hordes of ferocious, though restrained and organized combatants,
+had made such a sudden irruption, were flying as fast as they could
+from the awful scene which they expected was to ensue. They carried
+from their villages and cabins what little property could be saved,
+and took the women and children away to retreats and fastnesses,
+wherever they imagined they could find temporary concealment or
+protection. The news of the movement of the two armies spread
+throughout the country, carried by hundreds of refugees and
+messengers, and all Italy, looking on with suspense and anxiety,
+awaited the result.
+
+The armies maneuvered for a day or two, Varro, during his term of
+command, making arrangements to promote and favor an action, and
+Æmilius, on the following day, doing every thing in his power to
+prevent it. In the end, Varro succeeded. The lines were formed and the
+battle must be begun. Æmilius gave up the contest now, and while he
+protested earnestly against the course which Varro pursued, he
+prepared to do all in his power to prevent a defeat, since there was
+no longer a possibility of avoiding a collision.
+
+The battle began, and the reader must imagine the scene, since no pen
+can describe it. Fifty thousand men on one side and eighty thousand on
+the other, at work hard and steadily, for six hours, killing each
+other by every possible means of destruction--stabs, blows, struggles,
+outcries, shouts of anger and defiance, and screams of terror and
+agony, all mingled together, in one general din, which covered the
+whole country for an extent of many miles, all together constituted a
+scene of horror of which none but those who have witnessed great
+battles can form any adequate idea.
+
+It seems as if Hannibal could do nothing without stratagem. In the
+early part of this conflict he sent a large body of his troops over to
+the Romans as deserters. They threw down their spears and bucklers, as
+they reached the Roman lines, in token of surrender. The Romans
+received them, opened a passage for them through into the rear, and
+ordered them to remain there. As they were apparently unarmed, they
+left only a very small guard to keep them in custody. The men had,
+however, daggers concealed about their dress, and, watching a
+favorable moment, in the midst of the battle, they sprang to their
+feet, drew out their weapons, broke away from their guard, and
+attacked the Romans in the rear at a moment when they were so pressed
+by the enemy in front that they could scarcely maintain their ground.
+
+It was evident before many hours that the Roman forces were every
+where yielding. From slowly and reluctantly yielding they soon began
+to fly. In the flight, the weak and the wounded were trampled under
+foot by the throng who were pressing on behind them, or were
+dispatched by wanton blows from enemies as they passed in pursuit of
+those who were still able to fly. In the midst of this scene, a Roman
+officer named Lentulus, as he was riding away, saw before him at the
+road-side another officer wounded, sitting upon a stone, faint and
+bleeding. He stopped when he reached him, and found that it was the
+consul Æmilius. He had been wounded in the head with a sling, and his
+strength was almost gone. Lentulus offered him his horse, and urged
+him to take it and fly. Æmilius declined the offer. He said it was too
+late for his life to be saved, and that, besides, he had no wish to
+save it. "Go on, therefore, yourself," said he, "as fast as you can.
+Make the best of your way to Rome. Tell the authorities there, from
+me, that all is lost, and they must do whatever they can themselves
+for the defense of the city. Make all the speed you can, or Hannibal
+will be at the gates before you."
+
+Æmilius sent also a message to Fabius, declaring to him that it was
+not his fault that a battle had been risked with Hannibal. He had done
+all in his power, he said, to prevent it, and had adhered to the
+policy which Fabius had recommended to the last. Lentulus having
+received these messages, and perceiving that the Carthaginians were
+close upon him in pursuit, rode away, leaving the consul to his fate.
+The Carthaginians came on, and, on seeing the wounded man, they thrust
+their spears into his body, one after another, as they passed, until
+his limbs ceased to quiver. As for the other consul, Varro, he escaped
+with his life. Attended by about seventy horsemen, he made his way to
+a fortified town not very remote from the battle-field, where he
+halted with his horsemen, and determined that he would attempt to
+rally there the remains of the army.
+
+The Carthaginians, when they found the victory complete, abandoned the
+pursuit of the enemy, returned to their camp, spent some hours in
+feasting and rejoicing, and then laid down to sleep. They were, of
+course, well exhausted by the intense exertions of the day. On the
+field where the battle had been fought, the wounded lay all night
+mingled with the dead, filling the air with cries and groans, and
+writhing in their agony.
+
+Early the next morning the Carthaginians came back to the field
+to plunder the dead bodies of the Romans. The whole field presented
+a most shocking spectacle to the view. The bodies of horses and men
+lay mingled in dreadful confusion, as they had fallen, some dead,
+others still alive, the men moaning, crying for water, and feebly
+struggling from time to time to disentangle themselves from the
+heaps of carcasses under which they were buried. The deadly and
+inextinguishable hate which the Carthaginians felt for their foes not
+having been appeased by the slaughter of forty thousand of them, they
+beat down and stabbed these wretched lingerers wherever they found
+them, as a sort of morning pastime after the severer labors of the
+preceding day. This slaughter, however, could hardly be considered a
+cruelty to the wretched victims of it, for many of them bared their
+breasts to their assailants, and begged for the blow which was to put
+an end to their pain. In exploring the field, one Carthaginian soldier
+was found still alive, but imprisoned by the dead body of his Roman
+enemy lying upon him. The Carthaginian's face and ears were shockingly
+mangled. The Roman, having fallen upon him when both were mortally
+wounded, had continued the combat with his teeth when he could no
+longer use his weapon, and had died at last, binding down his
+exhausted enemy with his own dead body.
+
+The Carthaginians secured a vast amount of plunder. The Roman army was
+full of officers and soldiers from the aristocratic ranks of society,
+and their arms and their dress were very valuable. The Carthaginians
+obtained some bushels of gold rings from their fingers, which Hannibal
+sent to Carthage as a trophy of his victory.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+SCIPIO.
+
+B.C. 215-201
+
+Reason of Hannibal's success.--The Scipios.--Fragments of the
+Roman army.--Scipio elected commander.--Scipio's energy.--Case of
+Metellus.--Metellus yields.--Consternation at Rome.--The senate
+adjourns.--Hannibal refuses to march to Rome.--Hannibal makes his
+head-quarters at Capua.--Hannibal sends Mago to Carthage.--Mago's
+speech.--The bag of rings.--Debate in the Carthaginian senate.--The
+speech of Hanno in the Carthaginian senate.--Progress of the
+war.--Enervation of Hannibal's army.--Decline of the Carthaginian
+power.--Marcellus.--Success of the Romans.--Siege of Capua.--Hannibal's
+attack on the Roman camp.--He marches to Rome.--Preparations for a
+battle.--Prevented by storms.--Sales at auction.--Hasdrubal crosses the
+Alps.--Livius and Nero.--Division of the provinces.--The intercepted
+letters.--Nero's perplexity.--Laws of military discipline.--Their
+strictness and severity.--Danger of violating discipline.--An
+illustration.--Plan of Nero.--A night march.--Livius and Nero attack
+Hasdrubal.--Hasdrubal orders a retreat.--Butchery of Hasdrubal's
+army.--Hasdrubal's death.--Progress of the Roman arms.--Successes of
+Scipio.--Scipio in Africa.--Carthage threatened.--A truce.--Hannibal
+recalled.--Hannibal raises a new army.--The Romans capture his
+spies.--Negotiations.--Interview between Hannibal and Scipio.--The
+last battle.--Defeat of the Carthaginians.
+
+
+The true reason why Hannibal could not be arrested in his triumphant
+career seems not to have been because the Romans did not pursue the
+right kind of policy toward him, but because, thus far, they had no
+general who was his equal. Whoever was sent against him soon proved to
+be his inferior. Hannibal could out-maneuver them all in stratagem,
+and could conquer them on the field. There was, however, now destined
+to appear a man capable of coping with Hannibal. It was young Scipio,
+the one who saved the life of his father at the battle of Ticinus.
+This Scipio, though the son of Hannibal's first great antagonist of
+that name, is commonly called, in history, the elder Scipio; for there
+was another of his name after him, who was greatly celebrated for his
+wars against the Carthaginians in Africa. These last two received from
+the Roman people the surname of Africanus, in honor of their African
+victories, and the one who now comes upon the stage was called Scipio
+Africanus the elder, or sometimes simply the elder Scipio. The deeds
+of the Scipio who attempted to stop Hannibal at the Rhone and upon the
+Po were so wholly eclipsed by his son, and by the other Scipio who
+followed him, that the former is left out of view and forgotten in
+designating and distinguishing the others.
+
+Our present Scipio first appears upon the stage, in the exercise of
+military command, after the battle of Cannæ. He was a subordinate
+officer and on the day following the battle he found himself at a
+place called Canusium, which was at a short distance from Cannæ, on
+the way toward Rome, with a number of other officers of his own rank,
+and with broken masses and detachments of the army coming in from time
+to time, faint, exhausted, and in despair. The rumor was that both
+consuls were killed. These fragments of the army had, therefore, no
+one to command them. The officers met together, and unanimously agreed
+to make Scipio their commander in the emergency, until some superior
+officer should arrive, or they should get orders from Rome.
+
+An incident here occurred which showed, in a striking point of view,
+the boldness and energy of the young Scipio's character. At the very
+meeting in which he was placed in command, and when they were
+overwhelmed with perplexity and care, an officer came in, and reported
+that in another part of the camp there was an assembly of officers and
+young men of rank, headed by a certain Metellus, who had decided to
+give up the cause of their country in despair, and that they were
+making arrangements to proceed immediately to the sea-coast, obtain
+ships, and sail away to seek a new home in some foreign lands,
+considering their cause in Italy as utterly lost and ruined. The
+officer proposed that they should call a council and deliberate what
+was best to do.
+
+"Deliberate!" said Scipio; "this is not a case for deliberation, but
+for action. Draw your swords and follow me." So saying, he pressed
+forward at the head of the party to the quarters of Metellus. They
+marched boldly into the apartment where he and his friends were in
+consultation. Scipio held up his sword, and in a very solemn manner
+pronounced an oath, binding himself not to abandon his country in this
+the hour of her distress, nor to allow any other Roman citizen to
+abandon her. If he should be guilty of such treason, he called upon
+Jupiter, by the most dreadful imprecations, to destroy him utterly,
+house, family, fortune, soul, and body.
+
+"And now, Metellus, I call upon you," said he, "and all who are with
+you, to take the same oath. You must do it, otherwise you have got to
+defend yourselves against these swords of ours, as well as those of
+the Carthaginians." Metellus and his party yielded. Nor was it wholly
+to fear that they yielded. It was to the influence of hope quite as
+much as to that of fear. The courage, the energy, and the martial
+ardor which Scipio's conduct evinced awakened a similar spirit in
+them, and made them hope again that possibly their country might yet
+be saved.
+
+The news of the awful defeat and destruction of the Roman army flew
+swiftly to Rome, and produced universal consternation. The whole city
+was in an uproar. There were soldiers in the army from almost every
+family, so that every woman and child throughout the city was
+distracted by the double agitation of inconsolable grief at the death
+of their husband or their father, slain in the battle, and of terrible
+fear that Hannibal and his raging followers were about to burst in
+through the gates of the city to murder them. The streets of the city,
+and especially the Forum, were thronged with vast crowds of men,
+women, and children, who filled the air with loud lamentations, and
+with cries of terror and despair.
+
+The magistrates were not able to restore order. The senate actually
+adjourned, that the members of it might go about the city, and use
+their influence and their power to produce silence at least, if they
+could not restore composure. The streets were finally cleared. The
+women and children were ordered to remain at home. Armed patrols were
+put on guard to prevent tumultuous assemblies forming. Men were sent
+off on horseback on the road to Canusium and Cannæ, to get more
+accurate intelligence, and then the senate assembled again, and began
+to consider, with as much of calmness as they could command, what was
+to be done.
+
+The panic at Rome was, however, in some measure, a false alarm, for
+Hannibal, contrary to the expectation of all Italy, did not go to
+Rome. His generals urged him very strongly to do so. Nothing could
+prevent, they said, his gaining immediate possession of the city. But
+Hannibal refused to do this. Rome was strongly fortified, and had an
+immense population. His army, too, was much weakened by the battle of
+Cannæ, and he seems to have thought it most prudent not to attempt
+the reduction of Rome until he should have received re-enforcements
+from home. It was now so late in the season that he could not expect
+such re-enforcements immediately, and he accordingly determined to
+select some place more accessible than Rome and make it his
+head-quarters for the winter. He decided in favor of Capua, which was
+a large and powerful city one or two hundred miles southeast of Rome.
+
+Hannibal, in fact, conceived the design of retaining possession of
+Italy and of making Capua the capital of the country, leaving Rome to
+itself, to decline, as under such circumstances it inevitably must, to
+the rank of a second city. Perhaps he was tired of the fatigues and
+hazards of war, and having narrowly escaped ruin before the battle of
+Cannæ, he now resolved that he would not rashly incur any new dangers.
+It was a great question with him whether he should go forward to Rome,
+or attempt to build up a new capital of his own at Capua. The question
+which of these two he ought to have done was a matter of great debate
+then, and it has been discussed a great deal by military men in every
+age since his day. Right or wrong, Hannibal decided to establish his
+own capital at Capua, and to leave Rome, for the present, undisturbed.
+
+He, however, sent immediately to Carthage for re-enforcements. The
+messenger whom he sent was one of his generals named Mago. Mago made
+the best of his way to Carthage with his tidings of victory and his
+bushel of rings, collected, as has been already said, from the field
+of Cannæ. The city of Carthage was greatly excited by the news which
+he brought. The friends and patrons of Hannibal were elated with
+enthusiasm and pride, and they taunted and reproached his enemies with
+the opposition to him they had manifested when he was originally
+appointed to the command of the army of Spain.
+
+Mago met the Carthaginian senate, and in a very spirited and eloquent
+speech he told them how many glorious battles Hannibal had fought, and
+how many victories he had won. He had contended with the greatest
+generals that the Romans could bring against him, and had conquered
+them all. He had slain, he said, in all, over two hundred thousand
+men. All Italy was now subject to his power; Capua was his capital,
+and Rome had fallen. He concluded by saying that Hannibal was in need
+of considerable additional supplies of men, and money, and provisions,
+which he did not doubt the Carthaginians would send without any
+unnecessary delay. He then produced before the senate the great bag of
+rings which he had brought, and poured them upon the pavement of the
+senate-house as a trophy of the victories which he had been
+announcing.
+
+This would, perhaps, have all been very well for Hannibal if his
+friends had been contented to have left the case where Mago left it;
+but some of them could not resist the temptation of taunting his
+enemies, and especially Hanno, who, as will be recollected, originally
+opposed his being sent to Spain. They turned to him, and asked him
+triumphantly what he thought now of his factious opposition to so
+brave a warrior. Hanno rose. The senate looked toward him and were
+profoundly silent, wondering what he would have to reply. Hanno, with
+an air of perfect ease and composure, spoke somewhat as follows:
+
+"I should have said nothing, but should have allowed the senate to
+take what action they pleased on Mago's proposition if I had not been
+particularly addressed. As it is, I will say that I think now just as
+I always have thought. We are plunged into a most costly and most
+useless war, and are, as I conceive, no nearer the end of it now than
+ever, notwithstanding all these boasted successes. The emptiness of
+them is clearly shown by the inconsistency of Hannibal's pretensions
+as to what he has done, with the demands that he makes in respect to
+what he wishes us to do. He says he has conquered all his enemies, and
+yet he wants us to send him more soldiers. He has reduced all
+Italy--the most fertile country in the world--to subjection, and
+reigns over it at Capua, and yet he calls upon us for corn. And then,
+to crown all, he sends us bushels of gold rings as a specimen of the
+riches he has obtained by plunder, and accompanies the offering with a
+demand for new supplies of money. In my opinion, his success is all
+illusive and hollow. There seems to be nothing substantial in his
+situation except his necessities, and the heavy burdens upon the state
+which these necessities impose."
+
+Notwithstanding Hanno's sarcasms, the Carthaginians resolved to
+sustain Hannibal, and to send him the supplies that he needed. They
+were, however, long in reaching him. Various difficulties and delays
+occurred. The Romans, though they could not dispossess Hannibal from
+his position in Italy, raised armies in different countries, and waged
+extended wars with the Carthaginians and their allies, in various
+parts of the world, both by sea and land.
+
+The result was, that Hannibal remained fifteen or sixteen years in
+Italy, engaged, during all this time, in a lingering struggle with the
+Roman power, without ever being able to accomplish any decisive
+measures. During this period he was sometimes successful and
+victorious, and sometimes he was very hard pressed by his enemies. It
+is said that his army was very much enervated and enfeebled by the
+comforts and luxuries they enjoyed at Capua. Capua was a very rich and
+beautiful city, and the inhabitants of it had opened their gates to
+Hannibal of their own accord, preferring, as they said, his alliance
+to that of the Romans. The officers--as the officers of an army almost
+always do, when they find themselves established in a rich and
+powerful city, after the fatigues of a long and honorable
+campaign--gave themselves up to festivities and rejoicing, to games,
+shows, and entertainments of every kind, which they soon learned
+infinitely to prefer to the toil and danger of marches and battles.
+
+Whatever may have been the cause, there is no question about the fact
+that, from the time Hannibal and his army got possession of their
+comfortable quarters in Capua, the Carthaginian power began gradually
+to decline. As Hannibal determined to make that city the Italian
+capital instead of Rome, he, of course, when established there, felt
+in some degree settled and at home, and was less interested than he
+had been in plans for attacking the ancient capital. Still, the war
+went on; many battles were fought, many cities were besieged, the
+Roman power gaining ground all the time, though not, however, by any
+very decisive victories.
+
+In these contests there appeared, at length, a new Roman general named
+Marcellus, and, either on account of his possessing a bolder and more
+active temperament, or else in consequence of the change in the
+relative strength of the two contending powers, he pursued a more
+aggressive policy than Fabius had thought it prudent to attempt.
+Marcellus was, however, cautious and wary in his enterprises, and he
+laid his plans with so much sagacity and skill that he was almost
+always successful. The Romans applauded very highly his activity and
+ardor, without, however, forgetting their obligations to Fabius for
+his caution and defensive reserve. They said that Marcellus was the
+_sword_ of their commonwealth, as Fabius had been its _shield_.
+
+The Romans continued to prosecute this sort of warfare, being more and
+more successful the longer they continued it, until, at last, they
+advanced to the very walls of Capua, and threatened it with a siege.
+Hannibal's intrenchments and fortifications were too strong for them
+to attempt to carry the city by a sudden assault, nor were the Romans
+even powerful enough to invest the place entirely, so as completely to
+shut their enemies in. They, however, encamped with a large army in
+the neighborhood, and assumed so threatening an attitude as to keep
+Hannibal's forces within in a state of continual alarm. And, besides
+the alarm, it was very humiliating and mortifying to Carthaginian
+pride to find the very seat of their power, as it were, shut up and
+overawed by an enemy over whom they had been triumphing themselves so
+short a time before, by a continued series of victories.
+
+Hannibal was not himself in Capua at the time that the Romans came to
+attack it. He marched, however, immediately to its relief, and
+attacking the Romans in his turn, endeavored to compel them to _raise
+the siege_, as it is technically termed, and retire. They had,
+however, so intrenched themselves in the positions that they had
+taken, and the assaults with which he encountered them had lost so
+much of their former force, that he could accomplish nothing decisive.
+He then left the ground with his army, and marched himself toward
+Rome. He encamped in the vicinity of the city, and threatened to
+attack it; but the walls, and castles, and towers with which Rome, as
+well as Capua, was defended, were too formidable, and the preparations
+for defense too complete, to make it prudent for him really to assail
+the city. His object was to alarm the Romans, and compel them to
+withdraw their forces from his capital that they might defend their
+own.
+
+There was, in fact, some degree of alarm awakened, and in the
+discussions which took place among the Roman authorities, the
+withdrawal of their troops from Capua was proposed; but this proposal
+was overruled; even Fabius was against it. Hannibal was no longer to
+be feared. They ordered back a small detachment from Capua, and added
+to it such forces as they could raise within the city, and then
+advanced to give Hannibal battle. The preparations were all made, it
+is said, for an engagement, but a violent storm came on, so violent as
+to drive the combatants back to their respective camps. This happened,
+the great Roman historian gravely says, two or three times in
+succession; the weather immediately becoming serene again, each time,
+as soon as the respective generals had withdrawn their troops from the
+intended fight. Something like this may perhaps have occurred, though
+the fact doubtless was that both parties were afraid, each of the
+other, and were disposed to avail themselves of any excuse to postpone
+a decisive conflict. There was a time when Hannibal had not been
+deterred from attacking the Romans even by the most tempestuous
+storms.
+
+Thus, though Hannibal did, in fact, in the end, get to the walls of
+Rome, he did nothing but threaten when he was there, and his
+encampment near the city can only be considered as a bravado. His
+presence seems to have excited very little apprehension within the
+city. The Romans had, in fact, before this time, lost their terror of
+the Carthaginian arms. To show their contempt of Hannibal, they sold,
+at public auction the land on which he was encamped, while he was
+upon it besieging the city, and it brought the usual price. The
+bidders were, perhaps, influenced somewhat by a patriotic spirit, and
+by a desire to taunt Hannibal with an expression of their opinion that
+his occupation of the land would be a very temporary encumbrance.
+Hannibal, to revenge himself for this taunt, put up for sale at
+auction, in his own camp, the shops of one of the principal streets of
+Rome, and they were bought by his officers with great spirit. It
+showed that a great change had taken place in the nature of the
+contest between Carthage and Rome, to find these vast powers, which
+were a few years before grappling each other with such destructive and
+terrible fury on the Po and at Cannæ, now satisfying their declining
+animosity with such squibbing as this.
+
+When the other modes by which Hannibal attempted to obtain
+re-enforcements failed, he made an attempt to have a second army
+brought over the Alps under the command of his brother Hasdrubal. It
+was a large army, and in their march they experienced the same
+difficulties, though in a much lighter degree, that Hannibal had
+himself encountered. And yet, of the whole mighty mass which set out
+from Spain, nothing reached Hannibal except his brother's _head_. The
+circumstances of the unfortunate termination of Hasdrubal's attempt
+were as follows:
+
+When Hasdrubal descended from the Alps, rejoicing in the successful
+manner in which he had surmounted those formidable barriers, he
+imagined that all his difficulties were over. He dispatched couriers
+to his brother Hannibal, informing him that he had scaled the
+mountains, and that he was coming on as rapidly as possible to his
+aid.
+
+The two consuls in office at this time were named, the one Nero, and
+the other Livius. To each of these, as was usual with the Roman
+consuls, was assigned a particular province, and a certain portion of
+the army to defend it, and the laws enjoined it upon them very
+strictly not to leave their respective provinces, on any pretext
+whatever, without authority from the Roman Legislature. In this
+instance Livius had been assigned to the northern part of Italy, and
+Nero to the southern. It devolved upon Livius, therefore, to meet and
+give battle to Hasdrubal on his descent from the Alps, and to Nero to
+remain in the vicinity of Hannibal, to thwart his plans, oppose his
+progress, and, if possible, conquer and destroy him, while his
+colleague prevented his receiving the expected re-enforcements from
+Spain.
+
+Things being in this state, the couriers whom Hasdrubal sent with his
+letters had the vigilance of both consuls to elude before they could
+deliver them into Hannibal's hands. They did succeed in passing
+Livius, but they were intercepted by Nero. The patrols who seized
+these messengers brought them to Nero's tent. Nero opened and read the
+letters. All Hasdrubal's plans and arrangements were detailed in them
+very fully, so that Nero perceived that, if he were at once to proceed
+to the northward with a strong force, he could render his colleague
+such aid as, with the knowledge of Hasdrubal's plans, which he had
+obtained from the letters, would probably enable them to defeat him;
+whereas, if he were to leave Livius in ignorance and alone, he feared
+that Hasdrubal would be successful in breaking his way through, and in
+ultimately effecting his junction with Hannibal. Under these
+circumstances, he was, of course, very earnestly desirous of going
+northward to render the necessary aid, but he was strictly forbidden
+by law to leave his own province to enter that of his colleague
+without an authority from Rome, which there was not now time to
+obtain.
+
+The laws of military discipline are very strict and imperious, and in
+theory they are never to be disobeyed. Officers and soldiers, of all
+ranks and gradations, must obey the orders which they receive from the
+authority above them, without looking at the consequences, or
+deviating from the line marked out on any pretext whatever. It is, in
+fact, the very essence of military subordination and efficiency, that
+a command, once given, suspends all exercise of judgment or discretion
+on the part of the one to whom it is addressed; and a good general or
+a good government would prefer generally that harm should be done by a
+strict obedience to commands, rather than a benefit secured by an
+unauthorized deviation from them. It is a good principle, not only in
+war, but in all those cases in social life where men have to act in
+concert, and yet wish to secure efficiency in action.
+
+And yet there are cases of exception--cases where the necessity is so
+urgent, or the advantages to be derived are so great; where the
+interests involved are so momentous, and the success so sure, that a
+commander concludes to disobey and take the responsibility. The
+responsibility is, however, very great, and the danger in assuming it
+extreme. He who incurs it makes himself liable to the severest
+penalties, from which nothing but clear proof of the most imperious
+necessity, and, in addition to it, the most triumphant success, can
+save him. There is somewhere in English history a story of a naval
+commander, in the service of an English queen, who disobeyed the
+orders of his superiors at one time, in a case of great emergency at
+sea, and gained by so doing a very important victory. Immediately
+afterward he placed himself under arrest, and went into port as a
+prisoner accused of crime instead of a commander triumphing in his
+victory. He surrendered himself to the queen's officers of justice,
+and sent word to the queen herself that he knew very well that death
+was the penalty for his offense, but that he was willing to sacrifice
+his life _in any way_ in the service of her majesty. He was pardoned!
+
+Nero, after much anxious deliberation, concluded that the emergency in
+which he found himself placed was one requiring him to take the
+responsibility of disobedience. He did not, however, dare to go
+northward with all his forces, for that would be to leave southern
+Italy wholly at the mercy of Hannibal. He selected, therefore, from
+his whole force, which consisted of forty thousand men, seven or
+eight thousand of the most efficient and trustworthy; the men on whom
+he could most securely rely, both in respect to their ability to bear
+the fatigues of a rapid march, and the courage and energy with which
+they would meet Hasdrubal's forces in battle at the end of it. He was,
+at the time when Hasdrubal's letters were intercepted, occupying a
+spacious and well-situated camp. This he enlarged and strengthened, so
+that Hannibal might not suspect that he intended any diminution of the
+forces within. All this was done very promptly, so that, in a few
+hours after he received the intelligence on which he was acting, he
+was drawing off secretly, at night, a column of six or eight thousand
+men, none of whom knew at all where they were going.
+
+He proceeded as rapidly as possible to the northward, and, when he
+arrived in the northern province, he contrived to get into the camp of
+Livius as secretly as he had got out from his own. Thus, of the two
+armies, the one where an accession of force was required was greatly
+strengthened at the expense of the other, without either of the
+Carthaginian generals having suspected the change.
+
+Livius was rejoiced to get so opportune a re-enforcement. He
+recommended that the troops should all remain quietly in camp for a
+short time, until the newly-arrived troops could rest and recruit
+themselves a little after their rapid and fatiguing march; but Nero
+opposed this plan, and recommended an immediate battle. He knew the
+character of the men that he had brought, and he was, besides,
+unwilling to risk the dangers which might arise in his own camp, in
+southern Italy, by too long an absence from it. It was decided,
+accordingly, to attack Hasdrubal at once, and the signal for battle
+was given.
+
+It is not improbable that Hasdrubal would have been beaten by Livius
+alone, but the additional force which Nero had brought made the Romans
+altogether too strong for him. Besides, from his position in the front
+of the battle, he perceived, from some indications that his watchful
+eye observed, that a part of the troops attacking him were from the
+southward; and he inferred from this that Hannibal had been defeated,
+and that, in consequence of this, the whole united force of the Roman
+army was arrayed against him. He was disheartened and discouraged, and
+soon ordered a retreat. He was pursued by the various divisions of the
+Roman army, and the retreating columns of the Carthaginians were soon
+thrown into complete confusion. They became entangled among rivers and
+lakes; and the guides who had undertaken to conduct the army, finding
+that all was lost, abandoned them and fled, anxious only to save their
+own lives. The Carthaginians were soon pent up in a position where
+they could not defend themselves, and from which they could not
+escape. The Romans showed them no mercy, but went on killing their
+wretched and despairing victims until the whole army was almost
+totally destroyed. They cut off Hasdrubal's head, and Nero sat out the
+very night after the battle to return with it in triumph to his own
+encampment. When he arrived, he sent a troop of horse to throw the
+head over into Hannibal's camp, a ghastly and horrid trophy of his
+victory.
+
+Hannibal was overwhelmed with disappointment and sorrow at the loss of
+his army, bringing with it, as it did, the destruction of all his
+hopes. "My fate is sealed," said he; "all is lost. I shall send no
+more news of victory to Carthage. In losing Hasdrubal my last hope is
+gone."
+
+[Illustration: HASDRUBAL'S HEAD.]
+
+While Hannibal was in this condition in Italy, the Roman armies, aided
+by their allies, were gaining gradually against the Carthaginians in
+various parts of the world, under the different generals who had been
+placed in command by the Roman senate. The news of these victories
+came continually home to Italy, and encouraged and animated the
+Romans, while Hannibal and his army, as well as the people who were in
+alliance with him, were disheartened and depressed by them. Scipio was
+one of these generals commanding in foreign lands. His province was
+Spain. The news which came home from his army became more and more
+exciting, as he advanced from conquest to conquest, until it seemed
+that the whole country was going to be reduced to subjection. He
+overcame one Carthaginian general after another until he reached New
+Carthage, which he besieged and conquered, and the Roman authority was
+established fully over the whole land.
+
+Scipio then returned in triumph to Rome. The people received him with
+acclamations. At the next election they chose him consul. On the
+allotment of provinces, Sicily fell to him, with power to cross into
+Africa if he pleased. It devolved on the other consul to carry on the
+war in Italy more directly against Hannibal. Scipio levied his army,
+equipped his fleet, and sailed for Sicily.
+
+The first thing that he did on his arrival in his province was to
+project an expedition into Africa itself. He could not, as he wished,
+face Hannibal directly, by marching his troops into the south of
+Italy, for this was the work allotted to his colleague. He could,
+however, make an incursion into Africa, and even threaten Carthage
+itself, and this, with the boldness and ardor which marked his
+character, he resolved to do.
+
+He was triumphantly successful in all his plans. His army, imbibing
+the spirit of enthusiasm which animated their commander, and confident
+of success, went on, as his forces in Spain had done, from victory to
+victory. They conquered cities, they overran provinces, they defeated
+and drove back all the armies which the Carthaginians could bring
+against them, and finally they awakened in the streets and dwellings
+of Carthage the same panic and consternation which Hannibal's
+victorious progress had produced in Rome.
+
+The Carthaginians being now, in their turn, reduced to despair, sent
+embassadors to Scipio to beg for peace, and to ask on what terms he
+would grant it and withdraw from the country. Scipio replied that _he_
+could not make peace. It rested with the Roman senate, whose servant
+he was. He specified, however, certain terms which he was willing to
+have proposed to the senate, and, if the Carthaginians would agree to
+them, he would grant them a _truce_, that is, a temporary suspension
+of hostilities, until the answer of the Roman senate could be
+returned.
+
+The Carthaginians agreed to the terms. They were very onerous. The
+Romans say that they did not really mean to abide by them, but acceded
+for the moment in order to gain time to send for Hannibal. They had
+great confidence in his resources and military power, and thought
+that, if he were in Africa, he could save them. At the same time,
+therefore, that they sent their embassadors to Rome with their
+propositions for peace, they dispatched expresses to Hannibal,
+ordering him to embark his troops as soon as possible, and, abandoning
+Italy, to hasten home, to save, if it was not already too late, his
+native city from destruction.
+
+When Hannibal received these messages, he was overwhelmed with
+disappointment and sorrow. He spent hours in extreme agitation,
+sometimes in a moody silence, interrupted now and then by groans of
+despair, and sometimes uttering loud and angry curses, prompted by the
+exasperation of his feelings. He, however, could not resist. He made
+the best of his way to Carthage. The Roman senate, at the same time,
+instead of deciding on the question of peace or war, which Scipio had
+submitted to them, referred the question back to him. They sent
+commissioners to Scipio, authorizing him to act for them, and to
+decide himself alone whether the war should be continued or closed,
+and if to be closed, on what conditions.
+
+Hannibal raised a large force at Carthage, joining with it such
+remains of former armies as had been left after Scipio's battles, and
+he went forth at the head of these troops to meet his enemy. He
+marched five days, going, perhaps, seventy-five or one hundred miles
+from Carthage, when he found himself approaching Scipio's camp. He
+sent out spies to reconnoiter. The patrols of Scipio's army seized
+these spies and brought them to the general's tent, as they supposed,
+for execution. Instead of punishing them, Scipio ordered them to be
+led around his camp, and to be allowed to see every thing they
+desired. He then dismissed them, that they might return to Hannibal
+with the information they had obtained.
+
+Of course, the report which they brought in respect to the strength
+and resources of Scipio's army was very formidable to Hannibal. He
+thought it best to make an attempt to negotiate a peace rather than to
+risk a battle, and he accordingly sent word to Scipio requesting a
+personal interview. Scipio acceded to this request, and a place was
+appointed for the meeting between the two encampments. To this spot
+the two generals repaired at the proper time, with great pomp and
+parade, and with many attendants. They were the two greatest generals
+of the age in which they lived, having been engaged for fifteen or
+twenty years in performing, at the head of vast armies, exploits which
+had filled the world with their fame. Their fields of action had,
+however, been widely distant, and they met personally now for the
+first time. When introduced into each other's presence, they stood for
+some time in silence, gazing upon and examining one another with
+intense interest and curiosity, but not speaking a word.
+
+At length, however, the negotiation was opened. Hannibal made Scipio
+proposals for peace. They were very favorable to the Romans, but
+Scipio was not satisfied with them. He demanded still greater
+sacrifices than Hannibal was willing to make. The result, after a long
+and fruitless negotiation, was, that each general returned to his
+camp and prepared for battle.
+
+In military campaigns, it is generally easy for those who have been
+conquering to go on to conquer: so much depends upon the expectations
+with which the contending armies go into battle. Scipio and his troops
+expected to conquer. The Carthaginians expected to be beaten. The
+result corresponded. At the close of the day on which the battle was
+fought, forty thousand Carthaginians were dead and dying upon the
+ground, as many more were prisoners in the Roman camp, and the rest,
+in broken masses, were flying from the field in confusion and terror,
+on all the roads which led to Carthage. Hannibal arrived at the city
+with the rest, went to the senate, announced his defeat, and said that
+he could do no more. "The fortune which once attended me," said he,
+"is lost forever, and nothing is left to us but to make peace with our
+enemies on any terms that they may think fit to impose."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+HANNIBAL A FUGITIVE AND AN EXILE.
+
+B.C. 200-182
+
+Hannibal's conquests.--Peaceful pursuits.--The danger of a spirit of
+ambition and conquest.--Gradual progress of Scipio's victories.--Severe
+conditions of peace exacted by Scipio.--Debates in the Carthaginian
+senate.--Terms of peace complied with.--Surrender of the elephants and
+ships.--Scipio burns the Carthaginian fleet.--Feelings of the
+spectators.--Scipio sails to Rome.--His reception.--Hannibal's position
+and standing at Carthage.--Orders from Rome.--Hannibal's
+mortification.--Syria and Phoenicia.--King Antiochus.--Hannibal's
+intrigues with Antiochus.--Embassy from Rome.--Flight of
+Hannibal.--Island of Cercina.--Stratagem of Hannibal.--He sails for
+Syria.--Excitement at Carthage.--Hannibal safe at Ephesus.--Carthaginian
+deputies.--The change of fortune.--Hannibal's unconquerable spirit.--His
+new plans.--Hannibal sends a secret messenger to Carthage.--The
+placards.--Excitement produced by them.--Roman commissioners.--Supposed
+interview of Hannibal and Scipio.--Hannibal's opinion of Alexander and
+Pyrrhus.--Anecdotes.--Hannibal's efforts prove vain.--Antiochus agrees
+to give him up.--Hannibal's treasures.--His plan for securing
+them.--Hannibal's unhappy condition.--The potion of poison.--Hannibal
+fails in his attempt to escape.--He poisons himself.
+
+
+Hannibal's life was like an April day. Its brightest glory was in the
+morning. The setting of his sun was darkened by clouds and showers.
+Although for fifteen years the Roman people could find no general
+capable of maintaining the field against him, Scipio conquered him at
+last, and all his brilliant conquests ended, as Hanno had predicted,
+only in placing his country in a far worse condition than before.
+
+In fact, as long as the Carthaginians confined their energies to
+useful industry, and to the pursuits of commerce and peace, they were
+prosperous, and they increased in wealth, and influence, and honor
+every year. Their ships went every where, and were every where
+welcome. All the shores of the Mediterranean were visited by their
+merchants, and the comforts and the happiness of many nations and
+tribes were promoted by the very means which they took to swell their
+own riches and fame. All might have gone on so for centuries longer,
+had not military heroes arisen with appetites for a more piquant sort
+of glory. Hannibal's father was one of the foremost of these. He began
+by conquests in Spain and encroachments on the Roman jurisdiction. He
+inculcated the same feelings of ambition and hate in Hannibal's mind
+which burned in his own. For many years, the policy which they led
+their countrymen to pursue was successful. From being useful and
+welcome visitors to all the world, they became the masters and the
+curse of a part of it. So long as Hannibal remained superior to any
+Roman general that could be brought against him, he went on
+conquering. But at last Scipio arose, greater than Hannibal. The tide
+was then turned, and all the vast conquests of half a century were
+wrested away by the same violence, bloodshed, and misery with which
+they had been acquired.
+
+We have described the exploits of Hannibal, in making these conquests,
+in detail, while those of Scipio, in wresting them away, have been
+passed over very briefly, as this is intended as a history of
+Hannibal, and not of Scipio. Still Scipio's conquests were made by
+slow degrees, and they consumed a long period of time. He was but
+about eighteen years of age at the battle of Cannæ, soon after which
+his campaigns began, and he was thirty when he was made consul, just
+before his going into Africa. He was thus fifteen or eighteen years in
+taking down the vast superstructure of power which Hannibal had
+raised, working in regions away from Hannibal and Carthage during all
+this time, as if leaving the great general and the great city for the
+last. He was, however, so successful in what he did, that when, at
+length, he advanced to the attack of Carthage, every thing else was
+gone. The Carthaginian power had become a mere hollow shell, empty and
+vain, which required only one great final blow to effect its absolute
+demolition. In fact, so far spent and gone were all the Carthaginian
+resources, that the great city had to summon the great general to its
+aid the moment it was threatened, and Scipio destroyed them both
+together.
+
+And yet Scipio did not proceed so far as literally and actually to
+destroy them. He spared Hannibal's life, and he allowed the city to
+stand; but the terms and conditions of peace which he exacted were
+such as to put an absolute and perpetual end to Carthaginian dominion.
+By these conditions, the Carthaginian state was allowed to continue
+free and independent, and even to retain the government of such
+territories in _Africa_ as they possessed before the war; but all
+their foreign possessions were taken away; and even in respect to
+Africa, their jurisdiction was limited and curtailed by very hard
+restrictions. Their whole navy was to be given to the Romans except
+ten small ships of three banks of oars, which Scipio thought the
+government would need for the purposes of civil administration. These
+they were allowed to retain. Scipio did not say what he should do with
+the remainder of the fleet: it was to be unconditionally surrendered
+to him. Their elephants of war were also to be all given up, and they
+were to be bound not to train any more. They were not to appear at all
+as a military power in any other quarter of the world but Africa, and
+they were not to make war in Africa except by previously making known
+the occasion for it to the Roman people, and obtaining their
+permission. They were also to pay to the Romans a very large annual
+tribute for fifty years.
+
+There was great distress and perplexity in the Carthaginian councils
+while they were debating these cruel terms. Hannibal was in favor of
+accepting them. Others opposed. They thought it would be better still
+to continue the struggle, hopeless as it was, than to submit to terms
+so ignominious and fatal.
+
+Hannibal was present at these debates, but he found himself now in a
+very different position from that which he had been occupying for
+thirty years as a victorious general at the head of his army. He had
+been accustomed there to control and direct every thing. In his
+councils of war, no one spoke but at his invitation, and no opinion
+was expressed but such as he was willing to hear. In the Carthaginian
+senate, however, he found the case very different. There, opinions
+were freely expressed, as in a debate among equals, Hannibal taking
+his place among the rest, and counting only as one. And yet the spirit
+of authority and command which he had been so long accustomed to
+exercise, lingered still, and made him very impatient and uneasy under
+contradiction. In fact, as one of the speakers in the senate was
+rising to animadvert upon and oppose Hannibal's views, he undertook to
+pull him down and silence him by force. This proceeding awakened
+immediately such expressions of dissatisfaction and displeasure in the
+assembly as to show him very clearly that the time for such
+domineering was gone. He had, however, the good sense to express the
+regret he soon felt at having so far forgotten the duties of his new
+position, and to make an ample apology.
+
+[Illustration: THE BURNING OF THE CARTHAGINIAN FLEET.]
+
+The Carthaginians decided at length to accede to Scipio's terms of
+peace. The first instalment of the tribute was paid. The elephants
+and the ships were surrendered. After a few days, Scipio announced
+his determination not to take the ships away with him, but to
+destroy them there. Perhaps this was because he thought the ships
+would be of little value to the Romans, on account of the difficulty
+of manning them. Ships, of course, are useless without seamen, and
+many nations in modern times, who could easily build a navy, are
+debarred from doing it, because their population does not furnish
+sailors in sufficient numbers to man and navigate it. It was
+probably, in part, on this account that Scipio decided not to take
+the Carthaginian ships away, and perhaps he also wanted to show to
+Carthage and to the world that his object in taking possession of
+the national property of his foes was not to enrich his own country
+by plunder, but only to deprive ambitious soldiers of the power
+to compromise any longer the peace and happiness of mankind by
+expeditions for conquest and power. However this may be, Scipio
+determined to destroy the Carthaginian fleet, and not to convey
+it away.
+
+On a given day, therefore, he ordered all the galleys to be got
+together in the bay opposite to the city of Carthage, and to be
+burned. There were five hundred of them, so that they constituted a
+large fleet, and covered a large expanse of the water. A vast
+concourse of people assembled upon the shores to witness the grand
+conflagration. The emotion which such a spectacle was of itself
+calculated to excite was greatly heightened by the deep but stifled
+feelings of resentment and hate which agitated every Carthaginian
+breast. The Romans, too, as they gazed upon the scene from their
+encampment on the shore, were agitated as well, though with different
+emotions. Their faces beamed with an expression of exultation and
+triumph as they saw the vast masses of flame and columns of smoke
+ascending from the sea, proclaiming the total and irretrievable ruin
+of Carthaginian pride and power.
+
+Having thus fully accomplished his work, Scipio set sail for Rome. All
+Italy had been filled with the fame of his exploits in thus
+destroying the ascendency of Hannibal. The city of Rome had now
+nothing more to fear from its great enemy. He was shut up, disarmed,
+and helpless, in his own native state, and the terror which his
+presence in Italy had inspired had passed forever away. The whole
+population of Rome, remembering the awful scenes of consternation and
+terror which the city had so often endured, regarded Scipio as a great
+deliverer. They were eager to receive and welcome him on his arrival.
+When the time came and he approached the city, vast throngs went out
+to meet him. The authorities formed civic processions to welcome him.
+They brought crowns, and garlands, and flowers, and hailed his
+approach with loud and prolonged acclamations of triumph and joy. They
+gave him the name of Africanus, in honor of his victories. This was a
+new honor--giving to a conqueror the name of the country that he had
+subdued; it was invented specially as Scipio's reward, the deliverer
+who had saved the empire from the greatest and most terrible danger by
+which it had ever been assailed.
+
+Hannibal, though fallen, retained still in Carthage some portion of
+his former power. The glory of his past exploits still invested his
+character with a sort of halo, which made him an object of general
+regard, and he still had great and powerful friends. He was elevated
+to high office, and exerted himself to regulate and improve the
+internal affairs of the state. In these efforts he was not, however,
+very successful. The historians say that the objects which he aimed to
+accomplish were good, and that the measures for effecting them were,
+in themselves, judicious; but, accustomed as he was to the
+authoritative and arbitrary action of a military commander in camp, he
+found it hard to practice that caution and forbearance, and that
+deference for the opinion of others, which are so essential as means
+of influencing men in the management of the civil affairs of a
+commonwealth. He made a great many enemies, who did every thing in
+their power, by plots and intrigues, as well as by open hostility, to
+accomplish his ruin.
+
+His pride, too, was extremely mortified and humbled by an occurrence
+which took place very soon after Scipio's return to Rome. There was
+some occasion of war with a neighboring African tribe, and Hannibal
+headed some forces which were raised in the city for the purpose, and
+went out to prosecute it. The Romans, who took care to have agents in
+Carthage to keep them acquainted with all that occurred, heard of
+this, and sent word to Carthage to warn the Carthaginians that this
+was contrary to the treaty, and could not be allowed. The government,
+not willing to incur the risk of another visit from Scipio, sent
+orders to Hannibal to abandon the war and return to the city. Hannibal
+was compelled to submit; but after having been accustomed, as he had
+been, for many years, to bid defiance to all the armies and fleets
+which Roman power could, with their utmost exertion, bring against
+him, it must have been very hard for such a spirit as his to find
+itself stopped and conquered now by a word. All the force they could
+command against him, even at the very gates of their own city, was
+once impotent and vain. Now, a mere message and threat, coming across
+the distant sea, seeks him out in the remote deserts of Africa, and in
+a moment deprives him of all his power.
+
+Years passed away, and Hannibal, though compelled outwardly to submit
+to his fate, was restless and ill at ease. His scheming spirit,
+spurred on now by the double stimulus of resentment and ambition, was
+always busy, vainly endeavoring to discover some plan by which he
+might again renew the struggle with his ancient foe.
+
+It will be recollected that Carthage was originally a commercial
+colony from Tyre, a city on the eastern shores of the Mediterranean
+Sea. The countries of Syria and Phoenicia were in the vicinity of
+Tyre. They were powerful commercial communities, and they had always
+retained very friendly relations with the Carthaginian commonwealth.
+Ships passed continually to and fro, and always, in case of calamities
+or disasters threatening one of these regions, the inhabitants
+naturally looked to the other for refuge and protection, Carthage
+looking upon Phoenicia as its mother, and Phoenicia regarding
+Carthage as her child. Now there was, at this time, a very powerful
+monarch on the throne in Syria and Phoenicia, named Antiochus. His
+capital was Damascus. He was wealthy and powerful, and was involved in
+some difficulties with the Romans. Their conquests, gradually
+extending eastward, had approached the confines of Antiochus's realms,
+and the two nations were on the brink of war.
+
+Things being in this state, the enemies of Hannibal at Carthage sent
+information to the Roman senate that he was negotiating and plotting
+with Antiochus to combine the Syrian and Carthaginian forces against
+them, and thus plunge the world into another general war. The Romans
+accordingly determined to send an embassage to the Carthaginian
+government, and to demand that Hannibal should be deposed from his
+office, and given up to them a prisoner, in order that he might be
+tried on this charge.
+
+These commissioners came, accordingly, to Carthage, keeping, however,
+the object of their mission a profound secret, since they knew very
+well that, if Hannibal should suspect it, he would make his escape
+before the Carthaginian senate could decide upon the question of
+surrendering him. Hannibal was, however, too wary for them. He
+contrived to learn their object, and immediately resolved on making
+his escape. He knew that his enemies in Carthage were numerous and
+powerful, and that the animosity against him was growing stronger and
+stronger. He did not dare, therefore, to trust to the result of the
+discussion in the senate, but determined to fly.
+
+He had a small castle or tower on the coast, about one hundred and
+fifty miles southeast of Carthage. He sent there by an express,
+ordering a vessel to be ready to take him to sea. He also made
+arrangements to have horsemen ready at one of the gates of the city at
+nightfall. During the day he appeared freely in the public streets,
+walking with an unconcerned air, as if his mind was at ease, and
+giving to the Roman embassadors, who were watching his movements, the
+impression that he was not meditating an escape. Toward the close of
+the day, however, after walking leisurely home, he immediately made
+preparations for his journey. As soon as it was dark he went to the
+gate of the city, mounted the horse which was provided for him, and
+fled across the country to his castle. Here he found the vessel ready
+which he had ordered. He embarked, and put to sea.
+
+There is a small island called Cercina at a little distance from the
+coast. Hannibal reached this island on the same day that he left his
+tower. There was a harbor here, where merchant ships were accustomed
+to come in. He found several Phoenician vessels in the port, some
+bound to Carthage. Hannibal's arrival produced a strong sensation
+here, and, to account for his appearance among them, he said he was
+going on an embassy from the Carthaginian government to Tyre.
+
+He was now afraid that some of these vessels that were about setting
+sail for Carthage might carry the news back of his having being seen
+at Cercina, and, to prevent this, he contrived, with his
+characteristic cunning, the following plan. He sent around to all the
+ship-masters in the port, inviting them to a great entertainment which
+he was to give, and asked, at the same time, that they would lend him
+the main-sails of their ships, to make a great awning with, to shelter
+the guests from the dews of the night. The ship-masters, eager to
+witness and enjoy the convivial scene which Hannibal's proposal
+promised them, accepted the invitation, and ordered their main-sails
+to be taken down. Of course, this confined all their vessels to port.
+In the evening, the company assembled under the vast tent, made by the
+main-sails, on the shore. Hannibal met them, and remained with them
+for a time. In the course of the night, however, when they were all in
+the midst of their carousing, he stole away, embarked on board a ship,
+and set sail, and, before the ship-masters could awake from the deep
+and prolonged slumbers which followed their wine, and rig their
+main-sails to the masts again, Hannibal was far out of reach on his
+way to Syria.
+
+In the mean time, there was a great excitement produced at Carthage
+by the news which spread every where over the city, the day after his
+departure, that he was not to be found. Great crowds assembled before
+his house. Wild and strange rumors circulated in explanation of his
+disappearance, but they were contradictory and impossible, and only
+added to the universal excitement. This excitement continued until the
+vessels at last arrived from Cercina, and made the truth known.
+Hannibal was himself, however, by this time, safe beyond the reach of
+all possible pursuit. He was sailing prosperously, so far as outward
+circumstances were concerned, but dejected and wretched in heart,
+toward Tyre. He landed there in safety, and was kindly received. In a
+few days he went into the interior, and, after various wanderings,
+reached Ephesus, where he found Antiochus, the Syrian king.
+
+As soon as the escape of Hannibal was made known at Carthage, the
+people of the city immediately began to fear that the Romans would
+consider them responsible for it, and that they should thus incur a
+renewal of Roman hostility. In order to avert this danger, they
+immediately sent a deputation to Rome, to make known the fact of
+Hannibal's flight, and to express the regret they felt on account of
+it, in hopes thus to save themselves from the displeasure of their
+formidable foes. It may at first view seem very ungenerous and
+ungrateful in the Carthaginians to abandon their general in this
+manner, in the hour of his misfortune and calamity, and to take part
+against him with enemies whose displeasure he had incurred only in
+their service and in executing their will. And this conduct of the
+Carthaginians would have to be considered as not only ungenerous, but
+extremely inconsistent, if it had been the same individuals that acted
+in the two cases. But it was not. The men and the influences which now
+opposed Hannibal's projects and plans had opposed them always and from
+the beginning; only, so long as he went on successfully and well, they
+were in the minority, and Hannibal's adherents and friends controlled
+all the public action of the city. But, now that the bitter fruits of
+his ambition and of his totally unjustifiable encroachments on the
+Roman territories and Roman rights began to be realized, the party of
+his friends was overturned, the power reverted to the hands of those
+who had always opposed him, and in trying to keep him down when he was
+once fallen, their action, whether politically right or wrong, was
+consistent with itself, and can not be considered as at all subjecting
+them to the charge of ingratitude or treachery.
+
+One might have supposed that all Hannibal's hopes and expectations of
+ever again coping with his great Roman enemy would have been now
+effectually and finally destroyed, and that henceforth he would have
+given up his active hostility and would have contented himself with
+seeking some refuge where he could spend the remainder of his days in
+peace, satisfied with securing, after such dangers and escapes, his
+own personal protection from the vengeance of his enemies. But it is
+hard to quell and subdue such indomitable perseverance and energy as
+his. He was very little inclined yet to submit to his fate. As soon as
+he found himself at the court of Antiochus, he began to form new plans
+for making war against Rome. He proposed to the Syrian monarch to
+raise a naval force and put it under his charge. He said that if
+Antiochus would give him a hundred ships and ten or twelve thousand
+men, he would take the command of the expedition in person, and he did
+not doubt that he should be able to recover his lost ground, and once
+more humble his ancient and formidable enemy. He would go first, he
+said, with his force to Carthage, to get the co-operation and aid of
+his countrymen there in his new plans. Then he would make a descent
+upon Italy, and he had no doubt that he should soon regain the
+ascendency there which he had formerly held.
+
+Hannibal's design of going first to Carthage with his Syrian army was
+doubtless induced by his desire to put down the party of his enemies
+there, and to restore the power to his adherents and partisans. In
+order to prepare the way the more effectually for this, he sent a
+secret messenger to Carthage, while his negotiations with Antiochus
+were going on, to make known to his friends there the new hopes which
+he began to cherish, and the new designs which he had formed. He knew
+that his enemies in Carthage would be watching very carefully for any
+such communication; he therefore wrote no letters, and committed
+nothing to paper which, on being discovered, might betray him. He
+explained, however, all his plans very fully to his messenger, and
+gave him minute and careful instructions as to his manner of
+communicating them.
+
+The Carthaginian authorities were indeed watching very vigilantly, and
+intelligence was brought to them, by their spies, of the arrival of
+this stranger. They immediately took measures for arresting him. The
+messenger, who was himself as vigilant as they, got intelligence of
+this in his secret lurking-place in the city, and determined
+immediately to fly. He, however, first prepared some papers and
+placards, which he posted up in public places, in which he proclaimed
+that Hannibal was far from considering himself finally conquered; that
+he was, on the contrary, forming new plans for putting down his
+enemies in Carthage, resuming his former ascendency there, and
+carrying fire and sword again into the Roman territories; and, in the
+mean time, he urged the friends of Hannibal in Carthage to remain
+faithful and true to his cause.
+
+The messenger, after posting his placards, fled from the city in the
+night, and went back to Hannibal. Of course, the occurrence produced
+considerable excitement in the city. It aroused the anger and
+resentment of Hannibal's enemies, and awakened new encouragement and
+hope in the hearts of his friends. Further than this, however, it led
+to no immediate results. The power of the party which was opposed to
+Hannibal was too firmly established at Carthage to be very easily
+shaken. They sent information to Rome of the coming of Hannibal's
+emissary to Carthage, and of the result of his mission, and then every
+thing went on as before.
+
+In the mean time, the Romans, when they learned where Hannibal had
+gone, sent two or three commissioners there to confer with the Syrian
+government in respect to their intentions and plans, and watch the
+movements of Hannibal. It was said that Scipio himself was joined to
+this embassy, and that he actually met Hannibal at Ephesus, and had
+several personal interviews and conversations with him there. Some
+ancient historian gives a particular account of one of these
+interviews, in which the conversation turned, as it naturally would do
+between two such distinguished commanders, on military greatness and
+glory. Scipio asked Hannibal whom he considered the greatest military
+hero that had ever lived. Hannibal gave the palm to Alexander the
+Great, because he had penetrated, with comparatively a very small
+number of Macedonian troops, into such remote regions, conquered such
+vast armies, and brought so boundless an empire under his sway. Scipio
+then asked him who he was inclined to place next to Alexander. He said
+Pyrrhus. Pyrrhus was a Grecian, who crossed the Adriatic Sea, and
+made war, with great success, against the Romans. Hannibal said that
+he gave the second rank to Pyrrhus because he systematized and
+perfected the art of war, and also because he had the power of
+awakening a feeling of personal attachment to himself on the part of
+all his soldiers, and even of the inhabitants of the countries that he
+conquered, beyond any other general that ever lived. Scipio then asked
+Hannibal who came next in order, and he replied that he should give
+the third rank to himself. "And if," added he, "I had conquered
+Scipio, I should consider myself as standing above Alexander, Pyrrhus,
+and all the generals that the world ever produced."
+
+Various other anecdotes are related of Hannibal during the time of his
+first appearance in Syria, all indicating the very high degree of
+estimation in which he was held, and the curiosity and interest that
+were every where felt to see him. On one occasion, it happened that a
+vain and self-conceited orator, who knew little of war but from his
+own theoretic speculations, was haranguing an assembly where Hannibal
+was present, being greatly pleased with the opportunity of displaying
+his powers before so distinguished an auditor. When the discourse was
+finished, they asked Hannibal what he thought of it. "I have heard,"
+said he, in reply, "many old dotards in the course of my life, but
+this is, verily, the greatest dotard of them all."
+
+Hannibal failed, notwithstanding all his perseverance, in obtaining
+the means to attack the Romans again. He was unwearied in his efforts,
+but, though the king sometimes encouraged his hopes, nothing was ever
+done. He remained in this part of the world for ten years, striving
+continually to accomplish his aims, but every year he found himself
+farther from the attainment of them than ever. The hour of his good
+fortune and of his prosperity were obviously gone. His plans all
+failed, his influence declined, his name and renown were fast passing
+away. At last, after long and fruitless contests with the Romans,
+Antiochus made a treaty of peace with them, and, among the articles of
+this treaty, was one agreeing to give up Hannibal into their power.
+
+Hannibal resolved to fly. The place of refuge which he chose was the
+island of Crete. He found that he could not long remain here. He had,
+however, brought with him a large amount of treasure, and when about
+leaving Crete again, he was uneasy about this treasure, as he had
+some reason to fear that the Cretans were intending to seize it. He
+must contrive, then, some stratagem to enable him to get this gold
+away. The plan he adopted was this:
+
+He filled a number of earthen jars with lead, covering the tops of
+them with gold and silver. These he carried, with great appearance of
+caution and solicitude, to the Temple of Diana, a very sacred edifice,
+and deposited them there, under very special guardianship of the
+Cretans, to whom, as he said, he intrusted all his treasures. They
+received their false deposit with many promises to keep it safely, and
+then Hannibal went away with his real gold cast in the center of
+hollow statues of brass, which he carried with him, without suspicion,
+as objects of art of very little value.
+
+Hannibal fled from kingdom to kingdom, and from province to province,
+until life became a miserable burden. The determined hostility of the
+Roman senate followed him every where, harassing him with continual
+anxiety and fear, and destroying all hope of comfort and peace. His
+mind was a prey to bitter recollections of the past, and still more
+dreadful forebodings for the future. He had spent all the morning of
+his life in inflicting the most terrible injuries on the objects of
+his implacable animosity and hate, although they had never injured
+him, and now, in the evening of his days, it became his destiny to
+feel the pressure of the same terror and suffering inflicted upon
+_him_. The hostility which he had to fear was equally merciless with
+that which he had exercised; perhaps it was made still more intense by
+being mingled with what they who felt it probably considered a just
+resentment and revenge.
+
+When at length Hannibal found that the Romans were hemming him in more
+and more closely, and that the danger increased of his falling at last
+into their power, he had a potion of poison prepared, and kept it
+always in readiness, determined to die by his own hand rather than to
+submit to be given up to his enemies. The time for taking the poison
+at last arrived. The wretched fugitive was then in Bithynia, a kingdom
+of Asia Minor. The King of Bithynia sheltered him for a time, but at
+length agreed to give him up to the Romans. Hannibal learning this,
+prepared for flight. But he found, on attempting his escape, that all
+the modes of exit from the palace which he occupied, even the secret
+ones which he had expressly contrived to aid his flight, were taken
+possession of and guarded. Escape was, therefore, no longer possible,
+and Hannibal went to his apartment and sent for the poison. He was now
+an old man, nearly seventy years of age, and he was worn down and
+exhausted by his protracted anxieties and sufferings. He was glad to
+die. He drank the poison, and in a few hours ceased to breathe.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+THE DESTRUCTION OF CARTHAGE.
+
+B.C. 146-145
+
+Destruction.--The third Punic war.--Chronological table of the
+Punic wars.--Character of the Punic wars.--Intervals between
+them.--Animosities and dissensions.--Numidia.--Numidian
+horsemen.--Masinissa.--Parties at Rome and Carthage.--Their
+differences.--Masinissa prepares for war.--Hasdrubal.--Carthage
+declares war.--Parallel between Hannibal and Hasdrubal.--Battle with
+Masinissa.--Defeat of the Carthaginians.--The younger Scipio.--A
+spectator of the battle.--Negotiations for peace.--Scipio
+made umpire.--Hasdrubal surrenders.--Terms imposed by
+Masinissa.--Carthaginian embassy to Rome.--Their mission
+fruitless.--Another embassy.--The Romans declare war.--Negotiations
+for peace.--The Romans demand hostages.--Cruelty of the hostage
+system.--Return of the embassadors.--Consternation in Carthage.--Its
+deplorable condition.--Selecting the hostages.--The hour of
+parting.--The parting scene.--Grief and despair.--Advance of the
+Roman army.--Surrender of Utica.--Demands of the Romans.--The
+Carthaginians comply.--The Romans demand all the munitions of
+war.--Their great number.--Brutal demands of the Romans.--Carthage
+to be destroyed.--Desperation of the people.--Preparations for
+defense.--Hasdrubal.--Destruction of the Roman fleet.--Horrors
+of the siege.--Heroic valor of the Carthaginians.--Battering
+engines.--Attempt to destroy them.--The city stormed.--A desperate
+struggle.--The people retreat to the citadel.--The city
+fired.--Hasdrubal's wife.--Hasdrubal surrenders.--The citadel
+fired.--Resentment and despair of Hasdrubal's wife.--Carthage
+destroyed.--Its present condition.--War and commerce.--Antagonistic
+principles.--Hannibal's greatness as a military hero.
+
+
+The consequences of Hannibal's reckless ambition, and of his wholly
+unjustifiable aggression on Roman rights to gratify it, did not end
+with his own personal ruin. The flame which he had kindled continued
+to burn until at last it accomplished the entire and irretrievable
+destruction of Carthage. This was effected in a third and final war
+between the Carthaginians and the Romans, which is known in history as
+the third Punic war. With a narrative of the events of this war,
+ending, as it did, in the total destruction of the city, we shall
+close this history of Hannibal.
+
+It will be recollected that the war which Hannibal himself waged
+against Rome was the second in the series, the contest in which
+Regulus figured so prominently having been the first. The one whose
+history is now to be given is the third. The reader will distinctly
+understand the chronological relations of these contests by the
+following table:
+
+                         TABLE.
+
+ +------+--------------------------------------+-------------+
+ | Date |                                      |             |
+ | B.C. |             Events.                  | Punic Wars. |
+ +------+--------------------------------------+-------------+
+ |      |                                      |             |
+ |  264 | War commenced in Sicily            } |             |
+ |      |                                    } |             |
+ |  262 | Naval battles in the Mediterranean } |      I.     |
+ |      |                                    } |             |
+ |  249 | Regulus sent prisoner to Rome      } |  24 years.  |
+ |      |                                    } |             |
+ |  241 | Peace concluded                    } |             |
+ |      |                                      |             |
+ |      |                                      |             |
+ |      |          Peace for 24 years.         |             |
+ |      |                                      |             |
+ |      |                                      |             |
+ |  217 | Hannibal attacks Saguntum          } |             |
+ |      |                                    } |             |
+ |  218 | Crosses the Alps                   } |     II.     |
+ |      |                                    } |             |
+ |  216 | Battle of Cannæ                    } |  17 years.  |
+ |      |                                    } |             |
+ |  205 | Is conquered by Scipio             } |             |
+ |      |                                    } |             |
+ |  200 | Peace concluded                    } |             |
+ |      |                                      |             |
+ |      |                                      |             |
+ |      |          Peace for 52 years          |             |
+ |      |                                      |             |
+ |      |                                      |             |
+ |  148 | War declared                       } |     III.    |
+ |      |                                    } |             |
+ |  145 | Carthage destroyed                 } |   3 years.  |
+ +------+--------------------------------------+-------------+
+
+These three Punic wars extended, as the table shows, over a period of
+more than a hundred years. Each successive contest in the series was
+shorter, but more violent and desperate than its predecessor, while
+the intervals of peace were longer. Thus the first Punic war continued
+for twenty-four years, the second about seventeen, and the third only
+three or four. The interval, too, between the first and second was
+twenty-four years, while between the second and third there was a sort
+of peace for about fifty years. These differences were caused, indeed,
+in some degree, by the accidental circumstances on which the
+successive ruptures depended, but they were not entirely owing to that
+cause. The longer these belligerent relations between the two
+countries continued, and the more they both experienced the awful
+effects and consequences of their quarrels, the less disposed they
+were to renew such dreadful struggles, and yet, when they did renew
+them they engaged in them with redoubled energy of determination and
+fresh intensity of hate. Thus the wars followed each other at greater
+intervals, but the conflicts, when they came, though shorter in
+duration, were more and more desperate and merciless in character.
+
+We have said that, after the close of the second Punic war, there was
+a sort of peace for about fifty years. Of course, during this time,
+one generation after another of public men arose, both in Rome and
+Carthage, each successive group, on both sides, inheriting the
+suppressed animosity and hatred which had been cherished by their
+predecessors. Of course, as long as Hannibal had lived, and had
+continued his plots and schemes in Syria, he was the means of keeping
+up a continual irritation among the people of Rome against the
+Carthaginian name. It is true that the government at Carthage
+disavowed his acts, and professed to be wholly opposed to his designs;
+but then it was, of course, very well known at Rome that this was only
+because they thought he was not able to execute them. They had no
+confidence whatever in Carthaginian faith or honesty, and, of course,
+there could be no real harmony or stable peace.
+
+There arose gradually, also, another source of dissension. By
+referring to the map, the reader will perceive that there lies, to the
+westward of Carthage, a country called Numidia. This country was a
+hundred miles or more in breadth, and extended back several hundred
+miles into the interior. It was a very rich and fertile region, and
+contained many powerful and wealthy cities. The inhabitants were
+warlike, too, and were particularly celebrated for their cavalry. The
+ancient historians say that they used to ride their horses into the
+field without saddles, and often without bridles, guiding and
+controlling them by their voices, and keeping their seats securely by
+the exercise of great personal strength and consummate skill. These
+Numidian horsemen are often alluded to in the narratives of Hannibal's
+campaigns, and, in fact, in all the military histories of the times.
+
+Among the kings who reigned in Numidia was one who had taken sides
+with the Romans in the second Punic war. His name was Masinissa. He
+became involved in some struggle for power with a neighboring monarch
+named Syphax, and while he, that is, Masinissa, had allied himself to
+the Romans, Syphax had joined the Carthaginians, each chieftain
+hoping, by this means, to gain assistance from his allies in
+conquering the other. Masinissa's patrons proved to be the strongest,
+and at the end of the second Punic war, when the conditions of peace
+were made, Masinissa's dominions were enlarged, and the undisturbed
+possession of them confirmed to him, the Carthaginians being bound by
+express stipulations not to molest him in any way.
+
+In commonwealths like those of Rome and Carthage, there will always be
+two great parties struggling against each other for the possession of
+power. Each wishes to avail itself of every opportunity to oppose and
+thwart the other, and they consequently almost always take different
+sides in all the great questions of public policy that arise. There
+were two such parties at Rome, and they disagreed in respect to the
+course which should be pursued in regard to Carthage, one being
+generally in favor of peace, the other perpetually calling for war. In
+the same manner there was at Carthage a similar dissension, the one
+side in the contest being desirous to propitiate the Romans and avoid
+collisions with them, while the other party were very restless and
+uneasy under the pressure of the Roman power upon them, and were
+endeavoring continually to foment feelings of hostility against their
+ancient enemies, as if they wished that war should break out again.
+The latter party were not strong enough to bring the Carthaginian
+state into an open rupture with Rome itself, but they succeeded at
+last in getting their government involved in a dispute with Masinissa,
+and in leading out an army to give him battle.
+
+Fifty years had passed away, as has already been remarked, since the
+close of Hannibal's war. During this time, Scipio--that is, the Scipio
+who conquered Hannibal--had disappeared from the stage. Masinissa
+himself was very far advanced in life, being over eighty years of age.
+He, however, still retained the strength and energy which had
+characterized him in his prime. He drew together an immense army, and
+mounting, like his soldiers, bare-back upon his horse, he rode from
+rank to rank, gave the necessary commands, and matured the
+arrangements for battle.
+
+The name of the Carthaginian general on this occasion was Hasdrubal.
+This was a very common name at Carthage, especially among the friends
+and family of Hannibal. The bearer of it, in this case, may possibly
+have received it from his parents in commemoration of the brother of
+Hannibal, who lost his head in descending into Italy from the Alps,
+inasmuch as during the fifty years of peace which had elapsed, there
+was ample time for a child born after that event to grow up to full
+maturity. At any rate, the new Hasdrubal inherited the inveterate
+hatred to Rome which characterized his namesake, and he and his party
+had contrived to gain a temporary ascendency in Carthage, and they
+availed themselves of their brief possession of power to renew,
+indirectly at least, the contest with Rome. They sent the rival
+leaders into banishment, raised an army, and Hasdrubal himself taking
+the command of it, they went forth in great force to encounter
+Masinissa.
+
+It was in a way very similar to this that Hannibal had commenced his
+war with Rome, by seeking first a quarrel with a Roman ally. Hannibal,
+it is true, had commenced his aggressions at Saguntum, in Spain.
+Hasdrubal begins in Numidia, in Africa, but, with the exception of the
+difference of geographical locality, all seems the same, and Hasdrubal
+very probably supposed that he was about to enter himself upon the
+same glorious career which had immortalized his great ancestor's name.
+
+There was another analogy between the two cases, viz., that both
+Hannibal and Hasdrubal had strong parties opposed to them in Carthage
+in the incipient stages of their undertakings. In the present
+instance, the opposition had been violently suppressed, and the
+leaders of it sent into banishment; but still the elements remained,
+ready, in case of any disaster to Hasdrubal's arms, or any other
+occurrence tending to diminish his power, to rise at once and put him
+down. Hasdrubal had therefore a double enemy to contend against: one
+before him, on the battle-field, and the other, perhaps still more
+formidable, in the city behind him.
+
+The parallel, however, ends here. Hannibal conquered at Saguntum, but
+Hasdrubal was entirely defeated in the battle in Numidia. The battle
+was fought long and desperately on both sides, but the Carthaginians
+were obliged to yield, and they retreated at length in confusion to
+seek shelter in their camp. The battle was witnessed by a Roman
+officer who stood upon a neighboring hill, and looked down upon the
+scene with intense interest all the day. It was Scipio--the younger
+Scipio--who became afterward the principal actor in the terrible
+scenes which were enacted in the war which followed. He was then a
+distinguished officer in the Roman army, and was on duty in Spain. His
+commanding general there had sent him to Africa to procure some
+elephants from Masinissa for the use of the army. He came to Numidia,
+accordingly, for this purpose, and as the battle between Masinissa and
+Hasdrubal came on while he was there, he remained to witness it.
+
+This second Scipio was not, by blood, any relative of the other, but
+he had been adopted by the elder Scipio's son, and thus received his
+name; so that he was, by adoption, a grandson. He was, even at this
+time, a man of high consideration among all who knew him, for his
+great energy and efficiency of character, as well as for his sound
+judgment and practical good sense. He occupied a very singular
+position at the time of this battle, such as very few great commanders
+have ever been placed in; for, as he himself was attached to a Roman
+army in Spain, having been sent merely as a military messenger to
+Numidia, he was a neutral in this contest, and could not, properly,
+take part on either side. He had, accordingly, only to take his place
+upon the hill, and look down upon the awful scene as upon a spectacle
+arranged for his special gratification. He speaks of it as if he were
+highly gratified with the opportunity he enjoyed, saying that only two
+such cases had ever occurred before, where a general could look down,
+in such a way, upon a great battle-field, and witness the whole
+progress of the fight, himself a cool and disinterested spectator. He
+was greatly excited by the scene and he speaks particularly of the
+appearance of the veteran Masinissa, then eighty-four years old, who
+rode all day from rank to rank, on a wild and impetuous charger,
+without a saddle, to give his orders to his men, and to encourage and
+animate them by his voice and his example.
+
+Hasdrubal retreated with his forces to his camp as soon as the battle
+was over, and intrenched himself there, while Masinissa advanced with
+his army, surrounded the encampment, and hemmed the imprisoned
+fugitives in. Finding himself in extreme and imminent danger,
+Hasdrubal sent to Masinissa to open negotiations for peace, and he
+proposed that Scipio should act as a sort of umpire or mediator
+between the two parties, to arrange the terms. Scipio was not likely
+to be a very impartial umpire; but still, his interposition would
+afford him, as Hasdrubal thought, some protection against any
+excessive and extreme exorbitancy on the part of his conqueror. The
+plan, however, did not succeed. Even Scipio's terms were found by
+Hasdrubal to be inadmissible. He required that the Carthaginians
+should accord to Masinissa a certain extension of territory. Hasdrubal
+was willing to assent to this. They were to pay him, also, a large sum
+of money. He agreed, also to this. They were, moreover, to allow
+Hasdrubal's banished opponents to return to Carthage. This, by putting
+the party opposed to Hasdrubal once more into power in Carthage, would
+have been followed by his own fall and ruin; he could not consent to
+it. He remained, therefore, shut up in his camp, and Scipio, giving up
+the hope of effecting an accommodation, took the elephants which had
+been provided for him, and returned across the Mediterranean to Spain.
+
+Soon after this, Hasdrubal's army, worn out with hunger and misery in
+their camp, compelled him to surrender on Masinissa's own terms. The
+men were allowed to go free, but most of them perished on the way to
+Carthage. Hasdrubal himself succeeded in reaching some place of
+safety, but the influence of his party was destroyed by the disastrous
+result of his enterprise, and his exiled enemies being recalled in
+accordance with the treaty of surrender, the opposing party were
+immediately restored to power.
+
+Under these new councils, the first measure of the Carthaginians was
+to impeach Hasdrubal on a charge of treason, for having involved his
+country in these difficulties, and the next was to send a solemn
+embassy to Rome, to acknowledge the fault of which their nation had
+been guilty, to offer to surrender Hasdrubal into their hands, as the
+principal author of the deed, and to ask what further satisfaction the
+Romans demanded.
+
+In the mean time, before these messengers arrived, the Romans had been
+deliberating what to do. The strongest party were in favor of urging
+on the quarrel with Carthage and declaring war. They had not, however,
+come to any positive decision. They received the deputation,
+therefore, very coolly, and made them no direct reply. As to the
+satisfaction which the Carthaginians ought to render to the Romans for
+having made war upon their ally contrary to the solemn covenants of
+the treaty, they said that that was a question for the Carthaginians
+themselves to consider. They had nothing at present to say upon the
+subject. The deputies returned to Carthage with this reply, which, of
+course, produced great uneasiness and anxiety.
+
+The Carthaginians were more and more desirous now to do every thing in
+their power to avert the threatened danger of Roman hostility. They
+sent a new embassy to Rome, with still more humble professions than
+before. The embassy set sail from Carthage with very little hope,
+however, of accomplishing the object of their mission. They were
+authorized, nevertheless, to make the most unlimited concessions, and
+to submit to any conditions whatever to avert the calamity of another
+war.
+
+But the Romans had been furnished with a pretext for commencing
+hostilities again, and there was a very strong party among them now
+who were determined to avail themselves of this opportunity to
+extinguish entirely the Carthaginian power. War had, accordingly, been
+declared by the Roman senate very soon after the first embassy had
+returned, a fleet and army had been raised and equipped, and the
+expedition had sailed. When, therefore, the embassy arrived in Rome,
+they found that the war, which it was the object of their mission to
+avert, had been declared.
+
+The Romans, however, gave them audience. The embassadors expressed
+their willingness to submit to any terms that the senate might propose
+for arresting the war. The senate replied that they were willing to
+make a treaty with the Carthaginians, on condition that the latter
+were to surrender themselves entirely to the Roman power, and bind
+themselves to obey such orders as the consuls, on their arrival in
+Africa with the army, should issue; the Romans, on their part,
+guarantying that they should continue in the enjoyment of their
+liberty, of their territorial possessions, and of their laws. As
+proof, however, of the Carthaginian honesty of purpose in making the
+treaty, and security for their future submission, they were required
+to give up to the Romans three hundred hostages. These hostages were
+to be young persons from the first families in Carthage, the sons of
+the men who were most prominent in society there, and whose influence
+might be supposed to control the action of the nation.
+
+The embassadors could not but consider these as very onerous terms.
+They did not know what orders the consuls would give them on their
+arrival in Africa, and they were required to put the commonwealth
+wholly into their power. Besides, in the guarantee which the Romans
+offered them, their _territories_ and their _laws_ were to be
+protected, but nothing was said of their cities, their ships, or their
+arms and munitions of war. The agreement there, if executed, would put
+the Carthaginian commonwealth wholly at the mercy of their masters, in
+respect to all those things which were in those days most valuable to
+a nation as elements of power. Still, the embassadors had been
+instructed to make peace with the Romans on any terms, and they
+accordingly acceded to these, though with great reluctance. They were
+especially averse to the agreement in respect to the hostages.
+
+This system, which prevailed universally in ancient times, of having
+the government of one nation surrender the children of the most
+distinguished citizens to that of another, as security for the
+fulfillment of its treaty stipulations, was a very cruel hardship to
+those who had to suffer the separation; but it would seem that there
+was no other security strong enough to hold such lawless powers as
+governments were in those days, to their word. Stern and rough as the
+men of those warlike nations often were, mothers were the same then as
+now, and they suffered quite as keenly in seeing their children sent
+away from them, to pine in a foreign land, in hopeless exile, for many
+years; in danger, too, continually, of the most cruel treatment, and
+even of death itself, to revenge some alleged governmental wrong.
+
+Of course, the embassadors knew, when they returned to Carthage with
+these terms, that they were bringing heavy tidings. The news, in fact,
+when it came, threw the community into the most extreme distress. It
+is said that the whole city was filled with cries and lamentations.
+The mothers, who felt that they were about to be bereaved, beat their
+breasts, and tore their hair, and manifested by every other sign their
+extreme and unmitigated woe. They begged and entreated their husbands
+and fathers not to consent to such cruel and intolerable conditions.
+They could not, and they would not give up their children.
+
+The husbands and the fathers, however, felt compelled to resist all
+these entreaties. They could not now undertake to resist the Roman
+will. Their army had been well-nigh destroyed in the battle with
+Masinissa; their city was consequently defenseless, and the Roman
+fleet had already reached its African port, and the troops were
+landed. There was no possible way, it appeared, of saving themselves
+and their city from absolute destruction, but entire submission to the
+terms which their stern conquerors had imposed upon them.
+
+The hostages were required to be sent, within thirty days, to the
+island of Sicily, to a port on the western extremity of the island,
+called Lilybæum. Lilybæum was the port in Sicily nearest to Carthage,
+being perhaps at a distance of a hundred miles across the waters of
+the Mediterranean Sea. A Roman escort was to be ready to receive them
+there and conduct them to Rome. Although thirty days were allowed to
+the Carthaginians to select and send forward the hostages, they
+determined not to avail themselves of this offered delay, but to send
+the unhappy children forward at once, that they might testify to the
+Roman senate, by this their promptness, that they were very earnestly
+desirous to propitiate their favor.
+
+The children were accordingly designated, one from each of the leading
+families in the city, and three hundred in all. The reader must
+imagine the heart-rending scenes of suffering which must have
+desolated these three hundred families and homes, when the stern and
+inexorable edict came to each of them that one loved member of the
+household must be selected to go. And when, at last, the hour arrived
+for their departure, and they assembled upon the pier, the picture was
+one of intense and unmingled suffering. The poor exiles stood
+bewildered with terror and grief, about to part with all that they
+ever held dear--their parents, their brothers and sisters, and their
+native land--to go they knew not whither, under the care of
+iron-hearted soldiers, who seemed to know no feelings of tenderness or
+compassion for their woes. Their disconsolate mothers wept and groaned
+aloud, clasping the loved ones who were about to be torn forever from
+them in their arms, in a delirium of maternal affection and
+irrepressible grief; their brothers and sisters, and their youthful
+friends stood by, some almost frantic with emotions which they did not
+attempt to suppress, others mute and motionless in their sorrow,
+shedding bitter tears of anguish, or gazing wildly on the scene with
+looks of despair; while the fathers, whose stern duty it was to pass
+through this scene unmoved, walked to and fro restlessly, in deep but
+silent distress, spoke in broken and incoherent words to one another,
+and finally aided, by a mixture of persuasion and gentle force, in
+drawing the children away from their mothers' arms, and getting them
+on board the vessels which were to convey them away. The vessels made
+sail, and passed off slowly from the shore. The mothers watched them
+till they could no longer be seen, and then returned, disconsolate and
+wretched, to their homes; and then the grief and agitation of this
+parting scene was succeeded by the anxious suspense which now
+pervaded the whole city to learn what new dangers and indignities
+they were to suffer from the approaching Roman army, which they knew
+must now be well on its way.
+
+The Roman army landed at Utica. Utica was a large city to the north of
+Carthage, not far from it, and upon the same bay. When the people of
+Utica found that another serious collision was to take place between
+Rome and Carthage, they had foreseen what would probably be the end of
+the contest, and they had decided that, in order to save themselves
+from the ruin which was plainly impending over the sister city, they
+must abandon her to her fate, and make common cause with Rome. They
+had, accordingly, sent deputies to the Roman senate, offering to
+surrender Utica to their power. The Romans had accepted the
+submission, and had made this city, in consequence, the port of
+debarkation for their army.
+
+As soon as the news arrived at Carthage that the Roman army had landed
+at Utica, the people sent deputies to inquire what were the orders of
+the consuls, for it will be recollected they had bound themselves by
+the treaty to obey the orders which the consuls were to bring. They
+found, when they arrived there, that the bay was covered with the
+Roman shipping. There were fifty vessels of war, of three banks of
+oars each, and a vast number of transports besides. There was, too, in
+the camp upon the shore, a force of eighty thousand foot soldiers and
+four thousand horse, all armed and equipped in the most perfect
+manner.
+
+The deputies were convinced that this was a force which it was in vain
+for their countrymen to think of resisting. They asked, trembling, for
+the consuls' orders. The consuls informed them that the orders of the
+Roman senate were, first, that the Carthaginians should furnish them
+with a supply of corn for the subsistence of their troops. The
+deputies went back to Carthage with the demand.
+
+The Carthaginians resolved to comply. They were bound by their treaty
+and by the hostages they had given, as well as intimidated by the
+presence of the Roman force. They furnished the corn.
+
+The consuls, soon after this, made another demand of the
+Carthaginians. It was, that they should surrender to them all their
+vessels of war. They were more unwilling to comply with this
+requisition than with the other; but they assented at last. They hoped
+that the demands of their enemies would stop here, and that,
+satisfied with having weakened them thus far, they would go away and
+leave them; they could then build new ships again when better times
+should return.
+
+But the Romans were not satisfied yet. They sent a third order, that
+the Carthaginians should deliver up all their arms, military stores,
+and warlike machines of every kind, by sending them into the Roman
+camp. The Carthaginians were rendered almost desperate by this
+requisition. Many were determined that they would not submit to it,
+but would resist at all hazards. Others despaired of all possibility
+of resisting now, and gave up all as lost; while the three hundred
+families from which the hostages had gone, trembled for the safety of
+the captive children, and urged compliance with the demand. The
+advocates for submission finally gained the day. The arms were
+collected, and carried in an immensely long train of wagons to the
+Roman camp. There were two hundred thousand complete suits of armor,
+with darts and javelins without number, and two thousand military
+engines for hurling beams of wood and stones. Thus Carthage was
+disarmed.
+
+All these demands, however unreasonable and cruel as the
+Carthaginians deemed them, were only preliminary to the great final
+determination, the announcement of which the consuls had reserved for
+the end. When the arms had all been delivered, the consuls announced
+to their now defenseless victims that the Roman senate had come to the
+determination that Carthage was to be destroyed. They gave orders,
+accordingly, that the inhabitants should all leave the city, which, as
+soon as it should be thus vacated, was to be burned. They might take
+with them such property as they could carry; and they were at liberty
+to build, in lieu of this their fortified sea-port, an inland town,
+not less than ten miles' distance from the sea, only it must have no
+walls or fortifications of any kind. As soon as the inhabitants were
+gone, Carthage, the consuls said, was to be destroyed.
+
+The announcement of this entirely unparalleled and intolerable
+requisition threw the whole city into a phrensy of desperation. They
+could not, and would not submit to this. The entreaties and
+remonstrances of the friends of the hostages were all silenced or
+overborne in the burst of indignation and anger which arose from the
+whole city. The gates were closed. The pavements of the streets were
+torn up, and buildings demolished to obtain stones, which were
+carried up upon the ramparts to serve instead of weapons. The slaves
+were all liberated, and stationed on the walls to aid in the defense.
+Every body that could work at a forge was employed in fabricating
+swords, spear-heads, pikes, and such other weapons as could be formed
+with the greatest facility and dispatch. They used all the iron and
+brass that could be obtained, and then melted down vases and statues
+of the precious metals, and tipped their spears with an inferior
+pointing of silver and gold. In the same manner, when the supplies of
+flax and hempen twine for cordage for their bows failed, the beautiful
+sisters and mothers of the hostages cut off their long hair, and
+twisted and braided it into cords to be used as bow-strings for
+propelling the arrows which their husbands and brothers made. In a
+word, the wretched Carthaginians had been pushed beyond the last limit
+of human endurance, and had aroused themselves to a hopeless
+resistance in a sort of phrensy of despair.
+
+The reader will recollect that, after the battle with Masinissa,
+Hasdrubal lost all his influence in Carthage, and was, to all
+appearance, hopelessly ruined. He had not, however, then given up the
+struggle. He had contrived to assemble the remnant of his army in the
+neighborhood of Carthage. His forces had been gradually increasing
+during these transactions, as those who were opposed to these
+concessions to the Romans naturally gathered around him. He was now in
+his camp, not far from the city, at the head of twenty thousand men.
+Finding themselves in so desperate an emergency, the Carthaginians
+sent to him to come to their succor. He very gladly obeyed the
+summons. He sent around to all the territories still subject to
+Carthage, and gathered fresh troops, and collected supplies of arms
+and of food. He advanced to the relief of the city. He compelled the
+Romans, who were equally astonished at the resistance they met with
+from within the walls, and at this formidable onset from without, to
+retire a little, and intrench themselves in their camp, in order to
+secure their own safety. He sent supplies of food into the city. He
+also contrived to fit up, secretly, a great many fire-ships in the
+harbor, and, setting them in flames, let them drift down upon the
+Roman fleet, which was anchored in supposed security in the bay. The
+plan was so skillfully managed that the Roman ships were almost all
+destroyed. Thus the face of affairs was changed. The Romans found
+themselves disappointed for the present of their prey. They confined
+themselves to their encampment, and sent home to the Roman senate for
+new re-enforcements and supplies.
+
+In a word, the Romans found that, instead of having only to effect,
+unresisted, the simple destruction of a city, they were involved in
+what would, perhaps, prove a serious and a protracted war. The war
+did, in fact, continue for two or three years--a horrible war, almost
+of extermination, on both sides. Scipio came with the Roman army, at
+first as a subordinate officer; but his bravery, his sagacity, and the
+success of some of his almost romantic exploits, soon made him an
+object of universal regard. At one time, a detachment of the army,
+which he succeeded in releasing from a situation of great peril in
+which they had been placed, testified their gratitude by platting a
+crown of _grass_, and placing it upon his brow with great ceremony and
+loud acclamations.
+
+The Carthaginians did every thing in the prosecution of this war that
+the most desperate valor could do; but Scipio's cool, steady, and
+well-calculated plans made irresistible progress, and hemmed them in
+at last, within narrower and narrower limits, by a steadily-increasing
+pressure, from which they found it impossible to break away.
+
+Scipio had erected a sort of mole or pier upon the water near the
+city, on which he had erected many large and powerful engines to
+assault the walls. One night a large company of Carthaginians took
+torches, not lighted, in their hands, together with some sort of
+apparatus for striking fire, and partly by wading and partly by
+swimming, they made their way through the water of the harbor toward
+these machines. When they were sufficiently near, they struck their
+lights and set their torches on fire. The Roman soldiers who had been
+stationed to guard the machines were seized with terror at seeing all
+these flashing fires burst out suddenly over the surface of the water,
+and fled in dismay. The Carthaginians set the abandoned engines on
+fire, and then, throwing their now useless torches into the flames,
+plunged into the water again, and swam back in safety. But all this
+desperate bravery did very little good. Scipio quietly repaired the
+engines, and the siege went on as before.
+
+But we can not describe in detail all the particulars of this
+protracted and terrible struggle. We must pass on to the closing
+scene, which as related by the historians of the day, is an almost
+incredible series of horrors. After an immense number had been killed
+in the assaults which had been made upon the city, besides the
+thousands and thousands which had died of famine, and of the exposures
+and hardships incident to such a siege, the army of Scipio succeeded
+in breaking their way through the gates, and gaining admission to the
+city. Some of the inhabitants were now disposed to contend no longer,
+but to cast themselves at the mercy of the conqueror. Others, furious
+in their despair, were determined to fight to the last, not willing to
+give up the pleasure of killing all they could of their hated enemies,
+even to save their lives. They fought, therefore, from street to
+street, retreating gradually as the Romans advanced, till they found
+refuge in the citadel. One band of Scipio's soldiers mounted to the
+tops of the houses, the roofs being flat, and fought their way there,
+while another column advanced in the same manner in the streets below.
+No imagination can conceive the uproar and din of such an assault upon
+a populous city--a horrid mingling of the vociferated commands of the
+officers, and of the shouts of the advancing and victorious
+assailants, with the screams of terror from affrighted women and
+children, and dreadful groans and imprecations from men dying maddened
+with unsatisfied revenge, and biting the dust in an agony of pain.
+
+The more determined of the combatants, with Hasdrubal at their head,
+took possession of the citadel, which was a quarter of the city
+situated upon an eminence, and strongly fortified. Scipio advanced to
+the walls of this fortification, and set that part of the city on fire
+which lay nearest to it. The fire burned for six days, and opened a
+large area, which afforded the Roman troops room to act. When the
+troops were brought up to the area thus left vacant by the fire, and
+the people within the citadel saw that their condition was hopeless,
+there arose, as there always does in such cases, the desperate
+struggle within the walls whether to persist in resistance or to
+surrender in despair. There was an immense mass, not far from sixty
+thousand, half women and children, who were determined on going out to
+surrender themselves to Scipio's mercy, and beg for their lives.
+Hasdrubal's wife, leading her two children by her side, earnestly
+entreated her husband to allow her to go with them. But he refused.
+There was a body of deserters from the Roman camp in the citadel, who,
+having no possible hope of escaping destruction except by desperate
+resistance to the last, Hasdrubal supposed would never yield. He
+committed his wife and children, therefore, to their charge, and these
+deserters, seeking refuge in a great temple within the citadel, bore
+the frantic mother with them to share their fate.
+
+Hasdrubal's determination, however, to resist the Romans to the last,
+soon after this gave way, and he determined to surrender. He is
+accused of the most atrocious treachery in attempting thus to save
+himself, after excluding his wife and children from all possibility of
+escaping destruction. But the confusion and din of such a scene, the
+suddenness and violence with which the events succeed each other, and
+the tumultuous and uncontrollable mental agitation to which they give
+rise, deprive a man who is called to act in it of all sense and
+reason, and exonerate him, almost as much, from moral responsibility
+for what he does, as if he were insane. At any rate, Hasdrubal, after
+shutting up his wife and children with a furious gang of desperadoes
+who could not possibly surrender, surrendered himself, perhaps hoping
+that he might save them after all.
+
+The Carthaginian soldiers, following Hasdrubal's example, opened the
+gates of the citadel, and let the conqueror in. The deserters were now
+made absolutely desperate by their danger, and some of them, more
+furious than the rest, preferring to die by their own hands rather
+than to give their hated enemies the pleasure of killing them, set the
+building in which they were shut up in on fire. The miserable inmates
+ran to and fro, half suffocated by the smoke and scorched by the
+flames. Many of them reached the roof. Hasdrubal's wife and children
+were among the number. She looked down from this elevation, the
+volumes of smoke and flame rolling up around her, and saw her husband
+standing below with the Roman general--perhaps looking, in
+consternation, for his wife and children, amid this scene of horror.
+The sight of the husband and father in a position of safety made the
+wife and mother perfectly furious with resentment and anger. "Wretch!"
+she screamed, in a voice which raised itself above the universal din,
+"is it thus you seek to save your own life while you sacrifice ours? I
+can not reach you in your own person, but I kill you hereby in the
+persons of your children." So saying, she stabbed her affrighted sons
+with a dagger, and hurled them down, struggling all the time against
+their insane mother's phrensy, into the nearest opening from which
+flames were ascending, and then leaped in after them herself to share
+their awful doom.
+
+The Romans, when they had gained possession of the city, took most
+effectual measures for its complete destruction. The inhabitants were
+scattered into the surrounding country, and the whole territory was
+converted into a Roman province. Some attempts were afterward made to
+rebuild the city, and it was for a long time a place of some resort,
+as men lingered mournfully there in huts that they built among the
+ruins. It, however, was gradually forsaken, the stones crumbled and
+decayed, vegetation regained possession of the soil, and now there is
+nothing whatever to mark the spot where the city lay.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+War and commerce are the two great antagonistic principles which
+struggle for the mastery of the human race, the function of the one
+being to preserve, and that of the other to destroy. Commerce causes
+cities to be built and fields to be cultivated, and diffuses comfort
+and plenty, and all the blessings of industry and peace. It carries
+organization and order every where; it protects property and life; it
+disarms pestilence, and it prohibits famine. War, on the other hand,
+_destroys_. It disorganizes the social state. It ruins cities,
+depopulates fields, condemns men to idleness and want, and the only
+remedy it knows for the evils which it brings upon man is to shorten
+the miseries of its victims by giving pestilence and famine the most
+ample commission to destroy their lives. Thus war is the great enemy,
+while commerce is the great friend of humanity. They are antagonistic
+principles, contending continually for the mastery among all the
+organizations of men.
+
+When Hannibal appeared upon the stage, he found his country engaged
+peacefully and prosperously in exchanging the productions of the
+various countries of the then known world, and promoting every where
+the comfort and happiness of mankind. He contrived to turn all these
+energies into the new current of military aggression, conquest, and
+war. He perfectly succeeded. We certainly have in his person and
+history all the marks and characteristics of a great military hero. He
+gained the most splendid victories, devastated many lands,
+embarrassed and stopped the commercial intercourse which was carrying
+the comforts of life to so many thousand homes, and spread, instead of
+them, every where, privation, want, and terror, with pestilence and
+famine in their train. He kept the country of his enemies in a state
+of incessant anxiety, suffering, and alarm for many years, and
+overwhelmed his own native land, in the end, in absolute and
+irresistible ruin. In a word, he was one of the greatest military
+heroes that the world has ever known.
+
+                         THE END.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Hannibal, by Jacob Abbott
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+      The Project Gutenberg eBook of Hannibal, Makers of History, by Jacob Abbott.
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+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Hannibal, by Jacob Abbott
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Hannibal
+       Makers of History
+
+Author: Jacob Abbott
+
+Release Date: December 17, 2008 [EBook #27551]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HANNIBAL ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by D Alexander and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+<h2>Makers of History</h2>
+
+<h1>Hannibal</h1>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">By</span> JACOB ABBOTT</h3>
+
+<h3>WITH ENGRAVINGS</h3>
+
+<p class="gap">&nbsp;</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 124px;">
+<img src="images/i001.jpg" width="124" height="150" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="smallgap">&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p class="center">NEW YORK AND LONDON</p>
+<p class="center">HARPER &amp; BROTHERS PUBLISHERS</p>
+<p class="center">1901</p>
+
+<hr class="large" />
+
+<p class="center">Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year one thousand<br />
+eight hundred and forty-nine, by</p>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Harper &amp; Brothers,</span></p>
+
+<p class="center">in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Southern District<br />
+of New York.</p>
+
+<p class="center">Copyright, 1876, by <span class="smcap">Jacob Abbott</span>.</p>
+
+<hr class="large" />
+<h2><a name="PREFACE" id="PREFACE"></a>PREFACE</h2>
+
+<p>The author of this series has made it his special object to confine
+himself very strictly, even in the most minute details which he
+records, to historic truth. The narratives are not tales founded upon
+history, but history itself, without any embellishment or any
+deviations from the strict truth, so far as it can now be discovered
+by an attentive examination of the annals written at the time when the
+events themselves occurred. In writing the narratives, the author has
+endeavored to avail himself of the best sources of information which
+this country affords; and though, of course, there must be in these
+volumes, as in all historical narratives, more or less of imperfection
+and error, there is no intentional embellishment. Nothing is stated,
+not even the most minute and apparently imaginary details, without
+what was deemed good historical authority. The readers, therefore, may
+rely upon the record as the truth, and nothing but the truth, so far
+as an honest purpose and a careful examination have been effectual in
+ascertaining it.</p>
+
+<hr class="large" />
+<h2><a name="CONTENTS" id="CONTENTS"></a>CONTENTS.</h2>
+
+<div class="centered">
+<table border="0" width="70%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="1" summary="CONTENTS">
+
+<tr>
+<td align="right">Chapter</td>
+<td align="left">&nbsp;</td>
+<td align="right">Page</td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="right">I.</td>
+<td align="left">THE FIRST PUNIC WAR</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#HANNIBAL">13</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="right">II.</td>
+<td align="left">HANNIBAL AT SAGUNTUM</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_II">33</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="right">III.</td>
+<td align="left">OPENING OF THE SECOND PUNIC WAR</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_III">52</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="right">IV.</td>
+<td align="left">THE PASSAGE OF THE RHONE</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_IV">69</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="right">V.</td>
+<td align="left">HANNIBAL CROSSES THE ALPS</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_V">90</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="right">VI.</td>
+<td align="left">HANNIBAL IN THE NORTH OF ITALY</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_VI">126</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="right">VII.</td>
+<td align="left">THE APENNINES</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_VII">144</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="right">VIII.</td>
+<td align="left">THE DICTATOR FABIUS</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_VIII">163</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="right">IX.</td>
+<td align="left">THE BATTLE OF CANN&AElig;</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_IX">185</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="right">X.</td>
+<td align="left">SCIPIO</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_X">205</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="right">XI.</td>
+<td align="left">HANNIBAL A FUGITIVE AND AN EXILE</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_XI">235</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="right">XII.</td>
+<td align="left">THE DESTRUCTION OF CARTHAGE</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_XII">262</a></td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+<hr class="large" />
+<h2><a name="ENGRAVINGS" id="ENGRAVINGS"></a>ENGRAVINGS.</h2>
+
+<div class="centered">
+<table border="0" width="70%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="1" summary="ENGRAVINGS">
+
+<tr>
+<td align="left">&nbsp;</td>
+<td align="right">PAGE</td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="left">MAP</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Frontispiece"><i>Frontispiece.</i></a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="left">THE BATTLE IN THE RIVER</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Page_42">42</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="left">THE ELEPHANTS CROSSING THE RHONE</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Page_87">87</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="left">HANNIBAL ON THE ALPS</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Page_111">111</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="left">CROSSING THE MARSHES</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Page_161">161</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="left">HASDRUBAL'S HEAD</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Page_227">227</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="left">THE BURNING OF THE CARTHAGINIAN FLEET</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Page_242">242</a></td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+<hr class="large" />
+<p><a name="Frontispiece" id="Frontispiece"></a></p><div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;">
+<img src="images/i009.jpg" class="jpg" width="600" height="433" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="HANNIBAL" id="HANNIBAL"></a>HANNIBAL.</h2>
+
+<h2><a name="Chapter_I" id="Chapter_I"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter I.</span></h2>
+
+<h2><span class="smcap">The First Punic War.</span></h2>
+
+<h3>B.C. 280-249</h3>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Hannibal.<br />Rome and Carthage.</div>
+
+<p class="n"><span style="float:left;font-size:50px;line-height:32px;padding-top:2px;padding-bottom:1px;">H</span><span style="margin-left:0%;">annibal</span> was a Carthaginian general. He acquired his great distinction
+as a warrior by his desperate contests with the Romans. Rome and
+Carthage grew up together on opposite sides of the Mediterranean Sea.
+For about a hundred years they waged against each other most dreadful
+wars. There were three of these wars. Rome was successful in the end,
+and Carthage was entirely destroyed.</p>
+
+<p>There was no real cause for any disagreement between these two
+nations. Their hostility to each other was mere rivalry and
+spontaneous hate. They spoke a different language; they had a
+different origin; and they lived on opposite sides of the same sea. So
+they hated and devoured each other.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Tyre.<br />Founding of Carthage.<br />Its commercial spirit.<br />Gold and silver mines.<br />New Carthage.</div>
+
+<p>Those who have read the history of Alexander the Great, in this
+series, will recollect the difficulty<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span> he experienced in besieging and
+subduing Tyre, a great maritime city, situated about two miles from
+the shore, on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. Carthage was
+originally founded by a colony from this city of Tyre, and it soon
+became a great commercial and maritime power like its mother. The
+Carthaginians built ships, and with them explored all parts of the
+Mediterranean Sea. They visited all the nations on these coasts,
+purchased the commodities they had to sell, carried them to other
+nations, and sold them at great advances. They soon began to grow rich
+and powerful. They hired soldiers to fight their battles, and began to
+take possession of the islands of the Mediterranean, and, in some
+instances, of points on the main land. For example, in Spain: some of
+their ships, going there, found that the natives had silver and gold,
+which they obtained from veins of ore near the surface of the ground.
+At first the Carthaginians obtained this gold and silver by selling
+the natives commodities of various kinds, which they had procured in
+other countries; paying, of course, to the producers only a very small
+price compared with what they required the Spaniards to pay them.
+Finally, they took possession of that part of Spain <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span>where the mines
+were situated, and worked the mines themselves. They dug deeper; they
+employed skillful engineers to make pumps to raise the water, which
+always accumulates in mines, and prevents their being worked to any
+great depth unless the miners have a considerable degree of scientific
+and mechanical skill. They founded a city here, which they called New
+Carthage&mdash;<i>Nova Carthago</i>. They fortified and garrisoned this city,
+and made it the center of their operations in Spain. This city is
+called Carthagena to this day.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Ships and army.<br />Numidia.<br />Balearic Isles.</div>
+
+<p>Thus the Carthaginians did every thing by power of money. They
+extended their operations in every direction, each new extension
+bringing in new treasures, and increasing their means of extending
+them more. They had, besides the merchant vessels which belonged to
+private individuals, great ships of war belonging to the state. These
+vessels were called galleys, and were rowed by oarsmen, tier above
+tier, there being sometimes four and five banks of oars. They had
+armies, too, drawn from different countries, in various troops,
+according as different nations excelled in the different modes of
+warfare. For instance, the Numidians, whose country extended in the
+neighborhood of Carthage<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span>, on the African coast, were famous for their
+horsemen. There were great plains in Numidia, and good grazing, and it
+was, consequently, one of those countries in which horses and horsemen
+naturally thrive. On the other hand, the natives of the Balearic
+Isles, now called Majorca, Minorca, and Ivica, were famous for their
+skill as slingers. So the Carthaginians, in making up their forces,
+would hire bodies of cavalry in Numidia, and of slingers in the
+Balearic Isles; and, for reasons analogous, they got excellent
+infantry in Spain.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The sling.</div>
+
+<p>The tendency of the various nations to adopt and cultivate different
+modes of warfare was far greater, in those ancient times, than now.
+The Balearic Isles, in fact, received their name from the Greek word
+<i>ballein</i>, which means to throw with a sling. The youth there were
+trained to perfection in the use of this weapon from a very early age.
+It is said that mothers used to practice the plan of putting the bread
+for their boys' breakfast on the branches of trees, high above their
+heads, and not allow them to have their food to eat until they could
+bring it down with a stone thrown from a sling.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The government of Carthage.<br />The aristocracy.</div>
+
+<p>Thus the Carthaginian power became greatly extended. The whole
+government, however, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span>was exercised by a small body of wealthy and
+aristocratic families at home. It was very much such a government as
+that of England is at the present day, only the aristocracy of England
+is based on ancient birth and landed property, whereas in Carthage it
+depended on commercial greatness, combined, it is true, with
+hereditary family distinction. The aristocracy of Carthage controlled
+and governed every thing. None but its own sons could ordinarily
+obtain office or power. The great mass of inhabitants were kept in a
+state of servitude and vassalage. This state of things operated then,
+as it does now in England, very unjustly and hardly for those who were
+thus debased; but the result was&mdash;and in this respect the analogy with
+England still holds good&mdash;that a very efficient and energetic
+government was created. The government of an oligarchy makes sometimes
+a very rich and powerful state, but a discontented and unhappy people.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Geographical relations of the Carthaginian empire.</div>
+
+<p>Let the reader now turn to the <a href="#Frontispiece">map</a> and find the place of Carthage upon
+it. Let him imagine a great and rich city there, with piers, and
+docks, and extensive warehouses for the commerce, and temples, and
+public edifices of splendid architecture, for the religious and civil
+service<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span> of the state, and elegant mansions and palaces for the
+wealthy aristocracy, and walls and towers for the defense of the
+whole. Let him then imagine a back country, extending for some hundred
+miles into the interior of Africa, fertile and highly cultivated,
+producing great stores of corn, and wine, and rich fruits of every
+description. Let him then look at the islands of Sicily, of Corsica,
+and Sardinia, and the Baleares, and conceive of them as rich and
+prosperous countries, and all under the Carthaginian rule. Look, also,
+at the coast of Spain; see, in imagination, the city of Carthagena,
+with its fortifications, and its army, and the gold and silver mines,
+with thousands and thousands of slaves toiling in them. Imagine fleets
+of ships going continually along the shores of the Mediterranean, from
+country to country, cruising back and forth to Tyre, to Cyprus, to
+Egypt, to Sicily, to Spain, carrying corn, and flax, and purple dyes,
+and spices, and perfumes, and precious stones, and ropes and sails for
+ships, and gold and silver, and then periodically returning to
+Carthage, to add the profits they had made to the vast treasures of
+wealth already accumulated there. Let the reader imagine all this with
+the <a href="#Frontispiece">map</a> before him, so as to have a distinct <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span>conception of the
+geographical relations of the localities, and he will have a pretty
+correct idea of the Carthaginian power at the time it commenced its
+dreadful conflicts with Rome.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Rome and the Romans.<br />Their character.</div>
+
+<p>Rome itself was very differently situated. Rome had been built by some
+wanderers from Troy, and it grew, for a long time, silently and
+slowly, by a sort of internal principle of life and energy. One region
+after another of the Italian peninsula was merged in the Roman state.
+They formed a population which was, in the main, stationary and
+agricultural. They tilled the fields; they hunted the wild beasts;
+they raised great flocks and herds. They seem to have been a race&mdash;a
+sort of variety of the human species&mdash;possessed of a very refined and
+superior organization, which, in its development, gave rise to a
+character of firmness, energy, and force, both of body and mind, which
+has justly excited the admiration of mankind. The Carthaginians had
+sagacity&mdash;the Romans called it cunning&mdash;and activity, enterprise and
+wealth. Their rivals, on the other hand, were characterized by genius,
+courage, and strength, giving rise to a certain calm and indomitable
+resolution and energy, which has since, in every age, been strongly
+associated, in the minds of men, with the very word Roman.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span></p><div class="sidenote">Progress of Carthage and Rome.</div>
+
+<p>The progress of nations was much more slow in ancient days than now,
+and these two rival empires continued their gradual growth and
+extension, each on its own side of the great sea which divided them,
+for <i>five hundred years</i>, before they came into collision. At last,
+however, the collision came. It originated in the following way:</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Origin of the first Punic war.</div>
+
+<p>By looking at the <a href="#Frontispiece">map</a>, the reader will see that the island of Sicily
+is separated from the main land by a narrow strait called the Strait
+of Messina. This strait derives its name from the town of Messina,
+which is situated upon it, on the Sicilian side. Opposite Messina, on
+the Italian side, there was a town named Rhegium. Now it happened that
+both these towns had been taken possession of by lawless bodies of
+soldiery. The Romans came and delivered Rhegium, and punished the
+soldiers who had seized it very severely. The Sicilian authorities
+advanced to the deliverance of Messina. The troops there, finding
+themselves thus threatened, sent to the Romans to say that if they,
+the Romans, would come and protect them, they would deliver Messina
+into their hands.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Rhegium and Messina.<br />A perplexing question.</div>
+
+<p>The question, what answer to give to this application, was brought
+before the Roman senate,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span> and caused them great perplexity. It seemed
+very inconsistent to take sides with the rebels of Messina, when they
+had punished so severely those of Rhegium. Still the Romans had been,
+for a long time, becoming very jealous of the growth and extension of
+the Carthaginian power. Here was an opportunity of meeting and
+resisting it. The Sicilian authorities were about calling for direct
+aid from Carthage to recover the city, and the affair would probably
+result in establishing a large body of Carthaginian troops within
+sight of the Italian shore, and at a point where it would be easy for
+them to make hostile incursions into the Roman territories. In a word,
+it was a case of what is called political necessity; that is to say, a
+case in which the <i>interests</i> of one of the parties in a contest were
+so strong that all considerations of justice, consistency, and honor
+are to be sacrificed to the promotion of them. Instances of this kind
+of political necessity occur very frequently in the management of
+public affairs in all ages of the world.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The Romans determine to build a fleet.</div>
+
+<p>The contest for Messina was, after all, however, considered by the
+Romans merely as a pretext, or rather as an occasion, for commencing
+the struggle which they had long been desirous <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span>of entering upon. They
+evinced their characteristic energy and greatness in the plan which
+they adopted at the outset. They knew very well that the power of
+Carthage rested mainly on her command of the seas, and that they could
+not hope successfully to cope with her till they could meet and
+conquer her on her own element. In the mean time, however, they had
+not a single ship and not a single sailor, while the Mediterranean was
+covered with Carthaginian ships and seamen. Not at all daunted by this
+prodigious inequality, the Romans resolved to begin at once the work
+of creating for themselves a naval power.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Preparations.</div>
+
+<p>The preparations consumed some time; for the Romans had not only to
+build the ships, they had first to learn how to build them. They took
+their first lesson from a Carthaginian galley which was cast away in a
+storm upon the coast of Italy. They seized this galley, collected
+their carpenters to examine it, and set woodmen at work to fell trees
+and collect materials for imitating it. The carpenters studied their
+model very carefully, measured the dimensions of every part, and
+observed the manner in which the various parts were connected and
+secured together. The heavy shocks which vessels are <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span>exposed to from
+the waves makes it necessary to secure great strength in the
+construction of them; and, though the ships of the ancients were very
+small and imperfect compared with the men-of-war of the present day,
+still it is surprising that the Romans could succeed at all in such a
+sudden and hasty attempt at building them.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Training the oarsmen.<br />The Roman fleet puts to sea.</div>
+
+<p>They did, however, succeed. While the ships were building, officers
+appointed for the purpose were training men, on shore, to the art of
+rowing them. Benches, like the seats which the oarsman would occupy in
+the ships, were arranged on the ground, and the intended seamen were
+drilled every day in the movements and action of rowers. The result
+was, that in a few months after the building of the ships was
+commenced, the Romans had a fleet of one hundred galleys of five banks
+of oars ready. They remained in harbor with them for some time, to
+give the oarsmen the opportunity to see whether they could row on the
+water as well as on the land, and then boldly put to sea to meet the
+Carthaginians.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Grappling irons.<br />Courage and resolution of the Romans.</div>
+
+<p>There was one part of the arrangements made by the Romans in preparing
+their fleets which was strikingly characteristic of the determined
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span>resolution which marked all their conduct. They constructed machines
+containing grappling irons, which they mounted on the prows of their
+vessels. These engines were so contrived, that the moment one of the
+ships containing them should encounter a vessel of the enemy, the
+grappling irons would fall upon the deck of the latter, and hold the
+two firmly together, so as to prevent the possibility of either
+escaping from the other. The idea that they themselves should have any
+wish to withdraw from the encounter seemed entirely out of the
+question. Their only fear was that the Carthaginian seamen would
+employ their superior skill and experience in naval maneuvers in
+making their escape. Mankind have always regarded the action of the
+Romans, in this case, as one of the most striking examples of military
+courage and resolution which the history of war has ever recorded. An
+army of landsmen come down to the sea-shore, and, without scarcely
+having ever seen a ship, undertake to build a fleet, and go out to
+attack a power whose navies covered the sea, and made her the sole and
+acknowledged mistress of it. They seize a wrecked galley of their
+enemies for their model; they build a hundred vessels like it; they
+practice<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span> maneuvers for a short time in port; and then go forth to
+meet the fleets of their powerful enemy, with grappling machines to
+hold them, fearing nothing but the possibility of their escape.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Success of the Romans.<br />The rostral column.</div>
+
+<p>The result was as might have been expected. The Romans captured, sunk,
+destroyed, or dispersed the Carthaginian fleet which was brought to
+oppose them. They took the prows of the ships which they captured and
+conveyed them to Rome, and built what is called a <i>rostral pillar</i> of
+them. A rostral pillar is a column ornamented with such beaks or
+prows, which were, in the Roman language, called <i>rostra</i>. This column
+was nearly destroyed by lightning about fifty years afterward, but it
+was repaired and rebuilt again, and it stood then for many centuries,
+a very striking and appropriate monument of this extraordinary naval
+victory. The Roman commander in this case was the consul Duilius. The
+rostral column was erected in honor of him. In digging among the ruins
+of Rome, there was found what was supposed to be the remains of this
+column, about three hundred years ago.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Government of Rome.</div>
+
+<p>The Romans now prepared to carry the war into Africa itself. Of course
+it was easy, after <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span>their victory over the Carthaginian fleet, to
+transport troops across the sea to the Carthaginian shore. The Roman
+commonwealth was governed at this time by a senate, who made the laws,
+and by two supreme executive officers, called consuls. They thought it
+was safer to have two chief magistrates than one, as each of the two
+would naturally be a check upon the other. The result was, however,
+that mutual jealousy involved them often in disputes and quarrels. It
+is thought better, in modern times, to have but one chief magistrate
+in the state, and to provide other modes to put a check upon any
+disposition he might evince to abuse his powers.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The consuls.</div>
+
+<p>The Roman consuls, in time of war, took command of the armies. The
+name of the consul upon whom it devolved to carry on the war with the
+Carthaginians, after this first great victory, was Regulus, and his
+name has been celebrated in every age, on account of his extraordinary
+adventures in this campaign, and his untimely fate. How far the story
+is strictly true it is now impossible to ascertain, but the following
+is the story, as the Roman historians relate it:</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Story of Regulus.<br />He is made consul.</div>
+
+<p>At the time when Regulus was elected consul he was a plain man, living
+simply on his farm, maintaining himself by his own industry, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span>and
+evincing no ambition or pride. His fellow citizens, however, observed
+those qualities of mind in him which they were accustomed to admire,
+and made him consul. He left the city and took command of the army. He
+enlarged the fleet to more than three hundred vessels. He put one
+hundred and forty thousand men on board, and sailed for Africa. One or
+two years had been spent in making these preparations, which time the
+Carthaginians had improved in building new ships; so that, when the
+Romans set sail, and were moving along the coast of Sicily, they soon
+came in sight of a larger Carthaginian fleet assembled to oppose them.
+Regulus advanced to the contest. The Carthaginian fleet was beaten as
+before. The ships which were not captured or destroyed made their
+escape in all directions, and Regulus went on, without further
+opposition, and landed his forces on the Carthaginian shore. He
+encamped as soon as he landed, and sent back word to the Roman senate
+asking what was next to be done.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Regulus marches against Carthage.</div>
+
+<p>The senate, considering that the great difficulty and danger, viz.,
+that of repulsing the Carthaginian fleet, was now past, ordered
+Regulus to send home nearly all the ships and a very large part of the
+army, and with the rest <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span>to commence his march toward Carthage.
+Regulus obeyed: he sent home the troops which had been ordered home,
+and with the rest began to advance upon the city.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">His difficulties.</div>
+
+<p>Just at this time, however, news came out to him that the farmer who
+had had the care of his land at home had died, and that his little
+farm, on which rested his sole reliance for the support of his family,
+was going to ruin. Regulus accordingly sent to the senate, asking them
+to place some one else in command of the army, and to allow him to
+resign his office, that he might go home and take care of his wife and
+children. The senate sent back orders that he should go on with his
+campaign, and promised to provide support for his family, and to see
+that some one was appointed to take care of his land. This story is
+thought to illustrate the extreme simplicity and plainness of all the
+habits of life among the Romans in those days. It certainly does so,
+if it is true. It is, however, very extraordinary, that a man who was
+intrusted by such a commonwealth, with the command of a fleet of a
+hundred and thirty vessels, and an army of a hundred and forty
+thousand men, should have a family at home dependent for subsistence
+on the hired cultivation of seven acres of land. Still, such is the
+story.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span></p>
+<div class="sidenote">Successes of Regulus.<br />Arrival of Greeks.<br />The Romans put to flight.</div>
+
+<p>Regulus advanced toward Carthage, conquering as he came. The
+Carthaginians were beaten in one field after another, and were
+reduced, in fact, to the last extremity, when an occurrence took place
+which turned the scale. This occurrence was the arrival of a large
+body of troops from Greece, with a Grecian general at their head.
+These were troops which the Carthaginians had hired to fight for them,
+as was the case with the rest of their army. But these were <i>Greeks</i>,
+and the Greeks were of the same race, and possessed the same
+qualities, as the Romans. The newly-arrived Grecian general evinced at
+once such military superiority, that the Carthaginians gave him the
+supreme command. He marshaled the army, accordingly, for battle. He
+had a hundred elephants in the van. They were trained to rush forward
+and trample down the enemy. He had the Greek phalanx in the center,
+which was a close, compact body of many thousand troops, bristling
+with long, iron-pointed spears, with which the men pressed forward,
+bearing every thing before them. Regulus was, in a word, ready to meet
+Carthaginians, but he was not prepared to encounter Greeks. His army
+was put to flight, and he was taken prisoner. Nothing could exceed
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span>the excitement and exultation in the city when they saw Regulus and
+five hundred other Roman soldiers, brought captive in. A few days
+before, they had been in consternation at the imminent danger of his
+coming in as a ruthless and vindictive conqueror.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Regulus a prisoner.</div>
+
+<p>The Roman senate were not discouraged by this disaster. They fitted
+out new armies, and the war went on, Regulus being kept all the time
+at Carthage as a close prisoner. At last the Carthaginians authorized
+him to go to Rome as a sort of commissioner, to propose to the Romans
+to exchange prisoners and to make peace. They exacted from him a
+solemn promise that if he was unsuccessful he would return. The Romans
+had taken many of the Carthaginians prisoners in their naval combats,
+and held them captive at Rome. It is customary, in such cases, for the
+belligerent nations to make an exchange, and restore the captives on
+both sides to their friends and home. It was such an exchange of
+prisoners as this which Regulus was to propose.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Regulus before the Roman senate.</div>
+
+<p>When Regulus reached Rome he refused to enter the city, but he
+appeared before the senate without the walls, in a very humble garb
+and with the most subdued and unassuming demeanor.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span> He was no longer,
+he said, a Roman officer, or even citizen, but a Carthaginian
+prisoner, and he disavowed all right to direct, or even to counsel,
+the Roman authorities in respect to the proper course to be pursued.
+His opinion was, however, he said, that the Romans ought not to make
+peace or to exchange prisoners. He himself and the other Roman
+prisoners were old and infirm, and not worth the exchange; and,
+moreover, they had no claim whatever on their country, as they could
+only have been made prisoners in consequence of want of courage or
+patriotism to die in their country's cause. He said that the
+Carthaginians were tired of the war, and that their resources were
+exhausted, and that the Romans ought to press forward in it with
+renewed vigor, and leave himself and the other prisoners to their
+fate.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Result of his mission.<br />Death of Regulus.</div>
+
+<p>The senate came very slowly and reluctantly to the conclusion to
+follow this advice. They, however, all earnestly joined in attempting
+to persuade Regulus that he was under no obligation to return to
+Carthage. His promise, they said, was extorted by the circumstances of
+the case, and was not binding. Regulus, however, insisted on keeping
+his faith with his enemies. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span>He sternly refused to see his family,
+and, bidding the senate farewell, he returned to Carthage. The
+Carthaginians, exasperated at his having himself interposed to prevent
+the success of his mission, tortured him for some time in the most
+cruel manner, and finally put him to death. One would think that he
+ought to have counseled peace and an exchange of prisoners, and he
+ought not to have refused to see his unhappy wife and children; but it
+was certainly very noble in him to refuse to break his word.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Conclusion of the war.</div>
+
+<p>The war continued for some time after this, until, at length, both
+nations became weary of the contest, and peace was made. The following
+is the treaty which was signed. It shows that the advantage, on the
+whole, in this first Punic war, was on the part of the Romans:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>"There shall be peace between Rome and Carthage. The
+Carthaginians shall evacuate all Sicily. They shall not make
+war upon any allies of the Romans. They shall restore to the
+Romans, without ransom, all the prisoners which they have
+taken from them, and pay them within ten years three
+thousand two hundred talents of silver."</p></div>
+
+<p>The war had continued twenty-four years.</p>
+
+<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="Chapter_II" id="Chapter_II"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter II.</span></h2>
+
+<h2><span class="smcap">Hannibal at Saguntum.</span></h2>
+
+<h3>B.C. 234-218</h3>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Parentage of Hannibal.</div>
+
+<p class="n"><span style="float:left;font-size:50px;line-height:32px;padding-top:2px;padding-bottom:1px;">T</span><span style="margin-left:0%;">he</span> name of Hannibal's father was Hamilcar. He was one of the leading
+Carthaginian generals. He occupied a very prominent position, both on
+account of his rank, and wealth, and high family connections at
+Carthage, and also on account of the great military energy which he
+displayed in the command of the armies abroad. He carried on the wars
+which the Carthaginians waged in Africa and in Spain after the
+conclusion of the war with the Romans, and he longed to commence
+hostilities with the Romans again.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Character of Hamilcar.<br />Religious ceremonies.</div>
+
+<p>At one time, when Hannibal was about nine years of age, Hamilcar was
+preparing to set off on an expedition into Spain, and, as was usual in
+those days, he was celebrating the occasion with games, and
+spectacles, and various religious ceremonies. It has been the custom
+in all ages of the world, when nations go to war with each other, for
+each side to take measures for propitiating the favor of Heaven.
+Christian nations at the present day do it by prayers offered in <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span>each
+country for the success of their own arms. Heathen nations do it by
+sacrifices, libations, and offerings. Hamilcar had made arrangements
+for such sacrifices, and the priests were offering them in the
+presence of the whole assembled army.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Hannibal's famous oath of enmity to Rome.</div>
+
+<p>Young Hannibal, then about nine years of age, was present. He was a
+boy of great spirit and energy, and he entered with much enthusiasm
+into the scene. He wanted to go to Spain himself with the army, and he
+came to his father and began to urge his request. His father could not
+consent to this. He was too young to endure the privations and
+fatigues of such an enterprise. However, his father brought him to one
+of the altars, in the presence of the other officers of the army, and
+made him lay his hand upon the consecrated victim, and swear that, as
+soon as he was old enough, and had it in his power, he would make war
+upon the Romans. This was done, no doubt, in part to amuse young
+Hannibal's mind, and to relieve his disappointment in not being able
+to go to war at that time, by promising him a great and mighty enemy
+to fight at some future day. Hannibal remembered it, and longed for
+the time to come when he could go to war against the <i>Romans</i>.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span></p><div class="sidenote">Hamilcar in Spain.</div>
+
+<p>Hamilcar bade his son farewell and embarked for Spain. He was at
+liberty to extend his conquests there in all directions west of the
+River Iberus, a river which the reader will find upon the <a href="#Frontispiece">map</a>, flowing
+southeast into the Mediterranean Sea. Its name, Iberus, has been
+gradually changed, in modern times, to Ebro. By the treaty with the
+Romans the Carthaginians were not to cross the Iberus. They were also
+bound by the treaty not to molest the people of Saguntum, a city lying
+between the Iberus and the Carthaginian dominions. Saguntum was in
+alliance with the Romans and under their protection.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Hasdrubal.<br />Death of Hamilcar.<br />Hannibal sent for to Spain.</div>
+
+<p>Hamilcar was, however, very restless and uneasy at being obliged thus
+to refrain from hostilities with the Roman power. He began,
+immediately after his arrival in Spain, to form plans for renewing the
+war. He had under him, as his principal lieutenant, a young man who
+had married his daughter. His name was Hasdrubal. With Hasdrubal's
+aid, he went on extending his conquests in Spain, and strengthening
+his position there, and gradually maturing his plans for renewing war
+with the Romans, when at length he died. Hasdrubal succeeded him.
+Hannibal was now, probably, about <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span>twenty-one or two years old, and
+still in Carthage. Hasdrubal sent to the Carthaginian government a
+request that Hannibal might receive an appointment in the army, and be
+sent out to join him in Spain.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Opposition of Hanno.</div>
+
+<p>On the subject of complying with this request there was a great debate
+in the Carthaginian senate. In all cases where questions of government
+are controlled by <i>votes</i>, it has been found, in every age, that
+<i>parties</i> will always be formed, of which the two most prominent will
+usually be nearly balanced one against the other. Thus, at this time,
+though the Hamilcar family were in power, there was a very strong
+party in Carthage in opposition to them. The leader of this party in
+the senate, whose name was Hanno, made a very earnest speech against
+sending Hannibal. He was too young, he said, to be of any service. He
+would only learn the vices and follies of the camp, and thus become
+corrupted and ruined. "Besides," said Hanno, "at this rate, the
+command of our armies in Spain is getting to be a sort of hereditary
+right. Hamilcar was not a king, that his authority should thus descend
+first to his son-in-law and then to his son; for this plan of making
+Hannibal," he said, "while yet scarcely arrived at <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span>manhood, a high
+officer in the army, is only a stepping-stone to the putting of the
+forces wholly under his orders, whenever, for any reason, Hasdrubal
+shall cease to command them."</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Hannibal sets out for Spain.</div>
+
+<p>The Roman historian, through whose narrative we get our only account
+of this debate, says that, though these were good reasons, yet
+strength prevailed, as usual, over wisdom, in the decision of the
+question. They voted to send Hannibal, and he set out to cross the sea
+to Spain with a heart full of enthusiasm and joy.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Favorable impression on the army.<br />Character of Hannibal.</div>
+
+<p>A great deal of curiosity and interest was felt throughout the army to
+see him on his arrival. The soldiers had been devotedly attached to
+his father, and they were all ready to transfer this attachment at
+once to the son, if he should prove worthy of it. It was very evident,
+soon after he reached the camp, that he was going to prove himself
+thus worthy. He entered at once into the duties of his position with a
+degree of energy, patience, and self-denial which attracted universal
+attention, and made him a universal favorite. He dressed plainly; he
+assumed no airs; he sought for no pleasures or indulgences, nor
+demanded any exemption from the dangers and privations which the
+common soldiers had to endure. He ate plain food, and slept, often <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span>in
+his military cloak, on the ground, in the midst of the soldiers on
+guard; and in battle he was always foremost to press forward into the
+contest, and the last to leave the ground when the time came for
+repose. The Romans say that, in addition to these qualities, he was
+inhuman and merciless when in open warfare with his foes, and cunning
+and treacherous in every other mode of dealing with them. It is very
+probable that he was so. Such traits of character were considered by
+soldiers in those days, as they are now, virtues in themselves, though
+vices in their enemies.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">He is elevated to the supreme command.</div>
+
+<p>However this may be, Hannibal became a great and universal favorite in
+the army. He went on for several years increasing his military
+knowledge, and widening and extending his influence, when at length,
+one day, Hasdrubal was suddenly killed by a ferocious native of the
+country whom he had by some means offended. As soon as the first shock
+of this occurrence was over, the leaders of the army went in pursuit
+of Hannibal, whom they brought in triumph to the tent of Hasdrubal,
+and instated him at once in the supreme command, with one consent and
+in the midst of universal acclamations. As soon as news of this event
+reached <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span>Carthage, the government there confirmed the act of the army,
+and Hannibal thus found himself suddenly but securely invested with a
+very high military command.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The River Iberus.</div>
+
+<p>His eager and restless desire to try his strength with the Romans
+received a new impulse by his finding that the power was now in his
+hands. Still the two countries were at peace. They were bound by
+solemn treaties to continue so. The River Iberus was the boundary
+which separated the dominions of the two nations from each other in
+Spain, the territory east of that boundary being under the Roman
+power, and that on the west under that of the Carthaginians; except
+that Saguntum, which was on the western side, was an ally of the
+Romans, and the Carthaginians were bound by the treaty to leave it
+independent and free.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Hannibal seeks a war with the Romans.</div>
+
+<p>Hannibal could not, therefore, cross the Iberus or attack Saguntum
+without an open infraction of the treaty. He, however, immediately
+began to move toward Saguntum and to attack the nations in the
+immediate vicinity of it. If he wished to get into a war with the
+Romans, this was the proper way to promote it; for, by advancing thus
+into the immediate vicinity of the capital of their allies, there was
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span>great probability that disputes would arise which would sooner or
+later end in war.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 41-2]</a></span></p>
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;">
+<img src="images/i040.jpg" class="ispace" width="500" height="292" alt="The Battle in the River." title="" />
+<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">The Battle in the River.</span></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="sidenote2">Stratagem of Hannibal.<br />Fording the river.<br />Great battle in the River Tagus.<br />Victory of Hannibal.</div>
+
+<p>The Romans say that Hannibal was cunning and treacherous, and he
+certainly did display, on some occasions, a great degree of adroitness
+in his stratagems. In one instance in these preliminary wars he gained
+a victory over an immensely superior force in a very remarkable
+manner. He was returning from an inroad upon some of the northern
+provinces, laden and encumbered with spoil, when he learned that an
+immense army, consisting, it was said, of a hundred thousand men, were
+coming down upon his rear. There was a river at a short distance
+before him. Hannibal pressed on and crossed the river by a ford, the
+water being, perhaps, about three feet deep. He secreted a large body
+of cavalry near the bank of the stream, and pushed on with the main
+body of the army to some little distance from the river, so as to
+produce the impression upon his pursuers that he was pressing forward
+to make his escape. The enemy, thinking that they had no time to lose, poured down in
+great numbers into the stream from various points along the banks;
+and, as soon as they had reached the middle of the current, and were
+wading laboriously, half<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span> submerged, with their weapons held above their heads, so as to present
+as little resistance as possible to the water, the horsemen of
+Hannibal rushed in to meet and attack them. The horsemen had, of
+course, greatly the advantage; for, though their horses were in the
+water, they were themselves raised above it, and their limbs were
+free, while their enemies were half submerged, and, being encumbered
+by their arms and by one another, were nearly helpless. They were
+immediately thrown into complete confusion, and were overwhelmed and
+carried down by the current in great numbers. Some of them succeeded
+in landing below, on Hannibal's side; but, in the mean time, the main
+body of his army had returned, and was ready to receive them, and they
+were trampled under foot by the elephants, which it was the custom to
+employ, in those days, as a military force. As soon as the river was
+cleared, Hannibal marched his own army across it, and attacked what
+remained of the enemy on their own side. He gained a complete victory,
+which was so great and decisive that he secured by it possession of
+the whole country west of the Iberus, except Saguntum, and Saguntum
+itself began to be seriously alarmed.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span></p><div class="sidenote">Saguntum.</div>
+
+<p>The Saguntines sent embassadors to Rome to ask the Romans to interpose
+and protect them from the dangers which threatened them. These
+embassadors made diligent efforts to reach Rome as soon as possible,
+but they were too late. On some pretext or other, Hannibal contrived
+to raise a dispute between the city and one of the neighboring tribes,
+and then, taking sides with the tribe, he advanced to attack the city.
+The Saguntines prepared for their defense, hoping soon to receive
+succors from Rome. They strengthened and fortified their walls, while
+Hannibal began to move forward great military engines for battering
+them down.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Hannibal attacks it.</div>
+
+<p>Hannibal knew very well that by his hostilities against this city he
+was commencing a contest with Rome itself, as Rome must necessarily
+take part with her ally. In fact, there is no doubt that his design
+was to bring on a general war between the two great nations. He began
+with Saguntum for two reasons: first, it would not be safe for him to
+cross the Iberus, and advance into the Roman territory, leaving so
+wealthy and powerful a city in his rear; and then, in the second
+place, it was easier for him to find pretexts for getting indirectly
+into a quarrel with Saguntum, and throwing the odium<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span> of a declaration
+of war on Rome, than to persuade the Carthaginian state to renounce
+the peace and themselves commence hostilities. There was, as has been
+already stated, a very strong party at Carthage opposed to Hannibal,
+who would, of course, resist any measures tending to a war with Rome,
+for they would consider such a war as opening a vast field for
+gratifying Hannibal's ambition. The only way, therefore, was to
+provoke a war by aggressions on the Roman allies, to be justified by
+the best pretexts he could find.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Progress of the siege.<br />Hannibal wounded.<br />Hannibal recovers.</div>
+
+<p>Saguntum was a very wealthy and powerful city. It was situated about a
+mile from the sea. The attack upon the place, and the defense of it by
+the inhabitants, went on for some time with great vigor. In these
+operations, Hannibal exposed himself to great danger. He approached,
+at one time, so near the wall, in superintending the arrangements of
+his soldiers and the planting of his engines, that a heavy javelin,
+thrown from the parapet, struck him on the thigh. It pierced the
+flesh, and inflicted so severe a wound that he fell immediately, and
+was borne away by the soldiers. It was several days before he was free
+from the danger incurred by the loss of blood and the fever which
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span>follows such a wound. During all this time his army were in a great
+state of excitement and anxiety, and suspended their active
+operations. As soon, however, as Hannibal was found to be decidedly
+convalescent, they resumed them again, and urged them onward with
+greater energy than before.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The falarica.</div>
+
+<p>The weapons of warfare in those ancient days were entirely different
+from those which are now employed, and there was one, described by an
+ancient historian as used by the Saguntines at this siege, which might
+almost come under the modern denomination of fire-arms. It was called
+the <i>falarica</i>. It was a sort of javelin, consisting of a shaft of
+wood, with a long point of iron. This point was said to be three feet
+long. This javelin was to be thrown at the enemy either from the hand
+of the soldier or by an engine. The leading peculiarity of it was,
+however, that, near to the pointed end, there were wound around the
+wooden shaft long bands of <i>tow</i>, which were saturated with pitch and
+other combustibles, and this inflammable band was set on fire just
+before the javelin was thrown. As the missile flew on its way, the
+wind fanned the flames, and made them burn so fiercely, that when the
+javelin struck the shield of the soldier <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span>opposing it, it could not be
+pulled out, and the shield itself had to be thrown down and abandoned.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Arrival of the Roman embassadors.</div>
+
+<p>While the inhabitants of Saguntum were vainly endeavoring to defend
+themselves against their terrible enemy by these and similar means,
+their embassadors, not knowing that the city had been attacked, had
+reached Rome, and had laid before the Roman senate their fears that
+the city would be attacked, unless they adopted vigorous and immediate
+measures to prevent it. The Romans resolved to send embassadors to
+Hannibal to demand of him what his intentions were, and to warn him
+against any acts of hostility against Saguntum. When these Roman
+embassadors arrived on the coast, near to Saguntum, they found that
+hostilities had commenced, and that the city was hotly besieged. They
+were at a loss to know what to do.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Hannibal's policy.</div>
+
+<p>It is better for a rebel not to hear an order which he is determined
+beforehand not to obey. Hannibal, with an adroitness which the
+Carthaginians called sagacity, and the Romans treachery and cunning,
+determined not to see these messengers. He sent word to them, at the
+shore, that they must not attempt to come to his camp, for the country
+was in such a disturbed condition <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span>that it would not be safe for them
+to land; and besides, he could not receive or attend to them, for he
+was too much pressed with the urgency of his military works to have
+any time to spare for debates and negotiations.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Hannibal sends embassadors to Carthage.</div>
+
+<p>Hannibal knew that the embassadors, being thus repulsed, and having
+found, too, that the war had broken out, and that Saguntum was
+actually beset and besieged by Hannibal's armies, would proceed
+immediately to Carthage to demand satisfaction there. He knew, also,
+that Hanno and his party would very probably espouse the cause of the
+Romans, and endeavor to arrest his designs. He accordingly sent his
+own embassadors to Carthage, to exert an influence in his favor in the
+Carthaginian senate, and endeavor to urge them to reject the claims of
+the Romans, and allow the war between Rome and Carthage to break out
+again.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The Roman embassadors.</div>
+
+<p>The Roman embassadors appeared at Carthage, and were admitted to an
+audience before the senate. They stated their case, representing that
+Hannibal had made war upon Saguntum in violation of the treaty, and
+had refused even to receive the communication which had been sent him
+by the Roman senate through them. They demanded that the Carthaginian
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span>government should disavow his acts, and deliver him up to them, in
+order that he might receive the punishment which his violation of the
+treaty, and his aggressions upon an ally of the Romans, so justly
+deserved.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Parties in the Carthaginian senate.<br />Speech of Hanno.<br />Hanno proposes to give up Hannibal.</div>
+
+<p>The party of Hannibal in the Carthaginian senate were, of course,
+earnest to have these proposals rejected with scorn. The other side,
+with Hanno at their head, maintained that they were reasonable
+demands. Hanno, in a very energetic and powerful speech, told the
+senate that he had warned them not to send Hannibal into Spain. He had
+foreseen that such a hot and turbulent spirit as his would involve
+them in inextricable difficulties with the Roman power. Hannibal had,
+he said, plainly violated the treaty. He had invested and besieged
+Saguntum, which they were solemnly bound not to molest, and they had
+nothing to expect in return but that the Roman legions would soon be
+investing and besieging their own city. In the mean time, the Romans,
+he added, had been moderate and forbearing. They had brought nothing
+to the charge of the Carthaginians. They accused nobody but Hannibal,
+who, thus far, alone was guilty. The Carthaginians, by disavowing his
+acts, could save themselves from the responsibility<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span> of them. He
+urged, therefore, that an embassage of apology should be sent to Rome,
+that Hannibal should be deposed and delivered up to the Romans, and
+that ample restitution should be made to the Saguntines for the
+injuries they had received.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Defense of Hannibal's friends.</div>
+
+<p>On the other hand, the friends of Hannibal urged in the Carthaginian
+senate their defense of the general. They reviewed the history of the
+transactions in which the war had originated, and showed, or attempted
+to show, that the Saguntines themselves commenced hostilities, and
+that consequently they, and not Hannibal, were responsible for all
+that followed; that, under those circumstances, the Romans ought not
+to take their part, and if they did so, it proved that they preferred
+the friendship of Saguntum to that of Carthage; and that it would be
+cowardly and dishonorable in the extreme for them to deliver the
+general whom they had placed in power, and who had shown himself so
+worthy of their choice by his courage and energy, into the hands of
+their ancient and implacable foes.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Hannibal triumphant.<br />Saguntum falls.</div>
+
+<p>Thus Hannibal was waging at the same time two wars, one in the
+Carthaginian senate, where the weapons were arguments and eloquence,
+and the other under the walls of Saguntum, which <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span>was fought with
+battering rains and fiery javelins. He conquered in both. The senate
+decided to send the Roman embassadors home without acceding to their
+demands, and the walls of Saguntum were battered down by Hannibal's
+engines. The inhabitants refused all terms of compromise, and resisted
+to the last, so that, when the victorious soldiery broke over the
+prostrate walls, and poured into the city, it was given up to them to
+plunder, and they killed and destroyed all that came in their way. The
+disappointed embassadors returned to Rome with the news that Saguntum
+had been taken and destroyed by Hannibal, and that the Carthaginians,
+far from offering any satisfaction for the wrong, assumed the
+responsibility of it themselves, and were preparing for war.</p>
+
+<p>Thus Hannibal accomplished his purpose of opening the way for waging
+war against the Roman power. He prepared to enter into the contest
+with the utmost energy and zeal. The conflict that ensued lasted
+seventeen years, and is known in history as the second Punic war. It
+was one of the most dreadful struggles between rival and hostile
+nations which the gloomy history of mankind exhibits to view. The
+events that occurred will be described in the subsequent chapters.</p>
+
+<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="Chapter_III" id="Chapter_III"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter III.</span></h2>
+
+<h2><span class="smcap">Opening of the Second Punic War.</span></h2>
+
+<h3>B.C. 217</h3>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Fall of Hanno's party.</div>
+
+<p class="n"><span style="float:left;font-size:50px;line-height:32px;padding-top:2px;padding-bottom:1px;">W</span><span style="margin-left:0%;">hen</span> the tide once turns in any nation in favor of war, it generally
+rushes on with great impetuosity and force, and bears all before it.
+It was so in Carthage in this instance. The party of Hanno were thrown
+entirely into the minority and silenced, and the friends and partisans
+of Hannibal carried not only the government, but the whole community
+with them, and every body was eager for war. This was owing, in part,
+to the natural contagiousness of the martial spirit, which, when felt
+by one, catches easily, by sympathy, in the heart of another. It is a
+fire which, when once it begins to burn, spreads in every direction,
+and consumes all that comes in its way.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Power of Hannibal.<br />Desperate valor of the Saguntines.</div>
+
+<p>Besides, when Hannibal gained possession of Saguntum, he found immense
+treasures there, which he employed, not to increase his own private
+fortune, but to strengthen and confirm his civil and military power.
+The Saguntines did every thing they could to prevent these <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span>treasures
+from falling into his hands. They fought desperately to the last,
+refused all terms of surrender, and they became so insanely desperate
+in the end, that, according to the narrative of Livy, when they found
+that the walls and towers of the city were falling in, and that all
+hope of further defense was gone, they built an enormous fire in the
+public streets, and heaped upon it all the treasures which they had
+time to collect that fire could destroy, and then that many of the
+principal inhabitants leaped into the flames themselves, in order that
+their hated conquerors might lose their prisoners as well as their
+spoils.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Hannibal's disposition of the spoils.<br />Hannibal chosen one of the suffetes.</div>
+
+<p>Notwithstanding this, however, Hannibal obtained a vast amount of gold
+and silver, both in the form of money and of plate, and also much
+valuable merchandise, which the Saguntine merchants had accumulated in
+their palaces and warehouses. He used all this property to strengthen
+his own political and military position. He paid his soldiers all the
+arrears due to them in full. He divided among them a large additional
+amount as their share of the spoil. He sent rich trophies home to
+Carthage, and presents, consisting of sums of money, and jewelry, and
+gems, to his friends there, and to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span>those whom he wished to make his
+friends. The result of this munificence, and of the renown which his
+victories in Spain had procured for him, was to raise him to the
+highest pinnacle of influence and honor. The Carthaginians chose him
+one of the <i>suffetes</i>.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Nature of the office.</div>
+
+<p>The suffetes were the supreme executive officers of the Carthaginian
+commonwealth. The government was, as has been remarked before, a sort
+of aristocratic republic, and republics are always very cautious about
+intrusting power, even executive power, to any one man. As Rome had
+<i>two</i> consuls, reigning jointly, and France, after her first
+revolution, a Directory of <i>five</i>, so the Carthaginians chose annually
+two <i>suffetes</i>, as they were called at Carthage, though the Roman
+writers call them indiscriminately suffetes, consuls, and kings.
+Hannibal was now advanced to this dignity; so that, in conjunction
+with his colleague, he held the supreme civil authority at Carthage,
+besides being invested with the command of the vast and victorious
+army in Spain.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Great excitement at Rome.<br />Fearful anticipations.</div>
+
+<p>When news of these events&mdash;the siege and destruction of Saguntum, the
+rejection of the demands of the Roman embassadors, and the vigorous
+preparations making by the Carthaginians<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span> for war&mdash;reached Rome, the
+whole city was thrown into consternation. The senate and the people
+held tumultuous and disorderly assemblies, in which the events which
+had occurred, and the course of proceeding which it was incumbent on
+the Romans to take, were discussed with much excitement and clamor.
+The Romans were, in fact, afraid of the Carthaginians. The campaigns
+of Hannibal in Spain had impressed the people with a strong sense of
+the remorseless and terrible energy of his character; they at once
+concluded that his plans would be formed for marching into Italy, and
+they even anticipated the danger of his bringing the war up to the
+very gates of the city, so as to threaten <i>them</i> with the destruction
+which he had brought upon Saguntum. The event showed how justly they
+appreciated his character.</p>
+
+<p>Since the conclusion of the first Punic war, there had been peace
+between the Romans and Carthaginians for about a quarter of a century.
+During all this time both nations had been advancing in wealth and
+power, but the Carthaginians had made much more rapid progress than
+the Romans. The Romans had, indeed, been very successful at the onset
+in the former <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span>war, but in the end the Carthaginians had proved
+themselves their equal. They seemed, therefore, to dread now a fresh
+encounter with these powerful foes, led on, as they were now to be, by
+such a commander as Hannibal.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">New embassy to Carthage.<br />Warm debates.<br />Fruitless negotiations.</div>
+
+<p>They determined, therefore, to send a second embassy to Carthage, with
+a view of making one more effort to preserve peace before actually
+commencing hostilities. They accordingly elected five men from among
+the most influential citizens of the state&mdash;men of venerable age and
+of great public consideration&mdash;and commissioned them to proceed to
+Carthage and ask once more whether it was the deliberate and final
+decision of the Carthaginian senate to avow and sustain the action of
+Hannibal. This solemn embassage set sail. They arrived at Carthage.
+They appeared before the senate. They argued their cause, but it was,
+of course, to deaf and unwilling ears. The Carthaginian orators
+replied to them, each side attempting to throw the blame of the
+violation of the treaty on the other. It was a solemn hour, for the
+peace of the world, the lives of hundreds of thousands of men, and the
+continued happiness or the desolation and ruin of vast regions of
+country, depended on the issue of the debate. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span>Unhappily, the breach
+was only widened by the discussion. "Very well," said the Roman
+commissioners, at last, "we offer you peace or war, which do you
+choose?" "Whichever you please," replied the Carthaginians; "decide
+for yourselves." "War, then," said the Romans, "since it must be so."
+The conference was broken up, and the embassadors returned to Rome.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The embassadors return.<br />Reply of the Volscians.</div>
+
+<p>They returned, however, by the way of Spain. Their object in doing
+this was to negotiate with the various kingdoms and tribes in Spain
+and in France, through which Hannibal would have to march in invading
+Italy, and endeavor to induce them to take sides with the Romans. They
+were too late, however, for Hannibal had contrived to extend and
+establish his influence in all that region too strongly to be shaken;
+so that, on one pretext or another, the Roman proposals were all
+rejected. There was one powerful tribe, for example, called the
+Volscians. The embassadors, in the presence of the great council of
+the Volscians, made known to them the probability of war, and invited
+them to ally themselves with the Romans. The Volscians rejected the
+proposition with a sort of scorn. "We see," said they, "from the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span>fate
+of Saguntum, what is to be expected to result from an alliance with
+the Romans. After leaving that city defenseless and alone in its
+struggle against such terrible danger, it is in vain to ask other
+nations to trust to your protection. If you wish for new allies, it
+will be best for you to go where the story of Saguntum is not known."
+This answer of the Volscians was applauded by the other nations of
+Spain, as far as it was known, and the Roman embassadors, despairing
+of success in that country, went on into Gaul, which is the name by
+which the country now called France is known in ancient history.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Council of Gauls.</div>
+
+<p>On reaching a certain place which was a central point of influence and
+power in Gaul, the Roman commissioners convened a great martial
+council there. The spectacle presented by this assembly was very
+imposing, for the warlike counselors came to the meeting armed
+completely and in the most formidable manner, as if they were coming
+to a battle instead of a consultation and debate. The venerable
+embassadors laid the subject before them. They descanted largely on
+the power and greatness of the Romans, and on the certainty that they
+should conquer in the approaching contest, and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span>they invited the Gauls
+to espouse their cause, and to rise in arms and intercept Hannibal's
+passage through their country, if he should attempt to effect one.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Tumultuous scene.<br />Repulse of the embassadors.</div>
+
+<p>The assembly could hardly be induced to hear the embassadors through;
+and, as soon as they had finished their address, the whole council
+broke forth into cries of dissent and displeasure, and even into
+shouts of derision. Order was at length restored, and the officers,
+whose duty it was to express the sentiments of the assembly, gave for
+their reply that the Gauls had never received any thing but violence
+and injuries from Rome, or any thing but kindness and goodwill from
+Carthage; and that they had no idea of being guilty of the folly of
+bringing the impending storm of Hannibal's hostility upon their own
+heads, merely for the sake of averting it from their ancient and
+implacable foes. Thus the embassadors were every where repulsed. They
+found no friendly disposition toward the Roman power till they had
+crossed the Rhone.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Hannibal's kindness to his soldiers.</div>
+
+<p>Hannibal began now to form his plans, in a very deliberate and
+cautious manner, for a march into Italy. He knew well that this was an
+expedition of such magnitude and duration as to require beforehand the
+most careful and well-considered<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span> arrangements, both for the forces
+which were to go, and for the states and communities which were to
+remain. The winter was coming on. His first measure was to dismiss a
+large portion of his forces, that they might visit their homes. He
+told them that he was intending some great designs for the ensuing
+spring, which might take them to a great distance, and keep them for a
+long time absent from Spain, and he would, accordingly, give them the
+intervening time to visit their families and their homes, and to
+arrange their affairs. This act of kind consideration and confidence
+renewed the attachment of the soldiers to their commander, and they
+returned to his camp in the spring not only with new strength and
+vigor, but with redoubled attachment to the service in which they were
+engaged.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">He matures his designs.</div>
+
+<p>Hannibal, after sending home his soldiers, retired himself to New
+Carthage, which, as will be seen by the <a href="#Frontispiece">map</a>, is further west than
+Saguntum, where he went into winter quarters, and devoted himself to
+the maturing of his designs. Besides the necessary preparations for
+his own march, he had to provide for the government of the countries
+that he should leave. He devised various and ingenious plans to
+prevent<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span> the danger of insurrections and rebellions while he was gone.
+One was, to organize an army for Spain out of soldiers drawn from
+<i>Africa</i>, while the troops which were to be employed to garrison
+Carthage, and to sustain the government there, were taken from Spain.
+By thus changing the troops of the two countries, each country was
+controlled by a foreign soldiery, who were more likely to be faithful
+in their obedience to their commanders, and less in danger of
+sympathizing with the populations which they were respectively
+employed to control, than if each had been retained in its own native
+land.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Hannibal's plan for the government of Spain in his
+absence.</div>
+
+<p>Hannibal knew very well that the various states and provinces of
+Spain, which had refused to ally themselves with the Romans and
+abandon him, had been led to do this through the influence of his
+presents or the fear of his power, and that if, after he had
+penetrated into Italy, he should meet with reverses, so as to diminish
+very much their hope of deriving benefit from his favor or their fear
+of his power, there would be great danger of defections and revolts.
+As an additional security against this, he adopted the following
+ingenious plan. He enlisted a body of troops from among all the
+nations of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span>Spain that were in alliance with him, selecting the young
+men who were enlisted as much as possible from families of
+consideration and influence, and this body of troops, when organized
+and officered, he sent into Carthage, giving the nations and tribes
+from which they were drawn to understand that he considered them not
+only as soldiers serving in his armies, but as <i>hostages</i>, which he
+should hold as security for the fidelity and obedience of the
+countries from which they had come. The number of these soldiers was
+four thousand.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Hannibal's brother Hasdrubal.<br />He is left in charge of Spain.</div>
+
+<p>Hannibal had a brother, whose name, as it happened, was the same as
+that of his brother-in-law, Hasdrubal. It was to him that he committed
+the government of Spain during his absence. The soldiers provided for
+him were, as has been already stated, mainly drawn from Africa. In
+addition to the foot soldiers, he provided him with a small body of
+horse. He left with him, also, fourteen elephants. And as he thought
+it not improbable that the Romans might, in some contingency during
+his absence, make a descent upon the Spanish coast from the sea, he
+built and equipped for him a small fleet of about sixty vessels, fifty
+of which were of the first class. In modern times, the magnitude<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span> and
+efficiency of a ship is estimated by the number of guns she will
+carry; then, it was the number of banks of oars. Fifty of Hasdrubal's
+ships were <i>quinqueremes</i>, as they were called, that is, they had five
+banks of oars.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Preparations of the Romans.<br />Their plan for the war.</div>
+
+<p>The Romans, on the other hand, did not neglect their own preparations.
+Though reluctant to enter upon the war, they still prepared to engage
+in it with their characteristic energy and ardor, when they found that
+it could not be averted. They resolved on raising two powerful armies,
+one for each of the consuls. The plan was, with one of these to
+advance to meet Hannibal, and with the other to proceed to Sicily, and
+from Sicily to the African coast, with a view of threatening the
+Carthaginian capital. This plan, if successful, would compel the
+Carthaginians to recall a part or the whole of Hannibal's army from
+the intended invasion of Italy to defend their own African homes.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The Roman fleet.</div>
+
+<p>The force raised by the Romans amounted to about seventy thousand men.
+About a third of these were Roman soldiers, and the remainder were
+drawn from various nations dwelling in Italy and in the islands of the
+Mediterranean Sea which were in alliance with the Romans. Of these
+troops six thousand were cavalry. Of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span>course, as the Romans intended
+to cross into Africa, they needed a fleet. They built and equipped
+one, which consisted of two hundred and twenty ships of the largest
+class, that is, quinqueremes, besides a number of smaller and lighter
+vessels for services requiring speed. There were vessels in use in
+those times larger than the quinqueremes. Mention is occasionally made
+of those which had six and even seven banks of oars. But these were
+only employed as the flag-ships of commanders, and for other purposes
+of ceremony and parade, as they were too unwieldy for efficient
+service in action.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Drawing lots.<br />Religious ceremonies.</div>
+
+<p>Lots were then drawn in a very solemn manner, according to the Roman
+custom on such occasions, to decide on the assignment of these two
+armies to the respective consuls. The one destined to meet Hannibal on
+his way from Spain, fell to a consul named Cornelius Scipio. The name
+of the other was Sempronius. It devolved on him, consequently, to take
+charge of the expedition destined to Sicily and Africa. When all the
+arrangements were thus made, the question was finally put, in a very
+solemn and formal manner, to the Roman people for their final vote and
+decision. "Do the Roman people decide and decree that war shall be
+declared<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span> against the Carthaginians?" The decision was in the
+affirmative. The war was then proclaimed with the usual imposing
+ceremonies. Sacrifices and religious celebrations followed, to
+propitiate the favor of the gods, and to inspire the soldiers with
+that kind of courage and confidence which the superstitious, however
+wicked, feel when they can imagine themselves under the protection of
+heaven. These shows and spectacles being over, all things were ready.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Hannibal's march.</div>
+
+<p>In the mean time Hannibal was moving on, as the spring advanced,
+toward the banks of the Iberus, that frontier stream, the crossing of
+which made him an invader of what was, in some sense, Roman territory.
+He boldly passed the stream, and moved forward along the coast of the
+Mediterranean, gradually approaching the Pyrenees, which form the
+boundary between France and Spain. His soldiers hitherto did not know
+what his plans were. It is very little the custom <i>now</i> for military
+and naval commanders to communicate to their men much information
+about their designs, and it was still less the custom then; and
+besides, in those days, the common soldiers had no access to those
+means of information by which news of every <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span>sort is now so
+universally diffused. Thus, though all the officers of the army, and
+well-informed citizens, both in Rome and Carthage, anticipated and
+understood Hannibal's designs, his own soldiers, ignorant and
+degraded, knew nothing except that they were to go on some distant and
+dangerous service. They, very likely, had no idea whatever of Italy or
+of Rome, or of the magnitude of the possessions, or of the power held
+by the vast empire which they were going to invade.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The Pyrenees.<br />Discontent in Hannibal's army.<br />Hannibal's address.<br />The discontented sent home.</div>
+
+<p>When, however, after traveling day after day they came to the foot of
+the Pyrenees, and found that they were really going to pass that
+mighty chain of mountains, and for this purpose were actually entering
+its wild and gloomy defiles, the courage of some of them failed, and
+they began to murmur. The discontent and alarm were, in fact, so
+great, that one corps, consisting of about three thousand men, left
+the camp in a body, and moved back toward their homes. On inquiry,
+Hannibal found that there were ten thousand more who were in a similar
+state of feeling. His whole force consisted of over one hundred
+thousand. And now what does the reader imagine that Hannibal would do
+in such an emergency? Would he return in pursuit <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span>of these deserters,
+to recapture and destroy them as a terror to the rest? or would he let
+them go, and attempt by words of conciliation and encouragement to
+confirm and save those that yet remained? He did neither. He called
+together the ten thousand discontented troops that were still in his
+camp, and told them that, since they were afraid to accompany his
+army, or unwilling to do so, they might return. He wanted none in his
+service who had not the courage and the fortitude to go on wherever he
+might lead. He would not have the faint-hearted and the timid in his
+army. They would only be a burden to load down and impede the courage
+and energy of the rest. So saying, he gave orders for them to return,
+and with the rest of the army, whose resolution and ardor were
+redoubled by this occurrence, he moved on through the passes of the
+mountains.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Hannibal's sagacity.</div>
+
+<p>This act of Hannibal, in permitting his discontented soldiers to
+return, had all the effect of a deed of generosity in its influence
+upon the minds of the soldiers who went on. We must not, however,
+imagine that it was prompted by a spirit of generosity at all. It was
+policy. A seeming generosity was, in this case, exactly what was
+wanted to answer his ends. Hannibal<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span> was mercilessly cruel in all
+cases where he imagined that severity was demanded. It requires great
+sagacity sometimes in a commander to know when he must punish, and
+when it is wisest to overlook and forgive. Hannibal, like Alexander
+and Napoleon, possessed this sagacity in a very high degree; and it
+was, doubtless, the exercise of that principle alone which prompted
+his action on this occasion.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The Pyrenees passed.</div>
+
+<p>Thus Hannibal passed the Pyrenees. The next difficulty that he
+anticipated was in crossing the River Rhone.</p>
+
+<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="Chapter_IV" id="Chapter_IV"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter IV.</span></h2>
+
+<h2><span class="smcap">The Passage of the Rhone.</span></h2>
+
+<h3>B.C. 217</h3>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Difficulties anticipated.<br />Reconnoitering party.</div>
+
+<p class="n"><span style="float:left;font-size:50px;line-height:32px;padding-top:2px;padding-bottom:1px;">H</span><span style="margin-left:0%;">annibal,</span> after he had passed the Pyrenees, did not anticipate any new
+difficulty till he should arrive at the Rhone. He knew very well that
+that was a broad and rapid river, and that he must cross it near its
+mouth, where the water was deep and the banks low; and, besides, it
+was not impossible that the Romans who were coming to meet him, under
+Cornelius Scipio, might have reached the Rhone before he should arrive
+there, and be ready upon the banks to dispute his passage. He had sent
+forward, therefore, a small detachment in advance, to reconnoiter the
+country and select a route to the Rhone, and if they met with no
+difficulties to arrest them there, they were to go on till they
+reached the Alps, and explore the passages and defiles through which
+his army could best cross those snow-covered mountains.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Some tribes reduced.<br />Alarm of the Gauls.</div>
+
+<p>It seems that before he reached the Pyrenees&mdash;that is, while he was
+upon the Spanish side of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span>them, some of the tribes through whose
+territories he had to pass undertook to resist him, and he,
+consequently, had to attack them and reduce them by force; and then,
+when he was ready to move on, he left a guard in the territories thus
+conquered to keep them in subjection. Rumors of this reached Gaul. The
+Gauls were alarmed for their own safety. They had not intended to
+oppose Hannibal so long as they supposed that he only wished for a
+safe passage through their country on his way to Italy; but now, when
+they found, from what had occurred in Spain, that he was going to
+conquer the countries he traversed as he passed along, they became
+alarmed. They seized their arms, and assembled in haste at Ruscino,
+and began to devise measures of defense. Ruscino was the same place as
+that in which the Roman embassadors met the great council of the Gauls
+on their return to Italy from Carthage.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The Alps.<br />Difficulty of their passage.</div>
+
+<p>While this great council, or, rather, assembly of armies, was
+gathering at Ruscino, full of threats and anger, Hannibal was at
+Illiberis, a town at the foot of the Pyrenean Mountains. He seems to
+have had no fear that any opposition which the Gauls could bring to
+bear against him would be successful, but he dreaded the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span>delay. He
+was extremely unwilling to spend the precious months of the early
+summer in contending with such foes as they, when the road to Italy
+was before him. Besides, the passes of the Alps, which are difficult
+and laborious at any time, are utterly impracticable except in the
+months of July and August. At all other seasons they are, or were in
+those days, blocked up with impassable snows. In modern times roads
+have been made, with galleries cut through the rock, and with the
+exposed places protected by sloping roofs projecting from above, over
+which storms sweep and avalanches slide without injury; so that now
+the intercourse of ordinary travel between France and Italy, across
+the Alps, is kept up, in some measure, all the year. In Hannibal's
+time, however, the mountains could not be traversed except in the
+summer months, and if it had not been that the result justified the
+undertaking, it would have been considered an act of inexcusable
+rashness and folly to attempt to cross with an army at all.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Hannibal's message to the Gauls.</div>
+
+<p>Hannibal had therefore no time to lose, and that circumstance made
+this case one of those in which forbearance and a show of generosity
+were called for, instead of defiance and force. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span>He accordingly sent
+messengers to the council at Ruscino to say, in a very complaisant and
+affable manner, that he wished to see and confer with their princes in
+person, and that, if they pleased, he would advance for this purpose
+toward Ruscino; or they might, if they preferred, come on toward him
+at Illiberis, where he would await their arrival. He invited them to
+come freely into his camp, and said that he was ready, if they were
+willing to receive him, to go into theirs, for he had come to Gaul as
+a friend and an ally, and wanted nothing but a free passage through
+their territory. He had made a resolution, he said, if the Gauls would
+but allow him to keep it, that there should not be a single sword
+drawn in his army till he got into Italy.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Success of his policy.</div>
+
+<p>The alarm and the feelings of hostility which prevailed among the
+Gauls were greatly allayed by this message. They put their camp in
+motion, and went on to Illiberis. The princes and high officers of
+their armies went to Hannibal's camp, and were received with the
+highest marks of distinction and honor. They were loaded with
+presents, and went away charmed with the affability, the wealth, and
+the generosity of their visitor. Instead of opposing his <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span>progress,
+they became the conductors and guides of his army. They took them
+first to Ruscino, which was, as it were, their capital, and thence,
+after a short delay, the army moved on without any further molestation
+toward the Rhone.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Cornelius Scipio.<br />He embarks his army.<br />Both armies on the Rhone.</div>
+
+<p>In the mean time, the Roman consul Scipio, having embarked the troops
+destined to meet Hannibal in sixty ships at the mouth of the Tiber,
+set sail for the mouth of the Rhone. The men were crowded together in
+the ships, as armies necessarily must be when transported by sea. They
+could not go far out to sea, for, as they had no compass in those
+days, there were no means of directing the course of navigation, in
+case of storms or cloudy skies, except by the land. The ships
+accordingly made their way slowly along the shore, sometimes by means
+of sails and sometimes by oars, and, after suffering for some time the
+hardships and privations incident to such a voyage&mdash;the sea-sickness
+and the confinement of such swarming numbers in so narrow a space
+bringing every species of discomfort in their train&mdash;the fleet entered
+the mouth of the Rhone. The officers had no idea that Hannibal was
+near. They had only heard of his having crossed the Iberus. They
+imagined that he was <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span>still on the other side of the Pyrenees. They
+entered the Rhone by the first branch they came to&mdash;for the Rhone,
+like the Nile, divides near its mouth, and flows into the sea by
+several separate channels&mdash;and sailed without concern up to
+Marseilles, imagining that their enemy was still hundreds of miles
+away, entangled, perhaps, among the defiles of the Pyrenees. Instead
+of that, he was safely encamped upon the banks of the Rhone, a short
+distance above them, quietly and coolly making his arrangements for
+crossing it.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Exploring party.</div>
+
+<p>When Cornelius got his men upon the land, they were too much exhausted
+by the sickness and misery they had endured upon the voyage to move on
+to meet Hannibal without some days for rest and refreshment.
+Cornelius, however, selected three hundred horsemen who were able to
+move, and sent them up the river on an exploring expedition, to learn
+the facts in respect to Hannibal, and to report them to him.
+Dispatching them accordingly, he remained himself in his camp,
+reorganizing and recruiting his army, and awaiting the return of the
+party that he had sent to explore.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Feelings of the Gauls in respect to Hannibal.</div>
+
+<p>Although Hannibal had thus far met with no serious opposition in his
+progress through Gaul <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span>it must not, on that account, be supposed that
+the people, through whose territories he was passing, were really
+friendly to his cause, or pleased with his presence among them. An
+army is always a burden and a curse to any country that it enters,
+even when its only object is to pass peacefully through. The Gauls
+assumed a friendly attitude toward this dreaded invader and his horde
+only because they thought that by so doing he would the sooner pass
+and be gone. They were too weak, and had too few means of resistance
+to attempt to stop him; and, as the next best thing that they could
+do, resolved to render him every possible aid to hasten him on. This
+continued to be the policy of the various tribes until he reached the
+river. The people on the <i>further</i> side of the river, however, thought
+it was best for them to resist. They were nearer to the Roman
+territories, and, consequently, somewhat more under Roman influence.
+They feared the resentment of the Romans if they should, even
+passively, render any co-operation to Hannibal in his designs; and, as
+they had the broad and rapid river between them and their enemy, they
+thought there was a reasonable prospect that, with its aid, they could
+exclude him from their territories altogether.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The Gauls beyond the river oppose Hannibal's passage.</div>
+
+<p>Thus it happened that, when Hannibal came to the stream, the people on
+one side were all eager to promote, while those on the other were
+determined to prevent his passage, both parties being animated by the
+same desire to free their country from such a pest as the presence of
+an army of ninety thousand men; so that Hannibal stood at last upon
+the banks of the river, with the people on <i>his</i> side of the stream
+waiting and ready to furnish all the boats and vessels that they could
+command, and to render every aid in their power in the embarkation,
+while those on the other were drawn up in battle array, rank behind
+rank, glittering with weapons, marshaled so as to guard every place of
+landing, and lining with pikes the whole extent of the shore, while
+the peaks of their tents, in vast numbers, with banners among them
+floating in the air, were to be seen in the distance behind them. All
+this time, the three hundred horsemen which Cornelius had dispatched
+were slowly and cautiously making their way up the river from the
+Roman encampment below.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Preparations for crossing the river.<br />Boat building.</div>
+
+<p>After contemplating the scene presented to his view at the river for
+some time in silence, Hannibal commenced his preparations for crossing
+the stream. He collected first all the boats <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span>of every kind which
+could be obtained among the Gauls who lived along the bank of the
+river. These, however, only served for a beginning, and so he next got
+together all the workmen and all the tools which the country could
+furnish, for several miles around, and went to work constructing more.
+The Gauls of that region had a custom of making boats of the trunks of
+large trees. The tree, being felled and cut to the proper length, was
+hollowed out with hatchets and adzes, and then, being turned bottom
+upward, the outside was shaped in such a manner as to make it glide
+easily through the water. So convenient is this mode of making boats,
+that it is practiced, in cases where sufficiently large trees are
+found, to the present day. Such boats are now called canoes.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Rafts.</div>
+
+<p>There were plenty of large trees on the banks of the Rhone. Hannibal's
+soldiers watched the Gauls at their work, in making boats of them,
+until they learned the art themselves. Some first assisted their new
+allies in the easier portions of the operation, and then began to fell
+large trees and make the boats themselves. Others, who had less skill
+or more impetuosity chose not to wait for the slow process of
+hollowing the wood, and they, accordingly, would <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span>fell the trees upon
+the shore, cut the trunks of equal lengths, place them side by side in
+the water, and bolt or bind them together so as to form a raft. The
+form and fashion of their craft was of no consequence, they said, as
+it was for one passage only. Any thing would answer, if it would only
+float and bear its burden over.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The enemy look on in silence.</div>
+
+<p>In the mean time, the enemy upon the opposite shore looked on, but
+they could do nothing to impede these operations. If they had had
+artillery, such as is in use at the present day, they could have fired
+across the river, and have blown the boats and rafts to pieces with
+balls and shells as fast as the Gauls and Carthaginians could build
+them. In fact, the workmen could not have built them under such a
+cannonading; but the enemy, in this case, had nothing but spears, and
+arrows, and stones, to be thrown either by the hand, or by engines far
+too weak to send them with any effect across such a stream. They had
+to look on quietly, therefore, and allow these great and formidable
+preparations for an attack upon them to go on without interruption.
+Their only hope was to overwhelm the army with their missiles, and
+prevent their landing, when they should reach the bank at last in
+their attempt to cross the stream.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span></p><div class="sidenote">Difficulties of crossing a river.</div>
+
+<p>If an army is crossing a river without any enemy to oppose them, a
+moderate number of boats will serve, as a part of the army can be
+transported at a time, and the whole gradually transferred from one
+bank to the other by repeated trips of the same conveyances. But when
+there is an enemy to encounter at the landing, it is necessary to
+provide the means of carrying over a very large force at a time; for
+if a small division were to go over first alone, it would only throw
+itself, weak and defenseless, into the hands of the enemy. Hannibal,
+therefore, waited until he had boats, rafts, and floats enough
+constructed to carry over a force all together sufficiently numerous
+and powerful to attack the enemy with a prospect of success.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Hannibal's tactics.<br />His stratagem.</div>
+
+<p>The Romans, as we have already remarked, say that Hannibal was
+cunning. He certainly was not disposed, like Alexander, to trust in
+his battles to simple superiority of bravery and force, but was always
+contriving some stratagem to increase the chances of victory. He did
+so in this case. He kept up for many days a prodigious parade and
+bustle of building boats and rafts in sight of his enemy, as if his
+sole reliance was on the multitude of men that he could pour across
+the river at a single transportation,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span> and he thus kept their
+attention closely riveted upon these preparations. All this time,
+however, he had another plan in course of execution. He had sent a
+strong body of troops secretly up the river, with orders to make their
+way stealthily through the forests, and cross the stream some few
+miles above. This force was intended to move back from the river, as
+soon as it should cross the stream, and come down upon the enemy in
+the rear, so as to attack and harass them there at the same time that
+Hannibal was crossing with the main body of the army. If they
+succeeded in crossing the river safely, they were to build a fire in
+the woods, on the other side, in order that the column of smoke which
+should ascend from it might serve as a signal of their success to
+Hannibal.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Detachment under Hanno.<br />Success of Hanno.<br />The signal.</div>
+
+<p>This detachment was commanded by an officer named Hanno&mdash;of course a
+very different man from Hannibal's great enemy of that name in
+Carthage. Hanno set out in the night, moving back from the river, in
+commencing his march, so as to be entirely out of sight from the Gauls
+on the other side. He had some guides, belonging to the country, who
+promised to show him a convenient place for crossing. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span>The party went
+up the river about twenty-five miles. Here they found a place where
+the water spread to a greater width, and where the current was less
+rapid, and the water not so deep. They got to this place in silence
+and secrecy, their enemies below not having suspected any such design.
+As they had, therefore, nobody to oppose them, they could cross much
+more easily than the main army below. They made some rafts for
+carrying over those of the men that could not swim, and such munitions
+of war as would be injured by the wet. The rest of the men waded till
+they reached the channel, and then swam, supporting themselves in part
+by their bucklers, which they placed beneath their bodies in the
+water. Thus they all crossed in safety. They paused a day, to dry
+their clothes and to rest, and then moved cautiously down the river
+until they were near enough to Hannibal's position to allow their
+signal to be seen. The fire was then built, and they gazed with
+exultation upon the column of smoke which ascended from it high into
+the air.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Passage of the river.</div>
+
+<p>Hannibal saw the signal, and now immediately prepared to cross with
+his army. The horsemen embarked in boats, holding their horses by
+lines, with a view of leading them <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span>into the water so that they might
+swim in company with the boats. Other horses, bridled and accoutered,
+were put into large flat-bottomed boats, to be taken across dry, in
+order that they might be all ready for service at the instant of
+landing. The most vigorous and efficient portion of the army were, of
+course, selected for the first passage, while all those who, for any
+cause, were weak or disabled, remained behind, with the stores and
+munitions of war, to be transported afterward, when the first passage
+should have been effected. All this time the enemy, on the opposite
+shore, were getting their ranks in array, and making every thing ready
+for a furious assault upon the invaders the moment they should
+approach the land.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Scene of confusion.<br />Attack of Hanno.<br />Flight of the Gauls.</div>
+
+<p>There was something like silence and order during the period while the
+men were embarking and pushing out from the land, but as they advanced
+into the current, the loud commands, and shouts, and outcries
+increased more and more, and the rapidity of the current and of the
+eddies by which the boats and rafts were hurried down the stream, or
+whirled against each other, soon produced a terrific scene of tumult
+and confusion. As soon as the first boats approached the land, the
+Gauls assembled to oppose them rushed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span> down upon them with showers of
+missiles, and with those unearthly yells which barbarous warriors
+always raise in going into battle, as a means both of exciting
+themselves and of terrifying their enemy. Hannibal's officers urged
+the boats on, and endeavored, with as much coolness and deliberation
+as possible, to effect a landing. It is perhaps doubtful how the
+contest would have ended, had it not been for the detachment under
+Hanno, which now came suddenly into action. While the Gauls were in
+the height of their excitement, in attempting to drive back the
+Carthaginians from the bank, they were thunderstruck at hearing the
+shouts and cries of an enemy behind them, and, on looking around, they
+saw the troops of Hanno pouring down upon them from the thickets with
+terrible impetuosity and force. It is very difficult for an army to
+fight both in front and in the rear at the same time. The Gauls, after
+a brief struggle, abandoned the attempt any longer to oppose
+Hannibal's landing. They fled down the river and back into the
+interior, leaving Hanno in secure possession of the bank while
+Hannibal and his forces came up at their leisure out of the water,
+finding friends instead of enemies to receive them.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span></p>
+<div class="sidenote">Transportation of the elephants.<br />Manner of doing it.</div>
+
+<p>The remainder of the army, together with the stores and munitions of
+war, were next to be transported, and this was accomplished with
+little difficulty now that there was no enemy to disturb their
+operations. There was one part of the force, however, which occasioned
+some trouble and delay. It was a body of elephants which formed a part
+of the army. How to get these unwieldy animals across so broad and
+rapid a river was a question of no little difficulty. There are
+various accounts of the manner in which Hannibal accomplished the
+object, from which it would seem that different methods were employed.
+One mode was as follows: the keeper of the elephants selected one more
+spirited and passionate in disposition than the rest, and contrived to
+teaze and torment him so as to make him angry. The elephant advanced
+toward his keeper with his trunk raised to take vengeance. The keeper
+fled; the elephant pursued him, the other elephants of the herd
+following, as is the habit of the animal on such occasions. The keeper
+ran into the water as if to elude his pursuer, while the elephant and
+a large part of the herd pressed on after him. The man swam into the
+channel, and the elephants, before they could check themselves, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span>found
+that they were beyond their depth. Some swam on after the keeper, and
+crossed the river, where they were easily secured. Others, terrified,
+abandoned themselves to the current, and were floated down, struggling
+helplessly as they went, until at last they grounded upon shallows or
+points of land, whence they gained the shore again, some on one side
+of the stream and some on the other.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">A new plan.<br />Huge rafts.</div>
+
+<p>This plan was thus only partially successful, and Hannibal devised a
+more effectual method for the remainder of the troop. He built an
+immensely large raft, floated it up to the shore, fastened it there
+securely, and covered it with earth, turf, and bushes, so as to make
+it resemble a projection of the land. He then caused a second raft to
+be constructed of the same size, and this he brought up to the outer
+edge of the other, fastened it there by a temporary connection, and
+covered and concealed it as he had done the first. The first of these
+rafts extended two hundred feet from the shore, and was fifty feet
+broad. The other, that is, the outer one, was only a little smaller.
+The soldiers then contrived to allure and drive the elephants over
+these rafts to the outer one, the animals imagining that they had not
+left the land. The <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span>two rafts were then disconnected from each other,
+and the outer one began to move with its bulky passengers over the
+water, towed by a number of boats which had previously been attached
+to its outer edge.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The elephants got safely over.</div>
+
+<p>As soon as the elephants perceived the motion, they were alarmed, and
+began immediately to look anxiously this way and that, and to crowd
+toward the edges of the raft which was conveying them away. They found
+themselves hemmed in by water on every side, and were terrified and
+thrown into confusion. Some were crowded off into the river, and were
+drifted down till they landed below. The rest soon became calm, and
+allowed themselves to be quietly ferried across the stream, when they
+found that all hope of escape and resistance were equally vain.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87-8]</a></span></p><div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;">
+<img src="images/i085.jpg" class="ispace jpg" width="500" height="296" alt="The Elephants crossing the Rhone." title="" />
+<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">The Elephants crossing the Rhone.</span></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="sidenote2">The reconnoitering parties.<br />The detachments meet.<br />A battle ensues.</div>
+
+<p>In the mean time, while these events were occurring, the troop of
+three hundred, which Scipio had sent up the river to see what tidings
+he could learn of the Carthaginians, were slowly making their way
+toward the point where Hannibal was crossing; and it happened that
+Hannibal had sent down a troop of <i>five</i> hundred, when he first
+reached the river, to see if they could learn any tidings of the
+Romans. Neither <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span>of the armies had any idea how near they were to the other. The two
+detachments met suddenly and unexpectedly on the way. They were sent
+to explore, and not to fight; but as they were nearly equally matched,
+each was ambitious of the glory of capturing the others and carrying
+them prisoners to their camp. They fought a long and bloody battle. A
+great number were killed, and in about the same proportion on either
+side. The Romans say <i>they</i> conquered. We do not know what the
+Carthaginians said, but as both parties retreated from the field and
+went back to their respective camps, it is safe to infer that neither
+could boast of a very decisive victory.</p>
+
+<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="Chapter_V" id="Chapter_V"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter V.</span></h2>
+
+<h2><span class="smcap">Hannibal crosses the Alps.</span></h2>
+
+<h3>B.C. 217</h3>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The Alps.</div>
+
+<p class="n"><span style="float:left;font-size:50px;line-height:32px;padding-top:2px;padding-bottom:1px;">I</span><span style="margin-left:0%;">t</span> is difficult for any one who has not actually seen such mountain
+scenery as is presented by the Alps, to form any clear conception of
+its magnificence and grandeur. Hannibal had never seen the Alps, but
+the world was filled then, as now, with their fame.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Their sublimity and grandeur.<br />Perpetual cold in the upper regions of the atmosphere.</div>
+
+<p>Some of the leading features of sublimity and grandeur which these
+mountains exhibit, result mainly from the perpetual cold which reigns
+upon their summits. This is owing simply to their elevation. In every
+part of the earth, as we ascend from the surface of the ground into
+the atmosphere, it becomes, for some mysterious reason or other, more
+and more cold as we rise, so that over our heads, wherever we are,
+there reigns, at a distance of two or three miles above us, an intense
+and perpetual cold. This is true not only in cool and temperate
+latitudes, but also in the most torrid regions of the globe. If we
+were to ascend in a balloon at Borneo at midday, when the burning sun
+of the tropics <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span>was directly over our heads, to an elevation of five
+or six miles, we should find that although we had been moving nearer
+to the sun all the time, its rays would have lost, gradually, all
+their power. They would fall upon us as brightly as ever, but their
+heat would be gone. They would feel like moonbeams, and we should be
+surrounded with an atmosphere as frosty as that of the icebergs of the
+frigid zone.</p>
+
+<p>It is from this region of perpetual cold that hail-stones descend upon
+us in the midst of summer, and snow is continually forming and falling
+there; but the light and fleecy flakes melt before they reach the
+earth, so that, while the hail has such solidity and momentum that it
+forces its way through, the snow dissolves, and falls upon us as a
+cool and refreshing rain. Rain cools the air around us and the ground,
+because it comes from cooler regions of the air above.</p>
+
+<p>Now it happens that not only the summits, but extensive portions of
+the upper declivities of the Alps, rise into the region of perpetual
+winter. Of course, ice congeals continually there, and the snow which
+forms falls to the ground as snow, and accumulates in vast and
+permanent stores. The summit of Mount Blanc is covered with a bed of
+snow of enormous thickness,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span> which is almost as much a permanent
+geological stratum of the mountain as the granite which lies beneath
+it.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Avalanches.<br />Their terrible force.</div>
+
+<p>Of course, during the winter months, the whole country of the Alps,
+valley as well as hill, is covered with snow. In the spring the snow
+melts in the valleys and plains, and higher up it becomes damp and
+heavy with partial melting, and slides down the declivities in vast
+avalanches, which sometimes are of such enormous magnitude, and
+descend with such resistless force, as to bring down earth, rocks, and
+even the trees of the forest in their train. On the higher
+declivities, however, and over all the rounded summits, the snow still
+clings to its place, yielding but very little to the feeble beams of
+the sun, even in July.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The glaciers.<br />Motion of the ice.</div>
+
+<p>There are vast ravines and valleys among the higher Alps where the
+snow accumulates, being driven into them by winds and storms in the
+winter, and sliding into them, in great avalanches, in the spring.
+These vast depositories of snow become changed into ice below the
+surface; for at the surface there is a continual melting, and the
+water, flowing down through the mass, freezes below. Thus there are
+valleys, or rather ravines, some of them two or <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span>three miles wide and
+ten or fifteen miles long, filled with ice, transparent, solid, and
+blue, hundreds of feet in depth. They are called <i>glaciers</i>. And what
+is most astonishing in respect to these icy accumulations is that,
+though the ice is perfectly compact and solid, the whole mass is found
+to be continually in a state of slow motion down the valley in which
+it lies, at the rate of about a foot in twenty-four hours. By standing
+upon the surface and listening attentively, we hear, from time to
+time, a grinding sound. The rocks which lie along the sides are
+pulverized, and are continually moving against each other and falling;
+and then, besides, which is a more direct and positive proof still of
+the motion of the mass, a mark may be set up upon the ice, as has been
+often done, and marks corresponding to it made upon the solid rocks on
+each side of the valley, and by this means the fact of the motion, and
+the exact rate of it, may be fully ascertained.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Crevices and chasms.</div>
+
+<p>Thus these valleys are really and literally rivers of ice, rising
+among the summits of the mountains, and flowing, slowly it is true,
+but with a continuous and certain current, to a sort of mouth in some
+great and open valley below. Here the streams which have flowed over
+the surface above, and descended into the mass <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span>through countless
+crevices and chasms, into which the traveler looks down with terror,
+concentrate and issue from under the ice in a turbid torrent, which
+comes out from a vast archway made by the falling in of masses which
+the water has undermined. This lower end of the glacier sometimes
+presents a perpendicular wall hundreds of feet in height; sometimes it
+crowds down into the fertile valley, advancing in some unusually cold
+summer into the cultivated country, where, as it slowly moves on, it
+plows up the ground, carries away the orchards and fields, and even
+drives the inhabitants from the villages which it threatens. If the
+next summer proves warm, the terrible monster slowly draws back its
+frigid head, and the inhabitants return to the ground it reluctantly
+evacuates, and attempt to repair the damage it has done.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Situation of the Alps.<br />Roads over the Alps.</div>
+
+<p>The Alps lie between France and Italy, and the great valleys and the
+ranges of mountain land lie in such a direction that they must be
+<i>crossed</i> in order to pass from one country to the other. These ranges
+are, however, not regular. They are traversed by innumerable chasms,
+fissures, and ravines; in some places they rise in vast rounded
+summits and swells, covered with fields of spotless snow; in others
+they <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span>tower in lofty, needle-like peaks, which even the chamois can
+not scale, and where scarcely a flake of snow can find a place of
+rest. Around and among these peaks and summits, and through these
+frightful defiles and chasms, the roads twist and turn, in a zigzag
+and constantly ascending course, creeping along the most frightful
+precipices, sometimes beneath them and sometimes on the brink,
+penetrating the darkest and gloomiest defiles, skirting the most
+impetuous and foaming torrents, and at last, perhaps, emerging upon
+the surface of a glacier, to be lost in interminable fields of ice and
+snow, where countless brooks run in glassy channels, and crevasses
+yawn, ready to take advantage of any slip which may enable them to
+take down the traveler into their bottomless abysses.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Sublime scenery.<br />Beauty of the Alpine scenery.<br />Picturesque scenery.</div>
+
+<p>And yet, notwithstanding the awful desolation which reigns in the
+upper regions of the Alps, the lower valleys, through which the
+streams finally meander out into the open plains, and by which the
+traveler gains access to the sublimer scenes of the upper mountains,
+are inexpressibly verdant and beautiful. They are fertilized by the
+deposits of continual inundations in the early spring, and the sun
+beats down into them with a genial warmth in summer,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span> which brings out
+millions of flowers, of the most beautiful forms and colors, and
+ripens rapidly the broadest and richest fields of grain. Cottages, of
+every picturesque and beautiful form, tenanted by the cultivators, the
+shepherds and the herdsmen, crown every little swell in the bottom of
+the valley, and cling to the declivities of the mountains which rise
+on either hand. Above them eternal forests of firs and pines wave,
+feathering over the steepest and most rocky slopes with their somber
+foliage. Still higher, gray precipices rise and spires and pinnacles,
+far grander and more picturesque, if not so symmetrically formed, than
+those constructed by man. Between these there is seen, here and there,
+in the background, vast towering masses of white and dazzling snow,
+which crown the summits of the loftier mountains beyond.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Hannibal determines to cross the Alps.</div>
+
+<p>Hannibal's determination to carry an army into Italy by way of the
+Alps, instead of transporting them by galleys over the sea, has always
+been regarded as one of the greatest undertakings of ancient times. He
+hesitated for some time whether he should go down the Rhone, and meet
+and give battle to Scipio, or whether he should leave the Roman army
+to its course, and proceed himself directly toward the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span>Alps and
+Italy. The officers and soldiers of the army, who had now learned
+something of their destination and of their leader's plans, wanted to
+go and meet the Romans. They dreaded the Alps. They were willing to
+encounter a military foe, however formidable, for this was a danger
+that they were accustomed to and could understand; but their
+imaginations were appalled at the novel and awful images they formed
+of falling down precipices of ragged rocks, or of gradually freezing,
+and being buried half alive, during the process, in eternal snows.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Hannibal's speech to his army.</div>
+
+<p>Hannibal, when he found that his soldiers were afraid to proceed,
+called the leading portions of his army together, and made them an
+address. He remonstrated with them for yielding now to unworthy fears,
+after having successfully met and triumphed over such dangers as they
+had already incurred. "You have surmounted the Pyrenees," said he,
+"you have crossed the Rhone. You are now actually in sight of the
+Alps, which are the very gates of access to the country of the enemy.
+What do you conceive the Alps to be? They are nothing but high
+mountains, after all. Suppose they are higher than the Pyrenees, they
+do not <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span>reach to the skies; and, since they do not, they can not be
+insurmountable. They <i>are</i> surmounted, in fact, every day; they are
+even inhabited and cultivated, and travelers continually pass over
+them to and fro. And what a single man can do, an army can do, for an
+army is only a large number of single men. In fact, to a soldier, who
+has nothing to carry with him but the implements of war, no way can be
+too difficult to be surmounted by courage and energy."</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Its effects.<br />His army follows.</div>
+
+<p>After finishing his speech, Hannibal, finding his men reanimated and
+encouraged by what he had said, ordered them to go to their tents and
+refresh themselves, and prepare to march on the following day. They
+made no further opposition to going on. Hannibal did not, however,
+proceed at once directly toward the Alps. He did not know what the
+plans of Scipio might be, who, it will be recollected, was below him,
+on the Rhone, with the Roman army. He did not wish to waste his time
+and his strength in a contest with Scipio in Gaul, but to press on and
+get across the Alps into Italy as soon as possible. And so, fearing
+lest Scipio should strike across the country, and intercept him if he
+should attempt to go by the most direct <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span>route, he determined to move
+northwardly, up the River Rhone, till he should get well into the
+interior, with a view of reaching the Alps ultimately by a more
+circuitous journey.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Scipio moves after Hannibal.<br />Sad vestiges.</div>
+
+<p>It was, in fact, the plan of Scipio to come up with Hannibal and
+attack him as soon as possible; and, accordingly, as soon as his
+horsemen, or, rather, those who were left alive after the battle had
+returned and informed him that Hannibal and his army were near, he put
+his camp in motion and moved rapidly up the river. He arrived at the
+place where the Carthaginians had crossed a few days after they had
+gone. The spot was in a terrible state of ruin and confusion. The
+grass and herbage were trampled down for the circuit of a mile, and
+all over the space were spots of black and smouldering remains, where
+the camp-fires had been kindled. The tops and branches of trees lay
+every where around, their leaves withering in the sun, and the groves
+and forests were encumbered with limbs, and rejected trunks, and trees
+felled and left where they lay. The shore was lined far down the
+stream with ruins of boats and rafts, with weapons which had been lost
+or abandoned, and with the bodies of those who had been drowned in the
+passage, or killed in the contest on the shore. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span>These and numerous
+other vestiges remained but the army was gone.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Perplexity of Scipio.<br />He sails back to Italy.</div>
+
+<p>There were, however, upon the ground groups of natives and other
+visitors, who had come to look at the spot now destined to become so
+memorable in history. From these men Scipio learned when and where
+Hannibal had gone. He decided that it was useless to attempt to pursue
+him. He was greatly perplexed to know what to do. In the casting of
+lots, Spain had fallen to him, but now that the great enemy whom he
+had come forth to meet had left Spain altogether, his only hope of
+intercepting his progress was to sail back into Italy, and meet him as
+he came down from the Alps into the great valley of the Po. Still, as
+Spain had been assigned to him as his province, he could not well
+entirely abandon it. He accordingly sent forward the largest part of
+his army into Spain, to attack the forces that Hannibal had left
+there, while he himself, with a smaller force, went down to the
+sea-shore and sailed back to Italy again. He expected to find Roman
+forces in the valley of the Po, with which he hoped to be strong
+enough to meet Hannibal as he descended from the mountains, if he
+should succeed in effecting a passage over them.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span></p><div class="sidenote">Hannibal approaches the Alps.</div>
+
+<p>In the mean time Hannibal went on, drawing nearer and nearer to the
+ranges of snowy summits which his soldiers had seen for many days in
+their eastern horizon. These ranges were very resplendent and grand
+when the sun went down in the west, for then it shone directly upon
+them. As the army approached nearer and nearer to them, they gradually
+withdrew from sight and disappeared, being concealed by intervening
+summits less lofty, but nearer. As the soldiers went on, however, and
+began to penetrate the valleys, and draw near to the awful chasms and
+precipices among the mountains, and saw the turbid torrents descending
+from them, their fears revived. It was, however, now too late to
+retreat. They pressed forward, ascending continually, till their road
+grew extremely precipitous and insecure, threading its way through
+almost impassable defiles, with rugged cliffs overhanging them, and
+snowy summits towering all around.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">A dangerous defile.<br />The army encamps.</div>
+
+<p>At last they came to a narrow defile through which they must
+necessarily pass, but which was guarded by large bodies of armed men
+assembled on the rocks and precipices above, ready to hurl stones and
+weapons of every kind upon them if they should attempt to pass
+through. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span>The army halted. Hannibal ordered them to encamp where they
+were, until he could consider what to do. In the course of the day he
+learned that the mountaineers did not remain at their elevated posts
+during the night, on account of the intense cold and exposure,
+knowing, too, that it would be impossible for an army to traverse such
+a pass as they were attempting to guard without daylight to guide
+them, for the road, or rather pathway, which passes through these
+defiles, follows generally the course of a mountain torrent, which
+flows through a succession of frightful ravines and chasms, and often
+passes along on a shelf or projection of the rock, hundreds and
+sometimes thousands of feet from the bed of the stream, which foams
+and roars far below. There could, of course, be no hope of passing
+safely by such a route without the light of day.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The mountaineers.<br />Hannibal's stratagem.</div>
+
+<p>The mountaineers, therefore, knowing that it was not necessary to
+guard the pass at night&mdash;its own terrible danger being then a
+sufficient protection&mdash;were accustomed to disperse in the evening, and
+descend to regions where they could find shelter and repose, and to
+return and renew their watch in the morning. When Hannibal learned
+this, he determined to anticipate them in getting <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span>up upon the rocks
+the next day, and, in order to prevent their entertaining any
+suspicion of his design, he pretended to be making all the
+arrangements for encamping for the night on the ground he had taken.
+He accordingly pitched more tents, and built, toward evening, a great
+many fires, and he began some preparations indicating that it was his
+intention the next day to force his way through the pass. He moved
+forward a strong detachment up to a point near the entrance to the
+pass, and put them in a fortified position there, as if to have them
+all ready to advance when the proper time should arrive on the
+following day.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Its success.<br />Astonishment of the mountaineers.</div>
+
+<p>The mountaineers, seeing all these preparations going on, looked
+forward to a conflict on the morrow, and, during the night, left their
+positions as usual, to descend to places of shelter. The next morning,
+however, when they began, at an early hour, to ascend to them again,
+they were astonished to find all the lofty rocks, and cliffs, and
+shelving projections which overhung the pass, covered with
+Carthaginians. Hannibal had aroused a strong body of his men at the
+earliest dawn, and led them up, by steep climbing, to the places which
+the mountaineers had left, so as to be there before them. The
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span>mountaineers paused, astonished, at this spectacle, and their
+disappointment and rage were much increased on looking down into the
+valley below, and seeing there the remainder of the Carthaginian army
+quietly moving through the pass in a long train, safe apparently from
+any molestation, since friends, and not enemies, were now in
+possession of the cliffs above.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Terrible conflict in the defile.<br />Attack of Hannibal.</div>
+
+<p>The mountaineers could not restrain their feelings of vexation and
+anger, but immediately rushed down the declivities which they had in
+part ascended, and attacked the army in the defile. An awful scene of
+struggle and confusion ensued. Some were killed by weapons or by rocks
+rolled down upon them. Others, contending together, and struggling
+desperately in places of very narrow foothold, tumbled headlong down
+the rugged rocks into the torrent below; and horses, laden with
+baggage and stores, became frightened and unmanageable, and crowded
+each other over the most frightful precipices. Hannibal, who was
+above, on the higher rocks, looked down upon this scene for a time
+with the greatest anxiety and terror. He did not dare to descend
+himself and mingle in the affray, for fear of increasing the
+confusion. He soon found, however, that it was absolutely necessary
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span>for him to interpose, and he came down as rapidly as possible, his
+detachment with him. They descended by oblique and zigzag paths,
+wherever they could get footing among the rocks, and attacked the
+mountaineers with great fury. The result was, as he had feared, a
+great increase at first of the confusion and the slaughter. The horses
+were more and more terrified by the fresh energy of the combat, and by
+the resounding of louder shouts and cries, which were made doubly
+terrific by the echoes and reverberations of the mountains. They
+crowded against each other, and fell, horses and men together, in
+masses, over the cliffs to the rugged rocks below, where they lay in
+confusion, some dead, and others dying, writhing helplessly in agony,
+or vainly endeavoring to crawl away.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The mountaineers defeated.<br />The army pauses to refresh.</div>
+
+<p>The mountaineers were, however, conquered and driven away at last, and
+the pass was left clear. The Carthaginian column was restored to
+order. The horses that had not fallen were calmed and quieted. The
+baggage which had been thrown down was gathered up, and the wounded
+men were placed on litters, rudely constructed on the spot, that they
+might be borne on to a place of safety. In a short time all were ready
+to move on, and the march was accordingly<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span> recommenced. There was no
+further difficulty. The column advanced in a quiet and orderly manner
+until they had passed the defile. At the extremity of it they came to
+a spacious fort belonging to the natives. Hannibal took possession of
+this fort, and paused for a little time there to rest and refresh his
+men.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Scarcity of food.</div>
+
+<p>One of the greatest difficulties encountered by a general in
+conducting an army through difficult and dangerous roads, is that of
+providing food for them. An army can transport its own food only a
+very little way. Men traveling over smooth roads can only carry
+provisions for a few days, and where the roads are as difficult and
+dangerous as the passes of the Alps, they can scarcely carry any. The
+commander must, accordingly, find subsistence in the country through
+which he is marching. Hannibal had, therefore, now not only to look
+out for the safety of his men, but their food was exhausted, and he
+must take immediate measures to secure a supply.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Herds and flocks upon the mountains.</div>
+
+<p>The lower slopes of lofty mountains afford usually abundant sustenance
+for flocks and herds. The showers which are continually falling there,
+and the moisture which comes down the sides of the mountains through
+the ground <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span>keep the turf perpetually green, and sheep and cattle love
+to pasture upon it; they climb to great heights, finding the herbage
+finer and sweeter the higher they go. Thus the inhabitants of mountain
+ranges are almost always shepherds and herdsmen. Grain can be raised
+in the valleys below, but the slopes of the mountains, though they
+produce grass to perfection, are too steep to be tilled.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Foraging parties.</div>
+
+<p>As soon as Hannibal had got established in the fort, he sent around
+small bodies of men to seize and drive in all the cattle and sheep
+that they could find. These men were, of course, armed, in order that
+they might be prepared to meet any resistance which they might
+encounter. The mountaineers, however, did not attempt to resist them.
+They felt that they were conquered, and they were accordingly
+disheartened and discouraged. The only mode of saving their cattle
+which was left to them, was to drive them as fast as they could into
+concealed and inaccessible places. They attempted to do this, and
+while Hannibal's parties were ranging up the valleys all around them,
+examining every field, and barn, and sheepfold that they could find,
+the wretched and despairing inhabitants were flying in all directions,
+driving the cows <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span>and sheep, on which their whole hope of subsistence
+depended, into the fastnesses of the mountains. They urged them into
+wild thickets, and dark ravines and chasms, and over dangerous
+glaciers, and up the steepest ascents, wherever there was the readiest
+prospect of getting them out of the plunderer's way.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Collecting cattle.</div>
+
+<p>These attempts, however, to save their little property were but very
+partially successful. Hannibal's marauding parties kept coming home,
+one after another, with droves of sheep and cattle before them, some
+larger and some smaller, but making up a vast amount in all. Hannibal
+subsisted his men three days on the food thus procured for them. It
+requires an enormous store to feed ninety or a hundred thousand men,
+even for three days; besides, in all such cases as this, an army
+always waste and destroy far more than they really consume.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Progress of the army.</div>
+
+<p>During these three days the army was not stationary, but was moving
+slowly on. The way, though still difficult and dangerous, was at least
+open before them, as there was now no enemy to dispute their passage.
+So they went on, rioting upon the abundant supplies they had obtained,
+and rejoicing in the double victory they were gaining, over the
+hostility of the people<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span> and the physical dangers and difficulties of
+the way. The poor mountaineers returned to their cabins ruined and
+desolate, for mountaineers who have lost their cows and their sheep
+have lost their all.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Cantons.<br />An embassage.<br />Hostages.</div>
+
+<p>The Alps are not all in Switzerland. Some of the most celebrated peaks
+and ranges are in a neighboring state called Savoy. The whole country
+is, in fact, divided into small states, called <i>cantons</i> at the
+present day, and similar political divisions seem to have existed in
+the time of the Romans. In his march onward from the pass which has
+been already described, Hannibal, accordingly, soon approached the
+confines of another canton. As he was advancing slowly into it, with
+the long train of his army winding up with him through the valleys, he
+was met at the borders of this new state by an embassage sent from the
+government of it. They brought with them fresh stores of provisions,
+and a number of guides. They said that they had heard of the terrible
+destruction which had come upon the other canton in consequence of
+their effort to oppose his progress, and that they had no intention of
+renewing so vain an attempt. They came, therefore, they said, to offer
+Hannibal their friendship and their aid. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span>They had brought guides to
+show the army the best way over the mountains, and a present of
+provisions; and to prove the sincerity of their professions they
+offered Hannibal hostages. These hostages were young men and boys, the
+sons of the principal inhabitants, whom they offered to deliver into
+Hannibal's power, to be kept by him until he should see that they were
+faithful and true in doing what they offered.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111-2]</a></span></p><div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;">
+<img src="images/i109.jpg" class="ispace" width="500" height="297" alt="Hannibal on the Alps." title="" />
+<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Hannibal on the Alps.</span></span></div>
+
+<div class="sidenote2">Hannibal's suspicions.</div>
+
+<p>Hannibal was so accustomed to stratagem and treachery himself, that he
+was at first very much at a loss to decide whether these offers and
+professions were honest and sincere, or whether they were only made to
+put him off his guard. He thought it possible that it was their design
+to induce him to place himself under their direction, so that they
+might lead him into some dangerous defile or labyrinth of rocks, from
+which he could not extricate himself, and where they could attack and
+destroy him. He, however, decided to return them a favorable answer,
+but to watch them very carefully, and to proceed under their guidance
+with the utmost caution and care. He accepted of the provisions they
+offered, and took the hostages. These last he delivered into the
+custody of a body of his soldiers and they marched on with the rest of
+the army. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span>Then, directing the new guides to lead the way, the army moved on
+after them. The elephants went first, with a moderate force for their
+protection preceding and accompanying them. Then came long trains of
+horses and mules, loaded with military stores and baggage, and finally
+the foot soldiers followed, marching irregularly in a long column. The
+whole train must have extended many miles, and must have appeared from
+any of the eminences around like an enormous serpent, winding its way
+tortuously through the wild and desolate valleys.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Treachery of the mountaineers.<br />They attack Hannibal.<br />The elephants.</div>
+
+<p>Hannibal was right in his suspicions. The embassage was a stratagem.
+The men who sent it had laid an ambuscade in a very narrow pass,
+concealing their forces in thickets and in chasms, and in nooks and
+corners among the rugged rocks, and when the guides had led the army
+well into the danger, a sudden signal was given, and these concealed
+enemies rushed down upon them in great numbers, breaking into their
+ranks, and renewing the scene of terrible uproar, tumult, and
+destruction which had been witnessed in the other defile. One would
+have thought that the elephants, being so unwieldy and so helpless in
+such a scene, would have been the first objects of attack. But it was
+not so. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span>The mountaineers were afraid of them. They had never seen
+such animals before, and they felt for them a mysterious awe, not
+knowing what terrible powers such enormous beasts might be expected to
+wield. They kept away from them, therefore, and from the horsemen, and
+poured down upon the head of the column of foot soldiers which
+followed in the rear.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Hannibal's army divided.</div>
+
+<p>They were quite successful at the first onset. They broke through the
+head of the column, and drove the rest back. The horses and elephants,
+in the mean time, moved forward, bearing the baggage with them, so
+that the two portions of the army were soon entirely separated.
+Hannibal was behind, with the soldiers. The mountaineers made good
+their position, and, as night came on, the contest ceased, for in such
+wilds as these no one can move at all, except with the light of day.
+The mountaineers, however, remained in their place, dividing the army,
+and Hannibal continued, during the night, in a state of great suspense
+and anxiety, with the elephants and the baggage separated from him and
+apparently at the mercy of the enemy.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Hannibal's attack on the mountaineers.<br />They embarrass his march.</div>
+
+<p>During the night he made vigorous preparations for attacking the
+mountaineers the next day. As soon as the morning light appeared, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span>he
+made the attack, and he succeeded in driving the enemy away, so far,
+at least, as to allow him to get his army together again. He then
+began once more to move on. The mountaineers, however, hovered about
+his way, and did all they could to molest and embarrass his march.
+They concealed themselves in ambuscades, and attacked the
+Carthaginians as they passed. They rolled stones down upon them, or
+discharged spears and arrows from eminences above; and if any of
+Hannibal's army became, from any reason, detached from the rest, they
+would cut off their retreat, and then take them prisoners or destroy
+them. Thus they gave Hannibal a great deal of trouble. They harassed
+his march continually, without presenting at any point a force which
+he could meet and encounter in battle. Of course, Hannibal could no
+longer trust to his guides, and he was obliged to make his way as he
+best could, sometimes right, but often wrong, and exposed to a
+thousand difficulties and dangers, which those acquainted with the
+country might have easily avoided. All this time the mountaineers were
+continually attacking him, in bands like those of robbers, sometimes
+in the van, and sometimes in the rear, wherever the nature of the
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span>ground or the circumstances of the marching army afforded them an
+opportunity.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Hannibal's indomitable perseverance.</div>
+
+<p>Hannibal persevered, however, through all these discouragements,
+protecting his men as far as it was in his power, but pressing
+earnestly on, until in nine days he reached the summit. By the summit,
+however, is not meant the summit of the mountains, but the summit of
+the <i>pass</i>, that is, the highest point which it was necessary for him
+to attain in going over. In all mountain ranges there are depressions,
+which are in Switzerland called <i>necks</i>,<a name="FNanchor_A_1" id="FNanchor_A_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_1" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> and the pathways and roads
+over the ranges lie always in these. In America, such a depression in
+a ridge of land, if well marked and decided, is called a <i>notch</i>.
+Hannibal attained the highest point of the <i>col</i>, by which he was to
+pass over, in nine days after the great battle. There were, however,
+of course, lofty peaks and summits towering still far above him.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">He encamps.<br />Return of straggling parties.</div>
+
+<p>He encamped here two days to rest and refresh his men. The enemy no
+longer molested him. In fact, parties were continually coming into the
+camp, of men and horses, that had got lost, or had been left in the
+valleys below. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span>They came in slowly, some wounded, others exhausted
+and spent by fatigue and exposure. In some cases horses came in alone.
+They were horses that had slipped or stumbled, and fallen among the
+rocks, or had sunk down exhausted by their toil, and had thus been
+left behind, and afterward, recovering their strength, had followed
+on, led by a strange instinct to keep to the tracks which their
+companions had made, and thus they rejoined the camp at last in
+safety.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Dreary scenery of the summit.<br />Storms in the mountains.</div>
+
+<p>In fact, one great reason for Hannibal's delay at his encampment on or
+near the summit of the pass, was to afford time for all the missing
+men to join the army again, that had the power to do so. Had it not
+been for this necessity, he would doubtless have descended some
+distance, at least, to a more warm and sheltered position before
+seeking repose. A more gloomy and desolate resting-place than the
+summit of an Alpine pass can scarcely be found. The bare and barren
+rocks are entirely destitute of vegetation, and they have lost,
+besides, the sublime and picturesque forms which they assume further
+below. They spread in vast, naked fields in every direction around the
+spectator, rising in gentle ascents, bleak and dreary, the surface
+whitened as if bleached by the perpetual<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span> rains. Storms are, in fact,
+almost perpetual in these elevated regions. The vast cloud which, to
+the eye of the shepherd in the valley below, seems only a fleecy cap,
+resting serenely upon the summit, or slowly floating along the sides,
+is really a driving mist, or cold and stormy rain, howling dismally
+over interminable fields of broken rocks, as if angry that it can make
+nothing grow upon them, with all its watering. Thus there are seldom
+distant views to be obtained, and every thing near presents a scene of
+simple dreariness and desolation.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">A dreary encampment.<br />Landmarks.</div>
+
+<p>Hannibal's soldiers thus found themselves in the midst of a dismal
+scene in their lofty encampment. There is one special source of
+danger, too, in such places as this, which the lower portions of the
+mountains are less exposed to, and that is the entire obliteration of
+the pathway by falls of snow. It seems almost absurd to speak of
+pathway in such regions, where there is no turf to be worn, and the
+boundless fields of rocks, ragged and hard, will take no trace of
+footsteps. There are, however, generally some faint traces of way, and
+where these fail entirely the track is sometimes indicated by small
+piles of stones, placed at intervals along the line of route. An
+unpracticed eye would <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span>scarcely distinguish these little landmarks, in
+many cases, from accidental heaps of stones which lie every where
+around. They, however, render a very essential service to the guides
+and to the mountaineers, who have been accustomed to conduct their
+steps by similar aids in other portions of the mountains.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">A snow storm.</div>
+
+<p>But when snow begins to fall, all these and every other possible means
+of distinguishing the way are soon entirely obliterated. The whole
+surface of the ground, or, rather, of the rocks, is covered, and all
+landmarks disappear. The little monuments become nothing but slight
+inequalities in the surface of the snow, undistinguishable from a
+thousand others. The air is thick and murky, and shuts off alike all
+distant prospects, and the shape and conformation of the land that is
+near; the bewildered traveler has not even the stars to guide him, as
+there is nothing but dark, falling flakes, descending from an
+impenetrable canopy of stormy clouds, to be seen in the sky.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The army resumes its march.</div>
+
+<p>Hannibal encountered a snow storm while on the summit of the pass, and
+his army were very much terrified by it. It was now November. The army
+had met with so many detentions and delays that their journey had been
+protracted<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span> to a late period. It would be unsafe to attempt to wait
+till this snow should melt again. As soon, therefore, as the storm
+ended, and the clouds cleared away, so as to allow the men to see the
+general features of the country around, the camp was broken up and the
+army put in motion. The soldiers marched through the snow with great
+anxiety and fear. Men went before to explore the way, and to guide the
+rest by flags and banners which they bore. Those who went first made
+paths, of course, for those who followed behind, as the snow was
+trampled down by their footsteps. Notwithstanding these aids, however,
+the army moved on very laboriously and with much fear.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Hannibal among the pioneers.<br />First sight of Italy.<br />Joy of the army.</div>
+
+<p>At length, however, after descending a short distance, Hannibal,
+perceiving that they must soon come in sight of the Italian valleys
+and plains which lay beyond the Alps, went forward among the pioneers,
+who had charge of the banners by which the movements of the army were
+directed, and, as soon as the open country began to come into view, he
+selected a spot where the widest prospect was presented, and halted
+his army there to let them take a view of the beautiful country which
+now lay before them. The Alps are very precipitous on the Italian
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span>side. The descent is very sudden, from the cold and icy summits, to a
+broad expanse of the most luxuriant and sunny plains. Upon these
+plains, which were spread out in a most enchanting landscape at their
+feet, Hannibal and his soldiers now looked down with exultation and
+delight. Beautiful lakes, studded with still more beautiful islands,
+reflected the beams of the sun. An endless succession of fields, in
+sober autumnal colors, with the cottages of the laborers and stacks of
+grain scattered here and there upon them, and rivers meandering
+through verdant meadows, gave variety and enchantment to the view.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Hannibal's speech.</div>
+
+<p>Hannibal made an address to his officers and men, congratulating them
+on having arrived, at last, so near to a successful termination of
+their toils. "The difficulties of the way," he said, "are at last
+surmounted, and these mighty barriers that we have scaled are the
+walls, not only of Italy, but of Rome itself. Since we have passed the
+Alps, the Romans will have no protection against us remaining. It is
+only one battle, when we get down upon the plains, or at most two, and
+the great city itself will be entirely at our disposal."</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Fatigues of the march.</div>
+
+<p>The whole army were much animated and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span>encouraged, both by the
+prospect which presented itself to their view, and by the words of
+Hannibal. They prepared for the descent, anticipating little
+difficulty; but they found, on recommencing their march, that their
+troubles were by no means over. The mountains are far steeper on the
+Italian side than on the other, and it was extremely difficult to find
+paths by which the elephants and the horses, and even the men, could
+safely descend. They moved on for some time with great labor and
+fatigue, until, at length, Hannibal, looking on before, found that the
+head of the column had stopped, and the whole train behind was soon
+jammed together, the ranks halting along the way in succession, as
+they found their path blocked up by the halting of those before them.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">New difficulties.<br />March over the glacier.</div>
+
+<p>Hannibal sent forward to ascertain the cause of the difficulty, and
+found that the van of the army had reached a precipice down which it
+was impossible to descend. It was necessary to make a circuit in hopes
+of finding some practicable way of getting down. The guides and
+pioneers went on, leading the army after them, and soon got upon a
+glacier which lay in their way. There was fresh snow upon the surface,
+covering the ice and concealing the <i>crevasses</i>, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span>as they are
+termed&mdash;that is, the great cracks and fissures which extend in the
+glaciers down through the body of the ice. The army moved on,
+trampling down the new snow, and making at first a good roadway by
+their footsteps; but very soon the old ice and snow began to be
+trampled <i>up</i> by the hoofs of the horses and the heavy tread of such
+vast multitudes of armed men. It softened to a great depth, and made
+the work of toiling through it an enormous labor. Besides, the surface
+of the ice and snow sloped steeply, and the men and beasts were
+continually falling or sliding down, and getting swallowed up in
+avalanches which their own weight set in motion, or in concealed
+crevasses where they sank to rise no more.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">A formidable barrier.<br />Hannibal cuts his way through the rocks.</div>
+
+<p>They, however, made some progress, though slowly, and with great
+danger. They at last got below the region of the snow, but here they
+encountered new difficulties in the abruptness and ruggedness of the
+rocks, and in the zigzag and tortuous direction of the way. At last
+they came to a spot where their further progress appeared to be
+entirely cut off by a large mass of rock, which it seemed necessary to
+remove in order to widen the passage sufficiently to allow them to go
+on. The Roman historian says that <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span>Hannibal removed these rocks by
+building great fires upon them, and then pouring on vinegar, which
+opened seams and fissures in them, by means of which the rocks could
+be split and pried to pieces with wedges and crowbars. On reading this
+account, the mind naturally pauses to consider the probability of its
+being true. As they had no gunpowder in those days, they were
+compelled to resort to some such method as the one above described for
+removing rocks. There are some species of rock which are easily
+cracked and broken by the action of fire. Others resist it. There
+seems, however, to be no reason obvious why vinegar should materially
+assist in the operation. Besides, we can not suppose that Hannibal
+could have had, at such a time and place, any very large supply of
+vinegar on hand. On the whole, it is probable that, if any such
+operation was performed at all, it was on a very small scale, and the
+results must have been very insignificant at the time, though the fact
+has since been greatly celebrated in history.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The army in safety on the plains of Italy.</div>
+
+<p>In coming over the snow, and in descending the rocks immediately
+below, the army, and especially the animals connected with it,
+suffered a great deal from hunger. It was difficult to procure forage
+for them of any kind. At <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span>length, however, as they continued their
+descent, they came first into the region of forests, and soon after to
+slopes of grassy fields descending into warm and fertile valleys. Here
+the animals were allowed to stop and rest, and renew their strength by
+abundance of food. The men rejoiced that their toils and dangers were
+over, and, descending easily the remainder of the way, they encamped
+at last safely on the plains of Italy.</p>
+
+<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="Chapter_VI" id="Chapter_VI"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter VI.</span></h2>
+
+<h2><span class="smcap">Hannibal in the North of Italy.</span></h2>
+
+<h3>B.C. 217</h3>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Miserable condition of the army.<br />Its great losses.</div>
+
+<p class="n"><span style="float:left;font-size:50px;line-height:32px;padding-top:2px;padding-bottom:1px;">W</span><span style="margin-left:0%;">hen</span> Hannibal's army found themselves on the plains of Italy, and sat
+down quietly to repose, they felt the effects of their fatigues and
+exposures far more sensibly than they had done under the excitement
+which they naturally felt while actually upon the mountains. They
+were, in fact, in a miserable condition. Hannibal told a Roman officer
+whom he afterward took prisoner that more than thirty thousand
+perished on the way in crossing the mountains; some in the battles
+which were fought in the passes, and a greater number still, probably,
+from exposure to fatigue and cold, and from falls among the rocks and
+glaciers, and diseases produced by destitution and misery. The remnant
+of the army which was left on reaching the plain were emaciated,
+sickly, ragged, and spiritless; far more inclined to lie down and die,
+than to go on and undertake the conquest of Italy and Rome.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Feelings of Hannibal's soldiers.</div>
+
+<p>After some days, however, they began to recruit. Although they had
+been half starved <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span>among the mountains, they had now plenty of
+wholesome food. They repaired their tattered garments and their broken
+weapons. They talked with one another about the terrific scenes
+through which they had been passing, and the dangers which they had
+surmounted, and thus, gradually strengthening their impressions of the
+greatness of the exploits they had performed, they began soon to
+awaken in each other's breasts an ambition to go on and undertake the
+accomplishment of other deeds of daring and glory.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Plans of Scipio.</div>
+
+<p>We left Scipio with his army at the mouth of the Rhone, about to set
+sail for Italy with a part of his force, while the rest of it was sent
+on toward Spain. Scipio sailed along the coast by Genoa, and thence to
+Pisa, where he landed. He stopped a little while to recruit his
+soldiers after the voyage, and in the mean time sent orders to all the
+Roman forces then in the north of Italy to join his standard. He hoped
+in this way to collect a force strong enough to encounter Hannibal.
+These arrangements being made, he marched to the northward as rapidly
+as possible. He knew in what condition Hannibal's army had descended
+from the Alps, and wished to attack them before they should have time
+to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span>recover from the effects of their privations and sufferings. He
+reached the Po before he saw any thing of Hannibal.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The armies approach each other.</div>
+
+<p>Hannibal, in the mean time, was not idle. As soon as his men were in a
+condition to move, he began to act upon the tribes that he found at
+the foot of the mountains, offering his friendship to some, and
+attacking others. He thus conquered those who attempted to resist him,
+moving, all the time, gradually southward toward the Po. That river
+has numerous branches, and among them is one named the Ticinus. It was
+on the banks of this river that the two armies at last came together.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Feelings of Hannibal and Scipio.</div>
+
+<p>Both generals must have felt some degree of solicitude in respect to
+the result of the contest which was about to take place. Scipio knew
+very well Hannibal's terrible efficiency as a warrior, and he was
+himself a general of great distinction, and a <i>Roman</i>, so that
+Hannibal had no reason to anticipate a very easy victory. Whatever
+doubts or fears, however, general officers may feel on the eve of an
+engagement, it is always considered very necessary to conceal them
+entirely from the men, and to animate and encourage the troops with a
+most undoubting confidence that they will gain the victory.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span></p><p>Both Hannibal and Scipio, accordingly, made addresses to their
+respective armies&mdash;at least so say the historians of those times&mdash;each
+one expressing to his followers the certainty that the other side
+would easily be beaten. The speech attributed to Scipio was somewhat
+as follows:</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Address of Scipio to the Roman army.</div>
+
+<p>"I wish to say a few words to you, soldiers, before we go into battle.
+It is, perhaps, scarcely necessary. It certainly would not be
+necessary if I had now under my command the same troops that I took
+with me to the mouth of the Rhone. They knew the Carthaginians there,
+and would not have feared them here. A body of our horsemen met and
+attacked a larger body of theirs, and defeated them. We then advanced
+with our whole force toward their encampment, in order to give them
+battle. They, however, abandoned the ground and retreated before we
+reached the spot, acknowledging, by their flight, their own fear and
+our superiority. If you had been with us there, and had witnessed
+these facts, there would have been no need that I should say any thing
+to convince you now how easily you are going to defeat this
+Carthaginian foe.</p>
+
+<p>"We have had a war with this same nation before. We conquered them
+then, both by land <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span>and sea; and when, finally, peace was made, we
+required them to pay us tribute, and we continued to exact it from
+them for twenty years. They are a conquered nation; and now this
+miserable army has forced its way insanely over the Alps, just to
+throw itself into our hands. They meet us reduced in numbers, and
+exhausted in resources and strength. More than half of their army
+perished in the mountains, and those that survive are weak,
+dispirited, ragged, and diseased. And yet they are compelled to meet
+us. If there was any chance for retreat, or any possible way for them
+to avoid the necessity of a battle, they would avail themselves of it.
+But there is not. They are hemmed in by the mountains, which are now,
+to them, an impassable wall, for they have not strength to scale them
+again. They are not real enemies; they are the mere remnants and
+shadows of enemies. They are wholly disheartened and discouraged,
+their strength and energy, both of soul and body, being spent and
+gone, through the cold, the hunger, and the squalid misery they have
+endured. Their joints are benumbed, their sinews stiffened, and their
+forms emaciated. Their armor is shattered and broken, their horses are
+lamed, and all their equipments worn <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span>out and ruined, so that really
+what most I fear is that the world will refuse us the glory of the
+victory, and say that it was the Alps that conquered Hannibal, and not
+the Roman army.</p>
+
+<p>"Easy as the victory is to be, however, we must remember that there is
+a great deal at stake in the contest. It is not merely for glory that
+we are now about to contend. If Hannibal conquers, he will march to
+Rome, and our wives, our children, and all that we hold dear will be
+at his mercy. Remember this, and go into the battle feeling that the
+fate of Rome itself is depending upon the result."</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Hannibal's ingenious method of introducing his speech.<br />Curious combat.<br />Effect on the army.</div>
+
+<p>An oration is attributed to Hannibal, too, on the occasion of this
+battle. He showed, however, his characteristic ingenuity and spirit of
+contrivance in the way in which he managed to attract strong attention
+to what he was going to say, by the manner in which he introduced it.
+He formed his army into a circle, as if to witness a spectacle. He
+then brought in to the center of this circle a number of prisoners
+that he had taken among the Alps&mdash;perhaps they were the hostages which
+had been delivered to him, as related in the preceding chapter.
+Whoever they were, however, whether hostages or captives taken in the
+battles which had been <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span>fought in the defiles, Hannibal had brought
+them with his army down into Italy, and now introducing them into the
+center of the circle which the army formed, he threw down before them
+such arms as they were accustomed to use in their native mountains,
+and asked them whether they would be willing to take those weapons and
+fight each other, on condition that each one who killed his antagonist
+should be restored to his liberty, and have a horse and armor given
+him, so that he could return home with honor. The barbarous monsters
+said readily that they would, and seized the arms with the greatest
+avidity. Two or three pairs of combatants were allowed to fight. One
+of each pair was killed, and the other set at liberty according to the
+promise of Hannibal. The combats excited the greatest interest, and
+awakened the strongest enthusiasm among the soldiers who witnessed
+them. When this effect had been sufficiently produced, the rest of the
+prisoners were sent away, and Hannibal addressed the vast ring of
+soldiery as follows:</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Hannibal's speech to his army.</div>
+
+<p>"I have intended, soldiers, in what you have now seen, not merely to
+amuse you, but to give you a picture of your own situation. You are
+hemmed in on the right and left by two seas, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span>and you have not so much
+as a single ship upon either of them. Then there is the Po before you
+and the Alps behind. The Po is a deeper, and more rapid and turbulent
+river than the Rhone; and as for the Alps, it was with the utmost
+difficulty that you passed over them when you were in full strength
+and vigor; they are an insurmountable wall to you now. You are
+therefore shut in, like our prisoners, on every side, and have no hope
+of life and liberty but in battle and victory.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">His words of encouragement.</div>
+
+<p>"The victory, however, will not be difficult. I see, wherever I look
+among you, a spirit of determination and courage which I am sure will
+make you conquerors. The troops which you are going to contend against
+are mostly fresh recruits, that know nothing of the discipline of the
+camp, and can never successfully confront such war-worn veterans as
+you. You all know each other well, and me. I was, in fact, a pupil
+with you for many years, before I took the command. But Scipio's
+forces are strangers to one another and to him, and, consequently,
+have no common bond of sympathy; and as for Scipio himself, his very
+commission as a Roman general is only six months old.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Hannibal's promises.</div>
+
+<p>"Think, too, what a splendid and prosperous <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span>career victory will open
+before you. It will conduct you to Rome. It will make you masters of
+one of the most powerful and wealthiest cities in the world. Thus far
+you have fought your battles only for glory or for dominion; now, you
+will have something more substantial to reward your success. There
+will be great treasures to be divided among you if we conquer, but if
+we are defeated we are lost. Hemmed in as we are on every side, there
+is no place that we can reach by flight. There is, therefore, no such
+alternative as flight left to us. We <i>must conquer</i>."</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">His real feelings.</div>
+
+<p>It is hardly probable that Hannibal could have really and honestly
+felt all the confidence that he expressed in his harangues to his
+soldiers. He must have had some fears. In fact, in all enterprises
+undertaken by man, the indications of success, and the hopes based
+upon them, will fluctuate from time to time, and cause his confidence
+in the result to ebb and flow, so that bright anticipations of success
+and triumph will alternate in his heart with feelings of
+discouragement and despondency. This effect is experienced by all; by
+the energetic and decided as well as by the timid and the faltering.
+The former, however, never allow these <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span>fluctuations of hope and fear
+to influence their action. They consider well the substantial grounds
+for expecting success before commencing their undertaking, and then go
+steadily forward, under all aspects of the sky&mdash;when it shines and
+when it rains&mdash;till they reach the end. The inefficient and undecided
+can act only under the stimulus of present hope. The end they aim at
+must be visible before them all the time. If for a moment it passes
+out of view, their motive is gone, and they can do no more, till, by
+some change in circumstances, it comes in sight again.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Hannibal's energy and decision.<br />His steady resolution.<br />Hannibal's unfaltering courage.</div>
+
+<p>Hannibal was energetic and decided. The time for him to consider
+whether he would encounter the hostility of the Roman empire, aroused
+to the highest possible degree, was when his army was drawn up upon
+the banks of the Iberus, before they crossed it. The Iberus was his
+Rubicon. That line once overstepped, there was to be no further
+faltering. The difficulties which arose from time to time to throw a
+cloud over his prospects, only seemed to stimulate him to fresh
+energy, and to awaken a new, though still a calm and steady
+resolution. It was so at the Pyrenees; it was so at the Rhone; it was
+so among the Alps, where <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span>the difficulties and dangers would have
+induced almost any other commander to have returned; and it was still
+so, now that he found himself shut in on every hand by the stern
+boundaries of Northern Italy, which he could not possibly hope again
+to pass, and the whole disposable force of the Roman empire,
+commanded, too, by one of <i>the consuls</i>, concentrated before him. The
+imminent danger produced no faltering, and apparently no fear.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Movements of Scipio.</div>
+
+<p>The armies were not yet in sight of each other. They were, in fact,
+yet on opposite sides of the River Po. The Roman commander concluded
+to march his troops across the river, and advance in search of
+Hannibal, who was still at some miles' distance. After considering the
+various means of crossing the stream, he decided finally on building a
+bridge.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Scipio's bridge over the Po.<br />The army crosses the river.</div>
+
+<p>Military commanders generally throw some sort of a bridge across a
+stream of water lying in their way, if it is too deep to be easily
+forded, unless, indeed, it is so wide and rapid as to make the
+construction of the bridge difficult or impracticable. In this latter
+case they cross as well as they can by means of boats and rafts, and
+by swimming. The Po, though not a very large stream at this point, was
+too deep to be <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span>forded, and Scipio accordingly built a bridge. The
+soldiers cut down the trees which grew in the forests along the banks,
+and after trimming off the tops and branches, they rolled the trunks
+into the water. They placed these trunks side by side, with others,
+laid transversely and pinned down, upon the top. Thus they formed
+rafts, which they placed in a line across the stream, securing them
+well to each other and to the banks. This made the foundation for the
+bridge, and after this foundation was covered with other materials, so
+as to make the upper surface a convenient roadway, the army were
+conducted across it, and then a small detachment of soldiers were
+stationed at each extremity of it as a guard.</p>
+
+<p>Such a bridge as this answers a very good temporary purpose, and in
+still water, as, for example, over narrow lakes or very sluggish
+streams, where there is very little current, a floating structure of
+this kind is sometimes built for permanent service. Such bridges will
+not, however, stand on broad and rapid rivers liable to floods. The
+pressure of the water alone, in such cases, would very much endanger
+all the fastenings; and in cases where drift wood or ice is brought
+down by the stream, the floating <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span>masses, not being able to pass under
+the bridge, would accumulate above it, and would soon bear upon it
+with so enormous a pressure that nothing could withstand its force.
+The bridge would be broken away, and the whole accumulation&mdash;bridge,
+drift-wood, and ice&mdash;would be borne irresistibly down the stream
+together.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Hannibal's warlike operations.</div>
+
+<p>Scipio's bridge, however, answered very well for his purpose. His army
+passed over it in safety. When Hannibal heard of this, he knew that
+the battle was at hand. Hannibal was himself at this time about five
+miles distant. While Scipio was at work upon the bridge, Hannibal was
+employed, mainly, as he had been all the time since his descent from
+the mountains, in the subjugation of the various petty nations and
+tribes north of the Po. Some of them were well disposed to join his
+standard. Others were allies of the Romans, and wished to remain so.
+He made treaties and sent help to the former, and dispatched
+detachments of troops to intimidate and subdue the latter. When,
+however, he learned that Scipio had crossed the river, he ordered all
+these detachments to come immediately in, and he began to prepare in
+earnest for the contest that was impending.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">He concentrates his army.<br />Hannibal addresses his soldiers.<br />He promises them lands.</div>
+
+<p>He called together an assembly of his soldiers, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span>and announced to them
+finally that the battle was now nigh. He renewed the words of
+encouragement that he had spoken before, and in addition to what he
+then said, he now promised the soldiers rewards in land in case they
+proved victorious. "I will give you each a farm," said he, "wherever
+you choose to have it, either in Africa, Italy, or Spain. If, instead
+of the land, any of you shall prefer to receive rather an equivalent
+in money, you shall have the reward in that form, and then you can
+return home and live with your friends, as before the war, under
+circumstances which will make you objects of envy to those who
+remained behind. If any of you would like to live in Carthage, I will
+have you made free citizens, so that you can live there in
+independence and honor."</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Ratifying a promise.</div>
+
+<p>But what security would there be for the faithful fulfillment of these
+promises? In modern times such security is given by bonds, with
+pecuniary penalties, or by the deposit of titles to property in
+responsible hands. In ancient days they managed differently. The
+promiser bound himself by some solemn and formal mode of adjuration,
+accompanied, in important cases, with certain ceremonies, which were
+supposed to seal and confirm the obligation assumed. In <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span>this case
+Hannibal brought a lamb in the presence of the assembled army. He held
+it before them with his left hand, while with his right he grasped a
+heavy stone. He then called aloud upon the gods, imploring them to
+destroy him as he was about to slay the lamb, if he failed to perform
+faithfully and fully the pledges that he had made. He then struck the
+poor lamb a heavy blow with the stone. The animal fell dead at his
+feet, and Hannibal was thenceforth bound, in the opinion of the army,
+by a very solemn obligation indeed, to be faithful in fulfilling his
+word.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Omens.</div>
+
+<p>The soldiers were greatly animated and excited by these promises, and
+were in haste to have the contest come on. The Roman soldiers, it
+seems, were in a different mood of mind. Some circumstances had
+occurred which they considered as bad omens, and they were very much
+dispirited and depressed by them. It is astonishing that men should
+ever allow their minds to be affected by such wholly accidental
+occurrences as these were. One of them was this: a wolf came into
+their camp, from one of the forests near, and after wounding several
+men, made his escape again. The other was more trifling still. A swarm
+of bees flew <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span>into the encampment, and lighted upon a tree just over
+Scipio's tent. This was considered, for some reason or other, a sign
+that some calamity was going to befall them, and the men were
+accordingly intimidated and disheartened. They consequently looked
+forward to the battle with uneasiness and anxiety, while the army of
+Hannibal anticipated it with eagerness and pleasure.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The battle.<br />The Romans thrown into confusion.<br />Scipio wounded.<br />The Romans driven back across the river.<br />The Romans destroy the bridge over the Ticinus.</div>
+
+<p>The battle came on, at last, very suddenly, and at a moment when
+neither party were expecting it. A large detachment of both armies
+were advancing toward the position of the other, near the River
+Ticinus, to reconnoiter, when they met, and the battle began. Hannibal
+advanced with great impetuosity, and sent, at the same time, a
+detachment around to attack his enemy in the rear. The Romans soon
+began to fall into confusion; the horsemen and foot soldiers got
+entangled together; the men were trampled upon by the horses, and the
+horses were frightened by the men. In the midst of this scene, Scipio
+received a wound. A consul was a dignitary of very high consideration.
+He was, in fact, a sort of semi-king. The officers, and all the
+soldiers, so fast as they heard that the consul was wounded, were
+terrified and dismayed,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span> and the Romans began to retreat. Scipio had a
+young son, named also Scipio, who was then about twenty years of age.
+He was fighting by the side of his father when he received his wound.
+He protected his father, got him into the center of a compact body of
+cavalry, and moved slowly off the ground, those in the rear facing
+toward the enemy and beating them back, as they pressed on in pursuit
+of them. In this way they reached their camp. Here they stopped for
+the night. They had fortified the place, and, as night was coming on,
+Hannibal thought it not prudent to press on and attack them there. He
+waited for the morning. Scipio, however, himself wounded and his army
+discouraged, thought it not prudent for him to wait till the morning.
+At midnight he put his whole force in motion on a retreat. He kept the
+camp-fires burning, and did every thing else in his power to prevent
+the Carthaginians observing any indications of his departure. His army
+marched secretly and silently till they reached the river. They
+recrossed it by the bridge they had built, and then, cutting away the
+fastenings by which the different rafts were held together, the
+structure was at once destroyed, and the materials of which it was
+composed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span> floated away, a mere mass of ruins, down the stream. From
+the Ticinus they floated, we may imagine, into the Po, and thence down
+the Po into the Adriatic Sea, where they drifted about upon the waste
+of waters till they were at last, one after another, driven by storms
+upon the sandy shores.</p>
+
+<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="Chapter_VII" id="Chapter_VII"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter VII.</span></h2>
+
+<h2><span class="smcap">The Apennines.</span></h2>
+
+<h3>B.C. 217</h3>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Hannibal pursues the Romans.<br />He takes some prisoners.</div>
+
+<p class="n"><span style="float:left;font-size:50px;line-height:32px;padding-top:2px;padding-bottom:1px;">A</span><span style="margin-left:0%;">s</span> soon as Hannibal was apprised in the morning that Scipio and his
+forces had left their ground, he pressed on after them, very earnest
+to overtake them before they should reach the river. But he was too
+late. The main body of the Roman army had got over. There was,
+however, a detachment of a few hundred men, who had been left on
+Hannibal's side of the river to guard the bridge until all the army
+should have passed, and then to help in cutting it away. They had
+accomplished this before Hannibal's arrival, but had not had time to
+contrive any way to get across the river themselves. Hannibal took
+them all prisoners.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Revolt of some Gauls from the Romans.</div>
+
+<p>The condition and prospects of both the Roman and Carthaginian cause
+were entirely changed by this battle, and the retreat of Scipio across
+the Po. All the nations of the north of Italy, who had been subjects
+or allies of the Romans, now turned to Hannibal. They sent embassies
+into his camp, offering him their <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span>friendship and alliance. In fact,
+there was a large body of Gauls in the Roman camp, who were fighting
+under Scipio at the battle of Ticinus, who deserted his standard
+immediately afterward, and came over in a mass to Hannibal. They made
+this revolt in the night, and, instead of stealing away secretly, they
+raised a prodigious tumult, killed the guards, filled the encampment
+with their shouts and outcries, and created for a time an awful scene
+of terror.</p>
+
+<p>Hannibal received them, but he was too sagacious to admit such a
+treacherous horde into his army. He treated them with great
+consideration and kindness, and dismissed them with presents, that
+they might all go to their respective homes, charging them to exert
+their influence in his favor among the tribes to which they severally
+belonged.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Hannibal crosses the river.</div>
+
+<p>Hannibal's soldiers, too, were very much encouraged by the
+commencement they had made. The army made immediate preparations for
+crossing the river. Some of the soldiers built rafts, others went up
+the stream in search of places to ford. Some swam across. They could
+adopt these or any other modes in safety, for the Romans made no stand
+on the opposite bank to oppose them, but moved rapidly on, as fast as
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span>Scipio could be carried. His wounds began to inflame, and were
+extremely painful.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Dismay of the Romans.<br />Sempronius recalled to Italy.</div>
+
+<p>In fact, the Romans were dismayed at the danger which now threatened
+them. As soon as news of these events reached the city, the
+authorities there sent a dispatch immediately to Sicily to recall the
+other consul. His name was Sempronius. It will be recollected that,
+when the lots were cast between him and Scipio, it fell to Scipio to
+proceed to Spain, with a view to arresting Hannibal's march, while
+Sempronius went to Sicily and Africa. The object of this movement was
+to threaten and attack the Carthaginians at home, in order to distract
+their attention and prevent their sending any fresh forces to aid
+Hannibal, and, perhaps, even to compel them to recall him from Italy
+to defend their own capital. But now that Hannibal had not only passed
+the Alps, but had also crossed the Po, and was marching toward
+Rome&mdash;Scipio himself disabled, and his army flying before him&mdash;they
+were obliged at once to abandon the plan of threatening Carthage. They
+sent with all dispatch an order to Sempronius to hasten home and
+assist in the defense of Rome.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Sufferings of Scipio from his wound.<br />He is joined by Sempronius.</div>
+
+<p>Sempronius was a man of a very prompt and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span>impetuous character, with
+great confidence in his own powers, and very ready for action. He came
+immediately into Italy, recruited new soldiers for the army, put
+himself at the head of his forces, and marched northward to join
+Scipio in the valley of the Po. Scipio was suffering great pain from
+his wounds, and could do but little toward directing the operations of
+the army. He had slowly retreated before Hannibal, the fever and pain
+of his wounds being greatly exasperated by the motion of traveling. In
+this manner he arrived at the Trebia, a small stream flowing northward
+into the Po. He crossed this stream, and finding that he could not go
+any further, on account of the torturing pain to which it put him to
+be moved, he halted his army, marked out an encampment, threw up
+fortifications around it, and prepared to make a stand. To his great
+relief, Sempronius soon came up and joined him here.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The Roman commanders disagree.</div>
+
+<p>There were now two generals. Napoleon used to say that one bad
+commander was better than two good ones, so essential is it to success
+in all military operations to secure that promptness, and confidence,
+and decision which can only exist where action is directed by one
+single mind. Sempronius and Scipio disagreed <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span>as to the proper course
+to be pursued. Sempronius wished to attack Hannibal immediately.
+Scipio was in favor of delay. Sempronius attributed Scipio's
+reluctance to give battle to the dejection of mind and discouragement
+produced by his wound, or to a feeling of envy lest he, Sempronius,
+should have the honor of conquering the Carthaginians, while he
+himself was helpless in his tent. On the other hand, Scipio thought
+Sempronius inconsiderate and reckless, and disposed to rush heedlessly
+into a contest with a foe whose powers and resources he did not
+understand.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Skirmishes.<br />Sempronius eager for a battle.</div>
+
+<p>In the mean time, while the two commanders were thus divided in
+opinion, some skirmishes and small engagements took place between
+detachments from the two armies, in which Sempronius thought that the
+Romans had the advantage. This excited his enthusiasm more and more,
+and he became extremely desirous to bring on a general battle. He
+began to be quite out of patience with Scipio's caution and delay. The
+soldiers, he said, were full of strength and courage, all eager for
+the combat, and it was absurd to hold them back on account of the
+feebleness of one sick man. "Besides," said he, "of what use can it be
+to delay any longer? <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span>We are as ready to meet the Carthaginians now as
+we shall ever be. There is no <i>third</i> consul to come and help us; and
+what a disgrace it is for us Romans, who in the former war led our
+troops to the very gates of Carthage, to allow Hannibal to bear sway
+over all the north of Italy, while we retreat gradually before him,
+afraid to encounter now a force that we have always conquered before."</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Hannibal's stratagem.</div>
+
+<p>Hannibal was not long in learning, through his spies, that there was
+this difference of opinion between the Roman generals, and that
+Sempronius was full of a presumptuous sort of ardor, and he began to
+think that he could contrive some plan to draw the latter out into
+battle under circumstances in which he would have to act at a great
+disadvantage. He did contrive such a plan. It succeeded admirably; and
+the case was one of those numerous instances which occurred in the
+history of Hannibal, of successful stratagem, which led the Romans to
+say that his leading traits of character were treachery and cunning.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Details of Hannibal's scheme.</div>
+
+<p>Hannibal's plan was, in a word, an attempt to draw the Roman army out
+of its encampment on a dark, cold, and stormy night in December, and
+get them into the river. This river <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span>was the Trebia. It flowed north
+into the Po, between the Roman and Carthaginian camps. His scheme, in
+detail, was to send a part of his army over the river to attack the
+Romans in the night or very early in the morning. He hoped that by
+this means Sempronius would be induced to come out of his camp to
+attack the Carthaginians. The Carthaginians were then to fly and
+recross the river, and Hannibal hoped that Sempronius would follow,
+excited by the ardor of pursuit. Hannibal was then to have a strong
+reserve of the army, that had remained all the time in warmth and
+safety, to come out and attack the Romans with unimpaired strength and
+vigor, while the Romans themselves would be benumbed by the cold and
+wet, and disorganized by the confusion produced in crossing the
+stream.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The ambuscade.<br />Two thousand chosen men.</div>
+
+<p>A part of Hannibal's reserve were to be placed in an ambuscade. There
+were some meadows near the water, which were covered in many places
+with tall grass and bushes. Hannibal went to examine the spot, and
+found that this shrubbery was high enough for even horsemen to be
+concealed in it. He determined to place a thousand foot soldiers and a
+thousand horsemen here, the most efficient and courageous<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span> in the
+army. He selected them in the following manner:</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Hannibal's manner of choosing them.</div>
+
+<p>He called one of his lieutenant generals to the spot, explained
+somewhat of his design to him, and then asked him to go and choose
+from the cavalry and the infantry, a hundred each, the best soldiers
+he could find. This two hundred were then assembled, and Hannibal,
+after surveying them with looks of approbation and pleasure, said,
+"Yes, you are the men I want, only, instead of two hundred, I need two
+thousand. Go back to the army, and select and bring to me, each of
+you, nine men like yourselves." It is easy to be imagined that the
+soldiers were pleased with this commission, and that they executed it
+faithfully. The whole force thus chosen was soon assembled, and
+stationed in the thickets above described, where they lay in ambush
+ready to attack the Romans after they should pass the river.</p>
+
+<p>Hannibal also made arrangements for leaving a large part of his army
+in his own camp, ready for battle, with orders that they should
+partake of food and refreshments, and keep themselves warm by the
+fires until they should be called upon. All things being thus ready,
+he detached a body of horsemen to cross the river, and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span>see if they
+could provoke the Romans to come out of their camp and pursue them.</p>
+
+<p>"Go," said Hannibal, to the commander of this detachment, "pass the
+stream, advance to the Roman camp, assail the guards, and when the
+army forms and comes out to attack you, retreat slowly before them
+back across the river."</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Attack on the Roman camp.<br />Success of Hannibal's stratagem.<br />Sempronius crosses the river.<br />Impetuous attack of Hannibal.</div>
+
+<p>The detachment did as it was ordered to do. When they arrived at the
+camp, which was soon after break of day&mdash;for it was a part of
+Hannibal's plan to bring the Romans out before they should have had
+time to breakfast&mdash;Sempronius, at the first alarm, called all the
+soldiers to arms, supposing that the whole Carthaginian force was
+attacking them. It was a cold and stormy morning, and the atmosphere
+being filled with rain and snow, but little could be seen. Column
+after column of horsemen and of infantry marched out of the camp. The
+Carthaginians retreated. Sempronius was greatly excited at the idea of
+so easily driving back the assailants, and, as they retreated, he
+pressed on in pursuit of them. As Hannibal had anticipated, he became
+so excited in the pursuit that he did not stop at the banks of the
+river. The Carthaginian horsemen plunged into the stream in their
+retreat, and the Romans, foot soldiers <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span>and horsemen together,
+followed on. The stream was usually small, but it was now swelled by
+the rain which had been falling all the night. The water was, of
+course, intensely cold. The horsemen got through tolerably well, but
+the foot soldiers were all thoroughly drenched and benumbed; and as
+they had not taken any food that morning, and had come forth on a very
+sudden call, and without any sufficient preparation, they felt the
+effects of the exposure in the strongest degree. Still they pressed
+on. They ascended the bank after crossing the river, and when they had
+formed again there, and were moving forward in pursuit of their still
+flying enemy, suddenly the whole force of Hannibal's reserves, strong
+and vigorous, just from their tents and their fires, burst upon them.
+They had scarcely recovered from the astonishment and the shock of
+this unexpected onset, when the two thousand concealed in the
+ambuscade came sallying forth in the storm, and assailed the Romans in
+the rear with frightful shouts and outcries.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Situation of the Roman army.<br />Terrible conflict.</div>
+
+<p>All these movements took place very rapidly. Only a very short period
+elapsed from the time that the Roman army, officers and soldiers, were
+quietly sleeping in their camp, or rising slowly <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span>to prepare for the
+routine of an ordinary day, before they found themselves all drawn out
+in battle array some miles from their encampment, and surrounded and
+hemmed in by their foes. The events succeeded each other so rapidly as
+to appear to the soldiers like a dream; but very soon their wet and
+freezing clothes, their limbs benumbed and stiffened, the sleet which
+was driving along the plain, the endless lines of Carthaginian
+infantry, hemming them in on all sides, and the columns of horsemen
+and of elephants charging upon them, convinced them that their
+situation was one of dreadful reality. The calamity, too, which
+threatened them was of vast extent, as well as imminent and terrible;
+for, though the stratagem of Hannibal was very simple in its plan and
+management, still he had executed it on a great scale, and had brought
+out the whole Roman army. There were, it is said, about forty thousand
+that crossed the river, and about an equal number in the Carthaginian
+army to oppose them. Such a body of combatants covered, of course, a
+large extent of ground, and the conflict that ensued was one of the
+most terrible scenes of the many that Hannibal assisted in enacting.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Utter defeat of the Romans.</div>
+
+<p>The conflict continued for many hours, the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span>Romans getting more and
+more into confusion all the time. The elephants of the Carthaginians,
+that is, the few that now remained, made great havoc in their ranks,
+and finally, after a combat of some hours, the whole army was broken
+up and fled, some portions in compact bodies, as their officers could
+keep them together, and others in hopeless and inextricable confusion.
+They made their way back to the river, which they reached at various
+points up and down the stream. In the mean time, the continued rain
+had swollen the waters still more, the low lands were overflowed, the
+deep places concealed, and the broad expanse of water in the center of
+the stream whirled in boiling and turbid eddies, whose surface was
+roughened by the December breeze, and dotted every where with the
+drops of rain still falling.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Scene after the battle.</div>
+
+<p>When the Roman army was thoroughly broken up and scattered, the
+Carthaginians gave up the further prosecution of the contest. They
+were too wet, cold, and exhausted themselves to feel any ardor in the
+pursuit of their enemies. Vast numbers of the Romans, however,
+attempted to recross the river, and were swept down and destroyed by
+the merciless flood, whose force they had not strength enough
+remaining to withstand.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span> Other portions of the troops lay hid in
+lurking-places to which they had retreated, until night came on, and
+then they made rafts on which they contrived to float themselves back
+across the stream. Hannibal's troops were too wet, and cold, and
+exhausted to go out again into the storm, and so they were unmolested
+in these attempts. Notwithstanding this, however, great numbers of
+them were carried down the stream and lost.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Various battles of Hannibal.<br />Scarcity of food.</div>
+
+<p>It was now December, too late for Hannibal to attempt to advance much
+further that season, and yet the way before him was open to the
+Apennines, by the defeat of Sempronius, for neither he nor Scipio
+could now hope to make another stand against him till they should
+receive new re-enforcements from Rome. During the winter months
+Hannibal had various battles and adventures, sometimes with portions
+and detachments of the Roman army, and sometimes with the native
+tribes. He was sometimes in great difficulty for want of food for his
+army, until at length he bribed the governor of a castle, where a
+Roman granary was kept, to deliver it up to him, and after that he was
+well supplied.</p>
+
+<p>The natives of the country were, however, not at all well disposed
+toward him, and in the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span>course of the winter they attempted to impede
+his operations, and to harass his army by every means in their power.
+Finding his situation uncomfortable, he moved on toward the south, and
+at length determined that, inclement as the season was, he would cross
+the Apennines.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Valley of the Arno.</div>
+
+<p>By looking at the <a href="#Frontispiece">map</a> of Italy, it will be seen that the great valley
+of the Po extends across the whole north of Italy. The valley of the
+Arno and of the Umbro lies south of it, separated from it by a part of
+the Apennine chain. This southern valley was Etruria. Hannibal decided
+to attempt to pass over the mountains into Etruria. He thought he
+should find there a warmer climate, and inhabitants more well-disposed
+toward him, besides being so much nearer Rome.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Crossing the Apennines.<br />Terrific storm.<br />Death of the elephants.</div>
+
+<p>But, though Hannibal conquered the Alps, the Apennines conquered him.
+A very violent storm arose just as he reached the most exposed place
+among the mountains. It was intensely cold, and the wind blew the hail
+and snow directly into the faces of the troops, so that it was
+impossible for them to proceed. They halted and turned their backs to
+the storm, but the wind increased more and more, and was attended with
+terrific thunder and lightning, which filled <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span>the soldiers with alarm,
+as they were at such an altitude as to be themselves enveloped in the
+clouds from which the peals and flashes were emitted. Unwilling to
+retreat, Hannibal ordered the army to encamp on the spot, in the best
+shelter they could find. They attempted, accordingly, to pitch their
+tents, but it was impossible to secure them. The wind increased to a
+hurricane. The tent poles were unmanageable, and the canvas was
+carried away from its fastenings, and sometimes split or blown into
+rags by its flapping in the wind. The poor elephants, that is, all
+that were left of them from previous battles and exposures, sunk down
+under this intense cold and died. One only remained alive.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Hannibal's uneasiness.</div>
+
+<p>Hannibal ordered a retreat, and the army went back into the valley of
+the Po. But Hannibal was ill at ease here. The natives of the country
+were very weary of his presence. His army consumed their food, ravaged
+their country, and destroyed all their peace and happiness. Hannibal
+suspected them of a design to poison him or assassinate him in some
+other way. He was continually watching and taking precautions against
+these attempts. He had a great many different dresses made to be used
+as disguises, and false hair of different colors and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span>fashion, so that
+he could alter his appearance at pleasure. This was to prevent any spy
+or assassin who might come into his camp from identifying him by any
+description of his dress and appearance. Still, notwithstanding these
+precautions, he was ill at ease, and at the very earliest practicable
+period in the spring he made a new attempt to cross the mountains, and
+was now successful.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">He crosses the Apennines.</div>
+
+<p>On descending the southern declivities of the Apennines he learned
+that a new Roman army, under a new consul, was advancing toward him
+from the south. He was eager to meet this force, and was preparing to
+press forward at once by the nearest way. He found, however, that this
+would lead him across the lower part of the valley of the Arno, which
+was here very broad, and, though usually passable, was now overflowed
+in consequence of the swelling of the waters of the river by the
+melting of the snows upon the mountains. The whole country was now, in
+fact, a vast expanse of marshes and fens.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Perilous march.<br />Hannibal's sickness.</div>
+
+<p>Still, Hannibal concluded to cross it, and, in the attempt, he
+involved his army in difficulties and dangers as great, almost, as he
+had encountered upon the Alps. The waters were rising continually;
+they filled all the channels and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span>spread over extended plains. They
+were so turbid, too, that every thing beneath the surface was
+concealed, and the soldiers wading in them were continually sinking
+into deep and sudden channels and into bogs of mire, where many were
+lost. They were all exhausted and worn out by the wet and cold, and
+the long continuance of their exposure to it. They were four days and
+three nights in this situation, as their progress was, of course,
+extremely slow. The men, during all this time, had scarcely any sleep,
+and in some places the only way by which they could get any repose was
+to lay their arms and their baggage in the standing water, so as to
+build, by this means, a sort of couch or platform on which they could
+lie. Hannibal himself was sick too. He was attacked with a violent
+inflammation of the eyes, and the sight of one of them was in the end
+destroyed. He was not, however, so much exposed as the other officers;
+for there was one elephant left of all those that had commenced the
+march in Spain, and Hannibal rode this elephant during the four days'
+march through the water. There were guides and attendants to precede
+him, for the purpose of finding a safe and practicable road, and by
+their aid, with the help of the animal's sagacity, he got safely
+through.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161-2]</a></span></p><div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;">
+<img src="images/i159.jpg" class="ispace" width="500" height="299" alt="Crossing the Marshes." title="" />
+<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Crossing the Marshes.</span></span></div>
+
+<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="Chapter_VIII" id="Chapter_VIII"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter VIII.</span></h2>
+
+<h2><span class="smcap">The Dictator Fabius.</span></h2>
+
+<h3>B.C. 216</h3>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Alarm at Rome.<br />The consul Flaminius.</div>
+
+<p class="n"><span style="float:left;font-size:50px;line-height:32px;padding-top:2px;padding-bottom:1px;">I</span><span style="margin-left:0%;">n</span> the mean time, while Hannibal was thus rapidly making his way
+toward the gates of Rome, the people of the city became more and more
+alarmed, until at last a general feeling of terror pervaded all the
+ranks of society. Citizens and soldiers were struck with one common
+dread. They had raised a new army and put it under the command of a
+new consul, for the terms of service of the others had expired.
+Flaminius was the name of this new commander, and he was moving
+northward at the head of his forces at the time that Hannibal was
+conducting his troops with so much labor and difficulty through the
+meadows and morasses of the Arno.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Another stratagem.<br />Confidence of Flaminius.</div>
+
+<p>This army was, however, no more successful than its predecessors had
+been. Hannibal contrived to entrap Flaminius by a stratagem, as he had
+entrapped Sempronius before. There is in the eastern part of Etruria,
+near the mountains, a lake called Lake Thrasymene. It happened<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span> that
+this lake extended so near to the base of the mountains as to leave
+only a narrow passage between&mdash;a passage but little wider than was
+necessary for a road. Hannibal contrived to station a detachment of
+his troops in ambuscade at the foot of the mountains, and others on
+the declivities above, and then in some way or other to entice
+Flaminius and his army through the defile. Flaminius was, like
+Sempronius, ardent, self-confident, and vain. He despised the power of
+Hannibal, and thought that his success hitherto had been owing to the
+inefficiency or indecision of his predecessors. For his part, his only
+anxiety was to encounter him, for he was sure of an easy victory. He
+advanced, therefore, boldly and without concern into the pass of
+Thrasymene, when he learned that Hannibal was encamped beyond it.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Complete rout of the Romans.</div>
+
+<p>Hannibal had established an encampment openly on some elevated ground
+beyond the pass, and as Flaminius and his troops came into the
+narrowest part of the defile, they saw this encampment at a distance
+before them, with a broad plain beyond the pass intervening. They
+supposed that the whole force of the enemy was there, not dreaming of
+the presence of the strong detachments which were hid on the slopes of
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span>the mountains above them, and were looking down upon them at that
+very moment from behind rocks and bushes. When, therefore, the Romans
+had got through the pass, they spread out upon the plain beyond it,
+and were advancing to the camp, when suddenly the secreted troops
+burst forth from their ambuscade, and, pouring down the mountains,
+took complete possession of the pass, and attacked the Romans in the
+rear, while Hannibal attacked them in the van. Another long, and
+desperate, and bloody contest ensued. The Romans were beaten at every
+point, and, as they were hemmed in between the lake, the mountain, and
+the pass, they could not retreat; the army was, accordingly, almost
+wholly cut to pieces. Flaminius himself was killed.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Effects of the battle.</div>
+
+<p>The news of this battle spread every where, and produced the strongest
+sensation. Hannibal sent dispatches to Carthage announcing what he
+considered his final victory over the great foe, and the news was
+received with the greatest rejoicings. At Rome, on the other hand, the
+news produced a dreadful shock of disappointment and terror. It seemed
+as if the last hope of resisting the progress of their terrible enemy
+was gone, and that they had nothing <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span>now to do but to sink down in
+despair, and await the hour when his columns should come pouring in
+through the gates of the city.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Panic of the Romans.<br />Their superstitious fears.</div>
+
+<p>The people of Rome were, in fact, prepared for a panic, for their
+fears had been increasing and gathering strength for some time. They
+were very superstitious in those ancient days in respect to signs and
+omens. A thousand trifling occurrences, which would, at the present
+day, be considered of no consequence whatever, were then considered
+bad signs, auguring terrible calamities; and, on occasions like these,
+when calamities seemed to be impending, every thing was noticed, and
+circumstances which would not have been regarded at all at ordinary
+times, were reported from one to another, the stories being
+exaggerated as they spread, until the imaginations of the people were
+filled with mysterious but invincible fears. So universal was the
+belief in these prodigies and omens, that they were sometimes formally
+reported to the senate, committees were appointed to inquire into
+them, and solemn sacrifices were offered to "expiate them," as it was
+termed, that is, to avert the displeasure of the gods, which the omens
+were supposed to foreshadow and portend.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Omens and bad signs.</div>
+
+<p>A very curious list of these omens was reported<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span> to the senate during
+the winter and spring in which Hannibal was advancing toward Rome. An
+ox from the cattle-market had got into a house, and, losing his way,
+had climbed up into the third story, and, being frightened by the
+noise and uproar of those who followed him, ran out of a window and
+fell down to the ground. A light appeared in the sky in the form of
+ships. A temple was struck with lightning. A spear in the hand of a
+statue of Juno, a celebrated goddess, shook, one day, of itself.
+Apparitions of men in white garments were seen in a certain place. A
+wolf came into a camp, and snatched the sword of a soldier on guard
+out of his hands, and ran away with it. The sun one day looked smaller
+than usual. Two moons were seen together in the sky. This was in the
+daytime, and one of the moons was doubtless a halo or a white cloud.
+Stones fell out of the sky at a place called Picenum. This was one of
+the most dreadful of all the omens, though it is now known to be a
+common occurrence.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Curious transformations.</div>
+
+<p>These omens were all, doubtless, real occurrences, more or less
+remarkable, it is true, but, of course, entirely unmeaning in respect
+to their being indications of impending calamities. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span>There were other
+things reported to the senate which must have originated almost wholly
+in the imaginations and fears of the observers. Two shields, it was
+said, in a certain camp, sweated blood. Some people were reaping, and
+bloody ears of grain fell into the basket. This, of course, must have
+been wholly imaginary, unless, indeed, one of the reapers had cut his
+fingers with the sickle. Some streams and fountains became bloody;
+and, finally, in one place in the country, some goats turned into
+sheep. A hen, also, became a cock, and a cock changed to a hen.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Their influence.<br />Importance attached to these stories.</div>
+
+<p>Such ridiculous stories would not be worthy of a moment's attention
+now, were it not for the degree of importance attached to them then.
+They were formally reported to the Roman senate, the witnesses who
+asserted that they had seen them were called in and examined, and a
+solemn debate was held on the question what should be done to avert
+the supernatural influences of evil which the omens expressed. The
+senate decided to have three days of expiation and sacrifice, during
+which the whole people of Rome devoted themselves to the religious
+observances which they thought calculated to appease the wrath of
+Heaven. They made various<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span> offerings and gifts to the different gods,
+among which one was a golden thunderbolt of fifty pounds' weight,
+manufactured for Jupiter, whom they considered the thunderer.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Feverish excitement at Rome.<br />News of the battle.</div>
+
+<p>All these things took place before the battle at Lake Thrasymene, so
+that the whole community were in a very feverish state of excitement
+and anxiety before the news from Flaminius arrived. When these tidings
+at last came, they threw the whole city into utter consternation. Of
+course, the messenger went directly to the senate-house to report to
+the government, but the story that such news had arrived soon spread
+about the city, and the whole population crowded into the streets and
+public squares, all eagerly asking for the tidings. An enormous throng
+assembled before the senate-house calling for information. A public
+officer appeared at last, and said to them in a loud voice, "We have
+been defeated in a great battle." He would say no more. Still rumors
+spread from one to another, until it was generally known throughout
+the city that Hannibal had conquered the Roman army again in a great
+battle, that great numbers of the soldiers had fallen or been taken
+prisoners, and that the consul himself was slain.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Gatherings of the people.<br />Arrival of stragglers.</div>
+
+<p>The night was passed in great anxiety and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span>terror, and the next day,
+and for several of the succeeding days, the people gathered in great
+numbers around the gates, inquiring eagerly for news of every one that
+came in from the country. Pretty soon scattered soldiers and small
+bodies of troops began to arrive, bringing with them information of
+the battle, each one having a different tale to tell, according to his
+own individual experience in the scene. Whenever these men arrived,
+the people of the city, and especially the women who had husbands or
+sons in the army, crowded around them, overwhelming them with
+questions, and making them tell their tale again and again, as if the
+intolerable suspense and anxiety of the hearers could not be
+satisfied. The intelligence was such as in general to confirm and
+increase the fears of those who listened to it; but sometimes, when it
+made known the safety of a husband or a son, it produced as much
+relief and rejoicing as it did in other cases terror and despair. That
+maternal love was as strong an impulse in those rough days as it is in
+the more refined and cultivated periods of the present age, is evinced
+by the fact that two of these Roman mothers, on seeing their sons
+coming suddenly into their presence, alive and well, when they had
+heard <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span>that they had fallen in battle, were killed at once by the
+shock of surprise and joy, as if by a blow.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Appointment of a dictator.<br />Fabius.</div>
+
+<p>In seasons of great and imminent danger to the commonwealth, it was
+the custom of the Romans to appoint what they called a dictator, that
+is, a supreme executive, who was clothed with absolute and unlimited
+powers; and it devolved on him to save the state from the threatened
+ruin by the most prompt and energetic action. This case was obviously
+one of the emergencies requiring such a measure. There was no time for
+deliberations and debates; for deliberations and debates, in periods
+of such excitement and danger, become disputes, and end in tumult and
+uproar. Hannibal was at the head of a victorious army, ravaging the
+country which he had already conquered, and with no obstacle between
+him and the city itself. It was an emergency calling for the
+appointment of a dictator. The people made choice of a man of great
+reputation for experience and wisdom, named Fabius, and placed the
+whole power of the state in his hands. All other authority was
+suspended, and every thing was subjected to his sway. The whole city,
+with the life and property of every inhabitant, was placed at his
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span>disposal; the army and the fleets were also under his command, even
+the consuls being subject to his orders.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Measures of Fabius.<br />Religious ceremonies.</div>
+
+<p>Fabius accepted the vast responsibility which his election imposed
+upon him, and immediately began to take the necessary measures. He
+first made arrangements for performing solemn religious ceremonies, to
+expiate the omens and propitiate the gods. He brought out all the
+people in great convocations, and made them take vows, in the most
+formal and imposing manner, promising offerings and celebrations in
+honor of the various gods, at some future time, in case these
+divinities would avert the threatening danger. It is doubtful,
+however, whether Fabius, in doing these things, really believed that
+they had any actual efficiency, or whether he resorted to them as a
+means of calming and quieting the minds of the people, and producing
+that composure and confidence which always results from a hope of the
+favor of Heaven. If this last was his object, his conduct was
+eminently wise.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Minucius.<br />Supreme authority of a dictator.</div>
+
+<p>Fabius, also, immediately ordered a large levy of troops to be made.
+His second in command, called his <i>master of horse</i>, was directed to
+make this levy, and to assemble the troops at a place <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span>called Tibur, a
+few miles east of the city. There was always a master of horse
+appointed to attend upon and second a dictator. The name of this
+officer in the case of Fabius was Minucius. Minucius was as ardent,
+prompt, and impetuous, as Fabius was cool, prudent, and calculating.
+He levied the troops and brought them to their place of rendezvous.
+Fabius went out to take the command of them. One of the consuls was
+coming to join him, with a body of troops which he had under his
+command. Fabius sent word to him that he must come without any of the
+insignia of his authority, as all his authority, semi-regal as it was
+in ordinary times, was superseded and overruled in the presence of a
+dictator. A consul was accustomed to move in great state on all
+occasions. He was preceded by twelve men, bearing badges and insignia,
+to impress the army and the people with a sense of the greatness of
+his dignity. To see, therefore, a consul divested of all these marks
+of his power, and coming into the dictator's presence as any other
+officer would come before an acknowledged superior, made the army of
+Fabius feel a very strong sense of the greatness of their new
+commander's dignity and power.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span></p><div class="sidenote">Proclamation of Fabius.</div>
+
+<p>Fabius then issued a proclamation, which he sent by proper messengers
+into all the region of country around Rome, especially to that part
+toward the territory which was in possession of Hannibal. In this
+proclamation he ordered all the people to abandon the country and the
+towns which were not strongly fortified, and to seek shelter in the
+castles, and forts, and fortified cities. They were commanded, also,
+to lay waste the country which they should leave, and destroy all the
+property, and especially all the provisions, which they could not take
+to their places of refuge. This being done, Fabius placed himself at
+the head of the forces which he had got together, and moved on,
+cautiously and with great circumspection, in search of his enemy.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Progress of Hannibal.</div>
+
+<p>In the mean time, Hannibal had crossed over to the eastern side of
+Italy, and had passed down, conquering and ravaging the country as he
+went, until he got considerably south of Rome. He seems to have
+thought it not quite prudent to advance to the actual attack of the
+city, after the battle of Lake Thrasymene; for the vast population of
+Rome was sufficient, if rendered desperate by his actually threatening
+the capture and pillage of the city, to overwhelm his <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span>army entirely.
+So he moved to the eastward, and advanced on that side until he had
+passed the city, and thus it happened that Fabius had to march to the
+southward and eastward in order to meet him. The two armies came in
+sight of each other quite on the eastern side of Italy, very near the
+shores of the Adriatic Sea.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Policy of Fabius.<br />He declines fighting.</div>
+
+<p>The policy which Fabius resolved to adopt was, not to give Hannibal
+battle, but to watch him, and wear his army out by fatigue and delays.
+He kept, therefore, near him, but always posted his army on
+advantageous ground, which all the defiance and provocations of
+Hannibal could not induce him to leave. When Hannibal moved, which he
+was soon compelled to do to procure provisions, Fabius would move too,
+but only to post and intrench himself in some place of security as
+before. Hannibal did every thing in his power to bring Fabius to
+battle, but all his efforts were unavailing.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Hannibal's danger.<br />Stratagem of the fiery oxen.</div>
+
+<p>In fact, he himself was at one time in imminent danger. He had got
+drawn, by Fabius's good management, into a place where he was
+surrounded by mountains, upon which Fabius had posted his troops, and
+there was only one defile which offered any egress, and this, too,
+Fabius had strongly guarded. Hannibal <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span>resorted to his usual resource,
+cunning and stratagem, for means of escape. He collected a herd of
+oxen. He tied fagots across their horns, filling the fagots with
+pitch, so as to make them highly combustible. In the night on which he
+was going to attempt to pass the defile, he ordered his army to be
+ready to march through, and then had the oxen driven up the hills
+around on the further side of the Roman detachment which was guarding
+the pass. The fagots were then lighted on the horns of the oxen. They
+ran about, frightened and infuriated by the fire, which burned their
+horns to the quick, and blinded them with the sparks which fell from
+it. The leaves and branches of the forests were set on fire. A great
+commotion was thus made, and the guards, seeing the moving lights and
+hearing the tumult, supposed that the Carthaginian army were upon the
+heights, and were coming down to attack them. They turned out in great
+hurry and confusion to meet the imaginary foe, leaving the pass
+unguarded, and, while they were pursuing the bonfires on the oxens'
+heads into all sorts of dangerous and impracticable places, Hannibal
+quietly marched his army through the defile and reached a place of
+safety.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span></p><div class="sidenote">Unpopularity of Fabius.</div>
+
+<p>Although Fabius kept Hannibal employed and prevented his approaching
+the city, still there soon began to be felt a considerable degree of
+dissatisfaction that he did not act more decidedly. Minucius was
+continually urging him to give Hannibal battle, and, not being able to
+induce him to do so, he was continually expressing his discontent and
+displeasure. The army sympathized with Minucius. He wrote home to Rome
+too, complaining bitterly of the dictator's inefficiency. Hannibal
+learned all this by means of his spies, and other sources of
+information, which so good a contriver as he has always at command.
+Hannibal was, of course, very much pleased to hear of these
+dissensions, and of the unpopularity of Fabius. He considered such an
+enemy as he&mdash;so prudent, cautious, and watchful&mdash;as a far more
+dangerous foe than such bold and impetuous commanders as Flaminius and
+Minucius, whom he could always entice into difficulty, and then easily
+conquer.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Hannibal's sagacity.</div>
+
+<p>Hannibal thought he would render Minucius a little help in making
+Fabius unpopular. He found out from some Roman deserters that the
+dictator possessed a valuable farm in the country, and he sent a
+detachment of his troops <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span>there, with orders to plunder and destroy
+the property all around it, but to leave the farm of Fabius untouched
+and in safety. The object was to give to the enemies of Fabius at Rome
+occasion to say that there was secretly a good understanding between
+him and Hannibal, and that he was kept back from acting boldly in
+defense of his country by some corrupt bargain which he had
+traitorously made with the enemy.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Plots against Fabius.</div>
+
+<p>These plans succeeded. Discontent and dissatisfaction spread rapidly,
+both in the camp and in the city. At Rome they made an urgent demand
+upon Fabius to return, ostensibly because they wished him to take part
+in some great religious ceremonies, but really to remove him from the
+camp, and give Minucius an opportunity to attack Hannibal. They also
+wished to devise some method, if possible, of depriving him of his
+power. He had been appointed for six months, and the time had not yet
+nearly expired: but they wished to shorten, or, if they could not
+shorten, to limit and diminish his power.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">He goes to Rome.<br />Minucius risks a battle.</div>
+
+<p>Fabius went to Rome, leaving the army under the orders of Minucius,
+but commanding him positively not to give Hannibal battle, nor expose
+his troops to any danger, but to pursue <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span>steadily the same policy
+which he himself had followed. He had, however, been in Rome only a
+short time before tidings came that Minucius had fought a battle and
+gained a victory. There were boastful and ostentatious letters from
+Minucius to the Roman senate, lauding the exploit which he had
+performed.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Speech of Fabius.</div>
+
+<p>Fabius examined carefully the accounts. He compared one thing with
+another, and satisfied himself of what afterward proved to be the
+truth, that Minucius had gained no victory at all. He had lost five or
+six thousand men, and Hannibal had lost no more, and Fabius showed
+that no advantage had been gained. He urged upon the senate the
+importance of adhering to the line of policy he had pursued, and the
+danger of risking every thing, as Minucius had done, on the fortunes
+of a single battle. Besides, he said, Minucius had disobeyed his
+orders, which were distinct and positive, and he deserved to be
+recalled.</p>
+
+<p>In saying these things Fabius irritated and exasperated his enemies
+more than ever. "Here is a man," said they, "who will not only not
+fight the enemies whom he is sent against himself, but he will not
+allow any body else to fight them. Even at this distance, when his
+second <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span>in command has obtained a victory, he will not admit it, and
+endeavors to curtail the advantages of it. He wishes to protract the
+war, that he may the longer continue to enjoy the supreme and
+unlimited authority with which we have intrusted him."</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Fabius returns to the army.<br />He is deprived of the supreme power.</div>
+
+<p>The hostility to Fabius at last reached such a pitch, that it was
+proposed in an assembly of the people to make Minucius his equal in
+command. Fabius, having finished the business which called him to
+Rome, did not wait to attend to the discussion of this question, but
+left the city, and was proceeding on his way to join the army again,
+when he was overtaken with a messenger bearing a letter informing him
+that the decree had passed, and that he must thenceforth consider
+Minucius as his colleague and equal. Minucius was, of course,
+extremely elated at this result. "Now," said he, "we will see if
+something can not be done."</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Division of power.</div>
+
+<p>The first question was, however, to decide on what principle and in
+what way they should share their power. "We can not both command at
+once," said Minucius. "Let us exercise the power in alternation, each
+one being in authority for a day, or a week, or a month, or any other
+period that you prefer."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span></p><p>"No," replied Fabius, "we will not divide the time, we will divide the
+men. There are four legions. You shall take two of them, and the other
+two shall be mine. I can thus, perhaps, save half the army from the
+dangers in which I fear your impetuosity will plunge all whom you have
+under your command."</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Ambuscade of Hannibal.<br />Hannibal's success.</div>
+
+<p>This plan was adopted. The army was divided, and each portion went,
+under its own leader, to its separate encampment. The result was one
+of the most curious and extraordinary occurrences that is recorded in
+the history of nations. Hannibal, who was well informed of all these
+transactions, immediately felt that Minucius was in his power. He knew
+that he was so eager for battle that it would be easy to entice him
+into it, under almost any circumstances that he himself might choose
+to arrange. Accordingly, he watched his opportunity when there was a
+good place for an ambuscade near Minucius's camp, and lodged five
+thousand men in it in such a manner that they were concealed by rocks
+and other obstructions to the view. There was a hill between this
+ground and the camp of Minucius. When the ambuscade was ready,
+Hannibal sent up a small force to take possession of the top of the
+hill, anticipating <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span>that Minucius would at once send up a stronger
+force to drive them away. He did so. Hannibal then sent up more as a
+re-enforcement. Minucius, whose spirit and pride were now aroused,
+sent up more still, and thus, by degrees, Hannibal drew out his
+enemy's whole force, and then, ordering his own troops to retreat
+before them, the Romans were drawn on, down the hill, till they were
+surrounded by the ambuscade. These hidden troops then came pouring out
+upon them, and in a short time the Romans were thrown into utter
+confusion, flying in all directions before their enemies, and entirely
+at their mercy.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Fabius comes to the rescue.<br />Speech of Minucius.</div>
+
+<p>All would have been irretrievably lost had it not been for the
+interposition of Fabius. He received intelligence of the danger at his
+own camp, and marched out at once with all his force, and arrived upon
+the ground so opportunely, and acted so efficiently, that he at once
+completely changed the fortune of the day. He saved Minucius and his
+half of the army from utter destruction. The Carthaginians retreated
+in their turn, Hannibal being entirely overwhelmed with disappointment
+and vexation at being thus deprived of his prey. History relates that
+Minucius had the candor and good sense, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span>after this, to acknowledge
+his error, and yield to the guidance and direction of Fabius. He
+called his part of the army together when they reached their camp, and
+addressed them thus: "Fellow-soldiers, I have often heard it said that
+the wisest men are those who possess wisdom and sagacity themselves,
+and, next to them, those who know how to perceive and are willing to
+be guided by the wisdom and sagacity of others; while they are fools
+who do not know how to conduct themselves, and will not be guided by
+those who do. We will not belong to this last class; and since it is
+proved that we are not entitled to rank with the first, let us join
+the second. We will march to the camp of Fabius, and join our camp
+with his, as before. We owe to him, and also to all his portion of the
+army, our eternal gratitude for the nobleness of spirit which he
+manifested in coming to our deliverance, when he might so justly have
+left us to ourselves."</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The Roman army again united.</div>
+
+<p>The two legions repaired, accordingly, to the camp of Fabius, and a
+complete and permanent reconciliation took place between the two
+divisions of the army. Fabius rose very high in the general esteem by
+this transaction. The term of his dictatorship, however, expired soon
+after <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span>this, and as the danger from Hannibal was now less imminent,
+the office was not renewed, but consuls were chosen as before.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Character of Fabius.<br />His integrity.</div>
+
+<p>The character of Fabius has been regarded with the highest admiration
+by all mankind. He evinced a very noble spirit in all that he did. One
+of his last acts was a very striking proof of this. He had bargained
+with Hannibal to pay a certain sum of money as ransom for a number of
+prisoners which had fallen into his hands, and whom Hannibal, on the
+faith of that promise, had released. Fabius believed that the Romans
+would readily ratify the treaty and pay the amount; but they demurred,
+being displeased, or pretending to be displeased, because Fabius had
+not consulted them before making the arrangement. Fabius, in order to
+preserve his own and his country's faith unsullied, sold his farm to
+raise the money. He did thus most certainly protect and vindicate his
+own honor, but he can hardly be said to have saved that of the people
+of Rome.</p>
+
+<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="Chapter_IX" id="Chapter_IX"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter IX.</span></h2>
+
+<h2><span class="smcap">The Battle of Cann&aelig;.</span></h2>
+
+<h3>B.C. 215</h3>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Interest excited by the battle of Cann&aelig;.</div>
+
+<p class="n"><span style="float:left;font-size:50px;line-height:32px;padding-top:2px;padding-bottom:1px;">T</span><span style="margin-left:0%;">he</span> battle of Cann&aelig; was the last great battle fought by Hannibal in
+Italy. This conflict has been greatly celebrated in history, not only
+for its magnitude, and the terrible desperation with which it was
+fought, but also on account of the strong dramatic interest which the
+circumstances attending it are fitted to excite. This interest is
+perhaps, however, quite as much due to the peculiar skill of the
+ancient historian who narrates the story, as to the events themselves
+which he records.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Various military operations.<br />State of the public mind at Rome.</div>
+
+<p>It was about a year after the close of the dictatorship of Fabius that
+this battle was fought. That interval had been spent by the Roman
+consuls who were in office during that time in various military
+operations, which did not, however, lead to any decisive results. In
+the mean time, there were great uneasiness, discontent, and
+dissatisfaction at Rome. To have such a dangerous and terrible foe, at
+the head of forty thousand men, infesting the vicinage of their <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span>city,
+ravaging the territories of their friends and allies, and threatening
+continually to attack the city itself, was a continual source of
+anxiety and vexation. It mortified the Roman pride, too, to find that
+the greatest armies they could raise, and the ablest generals they
+could choose and commission, proved wholly unable to cope with the
+foe. The most sagacious of them, in fact, had felt it necessary to
+decline the contest with him altogether.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The plebeians and patricians.<br />The consuls &AElig;milius and Varro.</div>
+
+<p>This state of things produced a great deal of ill humor in the city.
+Party spirit ran very high; tumultuous assemblies were held; disputes
+and contentions prevailed, and mutual criminations and recriminations
+without end. There were two great parties formed: that of the middling
+classes on one side, and the aristocracy on the other. The former were
+called the Plebeians, the latter the Patricians. The division between
+these two classes was very great and very strongly marked. There was,
+in consequence of it, infinite difficulty in the election of consuls.
+At last the consuls were chosen, one from each party. The name of the
+patrician was Paulus &AElig;milius. The name of the plebeian was Varro. They
+were inducted into office, and were thus put jointly into possession
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span>of a vast power, to wield which with any efficiency and success would
+seem to require union and harmony in those who held it, and yet
+&AElig;milius and Varro were inveterate and implacable political foes. It
+was often so in the Roman government. The consulship was a
+double-headed monster, which spent half its strength in bitter
+contests waged between its members.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">A new army raised.</div>
+
+<p>The Romans determined now to make an effectual effort to rid
+themselves of their foe. They raised an enormous army. It consisted of
+eight legions. The Roman legion was an army of itself. It contained
+ordinarily four thousand foot soldiers, and a troop of three hundred
+horsemen. It was very unusual to have more than two or three legions
+in the field at a time. The Romans, however, on this occasion,
+increased the number of the legions, and also augmented their size, so
+that they contained, each, five thousand infantry and four hundred
+cavalry. They were determined to make a great and last effort to
+defend their city, and save the commonwealth from ruin. &AElig;milius and
+Varro prepared to take command of this great force, with very strong
+determinations to make it the means of Hannibal's destruction.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span></p><div class="sidenote">Self-confidence of Varro.</div>
+
+<p>The characters of the two commanders, however, as well as their
+political connections, were very dissimilar, and they soon began to
+manifest a very different spirit, and to assume a very different air
+and bearing, each from the other. &AElig;milius was a friend of Fabius, and
+approved of his policy. Varro was for greater promptness and decision.
+He made great promises, and spoke with the utmost confidence of being
+able to annihilate Hannibal at a blow. He condemned the policy of
+Fabius in attempting to wear out the enemy by delays. He said it was a
+plan of the aristocratic party to protract the war, in order to put
+themselves in high offices, and perpetuate their importance and
+influence. The war might have been ended long ago, he said; and he
+would promise the people that he would now end it, without fail, the
+very day that he came in sight of Hannibal.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Caution of &AElig;milius.<br />Views of &AElig;milius.</div>
+
+<p>As for &AElig;milius, he assumed a very different tone. He was surprised, he
+said, that any man could pretend to decide before he had even left the
+city, and while he was, of course, entirely ignorant, both of the
+condition of their own army, and of the position, and designs, and
+strength of the enemy, how soon and under what circumstances it would
+be wise to give <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span>him battle. Plans must be formed in adaptation to
+circumstances, as circumstances can not be made to alter to suit
+plans. He believed that they should succeed in the encounter with
+Hannibal, but he thought that their only hope of success must be based
+on the exercise of prudence, caution, and sagacity; he was sure that
+rashness and folly could only lead in future, as they had always done
+in the past, to discomfiture and ruin.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Counsel of Fabius.<br />Conversation between Fabius and &AElig;milius.</div>
+
+<p>It is said that Fabius, the former dictator, conversed with &AElig;milius
+before his departure for the army, and gave him such counsel as his
+age and experience, and his knowledge of the character and operations
+of Hannibal, suggested to his mind. "If you had a colleague like
+yourself," said he, "I would not offer you any advice; you would not
+need it. Or, if you were yourself like your colleague, vain,
+self-conceited, and presumptuous, then I would be silent; counsel
+would be thrown away upon you. But as it is, while you have great
+judgment and sagacity to guide you, you are to be placed in a
+situation of extreme difficulty and peril. If I am not mistaken, the
+greatest difficulty you will have to encounter will not be the open
+enemy you are going to meet upon the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span>field. You will find, I think,
+that Varro will give you quite as much trouble as Hannibal. He will be
+presumptuous, reckless, and headstrong. He will inspire all the rash
+and ardent young men in the army with his own enthusiastic folly, and
+we shall be very fortunate if we do not yet see the terrible and
+bloody scenes of Lake Thrasymene acted again. I am sure that the true
+policy for us to adopt is the one which I marked out. That is always
+the proper course for the invaded to pursue with invaders, where there
+is the least doubt of the success of a battle. We grow strong while
+Hannibal grows continually weaker by delay. He can only prosper so
+long as he can fight battles and perform brilliant exploits. If we
+deprive him of this power, his strength will be continually wasting
+away, and the spirit and courage of his men waning. He has now scarce
+a third part of the army which he had when he crossed the Iberus, and
+nothing can save this remnant from destruction if we are wise."</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Resolution of &AElig;milius.</div>
+
+<p>&AElig;milius said, in reply to this, that he went into the contest with
+very little of encouragement or hope. If Fabius had found it so
+difficult to withstand the turbulent influences of his master of
+horse, who was his subordinate <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span>officer, and, as such, under his
+command, how could <i>he</i> expect to restrain his colleague, who was
+entitled, by his office, to full equality with him. But,
+notwithstanding the difficulties which he foresaw, he was going to do
+his duty, and abide by the result; and if the result should be
+unfavorable, he should seek for death in the conflict, for death by
+Carthaginian spears was a far lighter evil, in his view, than the
+displeasure and censures of his countrymen.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The consuls join the army.</div>
+
+<p>The consuls departed from Rome to join the army, &AElig;milius attended by a
+moderate number of men of rank and station, and Varro by a much larger
+train, though it was formed of people of the lower classes of society.
+The army was organized, and the arrangements of the encampments
+perfected. One ceremony was that of administering an oath to the
+soldiers, as was usual in the Roman armies at the commencement of a
+campaign. They were made to swear that they would not desert the army,
+that they would never abandon the post at which they were stationed in
+fear or in flight, nor leave the ranks except for the purpose of
+taking up or recovering a weapon, striking an enemy, or protecting a
+friend. These and other arrangements being completed, the army was
+ready for the field. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span>The consuls made a different arrangement in
+respect to the division of their power from that adopted by Fabius and
+Minucius. It was agreed between them that they would exercise their
+common authority alternately, each for a day.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Situation of Hannibal.<br />Scarcity of food.</div>
+
+<p>In the mean time, Hannibal began to find himself reduced to great
+difficulty in obtaining provisions for his men. The policy of Fabius
+had been so far successful as to place him in a very embarrassing
+situation, and one growing more and more embarrassing every day. He
+could obtain no food except what he got by plunder, and there was now
+very little opportunity for that, as the inhabitants of the country
+had carried off all the grain and deposited it in strongly-fortified
+towns; and though Hannibal had great confidence in his power to cope
+with the Roman army in a regular battle on an open field, he had not
+strength sufficient to reduce citadels or attack fortified camps. His
+stock of provisions had become, therefore, more and more nearly
+exhausted, until now he had a supply for only ten days, and he saw no
+possible mode of increasing it.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Sufferings of Hannibal's troops.</div>
+
+<p>His great object was, therefore, to bring on a battle. Varro was ready
+and willing to give <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span>him battle, but &AElig;milius, or, to call him by his
+name in full, Paulus &AElig;milius, which is the appellation by which he is
+more frequently known, was very desirous to persevere in the Fabian
+policy till the ten days had expired, after which he knew that
+Hannibal must be reduced to extreme distress, and might have to
+surrender at once to save his army from actual famine. In fact, it was
+said that the troops were on such short allowance as to produce great
+discontent, and that a large body of Spaniards were preparing to
+desert and go over together to the Roman camp.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Defeat of a foraging party.</div>
+
+<p>Things were in this state, when, one day, Hannibal sent out a party
+from his camp to procure food, and &AElig;milius, who happened to hold the
+command that day, sent out a strong force to intercept them. He was
+successful. The Carthaginian detachment was routed. Nearly two
+thousand men were killed, and the rest fled, by any roads they could
+find, back to Hannibal's camp. Varro was very eager to follow them
+there, but &AElig;milius ordered his men to halt. He was afraid of some
+trick or treachery on the part of Hannibal, and was disposed to be
+satisfied with the victory he had already won.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Hannibal's pretended abandonment of his camp.</div>
+
+<p>This little success, however, only inflamed <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span>Varro's ardor for a
+battle, and produced a general enthusiasm in the Roman army; and, a
+day or two afterward, a circumstance occurred which raised this
+excitement to the highest pitch. Some reconnoiterers, who had been
+stationed within sight of Hannibal's camp to watch the motions and
+indications there, sent in word to the consuls that the Carthaginian
+guards around their encampment had all suddenly disappeared, and that
+a very extraordinary and unusual silence reigned within. Parties of
+the Roman soldiers went up gradually and cautiously to the
+Carthaginian lines, and soon found that the camp was deserted, though
+the fires were still burning and the tents remained. This
+intelligence, of course, put the whole Roman army into a fever of
+excitement and agitation. They crowded around the consuls' pavilions,
+and clamorously insisted on being led on to take possession of the
+camp, and to pursue the enemy. "He has fled," they said, "and with
+such precipitation that he has left the tents standing and his fires
+still burning. Lead us on in pursuit of him."</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Mission of Statilius.</div>
+
+<p>Varro was as much excited as the rest. He was eager for action.
+&AElig;milius hesitated. He made particular inquiries. He said they ought
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span>to proceed with caution. Finally, he called up a certain prudent and
+sagacious officer, named Statilius, and ordered him to take a small
+body of horsemen, ride over to the Carthaginian camp, ascertain the
+facts exactly, and report the result. Statilius did so. When he
+reached the lines he ordered his troops to halt, and took with him two
+horsemen on whose courage and strength he could rely, and rode in. The
+three horsemen rode around the camp and examined every thing with a
+view of ascertaining whether Hannibal had really abandoned his
+position and fled, or whether some stratagem was intended.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The stratagem discovered.<br />Chagrin of Hannibal and the Romans.</div>
+
+<p>When he came back he reported to the army that, in his opinion, the
+desertion of the camp was not real, but a trick to draw the Romans
+into some difficulty. The fires were the largest on the side toward
+the Romans, which indicated that they were built to deceive. He saw
+money, too, and other valuables strewed about upon the ground, which
+appeared to him much more like a bait set in a trap, than like
+property abandoned by fugitives as incumbrances to flight. Varro was
+not convinced; and the army, hearing of the money, were excited to a
+greater eagerness for plunder. They could hardly be restrained. Just
+then, however, two slaves that <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span>had been taken prisoners by the
+Carthaginians some time before, came into the Roman camp. They told
+the consuls that the whole Carthaginian force was hid in ambush very
+near, waiting for the Romans to enter their encampment, when they were
+going to surround them and cut them to pieces. In the bustle and
+movement attendant on this plan, the slaves had escaped. Of course,
+the Roman army were now satisfied. They returned, chagrined and
+disappointed, to their own quarters, and Hannibal, still more
+chagrined and disappointed, returned to his.</p>
+
+<p>He soon found, however, that he could not remain any longer where he
+was. His provisions were exhausted, and he could obtain no more. The
+Romans would not come out of their encampment to give him battle on
+equal terms, and they were too strongly intrenched to be attacked
+where they were. He determined, therefore, to evacuate that part of
+the country, and move, by a sudden march, into Apulia.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Apulia.</div>
+
+<p>Apulia was on the eastern side of Italy. The River Aufidus runs
+through it, having a town named Cann&aelig; near its mouth. The region of
+the Aufidus was a warm and sunny valley, which was now waving with
+ripening grain. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span>Being further south than the place where he had been,
+and more exposed to the influence of the sun, Hannibal thought that
+the crops would be sooner ripe, and that, at least, he should have a
+new field to plunder.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Hannibal marches into Apulia.<br />The Romans follow him.</div>
+
+<p>He accordingly decided now to leave his camp in earnest, and move into
+Apulia. He made the same arrangements as before, when his departure
+was a mere pretense. He left tents pitched and fires burning, but
+marched his army off the ground by night and secretly, so that the
+Romans did not perceive his departure; and the next day, when they saw
+the appearances of silence and solitude about the camp, they suspected
+another deception, and made no move themselves. At length, however,
+intelligence came that the long columns of Hannibal's army had been
+seen already far to the eastward, and moving on as fast as possible,
+with all their baggage. The Romans, after much debate and uncertainty,
+resolved to follow. The eagles of the Apennines looked down upon the
+two great moving masses, creeping slowly along through the forests and
+valleys, like swarms of insects, one following the other, led on by a
+strange but strong attraction, drawing them toward each other when at
+a distance <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span>but kept asunder by a still stronger repulsion when near.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The new encampments.<br />Dissensions between the consuls.</div>
+
+<p>The Roman army came up with that of Hannibal on the River Aufidus,
+near Cann&aelig;, and the two vast encampments were formed with all the
+noise and excitement attendant on the movements of two great armies
+posting themselves on the eve of a battle, in the neighborhood of each
+other. In the Roman camp, the confusion was greatly aggravated by the
+angry disputes which immediately arose between the consuls and their
+respective adherents as to the course to be pursued. Varro insisted on
+giving the Carthaginians immediate battle. &AElig;milius refused. Varro said
+that he must protest against continuing any longer these inexcusable
+delays, and insist on a battle. He could not consent to be responsible
+any further for allowing Italy to lie at the mercy of such a scourge.
+&AElig;milius replied, that if Varro did precipitate a battle, he himself
+protested against his rashness, and could not be, in any degree,
+responsible for the result. The various officers took sides, some with
+one consul and some with the other, but most with Varro. The
+dissension filled the camp with excitement, agitation, and ill will.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span></p><div class="sidenote">Flight of the inhabitants.</div>
+
+<p>In the mean time, the inhabitants of the country into which these two
+vast hordes of ferocious, though restrained and organized combatants,
+had made such a sudden irruption, were flying as fast as they could
+from the awful scene which they expected was to ensue. They carried
+from their villages and cabins what little property could be saved,
+and took the women and children away to retreats and fastnesses,
+wherever they imagined they could find temporary concealment or
+protection. The news of the movement of the two armies spread
+throughout the country, carried by hundreds of refugees and
+messengers, and all Italy, looking on with suspense and anxiety,
+awaited the result.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Maneuvers.</div>
+
+<p>The armies maneuvered for a day or two, Varro, during his term of
+command, making arrangements to promote and favor an action, and
+&AElig;milius, on the following day, doing every thing in his power to
+prevent it. In the end, Varro succeeded. The lines were formed and the
+battle must be begun. &AElig;milius gave up the contest now, and while he
+protested earnestly against the course which Varro pursued, he
+prepared to do all in his power to prevent a defeat, since there was
+no longer a possibility of avoiding a collision.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span></p><div class="sidenote">The battle of Cann&aelig;.</div>
+
+<p>The battle began, and the reader must imagine the scene, since no pen
+can describe it. Fifty thousand men on one side and eighty thousand on
+the other, at work hard and steadily, for six hours, killing each
+other by every possible means of destruction&mdash;stabs, blows, struggles,
+outcries, shouts of anger and defiance, and screams of terror and
+agony, all mingled together, in one general din, which covered the
+whole country for an extent of many miles, all together constituted a
+scene of horror of which none but those who have witnessed great
+battles can form any adequate idea.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Another stratagem.</div>
+
+<p>It seems as if Hannibal could do nothing without stratagem. In the
+early part of this conflict he sent a large body of his troops over to
+the Romans as deserters. They threw down their spears and bucklers, as
+they reached the Roman lines, in token of surrender. The Romans
+received them, opened a passage for them through into the rear, and
+ordered them to remain there. As they were apparently unarmed, they
+left only a very small guard to keep them in custody. The men had,
+however, daggers concealed about their dress, and, watching a
+favorable moment, in the midst of the battle, they sprang to their
+feet, drew out their weapons,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span> broke away from their guard, and
+attacked the Romans in the rear at a moment when they were so pressed
+by the enemy in front that they could scarcely maintain their ground.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Defeat of the Romans.<br />&AElig;milius wounded.</div>
+
+<p>It was evident before many hours that the Roman forces were every
+where yielding. From slowly and reluctantly yielding they soon began
+to fly. In the flight, the weak and the wounded were trampled under
+foot by the throng who were pressing on behind them, or were
+dispatched by wanton blows from enemies as they passed in pursuit of
+those who were still able to fly. In the midst of this scene, a Roman
+officer named Lentulus, as he was riding away, saw before him at the
+road-side another officer wounded, sitting upon a stone, faint and
+bleeding. He stopped when he reached him, and found that it was the
+consul &AElig;milius. He had been wounded in the head with a sling, and his
+strength was almost gone. Lentulus offered him his horse, and urged
+him to take it and fly. &AElig;milius declined the offer. He said it was too
+late for his life to be saved, and that, besides, he had no wish to
+save it. "Go on, therefore, yourself," said he, "as fast as you can.
+Make the best of your way to Rome. Tell the authorities there, from
+me, that all is lost, and they must <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span>do whatever they can themselves
+for the defense of the city. Make all the speed you can, or Hannibal
+will be at the gates before you."</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Death of &AElig;milius.<br />Escape of Varro.</div>
+
+<p>&AElig;milius sent also a message to Fabius, declaring to him that it was
+not his fault that a battle had been risked with Hannibal. He had done
+all in his power, he said, to prevent it, and had adhered to the
+policy which Fabius had recommended to the last. Lentulus having
+received these messages, and perceiving that the Carthaginians were
+close upon him in pursuit, rode away, leaving the consul to his fate.
+The Carthaginians came on, and, on seeing the wounded man, they thrust
+their spears into his body, one after another, as they passed, until
+his limbs ceased to quiver. As for the other consul, Varro, he escaped
+with his life. Attended by about seventy horsemen, he made his way to
+a fortified town not very remote from the battle-field, where he
+halted with his horsemen, and determined that he would attempt to
+rally there the remains of the army.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Condition of the battle-field.</div>
+
+<p>The Carthaginians, when they found the victory complete, abandoned the
+pursuit of the enemy, returned to their camp, spent some hours in
+feasting and rejoicing, and then laid down to sleep. They were, of
+course, well exhausted <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span>by the intense exertions of the day. On the
+field where the battle had been fought, the wounded lay all night
+mingled with the dead, filling the air with cries and groans, and
+writhing in their agony.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The wounded and dying.<br />The Roman and Carthaginian soldier.</div>
+
+<p>Early the next morning the Carthaginians came back to the field
+to plunder the dead bodies of the Romans. The whole field presented
+a most shocking spectacle to the view. The bodies of horses and men
+lay mingled in dreadful confusion, as they had fallen, some dead,
+others still alive, the men moaning, crying for water, and feebly
+struggling from time to time to disentangle themselves from the
+heaps of carcasses under which they were buried. The deadly and
+inextinguishable hate which the Carthaginians felt for their foes not
+having been appeased by the slaughter of forty thousand of them, they
+beat down and stabbed these wretched lingerers wherever they found
+them, as a sort of morning pastime after the severer labors of the
+preceding day. This slaughter, however, could hardly be considered a
+cruelty to the wretched victims of it, for many of them bared their
+breasts to their assailants, and begged for the blow which was to put
+an end to their pain. In exploring the field, one Carthaginian soldier
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span>was found still alive, but imprisoned by the dead body of his Roman
+enemy lying upon him. The Carthaginian's face and ears were shockingly
+mangled. The Roman, having fallen upon him when both were mortally
+wounded, had continued the combat with his teeth when he could no
+longer use his weapon, and had died at last, binding down his
+exhausted enemy with his own dead body.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Immense plunder.</div>
+
+<p>The Carthaginians secured a vast amount of plunder. The Roman army was
+full of officers and soldiers from the aristocratic ranks of society,
+and their arms and their dress were very valuable. The Carthaginians
+obtained some bushels of gold rings from their fingers, which Hannibal
+sent to Carthage as a trophy of his victory.</p>
+
+<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="Chapter_X" id="Chapter_X"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter X.</span></h2>
+
+<h2><span class="smcap">Scipio.</span></h2>
+
+<h3>B.C. 215-201</h3>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Reason of Hannibal's success.<br />The Scipios.</div>
+
+<p class="n"><span style="float:left;font-size:50px;line-height:32px;padding-top:2px;padding-bottom:1px;">T</span><span style="margin-left:0%;">he</span> true reason why Hannibal could not be arrested in his triumphant
+career seems not to have been because the Romans did not pursue the
+right kind of policy toward him, but because, thus far, they had no
+general who was his equal. Whoever was sent against him soon proved to
+be his inferior. Hannibal could out-maneuver them all in stratagem,
+and could conquer them on the field. There was, however, now destined
+to appear a man capable of coping with Hannibal. It was young Scipio,
+the one who saved the life of his father at the battle of Ticinus.
+This Scipio, though the son of Hannibal's first great antagonist of
+that name, is commonly called, in history, the elder Scipio; for there
+was another of his name after him, who was greatly celebrated for his
+wars against the Carthaginians in Africa. These last two received from
+the Roman people the surname of Africanus, in honor of their African
+victories, and the one who now comes upon the stage was <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span>called Scipio
+Africanus the elder, or sometimes simply the elder Scipio. The deeds
+of the Scipio who attempted to stop Hannibal at the Rhone and upon the
+Po were so wholly eclipsed by his son, and by the other Scipio who
+followed him, that the former is left out of view and forgotten in
+designating and distinguishing the others.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Fragments of the Roman army.<br />Scipio elected commander.</div>
+
+<p>Our present Scipio first appears upon the stage, in the exercise of
+military command, after the battle of Cann&aelig;. He was a subordinate
+officer and on the day following the battle he found himself at a
+place called Canusium, which was at a short distance from Cann&aelig;, on
+the way toward Rome, with a number of other officers of his own rank,
+and with broken masses and detachments of the army coming in from time
+to time, faint, exhausted, and in despair. The rumor was that both
+consuls were killed. These fragments of the army had, therefore, no
+one to command them. The officers met together, and unanimously agreed
+to make Scipio their commander in the emergency, until some superior
+officer should arrive, or they should get orders from Rome.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Scipio's energy.</div>
+
+<p>An incident here occurred which showed, in a striking point of view,
+the boldness and energy <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span>of the young Scipio's character. At the very
+meeting in which he was placed in command, and when they were
+overwhelmed with perplexity and care, an officer came in, and reported
+that in another part of the camp there was an assembly of officers and
+young men of rank, headed by a certain Metellus, who had decided to
+give up the cause of their country in despair, and that they were
+making arrangements to proceed immediately to the sea-coast, obtain
+ships, and sail away to seek a new home in some foreign lands,
+considering their cause in Italy as utterly lost and ruined. The
+officer proposed that they should call a council and deliberate what
+was best to do.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Case of Metellus.</div>
+
+<p>"Deliberate!" said Scipio; "this is not a case for deliberation, but
+for action. Draw your swords and follow me." So saying, he pressed
+forward at the head of the party to the quarters of Metellus. They
+marched boldly into the apartment where he and his friends were in
+consultation. Scipio held up his sword, and in a very solemn manner
+pronounced an oath, binding himself not to abandon his country in this
+the hour of her distress, nor to allow any other Roman citizen to
+abandon her. If he should be guilty of such treason, he called upon
+Jupiter, by <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span>the most dreadful imprecations, to destroy him utterly,
+house, family, fortune, soul, and body.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Metellus yields.</div>
+
+<p>"And now, Metellus, I call upon you," said he, "and all who are with
+you, to take the same oath. You must do it, otherwise you have got to
+defend yourselves against these swords of ours, as well as those of
+the Carthaginians." Metellus and his party yielded. Nor was it wholly
+to fear that they yielded. It was to the influence of hope quite as
+much as to that of fear. The courage, the energy, and the martial
+ardor which Scipio's conduct evinced awakened a similar spirit in
+them, and made them hope again that possibly their country might yet
+be saved.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Consternation at Rome.</div>
+
+<p>The news of the awful defeat and destruction of the Roman army flew
+swiftly to Rome, and produced universal consternation. The whole city
+was in an uproar. There were soldiers in the army from almost every
+family, so that every woman and child throughout the city was
+distracted by the double agitation of inconsolable grief at the death
+of their husband or their father, slain in the battle, and of terrible
+fear that Hannibal and his raging followers were about to burst in
+through the gates of the city to murder them. The streets of the city,
+and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span>especially the Forum, were thronged with vast crowds of men,
+women, and children, who filled the air with loud lamentations, and
+with cries of terror and despair.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The senate adjourns.</div>
+
+<p>The magistrates were not able to restore order. The senate actually
+adjourned, that the members of it might go about the city, and use
+their influence and their power to produce silence at least, if they
+could not restore composure. The streets were finally cleared. The
+women and children were ordered to remain at home. Armed patrols were
+put on guard to prevent tumultuous assemblies forming. Men were sent
+off on horseback on the road to Canusium and Cann&aelig;, to get more
+accurate intelligence, and then the senate assembled again, and began
+to consider, with as much of calmness as they could command, what was
+to be done.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Hannibal refuses to march to Rome.<br />Hannibal makes his head-quarters at Capua.</div>
+
+<p>The panic at Rome was, however, in some measure, a false alarm, for
+Hannibal, contrary to the expectation of all Italy, did not go to
+Rome. His generals urged him very strongly to do so. Nothing could
+prevent, they said, his gaining immediate possession of the city. But
+Hannibal refused to do this. Rome was strongly fortified, and had an
+immense population. His army, too, was much weakened by the battle of
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span>Cann&aelig;, and he seems to have thought it most prudent not to attempt
+the reduction of Rome until he should have received re-enforcements
+from home. It was now so late in the season that he could not expect
+such re-enforcements immediately, and he accordingly determined to
+select some place more accessible than Rome and make it his
+head-quarters for the winter. He decided in favor of Capua, which was
+a large and powerful city one or two hundred miles southeast of Rome.</p>
+
+<p>Hannibal, in fact, conceived the design of retaining possession of
+Italy and of making Capua the capital of the country, leaving Rome to
+itself, to decline, as under such circumstances it inevitably must, to
+the rank of a second city. Perhaps he was tired of the fatigues and
+hazards of war, and having narrowly escaped ruin before the battle of
+Cann&aelig;, he now resolved that he would not rashly incur any new dangers.
+It was a great question with him whether he should go forward to Rome,
+or attempt to build up a new capital of his own at Capua. The question
+which of these two he ought to have done was a matter of great debate
+then, and it has been discussed a great deal by military men in every
+age since his day. Right or wrong, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span>Hannibal decided to establish his
+own capital at Capua, and to leave Rome, for the present, undisturbed.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Hannibal sends Mago to Carthage.</div>
+
+<p>He, however, sent immediately to Carthage for re-enforcements. The
+messenger whom he sent was one of his generals named Mago. Mago made
+the best of his way to Carthage with his tidings of victory and his
+bushel of rings, collected, as has been already said, from the field
+of Cann&aelig;. The city of Carthage was greatly excited by the news which
+he brought. The friends and patrons of Hannibal were elated with
+enthusiasm and pride, and they taunted and reproached his enemies with
+the opposition to him they had manifested when he was originally
+appointed to the command of the army of Spain.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Mago's speech.<br />The bag of rings.</div>
+
+<p>Mago met the Carthaginian senate, and in a very spirited and eloquent
+speech he told them how many glorious battles Hannibal had fought, and
+how many victories he had won. He had contended with the greatest
+generals that the Romans could bring against him, and had conquered
+them all. He had slain, he said, in all, over two hundred thousand
+men. All Italy was now subject to his power; Capua was his capital,
+and Rome had fallen. He concluded by <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span>saying that Hannibal was in need
+of considerable additional supplies of men, and money, and provisions,
+which he did not doubt the Carthaginians would send without any
+unnecessary delay. He then produced before the senate the great bag of
+rings which he had brought, and poured them upon the pavement of the
+senate-house as a trophy of the victories which he had been
+announcing.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Debate in the Carthaginian senate.</div>
+
+<p>This would, perhaps, have all been very well for Hannibal if his
+friends had been contented to have left the case where Mago left it;
+but some of them could not resist the temptation of taunting his
+enemies, and especially Hanno, who, as will be recollected, originally
+opposed his being sent to Spain. They turned to him, and asked him
+triumphantly what he thought now of his factious opposition to so
+brave a warrior. Hanno rose. The senate looked toward him and were
+profoundly silent, wondering what he would have to reply. Hanno, with
+an air of perfect ease and composure, spoke somewhat as follows:</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The speech of Hanno in the Carthaginian senate.</div>
+
+<p>"I should have said nothing, but should have allowed the senate to
+take what action they pleased on Mago's proposition if I had not been
+particularly addressed. As it is, I will say that <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span>I think now just as
+I always have thought. We are plunged into a most costly and most
+useless war, and are, as I conceive, no nearer the end of it now than
+ever, notwithstanding all these boasted successes. The emptiness of
+them is clearly shown by the inconsistency of Hannibal's pretensions
+as to what he has done, with the demands that he makes in respect to
+what he wishes us to do. He says he has conquered all his enemies, and
+yet he wants us to send him more soldiers. He has reduced all
+Italy&mdash;the most fertile country in the world&mdash;to subjection, and
+reigns over it at Capua, and yet he calls upon us for corn. And then,
+to crown all, he sends us bushels of gold rings as a specimen of the
+riches he has obtained by plunder, and accompanies the offering with a
+demand for new supplies of money. In my opinion, his success is all
+illusive and hollow. There seems to be nothing substantial in his
+situation except his necessities, and the heavy burdens upon the state
+which these necessities impose."</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Progress of the war.</div>
+
+<p>Notwithstanding Hanno's sarcasms, the Carthaginians resolved to
+sustain Hannibal, and to send him the supplies that he needed. They
+were, however, long in reaching him. Various <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span>difficulties and delays
+occurred. The Romans, though they could not dispossess Hannibal from
+his position in Italy, raised armies in different countries, and waged
+extended wars with the Carthaginians and their allies, in various
+parts of the world, both by sea and land.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Enervation of Hannibal's army.</div>
+
+<p>The result was, that Hannibal remained fifteen or sixteen years in
+Italy, engaged, during all this time, in a lingering struggle with the
+Roman power, without ever being able to accomplish any decisive
+measures. During this period he was sometimes successful and
+victorious, and sometimes he was very hard pressed by his enemies. It
+is said that his army was very much enervated and enfeebled by the
+comforts and luxuries they enjoyed at Capua. Capua was a very rich and
+beautiful city, and the inhabitants of it had opened their gates to
+Hannibal of their own accord, preferring, as they said, his alliance
+to that of the Romans. The officers&mdash;as the officers of an army almost
+always do, when they find themselves established in a rich and
+powerful city, after the fatigues of a long and honorable
+campaign&mdash;gave themselves up to festivities and rejoicing, to games,
+shows, and entertainments of every kind, which they soon learned
+infinitely to prefer to the toil and danger of marches and battles.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span></p><div class="sidenote">Decline of the Carthaginian power.</div>
+
+<p>Whatever may have been the cause, there is no question about the fact
+that, from the time Hannibal and his army got possession of their
+comfortable quarters in Capua, the Carthaginian power began gradually
+to decline. As Hannibal determined to make that city the Italian
+capital instead of Rome, he, of course, when established there, felt
+in some degree settled and at home, and was less interested than he
+had been in plans for attacking the ancient capital. Still, the war
+went on; many battles were fought, many cities were besieged, the
+Roman power gaining ground all the time, though not, however, by any
+very decisive victories.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Marcellus.</div>
+
+<p>In these contests there appeared, at length, a new Roman general named
+Marcellus, and, either on account of his possessing a bolder and more
+active temperament, or else in consequence of the change in the
+relative strength of the two contending powers, he pursued a more
+aggressive policy than Fabius had thought it prudent to attempt.
+Marcellus was, however, cautious and wary in his enterprises, and he
+laid his plans with so much sagacity and skill that he was almost
+always successful. The Romans applauded very highly his activity and
+ardor, without, however, forgetting their obligations <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span>to Fabius for
+his caution and defensive reserve. They said that Marcellus was the
+<i>sword</i> of their commonwealth, as Fabius had been its <i>shield</i>.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Success of the Romans.<br />Siege of Capua.</div>
+
+<p>The Romans continued to prosecute this sort of warfare, being more and
+more successful the longer they continued it, until, at last, they
+advanced to the very walls of Capua, and threatened it with a siege.
+Hannibal's intrenchments and fortifications were too strong for them
+to attempt to carry the city by a sudden assault, nor were the Romans
+even powerful enough to invest the place entirely, so as completely to
+shut their enemies in. They, however, encamped with a large army in
+the neighborhood, and assumed so threatening an attitude as to keep
+Hannibal's forces within in a state of continual alarm. And, besides
+the alarm, it was very humiliating and mortifying to Carthaginian
+pride to find the very seat of their power, as it were, shut up and
+overawed by an enemy over whom they had been triumphing themselves so
+short a time before, by a continued series of victories.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Hannibal's attack on the Roman camp.<br />He marches to Rome.</div>
+
+<p>Hannibal was not himself in Capua at the time that the Romans came to
+attack it. He marched, however, immediately to its relief, and
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span>attacking the Romans in his turn, endeavored to compel them to <i>raise
+the siege</i>, as it is technically termed, and retire. They had,
+however, so intrenched themselves in the positions that they had
+taken, and the assaults with which he encountered them had lost so
+much of their former force, that he could accomplish nothing decisive.
+He then left the ground with his army, and marched himself toward
+Rome. He encamped in the vicinity of the city, and threatened to
+attack it; but the walls, and castles, and towers with which Rome, as
+well as Capua, was defended, were too formidable, and the preparations
+for defense too complete, to make it prudent for him really to assail
+the city. His object was to alarm the Romans, and compel them to
+withdraw their forces from his capital that they might defend their
+own.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Preparations for a battle.<br />Prevented by storms.</div>
+
+<p>There was, in fact, some degree of alarm awakened, and in the
+discussions which took place among the Roman authorities, the
+withdrawal of their troops from Capua was proposed; but this proposal
+was overruled; even Fabius was against it. Hannibal was no longer to
+be feared. They ordered back a small detachment from Capua, and added
+to it such forces as they could raise within the city, and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span>then
+advanced to give Hannibal battle. The preparations were all made, it
+is said, for an engagement, but a violent storm came on, so violent as
+to drive the combatants back to their respective camps. This happened,
+the great Roman historian gravely says, two or three times in
+succession; the weather immediately becoming serene again, each time,
+as soon as the respective generals had withdrawn their troops from the
+intended fight. Something like this may perhaps have occurred, though
+the fact doubtless was that both parties were afraid, each of the
+other, and were disposed to avail themselves of any excuse to postpone
+a decisive conflict. There was a time when Hannibal had not been
+deterred from attacking the Romans even by the most tempestuous
+storms.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Sales at auction.</div>
+
+<p>Thus, though Hannibal did, in fact, in the end, get to the walls of
+Rome, he did nothing but threaten when he was there, and his
+encampment near the city can only be considered as a bravado. His
+presence seems to have excited very little apprehension within the
+city. The Romans had, in fact, before this time, lost their terror of
+the Carthaginian arms. To show their contempt of Hannibal, they sold,
+at public auction the land on which he was encamped, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span>while he was
+upon it besieging the city, and it brought the usual price. The
+bidders were, perhaps, influenced somewhat by a patriotic spirit, and
+by a desire to taunt Hannibal with an expression of their opinion that
+his occupation of the land would be a very temporary encumbrance.
+Hannibal, to revenge himself for this taunt, put up for sale at
+auction, in his own camp, the shops of one of the principal streets of
+Rome, and they were bought by his officers with great spirit. It
+showed that a great change had taken place in the nature of the
+contest between Carthage and Rome, to find these vast powers, which
+were a few years before grappling each other with such destructive and
+terrible fury on the Po and at Cann&aelig;, now satisfying their declining
+animosity with such squibbing as this.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Hasdrubal crosses the Alps.</div>
+
+<p>When the other modes by which Hannibal attempted to obtain
+re-enforcements failed, he made an attempt to have a second army
+brought over the Alps under the command of his brother Hasdrubal. It
+was a large army, and in their march they experienced the same
+difficulties, though in a much lighter degree, that Hannibal had
+himself encountered. And yet, of the whole mighty mass which set out
+from Spain, nothing <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span>reached Hannibal except his brother's <i>head</i>. The
+circumstances of the unfortunate termination of Hasdrubal's attempt
+were as follows:</p>
+
+<p>When Hasdrubal descended from the Alps, rejoicing in the successful
+manner in which he had surmounted those formidable barriers, he
+imagined that all his difficulties were over. He dispatched couriers
+to his brother Hannibal, informing him that he had scaled the
+mountains, and that he was coming on as rapidly as possible to his
+aid.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Livius and Nero.<br />Division of the provinces.</div>
+
+<p>The two consuls in office at this time were named, the one Nero, and
+the other Livius. To each of these, as was usual with the Roman
+consuls, was assigned a particular province, and a certain portion of
+the army to defend it, and the laws enjoined it upon them very
+strictly not to leave their respective provinces, on any pretext
+whatever, without authority from the Roman Legislature. In this
+instance Livius had been assigned to the northern part of Italy, and
+Nero to the southern. It devolved upon Livius, therefore, to meet and
+give battle to Hasdrubal on his descent from the Alps, and to Nero to
+remain in the vicinity of Hannibal, to thwart his plans, oppose his
+progress, and, if possible, conquer and destroy him, while his
+colleague <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span>prevented his receiving the expected re-enforcements from
+Spain.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The intercepted letters.<br />Nero's perplexity.</div>
+
+<p>Things being in this state, the couriers whom Hasdrubal sent with his
+letters had the vigilance of both consuls to elude before they could
+deliver them into Hannibal's hands. They did succeed in passing
+Livius, but they were intercepted by Nero. The patrols who seized
+these messengers brought them to Nero's tent. Nero opened and read the
+letters. All Hasdrubal's plans and arrangements were detailed in them
+very fully, so that Nero perceived that, if he were at once to proceed
+to the northward with a strong force, he could render his colleague
+such aid as, with the knowledge of Hasdrubal's plans, which he had
+obtained from the letters, would probably enable them to defeat him;
+whereas, if he were to leave Livius in ignorance and alone, he feared
+that Hasdrubal would be successful in breaking his way through, and in
+ultimately effecting his junction with Hannibal. Under these
+circumstances, he was, of course, very earnestly desirous of going
+northward to render the necessary aid, but he was strictly forbidden
+by law to leave his own province to enter that of his colleague
+without an authority from Rome, which there was not now time to
+obtain.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Laws of military discipline.<br />Their strictness and severity.</div>
+
+<p>The laws of military discipline are very strict and imperious, and in
+theory they are never to be disobeyed. Officers and soldiers, of all
+ranks and gradations, must obey the orders which they receive from the
+authority above them, without looking at the consequences, or
+deviating from the line marked out on any pretext whatever. It is, in
+fact, the very essence of military subordination and efficiency, that
+a command, once given, suspends all exercise of judgment or discretion
+on the part of the one to whom it is addressed; and a good general or
+a good government would prefer generally that harm should be done by a
+strict obedience to commands, rather than a benefit secured by an
+unauthorized deviation from them. It is a good principle, not only in
+war, but in all those cases in social life where men have to act in
+concert, and yet wish to secure efficiency in action.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Danger of violating discipline.<br />An illustration.</div>
+
+<p>And yet there are cases of exception&mdash;cases where the necessity is so
+urgent, or the advantages to be derived are so great; where the
+interests involved are so momentous, and the success so sure, that a
+commander concludes to disobey and take the responsibility. The
+responsibility is, however, very great, and the danger in assuming it
+extreme. He who incurs<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span> it makes himself liable to the severest
+penalties, from which nothing but clear proof of the most imperious
+necessity, and, in addition to it, the most triumphant success, can
+save him. There is somewhere in English history a story of a naval
+commander, in the service of an English queen, who disobeyed the
+orders of his superiors at one time, in a case of great emergency at
+sea, and gained by so doing a very important victory. Immediately
+afterward he placed himself under arrest, and went into port as a
+prisoner accused of crime instead of a commander triumphing in his
+victory. He surrendered himself to the queen's officers of justice,
+and sent word to the queen herself that he knew very well that death
+was the penalty for his offense, but that he was willing to sacrifice
+his life <i>in any way</i> in the service of her majesty. He was pardoned!</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Plan of Nero.</div>
+
+<p>Nero, after much anxious deliberation, concluded that the emergency in
+which he found himself placed was one requiring him to take the
+responsibility of disobedience. He did not, however, dare to go
+northward with all his forces, for that would be to leave southern
+Italy wholly at the mercy of Hannibal. He selected, therefore, from
+his whole force, which consisted <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span>of forty thousand men, seven or
+eight thousand of the most efficient and trustworthy; the men on whom
+he could most securely rely, both in respect to their ability to bear
+the fatigues of a rapid march, and the courage and energy with which
+they would meet Hasdrubal's forces in battle at the end of it. He was,
+at the time when Hasdrubal's letters were intercepted, occupying a
+spacious and well-situated camp. This he enlarged and strengthened, so
+that Hannibal might not suspect that he intended any diminution of the
+forces within. All this was done very promptly, so that, in a few
+hours after he received the intelligence on which he was acting, he
+was drawing off secretly, at night, a column of six or eight thousand
+men, none of whom knew at all where they were going.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">A night march.</div>
+
+<p>He proceeded as rapidly as possible to the northward, and, when he
+arrived in the northern province, he contrived to get into the camp of
+Livius as secretly as he had got out from his own. Thus, of the two
+armies, the one where an accession of force was required was greatly
+strengthened at the expense of the other, without either of the
+Carthaginian generals having suspected the change.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Livius and Nero attack Hasdrubal.</div>
+
+<p>Livius was rejoiced to get so opportune a re-enforcement.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span> He
+recommended that the troops should all remain quietly in camp for a
+short time, until the newly-arrived troops could rest and recruit
+themselves a little after their rapid and fatiguing march; but Nero
+opposed this plan, and recommended an immediate battle. He knew the
+character of the men that he had brought, and he was, besides,
+unwilling to risk the dangers which might arise in his own camp, in
+southern Italy, by too long an absence from it. It was decided,
+accordingly, to attack Hasdrubal at once, and the signal for battle
+was given.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Hasdrubal orders a retreat.<br />Butchery of Hasdrubal's army.<br />Hasdrubal's death.</div>
+
+<p>It is not improbable that Hasdrubal would have been beaten by Livius
+alone, but the additional force which Nero had brought made the Romans
+altogether too strong for him. Besides, from his position in the front
+of the battle, he perceived, from some indications that his watchful
+eye observed, that a part of the troops attacking him were from the
+southward; and he inferred from this that Hannibal had been defeated,
+and that, in consequence of this, the whole united force of the Roman
+army was arrayed against him. He was disheartened and discouraged, and
+soon ordered a retreat. He was pursued by the various divisions of the
+Roman<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span> army, and the retreating columns of the Carthaginians were soon
+thrown into complete confusion. They became entangled among rivers and
+lakes; and the guides who had undertaken to conduct the army, finding
+that all was lost, abandoned them and fled, anxious only to save their
+own lives. The Carthaginians were soon pent up in a position where
+they could not defend themselves, and from which they could not
+escape. The Romans showed them no mercy, but went on killing their
+wretched and despairing victims until the whole army was almost
+totally destroyed. They cut off Hasdrubal's head, and Nero sat out the
+very night after the battle to return with it in triumph to his own
+encampment. When he arrived, he sent a troop of horse to throw the
+head over into Hannibal's camp, a ghastly and horrid trophy of his
+victory.</p>
+
+<p>Hannibal was overwhelmed with disappointment and sorrow at the loss of
+his army, bringing with it, as it did, the destruction of all his
+hopes. "My fate is sealed," said he; "all is lost. I shall send no
+more news of victory to Carthage. In losing Hasdrubal my last hope is
+gone."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227-8]</a></span></p><div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;">
+<img src="images/i225.jpg" class="ispace" width="500" height="298" alt="Hasdrubal&#39;s Head." title="" />
+<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Hasdrubal&#39;s Head.</span></span></div>
+
+<div class="sidenote2">Progress of the Roman arms.<br />Successes of Scipio.</div>
+
+<p>While Hannibal was in this condition in Italy, the Roman armies, aided
+by their allies, were gaining gradually against the Carthaginians in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span> various parts of the world, under the different generals who had been
+placed in command by the Roman senate. The news of these victories
+came continually home to Italy, and encouraged and animated the
+Romans, while Hannibal and his army, as well as the people who were in
+alliance with him, were disheartened and depressed by them. Scipio was
+one of these generals commanding in foreign lands. His province was
+Spain. The news which came home from his army became more and more
+exciting, as he advanced from conquest to conquest, until it seemed
+that the whole country was going to be reduced to subjection. He
+overcame one Carthaginian general after another until he reached New
+Carthage, which he besieged and conquered, and the Roman authority was
+established fully over the whole land.</p>
+
+<p>Scipio then returned in triumph to Rome. The people received him with
+acclamations. At the next election they chose him consul. On the
+allotment of provinces, Sicily fell to him, with power to cross into
+Africa if he pleased. It devolved on the other consul to carry on the
+war in Italy more directly against Hannibal. Scipio levied his army,
+equipped his fleet, and sailed for Sicily.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span></p><div class="sidenote">Scipio in Africa.</div>
+
+<p>The first thing that he did on his arrival in his province was to
+project an expedition into Africa itself. He could not, as he wished,
+face Hannibal directly, by marching his troops into the south of
+Italy, for this was the work allotted to his colleague. He could,
+however, make an incursion into Africa, and even threaten Carthage
+itself, and this, with the boldness and ardor which marked his
+character, he resolved to do.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Carthage threatened.</div>
+
+<p>He was triumphantly successful in all his plans. His army, imbibing
+the spirit of enthusiasm which animated their commander, and confident
+of success, went on, as his forces in Spain had done, from victory to
+victory. They conquered cities, they overran provinces, they defeated
+and drove back all the armies which the Carthaginians could bring
+against them, and finally they awakened in the streets and dwellings
+of Carthage the same panic and consternation which Hannibal's
+victorious progress had produced in Rome.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">A truce.</div>
+
+<p>The Carthaginians being now, in their turn, reduced to despair, sent
+embassadors to Scipio to beg for peace, and to ask on what terms he
+would grant it and withdraw from the country. Scipio replied that <i>he</i>
+could not make peace. It rested with the Roman senate, whose servant
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span>he was. He specified, however, certain terms which he was willing to
+have proposed to the senate, and, if the Carthaginians would agree to
+them, he would grant them a <i>truce</i>, that is, a temporary suspension
+of hostilities, until the answer of the Roman senate could be
+returned.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Hannibal recalled.</div>
+
+<p>The Carthaginians agreed to the terms. They were very onerous. The
+Romans say that they did not really mean to abide by them, but acceded
+for the moment in order to gain time to send for Hannibal. They had
+great confidence in his resources and military power, and thought
+that, if he were in Africa, he could save them. At the same time,
+therefore, that they sent their embassadors to Rome with their
+propositions for peace, they dispatched expresses to Hannibal,
+ordering him to embark his troops as soon as possible, and, abandoning
+Italy, to hasten home, to save, if it was not already too late, his
+native city from destruction.</p>
+
+<p>When Hannibal received these messages, he was overwhelmed with
+disappointment and sorrow. He spent hours in extreme agitation,
+sometimes in a moody silence, interrupted now and then by groans of
+despair, and sometimes uttering loud and angry curses, prompted by the
+exasperation of his feelings. He, however, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span>could not resist. He made
+the best of his way to Carthage. The Roman senate, at the same time,
+instead of deciding on the question of peace or war, which Scipio had
+submitted to them, referred the question back to him. They sent
+commissioners to Scipio, authorizing him to act for them, and to
+decide himself alone whether the war should be continued or closed,
+and if to be closed, on what conditions.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Hannibal raises a new army.<br />The Romans capture his spies.</div>
+
+<p>Hannibal raised a large force at Carthage, joining with it such
+remains of former armies as had been left after Scipio's battles, and
+he went forth at the head of these troops to meet his enemy. He
+marched five days, going, perhaps, seventy-five or one hundred miles
+from Carthage, when he found himself approaching Scipio's camp. He
+sent out spies to reconnoiter. The patrols of Scipio's army seized
+these spies and brought them to the general's tent, as they supposed,
+for execution. Instead of punishing them, Scipio ordered them to be
+led around his camp, and to be allowed to see every thing they
+desired. He then dismissed them, that they might return to Hannibal
+with the information they had obtained.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Interview between Hannibal and Scipio.</div>
+
+<p>Of course, the report which they brought in respect to the strength
+and resources of Scipio's <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span>army was very formidable to Hannibal. He
+thought it best to make an attempt to negotiate a peace rather than to
+risk a battle, and he accordingly sent word to Scipio requesting a
+personal interview. Scipio acceded to this request, and a place was
+appointed for the meeting between the two encampments. To this spot
+the two generals repaired at the proper time, with great pomp and
+parade, and with many attendants. They were the two greatest generals
+of the age in which they lived, having been engaged for fifteen or
+twenty years in performing, at the head of vast armies, exploits which
+had filled the world with their fame. Their fields of action had,
+however, been widely distant, and they met personally now for the
+first time. When introduced into each other's presence, they stood for
+some time in silence, gazing upon and examining one another with
+intense interest and curiosity, but not speaking a word.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Negotiations.</div>
+
+<p>At length, however, the negotiation was opened. Hannibal made Scipio
+proposals for peace. They were very favorable to the Romans, but
+Scipio was not satisfied with them. He demanded still greater
+sacrifices than Hannibal was willing to make. The result, after a long
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span>and fruitless negotiation, was, that each general returned to his
+camp and prepared for battle.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The last battle.<br />Defeat of the Carthaginians.</div>
+
+<p>In military campaigns, it is generally easy for those who have been
+conquering to go on to conquer: so much depends upon the expectations
+with which the contending armies go into battle. Scipio and his troops
+expected to conquer. The Carthaginians expected to be beaten. The
+result corresponded. At the close of the day on which the battle was
+fought, forty thousand Carthaginians were dead and dying upon the
+ground, as many more were prisoners in the Roman camp, and the rest,
+in broken masses, were flying from the field in confusion and terror,
+on all the roads which led to Carthage. Hannibal arrived at the city
+with the rest, went to the senate, announced his defeat, and said that
+he could do no more. "The fortune which once attended me," said he,
+"is lost forever, and nothing is left to us but to make peace with our
+enemies on any terms that they may think fit to impose."</p>
+
+<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="Chapter_XI" id="Chapter_XI"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter XI.</span></h2>
+
+<h2><span class="smcap">Hannibal a Fugitive and an Exile.</span></h2>
+
+<h3>B.C. 200-182</h3>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Hannibal's conquests.</div>
+
+<p class="n"><span style="float:left;font-size:50px;line-height:32px;padding-top:2px;padding-bottom:1px;">H</span><span style="margin-left:0%;">annibal's</span> life was like an April day. Its brightest glory was in the
+morning. The setting of his sun was darkened by clouds and showers.
+Although for fifteen years the Roman people could find no general
+capable of maintaining the field against him, Scipio conquered him at
+last, and all his brilliant conquests ended, as Hanno had predicted,
+only in placing his country in a far worse condition than before.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Peaceful pursuits.<br />The danger of a spirit of ambition and conquest.</div>
+
+<p>In fact, as long as the Carthaginians confined their energies to
+useful industry, and to the pursuits of commerce and peace, they were
+prosperous, and they increased in wealth, and influence, and honor
+every year. Their ships went every where, and were every where
+welcome. All the shores of the Mediterranean were visited by their
+merchants, and the comforts and the happiness of many nations and
+tribes were promoted by the very means which they took to swell their
+own riches and fame. All might <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span>have gone on so for centuries longer,
+had not military heroes arisen with appetites for a more piquant sort
+of glory. Hannibal's father was one of the foremost of these. He began
+by conquests in Spain and encroachments on the Roman jurisdiction. He
+inculcated the same feelings of ambition and hate in Hannibal's mind
+which burned in his own. For many years, the policy which they led
+their countrymen to pursue was successful. From being useful and
+welcome visitors to all the world, they became the masters and the
+curse of a part of it. So long as Hannibal remained superior to any
+Roman general that could be brought against him, he went on
+conquering. But at last Scipio arose, greater than Hannibal. The tide
+was then turned, and all the vast conquests of half a century were
+wrested away by the same violence, bloodshed, and misery with which
+they had been acquired.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Gradual progress of Scipio's victories.</div>
+
+<p>We have described the exploits of Hannibal, in making these conquests,
+in detail, while those of Scipio, in wresting them away, have been
+passed over very briefly, as this is intended as a history of
+Hannibal, and not of Scipio. Still Scipio's conquests were made by
+slow degrees, and they consumed a long period of time. He <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span>was but
+about eighteen years of age at the battle of Cann&aelig;, soon after which
+his campaigns began, and he was thirty when he was made consul, just
+before his going into Africa. He was thus fifteen or eighteen years in
+taking down the vast superstructure of power which Hannibal had
+raised, working in regions away from Hannibal and Carthage during all
+this time, as if leaving the great general and the great city for the
+last. He was, however, so successful in what he did, that when, at
+length, he advanced to the attack of Carthage, every thing else was
+gone. The Carthaginian power had become a mere hollow shell, empty and
+vain, which required only one great final blow to effect its absolute
+demolition. In fact, so far spent and gone were all the Carthaginian
+resources, that the great city had to summon the great general to its
+aid the moment it was threatened, and Scipio destroyed them both
+together.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Severe conditions of peace exacted by Scipio.</div>
+
+<p>And yet Scipio did not proceed so far as literally and actually to
+destroy them. He spared Hannibal's life, and he allowed the city to
+stand; but the terms and conditions of peace which he exacted were
+such as to put an absolute and perpetual end to Carthaginian dominion.
+By <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span>these conditions, the Carthaginian state was allowed to continue
+free and independent, and even to retain the government of such
+territories in <i>Africa</i> as they possessed before the war; but all
+their foreign possessions were taken away; and even in respect to
+Africa, their jurisdiction was limited and curtailed by very hard
+restrictions. Their whole navy was to be given to the Romans except
+ten small ships of three banks of oars, which Scipio thought the
+government would need for the purposes of civil administration. These
+they were allowed to retain. Scipio did not say what he should do with
+the remainder of the fleet: it was to be unconditionally surrendered
+to him. Their elephants of war were also to be all given up, and they
+were to be bound not to train any more. They were not to appear at all
+as a military power in any other quarter of the world but Africa, and
+they were not to make war in Africa except by previously making known
+the occasion for it to the Roman people, and obtaining their
+permission. They were also to pay to the Romans a very large annual
+tribute for fifty years.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Debates in the Carthaginian senate.</div>
+
+<p>There was great distress and perplexity in the Carthaginian councils
+while they were debating these cruel terms. Hannibal was in favor<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span> of
+accepting them. Others opposed. They thought it would be better still
+to continue the struggle, hopeless as it was, than to submit to terms
+so ignominious and fatal.</p>
+
+<p>Hannibal was present at these debates, but he found himself now in a
+very different position from that which he had been occupying for
+thirty years as a victorious general at the head of his army. He had
+been accustomed there to control and direct every thing. In his
+councils of war, no one spoke but at his invitation, and no opinion
+was expressed but such as he was willing to hear. In the Carthaginian
+senate, however, he found the case very different. There, opinions
+were freely expressed, as in a debate among equals, Hannibal taking
+his place among the rest, and counting only as one. And yet the spirit
+of authority and command which he had been so long accustomed to
+exercise, lingered still, and made him very impatient and uneasy under
+contradiction. In fact, as one of the speakers in the senate was
+rising to animadvert upon and oppose Hannibal's views, he undertook to
+pull him down and silence him by force. This proceeding awakened
+immediately such expressions of dissatisfaction and displeasure in the
+assembly as to show him very clearly <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span>that the time for such
+domineering was gone. He had, however, the good sense to express the
+regret he soon felt at having so far forgotten the duties of his new
+position, and to make an ample apology.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 241-2]</a></span></p><div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;">
+<img src="images/i240.jpg" class="ispace" width="500" height="290" alt="The Burning of the Carthaginian Fleet." title="" />
+<span class="caption"><span class="ispace">The Burning of the Carthaginian Fleet.</span></span></div>
+
+<div class="sidenote2">Terms of peace complied with.<br />Surrender of the elephants and ships.</div>
+
+<p>The Carthaginians decided at length to accede to Scipio's terms of
+peace. The first instalment of the tribute was paid. The elephants and
+the ships were surrendered. After a few days, Scipio announced his
+determination not to take the ships away with him, but to destroy them
+there. Perhaps this was because he thought the ships would be of
+little value to the Romans, on account of the difficulty of manning
+them. Ships, of course, are useless without seamen, and many nations
+in modern times, who could easily build a navy, are debarred from
+doing it, because their population does not furnish sailors in
+sufficient numbers to man and navigate it. It was probably, in part,
+on this account that Scipio decided not to take the Carthaginian ships
+away, and perhaps he also wanted to show to Carthage and to the world
+that his object in taking possession of the national property of his
+foes was not to enrich his own country by plunder, but only to deprive
+ambitious soldiers of the power to compromise any longer <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span>the peace and happiness of mankind by expeditions for conquest and
+power. However this may be, Scipio determined to destroy the
+Carthaginian fleet, and not to convey it away.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Scipio burns the Carthaginian fleet.<br />Feelings of the spectators.</div>
+
+<p>On a given day, therefore, he ordered all the galleys to be got
+together in the bay opposite to the city of Carthage, and to be
+burned. There were five hundred of them, so that they constituted a
+large fleet, and covered a large expanse of the water. A vast
+concourse of people assembled upon the shores to witness the grand
+conflagration. The emotion which such a spectacle was of itself
+calculated to excite was greatly heightened by the deep but stifled
+feelings of resentment and hate which agitated every Carthaginian
+breast. The Romans, too, as they gazed upon the scene from their
+encampment on the shore, were agitated as well, though with different
+emotions. Their faces beamed with an expression of exultation and
+triumph as they saw the vast masses of flame and columns of smoke
+ascending from the sea, proclaiming the total and irretrievable ruin
+of Carthaginian pride and power.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Scipio sails to Rome.<br />His reception.</div>
+
+<p>Having thus fully accomplished his work, Scipio set sail for Rome. All
+Italy had been filled with the fame of his exploits in thus
+destroying<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span> the ascendency of Hannibal. The city of Rome had now
+nothing more to fear from its great enemy. He was shut up, disarmed,
+and helpless, in his own native state, and the terror which his
+presence in Italy had inspired had passed forever away. The whole
+population of Rome, remembering the awful scenes of consternation and
+terror which the city had so often endured, regarded Scipio as a great
+deliverer. They were eager to receive and welcome him on his arrival.
+When the time came and he approached the city, vast throngs went out
+to meet him. The authorities formed civic processions to welcome him.
+They brought crowns, and garlands, and flowers, and hailed his
+approach with loud and prolonged acclamations of triumph and joy. They
+gave him the name of Africanus, in honor of his victories. This was a
+new honor&mdash;giving to a conqueror the name of the country that he had
+subdued; it was invented specially as Scipio's reward, the deliverer
+who had saved the empire from the greatest and most terrible danger by
+which it had ever been assailed.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Hannibal's position and standing at Carthage.</div>
+
+<p>Hannibal, though fallen, retained still in Carthage some portion of
+his former power. The glory of his past exploits still invested his
+character<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span> with a sort of halo, which made him an object of general
+regard, and he still had great and powerful friends. He was elevated
+to high office, and exerted himself to regulate and improve the
+internal affairs of the state. In these efforts he was not, however,
+very successful. The historians say that the objects which he aimed to
+accomplish were good, and that the measures for effecting them were,
+in themselves, judicious; but, accustomed as he was to the
+authoritative and arbitrary action of a military commander in camp, he
+found it hard to practice that caution and forbearance, and that
+deference for the opinion of others, which are so essential as means
+of influencing men in the management of the civil affairs of a
+commonwealth. He made a great many enemies, who did every thing in
+their power, by plots and intrigues, as well as by open hostility, to
+accomplish his ruin.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Orders from Rome.<br />Hannibal's mortification.</div>
+
+<p>His pride, too, was extremely mortified and humbled by an occurrence
+which took place very soon after Scipio's return to Rome. There was
+some occasion of war with a neighboring African tribe, and Hannibal
+headed some forces which were raised in the city for the purpose, and
+went out to prosecute it. The Romans, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span>who took care to have agents in
+Carthage to keep them acquainted with all that occurred, heard of
+this, and sent word to Carthage to warn the Carthaginians that this
+was contrary to the treaty, and could not be allowed. The government,
+not willing to incur the risk of another visit from Scipio, sent
+orders to Hannibal to abandon the war and return to the city. Hannibal
+was compelled to submit; but after having been accustomed, as he had
+been, for many years, to bid defiance to all the armies and fleets
+which Roman power could, with their utmost exertion, bring against
+him, it must have been very hard for such a spirit as his to find
+itself stopped and conquered now by a word. All the force they could
+command against him, even at the very gates of their own city, was
+once impotent and vain. Now, a mere message and threat, coming across
+the distant sea, seeks him out in the remote deserts of Africa, and in
+a moment deprives him of all his power.</p>
+
+<p>Years passed away, and Hannibal, though compelled outwardly to submit
+to his fate, was restless and ill at ease. His scheming spirit,
+spurred on now by the double stimulus of resentment and ambition, was
+always busy, vainly endeavoring to discover some plan by which he
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span>might again renew the struggle with his ancient foe.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Syria and Ph&oelig;nicia.<br />King Antiochus.</div>
+
+<p>It will be recollected that Carthage was originally a commercial
+colony from Tyre, a city on the eastern shores of the Mediterranean
+Sea. The countries of Syria and Ph&oelig;nicia were in the vicinity of
+Tyre. They were powerful commercial communities, and they had always
+retained very friendly relations with the Carthaginian commonwealth.
+Ships passed continually to and fro, and always, in case of calamities
+or disasters threatening one of these regions, the inhabitants
+naturally looked to the other for refuge and protection, Carthage
+looking upon Ph&oelig;nicia as its mother, and Ph&oelig;nicia regarding
+Carthage as her child. Now there was, at this time, a very powerful
+monarch on the throne in Syria and Ph&oelig;nicia, named Antiochus. His
+capital was Damascus. He was wealthy and powerful, and was involved in
+some difficulties with the Romans. Their conquests, gradually
+extending eastward, had approached the confines of Antiochus's realms,
+and the two nations were on the brink of war.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Hannibal's intrigues with Antiochus.</div>
+
+<p>Things being in this state, the enemies of Hannibal at Carthage sent
+information to the Roman senate that he was negotiating and plotting
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span>with Antiochus to combine the Syrian and Carthaginian forces against
+them, and thus plunge the world into another general war. The Romans
+accordingly determined to send an embassage to the Carthaginian
+government, and to demand that Hannibal should be deposed from his
+office, and given up to them a prisoner, in order that he might be
+tried on this charge.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Embassy from Rome.</div>
+
+<p>These commissioners came, accordingly, to Carthage, keeping, however,
+the object of their mission a profound secret, since they knew very
+well that, if Hannibal should suspect it, he would make his escape
+before the Carthaginian senate could decide upon the question of
+surrendering him. Hannibal was, however, too wary for them. He
+contrived to learn their object, and immediately resolved on making
+his escape. He knew that his enemies in Carthage were numerous and
+powerful, and that the animosity against him was growing stronger and
+stronger. He did not dare, therefore, to trust to the result of the
+discussion in the senate, but determined to fly.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Flight of Hannibal.</div>
+
+<p>He had a small castle or tower on the coast, about one hundred and
+fifty miles southeast of Carthage. He sent there by an express,
+ordering a vessel to be ready to take him to sea. He <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span>also made
+arrangements to have horsemen ready at one of the gates of the city at
+nightfall. During the day he appeared freely in the public streets,
+walking with an unconcerned air, as if his mind was at ease, and
+giving to the Roman embassadors, who were watching his movements, the
+impression that he was not meditating an escape. Toward the close of
+the day, however, after walking leisurely home, he immediately made
+preparations for his journey. As soon as it was dark he went to the
+gate of the city, mounted the horse which was provided for him, and
+fled across the country to his castle. Here he found the vessel ready
+which he had ordered. He embarked, and put to sea.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Island of Cercina.</div>
+
+<p>There is a small island called Cercina at a little distance from the
+coast. Hannibal reached this island on the same day that he left his
+tower. There was a harbor here, where merchant ships were accustomed
+to come in. He found several Ph&oelig;nician vessels in the port, some
+bound to Carthage. Hannibal's arrival produced a strong sensation
+here, and, to account for his appearance among them, he said he was
+going on an embassy from the Carthaginian government to Tyre.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Stratagem of Hannibal.<br />He sails for Syria.</div>
+
+<p>He was now afraid that some of these vessels <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span>that were about setting
+sail for Carthage might carry the news back of his having being seen
+at Cercina, and, to prevent this, he contrived, with his
+characteristic cunning, the following plan. He sent around to all the
+ship-masters in the port, inviting them to a great entertainment which
+he was to give, and asked, at the same time, that they would lend him
+the main-sails of their ships, to make a great awning with, to shelter
+the guests from the dews of the night. The ship-masters, eager to
+witness and enjoy the convivial scene which Hannibal's proposal
+promised them, accepted the invitation, and ordered their main-sails
+to be taken down. Of course, this confined all their vessels to port.
+In the evening, the company assembled under the vast tent, made by the
+main-sails, on the shore. Hannibal met them, and remained with them
+for a time. In the course of the night, however, when they were all in
+the midst of their carousing, he stole away, embarked on board a ship,
+and set sail, and, before the ship-masters could awake from the deep
+and prolonged slumbers which followed their wine, and rig their
+main-sails to the masts again, Hannibal was far out of reach on his
+way to Syria.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Excitement at Carthage.<br />Hannibal safe at Ephesus.</div>
+
+<p>In the mean time, there was a great excitement<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span> produced at Carthage
+by the news which spread every where over the city, the day after his
+departure, that he was not to be found. Great crowds assembled before
+his house. Wild and strange rumors circulated in explanation of his
+disappearance, but they were contradictory and impossible, and only
+added to the universal excitement. This excitement continued until the
+vessels at last arrived from Cercina, and made the truth known.
+Hannibal was himself, however, by this time, safe beyond the reach of
+all possible pursuit. He was sailing prosperously, so far as outward
+circumstances were concerned, but dejected and wretched in heart,
+toward Tyre. He landed there in safety, and was kindly received. In a
+few days he went into the interior, and, after various wanderings,
+reached Ephesus, where he found Antiochus, the Syrian king.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Carthaginian deputies.<br />The change of fortune.</div>
+
+<p>As soon as the escape of Hannibal was made known at Carthage, the
+people of the city immediately began to fear that the Romans would
+consider them responsible for it, and that they should thus incur a
+renewal of Roman hostility. In order to avert this danger, they
+immediately sent a deputation to Rome, to make known the fact of
+Hannibal's flight, and to express the regret<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span> they felt on account of
+it, in hopes thus to save themselves from the displeasure of their
+formidable foes. It may at first view seem very ungenerous and
+ungrateful in the Carthaginians to abandon their general in this
+manner, in the hour of his misfortune and calamity, and to take part
+against him with enemies whose displeasure he had incurred only in
+their service and in executing their will. And this conduct of the
+Carthaginians would have to be considered as not only ungenerous, but
+extremely inconsistent, if it had been the same individuals that acted
+in the two cases. But it was not. The men and the influences which now
+opposed Hannibal's projects and plans had opposed them always and from
+the beginning; only, so long as he went on successfully and well, they
+were in the minority, and Hannibal's adherents and friends controlled
+all the public action of the city. But, now that the bitter fruits of
+his ambition and of his totally unjustifiable encroachments on the
+Roman territories and Roman rights began to be realized, the party of
+his friends was overturned, the power reverted to the hands of those
+who had always opposed him, and in trying to keep him down when he was
+once fallen, their action, whether politically <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span>right or wrong, was
+consistent with itself, and can not be considered as at all subjecting
+them to the charge of ingratitude or treachery.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Hannibal's unconquerable spirit.<br />His new plans.</div>
+
+<p>One might have supposed that all Hannibal's hopes and expectations of
+ever again coping with his great Roman enemy would have been now
+effectually and finally destroyed, and that henceforth he would have
+given up his active hostility and would have contented himself with
+seeking some refuge where he could spend the remainder of his days in
+peace, satisfied with securing, after such dangers and escapes, his
+own personal protection from the vengeance of his enemies. But it is
+hard to quell and subdue such indomitable perseverance and energy as
+his. He was very little inclined yet to submit to his fate. As soon as
+he found himself at the court of Antiochus, he began to form new plans
+for making war against Rome. He proposed to the Syrian monarch to
+raise a naval force and put it under his charge. He said that if
+Antiochus would give him a hundred ships and ten or twelve thousand
+men, he would take the command of the expedition in person, and he did
+not doubt that he should be able to recover his lost ground, and once
+more humble his ancient and formidable enemy. He would go first, he
+said, with <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</a></span>his force to Carthage, to get the co-operation and aid of
+his countrymen there in his new plans. Then he would make a descent
+upon Italy, and he had no doubt that he should soon regain the
+ascendency there which he had formerly held.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Hannibal sends a secret messenger to Carthage.</div>
+
+<p>Hannibal's design of going first to Carthage with his Syrian army was
+doubtless induced by his desire to put down the party of his enemies
+there, and to restore the power to his adherents and partisans. In
+order to prepare the way the more effectually for this, he sent a
+secret messenger to Carthage, while his negotiations with Antiochus
+were going on, to make known to his friends there the new hopes which
+he began to cherish, and the new designs which he had formed. He knew
+that his enemies in Carthage would be watching very carefully for any
+such communication; he therefore wrote no letters, and committed
+nothing to paper which, on being discovered, might betray him. He
+explained, however, all his plans very fully to his messenger, and
+gave him minute and careful instructions as to his manner of
+communicating them.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The placards.</div>
+
+<p>The Carthaginian authorities were indeed watching very vigilantly, and
+intelligence was <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</a></span>brought to them, by their spies, of the arrival of
+this stranger. They immediately took measures for arresting him. The
+messenger, who was himself as vigilant as they, got intelligence of
+this in his secret lurking-place in the city, and determined
+immediately to fly. He, however, first prepared some papers and
+placards, which he posted up in public places, in which he proclaimed
+that Hannibal was far from considering himself finally conquered; that
+he was, on the contrary, forming new plans for putting down his
+enemies in Carthage, resuming his former ascendency there, and
+carrying fire and sword again into the Roman territories; and, in the
+mean time, he urged the friends of Hannibal in Carthage to remain
+faithful and true to his cause.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Excitement produced by them.</div>
+
+<p>The messenger, after posting his placards, fled from the city in the
+night, and went back to Hannibal. Of course, the occurrence produced
+considerable excitement in the city. It aroused the anger and
+resentment of Hannibal's enemies, and awakened new encouragement and
+hope in the hearts of his friends. Further than this, however, it led
+to no immediate results. The power of the party which was opposed to
+Hannibal was too firmly established at Carthage <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</a></span>to be very easily
+shaken. They sent information to Rome of the coming of Hannibal's
+emissary to Carthage, and of the result of his mission, and then every
+thing went on as before.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Roman commissioners.<br />Supposed interview of Hannibal and Scipio.<br />Hannibal's opinion of Alexander and Pyrrhus.</div>
+
+<p>In the mean time, the Romans, when they learned where Hannibal had
+gone, sent two or three commissioners there to confer with the Syrian
+government in respect to their intentions and plans, and watch the
+movements of Hannibal. It was said that Scipio himself was joined to
+this embassy, and that he actually met Hannibal at Ephesus, and had
+several personal interviews and conversations with him there. Some
+ancient historian gives a particular account of one of these
+interviews, in which the conversation turned, as it naturally would do
+between two such distinguished commanders, on military greatness and
+glory. Scipio asked Hannibal whom he considered the greatest military
+hero that had ever lived. Hannibal gave the palm to Alexander the
+Great, because he had penetrated, with comparatively a very small
+number of Macedonian troops, into such remote regions, conquered such
+vast armies, and brought so boundless an empire under his sway. Scipio
+then asked him who he was inclined to place next to Alexander. He said
+Pyrrhus. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</a></span>Pyrrhus was a Grecian, who crossed the Adriatic Sea, and
+made war, with great success, against the Romans. Hannibal said that
+he gave the second rank to Pyrrhus because he systematized and
+perfected the art of war, and also because he had the power of
+awakening a feeling of personal attachment to himself on the part of
+all his soldiers, and even of the inhabitants of the countries that he
+conquered, beyond any other general that ever lived. Scipio then asked
+Hannibal who came next in order, and he replied that he should give
+the third rank to himself. "And if," added he, "I had conquered
+Scipio, I should consider myself as standing above Alexander, Pyrrhus,
+and all the generals that the world ever produced."</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Anecdotes.</div>
+
+<p>Various other anecdotes are related of Hannibal during the time of his
+first appearance in Syria, all indicating the very high degree of
+estimation in which he was held, and the curiosity and interest that
+were every where felt to see him. On one occasion, it happened that a
+vain and self-conceited orator, who knew little of war but from his
+own theoretic speculations, was haranguing an assembly where Hannibal
+was present, being greatly pleased with the opportunity of displaying
+his powers before so distinguished<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</a></span> an auditor. When the discourse was
+finished, they asked Hannibal what he thought of it. "I have heard,"
+said he, in reply, "many old dotards in the course of my life, but
+this is, verily, the greatest dotard of them all."</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Hannibal's efforts prove vain.<br />Antiochus agrees to give him up.</div>
+
+<p>Hannibal failed, notwithstanding all his perseverance, in obtaining
+the means to attack the Romans again. He was unwearied in his efforts,
+but, though the king sometimes encouraged his hopes, nothing was ever
+done. He remained in this part of the world for ten years, striving
+continually to accomplish his aims, but every year he found himself
+farther from the attainment of them than ever. The hour of his good
+fortune and of his prosperity were obviously gone. His plans all
+failed, his influence declined, his name and renown were fast passing
+away. At last, after long and fruitless contests with the Romans,
+Antiochus made a treaty of peace with them, and, among the articles of
+this treaty, was one agreeing to give up Hannibal into their power.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Hannibal's treasures.</div>
+
+<p>Hannibal resolved to fly. The place of refuge which he chose was the
+island of Crete. He found that he could not long remain here. He had,
+however, brought with him a large amount of treasure, and when about
+leaving Crete again, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</a></span>he was uneasy about this treasure, as he had
+some reason to fear that the Cretans were intending to seize it. He
+must contrive, then, some stratagem to enable him to get this gold
+away. The plan he adopted was this:</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">His plan for securing them.</div>
+
+<p>He filled a number of earthen jars with lead, covering the tops of
+them with gold and silver. These he carried, with great appearance of
+caution and solicitude, to the Temple of Diana, a very sacred edifice,
+and deposited them there, under very special guardianship of the
+Cretans, to whom, as he said, he intrusted all his treasures. They
+received their false deposit with many promises to keep it safely, and
+then Hannibal went away with his real gold cast in the center of
+hollow statues of brass, which he carried with him, without suspicion,
+as objects of art of very little value.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Hannibal's unhappy condition.</div>
+
+<p>Hannibal fled from kingdom to kingdom, and from province to province,
+until life became a miserable burden. The determined hostility of the
+Roman senate followed him every where, harassing him with continual
+anxiety and fear, and destroying all hope of comfort and peace. His
+mind was a prey to bitter recollections of the past, and still more
+dreadful forebodings for the future. He had spent all the morning of
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</a></span>his life in inflicting the most terrible injuries on the objects of
+his implacable animosity and hate, although they had never injured
+him, and now, in the evening of his days, it became his destiny to
+feel the pressure of the same terror and suffering inflicted upon
+<i>him</i>. The hostility which he had to fear was equally merciless with
+that which he had exercised; perhaps it was made still more intense by
+being mingled with what they who felt it probably considered a just
+resentment and revenge.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The potion of poison.<br />Hannibal fails in his attempt to escape.<br />He poisons himself.</div>
+
+<p>When at length Hannibal found that the Romans were hemming him in more
+and more closely, and that the danger increased of his falling at last
+into their power, he had a potion of poison prepared, and kept it
+always in readiness, determined to die by his own hand rather than to
+submit to be given up to his enemies. The time for taking the poison
+at last arrived. The wretched fugitive was then in Bithynia, a kingdom
+of Asia Minor. The King of Bithynia sheltered him for a time, but at
+length agreed to give him up to the Romans. Hannibal learning this,
+prepared for flight. But he found, on attempting his escape, that all
+the modes of exit from the palace which he occupied, even the secret
+ones which he had expressly contrived<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</a></span> to aid his flight, were taken
+possession of and guarded. Escape was, therefore, no longer possible,
+and Hannibal went to his apartment and sent for the poison. He was now
+an old man, nearly seventy years of age, and he was worn down and
+exhausted by his protracted anxieties and sufferings. He was glad to
+die. He drank the poison, and in a few hours ceased to breathe.</p>
+
+<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="Chapter_XII" id="Chapter_XII"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter XII.</span></h2>
+
+<h2><span class="smcap">The Destruction of Carthage.</span></h2>
+
+<h3>B.C. 146-145</h3>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Destruction.<br />The third Punic war.</div>
+
+<p class="n"><span style="float:left;font-size:50px;line-height:32px;padding-top:2px;padding-bottom:1px;">T</span><span style="margin-left:0%;">he</span> consequences of Hannibal's reckless ambition, and of his wholly
+unjustifiable aggression on Roman rights to gratify it, did not end
+with his own personal ruin. The flame which he had kindled continued
+to burn until at last it accomplished the entire and irretrievable
+destruction of Carthage. This was effected in a third and final war
+between the Carthaginians and the Romans, which is known in history as
+the third Punic war. With a narrative of the events of this war,
+ending, as it did, in the total destruction of the city, we shall
+close this history of Hannibal.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Chronological table of the Punic wars.</div><p>It will be recollected that the war which Hannibal himself waged
+against Rome was the second in the series, the contest in which
+Regulus figured so prominently having been the first. The one whose
+history is now to be given is the third. The reader will distinctly
+understand the chronological relations of these contests by the
+following table:</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</a></span></p>
+
+<h4>TABLE.</h4>
+
+<div class="centered">
+<table class="history" border="0" summary="Punic">
+<colgroup span="4">
+<col width="70"></col>
+<col width="250"></col>
+<col width="30"></col>
+<col width="120"></col>
+<col align="left"></col>
+</colgroup>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="center" class="bb br">Date<br />B.C.</td>
+<td align="center" class="bb events">Events.</td>
+<td class="bb br">&nbsp;</td>
+<td align="center" class="bb">Punic Wars.</td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="center" class="br">264<br />262<br />249<br />241</td>
+<td align="left" class="events2">War commenced in Sicily<br />
+Naval battles in the Mediterranean<br />
+Regulus sent prisoner to Rome<br />
+Peace concluded</td>
+<td valign="middle" align="left" style="white-space: nowrap; font-size: 60pt" class="br">}</td>
+<td valign="middle" align="center">&nbsp;<br />I.<br />24 years.<br />&nbsp;</td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="center" class="br">&nbsp;</td>
+<td align="center">&nbsp;</td>
+<td align="center" class="br">&nbsp;</td>
+<td align="center">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="center" class="br">&nbsp;</td>
+<td align="center">Peace for 24 years</td>
+<td align="center" class="br">&nbsp;</td>
+<td align="center">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="center" class="br">&nbsp;</td>
+<td align="center">&nbsp;</td>
+<td align="center" class="br">&nbsp;</td>
+<td align="center">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="center" class="br">218<br />217<br />216<br />205<br />200</td>
+<td align="left" class="events2">Hannibal attacks Saguntum<br />
+Crosses the Alps<br />
+Battle of Cann&aelig;<br />
+Is conquered by Scipio<br />
+Peace concluded</td>
+<td valign="middle" align="left" style="white-space: nowrap; font-size: 80pt" class="br">}</td>
+<td valign="middle" align="center">II.<br />17 years.</td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="center" class="br">&nbsp;</td>
+<td align="center">&nbsp;</td>
+<td align="center" class="br">&nbsp;</td>
+<td align="center">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="center" class="br">&nbsp;</td>
+<td align="center">Peace for 52 years</td>
+<td align="center" class="br">&nbsp;</td>
+<td align="center">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="center" class="br">&nbsp;</td>
+<td align="center">&nbsp;</td>
+<td align="center" class="br">&nbsp;</td>
+<td align="center">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="center" class="br">148<br />145</td>
+<td align="left" class="events2">War declared<br />
+Carthage destroyed</td>
+<td valign="middle" align="left" style="white-space: nowrap; font-size: 45pt" class="br">}</td>
+<td valign="middle" align="center">III.<br />3 years.</td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Character of the Punic wars.<br />Intervals between them.</div>
+
+<p>These three Punic wars extended, as the table shows, over a period of
+more than a hundred <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</a></span>years. Each successive contest in the series was
+shorter, but more violent and desperate than its predecessor, while
+the intervals of peace were longer. Thus the first Punic war continued
+for twenty-four years, the second about seventeen, and the third only
+three or four. The interval, too, between the first and second was
+twenty-four years, while between the second and third there was a sort
+of peace for about fifty years. These differences were caused, indeed,
+in some degree, by the accidental circumstances on which the
+successive ruptures depended, but they were not entirely owing to that
+cause. The longer these belligerent relations between the two
+countries continued, and the more they both experienced the awful
+effects and consequences of their quarrels, the less disposed they
+were to renew such dreadful struggles, and yet, when they did renew
+them they engaged in them with redoubled energy of determination and
+fresh intensity of hate. Thus the wars followed each other at greater
+intervals, but the conflicts, when they came, though shorter in
+duration, were more and more desperate and merciless in character.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Animosities and dissensions.</div>
+
+<p>We have said that, after the close of the second Punic war, there was
+a sort of peace for about <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</a></span>fifty years. Of course, during this time,
+one generation after another of public men arose, both in Rome and
+Carthage, each successive group, on both sides, inheriting the
+suppressed animosity and hatred which had been cherished by their
+predecessors. Of course, as long as Hannibal had lived, and had
+continued his plots and schemes in Syria, he was the means of keeping
+up a continual irritation among the people of Rome against the
+Carthaginian name. It is true that the government at Carthage
+disavowed his acts, and professed to be wholly opposed to his designs;
+but then it was, of course, very well known at Rome that this was only
+because they thought he was not able to execute them. They had no
+confidence whatever in Carthaginian faith or honesty, and, of course,
+there could be no real harmony or stable peace.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Numidia.<br />Numidian horsemen.</div>
+
+<p>There arose gradually, also, another source of dissension. By
+referring to the <a href="#Frontispiece">map</a>, the reader will perceive that there lies, to the
+westward of Carthage, a country called Numidia. This country was a
+hundred miles or more in breadth, and extended back several hundred
+miles into the interior. It was a very rich and fertile region, and
+contained many powerful and wealthy cities. The inhabitants were
+warlike, too, and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</a></span>were particularly celebrated for their cavalry. The
+ancient historians say that they used to ride their horses into the
+field without saddles, and often without bridles, guiding and
+controlling them by their voices, and keeping their seats securely by
+the exercise of great personal strength and consummate skill. These
+Numidian horsemen are often alluded to in the narratives of Hannibal's
+campaigns, and, in fact, in all the military histories of the times.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Masinissa.</div>
+
+<p>Among the kings who reigned in Numidia was one who had taken sides
+with the Romans in the second Punic war. His name was Masinissa. He
+became involved in some struggle for power with a neighboring monarch
+named Syphax, and while he, that is, Masinissa, had allied himself to
+the Romans, Syphax had joined the Carthaginians, each chieftain
+hoping, by this means, to gain assistance from his allies in
+conquering the other. Masinissa's patrons proved to be the strongest,
+and at the end of the second Punic war, when the conditions of peace
+were made, Masinissa's dominions were enlarged, and the undisturbed
+possession of them confirmed to him, the Carthaginians being bound by
+express stipulations not to molest him in any way.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Parties at Rome and Carthage.<br />Their differences.</div>
+
+<p>In commonwealths like those of Rome and Carthage, there will always be
+two great parties struggling against each other for the possession of
+power. Each wishes to avail itself of every opportunity to oppose and
+thwart the other, and they consequently almost always take different
+sides in all the great questions of public policy that arise. There
+were two such parties at Rome, and they disagreed in respect to the
+course which should be pursued in regard to Carthage, one being
+generally in favor of peace, the other perpetually calling for war. In
+the same manner there was at Carthage a similar dissension, the one
+side in the contest being desirous to propitiate the Romans and avoid
+collisions with them, while the other party were very restless and
+uneasy under the pressure of the Roman power upon them, and were
+endeavoring continually to foment feelings of hostility against their
+ancient enemies, as if they wished that war should break out again.
+The latter party were not strong enough to bring the Carthaginian
+state into an open rupture with Rome itself, but they succeeded at
+last in getting their government involved in a dispute with Masinissa,
+and in leading out an army to give him battle.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</a></span></p><div class="sidenote">Masinissa prepares for war.</div>
+
+<p>Fifty years had passed away, as has already been remarked, since the
+close of Hannibal's war. During this time, Scipio&mdash;that is, the Scipio
+who conquered Hannibal&mdash;had disappeared from the stage. Masinissa
+himself was very far advanced in life, being over eighty years of age.
+He, however, still retained the strength and energy which had
+characterized him in his prime. He drew together an immense army, and
+mounting, like his soldiers, bare-back upon his horse, he rode from
+rank to rank, gave the necessary commands, and matured the
+arrangements for battle.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Hasdrubal.<br />Carthage declares war.</div>
+
+<p>The name of the Carthaginian general on this occasion was Hasdrubal.
+This was a very common name at Carthage, especially among the friends
+and family of Hannibal. The bearer of it, in this case, may possibly
+have received it from his parents in commemoration of the brother of
+Hannibal, who lost his head in descending into Italy from the Alps,
+inasmuch as during the fifty years of peace which had elapsed, there
+was ample time for a child born after that event to grow up to full
+maturity. At any rate, the new Hasdrubal inherited the inveterate
+hatred to Rome which characterized his namesake, and he and his party
+had contrived <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</a></span>to gain a temporary ascendency in Carthage, and they
+availed themselves of their brief possession of power to renew,
+indirectly at least, the contest with Rome. They sent the rival
+leaders into banishment, raised an army, and Hasdrubal himself taking
+the command of it, they went forth in great force to encounter
+Masinissa.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Parallel between Hannibal and Hasdrubal.</div>
+
+<p>It was in a way very similar to this that Hannibal had commenced his
+war with Rome, by seeking first a quarrel with a Roman ally. Hannibal,
+it is true, had commenced his aggressions at Saguntum, in Spain.
+Hasdrubal begins in Numidia, in Africa, but, with the exception of the
+difference of geographical locality, all seems the same, and Hasdrubal
+very probably supposed that he was about to enter himself upon the
+same glorious career which had immortalized his great ancestor's name.</p>
+
+<p>There was another analogy between the two cases, viz., that both
+Hannibal and Hasdrubal had strong parties opposed to them in Carthage
+in the incipient stages of their undertakings. In the present
+instance, the opposition had been violently suppressed, and the
+leaders of it sent into banishment; but still the elements remained,
+ready, in case of any disaster to Hasdrubal's <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</a></span>arms, or any other
+occurrence tending to diminish his power, to rise at once and put him
+down. Hasdrubal had therefore a double enemy to contend against: one
+before him, on the battle-field, and the other, perhaps still more
+formidable, in the city behind him.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Battle with Masinissa.<br />Defeat of the Carthaginians.</div>
+
+<p>The parallel, however, ends here. Hannibal conquered at Saguntum, but
+Hasdrubal was entirely defeated in the battle in Numidia. The battle
+was fought long and desperately on both sides, but the Carthaginians
+were obliged to yield, and they retreated at length in confusion to
+seek shelter in their camp. The battle was witnessed by a Roman
+officer who stood upon a neighboring hill, and looked down upon the
+scene with intense interest all the day. It was Scipio&mdash;the younger
+Scipio&mdash;who became afterward the principal actor in the terrible
+scenes which were enacted in the war which followed. He was then a
+distinguished officer in the Roman army, and was on duty in Spain. His
+commanding general there had sent him to Africa to procure some
+elephants from Masinissa for the use of the army. He came to Numidia,
+accordingly, for this purpose, and as the battle between Masinissa and
+Hasdrubal came on while he was there, he remained to witness it.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The younger Scipio.<br />A spectator of the battle.</div>
+
+<p>This second Scipio was not, by blood, any relative of the other, but
+he had been adopted by the elder Scipio's son, and thus received his
+name; so that he was, by adoption, a grandson. He was, even at this
+time, a man of high consideration among all who knew him, for his
+great energy and efficiency of character, as well as for his sound
+judgment and practical good sense. He occupied a very singular
+position at the time of this battle, such as very few great commanders
+have ever been placed in; for, as he himself was attached to a Roman
+army in Spain, having been sent merely as a military messenger to
+Numidia, he was a neutral in this contest, and could not, properly,
+take part on either side. He had, accordingly, only to take his place
+upon the hill, and look down upon the awful scene as upon a spectacle
+arranged for his special gratification. He speaks of it as if he were
+highly gratified with the opportunity he enjoyed, saying that only two
+such cases had ever occurred before, where a general could look down,
+in such a way, upon a great battle-field, and witness the whole
+progress of the fight, himself a cool and disinterested spectator. He
+was greatly excited by the scene and he speaks particularly of the
+appearance of the veteran <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</a></span>Masinissa, then eighty-four years old, who
+rode all day from rank to rank, on a wild and impetuous charger,
+without a saddle, to give his orders to his men, and to encourage and
+animate them by his voice and his example.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Negotiations for peace.<br />Scipio made umpire.</div>
+
+<p>Hasdrubal retreated with his forces to his camp as soon as the battle
+was over, and intrenched himself there, while Masinissa advanced with
+his army, surrounded the encampment, and hemmed the imprisoned
+fugitives in. Finding himself in extreme and imminent danger,
+Hasdrubal sent to Masinissa to open negotiations for peace, and he
+proposed that Scipio should act as a sort of umpire or mediator
+between the two parties, to arrange the terms. Scipio was not likely
+to be a very impartial umpire; but still, his interposition would
+afford him, as Hasdrubal thought, some protection against any
+excessive and extreme exorbitancy on the part of his conqueror. The
+plan, however, did not succeed. Even Scipio's terms were found by
+Hasdrubal to be inadmissible. He required that the Carthaginians
+should accord to Masinissa a certain extension of territory. Hasdrubal
+was willing to assent to this. They were to pay him, also, a large sum
+of money. He agreed, also to this. They were, moreover, to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</a></span>allow
+Hasdrubal's banished opponents to return to Carthage. This, by putting
+the party opposed to Hasdrubal once more into power in Carthage, would
+have been followed by his own fall and ruin; he could not consent to
+it. He remained, therefore, shut up in his camp, and Scipio, giving up
+the hope of effecting an accommodation, took the elephants which had
+been provided for him, and returned across the Mediterranean to Spain.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Hasdrubal surrenders.<br />Terms imposed by Masinissa.</div>
+
+<p>Soon after this, Hasdrubal's army, worn out with hunger and misery in
+their camp, compelled him to surrender on Masinissa's own terms. The
+men were allowed to go free, but most of them perished on the way to
+Carthage. Hasdrubal himself succeeded in reaching some place of
+safety, but the influence of his party was destroyed by the disastrous
+result of his enterprise, and his exiled enemies being recalled in
+accordance with the treaty of surrender, the opposing party were
+immediately restored to power.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Carthaginian embassy to Rome.</div>
+
+<p>Under these new councils, the first measure of the Carthaginians was
+to impeach Hasdrubal on a charge of treason, for having involved his
+country in these difficulties, and the next was to send a solemn
+embassy to Rome, to acknowledge<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</a></span> the fault of which their nation had
+been guilty, to offer to surrender Hasdrubal into their hands, as the
+principal author of the deed, and to ask what further satisfaction the
+Romans demanded.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Their mission fruitless.</div>
+
+<p>In the mean time, before these messengers arrived, the Romans had been
+deliberating what to do. The strongest party were in favor of urging
+on the quarrel with Carthage and declaring war. They had not, however,
+come to any positive decision. They received the deputation,
+therefore, very coolly, and made them no direct reply. As to the
+satisfaction which the Carthaginians ought to render to the Romans for
+having made war upon their ally contrary to the solemn covenants of
+the treaty, they said that that was a question for the Carthaginians
+themselves to consider. They had nothing at present to say upon the
+subject. The deputies returned to Carthage with this reply, which, of
+course, produced great uneasiness and anxiety.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Another embassy.</div>
+
+<p>The Carthaginians were more and more desirous now to do every thing in
+their power to avert the threatened danger of Roman hostility. They
+sent a new embassy to Rome, with still more humble professions than
+before. The embassy set sail from Carthage with very little <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</a></span>hope,
+however, of accomplishing the object of their mission. They were
+authorized, nevertheless, to make the most unlimited concessions, and
+to submit to any conditions whatever to avert the calamity of another
+war.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The Romans declare war.</div>
+
+<p>But the Romans had been furnished with a pretext for commencing
+hostilities again, and there was a very strong party among them now
+who were determined to avail themselves of this opportunity to
+extinguish entirely the Carthaginian power. War had, accordingly, been
+declared by the Roman senate very soon after the first embassy had
+returned, a fleet and army had been raised and equipped, and the
+expedition had sailed. When, therefore, the embassy arrived in Rome,
+they found that the war, which it was the object of their mission to
+avert, had been declared.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Negotiations for peace.<br />The Romans demand hostages.</div>
+
+<p>The Romans, however, gave them audience. The embassadors expressed
+their willingness to submit to any terms that the senate might propose
+for arresting the war. The senate replied that they were willing to
+make a treaty with the Carthaginians, on condition that the latter
+were to surrender themselves entirely to the Roman power, and bind
+themselves to obey such orders as the consuls, on their arrival in
+Africa <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</a></span>with the army, should issue; the Romans, on their part,
+guarantying that they should continue in the enjoyment of their
+liberty, of their territorial possessions, and of their laws. As
+proof, however, of the Carthaginian honesty of purpose in making the
+treaty, and security for their future submission, they were required
+to give up to the Romans three hundred hostages. These hostages were
+to be young persons from the first families in Carthage, the sons of
+the men who were most prominent in society there, and whose influence
+might be supposed to control the action of the nation.</p>
+
+<p>The embassadors could not but consider these as very onerous terms.
+They did not know what orders the consuls would give them on their
+arrival in Africa, and they were required to put the commonwealth
+wholly into their power. Besides, in the guarantee which the Romans
+offered them, their <i>territories</i> and their <i>laws</i> were to be
+protected, but nothing was said of their cities, their ships, or their
+arms and munitions of war. The agreement there, if executed, would put
+the Carthaginian commonwealth wholly at the mercy of their masters, in
+respect to all those things which were in those days most valuable to
+a nation as elements of power. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</a></span>Still, the embassadors had been
+instructed to make peace with the Romans on any terms, and they
+accordingly acceded to these, though with great reluctance. They were
+especially averse to the agreement in respect to the hostages.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Cruelty of the hostage system.</div>
+
+<p>This system, which prevailed universally in ancient times, of having
+the government of one nation surrender the children of the most
+distinguished citizens to that of another, as security for the
+fulfillment of its treaty stipulations, was a very cruel hardship to
+those who had to suffer the separation; but it would seem that there
+was no other security strong enough to hold such lawless powers as
+governments were in those days, to their word. Stern and rough as the
+men of those warlike nations often were, mothers were the same then as
+now, and they suffered quite as keenly in seeing their children sent
+away from them, to pine in a foreign land, in hopeless exile, for many
+years; in danger, too, continually, of the most cruel treatment, and
+even of death itself, to revenge some alleged governmental wrong.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Return of the embassadors.<br />Consternation in Carthage.</div>
+
+<p>Of course, the embassadors knew, when they returned to Carthage with
+these terms, that they were bringing heavy tidings. The news, in fact,
+when it came, threw the community <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</a></span>into the most extreme distress. It
+is said that the whole city was filled with cries and lamentations.
+The mothers, who felt that they were about to be bereaved, beat their
+breasts, and tore their hair, and manifested by every other sign their
+extreme and unmitigated woe. They begged and entreated their husbands
+and fathers not to consent to such cruel and intolerable conditions.
+They could not, and they would not give up their children.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Its deplorable condition.</div>
+
+<p>The husbands and the fathers, however, felt compelled to resist all
+these entreaties. They could not now undertake to resist the Roman
+will. Their army had been well-nigh destroyed in the battle with
+Masinissa; their city was consequently defenseless, and the Roman
+fleet had already reached its African port, and the troops were
+landed. There was no possible way, it appeared, of saving themselves
+and their city from absolute destruction, but entire submission to the
+terms which their stern conquerors had imposed upon them.</p>
+
+<p>The hostages were required to be sent, within thirty days, to the
+island of Sicily, to a port on the western extremity of the island,
+called Lilyb&aelig;um. Lilyb&aelig;um was the port in Sicily nearest to Carthage,
+being perhaps at a distance <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[Pg 279]</a></span>of a hundred miles across the waters of
+the Mediterranean Sea. A Roman escort was to be ready to receive them
+there and conduct them to Rome. Although thirty days were allowed to
+the Carthaginians to select and send forward the hostages, they
+determined not to avail themselves of this offered delay, but to send
+the unhappy children forward at once, that they might testify to the
+Roman senate, by this their promptness, that they were very earnestly
+desirous to propitiate their favor.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Selecting the hostages.<br />The hour of parting.<br />The parting scene.<br />Grief and despair.</div>
+
+<p>The children were accordingly designated, one from each of the leading
+families in the city, and three hundred in all. The reader must
+imagine the heart-rending scenes of suffering which must have
+desolated these three hundred families and homes, when the stern and
+inexorable edict came to each of them that one loved member of the
+household must be selected to go. And when, at last, the hour arrived
+for their departure, and they assembled upon the pier, the picture was
+one of intense and unmingled suffering. The poor exiles stood
+bewildered with terror and grief, about to part with all that they
+ever held dear&mdash;their parents, their brothers and sisters, and their
+native land&mdash;to go they knew not whither, under the care <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[Pg 280]</a></span>of
+iron-hearted soldiers, who seemed to know no feelings of tenderness or
+compassion for their woes. Their disconsolate mothers wept and groaned
+aloud, clasping the loved ones who were about to be torn forever from
+them in their arms, in a delirium of maternal affection and
+irrepressible grief; their brothers and sisters, and their youthful
+friends stood by, some almost frantic with emotions which they did not
+attempt to suppress, others mute and motionless in their sorrow,
+shedding bitter tears of anguish, or gazing wildly on the scene with
+looks of despair; while the fathers, whose stern duty it was to pass
+through this scene unmoved, walked to and fro restlessly, in deep but
+silent distress, spoke in broken and incoherent words to one another,
+and finally aided, by a mixture of persuasion and gentle force, in
+drawing the children away from their mothers' arms, and getting them
+on board the vessels which were to convey them away. The vessels made
+sail, and passed off slowly from the shore. The mothers watched them
+till they could no longer be seen, and then returned, disconsolate and
+wretched, to their homes; and then the grief and agitation of this
+parting scene was succeeded by the anxious suspense which now
+pervaded<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[Pg 281]</a></span> the whole city to learn what new dangers and indignities
+they were to suffer from the approaching Roman army, which they knew
+must now be well on its way.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Advance of the Roman army.<br />Surrender of Utica.</div>
+
+<p>The Roman army landed at Utica. Utica was a large city to the north of
+Carthage, not far from it, and upon the same bay. When the people of
+Utica found that another serious collision was to take place between
+Rome and Carthage, they had foreseen what would probably be the end of
+the contest, and they had decided that, in order to save themselves
+from the ruin which was plainly impending over the sister city, they
+must abandon her to her fate, and make common cause with Rome. They
+had, accordingly, sent deputies to the Roman senate, offering to
+surrender Utica to their power. The Romans had accepted the
+submission, and had made this city, in consequence, the port of
+debarkation for their army.</p>
+
+<p>As soon as the news arrived at Carthage that the Roman army had landed
+at Utica, the people sent deputies to inquire what were the orders of
+the consuls, for it will be recollected they had bound themselves by
+the treaty to obey the orders which the consuls were to bring. They
+found, when they arrived there, that the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[Pg 282]</a></span>bay was covered with the
+Roman shipping. There were fifty vessels of war, of three banks of
+oars each, and a vast number of transports besides. There was, too, in
+the camp upon the shore, a force of eighty thousand foot soldiers and
+four thousand horse, all armed and equipped in the most perfect
+manner.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Demands of the Romans.</div>
+
+<p>The deputies were convinced that this was a force which it was in vain
+for their countrymen to think of resisting. They asked, trembling, for
+the consuls' orders. The consuls informed them that the orders of the
+Roman senate were, first, that the Carthaginians should furnish them
+with a supply of corn for the subsistence of their troops. The
+deputies went back to Carthage with the demand.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The Carthaginians comply.</div>
+
+<p>The Carthaginians resolved to comply. They were bound by their treaty
+and by the hostages they had given, as well as intimidated by the
+presence of the Roman force. They furnished the corn.</p>
+
+<p>The consuls, soon after this, made another demand of the
+Carthaginians. It was, that they should surrender to them all their
+vessels of war. They were more unwilling to comply with this
+requisition than with the other; but they assented at last. They hoped
+that the demands<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[Pg 283]</a></span> of their enemies would stop here, and that,
+satisfied with having weakened them thus far, they would go away and
+leave them; they could then build new ships again when better times
+should return.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The Romans demand all the munitions of war.<br />Their great number.</div>
+
+<p>But the Romans were not satisfied yet. They sent a third order, that
+the Carthaginians should deliver up all their arms, military stores,
+and warlike machines of every kind, by sending them into the Roman
+camp. The Carthaginians were rendered almost desperate by this
+requisition. Many were determined that they would not submit to it,
+but would resist at all hazards. Others despaired of all possibility
+of resisting now, and gave up all as lost; while the three hundred
+families from which the hostages had gone, trembled for the safety of
+the captive children, and urged compliance with the demand. The
+advocates for submission finally gained the day. The arms were
+collected, and carried in an immensely long train of wagons to the
+Roman camp. There were two hundred thousand complete suits of armor,
+with darts and javelins without number, and two thousand military
+engines for hurling beams of wood and stones. Thus Carthage was
+disarmed.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Brutal demands of the Romans.<br />Carthage to be destroyed.</div>
+
+<p>All these demands, however unreasonable <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[Pg 284]</a></span>and cruel as the
+Carthaginians deemed them, were only preliminary to the great final
+determination, the announcement of which the consuls had reserved for
+the end. When the arms had all been delivered, the consuls announced
+to their now defenseless victims that the Roman senate had come to the
+determination that Carthage was to be destroyed. They gave orders,
+accordingly, that the inhabitants should all leave the city, which, as
+soon as it should be thus vacated, was to be burned. They might take
+with them such property as they could carry; and they were at liberty
+to build, in lieu of this their fortified sea-port, an inland town,
+not less than ten miles' distance from the sea, only it must have no
+walls or fortifications of any kind. As soon as the inhabitants were
+gone, Carthage, the consuls said, was to be destroyed.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Desperation of the people.<br />Preparations for defense.</div>
+
+<p>The announcement of this entirely unparalleled and intolerable
+requisition threw the whole city into a phrensy of desperation. They
+could not, and would not submit to this. The entreaties and
+remonstrances of the friends of the hostages were all silenced or
+overborne in the burst of indignation and anger which arose from the
+whole city. The gates were closed. The pavements of the streets were
+torn up, and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[Pg 285]</a></span>buildings demolished to obtain stones, which were
+carried up upon the ramparts to serve instead of weapons. The slaves
+were all liberated, and stationed on the walls to aid in the defense.
+Every body that could work at a forge was employed in fabricating
+swords, spear-heads, pikes, and such other weapons as could be formed
+with the greatest facility and dispatch. They used all the iron and
+brass that could be obtained, and then melted down vases and statues
+of the precious metals, and tipped their spears with an inferior
+pointing of silver and gold. In the same manner, when the supplies of
+flax and hempen twine for cordage for their bows failed, the beautiful
+sisters and mothers of the hostages cut off their long hair, and
+twisted and braided it into cords to be used as bow-strings for
+propelling the arrows which their husbands and brothers made. In a
+word, the wretched Carthaginians had been pushed beyond the last limit
+of human endurance, and had aroused themselves to a hopeless
+resistance in a sort of phrensy of despair.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Hasdrubal.<br />Destruction of the Roman fleet.</div>
+
+<p>The reader will recollect that, after the battle with Masinissa,
+Hasdrubal lost all his influence in Carthage, and was, to all
+appearance, hopelessly ruined. He had not, however, then <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[Pg 286]</a></span>given up the
+struggle. He had contrived to assemble the remnant of his army in the
+neighborhood of Carthage. His forces had been gradually increasing
+during these transactions, as those who were opposed to these
+concessions to the Romans naturally gathered around him. He was now in
+his camp, not far from the city, at the head of twenty thousand men.
+Finding themselves in so desperate an emergency, the Carthaginians
+sent to him to come to their succor. He very gladly obeyed the
+summons. He sent around to all the territories still subject to
+Carthage, and gathered fresh troops, and collected supplies of arms
+and of food. He advanced to the relief of the city. He compelled the
+Romans, who were equally astonished at the resistance they met with
+from within the walls, and at this formidable onset from without, to
+retire a little, and intrench themselves in their camp, in order to
+secure their own safety. He sent supplies of food into the city. He
+also contrived to fit up, secretly, a great many fire-ships in the
+harbor, and, setting them in flames, let them drift down upon the
+Roman fleet, which was anchored in supposed security in the bay. The
+plan was so skillfully managed that the Roman ships were almost all
+destroyed.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[Pg 287]</a></span> Thus the face of affairs was changed. The Romans found
+themselves disappointed for the present of their prey. They confined
+themselves to their encampment, and sent home to the Roman senate for
+new re-enforcements and supplies.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Horrors of the siege.</div>
+
+<p>In a word, the Romans found that, instead of having only to effect,
+unresisted, the simple destruction of a city, they were involved in
+what would, perhaps, prove a serious and a protracted war. The war
+did, in fact, continue for two or three years&mdash;a horrible war, almost
+of extermination, on both sides. Scipio came with the Roman army, at
+first as a subordinate officer; but his bravery, his sagacity, and the
+success of some of his almost romantic exploits, soon made him an
+object of universal regard. At one time, a detachment of the army,
+which he succeeded in releasing from a situation of great peril in
+which they had been placed, testified their gratitude by platting a
+crown of <i>grass</i>, and placing it upon his brow with great ceremony and
+loud acclamations.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Heroic valor of the Carthaginians.</div>
+
+<p>The Carthaginians did every thing in the prosecution of this war that
+the most desperate valor could do; but Scipio's cool, steady, and
+well-calculated plans made irresistible progress, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[Pg 288]</a></span>and hemmed them in
+at last, within narrower and narrower limits, by a steadily-increasing
+pressure, from which they found it impossible to break away.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Battering engines.<br />Attempt to destroy them.</div>
+
+<p>Scipio had erected a sort of mole or pier upon the water near the
+city, on which he had erected many large and powerful engines to
+assault the walls. One night a large company of Carthaginians took
+torches, not lighted, in their hands, together with some sort of
+apparatus for striking fire, and partly by wading and partly by
+swimming, they made their way through the water of the harbor toward
+these machines. When they were sufficiently near, they struck their
+lights and set their torches on fire. The Roman soldiers who had been
+stationed to guard the machines were seized with terror at seeing all
+these flashing fires burst out suddenly over the surface of the water,
+and fled in dismay. The Carthaginians set the abandoned engines on
+fire, and then, throwing their now useless torches into the flames,
+plunged into the water again, and swam back in safety. But all this
+desperate bravery did very little good. Scipio quietly repaired the
+engines, and the siege went on as before.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The city stormed.<br />A desperate struggle.<br />The people retreat to the citadel.</div>
+
+<p>But we can not describe in detail all the particulars<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[Pg 289]</a></span> of this
+protracted and terrible struggle. We must pass on to the closing
+scene, which as related by the historians of the day, is an almost
+incredible series of horrors. After an immense number had been killed
+in the assaults which had been made upon the city, besides the
+thousands and thousands which had died of famine, and of the exposures
+and hardships incident to such a siege, the army of Scipio succeeded
+in breaking their way through the gates, and gaining admission to the
+city. Some of the inhabitants were now disposed to contend no longer,
+but to cast themselves at the mercy of the conqueror. Others, furious
+in their despair, were determined to fight to the last, not willing to
+give up the pleasure of killing all they could of their hated enemies,
+even to save their lives. They fought, therefore, from street to
+street, retreating gradually as the Romans advanced, till they found
+refuge in the citadel. One band of Scipio's soldiers mounted to the
+tops of the houses, the roofs being flat, and fought their way there,
+while another column advanced in the same manner in the streets below.
+No imagination can conceive the uproar and din of such an assault upon
+a populous city&mdash;a horrid mingling of the vociferated commands of the
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[Pg 290]</a></span>officers, and of the shouts of the advancing and victorious
+assailants, with the screams of terror from affrighted women and
+children, and dreadful groans and imprecations from men dying maddened
+with unsatisfied revenge, and biting the dust in an agony of pain.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The city fired.<br />Hasdrubal's wife.</div>
+
+<p>The more determined of the combatants, with Hasdrubal at their head,
+took possession of the citadel, which was a quarter of the city
+situated upon an eminence, and strongly fortified. Scipio advanced to
+the walls of this fortification, and set that part of the city on fire
+which lay nearest to it. The fire burned for six days, and opened a
+large area, which afforded the Roman troops room to act. When the
+troops were brought up to the area thus left vacant by the fire, and
+the people within the citadel saw that their condition was hopeless,
+there arose, as there always does in such cases, the desperate
+struggle within the walls whether to persist in resistance or to
+surrender in despair. There was an immense mass, not far from sixty
+thousand, half women and children, who were determined on going out to
+surrender themselves to Scipio's mercy, and beg for their lives.
+Hasdrubal's wife, leading her two children by her side, earnestly
+entreated her husband to allow <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[Pg 291]</a></span>her to go with them. But he refused.
+There was a body of deserters from the Roman camp in the citadel, who,
+having no possible hope of escaping destruction except by desperate
+resistance to the last, Hasdrubal supposed would never yield. He
+committed his wife and children, therefore, to their charge, and these
+deserters, seeking refuge in a great temple within the citadel, bore
+the frantic mother with them to share their fate.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Hasdrubal surrenders.</div>
+
+<p>Hasdrubal's determination, however, to resist the Romans to the last,
+soon after this gave way, and he determined to surrender. He is
+accused of the most atrocious treachery in attempting thus to save
+himself, after excluding his wife and children from all possibility of
+escaping destruction. But the confusion and din of such a scene, the
+suddenness and violence with which the events succeed each other, and
+the tumultuous and uncontrollable mental agitation to which they give
+rise, deprive a man who is called to act in it of all sense and
+reason, and exonerate him, almost as much, from moral responsibility
+for what he does, as if he were insane. At any rate, Hasdrubal, after
+shutting up his wife and children with a furious gang of desperadoes
+who could not possibly <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[Pg 292]</a></span>surrender, surrendered himself, perhaps hoping
+that he might save them after all.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The citadel fired.<br />Resentment and despair of Hasdrubal's wife.</div>
+
+<p>The Carthaginian soldiers, following Hasdrubal's example, opened the
+gates of the citadel, and let the conqueror in. The deserters were now
+made absolutely desperate by their danger, and some of them, more
+furious than the rest, preferring to die by their own hands rather
+than to give their hated enemies the pleasure of killing them, set the
+building in which they were shut up in on fire. The miserable inmates
+ran to and fro, half suffocated by the smoke and scorched by the
+flames. Many of them reached the roof. Hasdrubal's wife and children
+were among the number. She looked down from this elevation, the
+volumes of smoke and flame rolling up around her, and saw her husband
+standing below with the Roman general&mdash;perhaps looking, in
+consternation, for his wife and children, amid this scene of horror.
+The sight of the husband and father in a position of safety made the
+wife and mother perfectly furious with resentment and anger. "Wretch!"
+she screamed, in a voice which raised itself above the universal din,
+"is it thus you seek to save your own life while you sacrifice ours? I
+can not reach you in your own person, but I kill <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[Pg 293]</a></span>you hereby in the
+persons of your children." So saying, she stabbed her affrighted sons
+with a dagger, and hurled them down, struggling all the time against
+their insane mother's phrensy, into the nearest opening from which
+flames were ascending, and then leaped in after them herself to share
+their awful doom.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Carthage destroyed.<br />Its present condition.</div>
+
+<p>The Romans, when they had gained possession of the city, took most
+effectual measures for its complete destruction. The inhabitants were
+scattered into the surrounding country, and the whole territory was
+converted into a Roman province. Some attempts were afterward made to
+rebuild the city, and it was for a long time a place of some resort,
+as men lingered mournfully there in huts that they built among the
+ruins. It, however, was gradually forsaken, the stones crumbled and
+decayed, vegetation regained possession of the soil, and now there is
+nothing whatever to mark the spot where the city lay.</p>
+
+<hr class="medium" />
+
+<div class="sidenote">War and commerce.<br />Antagonistic principles.</div>
+
+<p>War and commerce are the two great antagonistic principles which
+struggle for the mastery of the human race, the function of the one
+being to preserve, and that of the other to destroy. Commerce causes
+cities to be built and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[Pg 294]</a></span>fields to be cultivated, and diffuses comfort
+and plenty, and all the blessings of industry and peace. It carries
+organization and order every where; it protects property and life; it
+disarms pestilence, and it prohibits famine. War, on the other hand,
+<i>destroys</i>. It disorganizes the social state. It ruins cities,
+depopulates fields, condemns men to idleness and want, and the only
+remedy it knows for the evils which it brings upon man is to shorten
+the miseries of its victims by giving pestilence and famine the most
+ample commission to destroy their lives. Thus war is the great enemy,
+while commerce is the great friend of humanity. They are antagonistic
+principles, contending continually for the mastery among all the
+organizations of men.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Hannibal's greatness as a military hero.</div>
+
+<p>When Hannibal appeared upon the stage, he found his country engaged
+peacefully and prosperously in exchanging the productions of the
+various countries of the then known world, and promoting every where
+the comfort and happiness of mankind. He contrived to turn all these
+energies into the new current of military aggression, conquest, and
+war. He perfectly succeeded. We certainly have in his person and
+history all the marks and characteristics of a great military hero. He
+gained the most splendid<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[Pg 295]</a></span> victories, devastated many lands,
+embarrassed and stopped the commercial intercourse which was carrying
+the comforts of life to so many thousand homes, and spread, instead of
+them, every where, privation, want, and terror, with pestilence and
+famine in their train. He kept the country of his enemies in a state
+of incessant anxiety, suffering, and alarm for many years, and
+overwhelmed his own native land, in the end, in absolute and
+irresistible ruin. In a word, he was one of the greatest military
+heroes that the world has ever known.</p>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">The End.</span></h3>
+
+<hr class="large" />
+<h2><span class="smcap">Footnote</span></h2>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_1" id="Footnote_A_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_A_1"><span class="label">[A]</span></a> The French word is <i>col</i>. Thus, there is the Col de
+Balme, the Col de G&eacute;ant, &amp;c.</p></div>
+
+<hr class="large" />
+<h3><span class="smcap">Transcriber's Notes</span></h3>
+
+<p>1. Minor changes have been made to correct typesetters' errors, and to ensure consistent spelling and punctuation in this etext; otherwise,
+every effort has been made to remain true to the original book.</p>
+
+<p>2. The sidenotes used in this text were originally published as banners in the page headers, and have been moved to the relevant paragraph
+for the reader's convenience.</p>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Hannibal, by Jacob Abbott
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HANNIBAL ***
+
+***** This file should be named 27551-h.htm or 27551-h.zip *****
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
+        https://www.gutenberg.org/2/7/5/5/27551/
+
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+</body>
+</html>
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Hannibal, by Jacob Abbott
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Hannibal
+       Makers of History
+
+Author: Jacob Abbott
+
+Release Date: December 17, 2008 [EBook #27551]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HANNIBAL ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by D Alexander and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ Makers of History
+
+ Hannibal
+
+ BY JACOB ABBOTT
+
+ WITH ENGRAVINGS
+
+ NEW YORK AND LONDON
+ HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS
+ 1901
+
+
+
+
+ Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year one thousand
+ eight hundred and forty-nine, by
+
+ HARPER & BROTHERS,
+
+ in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Southern District
+ of New York.
+
+ Copyright, 1876, by JACOB ABBOTT.
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE
+
+
+The author of this series has made it his special object to confine
+himself very strictly, even in the most minute details which he
+records, to historic truth. The narratives are not tales founded upon
+history, but history itself, without any embellishment or any
+deviations from the strict truth, so far as it can now be discovered
+by an attentive examination of the annals written at the time when the
+events themselves occurred. In writing the narratives, the author has
+endeavored to avail himself of the best sources of information which
+this country affords; and though, of course, there must be in these
+volumes, as in all historical narratives, more or less of imperfection
+and error, there is no intentional embellishment. Nothing is stated,
+not even the most minute and apparently imaginary details, without
+what was deemed good historical authority. The readers, therefore, may
+rely upon the record as the truth, and nothing but the truth, so far
+as an honest purpose and a careful examination have been effectual in
+ascertaining it.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+ Chapter                                                    Page
+
+    I. THE FIRST PUNIC WAR                                    13
+
+   II. HANNIBAL AT SAGUNTUM                                   33
+
+  III. OPENING OF THE SECOND PUNIC WAR                        52
+
+   IV. THE PASSAGE OF THE RHONE                               69
+
+    V. HANNIBAL CROSSES THE ALPS                              90
+
+   VI. HANNIBAL IN THE NORTH OF ITALY                        126
+
+  VII. THE APENNINES                                         144
+
+ VIII. THE DICTATOR FABIUS                                   163
+
+   IX. THE BATTLE OF CANNAE                                   185
+
+    X. SCIPIO                                                205
+
+   XI. HANNIBAL A FUGITIVE AND AN EXILE                      235
+
+  XII. THE DESTRUCTION OF CARTHAGE                           262
+
+
+
+
+ENGRAVINGS.
+
+
+                                                            Page
+
+ MAP                                             _Frontispiece._
+
+ THE BATTLE IN THE RIVER                                      42
+
+ THE ELEPHANTS CROSSING THE RHONE                             87
+
+ HANNIBAL ON THE ALPS                                        111
+
+ CROSSING THE MARSHES                                        161
+
+ HASDRUBAL'S HEAD                                            227
+
+ THE BURNING OF THE CARTHAGINIAN FLEET                       242
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: MAP]
+
+
+
+
+HANNIBAL.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+THE FIRST PUNIC WAR.
+
+B.C. 280-249
+
+Hannibal.--Rome and Carthage.--Tyre.--Founding of Carthage.--Its
+commercial spirit.--Gold and silver mines.--New Carthage.--Ships
+and army.--Numidia.--Balearic Isles.--The sling.--The government
+of Carthage.--The aristocracy.--Geographical relations of the
+Carthaginian empire.--Rome and the Romans.--Their character.--Progress
+of Carthage and Rome.--Origin of the first Punic war.--Rhegium and
+Messina.--A perplexing question.--The Romans determine to build a
+fleet.--Preparations.--Training the oarsmen.--The Roman fleet puts to
+sea.--Grappling irons.--Courage and resolution of the Romans.--Success
+of the Romans.--The rostral column.--Government of Rome.--The
+consuls.--Story of Regulus.--He is made consul.--Regulus marches against
+Carthage.--His difficulties.--Successes of Regulus.--Arrival of
+Greeks.--The Romans put to flight.--Regulus a prisoner.--Regulus before
+the Roman senate.--Result of his mission.--Death of Regulus.--Conclusion
+of the war.
+
+
+Hannibal was a Carthaginian general. He acquired his great distinction
+as a warrior by his desperate contests with the Romans. Rome and
+Carthage grew up together on opposite sides of the Mediterranean Sea.
+For about a hundred years they waged against each other most dreadful
+wars. There were three of these wars. Rome was successful in the end,
+and Carthage was entirely destroyed.
+
+There was no real cause for any disagreement between these two
+nations. Their hostility to each other was mere rivalry and
+spontaneous hate. They spoke a different language; they had a
+different origin; and they lived on opposite sides of the same sea. So
+they hated and devoured each other.
+
+Those who have read the history of Alexander the Great, in this
+series, will recollect the difficulty he experienced in besieging and
+subduing Tyre, a great maritime city, situated about two miles from
+the shore, on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. Carthage was
+originally founded by a colony from this city of Tyre, and it soon
+became a great commercial and maritime power like its mother. The
+Carthaginians built ships, and with them explored all parts of the
+Mediterranean Sea. They visited all the nations on these coasts,
+purchased the commodities they had to sell, carried them to other
+nations, and sold them at great advances. They soon began to grow rich
+and powerful. They hired soldiers to fight their battles, and began to
+take possession of the islands of the Mediterranean, and, in some
+instances, of points on the main land. For example, in Spain: some of
+their ships, going there, found that the natives had silver and gold,
+which they obtained from veins of ore near the surface of the ground.
+At first the Carthaginians obtained this gold and silver by selling
+the natives commodities of various kinds, which they had procured in
+other countries; paying, of course, to the producers only a very small
+price compared with what they required the Spaniards to pay them.
+Finally, they took possession of that part of Spain where the mines
+were situated, and worked the mines themselves. They dug deeper; they
+employed skillful engineers to make pumps to raise the water, which
+always accumulates in mines, and prevents their being worked to any
+great depth unless the miners have a considerable degree of scientific
+and mechanical skill. They founded a city here, which they called New
+Carthage--_Nova Carthago_. They fortified and garrisoned this city,
+and made it the center of their operations in Spain. This city is
+called Carthagena to this day.
+
+Thus the Carthaginians did every thing by power of money. They
+extended their operations in every direction, each new extension
+bringing in new treasures, and increasing their means of extending
+them more. They had, besides the merchant vessels which belonged to
+private individuals, great ships of war belonging to the state. These
+vessels were called galleys, and were rowed by oarsmen, tier above
+tier, there being sometimes four and five banks of oars. They had
+armies, too, drawn from different countries, in various troops,
+according as different nations excelled in the different modes of
+warfare. For instance, the Numidians, whose country extended in the
+neighborhood of Carthage, on the African coast, were famous for their
+horsemen. There were great plains in Numidia, and good grazing, and it
+was, consequently, one of those countries in which horses and horsemen
+naturally thrive. On the other hand, the natives of the Balearic
+Isles, now called Majorca, Minorca, and Ivica, were famous for their
+skill as slingers. So the Carthaginians, in making up their forces,
+would hire bodies of cavalry in Numidia, and of slingers in the
+Balearic Isles; and, for reasons analogous, they got excellent
+infantry in Spain.
+
+The tendency of the various nations to adopt and cultivate different
+modes of warfare was far greater, in those ancient times, than now.
+The Balearic Isles, in fact, received their name from the Greek word
+_ballein_, which means to throw with a sling. The youth there were
+trained to perfection in the use of this weapon from a very early age.
+It is said that mothers used to practice the plan of putting the bread
+for their boys' breakfast on the branches of trees, high above their
+heads, and not allow them to have their food to eat until they could
+bring it down with a stone thrown from a sling.
+
+Thus the Carthaginian power became greatly extended. The whole
+government, however, was exercised by a small body of wealthy and
+aristocratic families at home. It was very much such a government as
+that of England is at the present day, only the aristocracy of England
+is based on ancient birth and landed property, whereas in Carthage it
+depended on commercial greatness, combined, it is true, with
+hereditary family distinction. The aristocracy of Carthage controlled
+and governed every thing. None but its own sons could ordinarily
+obtain office or power. The great mass of inhabitants were kept in a
+state of servitude and vassalage. This state of things operated then,
+as it does now in England, very unjustly and hardly for those who were
+thus debased; but the result was--and in this respect the analogy with
+England still holds good--that a very efficient and energetic
+government was created. The government of an oligarchy makes sometimes
+a very rich and powerful state, but a discontented and unhappy people.
+
+Let the reader now turn to the map and find the place of Carthage upon
+it. Let him imagine a great and rich city there, with piers, and
+docks, and extensive warehouses for the commerce, and temples, and
+public edifices of splendid architecture, for the religious and civil
+service of the state, and elegant mansions and palaces for the
+wealthy aristocracy, and walls and towers for the defense of the
+whole. Let him then imagine a back country, extending for some hundred
+miles into the interior of Africa, fertile and highly cultivated,
+producing great stores of corn, and wine, and rich fruits of every
+description. Let him then look at the islands of Sicily, of Corsica,
+and Sardinia, and the Baleares, and conceive of them as rich and
+prosperous countries, and all under the Carthaginian rule. Look, also,
+at the coast of Spain; see, in imagination, the city of Carthagena,
+with its fortifications, and its army, and the gold and silver mines,
+with thousands and thousands of slaves toiling in them. Imagine fleets
+of ships going continually along the shores of the Mediterranean, from
+country to country, cruising back and forth to Tyre, to Cyprus, to
+Egypt, to Sicily, to Spain, carrying corn, and flax, and purple dyes,
+and spices, and perfumes, and precious stones, and ropes and sails for
+ships, and gold and silver, and then periodically returning to
+Carthage, to add the profits they had made to the vast treasures of
+wealth already accumulated there. Let the reader imagine all this with
+the map before him, so as to have a distinct conception of the
+geographical relations of the localities, and he will have a pretty
+correct idea of the Carthaginian power at the time it commenced its
+dreadful conflicts with Rome.
+
+Rome itself was very differently situated. Rome had been built by some
+wanderers from Troy, and it grew, for a long time, silently and
+slowly, by a sort of internal principle of life and energy. One region
+after another of the Italian peninsula was merged in the Roman state.
+They formed a population which was, in the main, stationary and
+agricultural. They tilled the fields; they hunted the wild beasts;
+they raised great flocks and herds. They seem to have been a race--a
+sort of variety of the human species--possessed of a very refined and
+superior organization, which, in its development, gave rise to a
+character of firmness, energy, and force, both of body and mind, which
+has justly excited the admiration of mankind. The Carthaginians had
+sagacity--the Romans called it cunning--and activity, enterprise and
+wealth. Their rivals, on the other hand, were characterized by genius,
+courage, and strength, giving rise to a certain calm and indomitable
+resolution and energy, which has since, in every age, been strongly
+associated, in the minds of men, with the very word Roman.
+
+The progress of nations was much more slow in ancient days than now,
+and these two rival empires continued their gradual growth and
+extension, each on its own side of the great sea which divided them,
+for _five hundred years_, before they came into collision. At last,
+however, the collision came. It originated in the following way:
+
+By looking at the map, the reader will see that the island of Sicily
+is separated from the main land by a narrow strait called the Strait
+of Messina. This strait derives its name from the town of Messina,
+which is situated upon it, on the Sicilian side. Opposite Messina, on
+the Italian side, there was a town named Rhegium. Now it happened that
+both these towns had been taken possession of by lawless bodies of
+soldiery. The Romans came and delivered Rhegium, and punished the
+soldiers who had seized it very severely. The Sicilian authorities
+advanced to the deliverance of Messina. The troops there, finding
+themselves thus threatened, sent to the Romans to say that if they,
+the Romans, would come and protect them, they would deliver Messina
+into their hands.
+
+The question, what answer to give to this application, was brought
+before the Roman senate, and caused them great perplexity. It seemed
+very inconsistent to take sides with the rebels of Messina, when they
+had punished so severely those of Rhegium. Still the Romans had been,
+for a long time, becoming very jealous of the growth and extension of
+the Carthaginian power. Here was an opportunity of meeting and
+resisting it. The Sicilian authorities were about calling for direct
+aid from Carthage to recover the city, and the affair would probably
+result in establishing a large body of Carthaginian troops within
+sight of the Italian shore, and at a point where it would be easy for
+them to make hostile incursions into the Roman territories. In a word,
+it was a case of what is called political necessity; that is to say, a
+case in which the _interests_ of one of the parties in a contest were
+so strong that all considerations of justice, consistency, and honor
+are to be sacrificed to the promotion of them. Instances of this kind
+of political necessity occur very frequently in the management of
+public affairs in all ages of the world.
+
+The contest for Messina was, after all, however, considered by the
+Romans merely as a pretext, or rather as an occasion, for commencing
+the struggle which they had long been desirous of entering upon. They
+evinced their characteristic energy and greatness in the plan which
+they adopted at the outset. They knew very well that the power of
+Carthage rested mainly on her command of the seas, and that they could
+not hope successfully to cope with her till they could meet and
+conquer her on her own element. In the mean time, however, they had
+not a single ship and not a single sailor, while the Mediterranean was
+covered with Carthaginian ships and seamen. Not at all daunted by this
+prodigious inequality, the Romans resolved to begin at once the work
+of creating for themselves a naval power.
+
+The preparations consumed some time; for the Romans had not only to
+build the ships, they had first to learn how to build them. They took
+their first lesson from a Carthaginian galley which was cast away in a
+storm upon the coast of Italy. They seized this galley, collected
+their carpenters to examine it, and set woodmen at work to fell trees
+and collect materials for imitating it. The carpenters studied their
+model very carefully, measured the dimensions of every part, and
+observed the manner in which the various parts were connected and
+secured together. The heavy shocks which vessels are exposed to from
+the waves makes it necessary to secure great strength in the
+construction of them; and, though the ships of the ancients were very
+small and imperfect compared with the men-of-war of the present day,
+still it is surprising that the Romans could succeed at all in such a
+sudden and hasty attempt at building them.
+
+They did, however, succeed. While the ships were building, officers
+appointed for the purpose were training men, on shore, to the art of
+rowing them. Benches, like the seats which the oarsman would occupy in
+the ships, were arranged on the ground, and the intended seamen were
+drilled every day in the movements and action of rowers. The result
+was, that in a few months after the building of the ships was
+commenced, the Romans had a fleet of one hundred galleys of five banks
+of oars ready. They remained in harbor with them for some time, to
+give the oarsmen the opportunity to see whether they could row on the
+water as well as on the land, and then boldly put to sea to meet the
+Carthaginians.
+
+There was one part of the arrangements made by the Romans in preparing
+their fleets which was strikingly characteristic of the determined
+resolution which marked all their conduct. They constructed machines
+containing grappling irons, which they mounted on the prows of their
+vessels. These engines were so contrived, that the moment one of the
+ships containing them should encounter a vessel of the enemy, the
+grappling irons would fall upon the deck of the latter, and hold the
+two firmly together, so as to prevent the possibility of either
+escaping from the other. The idea that they themselves should have any
+wish to withdraw from the encounter seemed entirely out of the
+question. Their only fear was that the Carthaginian seamen would
+employ their superior skill and experience in naval maneuvers in
+making their escape. Mankind have always regarded the action of the
+Romans, in this case, as one of the most striking examples of military
+courage and resolution which the history of war has ever recorded. An
+army of landsmen come down to the sea-shore, and, without scarcely
+having ever seen a ship, undertake to build a fleet, and go out to
+attack a power whose navies covered the sea, and made her the sole and
+acknowledged mistress of it. They seize a wrecked galley of their
+enemies for their model; they build a hundred vessels like it; they
+practice maneuvers for a short time in port; and then go forth to
+meet the fleets of their powerful enemy, with grappling machines to
+hold them, fearing nothing but the possibility of their escape.
+
+The result was as might have been expected. The Romans captured, sunk,
+destroyed, or dispersed the Carthaginian fleet which was brought to
+oppose them. They took the prows of the ships which they captured and
+conveyed them to Rome, and built what is called a _rostral pillar_ of
+them. A rostral pillar is a column ornamented with such beaks or
+prows, which were, in the Roman language, called _rostra_. This column
+was nearly destroyed by lightning about fifty years afterward, but it
+was repaired and rebuilt again, and it stood then for many centuries,
+a very striking and appropriate monument of this extraordinary naval
+victory. The Roman commander in this case was the consul Duilius. The
+rostral column was erected in honor of him. In digging among the ruins
+of Rome, there was found what was supposed to be the remains of this
+column, about three hundred years ago.
+
+The Romans now prepared to carry the war into Africa itself. Of course
+it was easy, after their victory over the Carthaginian fleet, to
+transport troops across the sea to the Carthaginian shore. The Roman
+commonwealth was governed at this time by a senate, who made the laws,
+and by two supreme executive officers, called consuls. They thought it
+was safer to have two chief magistrates than one, as each of the two
+would naturally be a check upon the other. The result was, however,
+that mutual jealousy involved them often in disputes and quarrels. It
+is thought better, in modern times, to have but one chief magistrate
+in the state, and to provide other modes to put a check upon any
+disposition he might evince to abuse his powers.
+
+The Roman consuls, in time of war, took command of the armies. The
+name of the consul upon whom it devolved to carry on the war with the
+Carthaginians, after this first great victory, was Regulus, and his
+name has been celebrated in every age, on account of his extraordinary
+adventures in this campaign, and his untimely fate. How far the story
+is strictly true it is now impossible to ascertain, but the following
+is the story, as the Roman historians relate it:
+
+At the time when Regulus was elected consul he was a plain man, living
+simply on his farm, maintaining himself by his own industry, and
+evincing no ambition or pride. His fellow citizens, however, observed
+those qualities of mind in him which they were accustomed to admire,
+and made him consul. He left the city and took command of the army. He
+enlarged the fleet to more than three hundred vessels. He put one
+hundred and forty thousand men on board, and sailed for Africa. One or
+two years had been spent in making these preparations, which time the
+Carthaginians had improved in building new ships; so that, when the
+Romans set sail, and were moving along the coast of Sicily, they soon
+came in sight of a larger Carthaginian fleet assembled to oppose them.
+Regulus advanced to the contest. The Carthaginian fleet was beaten as
+before. The ships which were not captured or destroyed made their
+escape in all directions, and Regulus went on, without further
+opposition, and landed his forces on the Carthaginian shore. He
+encamped as soon as he landed, and sent back word to the Roman senate
+asking what was next to be done.
+
+The senate, considering that the great difficulty and danger, viz.,
+that of repulsing the Carthaginian fleet, was now past, ordered
+Regulus to send home nearly all the ships and a very large part of the
+army, and with the rest to commence his march toward Carthage.
+Regulus obeyed: he sent home the troops which had been ordered home,
+and with the rest began to advance upon the city.
+
+Just at this time, however, news came out to him that the farmer who
+had had the care of his land at home had died, and that his little
+farm, on which rested his sole reliance for the support of his family,
+was going to ruin. Regulus accordingly sent to the senate, asking them
+to place some one else in command of the army, and to allow him to
+resign his office, that he might go home and take care of his wife and
+children. The senate sent back orders that he should go on with his
+campaign, and promised to provide support for his family, and to see
+that some one was appointed to take care of his land. This story is
+thought to illustrate the extreme simplicity and plainness of all the
+habits of life among the Romans in those days. It certainly does so,
+if it is true. It is, however, very extraordinary, that a man who was
+intrusted by such a commonwealth, with the command of a fleet of a
+hundred and thirty vessels, and an army of a hundred and forty
+thousand men, should have a family at home dependent for subsistence
+on the hired cultivation of seven acres of land. Still, such is the
+story.
+
+Regulus advanced toward Carthage, conquering as he came. The
+Carthaginians were beaten in one field after another, and were
+reduced, in fact, to the last extremity, when an occurrence took place
+which turned the scale. This occurrence was the arrival of a large
+body of troops from Greece, with a Grecian general at their head.
+These were troops which the Carthaginians had hired to fight for them,
+as was the case with the rest of their army. But these were _Greeks_,
+and the Greeks were of the same race, and possessed the same
+qualities, as the Romans. The newly-arrived Grecian general evinced at
+once such military superiority, that the Carthaginians gave him the
+supreme command. He marshaled the army, accordingly, for battle. He
+had a hundred elephants in the van. They were trained to rush forward
+and trample down the enemy. He had the Greek phalanx in the center,
+which was a close, compact body of many thousand troops, bristling
+with long, iron-pointed spears, with which the men pressed forward,
+bearing every thing before them. Regulus was, in a word, ready to meet
+Carthaginians, but he was not prepared to encounter Greeks. His army
+was put to flight, and he was taken prisoner. Nothing could exceed
+the excitement and exultation in the city when they saw Regulus and
+five hundred other Roman soldiers, brought captive in. A few days
+before, they had been in consternation at the imminent danger of his
+coming in as a ruthless and vindictive conqueror.
+
+The Roman senate were not discouraged by this disaster. They fitted
+out new armies, and the war went on, Regulus being kept all the time
+at Carthage as a close prisoner. At last the Carthaginians authorized
+him to go to Rome as a sort of commissioner, to propose to the Romans
+to exchange prisoners and to make peace. They exacted from him a
+solemn promise that if he was unsuccessful he would return. The Romans
+had taken many of the Carthaginians prisoners in their naval combats,
+and held them captive at Rome. It is customary, in such cases, for the
+belligerent nations to make an exchange, and restore the captives on
+both sides to their friends and home. It was such an exchange of
+prisoners as this which Regulus was to propose.
+
+When Regulus reached Rome he refused to enter the city, but he
+appeared before the senate without the walls, in a very humble garb
+and with the most subdued and unassuming demeanor. He was no longer,
+he said, a Roman officer, or even citizen, but a Carthaginian
+prisoner, and he disavowed all right to direct, or even to counsel,
+the Roman authorities in respect to the proper course to be pursued.
+His opinion was, however, he said, that the Romans ought not to make
+peace or to exchange prisoners. He himself and the other Roman
+prisoners were old and infirm, and not worth the exchange; and,
+moreover, they had no claim whatever on their country, as they could
+only have been made prisoners in consequence of want of courage or
+patriotism to die in their country's cause. He said that the
+Carthaginians were tired of the war, and that their resources were
+exhausted, and that the Romans ought to press forward in it with
+renewed vigor, and leave himself and the other prisoners to their
+fate.
+
+The senate came very slowly and reluctantly to the conclusion to
+follow this advice. They, however, all earnestly joined in attempting
+to persuade Regulus that he was under no obligation to return to
+Carthage. His promise, they said, was extorted by the circumstances of
+the case, and was not binding. Regulus, however, insisted on keeping
+his faith with his enemies. He sternly refused to see his family,
+and, bidding the senate farewell, he returned to Carthage. The
+Carthaginians, exasperated at his having himself interposed to prevent
+the success of his mission, tortured him for some time in the most
+cruel manner, and finally put him to death. One would think that he
+ought to have counseled peace and an exchange of prisoners, and he
+ought not to have refused to see his unhappy wife and children; but it
+was certainly very noble in him to refuse to break his word.
+
+The war continued for some time after this, until, at length, both
+nations became weary of the contest, and peace was made. The following
+is the treaty which was signed. It shows that the advantage, on the
+whole, in this first Punic war, was on the part of the Romans:
+
+     "There shall be peace between Rome and Carthage. The
+     Carthaginians shall evacuate all Sicily. They shall not make
+     war upon any allies of the Romans. They shall restore to the
+     Romans, without ransom, all the prisoners which they have
+     taken from them, and pay them within ten years three
+     thousand two hundred talents of silver."
+
+The war had continued twenty-four years.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+HANNIBAL AT SAGUNTUM.
+
+B.C. 234-218
+
+Parentage of Hannibal.--Character of Hamilcar.--Religious
+ceremonies.--Hannibal's famous oath of enmity to Rome.--Hamilcar
+in Spain.--Hasdrubal.--Death of Hamilcar.--Hannibal sent for to
+Spain.--Opposition of Hanno.--Hannibal sets out for Spain.--Favorable
+impression on the army.--Character of Hannibal.--He is elevated to
+the supreme command.--The River Iberus.--Hannibal seeks a war with
+the Romans.--Stratagem of Hannibal.--Fording the river.--Great
+battle in the River Tagus.--Victory of Hannibal.--Saguntum.--Hannibal
+attacks it.--Progress of the siege.--Hannibal wounded.--Hannibal
+recovers.--The falarica.--Arrival of the Roman embassadors.--Hannibal's
+policy.--Hannibal sends embassadors to Carthage.--The Roman
+embassadors.--Parties in the Carthaginian senate.--Speech of
+Hanno.--Hanno proposes to give up Hannibal.--Defense of Hannibal's
+friends.--Hannibal triumphant.--Saguntum falls.
+
+
+The name of Hannibal's father was Hamilcar. He was one of the leading
+Carthaginian generals. He occupied a very prominent position, both on
+account of his rank, and wealth, and high family connections at
+Carthage, and also on account of the great military energy which he
+displayed in the command of the armies abroad. He carried on the wars
+which the Carthaginians waged in Africa and in Spain after the
+conclusion of the war with the Romans, and he longed to commence
+hostilities with the Romans again.
+
+At one time, when Hannibal was about nine years of age, Hamilcar was
+preparing to set off on an expedition into Spain, and, as was usual in
+those days, he was celebrating the occasion with games, and
+spectacles, and various religious ceremonies. It has been the custom
+in all ages of the world, when nations go to war with each other, for
+each side to take measures for propitiating the favor of Heaven.
+Christian nations at the present day do it by prayers offered in each
+country for the success of their own arms. Heathen nations do it by
+sacrifices, libations, and offerings. Hamilcar had made arrangements
+for such sacrifices, and the priests were offering them in the
+presence of the whole assembled army.
+
+Young Hannibal, then about nine years of age, was present. He was a
+boy of great spirit and energy, and he entered with much enthusiasm
+into the scene. He wanted to go to Spain himself with the army, and he
+came to his father and began to urge his request. His father could not
+consent to this. He was too young to endure the privations and
+fatigues of such an enterprise. However, his father brought him to one
+of the altars, in the presence of the other officers of the army, and
+made him lay his hand upon the consecrated victim, and swear that, as
+soon as he was old enough, and had it in his power, he would make war
+upon the Romans. This was done, no doubt, in part to amuse young
+Hannibal's mind, and to relieve his disappointment in not being able
+to go to war at that time, by promising him a great and mighty enemy
+to fight at some future day. Hannibal remembered it, and longed for
+the time to come when he could go to war against the _Romans_.
+
+Hamilcar bade his son farewell and embarked for Spain. He was at
+liberty to extend his conquests there in all directions west of the
+River Iberus, a river which the reader will find upon the map, flowing
+southeast into the Mediterranean Sea. Its name, Iberus, has been
+gradually changed, in modern times, to Ebro. By the treaty with the
+Romans the Carthaginians were not to cross the Iberus. They were also
+bound by the treaty not to molest the people of Saguntum, a city lying
+between the Iberus and the Carthaginian dominions. Saguntum was in
+alliance with the Romans and under their protection.
+
+Hamilcar was, however, very restless and uneasy at being obliged thus
+to refrain from hostilities with the Roman power. He began,
+immediately after his arrival in Spain, to form plans for renewing the
+war. He had under him, as his principal lieutenant, a young man who
+had married his daughter. His name was Hasdrubal. With Hasdrubal's
+aid, he went on extending his conquests in Spain, and strengthening
+his position there, and gradually maturing his plans for renewing war
+with the Romans, when at length he died. Hasdrubal succeeded him.
+Hannibal was now, probably, about twenty-one or two years old, and
+still in Carthage. Hasdrubal sent to the Carthaginian government a
+request that Hannibal might receive an appointment in the army, and be
+sent out to join him in Spain.
+
+On the subject of complying with this request there was a great debate
+in the Carthaginian senate. In all cases where questions of government
+are controlled by _votes_, it has been found, in every age, that
+_parties_ will always be formed, of which the two most prominent will
+usually be nearly balanced one against the other. Thus, at this time,
+though the Hamilcar family were in power, there was a very strong
+party in Carthage in opposition to them. The leader of this party in
+the senate, whose name was Hanno, made a very earnest speech against
+sending Hannibal. He was too young, he said, to be of any service. He
+would only learn the vices and follies of the camp, and thus become
+corrupted and ruined. "Besides," said Hanno, "at this rate, the
+command of our armies in Spain is getting to be a sort of hereditary
+right. Hamilcar was not a king, that his authority should thus descend
+first to his son-in-law and then to his son; for this plan of making
+Hannibal," he said, "while yet scarcely arrived at manhood, a high
+officer in the army, is only a stepping-stone to the putting of the
+forces wholly under his orders, whenever, for any reason, Hasdrubal
+shall cease to command them."
+
+The Roman historian, through whose narrative we get our only account
+of this debate, says that, though these were good reasons, yet
+strength prevailed, as usual, over wisdom, in the decision of the
+question. They voted to send Hannibal, and he set out to cross the sea
+to Spain with a heart full of enthusiasm and joy.
+
+A great deal of curiosity and interest was felt throughout the army to
+see him on his arrival. The soldiers had been devotedly attached to
+his father, and they were all ready to transfer this attachment at
+once to the son, if he should prove worthy of it. It was very evident,
+soon after he reached the camp, that he was going to prove himself
+thus worthy. He entered at once into the duties of his position with a
+degree of energy, patience, and self-denial which attracted universal
+attention, and made him a universal favorite. He dressed plainly; he
+assumed no airs; he sought for no pleasures or indulgences, nor
+demanded any exemption from the dangers and privations which the
+common soldiers had to endure. He ate plain food, and slept, often in
+his military cloak, on the ground, in the midst of the soldiers on
+guard; and in battle he was always foremost to press forward into the
+contest, and the last to leave the ground when the time came for
+repose. The Romans say that, in addition to these qualities, he was
+inhuman and merciless when in open warfare with his foes, and cunning
+and treacherous in every other mode of dealing with them. It is very
+probable that he was so. Such traits of character were considered by
+soldiers in those days, as they are now, virtues in themselves, though
+vices in their enemies.
+
+However this may be, Hannibal became a great and universal favorite in
+the army. He went on for several years increasing his military
+knowledge, and widening and extending his influence, when at length,
+one day, Hasdrubal was suddenly killed by a ferocious native of the
+country whom he had by some means offended. As soon as the first shock
+of this occurrence was over, the leaders of the army went in pursuit
+of Hannibal, whom they brought in triumph to the tent of Hasdrubal,
+and instated him at once in the supreme command, with one consent and
+in the midst of universal acclamations. As soon as news of this event
+reached Carthage, the government there confirmed the act of the army,
+and Hannibal thus found himself suddenly but securely invested with a
+very high military command.
+
+His eager and restless desire to try his strength with the Romans
+received a new impulse by his finding that the power was now in his
+hands. Still the two countries were at peace. They were bound by
+solemn treaties to continue so. The River Iberus was the boundary
+which separated the dominions of the two nations from each other in
+Spain, the territory east of that boundary being under the Roman
+power, and that on the west under that of the Carthaginians; except
+that Saguntum, which was on the western side, was an ally of the
+Romans, and the Carthaginians were bound by the treaty to leave it
+independent and free.
+
+Hannibal could not, therefore, cross the Iberus or attack Saguntum
+without an open infraction of the treaty. He, however, immediately
+began to move toward Saguntum and to attack the nations in the
+immediate vicinity of it. If he wished to get into a war with the
+Romans, this was the proper way to promote it; for, by advancing thus
+into the immediate vicinity of the capital of their allies, there was
+great probability that disputes would arise which would sooner or
+later end in war.
+
+The Romans say that Hannibal was cunning and treacherous, and he
+certainly did display, on some occasions, a great degree of adroitness
+in his stratagems. In one instance in these preliminary wars he gained
+a victory over an immensely superior force in a very remarkable
+manner. He was returning from an inroad upon some of the northern
+provinces, laden and encumbered with spoil, when he learned that an
+immense army, consisting, it was said, of a hundred thousand men, were
+coming down upon his rear. There was a river at a short distance
+before him. Hannibal pressed on and crossed the river by a ford, the
+water being, perhaps, about three feet deep. He secreted a large body
+of cavalry near the bank of the stream, and pushed on with the main
+body of the army to some little distance from the river, so as to
+produce the impression upon his pursuers that he was pressing forward
+to make his escape.
+
+[Illustration: THE BATTLE IN THE RIVER.]
+
+The enemy, thinking that they had no time to lose, poured down in
+great numbers into the stream from various points along the banks;
+and, as soon as they had reached the middle of the current, and were
+wading laboriously, half submerged, with their weapons held above
+their heads, so as to present as little resistance as possible to the
+water, the horsemen of Hannibal rushed in to meet and attack them. The
+horsemen had, of course, greatly the advantage; for, though their
+horses were in the water, they were themselves raised above it, and
+their limbs were free, while their enemies were half submerged, and,
+being encumbered by their arms and by one another, were nearly
+helpless. They were immediately thrown into complete confusion, and
+were overwhelmed and carried down by the current in great numbers.
+Some of them succeeded in landing below, on Hannibal's side; but, in
+the mean time, the main body of his army had returned, and was ready
+to receive them, and they were trampled under foot by the elephants,
+which it was the custom to employ, in those days, as a military force.
+As soon as the river was cleared, Hannibal marched his own army across
+it, and attacked what remained of the enemy on their own side. He
+gained a complete victory, which was so great and decisive that he
+secured by it possession of the whole country west of the Iberus,
+except Saguntum, and Saguntum itself began to be seriously alarmed.
+
+The Saguntines sent embassadors to Rome to ask the Romans to interpose
+and protect them from the dangers which threatened them. These
+embassadors made diligent efforts to reach Rome as soon as possible,
+but they were too late. On some pretext or other, Hannibal contrived
+to raise a dispute between the city and one of the neighboring tribes,
+and then, taking sides with the tribe, he advanced to attack the city.
+The Saguntines prepared for their defense, hoping soon to receive
+succors from Rome. They strengthened and fortified their walls, while
+Hannibal began to move forward great military engines for battering
+them down.
+
+Hannibal knew very well that by his hostilities against this city he
+was commencing a contest with Rome itself, as Rome must necessarily
+take part with her ally. In fact, there is no doubt that his design
+was to bring on a general war between the two great nations. He began
+with Saguntum for two reasons: first, it would not be safe for him to
+cross the Iberus, and advance into the Roman territory, leaving so
+wealthy and powerful a city in his rear; and then, in the second
+place, it was easier for him to find pretexts for getting indirectly
+into a quarrel with Saguntum, and throwing the odium of a declaration
+of war on Rome, than to persuade the Carthaginian state to renounce
+the peace and themselves commence hostilities. There was, as has been
+already stated, a very strong party at Carthage opposed to Hannibal,
+who would, of course, resist any measures tending to a war with Rome,
+for they would consider such a war as opening a vast field for
+gratifying Hannibal's ambition. The only way, therefore, was to
+provoke a war by aggressions on the Roman allies, to be justified by
+the best pretexts he could find.
+
+Saguntum was a very wealthy and powerful city. It was situated about a
+mile from the sea. The attack upon the place, and the defense of it by
+the inhabitants, went on for some time with great vigor. In these
+operations, Hannibal exposed himself to great danger. He approached,
+at one time, so near the wall, in superintending the arrangements of
+his soldiers and the planting of his engines, that a heavy javelin,
+thrown from the parapet, struck him on the thigh. It pierced the
+flesh, and inflicted so severe a wound that he fell immediately, and
+was borne away by the soldiers. It was several days before he was free
+from the danger incurred by the loss of blood and the fever which
+follows such a wound. During all this time his army were in a great
+state of excitement and anxiety, and suspended their active
+operations. As soon, however, as Hannibal was found to be decidedly
+convalescent, they resumed them again, and urged them onward with
+greater energy than before.
+
+The weapons of warfare in those ancient days were entirely different
+from those which are now employed, and there was one, described by an
+ancient historian as used by the Saguntines at this siege, which might
+almost come under the modern denomination of fire-arms. It was called
+the _falarica_. It was a sort of javelin, consisting of a shaft of
+wood, with a long point of iron. This point was said to be three feet
+long. This javelin was to be thrown at the enemy either from the hand
+of the soldier or by an engine. The leading peculiarity of it was,
+however, that, near to the pointed end, there were wound around the
+wooden shaft long bands of _tow_, which were saturated with pitch and
+other combustibles, and this inflammable band was set on fire just
+before the javelin was thrown. As the missile flew on its way, the
+wind fanned the flames, and made them burn so fiercely, that when the
+javelin struck the shield of the soldier opposing it, it could not be
+pulled out, and the shield itself had to be thrown down and abandoned.
+
+While the inhabitants of Saguntum were vainly endeavoring to defend
+themselves against their terrible enemy by these and similar means,
+their embassadors, not knowing that the city had been attacked, had
+reached Rome, and had laid before the Roman senate their fears that
+the city would be attacked, unless they adopted vigorous and immediate
+measures to prevent it. The Romans resolved to send embassadors to
+Hannibal to demand of him what his intentions were, and to warn him
+against any acts of hostility against Saguntum. When these Roman
+embassadors arrived on the coast, near to Saguntum, they found that
+hostilities had commenced, and that the city was hotly besieged. They
+were at a loss to know what to do.
+
+It is better for a rebel not to hear an order which he is determined
+beforehand not to obey. Hannibal, with an adroitness which the
+Carthaginians called sagacity, and the Romans treachery and cunning,
+determined not to see these messengers. He sent word to them, at the
+shore, that they must not attempt to come to his camp, for the country
+was in such a disturbed condition that it would not be safe for them
+to land; and besides, he could not receive or attend to them, for he
+was too much pressed with the urgency of his military works to have
+any time to spare for debates and negotiations.
+
+Hannibal knew that the embassadors, being thus repulsed, and having
+found, too, that the war had broken out, and that Saguntum was
+actually beset and besieged by Hannibal's armies, would proceed
+immediately to Carthage to demand satisfaction there. He knew, also,
+that Hanno and his party would very probably espouse the cause of the
+Romans, and endeavor to arrest his designs. He accordingly sent his
+own embassadors to Carthage, to exert an influence in his favor in the
+Carthaginian senate, and endeavor to urge them to reject the claims of
+the Romans, and allow the war between Rome and Carthage to break out
+again.
+
+The Roman embassadors appeared at Carthage, and were admitted to an
+audience before the senate. They stated their case, representing that
+Hannibal had made war upon Saguntum in violation of the treaty, and
+had refused even to receive the communication which had been sent him
+by the Roman senate through them. They demanded that the Carthaginian
+government should disavow his acts, and deliver him up to them, in
+order that he might receive the punishment which his violation of the
+treaty, and his aggressions upon an ally of the Romans, so justly
+deserved.
+
+The party of Hannibal in the Carthaginian senate were, of course,
+earnest to have these proposals rejected with scorn. The other side,
+with Hanno at their head, maintained that they were reasonable
+demands. Hanno, in a very energetic and powerful speech, told the
+senate that he had warned them not to send Hannibal into Spain. He had
+foreseen that such a hot and turbulent spirit as his would involve
+them in inextricable difficulties with the Roman power. Hannibal had,
+he said, plainly violated the treaty. He had invested and besieged
+Saguntum, which they were solemnly bound not to molest, and they had
+nothing to expect in return but that the Roman legions would soon be
+investing and besieging their own city. In the mean time, the Romans,
+he added, had been moderate and forbearing. They had brought nothing
+to the charge of the Carthaginians. They accused nobody but Hannibal,
+who, thus far, alone was guilty. The Carthaginians, by disavowing his
+acts, could save themselves from the responsibility of them. He
+urged, therefore, that an embassage of apology should be sent to Rome,
+that Hannibal should be deposed and delivered up to the Romans, and
+that ample restitution should be made to the Saguntines for the
+injuries they had received.
+
+On the other hand, the friends of Hannibal urged in the Carthaginian
+senate their defense of the general. They reviewed the history of the
+transactions in which the war had originated, and showed, or attempted
+to show, that the Saguntines themselves commenced hostilities, and
+that consequently they, and not Hannibal, were responsible for all
+that followed; that, under those circumstances, the Romans ought not
+to take their part, and if they did so, it proved that they preferred
+the friendship of Saguntum to that of Carthage; and that it would be
+cowardly and dishonorable in the extreme for them to deliver the
+general whom they had placed in power, and who had shown himself so
+worthy of their choice by his courage and energy, into the hands of
+their ancient and implacable foes.
+
+Thus Hannibal was waging at the same time two wars, one in the
+Carthaginian senate, where the weapons were arguments and eloquence,
+and the other under the walls of Saguntum, which was fought with
+battering rains and fiery javelins. He conquered in both. The senate
+decided to send the Roman embassadors home without acceding to their
+demands, and the walls of Saguntum were battered down by Hannibal's
+engines. The inhabitants refused all terms of compromise, and resisted
+to the last, so that, when the victorious soldiery broke over the
+prostrate walls, and poured into the city, it was given up to them to
+plunder, and they killed and destroyed all that came in their way. The
+disappointed embassadors returned to Rome with the news that Saguntum
+had been taken and destroyed by Hannibal, and that the Carthaginians,
+far from offering any satisfaction for the wrong, assumed the
+responsibility of it themselves, and were preparing for war.
+
+Thus Hannibal accomplished his purpose of opening the way for waging
+war against the Roman power. He prepared to enter into the contest
+with the utmost energy and zeal. The conflict that ensued lasted
+seventeen years, and is known in history as the second Punic war. It
+was one of the most dreadful struggles between rival and hostile
+nations which the gloomy history of mankind exhibits to view. The
+events that occurred will be described in the subsequent chapters.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+OPENING OF THE SECOND PUNIC WAR.
+
+B.C. 217
+
+Fall of Hanno's party.--Power of Hannibal.--Desperate valor of the
+Saguntines.--Hannibal's disposition of the spoils.--Hannibal chosen
+one of the suffetes.--Nature of the office.--Great excitement at
+Rome.--Fearful anticipations.--New embassy to Carthage.--Warm
+debates.--Fruitless negotiations.--The embassadors return.--Reply of
+the Volscians.--Council of Gauls.--Tumultuous scene.--Repulse of the
+embassadors.--Hannibal's kindness to his soldiers.--He matures his
+designs.--Hannibal's plan for the government of Spain in his
+absence.--Hannibal's brother Hasdrubal.--He is left in charge of
+Spain.--Preparations of the Romans.--Their plan for the war.--The
+Roman fleet.--Drawing lots.--Religious ceremonies.--Hannibal's
+march.--The Pyrenees.--Discontent in Hannibal's army.--Hannibal's
+address.--The discontented sent home.--Hannibal's sagacity.--The
+Pyrenees passed.
+
+
+When the tide once turns in any nation in favor of war, it generally
+rushes on with great impetuosity and force, and bears all before it.
+It was so in Carthage in this instance. The party of Hanno were thrown
+entirely into the minority and silenced, and the friends and partisans
+of Hannibal carried not only the government, but the whole community
+with them, and every body was eager for war. This was owing, in part,
+to the natural contagiousness of the martial spirit, which, when felt
+by one, catches easily, by sympathy, in the heart of another. It is a
+fire which, when once it begins to burn, spreads in every direction,
+and consumes all that comes in its way.
+
+Besides, when Hannibal gained possession of Saguntum, he found immense
+treasures there, which he employed, not to increase his own private
+fortune, but to strengthen and confirm his civil and military power.
+The Saguntines did every thing they could to prevent these treasures
+from falling into his hands. They fought desperately to the last,
+refused all terms of surrender, and they became so insanely desperate
+in the end, that, according to the narrative of Livy, when they found
+that the walls and towers of the city were falling in, and that all
+hope of further defense was gone, they built an enormous fire in the
+public streets, and heaped upon it all the treasures which they had
+time to collect that fire could destroy, and then that many of the
+principal inhabitants leaped into the flames themselves, in order that
+their hated conquerors might lose their prisoners as well as their
+spoils.
+
+Notwithstanding this, however, Hannibal obtained a vast amount of gold
+and silver, both in the form of money and of plate, and also much
+valuable merchandise, which the Saguntine merchants had accumulated in
+their palaces and warehouses. He used all this property to strengthen
+his own political and military position. He paid his soldiers all the
+arrears due to them in full. He divided among them a large additional
+amount as their share of the spoil. He sent rich trophies home to
+Carthage, and presents, consisting of sums of money, and jewelry, and
+gems, to his friends there, and to those whom he wished to make his
+friends. The result of this munificence, and of the renown which his
+victories in Spain had procured for him, was to raise him to the
+highest pinnacle of influence and honor. The Carthaginians chose him
+one of the _suffetes_.
+
+The suffetes were the supreme executive officers of the Carthaginian
+commonwealth. The government was, as has been remarked before, a sort
+of aristocratic republic, and republics are always very cautious about
+intrusting power, even executive power, to any one man. As Rome had
+_two_ consuls, reigning jointly, and France, after her first
+revolution, a Directory of _five_, so the Carthaginians chose annually
+two _suffetes_, as they were called at Carthage, though the Roman
+writers call them indiscriminately suffetes, consuls, and kings.
+Hannibal was now advanced to this dignity; so that, in conjunction
+with his colleague, he held the supreme civil authority at Carthage,
+besides being invested with the command of the vast and victorious
+army in Spain.
+
+When news of these events--the siege and destruction of Saguntum, the
+rejection of the demands of the Roman embassadors, and the vigorous
+preparations making by the Carthaginians for war--reached Rome, the
+whole city was thrown into consternation. The senate and the people
+held tumultuous and disorderly assemblies, in which the events which
+had occurred, and the course of proceeding which it was incumbent on
+the Romans to take, were discussed with much excitement and clamor.
+The Romans were, in fact, afraid of the Carthaginians. The campaigns
+of Hannibal in Spain had impressed the people with a strong sense of
+the remorseless and terrible energy of his character; they at once
+concluded that his plans would be formed for marching into Italy, and
+they even anticipated the danger of his bringing the war up to the
+very gates of the city, so as to threaten _them_ with the destruction
+which he had brought upon Saguntum. The event showed how justly they
+appreciated his character.
+
+Since the conclusion of the first Punic war, there had been peace
+between the Romans and Carthaginians for about a quarter of a century.
+During all this time both nations had been advancing in wealth and
+power, but the Carthaginians had made much more rapid progress than
+the Romans. The Romans had, indeed, been very successful at the onset
+in the former war, but in the end the Carthaginians had proved
+themselves their equal. They seemed, therefore, to dread now a fresh
+encounter with these powerful foes, led on, as they were now to be, by
+such a commander as Hannibal.
+
+They determined, therefore, to send a second embassy to Carthage, with
+a view of making one more effort to preserve peace before actually
+commencing hostilities. They accordingly elected five men from among
+the most influential citizens of the state--men of venerable age and
+of great public consideration--and commissioned them to proceed to
+Carthage and ask once more whether it was the deliberate and final
+decision of the Carthaginian senate to avow and sustain the action of
+Hannibal. This solemn embassage set sail. They arrived at Carthage.
+They appeared before the senate. They argued their cause, but it was,
+of course, to deaf and unwilling ears. The Carthaginian orators
+replied to them, each side attempting to throw the blame of the
+violation of the treaty on the other. It was a solemn hour, for the
+peace of the world, the lives of hundreds of thousands of men, and the
+continued happiness or the desolation and ruin of vast regions of
+country, depended on the issue of the debate. Unhappily, the breach
+was only widened by the discussion. "Very well," said the Roman
+commissioners, at last, "we offer you peace or war, which do you
+choose?" "Whichever you please," replied the Carthaginians; "decide
+for yourselves." "War, then," said the Romans, "since it must be so."
+The conference was broken up, and the embassadors returned to Rome.
+
+They returned, however, by the way of Spain. Their object in doing
+this was to negotiate with the various kingdoms and tribes in Spain
+and in France, through which Hannibal would have to march in invading
+Italy, and endeavor to induce them to take sides with the Romans. They
+were too late, however, for Hannibal had contrived to extend and
+establish his influence in all that region too strongly to be shaken;
+so that, on one pretext or another, the Roman proposals were all
+rejected. There was one powerful tribe, for example, called the
+Volscians. The embassadors, in the presence of the great council of
+the Volscians, made known to them the probability of war, and invited
+them to ally themselves with the Romans. The Volscians rejected the
+proposition with a sort of scorn. "We see," said they, "from the fate
+of Saguntum, what is to be expected to result from an alliance with
+the Romans. After leaving that city defenseless and alone in its
+struggle against such terrible danger, it is in vain to ask other
+nations to trust to your protection. If you wish for new allies, it
+will be best for you to go where the story of Saguntum is not known."
+This answer of the Volscians was applauded by the other nations of
+Spain, as far as it was known, and the Roman embassadors, despairing
+of success in that country, went on into Gaul, which is the name by
+which the country now called France is known in ancient history.
+
+On reaching a certain place which was a central point of influence and
+power in Gaul, the Roman commissioners convened a great martial
+council there. The spectacle presented by this assembly was very
+imposing, for the warlike counselors came to the meeting armed
+completely and in the most formidable manner, as if they were coming
+to a battle instead of a consultation and debate. The venerable
+embassadors laid the subject before them. They descanted largely on
+the power and greatness of the Romans, and on the certainty that they
+should conquer in the approaching contest, and they invited the Gauls
+to espouse their cause, and to rise in arms and intercept Hannibal's
+passage through their country, if he should attempt to effect one.
+
+The assembly could hardly be induced to hear the embassadors through;
+and, as soon as they had finished their address, the whole council
+broke forth into cries of dissent and displeasure, and even into
+shouts of derision. Order was at length restored, and the officers,
+whose duty it was to express the sentiments of the assembly, gave for
+their reply that the Gauls had never received any thing but violence
+and injuries from Rome, or any thing but kindness and goodwill from
+Carthage; and that they had no idea of being guilty of the folly of
+bringing the impending storm of Hannibal's hostility upon their own
+heads, merely for the sake of averting it from their ancient and
+implacable foes. Thus the embassadors were every where repulsed. They
+found no friendly disposition toward the Roman power till they had
+crossed the Rhone.
+
+Hannibal began now to form his plans, in a very deliberate and
+cautious manner, for a march into Italy. He knew well that this was an
+expedition of such magnitude and duration as to require beforehand the
+most careful and well-considered arrangements, both for the forces
+which were to go, and for the states and communities which were to
+remain. The winter was coming on. His first measure was to dismiss a
+large portion of his forces, that they might visit their homes. He
+told them that he was intending some great designs for the ensuing
+spring, which might take them to a great distance, and keep them for a
+long time absent from Spain, and he would, accordingly, give them the
+intervening time to visit their families and their homes, and to
+arrange their affairs. This act of kind consideration and confidence
+renewed the attachment of the soldiers to their commander, and they
+returned to his camp in the spring not only with new strength and
+vigor, but with redoubled attachment to the service in which they were
+engaged.
+
+Hannibal, after sending home his soldiers, retired himself to New
+Carthage, which, as will be seen by the map, is further west than
+Saguntum, where he went into winter quarters, and devoted himself to
+the maturing of his designs. Besides the necessary preparations for
+his own march, he had to provide for the government of the countries
+that he should leave. He devised various and ingenious plans to
+prevent the danger of insurrections and rebellions while he was gone.
+One was, to organize an army for Spain out of soldiers drawn from
+_Africa_, while the troops which were to be employed to garrison
+Carthage, and to sustain the government there, were taken from Spain.
+By thus changing the troops of the two countries, each country was
+controlled by a foreign soldiery, who were more likely to be faithful
+in their obedience to their commanders, and less in danger of
+sympathizing with the populations which they were respectively
+employed to control, than if each had been retained in its own native
+land.
+
+Hannibal knew very well that the various states and provinces of
+Spain, which had refused to ally themselves with the Romans and
+abandon him, had been led to do this through the influence of his
+presents or the fear of his power, and that if, after he had
+penetrated into Italy, he should meet with reverses, so as to diminish
+very much their hope of deriving benefit from his favor or their fear
+of his power, there would be great danger of defections and revolts.
+As an additional security against this, he adopted the following
+ingenious plan. He enlisted a body of troops from among all the
+nations of Spain that were in alliance with him, selecting the young
+men who were enlisted as much as possible from families of
+consideration and influence, and this body of troops, when organized
+and officered, he sent into Carthage, giving the nations and tribes
+from which they were drawn to understand that he considered them not
+only as soldiers serving in his armies, but as _hostages_, which he
+should hold as security for the fidelity and obedience of the
+countries from which they had come. The number of these soldiers was
+four thousand.
+
+Hannibal had a brother, whose name, as it happened, was the same as
+that of his brother-in-law, Hasdrubal. It was to him that he committed
+the government of Spain during his absence. The soldiers provided for
+him were, as has been already stated, mainly drawn from Africa. In
+addition to the foot soldiers, he provided him with a small body of
+horse. He left with him, also, fourteen elephants. And as he thought
+it not improbable that the Romans might, in some contingency during
+his absence, make a descent upon the Spanish coast from the sea, he
+built and equipped for him a small fleet of about sixty vessels, fifty
+of which were of the first class. In modern times, the magnitude and
+efficiency of a ship is estimated by the number of guns she will
+carry; then, it was the number of banks of oars. Fifty of Hasdrubal's
+ships were _quinqueremes_, as they were called, that is, they had five
+banks of oars.
+
+The Romans, on the other hand, did not neglect their own preparations.
+Though reluctant to enter upon the war, they still prepared to engage
+in it with their characteristic energy and ardor, when they found that
+it could not be averted. They resolved on raising two powerful armies,
+one for each of the consuls. The plan was, with one of these to
+advance to meet Hannibal, and with the other to proceed to Sicily, and
+from Sicily to the African coast, with a view of threatening the
+Carthaginian capital. This plan, if successful, would compel the
+Carthaginians to recall a part or the whole of Hannibal's army from
+the intended invasion of Italy to defend their own African homes.
+
+The force raised by the Romans amounted to about seventy thousand men.
+About a third of these were Roman soldiers, and the remainder were
+drawn from various nations dwelling in Italy and in the islands of the
+Mediterranean Sea which were in alliance with the Romans. Of these
+troops six thousand were cavalry. Of course, as the Romans intended
+to cross into Africa, they needed a fleet. They built and equipped
+one, which consisted of two hundred and twenty ships of the largest
+class, that is, quinqueremes, besides a number of smaller and lighter
+vessels for services requiring speed. There were vessels in use in
+those times larger than the quinqueremes. Mention is occasionally made
+of those which had six and even seven banks of oars. But these were
+only employed as the flag-ships of commanders, and for other purposes
+of ceremony and parade, as they were too unwieldy for efficient
+service in action.
+
+Lots were then drawn in a very solemn manner, according to the Roman
+custom on such occasions, to decide on the assignment of these two
+armies to the respective consuls. The one destined to meet Hannibal on
+his way from Spain, fell to a consul named Cornelius Scipio. The name
+of the other was Sempronius. It devolved on him, consequently, to take
+charge of the expedition destined to Sicily and Africa. When all the
+arrangements were thus made, the question was finally put, in a very
+solemn and formal manner, to the Roman people for their final vote and
+decision. "Do the Roman people decide and decree that war shall be
+declared against the Carthaginians?" The decision was in the
+affirmative. The war was then proclaimed with the usual imposing
+ceremonies. Sacrifices and religious celebrations followed, to
+propitiate the favor of the gods, and to inspire the soldiers with
+that kind of courage and confidence which the superstitious, however
+wicked, feel when they can imagine themselves under the protection of
+heaven. These shows and spectacles being over, all things were ready.
+
+In the mean time Hannibal was moving on, as the spring advanced,
+toward the banks of the Iberus, that frontier stream, the crossing of
+which made him an invader of what was, in some sense, Roman territory.
+He boldly passed the stream, and moved forward along the coast of the
+Mediterranean, gradually approaching the Pyrenees, which form the
+boundary between France and Spain. His soldiers hitherto did not know
+what his plans were. It is very little the custom _now_ for military
+and naval commanders to communicate to their men much information
+about their designs, and it was still less the custom then; and
+besides, in those days, the common soldiers had no access to those
+means of information by which news of every sort is now so
+universally diffused. Thus, though all the officers of the army, and
+well-informed citizens, both in Rome and Carthage, anticipated and
+understood Hannibal's designs, his own soldiers, ignorant and
+degraded, knew nothing except that they were to go on some distant and
+dangerous service. They, very likely, had no idea whatever of Italy or
+of Rome, or of the magnitude of the possessions, or of the power held
+by the vast empire which they were going to invade.
+
+When, however, after traveling day after day they came to the foot of
+the Pyrenees, and found that they were really going to pass that
+mighty chain of mountains, and for this purpose were actually entering
+its wild and gloomy defiles, the courage of some of them failed, and
+they began to murmur. The discontent and alarm were, in fact, so
+great, that one corps, consisting of about three thousand men, left
+the camp in a body, and moved back toward their homes. On inquiry,
+Hannibal found that there were ten thousand more who were in a similar
+state of feeling. His whole force consisted of over one hundred
+thousand. And now what does the reader imagine that Hannibal would do
+in such an emergency? Would he return in pursuit of these deserters,
+to recapture and destroy them as a terror to the rest? or would he let
+them go, and attempt by words of conciliation and encouragement to
+confirm and save those that yet remained? He did neither. He called
+together the ten thousand discontented troops that were still in his
+camp, and told them that, since they were afraid to accompany his
+army, or unwilling to do so, they might return. He wanted none in his
+service who had not the courage and the fortitude to go on wherever he
+might lead. He would not have the faint-hearted and the timid in his
+army. They would only be a burden to load down and impede the courage
+and energy of the rest. So saying, he gave orders for them to return,
+and with the rest of the army, whose resolution and ardor were
+redoubled by this occurrence, he moved on through the passes of the
+mountains.
+
+This act of Hannibal, in permitting his discontented soldiers to
+return, had all the effect of a deed of generosity in its influence
+upon the minds of the soldiers who went on. We must not, however,
+imagine that it was prompted by a spirit of generosity at all. It was
+policy. A seeming generosity was, in this case, exactly what was
+wanted to answer his ends. Hannibal was mercilessly cruel in all
+cases where he imagined that severity was demanded. It requires great
+sagacity sometimes in a commander to know when he must punish, and
+when it is wisest to overlook and forgive. Hannibal, like Alexander
+and Napoleon, possessed this sagacity in a very high degree; and it
+was, doubtless, the exercise of that principle alone which prompted
+his action on this occasion.
+
+Thus Hannibal passed the Pyrenees. The next difficulty that he
+anticipated was in crossing the River Rhone.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+THE PASSAGE OF THE RHONE.
+
+B.C. 217
+
+Difficulties anticipated.--Reconnoitering party.--Some tribes
+reduced.--Alarm of the Gauls.--The Alps.--Difficulty of their
+passage.--Hannibal's message to the Gauls.--Success of his
+policy.--Cornelius Scipio.--He embarks his army.--Both armies on
+the Rhone.--Exploring party.--Feelings of the Gauls in respect
+to Hannibal.--The Gauls beyond the river oppose Hannibal's
+passage.--Preparations for crossing the river.--Boat
+building.--Rafts.--The enemy look on in silence.--Difficulties of
+crossing a river.--Hannibal's tactics.--His stratagem.--Detachment
+under Hanno.--Success of Hanno.--The signal.--Passage of the
+river.--Scene of confusion.--Attack of Hanno.--Flight of the
+Gauls.--Transportation of the elephants.--Manner of doing it.--A
+new plan.--Huge rafts.--The elephants got safely over.--The
+reconnoitering parties.--The detachments meet.--A battle ensues.
+
+
+Hannibal, after he had passed the Pyrenees, did not anticipate any new
+difficulty till he should arrive at the Rhone. He knew very well that
+that was a broad and rapid river, and that he must cross it near its
+mouth, where the water was deep and the banks low; and, besides, it
+was not impossible that the Romans who were coming to meet him, under
+Cornelius Scipio, might have reached the Rhone before he should arrive
+there, and be ready upon the banks to dispute his passage. He had sent
+forward, therefore, a small detachment in advance, to reconnoiter the
+country and select a route to the Rhone, and if they met with no
+difficulties to arrest them there, they were to go on till they
+reached the Alps, and explore the passages and defiles through which
+his army could best cross those snow-covered mountains.
+
+It seems that before he reached the Pyrenees--that is, while he was
+upon the Spanish side of them, some of the tribes through whose
+territories he had to pass undertook to resist him, and he,
+consequently, had to attack them and reduce them by force; and then,
+when he was ready to move on, he left a guard in the territories thus
+conquered to keep them in subjection. Rumors of this reached Gaul. The
+Gauls were alarmed for their own safety. They had not intended to
+oppose Hannibal so long as they supposed that he only wished for a
+safe passage through their country on his way to Italy; but now, when
+they found, from what had occurred in Spain, that he was going to
+conquer the countries he traversed as he passed along, they became
+alarmed. They seized their arms, and assembled in haste at Ruscino,
+and began to devise measures of defense. Ruscino was the same place as
+that in which the Roman embassadors met the great council of the Gauls
+on their return to Italy from Carthage.
+
+While this great council, or, rather, assembly of armies, was
+gathering at Ruscino, full of threats and anger, Hannibal was at
+Illiberis, a town at the foot of the Pyrenean Mountains. He seems to
+have had no fear that any opposition which the Gauls could bring to
+bear against him would be successful, but he dreaded the delay. He
+was extremely unwilling to spend the precious months of the early
+summer in contending with such foes as they, when the road to Italy
+was before him. Besides, the passes of the Alps, which are difficult
+and laborious at any time, are utterly impracticable except in the
+months of July and August. At all other seasons they are, or were in
+those days, blocked up with impassable snows. In modern times roads
+have been made, with galleries cut through the rock, and with the
+exposed places protected by sloping roofs projecting from above, over
+which storms sweep and avalanches slide without injury; so that now
+the intercourse of ordinary travel between France and Italy, across
+the Alps, is kept up, in some measure, all the year. In Hannibal's
+time, however, the mountains could not be traversed except in the
+summer months, and if it had not been that the result justified the
+undertaking, it would have been considered an act of inexcusable
+rashness and folly to attempt to cross with an army at all.
+
+Hannibal had therefore no time to lose, and that circumstance made
+this case one of those in which forbearance and a show of generosity
+were called for, instead of defiance and force. He accordingly sent
+messengers to the council at Ruscino to say, in a very complaisant and
+affable manner, that he wished to see and confer with their princes in
+person, and that, if they pleased, he would advance for this purpose
+toward Ruscino; or they might, if they preferred, come on toward him
+at Illiberis, where he would await their arrival. He invited them to
+come freely into his camp, and said that he was ready, if they were
+willing to receive him, to go into theirs, for he had come to Gaul as
+a friend and an ally, and wanted nothing but a free passage through
+their territory. He had made a resolution, he said, if the Gauls would
+but allow him to keep it, that there should not be a single sword
+drawn in his army till he got into Italy.
+
+The alarm and the feelings of hostility which prevailed among the
+Gauls were greatly allayed by this message. They put their camp in
+motion, and went on to Illiberis. The princes and high officers of
+their armies went to Hannibal's camp, and were received with the
+highest marks of distinction and honor. They were loaded with
+presents, and went away charmed with the affability, the wealth, and
+the generosity of their visitor. Instead of opposing his progress,
+they became the conductors and guides of his army. They took them
+first to Ruscino, which was, as it were, their capital, and thence,
+after a short delay, the army moved on without any further molestation
+toward the Rhone.
+
+In the mean time, the Roman consul Scipio, having embarked the troops
+destined to meet Hannibal in sixty ships at the mouth of the Tiber,
+set sail for the mouth of the Rhone. The men were crowded together in
+the ships, as armies necessarily must be when transported by sea. They
+could not go far out to sea, for, as they had no compass in those
+days, there were no means of directing the course of navigation, in
+case of storms or cloudy skies, except by the land. The ships
+accordingly made their way slowly along the shore, sometimes by means
+of sails and sometimes by oars, and, after suffering for some time the
+hardships and privations incident to such a voyage--the sea-sickness
+and the confinement of such swarming numbers in so narrow a space
+bringing every species of discomfort in their train--the fleet entered
+the mouth of the Rhone. The officers had no idea that Hannibal was
+near. They had only heard of his having crossed the Iberus. They
+imagined that he was still on the other side of the Pyrenees. They
+entered the Rhone by the first branch they came to--for the Rhone,
+like the Nile, divides near its mouth, and flows into the sea by
+several separate channels--and sailed without concern up to
+Marseilles, imagining that their enemy was still hundreds of miles
+away, entangled, perhaps, among the defiles of the Pyrenees. Instead
+of that, he was safely encamped upon the banks of the Rhone, a short
+distance above them, quietly and coolly making his arrangements for
+crossing it.
+
+When Cornelius got his men upon the land, they were too much exhausted
+by the sickness and misery they had endured upon the voyage to move on
+to meet Hannibal without some days for rest and refreshment.
+Cornelius, however, selected three hundred horsemen who were able to
+move, and sent them up the river on an exploring expedition, to learn
+the facts in respect to Hannibal, and to report them to him.
+Dispatching them accordingly, he remained himself in his camp,
+reorganizing and recruiting his army, and awaiting the return of the
+party that he had sent to explore.
+
+Although Hannibal had thus far met with no serious opposition in his
+progress through Gaul it must not, on that account, be supposed that
+the people, through whose territories he was passing, were really
+friendly to his cause, or pleased with his presence among them. An
+army is always a burden and a curse to any country that it enters,
+even when its only object is to pass peacefully through. The Gauls
+assumed a friendly attitude toward this dreaded invader and his horde
+only because they thought that by so doing he would the sooner pass
+and be gone. They were too weak, and had too few means of resistance
+to attempt to stop him; and, as the next best thing that they could
+do, resolved to render him every possible aid to hasten him on. This
+continued to be the policy of the various tribes until he reached the
+river. The people on the _further_ side of the river, however, thought
+it was best for them to resist. They were nearer to the Roman
+territories, and, consequently, somewhat more under Roman influence.
+They feared the resentment of the Romans if they should, even
+passively, render any co-operation to Hannibal in his designs; and, as
+they had the broad and rapid river between them and their enemy, they
+thought there was a reasonable prospect that, with its aid, they could
+exclude him from their territories altogether.
+
+Thus it happened that, when Hannibal came to the stream, the people on
+one side were all eager to promote, while those on the other were
+determined to prevent his passage, both parties being animated by the
+same desire to free their country from such a pest as the presence of
+an army of ninety thousand men; so that Hannibal stood at last upon
+the banks of the river, with the people on _his_ side of the stream
+waiting and ready to furnish all the boats and vessels that they could
+command, and to render every aid in their power in the embarkation,
+while those on the other were drawn up in battle array, rank behind
+rank, glittering with weapons, marshaled so as to guard every place of
+landing, and lining with pikes the whole extent of the shore, while
+the peaks of their tents, in vast numbers, with banners among them
+floating in the air, were to be seen in the distance behind them. All
+this time, the three hundred horsemen which Cornelius had dispatched
+were slowly and cautiously making their way up the river from the
+Roman encampment below.
+
+After contemplating the scene presented to his view at the river for
+some time in silence, Hannibal commenced his preparations for crossing
+the stream. He collected first all the boats of every kind which
+could be obtained among the Gauls who lived along the bank of the
+river. These, however, only served for a beginning, and so he next got
+together all the workmen and all the tools which the country could
+furnish, for several miles around, and went to work constructing more.
+The Gauls of that region had a custom of making boats of the trunks of
+large trees. The tree, being felled and cut to the proper length, was
+hollowed out with hatchets and adzes, and then, being turned bottom
+upward, the outside was shaped in such a manner as to make it glide
+easily through the water. So convenient is this mode of making boats,
+that it is practiced, in cases where sufficiently large trees are
+found, to the present day. Such boats are now called canoes.
+
+There were plenty of large trees on the banks of the Rhone. Hannibal's
+soldiers watched the Gauls at their work, in making boats of them,
+until they learned the art themselves. Some first assisted their new
+allies in the easier portions of the operation, and then began to fell
+large trees and make the boats themselves. Others, who had less skill
+or more impetuosity chose not to wait for the slow process of
+hollowing the wood, and they, accordingly, would fell the trees upon
+the shore, cut the trunks of equal lengths, place them side by side in
+the water, and bolt or bind them together so as to form a raft. The
+form and fashion of their craft was of no consequence, they said, as
+it was for one passage only. Any thing would answer, if it would only
+float and bear its burden over.
+
+In the mean time, the enemy upon the opposite shore looked on, but
+they could do nothing to impede these operations. If they had had
+artillery, such as is in use at the present day, they could have fired
+across the river, and have blown the boats and rafts to pieces with
+balls and shells as fast as the Gauls and Carthaginians could build
+them. In fact, the workmen could not have built them under such a
+cannonading; but the enemy, in this case, had nothing but spears, and
+arrows, and stones, to be thrown either by the hand, or by engines far
+too weak to send them with any effect across such a stream. They had
+to look on quietly, therefore, and allow these great and formidable
+preparations for an attack upon them to go on without interruption.
+Their only hope was to overwhelm the army with their missiles, and
+prevent their landing, when they should reach the bank at last in
+their attempt to cross the stream.
+
+If an army is crossing a river without any enemy to oppose them, a
+moderate number of boats will serve, as a part of the army can be
+transported at a time, and the whole gradually transferred from one
+bank to the other by repeated trips of the same conveyances. But when
+there is an enemy to encounter at the landing, it is necessary to
+provide the means of carrying over a very large force at a time; for
+if a small division were to go over first alone, it would only throw
+itself, weak and defenseless, into the hands of the enemy. Hannibal,
+therefore, waited until he had boats, rafts, and floats enough
+constructed to carry over a force all together sufficiently numerous
+and powerful to attack the enemy with a prospect of success.
+
+The Romans, as we have already remarked, say that Hannibal was
+cunning. He certainly was not disposed, like Alexander, to trust in
+his battles to simple superiority of bravery and force, but was always
+contriving some stratagem to increase the chances of victory. He did
+so in this case. He kept up for many days a prodigious parade and
+bustle of building boats and rafts in sight of his enemy, as if his
+sole reliance was on the multitude of men that he could pour across
+the river at a single transportation, and he thus kept their
+attention closely riveted upon these preparations. All this time,
+however, he had another plan in course of execution. He had sent a
+strong body of troops secretly up the river, with orders to make their
+way stealthily through the forests, and cross the stream some few
+miles above. This force was intended to move back from the river, as
+soon as it should cross the stream, and come down upon the enemy in
+the rear, so as to attack and harass them there at the same time that
+Hannibal was crossing with the main body of the army. If they
+succeeded in crossing the river safely, they were to build a fire in
+the woods, on the other side, in order that the column of smoke which
+should ascend from it might serve as a signal of their success to
+Hannibal.
+
+This detachment was commanded by an officer named Hanno--of course a
+very different man from Hannibal's great enemy of that name in
+Carthage. Hanno set out in the night, moving back from the river, in
+commencing his march, so as to be entirely out of sight from the Gauls
+on the other side. He had some guides, belonging to the country, who
+promised to show him a convenient place for crossing. The party went
+up the river about twenty-five miles. Here they found a place where
+the water spread to a greater width, and where the current was less
+rapid, and the water not so deep. They got to this place in silence
+and secrecy, their enemies below not having suspected any such design.
+As they had, therefore, nobody to oppose them, they could cross much
+more easily than the main army below. They made some rafts for
+carrying over those of the men that could not swim, and such munitions
+of war as would be injured by the wet. The rest of the men waded till
+they reached the channel, and then swam, supporting themselves in part
+by their bucklers, which they placed beneath their bodies in the
+water. Thus they all crossed in safety. They paused a day, to dry
+their clothes and to rest, and then moved cautiously down the river
+until they were near enough to Hannibal's position to allow their
+signal to be seen. The fire was then built, and they gazed with
+exultation upon the column of smoke which ascended from it high into
+the air.
+
+Hannibal saw the signal, and now immediately prepared to cross with
+his army. The horsemen embarked in boats, holding their horses by
+lines, with a view of leading them into the water so that they might
+swim in company with the boats. Other horses, bridled and accoutered,
+were put into large flat-bottomed boats, to be taken across dry, in
+order that they might be all ready for service at the instant of
+landing. The most vigorous and efficient portion of the army were, of
+course, selected for the first passage, while all those who, for any
+cause, were weak or disabled, remained behind, with the stores and
+munitions of war, to be transported afterward, when the first passage
+should have been effected. All this time the enemy, on the opposite
+shore, were getting their ranks in array, and making every thing ready
+for a furious assault upon the invaders the moment they should
+approach the land.
+
+There was something like silence and order during the period while the
+men were embarking and pushing out from the land, but as they advanced
+into the current, the loud commands, and shouts, and outcries
+increased more and more, and the rapidity of the current and of the
+eddies by which the boats and rafts were hurried down the stream, or
+whirled against each other, soon produced a terrific scene of tumult
+and confusion. As soon as the first boats approached the land, the
+Gauls assembled to oppose them rushed down upon them with showers of
+missiles, and with those unearthly yells which barbarous warriors
+always raise in going into battle, as a means both of exciting
+themselves and of terrifying their enemy. Hannibal's officers urged
+the boats on, and endeavored, with as much coolness and deliberation
+as possible, to effect a landing. It is perhaps doubtful how the
+contest would have ended, had it not been for the detachment under
+Hanno, which now came suddenly into action. While the Gauls were in
+the height of their excitement, in attempting to drive back the
+Carthaginians from the bank, they were thunderstruck at hearing the
+shouts and cries of an enemy behind them, and, on looking around, they
+saw the troops of Hanno pouring down upon them from the thickets with
+terrible impetuosity and force. It is very difficult for an army to
+fight both in front and in the rear at the same time. The Gauls, after
+a brief struggle, abandoned the attempt any longer to oppose
+Hannibal's landing. They fled down the river and back into the
+interior, leaving Hanno in secure possession of the bank while
+Hannibal and his forces came up at their leisure out of the water,
+finding friends instead of enemies to receive them.
+
+The remainder of the army, together with the stores and munitions of
+war, were next to be transported, and this was accomplished with
+little difficulty now that there was no enemy to disturb their
+operations. There was one part of the force, however, which occasioned
+some trouble and delay. It was a body of elephants which formed a part
+of the army. How to get these unwieldy animals across so broad and
+rapid a river was a question of no little difficulty. There are
+various accounts of the manner in which Hannibal accomplished the
+object, from which it would seem that different methods were employed.
+One mode was as follows: the keeper of the elephants selected one more
+spirited and passionate in disposition than the rest, and contrived to
+teaze and torment him so as to make him angry. The elephant advanced
+toward his keeper with his trunk raised to take vengeance. The keeper
+fled; the elephant pursued him, the other elephants of the herd
+following, as is the habit of the animal on such occasions. The keeper
+ran into the water as if to elude his pursuer, while the elephant and
+a large part of the herd pressed on after him. The man swam into the
+channel, and the elephants, before they could check themselves, found
+that they were beyond their depth. Some swam on after the keeper, and
+crossed the river, where they were easily secured. Others, terrified,
+abandoned themselves to the current, and were floated down, struggling
+helplessly as they went, until at last they grounded upon shallows or
+points of land, whence they gained the shore again, some on one side
+of the stream and some on the other.
+
+This plan was thus only partially successful, and Hannibal devised a
+more effectual method for the remainder of the troop. He built an
+immensely large raft, floated it up to the shore, fastened it there
+securely, and covered it with earth, turf, and bushes, so as to make
+it resemble a projection of the land. He then caused a second raft to
+be constructed of the same size, and this he brought up to the outer
+edge of the other, fastened it there by a temporary connection, and
+covered and concealed it as he had done the first. The first of these
+rafts extended two hundred feet from the shore, and was fifty feet
+broad. The other, that is, the outer one, was only a little smaller.
+The soldiers then contrived to allure and drive the elephants over
+these rafts to the outer one, the animals imagining that they had not
+left the land. The two rafts were then disconnected from each other,
+and the outer one began to move with its bulky passengers over the
+water, towed by a number of boats which had previously been attached
+to its outer edge.
+
+As soon as the elephants perceived the motion, they were alarmed, and
+began immediately to look anxiously this way and that, and to crowd
+toward the edges of the raft which was conveying them away. They found
+themselves hemmed in by water on every side, and were terrified and
+thrown into confusion. Some were crowded off into the river, and were
+drifted down till they landed below. The rest soon became calm, and
+allowed themselves to be quietly ferried across the stream, when they
+found that all hope of escape and resistance were equally vain.
+
+[Illustration: THE ELEPHANTS CROSSING THE RHONE.]
+
+In the mean time, while these events were occurring, the troop of
+three hundred, which Scipio had sent up the river to see what tidings
+he could learn of the Carthaginians, were slowly making their way
+toward the point where Hannibal was crossing; and it happened that
+Hannibal had sent down a troop of _five_ hundred, when he first
+reached the river, to see if they could learn any tidings of the
+Romans. Neither of the armies had any idea how near they were to
+the other. The two detachments met suddenly and unexpectedly on the
+way. They were sent to explore, and not to fight; but as they were
+nearly equally matched, each was ambitious of the glory of capturing
+the others and carrying them prisoners to their camp. They fought a
+long and bloody battle. A great number were killed, and in about the
+same proportion on either side. The Romans say _they_ conquered. We do
+not know what the Carthaginians said, but as both parties retreated
+from the field and went back to their respective camps, it is safe to
+infer that neither could boast of a very decisive victory.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+HANNIBAL CROSSES THE ALPS.
+
+B.C. 217
+
+The Alps.--Their sublimity and grandeur.--Perpetual cold in the
+upper regions of the atmosphere.--Avalanches.--Their terrible
+force.--The glaciers.--Motion of the ice.--Crevices and
+chasms.--Situation of the Alps.--Roads over the Alps.--Sublime
+scenery.--Beauty of the Alpine scenery.--Picturesque
+scenery.--Hannibal determines to cross the Alps.--Hannibal's
+speech to his army.--Its effects.--His army follows.--Scipio moves
+after Hannibal.--Sad vestiges.--Perplexity of Scipio.--He sails back
+to Italy.--Hannibal approaches the Alps.--A dangerous defile.--The
+army encamps.--The mountaineers.--Hannibal's stratagem.--Its
+success.--Astonishment of the mountaineers.--Terrible conflict in
+the defile.--Attack of Hannibal.--The mountaineers defeated.--The
+army pauses to refresh.--Scarcity of food.--Herds and flocks upon
+the mountains.--Foraging parties.--Collecting cattle.--Progress of
+the army.--Cantons.--An embassage.--Hostages.--Hannibal's
+suspicions.--Treachery of the mountaineers.--They attack
+Hannibal.--The elephants.--Hannibal's army divided.--Hannibal's
+attack on the mountaineers.--They embarrass his march.--Hannibal's
+indomitable perseverance.--He encamps.--Return of straggling
+parties.--Dreary scenery of the summit.--Storms in the mountains.--A
+dreary encampment.--Landmarks.--A snow storm.--The army resumes its
+march.--Hannibal among the pioneers.--First sight of Italy.--Joy of
+the army.--Hannibal's speech.--Fatigues of the march.--New
+difficulties.--March over the glacier.--A formidable barrier.--Hannibal
+cuts his way through the rocks.--The army in safety on the plains of
+Italy.
+
+
+It is difficult for any one who has not actually seen such mountain
+scenery as is presented by the Alps, to form any clear conception of
+its magnificence and grandeur. Hannibal had never seen the Alps, but
+the world was filled then, as now, with their fame.
+
+Some of the leading features of sublimity and grandeur which these
+mountains exhibit, result mainly from the perpetual cold which reigns
+upon their summits. This is owing simply to their elevation. In every
+part of the earth, as we ascend from the surface of the ground into
+the atmosphere, it becomes, for some mysterious reason or other, more
+and more cold as we rise, so that over our heads, wherever we are,
+there reigns, at a distance of two or three miles above us, an intense
+and perpetual cold. This is true not only in cool and temperate
+latitudes, but also in the most torrid regions of the globe. If we
+were to ascend in a balloon at Borneo at midday, when the burning sun
+of the tropics was directly over our heads, to an elevation of five
+or six miles, we should find that although we had been moving nearer
+to the sun all the time, its rays would have lost, gradually, all
+their power. They would fall upon us as brightly as ever, but their
+heat would be gone. They would feel like moonbeams, and we should be
+surrounded with an atmosphere as frosty as that of the icebergs of the
+frigid zone.
+
+It is from this region of perpetual cold that hail-stones descend upon
+us in the midst of summer, and snow is continually forming and falling
+there; but the light and fleecy flakes melt before they reach the
+earth, so that, while the hail has such solidity and momentum that it
+forces its way through, the snow dissolves, and falls upon us as a
+cool and refreshing rain. Rain cools the air around us and the ground,
+because it comes from cooler regions of the air above.
+
+Now it happens that not only the summits, but extensive portions of
+the upper declivities of the Alps, rise into the region of perpetual
+winter. Of course, ice congeals continually there, and the snow which
+forms falls to the ground as snow, and accumulates in vast and
+permanent stores. The summit of Mount Blanc is covered with a bed of
+snow of enormous thickness, which is almost as much a permanent
+geological stratum of the mountain as the granite which lies beneath
+it.
+
+Of course, during the winter months, the whole country of the Alps,
+valley as well as hill, is covered with snow. In the spring the snow
+melts in the valleys and plains, and higher up it becomes damp and
+heavy with partial melting, and slides down the declivities in vast
+avalanches, which sometimes are of such enormous magnitude, and
+descend with such resistless force, as to bring down earth, rocks, and
+even the trees of the forest in their train. On the higher
+declivities, however, and over all the rounded summits, the snow still
+clings to its place, yielding but very little to the feeble beams of
+the sun, even in July.
+
+There are vast ravines and valleys among the higher Alps where the
+snow accumulates, being driven into them by winds and storms in the
+winter, and sliding into them, in great avalanches, in the spring.
+These vast depositories of snow become changed into ice below the
+surface; for at the surface there is a continual melting, and the
+water, flowing down through the mass, freezes below. Thus there are
+valleys, or rather ravines, some of them two or three miles wide and
+ten or fifteen miles long, filled with ice, transparent, solid, and
+blue, hundreds of feet in depth. They are called _glaciers_. And what
+is most astonishing in respect to these icy accumulations is that,
+though the ice is perfectly compact and solid, the whole mass is found
+to be continually in a state of slow motion down the valley in which
+it lies, at the rate of about a foot in twenty-four hours. By standing
+upon the surface and listening attentively, we hear, from time to
+time, a grinding sound. The rocks which lie along the sides are
+pulverized, and are continually moving against each other and falling;
+and then, besides, which is a more direct and positive proof still of
+the motion of the mass, a mark may be set up upon the ice, as has been
+often done, and marks corresponding to it made upon the solid rocks on
+each side of the valley, and by this means the fact of the motion, and
+the exact rate of it, may be fully ascertained.
+
+Thus these valleys are really and literally rivers of ice, rising
+among the summits of the mountains, and flowing, slowly it is true,
+but with a continuous and certain current, to a sort of mouth in some
+great and open valley below. Here the streams which have flowed over
+the surface above, and descended into the mass through countless
+crevices and chasms, into which the traveler looks down with terror,
+concentrate and issue from under the ice in a turbid torrent, which
+comes out from a vast archway made by the falling in of masses which
+the water has undermined. This lower end of the glacier sometimes
+presents a perpendicular wall hundreds of feet in height; sometimes it
+crowds down into the fertile valley, advancing in some unusually cold
+summer into the cultivated country, where, as it slowly moves on, it
+plows up the ground, carries away the orchards and fields, and even
+drives the inhabitants from the villages which it threatens. If the
+next summer proves warm, the terrible monster slowly draws back its
+frigid head, and the inhabitants return to the ground it reluctantly
+evacuates, and attempt to repair the damage it has done.
+
+The Alps lie between France and Italy, and the great valleys and the
+ranges of mountain land lie in such a direction that they must be
+_crossed_ in order to pass from one country to the other. These ranges
+are, however, not regular. They are traversed by innumerable chasms,
+fissures, and ravines; in some places they rise in vast rounded
+summits and swells, covered with fields of spotless snow; in others
+they tower in lofty, needle-like peaks, which even the chamois can
+not scale, and where scarcely a flake of snow can find a place of
+rest. Around and among these peaks and summits, and through these
+frightful defiles and chasms, the roads twist and turn, in a zigzag
+and constantly ascending course, creeping along the most frightful
+precipices, sometimes beneath them and sometimes on the brink,
+penetrating the darkest and gloomiest defiles, skirting the most
+impetuous and foaming torrents, and at last, perhaps, emerging upon
+the surface of a glacier, to be lost in interminable fields of ice and
+snow, where countless brooks run in glassy channels, and crevasses
+yawn, ready to take advantage of any slip which may enable them to
+take down the traveler into their bottomless abysses.
+
+And yet, notwithstanding the awful desolation which reigns in the
+upper regions of the Alps, the lower valleys, through which the
+streams finally meander out into the open plains, and by which the
+traveler gains access to the sublimer scenes of the upper mountains,
+are inexpressibly verdant and beautiful. They are fertilized by the
+deposits of continual inundations in the early spring, and the sun
+beats down into them with a genial warmth in summer, which brings out
+millions of flowers, of the most beautiful forms and colors, and
+ripens rapidly the broadest and richest fields of grain. Cottages, of
+every picturesque and beautiful form, tenanted by the cultivators, the
+shepherds and the herdsmen, crown every little swell in the bottom of
+the valley, and cling to the declivities of the mountains which rise
+on either hand. Above them eternal forests of firs and pines wave,
+feathering over the steepest and most rocky slopes with their somber
+foliage. Still higher, gray precipices rise and spires and pinnacles,
+far grander and more picturesque, if not so symmetrically formed, than
+those constructed by man. Between these there is seen, here and there,
+in the background, vast towering masses of white and dazzling snow,
+which crown the summits of the loftier mountains beyond.
+
+Hannibal's determination to carry an army into Italy by way of the
+Alps, instead of transporting them by galleys over the sea, has always
+been regarded as one of the greatest undertakings of ancient times. He
+hesitated for some time whether he should go down the Rhone, and meet
+and give battle to Scipio, or whether he should leave the Roman army
+to its course, and proceed himself directly toward the Alps and
+Italy. The officers and soldiers of the army, who had now learned
+something of their destination and of their leader's plans, wanted to
+go and meet the Romans. They dreaded the Alps. They were willing to
+encounter a military foe, however formidable, for this was a danger
+that they were accustomed to and could understand; but their
+imaginations were appalled at the novel and awful images they formed
+of falling down precipices of ragged rocks, or of gradually freezing,
+and being buried half alive, during the process, in eternal snows.
+
+Hannibal, when he found that his soldiers were afraid to proceed,
+called the leading portions of his army together, and made them an
+address. He remonstrated with them for yielding now to unworthy fears,
+after having successfully met and triumphed over such dangers as they
+had already incurred. "You have surmounted the Pyrenees," said he,
+"you have crossed the Rhone. You are now actually in sight of the
+Alps, which are the very gates of access to the country of the enemy.
+What do you conceive the Alps to be? They are nothing but high
+mountains, after all. Suppose they are higher than the Pyrenees, they
+do not reach to the skies; and, since they do not, they can not be
+insurmountable. They _are_ surmounted, in fact, every day; they are
+even inhabited and cultivated, and travelers continually pass over
+them to and fro. And what a single man can do, an army can do, for an
+army is only a large number of single men. In fact, to a soldier, who
+has nothing to carry with him but the implements of war, no way can be
+too difficult to be surmounted by courage and energy."
+
+After finishing his speech, Hannibal, finding his men reanimated and
+encouraged by what he had said, ordered them to go to their tents and
+refresh themselves, and prepare to march on the following day. They
+made no further opposition to going on. Hannibal did not, however,
+proceed at once directly toward the Alps. He did not know what the
+plans of Scipio might be, who, it will be recollected, was below him,
+on the Rhone, with the Roman army. He did not wish to waste his time
+and his strength in a contest with Scipio in Gaul, but to press on and
+get across the Alps into Italy as soon as possible. And so, fearing
+lest Scipio should strike across the country, and intercept him if he
+should attempt to go by the most direct route, he determined to move
+northwardly, up the River Rhone, till he should get well into the
+interior, with a view of reaching the Alps ultimately by a more
+circuitous journey.
+
+It was, in fact, the plan of Scipio to come up with Hannibal and
+attack him as soon as possible; and, accordingly, as soon as his
+horsemen, or, rather, those who were left alive after the battle had
+returned and informed him that Hannibal and his army were near, he put
+his camp in motion and moved rapidly up the river. He arrived at the
+place where the Carthaginians had crossed a few days after they had
+gone. The spot was in a terrible state of ruin and confusion. The
+grass and herbage were trampled down for the circuit of a mile, and
+all over the space were spots of black and smouldering remains, where
+the camp-fires had been kindled. The tops and branches of trees lay
+every where around, their leaves withering in the sun, and the groves
+and forests were encumbered with limbs, and rejected trunks, and trees
+felled and left where they lay. The shore was lined far down the
+stream with ruins of boats and rafts, with weapons which had been lost
+or abandoned, and with the bodies of those who had been drowned in the
+passage, or killed in the contest on the shore. These and numerous
+other vestiges remained but the army was gone.
+
+There were, however, upon the ground groups of natives and other
+visitors, who had come to look at the spot now destined to become so
+memorable in history. From these men Scipio learned when and where
+Hannibal had gone. He decided that it was useless to attempt to pursue
+him. He was greatly perplexed to know what to do. In the casting of
+lots, Spain had fallen to him, but now that the great enemy whom he
+had come forth to meet had left Spain altogether, his only hope of
+intercepting his progress was to sail back into Italy, and meet him as
+he came down from the Alps into the great valley of the Po. Still, as
+Spain had been assigned to him as his province, he could not well
+entirely abandon it. He accordingly sent forward the largest part of
+his army into Spain, to attack the forces that Hannibal had left
+there, while he himself, with a smaller force, went down to the
+sea-shore and sailed back to Italy again. He expected to find Roman
+forces in the valley of the Po, with which he hoped to be strong
+enough to meet Hannibal as he descended from the mountains, if he
+should succeed in effecting a passage over them.
+
+In the mean time Hannibal went on, drawing nearer and nearer to the
+ranges of snowy summits which his soldiers had seen for many days in
+their eastern horizon. These ranges were very resplendent and grand
+when the sun went down in the west, for then it shone directly upon
+them. As the army approached nearer and nearer to them, they gradually
+withdrew from sight and disappeared, being concealed by intervening
+summits less lofty, but nearer. As the soldiers went on, however, and
+began to penetrate the valleys, and draw near to the awful chasms and
+precipices among the mountains, and saw the turbid torrents descending
+from them, their fears revived. It was, however, now too late to
+retreat. They pressed forward, ascending continually, till their road
+grew extremely precipitous and insecure, threading its way through
+almost impassable defiles, with rugged cliffs overhanging them, and
+snowy summits towering all around.
+
+At last they came to a narrow defile through which they must
+necessarily pass, but which was guarded by large bodies of armed men
+assembled on the rocks and precipices above, ready to hurl stones and
+weapons of every kind upon them if they should attempt to pass
+through. The army halted. Hannibal ordered them to encamp where they
+were, until he could consider what to do. In the course of the day he
+learned that the mountaineers did not remain at their elevated posts
+during the night, on account of the intense cold and exposure,
+knowing, too, that it would be impossible for an army to traverse such
+a pass as they were attempting to guard without daylight to guide
+them, for the road, or rather pathway, which passes through these
+defiles, follows generally the course of a mountain torrent, which
+flows through a succession of frightful ravines and chasms, and often
+passes along on a shelf or projection of the rock, hundreds and
+sometimes thousands of feet from the bed of the stream, which foams
+and roars far below. There could, of course, be no hope of passing
+safely by such a route without the light of day.
+
+The mountaineers, therefore, knowing that it was not necessary to
+guard the pass at night--its own terrible danger being then a
+sufficient protection--were accustomed to disperse in the evening, and
+descend to regions where they could find shelter and repose, and to
+return and renew their watch in the morning. When Hannibal learned
+this, he determined to anticipate them in getting up upon the rocks
+the next day, and, in order to prevent their entertaining any
+suspicion of his design, he pretended to be making all the
+arrangements for encamping for the night on the ground he had taken.
+He accordingly pitched more tents, and built, toward evening, a great
+many fires, and he began some preparations indicating that it was his
+intention the next day to force his way through the pass. He moved
+forward a strong detachment up to a point near the entrance to the
+pass, and put them in a fortified position there, as if to have them
+all ready to advance when the proper time should arrive on the
+following day.
+
+The mountaineers, seeing all these preparations going on, looked
+forward to a conflict on the morrow, and, during the night, left their
+positions as usual, to descend to places of shelter. The next morning,
+however, when they began, at an early hour, to ascend to them again,
+they were astonished to find all the lofty rocks, and cliffs, and
+shelving projections which overhung the pass, covered with
+Carthaginians. Hannibal had aroused a strong body of his men at the
+earliest dawn, and led them up, by steep climbing, to the places which
+the mountaineers had left, so as to be there before them. The
+mountaineers paused, astonished, at this spectacle, and their
+disappointment and rage were much increased on looking down into the
+valley below, and seeing there the remainder of the Carthaginian army
+quietly moving through the pass in a long train, safe apparently from
+any molestation, since friends, and not enemies, were now in
+possession of the cliffs above.
+
+The mountaineers could not restrain their feelings of vexation and
+anger, but immediately rushed down the declivities which they had in
+part ascended, and attacked the army in the defile. An awful scene of
+struggle and confusion ensued. Some were killed by weapons or by rocks
+rolled down upon them. Others, contending together, and struggling
+desperately in places of very narrow foothold, tumbled headlong down
+the rugged rocks into the torrent below; and horses, laden with
+baggage and stores, became frightened and unmanageable, and crowded
+each other over the most frightful precipices. Hannibal, who was
+above, on the higher rocks, looked down upon this scene for a time
+with the greatest anxiety and terror. He did not dare to descend
+himself and mingle in the affray, for fear of increasing the
+confusion. He soon found, however, that it was absolutely necessary
+for him to interpose, and he came down as rapidly as possible, his
+detachment with him. They descended by oblique and zigzag paths,
+wherever they could get footing among the rocks, and attacked the
+mountaineers with great fury. The result was, as he had feared, a
+great increase at first of the confusion and the slaughter. The horses
+were more and more terrified by the fresh energy of the combat, and by
+the resounding of louder shouts and cries, which were made doubly
+terrific by the echoes and reverberations of the mountains. They
+crowded against each other, and fell, horses and men together, in
+masses, over the cliffs to the rugged rocks below, where they lay in
+confusion, some dead, and others dying, writhing helplessly in agony,
+or vainly endeavoring to crawl away.
+
+The mountaineers were, however, conquered and driven away at last, and
+the pass was left clear. The Carthaginian column was restored to
+order. The horses that had not fallen were calmed and quieted. The
+baggage which had been thrown down was gathered up, and the wounded
+men were placed on litters, rudely constructed on the spot, that they
+might be borne on to a place of safety. In a short time all were ready
+to move on, and the march was accordingly recommenced. There was no
+further difficulty. The column advanced in a quiet and orderly manner
+until they had passed the defile. At the extremity of it they came to
+a spacious fort belonging to the natives. Hannibal took possession of
+this fort, and paused for a little time there to rest and refresh his
+men.
+
+One of the greatest difficulties encountered by a general in
+conducting an army through difficult and dangerous roads, is that of
+providing food for them. An army can transport its own food only a
+very little way. Men traveling over smooth roads can only carry
+provisions for a few days, and where the roads are as difficult and
+dangerous as the passes of the Alps, they can scarcely carry any. The
+commander must, accordingly, find subsistence in the country through
+which he is marching. Hannibal had, therefore, now not only to look
+out for the safety of his men, but their food was exhausted, and he
+must take immediate measures to secure a supply.
+
+The lower slopes of lofty mountains afford usually abundant sustenance
+for flocks and herds. The showers which are continually falling there,
+and the moisture which comes down the sides of the mountains through
+the ground keep the turf perpetually green, and sheep and cattle love
+to pasture upon it; they climb to great heights, finding the herbage
+finer and sweeter the higher they go. Thus the inhabitants of mountain
+ranges are almost always shepherds and herdsmen. Grain can be raised
+in the valleys below, but the slopes of the mountains, though they
+produce grass to perfection, are too steep to be tilled.
+
+As soon as Hannibal had got established in the fort, he sent around
+small bodies of men to seize and drive in all the cattle and sheep
+that they could find. These men were, of course, armed, in order that
+they might be prepared to meet any resistance which they might
+encounter. The mountaineers, however, did not attempt to resist them.
+They felt that they were conquered, and they were accordingly
+disheartened and discouraged. The only mode of saving their cattle
+which was left to them, was to drive them as fast as they could into
+concealed and inaccessible places. They attempted to do this, and
+while Hannibal's parties were ranging up the valleys all around them,
+examining every field, and barn, and sheepfold that they could find,
+the wretched and despairing inhabitants were flying in all directions,
+driving the cows and sheep, on which their whole hope of subsistence
+depended, into the fastnesses of the mountains. They urged them into
+wild thickets, and dark ravines and chasms, and over dangerous
+glaciers, and up the steepest ascents, wherever there was the readiest
+prospect of getting them out of the plunderer's way.
+
+These attempts, however, to save their little property were but very
+partially successful. Hannibal's marauding parties kept coming home,
+one after another, with droves of sheep and cattle before them, some
+larger and some smaller, but making up a vast amount in all. Hannibal
+subsisted his men three days on the food thus procured for them. It
+requires an enormous store to feed ninety or a hundred thousand men,
+even for three days; besides, in all such cases as this, an army
+always waste and destroy far more than they really consume.
+
+During these three days the army was not stationary, but was moving
+slowly on. The way, though still difficult and dangerous, was at least
+open before them, as there was now no enemy to dispute their passage.
+So they went on, rioting upon the abundant supplies they had obtained,
+and rejoicing in the double victory they were gaining, over the
+hostility of the people and the physical dangers and difficulties of
+the way. The poor mountaineers returned to their cabins ruined and
+desolate, for mountaineers who have lost their cows and their sheep
+have lost their all.
+
+The Alps are not all in Switzerland. Some of the most celebrated peaks
+and ranges are in a neighboring state called Savoy. The whole country
+is, in fact, divided into small states, called _cantons_ at the
+present day, and similar political divisions seem to have existed in
+the time of the Romans. In his march onward from the pass which has
+been already described, Hannibal, accordingly, soon approached the
+confines of another canton. As he was advancing slowly into it, with
+the long train of his army winding up with him through the valleys, he
+was met at the borders of this new state by an embassage sent from the
+government of it. They brought with them fresh stores of provisions,
+and a number of guides. They said that they had heard of the terrible
+destruction which had come upon the other canton in consequence of
+their effort to oppose his progress, and that they had no intention of
+renewing so vain an attempt. They came, therefore, they said, to offer
+Hannibal their friendship and their aid. They had brought guides to
+show the army the best way over the mountains, and a present of
+provisions; and to prove the sincerity of their professions they
+offered Hannibal hostages. These hostages were young men and boys, the
+sons of the principal inhabitants, whom they offered to deliver into
+Hannibal's power, to be kept by him until he should see that they were
+faithful and true in doing what they offered.
+
+[Illustration: HANNIBAL ON THE ALPS.]
+
+Hannibal was so accustomed to stratagem and treachery himself, that he
+was at first very much at a loss to decide whether these offers and
+professions were honest and sincere, or whether they were only made to
+put him off his guard. He thought it possible that it was their design
+to induce him to place himself under their direction, so that they
+might lead him into some dangerous defile or labyrinth of rocks, from
+which he could not extricate himself, and where they could attack and
+destroy him. He, however, decided to return them a favorable answer,
+but to watch them very carefully, and to proceed under their guidance
+with the utmost caution and care. He accepted of the provisions they
+offered, and took the hostages. These last he delivered into the
+custody of a body of his soldiers and they marched on with the rest of
+the army. Then, directing the new guides to lead the way, the army
+moved on after them. The elephants went first, with a moderate force
+for their protection preceding and accompanying them. Then came long
+trains of horses and mules, loaded with military stores and baggage,
+and finally the foot soldiers followed, marching irregularly in a long
+column. The whole train must have extended many miles, and must have
+appeared from any of the eminences around like an enormous serpent,
+winding its way tortuously through the wild and desolate valleys.
+
+Hannibal was right in his suspicions. The embassage was a stratagem.
+The men who sent it had laid an ambuscade in a very narrow pass,
+concealing their forces in thickets and in chasms, and in nooks and
+corners among the rugged rocks, and when the guides had led the army
+well into the danger, a sudden signal was given, and these concealed
+enemies rushed down upon them in great numbers, breaking into their
+ranks, and renewing the scene of terrible uproar, tumult, and
+destruction which had been witnessed in the other defile. One would
+have thought that the elephants, being so unwieldy and so helpless in
+such a scene, would have been the first objects of attack. But it was
+not so. The mountaineers were afraid of them. They had never seen
+such animals before, and they felt for them a mysterious awe, not
+knowing what terrible powers such enormous beasts might be expected to
+wield. They kept away from them, therefore, and from the horsemen, and
+poured down upon the head of the column of foot soldiers which
+followed in the rear.
+
+They were quite successful at the first onset. They broke through the
+head of the column, and drove the rest back. The horses and elephants,
+in the mean time, moved forward, bearing the baggage with them, so
+that the two portions of the army were soon entirely separated.
+Hannibal was behind, with the soldiers. The mountaineers made good
+their position, and, as night came on, the contest ceased, for in such
+wilds as these no one can move at all, except with the light of day.
+The mountaineers, however, remained in their place, dividing the army,
+and Hannibal continued, during the night, in a state of great suspense
+and anxiety, with the elephants and the baggage separated from him and
+apparently at the mercy of the enemy.
+
+During the night he made vigorous preparations for attacking the
+mountaineers the next day. As soon as the morning light appeared, he
+made the attack, and he succeeded in driving the enemy away, so far,
+at least, as to allow him to get his army together again. He then
+began once more to move on. The mountaineers, however, hovered about
+his way, and did all they could to molest and embarrass his march.
+They concealed themselves in ambuscades, and attacked the
+Carthaginians as they passed. They rolled stones down upon them, or
+discharged spears and arrows from eminences above; and if any of
+Hannibal's army became, from any reason, detached from the rest, they
+would cut off their retreat, and then take them prisoners or destroy
+them. Thus they gave Hannibal a great deal of trouble. They harassed
+his march continually, without presenting at any point a force which
+he could meet and encounter in battle. Of course, Hannibal could no
+longer trust to his guides, and he was obliged to make his way as he
+best could, sometimes right, but often wrong, and exposed to a
+thousand difficulties and dangers, which those acquainted with the
+country might have easily avoided. All this time the mountaineers were
+continually attacking him, in bands like those of robbers, sometimes
+in the van, and sometimes in the rear, wherever the nature of the
+ground or the circumstances of the marching army afforded them an
+opportunity.
+
+Hannibal persevered, however, through all these discouragements,
+protecting his men as far as it was in his power, but pressing
+earnestly on, until in nine days he reached the summit. By the summit,
+however, is not meant the summit of the mountains, but the summit of
+the _pass_, that is, the highest point which it was necessary for him
+to attain in going over. In all mountain ranges there are depressions,
+which are in Switzerland called _necks_,[A] and the pathways and roads
+over the ranges lie always in these. In America, such a depression in
+a ridge of land, if well marked and decided, is called a _notch_.
+Hannibal attained the highest point of the _col_, by which he was to
+pass over, in nine days after the great battle. There were, however,
+of course, lofty peaks and summits towering still far above him.
+
+[Footnote A: The French word is _col_. Thus, there is the Col de
+Balme, the Col de Geant, &c.]
+
+He encamped here two days to rest and refresh his men. The enemy no
+longer molested him. In fact, parties were continually coming into the
+camp, of men and horses, that had got lost, or had been left in the
+valleys below. They came in slowly, some wounded, others exhausted
+and spent by fatigue and exposure. In some cases horses came in alone.
+They were horses that had slipped or stumbled, and fallen among the
+rocks, or had sunk down exhausted by their toil, and had thus been
+left behind, and afterward, recovering their strength, had followed
+on, led by a strange instinct to keep to the tracks which their
+companions had made, and thus they rejoined the camp at last in
+safety.
+
+In fact, one great reason for Hannibal's delay at his encampment on or
+near the summit of the pass, was to afford time for all the missing
+men to join the army again, that had the power to do so. Had it not
+been for this necessity, he would doubtless have descended some
+distance, at least, to a more warm and sheltered position before
+seeking repose. A more gloomy and desolate resting-place than the
+summit of an Alpine pass can scarcely be found. The bare and barren
+rocks are entirely destitute of vegetation, and they have lost,
+besides, the sublime and picturesque forms which they assume further
+below. They spread in vast, naked fields in every direction around the
+spectator, rising in gentle ascents, bleak and dreary, the surface
+whitened as if bleached by the perpetual rains. Storms are, in fact,
+almost perpetual in these elevated regions. The vast cloud which, to
+the eye of the shepherd in the valley below, seems only a fleecy cap,
+resting serenely upon the summit, or slowly floating along the sides,
+is really a driving mist, or cold and stormy rain, howling dismally
+over interminable fields of broken rocks, as if angry that it can make
+nothing grow upon them, with all its watering. Thus there are seldom
+distant views to be obtained, and every thing near presents a scene of
+simple dreariness and desolation.
+
+Hannibal's soldiers thus found themselves in the midst of a dismal
+scene in their lofty encampment. There is one special source of
+danger, too, in such places as this, which the lower portions of the
+mountains are less exposed to, and that is the entire obliteration of
+the pathway by falls of snow. It seems almost absurd to speak of
+pathway in such regions, where there is no turf to be worn, and the
+boundless fields of rocks, ragged and hard, will take no trace of
+footsteps. There are, however, generally some faint traces of way, and
+where these fail entirely the track is sometimes indicated by small
+piles of stones, placed at intervals along the line of route. An
+unpracticed eye would scarcely distinguish these little landmarks, in
+many cases, from accidental heaps of stones which lie every where
+around. They, however, render a very essential service to the guides
+and to the mountaineers, who have been accustomed to conduct their
+steps by similar aids in other portions of the mountains.
+
+But when snow begins to fall, all these and every other possible means
+of distinguishing the way are soon entirely obliterated. The whole
+surface of the ground, or, rather, of the rocks, is covered, and all
+landmarks disappear. The little monuments become nothing but slight
+inequalities in the surface of the snow, undistinguishable from a
+thousand others. The air is thick and murky, and shuts off alike all
+distant prospects, and the shape and conformation of the land that is
+near; the bewildered traveler has not even the stars to guide him, as
+there is nothing but dark, falling flakes, descending from an
+impenetrable canopy of stormy clouds, to be seen in the sky.
+
+Hannibal encountered a snow storm while on the summit of the pass, and
+his army were very much terrified by it. It was now November. The army
+had met with so many detentions and delays that their journey had been
+protracted to a late period. It would be unsafe to attempt to wait
+till this snow should melt again. As soon, therefore, as the storm
+ended, and the clouds cleared away, so as to allow the men to see the
+general features of the country around, the camp was broken up and the
+army put in motion. The soldiers marched through the snow with great
+anxiety and fear. Men went before to explore the way, and to guide the
+rest by flags and banners which they bore. Those who went first made
+paths, of course, for those who followed behind, as the snow was
+trampled down by their footsteps. Notwithstanding these aids, however,
+the army moved on very laboriously and with much fear.
+
+At length, however, after descending a short distance, Hannibal,
+perceiving that they must soon come in sight of the Italian valleys
+and plains which lay beyond the Alps, went forward among the pioneers,
+who had charge of the banners by which the movements of the army were
+directed, and, as soon as the open country began to come into view, he
+selected a spot where the widest prospect was presented, and halted
+his army there to let them take a view of the beautiful country which
+now lay before them. The Alps are very precipitous on the Italian
+side. The descent is very sudden, from the cold and icy summits, to a
+broad expanse of the most luxuriant and sunny plains. Upon these
+plains, which were spread out in a most enchanting landscape at their
+feet, Hannibal and his soldiers now looked down with exultation and
+delight. Beautiful lakes, studded with still more beautiful islands,
+reflected the beams of the sun. An endless succession of fields, in
+sober autumnal colors, with the cottages of the laborers and stacks of
+grain scattered here and there upon them, and rivers meandering
+through verdant meadows, gave variety and enchantment to the view.
+
+Hannibal made an address to his officers and men, congratulating them
+on having arrived, at last, so near to a successful termination of
+their toils. "The difficulties of the way," he said, "are at last
+surmounted, and these mighty barriers that we have scaled are the
+walls, not only of Italy, but of Rome itself. Since we have passed the
+Alps, the Romans will have no protection against us remaining. It is
+only one battle, when we get down upon the plains, or at most two, and
+the great city itself will be entirely at our disposal."
+
+The whole army were much animated and encouraged, both by the
+prospect which presented itself to their view, and by the words of
+Hannibal. They prepared for the descent, anticipating little
+difficulty; but they found, on recommencing their march, that their
+troubles were by no means over. The mountains are far steeper on the
+Italian side than on the other, and it was extremely difficult to find
+paths by which the elephants and the horses, and even the men, could
+safely descend. They moved on for some time with great labor and
+fatigue, until, at length, Hannibal, looking on before, found that the
+head of the column had stopped, and the whole train behind was soon
+jammed together, the ranks halting along the way in succession, as
+they found their path blocked up by the halting of those before them.
+
+Hannibal sent forward to ascertain the cause of the difficulty, and
+found that the van of the army had reached a precipice down which it
+was impossible to descend. It was necessary to make a circuit in hopes
+of finding some practicable way of getting down. The guides and
+pioneers went on, leading the army after them, and soon got upon a
+glacier which lay in their way. There was fresh snow upon the surface,
+covering the ice and concealing the _crevasses_, as they are
+termed--that is, the great cracks and fissures which extend in the
+glaciers down through the body of the ice. The army moved on,
+trampling down the new snow, and making at first a good roadway by
+their footsteps; but very soon the old ice and snow began to be
+trampled _up_ by the hoofs of the horses and the heavy tread of such
+vast multitudes of armed men. It softened to a great depth, and made
+the work of toiling through it an enormous labor. Besides, the surface
+of the ice and snow sloped steeply, and the men and beasts were
+continually falling or sliding down, and getting swallowed up in
+avalanches which their own weight set in motion, or in concealed
+crevasses where they sank to rise no more.
+
+They, however, made some progress, though slowly, and with great
+danger. They at last got below the region of the snow, but here they
+encountered new difficulties in the abruptness and ruggedness of the
+rocks, and in the zigzag and tortuous direction of the way. At last
+they came to a spot where their further progress appeared to be
+entirely cut off by a large mass of rock, which it seemed necessary to
+remove in order to widen the passage sufficiently to allow them to go
+on. The Roman historian says that Hannibal removed these rocks by
+building great fires upon them, and then pouring on vinegar, which
+opened seams and fissures in them, by means of which the rocks could
+be split and pried to pieces with wedges and crowbars. On reading this
+account, the mind naturally pauses to consider the probability of its
+being true. As they had no gunpowder in those days, they were
+compelled to resort to some such method as the one above described for
+removing rocks. There are some species of rock which are easily
+cracked and broken by the action of fire. Others resist it. There
+seems, however, to be no reason obvious why vinegar should materially
+assist in the operation. Besides, we can not suppose that Hannibal
+could have had, at such a time and place, any very large supply of
+vinegar on hand. On the whole, it is probable that, if any such
+operation was performed at all, it was on a very small scale, and the
+results must have been very insignificant at the time, though the fact
+has since been greatly celebrated in history.
+
+In coming over the snow, and in descending the rocks immediately
+below, the army, and especially the animals connected with it,
+suffered a great deal from hunger. It was difficult to procure forage
+for them of any kind. At length, however, as they continued their
+descent, they came first into the region of forests, and soon after to
+slopes of grassy fields descending into warm and fertile valleys. Here
+the animals were allowed to stop and rest, and renew their strength by
+abundance of food. The men rejoiced that their toils and dangers were
+over, and, descending easily the remainder of the way, they encamped
+at last safely on the plains of Italy.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+HANNIBAL IN THE NORTH OF ITALY.
+
+B.C. 217
+
+Miserable condition of the army.--Its great losses.--Feelings of
+Hannibal's soldiers.--Plans of Scipio.--The armies approach each
+other.--Feelings of Hannibal and Scipio.--Address of Scipio to the
+Roman army.--Hannibal's ingenious method of introducing his
+speech.--Curious combat.--Effect on the army.--Hannibal's speech
+to his army.--His words of encouragement.--Hannibal's promises.--His
+real feelings.--Hannibal's energy and decision.--His steady
+resolution.--Hannibal's unfaltering courage.--Movements of
+Scipio.--Scipio's bridge over the Po.--The army crosses the
+river.--Hannibal's warlike operations.--He concentrates his
+army.--Hannibal addresses his soldiers.--He promises them
+lands.--Ratifying a promise.--Omens.--The battle.--The Romans
+thrown into confusion.--Scipio wounded.--The Romans driven back
+across the river.--The Romans destroy the bridge over the Ticinus.
+
+
+When Hannibal's army found themselves on the plains of Italy, and sat
+down quietly to repose, they felt the effects of their fatigues and
+exposures far more sensibly than they had done under the excitement
+which they naturally felt while actually upon the mountains. They
+were, in fact, in a miserable condition. Hannibal told a Roman officer
+whom he afterward took prisoner that more than thirty thousand
+perished on the way in crossing the mountains; some in the battles
+which were fought in the passes, and a greater number still, probably,
+from exposure to fatigue and cold, and from falls among the rocks and
+glaciers, and diseases produced by destitution and misery. The remnant
+of the army which was left on reaching the plain were emaciated,
+sickly, ragged, and spiritless; far more inclined to lie down and die,
+than to go on and undertake the conquest of Italy and Rome.
+
+After some days, however, they began to recruit. Although they had
+been half starved among the mountains, they had now plenty of
+wholesome food. They repaired their tattered garments and their broken
+weapons. They talked with one another about the terrific scenes
+through which they had been passing, and the dangers which they had
+surmounted, and thus, gradually strengthening their impressions of the
+greatness of the exploits they had performed, they began soon to
+awaken in each other's breasts an ambition to go on and undertake the
+accomplishment of other deeds of daring and glory.
+
+We left Scipio with his army at the mouth of the Rhone, about to set
+sail for Italy with a part of his force, while the rest of it was sent
+on toward Spain. Scipio sailed along the coast by Genoa, and thence to
+Pisa, where he landed. He stopped a little while to recruit his
+soldiers after the voyage, and in the mean time sent orders to all the
+Roman forces then in the north of Italy to join his standard. He hoped
+in this way to collect a force strong enough to encounter Hannibal.
+These arrangements being made, he marched to the northward as rapidly
+as possible. He knew in what condition Hannibal's army had descended
+from the Alps, and wished to attack them before they should have time
+to recover from the effects of their privations and sufferings. He
+reached the Po before he saw any thing of Hannibal.
+
+Hannibal, in the mean time, was not idle. As soon as his men were in a
+condition to move, he began to act upon the tribes that he found at
+the foot of the mountains, offering his friendship to some, and
+attacking others. He thus conquered those who attempted to resist him,
+moving, all the time, gradually southward toward the Po. That river
+has numerous branches, and among them is one named the Ticinus. It was
+on the banks of this river that the two armies at last came together.
+
+Both generals must have felt some degree of solicitude in respect to
+the result of the contest which was about to take place. Scipio knew
+very well Hannibal's terrible efficiency as a warrior, and he was
+himself a general of great distinction, and a _Roman_, so that
+Hannibal had no reason to anticipate a very easy victory. Whatever
+doubts or fears, however, general officers may feel on the eve of an
+engagement, it is always considered very necessary to conceal them
+entirely from the men, and to animate and encourage the troops with a
+most undoubting confidence that they will gain the victory.
+
+Both Hannibal and Scipio, accordingly, made addresses to their
+respective armies--at least so say the historians of those times--each
+one expressing to his followers the certainty that the other side
+would easily be beaten. The speech attributed to Scipio was somewhat
+as follows:
+
+"I wish to say a few words to you, soldiers, before we go into battle.
+It is, perhaps, scarcely necessary. It certainly would not be
+necessary if I had now under my command the same troops that I took
+with me to the mouth of the Rhone. They knew the Carthaginians there,
+and would not have feared them here. A body of our horsemen met and
+attacked a larger body of theirs, and defeated them. We then advanced
+with our whole force toward their encampment, in order to give them
+battle. They, however, abandoned the ground and retreated before we
+reached the spot, acknowledging, by their flight, their own fear and
+our superiority. If you had been with us there, and had witnessed
+these facts, there would have been no need that I should say any thing
+to convince you now how easily you are going to defeat this
+Carthaginian foe.
+
+"We have had a war with this same nation before. We conquered them
+then, both by land and sea; and when, finally, peace was made, we
+required them to pay us tribute, and we continued to exact it from
+them for twenty years. They are a conquered nation; and now this
+miserable army has forced its way insanely over the Alps, just to
+throw itself into our hands. They meet us reduced in numbers, and
+exhausted in resources and strength. More than half of their army
+perished in the mountains, and those that survive are weak,
+dispirited, ragged, and diseased. And yet they are compelled to meet
+us. If there was any chance for retreat, or any possible way for them
+to avoid the necessity of a battle, they would avail themselves of it.
+But there is not. They are hemmed in by the mountains, which are now,
+to them, an impassable wall, for they have not strength to scale them
+again. They are not real enemies; they are the mere remnants and
+shadows of enemies. They are wholly disheartened and discouraged,
+their strength and energy, both of soul and body, being spent and
+gone, through the cold, the hunger, and the squalid misery they have
+endured. Their joints are benumbed, their sinews stiffened, and their
+forms emaciated. Their armor is shattered and broken, their horses are
+lamed, and all their equipments worn out and ruined, so that really
+what most I fear is that the world will refuse us the glory of the
+victory, and say that it was the Alps that conquered Hannibal, and not
+the Roman army.
+
+"Easy as the victory is to be, however, we must remember that there is
+a great deal at stake in the contest. It is not merely for glory that
+we are now about to contend. If Hannibal conquers, he will march to
+Rome, and our wives, our children, and all that we hold dear will be
+at his mercy. Remember this, and go into the battle feeling that the
+fate of Rome itself is depending upon the result."
+
+An oration is attributed to Hannibal, too, on the occasion of this
+battle. He showed, however, his characteristic ingenuity and spirit of
+contrivance in the way in which he managed to attract strong attention
+to what he was going to say, by the manner in which he introduced it.
+He formed his army into a circle, as if to witness a spectacle. He
+then brought in to the center of this circle a number of prisoners
+that he had taken among the Alps--perhaps they were the hostages which
+had been delivered to him, as related in the preceding chapter.
+Whoever they were, however, whether hostages or captives taken in the
+battles which had been fought in the defiles, Hannibal had brought
+them with his army down into Italy, and now introducing them into the
+center of the circle which the army formed, he threw down before them
+such arms as they were accustomed to use in their native mountains,
+and asked them whether they would be willing to take those weapons and
+fight each other, on condition that each one who killed his antagonist
+should be restored to his liberty, and have a horse and armor given
+him, so that he could return home with honor. The barbarous monsters
+said readily that they would, and seized the arms with the greatest
+avidity. Two or three pairs of combatants were allowed to fight. One
+of each pair was killed, and the other set at liberty according to the
+promise of Hannibal. The combats excited the greatest interest, and
+awakened the strongest enthusiasm among the soldiers who witnessed
+them. When this effect had been sufficiently produced, the rest of the
+prisoners were sent away, and Hannibal addressed the vast ring of
+soldiery as follows:
+
+"I have intended, soldiers, in what you have now seen, not merely to
+amuse you, but to give you a picture of your own situation. You are
+hemmed in on the right and left by two seas, and you have not so much
+as a single ship upon either of them. Then there is the Po before you
+and the Alps behind. The Po is a deeper, and more rapid and turbulent
+river than the Rhone; and as for the Alps, it was with the utmost
+difficulty that you passed over them when you were in full strength
+and vigor; they are an insurmountable wall to you now. You are
+therefore shut in, like our prisoners, on every side, and have no hope
+of life and liberty but in battle and victory.
+
+"The victory, however, will not be difficult. I see, wherever I look
+among you, a spirit of determination and courage which I am sure will
+make you conquerors. The troops which you are going to contend against
+are mostly fresh recruits, that know nothing of the discipline of the
+camp, and can never successfully confront such war-worn veterans as
+you. You all know each other well, and me. I was, in fact, a pupil
+with you for many years, before I took the command. But Scipio's
+forces are strangers to one another and to him, and, consequently,
+have no common bond of sympathy; and as for Scipio himself, his very
+commission as a Roman general is only six months old.
+
+"Think, too, what a splendid and prosperous career victory will open
+before you. It will conduct you to Rome. It will make you masters of
+one of the most powerful and wealthiest cities in the world. Thus far
+you have fought your battles only for glory or for dominion; now, you
+will have something more substantial to reward your success. There
+will be great treasures to be divided among you if we conquer, but if
+we are defeated we are lost. Hemmed in as we are on every side, there
+is no place that we can reach by flight. There is, therefore, no such
+alternative as flight left to us. We _must conquer_."
+
+It is hardly probable that Hannibal could have really and honestly
+felt all the confidence that he expressed in his harangues to his
+soldiers. He must have had some fears. In fact, in all enterprises
+undertaken by man, the indications of success, and the hopes based
+upon them, will fluctuate from time to time, and cause his confidence
+in the result to ebb and flow, so that bright anticipations of success
+and triumph will alternate in his heart with feelings of
+discouragement and despondency. This effect is experienced by all; by
+the energetic and decided as well as by the timid and the faltering.
+The former, however, never allow these fluctuations of hope and fear
+to influence their action. They consider well the substantial grounds
+for expecting success before commencing their undertaking, and then go
+steadily forward, under all aspects of the sky--when it shines and
+when it rains--till they reach the end. The inefficient and undecided
+can act only under the stimulus of present hope. The end they aim at
+must be visible before them all the time. If for a moment it passes
+out of view, their motive is gone, and they can do no more, till, by
+some change in circumstances, it comes in sight again.
+
+Hannibal was energetic and decided. The time for him to consider
+whether he would encounter the hostility of the Roman empire, aroused
+to the highest possible degree, was when his army was drawn up upon
+the banks of the Iberus, before they crossed it. The Iberus was his
+Rubicon. That line once overstepped, there was to be no further
+faltering. The difficulties which arose from time to time to throw a
+cloud over his prospects, only seemed to stimulate him to fresh
+energy, and to awaken a new, though still a calm and steady
+resolution. It was so at the Pyrenees; it was so at the Rhone; it was
+so among the Alps, where the difficulties and dangers would have
+induced almost any other commander to have returned; and it was still
+so, now that he found himself shut in on every hand by the stern
+boundaries of Northern Italy, which he could not possibly hope again
+to pass, and the whole disposable force of the Roman empire,
+commanded, too, by one of _the consuls_, concentrated before him. The
+imminent danger produced no faltering, and apparently no fear.
+
+The armies were not yet in sight of each other. They were, in fact,
+yet on opposite sides of the River Po. The Roman commander concluded
+to march his troops across the river, and advance in search of
+Hannibal, who was still at some miles' distance. After considering the
+various means of crossing the stream, he decided finally on building a
+bridge.
+
+Military commanders generally throw some sort of a bridge across a
+stream of water lying in their way, if it is too deep to be easily
+forded, unless, indeed, it is so wide and rapid as to make the
+construction of the bridge difficult or impracticable. In this latter
+case they cross as well as they can by means of boats and rafts, and
+by swimming. The Po, though not a very large stream at this point, was
+too deep to be forded, and Scipio accordingly built a bridge. The
+soldiers cut down the trees which grew in the forests along the banks,
+and after trimming off the tops and branches, they rolled the trunks
+into the water. They placed these trunks side by side, with others,
+laid transversely and pinned down, upon the top. Thus they formed
+rafts, which they placed in a line across the stream, securing them
+well to each other and to the banks. This made the foundation for the
+bridge, and after this foundation was covered with other materials, so
+as to make the upper surface a convenient roadway, the army were
+conducted across it, and then a small detachment of soldiers were
+stationed at each extremity of it as a guard.
+
+Such a bridge as this answers a very good temporary purpose, and in
+still water, as, for example, over narrow lakes or very sluggish
+streams, where there is very little current, a floating structure of
+this kind is sometimes built for permanent service. Such bridges will
+not, however, stand on broad and rapid rivers liable to floods. The
+pressure of the water alone, in such cases, would very much endanger
+all the fastenings; and in cases where drift wood or ice is brought
+down by the stream, the floating masses, not being able to pass under
+the bridge, would accumulate above it, and would soon bear upon it
+with so enormous a pressure that nothing could withstand its force.
+The bridge would be broken away, and the whole accumulation--bridge,
+drift-wood, and ice--would be borne irresistibly down the stream
+together.
+
+Scipio's bridge, however, answered very well for his purpose. His army
+passed over it in safety. When Hannibal heard of this, he knew that
+the battle was at hand. Hannibal was himself at this time about five
+miles distant. While Scipio was at work upon the bridge, Hannibal was
+employed, mainly, as he had been all the time since his descent from
+the mountains, in the subjugation of the various petty nations and
+tribes north of the Po. Some of them were well disposed to join his
+standard. Others were allies of the Romans, and wished to remain so.
+He made treaties and sent help to the former, and dispatched
+detachments of troops to intimidate and subdue the latter. When,
+however, he learned that Scipio had crossed the river, he ordered all
+these detachments to come immediately in, and he began to prepare in
+earnest for the contest that was impending.
+
+He called together an assembly of his soldiers, and announced to them
+finally that the battle was now nigh. He renewed the words of
+encouragement that he had spoken before, and in addition to what he
+then said, he now promised the soldiers rewards in land in case they
+proved victorious. "I will give you each a farm," said he, "wherever
+you choose to have it, either in Africa, Italy, or Spain. If, instead
+of the land, any of you shall prefer to receive rather an equivalent
+in money, you shall have the reward in that form, and then you can
+return home and live with your friends, as before the war, under
+circumstances which will make you objects of envy to those who
+remained behind. If any of you would like to live in Carthage, I will
+have you made free citizens, so that you can live there in
+independence and honor."
+
+But what security would there be for the faithful fulfillment of these
+promises? In modern times such security is given by bonds, with
+pecuniary penalties, or by the deposit of titles to property in
+responsible hands. In ancient days they managed differently. The
+promiser bound himself by some solemn and formal mode of adjuration,
+accompanied, in important cases, with certain ceremonies, which were
+supposed to seal and confirm the obligation assumed. In this case
+Hannibal brought a lamb in the presence of the assembled army. He held
+it before them with his left hand, while with his right he grasped a
+heavy stone. He then called aloud upon the gods, imploring them to
+destroy him as he was about to slay the lamb, if he failed to perform
+faithfully and fully the pledges that he had made. He then struck the
+poor lamb a heavy blow with the stone. The animal fell dead at his
+feet, and Hannibal was thenceforth bound, in the opinion of the army,
+by a very solemn obligation indeed, to be faithful in fulfilling his
+word.
+
+The soldiers were greatly animated and excited by these promises, and
+were in haste to have the contest come on. The Roman soldiers, it
+seems, were in a different mood of mind. Some circumstances had
+occurred which they considered as bad omens, and they were very much
+dispirited and depressed by them. It is astonishing that men should
+ever allow their minds to be affected by such wholly accidental
+occurrences as these were. One of them was this: a wolf came into
+their camp, from one of the forests near, and after wounding several
+men, made his escape again. The other was more trifling still. A swarm
+of bees flew into the encampment, and lighted upon a tree just over
+Scipio's tent. This was considered, for some reason or other, a sign
+that some calamity was going to befall them, and the men were
+accordingly intimidated and disheartened. They consequently looked
+forward to the battle with uneasiness and anxiety, while the army of
+Hannibal anticipated it with eagerness and pleasure.
+
+The battle came on, at last, very suddenly, and at a moment when
+neither party were expecting it. A large detachment of both armies
+were advancing toward the position of the other, near the River
+Ticinus, to reconnoiter, when they met, and the battle began. Hannibal
+advanced with great impetuosity, and sent, at the same time, a
+detachment around to attack his enemy in the rear. The Romans soon
+began to fall into confusion; the horsemen and foot soldiers got
+entangled together; the men were trampled upon by the horses, and the
+horses were frightened by the men. In the midst of this scene, Scipio
+received a wound. A consul was a dignitary of very high consideration.
+He was, in fact, a sort of semi-king. The officers, and all the
+soldiers, so fast as they heard that the consul was wounded, were
+terrified and dismayed, and the Romans began to retreat. Scipio had a
+young son, named also Scipio, who was then about twenty years of age.
+He was fighting by the side of his father when he received his wound.
+He protected his father, got him into the center of a compact body of
+cavalry, and moved slowly off the ground, those in the rear facing
+toward the enemy and beating them back, as they pressed on in pursuit
+of them. In this way they reached their camp. Here they stopped for
+the night. They had fortified the place, and, as night was coming on,
+Hannibal thought it not prudent to press on and attack them there. He
+waited for the morning. Scipio, however, himself wounded and his army
+discouraged, thought it not prudent for him to wait till the morning.
+At midnight he put his whole force in motion on a retreat. He kept the
+camp-fires burning, and did every thing else in his power to prevent
+the Carthaginians observing any indications of his departure. His army
+marched secretly and silently till they reached the river. They
+recrossed it by the bridge they had built, and then, cutting away the
+fastenings by which the different rafts were held together, the
+structure was at once destroyed, and the materials of which it was
+composed floated away, a mere mass of ruins, down the stream. From
+the Ticinus they floated, we may imagine, into the Po, and thence down
+the Po into the Adriatic Sea, where they drifted about upon the waste
+of waters till they were at last, one after another, driven by storms
+upon the sandy shores.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+THE APENNINES.
+
+B.C. 217
+
+Hannibal pursues the Romans.--He takes some prisoners.--Revolt of
+some Gauls from the Romans.--Hannibal crosses the river.--Dismay of
+the Romans.--Sempronius recalled to Italy.--Sufferings of Scipio
+from his wound.--He is joined by Sempronius.--The Roman commanders
+disagree.--Skirmishes.--Sempronius eager for a battle.--Hannibal's
+stratagem.--Details of Hannibal's scheme.--The ambuscade.--Two
+thousand chosen men.--Hannibal's manner of choosing them.--Attack on
+the Roman camp.--Success of Hannibal's stratagem.--Sempronius crosses
+the river.--Impetuous attack of Hannibal.--Situation of the Roman
+army.--Terrible conflict.--Utter defeat of the Romans.--Scene after
+the battle.--Various battles of Hannibal.--Scarcity of food.--Valley
+of the Arno.--Crossing the Apennines.--Terrific storm.--Death of the
+elephants.--Hannibal's uneasiness.--He crosses the Apennines.--Perilous
+march.--Hannibal's sickness.
+
+
+As soon as Hannibal was apprised in the morning that Scipio and his
+forces had left their ground, he pressed on after them, very earnest
+to overtake them before they should reach the river. But he was too
+late. The main body of the Roman army had got over. There was,
+however, a detachment of a few hundred men, who had been left on
+Hannibal's side of the river to guard the bridge until all the army
+should have passed, and then to help in cutting it away. They had
+accomplished this before Hannibal's arrival, but had not had time to
+contrive any way to get across the river themselves. Hannibal took
+them all prisoners.
+
+The condition and prospects of both the Roman and Carthaginian cause
+were entirely changed by this battle, and the retreat of Scipio across
+the Po. All the nations of the north of Italy, who had been subjects
+or allies of the Romans, now turned to Hannibal. They sent embassies
+into his camp, offering him their friendship and alliance. In fact,
+there was a large body of Gauls in the Roman camp, who were fighting
+under Scipio at the battle of Ticinus, who deserted his standard
+immediately afterward, and came over in a mass to Hannibal. They made
+this revolt in the night, and, instead of stealing away secretly, they
+raised a prodigious tumult, killed the guards, filled the encampment
+with their shouts and outcries, and created for a time an awful scene
+of terror.
+
+Hannibal received them, but he was too sagacious to admit such a
+treacherous horde into his army. He treated them with great
+consideration and kindness, and dismissed them with presents, that
+they might all go to their respective homes, charging them to exert
+their influence in his favor among the tribes to which they severally
+belonged.
+
+Hannibal's soldiers, too, were very much encouraged by the
+commencement they had made. The army made immediate preparations for
+crossing the river. Some of the soldiers built rafts, others went up
+the stream in search of places to ford. Some swam across. They could
+adopt these or any other modes in safety, for the Romans made no stand
+on the opposite bank to oppose them, but moved rapidly on, as fast as
+Scipio could be carried. His wounds began to inflame, and were
+extremely painful.
+
+In fact, the Romans were dismayed at the danger which now threatened
+them. As soon as news of these events reached the city, the
+authorities there sent a dispatch immediately to Sicily to recall the
+other consul. His name was Sempronius. It will be recollected that,
+when the lots were cast between him and Scipio, it fell to Scipio to
+proceed to Spain, with a view to arresting Hannibal's march, while
+Sempronius went to Sicily and Africa. The object of this movement was
+to threaten and attack the Carthaginians at home, in order to distract
+their attention and prevent their sending any fresh forces to aid
+Hannibal, and, perhaps, even to compel them to recall him from Italy
+to defend their own capital. But now that Hannibal had not only passed
+the Alps, but had also crossed the Po, and was marching toward
+Rome--Scipio himself disabled, and his army flying before him--they
+were obliged at once to abandon the plan of threatening Carthage. They
+sent with all dispatch an order to Sempronius to hasten home and
+assist in the defense of Rome.
+
+Sempronius was a man of a very prompt and impetuous character, with
+great confidence in his own powers, and very ready for action. He came
+immediately into Italy, recruited new soldiers for the army, put
+himself at the head of his forces, and marched northward to join
+Scipio in the valley of the Po. Scipio was suffering great pain from
+his wounds, and could do but little toward directing the operations of
+the army. He had slowly retreated before Hannibal, the fever and pain
+of his wounds being greatly exasperated by the motion of traveling. In
+this manner he arrived at the Trebia, a small stream flowing northward
+into the Po. He crossed this stream, and finding that he could not go
+any further, on account of the torturing pain to which it put him to
+be moved, he halted his army, marked out an encampment, threw up
+fortifications around it, and prepared to make a stand. To his great
+relief, Sempronius soon came up and joined him here.
+
+There were now two generals. Napoleon used to say that one bad
+commander was better than two good ones, so essential is it to success
+in all military operations to secure that promptness, and confidence,
+and decision which can only exist where action is directed by one
+single mind. Sempronius and Scipio disagreed as to the proper course
+to be pursued. Sempronius wished to attack Hannibal immediately.
+Scipio was in favor of delay. Sempronius attributed Scipio's
+reluctance to give battle to the dejection of mind and discouragement
+produced by his wound, or to a feeling of envy lest he, Sempronius,
+should have the honor of conquering the Carthaginians, while he
+himself was helpless in his tent. On the other hand, Scipio thought
+Sempronius inconsiderate and reckless, and disposed to rush heedlessly
+into a contest with a foe whose powers and resources he did not
+understand.
+
+In the mean time, while the two commanders were thus divided in
+opinion, some skirmishes and small engagements took place between
+detachments from the two armies, in which Sempronius thought that the
+Romans had the advantage. This excited his enthusiasm more and more,
+and he became extremely desirous to bring on a general battle. He
+began to be quite out of patience with Scipio's caution and delay. The
+soldiers, he said, were full of strength and courage, all eager for
+the combat, and it was absurd to hold them back on account of the
+feebleness of one sick man. "Besides," said he, "of what use can it be
+to delay any longer? We are as ready to meet the Carthaginians now as
+we shall ever be. There is no _third_ consul to come and help us; and
+what a disgrace it is for us Romans, who in the former war led our
+troops to the very gates of Carthage, to allow Hannibal to bear sway
+over all the north of Italy, while we retreat gradually before him,
+afraid to encounter now a force that we have always conquered before."
+
+Hannibal was not long in learning, through his spies, that there was
+this difference of opinion between the Roman generals, and that
+Sempronius was full of a presumptuous sort of ardor, and he began to
+think that he could contrive some plan to draw the latter out into
+battle under circumstances in which he would have to act at a great
+disadvantage. He did contrive such a plan. It succeeded admirably; and
+the case was one of those numerous instances which occurred in the
+history of Hannibal, of successful stratagem, which led the Romans to
+say that his leading traits of character were treachery and cunning.
+
+Hannibal's plan was, in a word, an attempt to draw the Roman army out
+of its encampment on a dark, cold, and stormy night in December, and
+get them into the river. This river was the Trebia. It flowed north
+into the Po, between the Roman and Carthaginian camps. His scheme, in
+detail, was to send a part of his army over the river to attack the
+Romans in the night or very early in the morning. He hoped that by
+this means Sempronius would be induced to come out of his camp to
+attack the Carthaginians. The Carthaginians were then to fly and
+recross the river, and Hannibal hoped that Sempronius would follow,
+excited by the ardor of pursuit. Hannibal was then to have a strong
+reserve of the army, that had remained all the time in warmth and
+safety, to come out and attack the Romans with unimpaired strength and
+vigor, while the Romans themselves would be benumbed by the cold and
+wet, and disorganized by the confusion produced in crossing the
+stream.
+
+A part of Hannibal's reserve were to be placed in an ambuscade. There
+were some meadows near the water, which were covered in many places
+with tall grass and bushes. Hannibal went to examine the spot, and
+found that this shrubbery was high enough for even horsemen to be
+concealed in it. He determined to place a thousand foot soldiers and a
+thousand horsemen here, the most efficient and courageous in the
+army. He selected them in the following manner:
+
+He called one of his lieutenant generals to the spot, explained
+somewhat of his design to him, and then asked him to go and choose
+from the cavalry and the infantry, a hundred each, the best soldiers
+he could find. This two hundred were then assembled, and Hannibal,
+after surveying them with looks of approbation and pleasure, said,
+"Yes, you are the men I want, only, instead of two hundred, I need two
+thousand. Go back to the army, and select and bring to me, each of
+you, nine men like yourselves." It is easy to be imagined that the
+soldiers were pleased with this commission, and that they executed it
+faithfully. The whole force thus chosen was soon assembled, and
+stationed in the thickets above described, where they lay in ambush
+ready to attack the Romans after they should pass the river.
+
+Hannibal also made arrangements for leaving a large part of his army
+in his own camp, ready for battle, with orders that they should
+partake of food and refreshments, and keep themselves warm by the
+fires until they should be called upon. All things being thus ready,
+he detached a body of horsemen to cross the river, and see if they
+could provoke the Romans to come out of their camp and pursue them.
+
+"Go," said Hannibal, to the commander of this detachment, "pass the
+stream, advance to the Roman camp, assail the guards, and when the
+army forms and comes out to attack you, retreat slowly before them
+back across the river."
+
+The detachment did as it was ordered to do. When they arrived at the
+camp, which was soon after break of day--for it was a part of
+Hannibal's plan to bring the Romans out before they should have had
+time to breakfast--Sempronius, at the first alarm, called all the
+soldiers to arms, supposing that the whole Carthaginian force was
+attacking them. It was a cold and stormy morning, and the atmosphere
+being filled with rain and snow, but little could be seen. Column
+after column of horsemen and of infantry marched out of the camp. The
+Carthaginians retreated. Sempronius was greatly excited at the idea of
+so easily driving back the assailants, and, as they retreated, he
+pressed on in pursuit of them. As Hannibal had anticipated, he became
+so excited in the pursuit that he did not stop at the banks of the
+river. The Carthaginian horsemen plunged into the stream in their
+retreat, and the Romans, foot soldiers and horsemen together,
+followed on. The stream was usually small, but it was now swelled by
+the rain which had been falling all the night. The water was, of
+course, intensely cold. The horsemen got through tolerably well, but
+the foot soldiers were all thoroughly drenched and benumbed; and as
+they had not taken any food that morning, and had come forth on a very
+sudden call, and without any sufficient preparation, they felt the
+effects of the exposure in the strongest degree. Still they pressed
+on. They ascended the bank after crossing the river, and when they had
+formed again there, and were moving forward in pursuit of their still
+flying enemy, suddenly the whole force of Hannibal's reserves, strong
+and vigorous, just from their tents and their fires, burst upon them.
+They had scarcely recovered from the astonishment and the shock of
+this unexpected onset, when the two thousand concealed in the
+ambuscade came sallying forth in the storm, and assailed the Romans in
+the rear with frightful shouts and outcries.
+
+All these movements took place very rapidly. Only a very short period
+elapsed from the time that the Roman army, officers and soldiers, were
+quietly sleeping in their camp, or rising slowly to prepare for the
+routine of an ordinary day, before they found themselves all drawn out
+in battle array some miles from their encampment, and surrounded and
+hemmed in by their foes. The events succeeded each other so rapidly as
+to appear to the soldiers like a dream; but very soon their wet and
+freezing clothes, their limbs benumbed and stiffened, the sleet which
+was driving along the plain, the endless lines of Carthaginian
+infantry, hemming them in on all sides, and the columns of horsemen
+and of elephants charging upon them, convinced them that their
+situation was one of dreadful reality. The calamity, too, which
+threatened them was of vast extent, as well as imminent and terrible;
+for, though the stratagem of Hannibal was very simple in its plan and
+management, still he had executed it on a great scale, and had brought
+out the whole Roman army. There were, it is said, about forty thousand
+that crossed the river, and about an equal number in the Carthaginian
+army to oppose them. Such a body of combatants covered, of course, a
+large extent of ground, and the conflict that ensued was one of the
+most terrible scenes of the many that Hannibal assisted in enacting.
+
+The conflict continued for many hours, the Romans getting more and
+more into confusion all the time. The elephants of the Carthaginians,
+that is, the few that now remained, made great havoc in their ranks,
+and finally, after a combat of some hours, the whole army was broken
+up and fled, some portions in compact bodies, as their officers could
+keep them together, and others in hopeless and inextricable confusion.
+They made their way back to the river, which they reached at various
+points up and down the stream. In the mean time, the continued rain
+had swollen the waters still more, the low lands were overflowed, the
+deep places concealed, and the broad expanse of water in the center of
+the stream whirled in boiling and turbid eddies, whose surface was
+roughened by the December breeze, and dotted every where with the
+drops of rain still falling.
+
+When the Roman army was thoroughly broken up and scattered, the
+Carthaginians gave up the further prosecution of the contest. They
+were too wet, cold, and exhausted themselves to feel any ardor in the
+pursuit of their enemies. Vast numbers of the Romans, however,
+attempted to recross the river, and were swept down and destroyed by
+the merciless flood, whose force they had not strength enough
+remaining to withstand. Other portions of the troops lay hid in
+lurking-places to which they had retreated, until night came on, and
+then they made rafts on which they contrived to float themselves back
+across the stream. Hannibal's troops were too wet, and cold, and
+exhausted to go out again into the storm, and so they were unmolested
+in these attempts. Notwithstanding this, however, great numbers of
+them were carried down the stream and lost.
+
+It was now December, too late for Hannibal to attempt to advance much
+further that season, and yet the way before him was open to the
+Apennines, by the defeat of Sempronius, for neither he nor Scipio
+could now hope to make another stand against him till they should
+receive new re-enforcements from Rome. During the winter months
+Hannibal had various battles and adventures, sometimes with portions
+and detachments of the Roman army, and sometimes with the native
+tribes. He was sometimes in great difficulty for want of food for his
+army, until at length he bribed the governor of a castle, where a
+Roman granary was kept, to deliver it up to him, and after that he was
+well supplied.
+
+The natives of the country were, however, not at all well disposed
+toward him, and in the course of the winter they attempted to impede
+his operations, and to harass his army by every means in their power.
+Finding his situation uncomfortable, he moved on toward the south, and
+at length determined that, inclement as the season was, he would cross
+the Apennines.
+
+By looking at the map of Italy, it will be seen that the great valley
+of the Po extends across the whole north of Italy. The valley of the
+Arno and of the Umbro lies south of it, separated from it by a part of
+the Apennine chain. This southern valley was Etruria. Hannibal decided
+to attempt to pass over the mountains into Etruria. He thought he
+should find there a warmer climate, and inhabitants more well-disposed
+toward him, besides being so much nearer Rome.
+
+But, though Hannibal conquered the Alps, the Apennines conquered him.
+A very violent storm arose just as he reached the most exposed place
+among the mountains. It was intensely cold, and the wind blew the hail
+and snow directly into the faces of the troops, so that it was
+impossible for them to proceed. They halted and turned their backs to
+the storm, but the wind increased more and more, and was attended with
+terrific thunder and lightning, which filled the soldiers with alarm,
+as they were at such an altitude as to be themselves enveloped in the
+clouds from which the peals and flashes were emitted. Unwilling to
+retreat, Hannibal ordered the army to encamp on the spot, in the best
+shelter they could find. They attempted, accordingly, to pitch their
+tents, but it was impossible to secure them. The wind increased to a
+hurricane. The tent poles were unmanageable, and the canvas was
+carried away from its fastenings, and sometimes split or blown into
+rags by its flapping in the wind. The poor elephants, that is, all
+that were left of them from previous battles and exposures, sunk down
+under this intense cold and died. One only remained alive.
+
+Hannibal ordered a retreat, and the army went back into the valley of
+the Po. But Hannibal was ill at ease here. The natives of the country
+were very weary of his presence. His army consumed their food, ravaged
+their country, and destroyed all their peace and happiness. Hannibal
+suspected them of a design to poison him or assassinate him in some
+other way. He was continually watching and taking precautions against
+these attempts. He had a great many different dresses made to be used
+as disguises, and false hair of different colors and fashion, so that
+he could alter his appearance at pleasure. This was to prevent any spy
+or assassin who might come into his camp from identifying him by any
+description of his dress and appearance. Still, notwithstanding these
+precautions, he was ill at ease, and at the very earliest practicable
+period in the spring he made a new attempt to cross the mountains, and
+was now successful.
+
+On descending the southern declivities of the Apennines he learned
+that a new Roman army, under a new consul, was advancing toward him
+from the south. He was eager to meet this force, and was preparing to
+press forward at once by the nearest way. He found, however, that this
+would lead him across the lower part of the valley of the Arno, which
+was here very broad, and, though usually passable, was now overflowed
+in consequence of the swelling of the waters of the river by the
+melting of the snows upon the mountains. The whole country was now, in
+fact, a vast expanse of marshes and fens.
+
+Still, Hannibal concluded to cross it, and, in the attempt, he
+involved his army in difficulties and dangers as great, almost, as he
+had encountered upon the Alps. The waters were rising continually;
+they filled all the channels and spread over extended plains. They
+were so turbid, too, that every thing beneath the surface was
+concealed, and the soldiers wading in them were continually sinking
+into deep and sudden channels and into bogs of mire, where many were
+lost. They were all exhausted and worn out by the wet and cold, and
+the long continuance of their exposure to it. They were four days and
+three nights in this situation, as their progress was, of course,
+extremely slow. The men, during all this time, had scarcely any sleep,
+and in some places the only way by which they could get any repose was
+to lay their arms and their baggage in the standing water, so as to
+build, by this means, a sort of couch or platform on which they could
+lie. Hannibal himself was sick too. He was attacked with a violent
+inflammation of the eyes, and the sight of one of them was in the end
+destroyed. He was not, however, so much exposed as the other officers;
+for there was one elephant left of all those that had commenced the
+march in Spain, and Hannibal rode this elephant during the four days'
+march through the water. There were guides and attendants to precede
+him, for the purpose of finding a safe and practicable road, and by
+their aid, with the help of the animal's sagacity, he got safely
+through.
+
+[Illustration: CROSSING THE MARSHES.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+THE DICTATOR FABIUS.
+
+B.C. 216
+
+Alarm at Rome.--The consul Flaminius.--Another stratagem.--Confidence
+of Flaminius.--Complete rout of the Romans.--Effects of the
+battle.--Panic of the Romans.--Their superstitious fears.--Omens and
+bad signs.--Curious transformations.--Their influence.--Importance
+attached to these stories.--Feverish excitement at Rome.--News of the
+battle.--Gatherings of the people.--Arrival of stragglers.--Appointment
+of a dictator.--Fabius.--Measures of Fabius.--Religious
+ceremonies.--Minucius.--Supreme authority of a dictator.--Proclamation
+of Fabius.--Progress of Hannibal.--Policy of Fabius.--He declines
+fighting.--Hannibal's danger.--Stratagem of the fiery
+oxen.--Unpopularity of Fabius.--Hannibal's sagacity.--Plots against
+Fabius.--He goes to Rome.--Minucius risks a battle.--Speech of
+Fabius.--Fabius returns to the army.--He is deprived of the supreme
+power.--Division of power.--Ambuscade of Hannibal.--Hannibal's
+success.--Fabius comes to the rescue.--Speech of Minucius.--The Roman
+army again united.--Character of Fabius.--His integrity.
+
+
+In the mean time, while Hannibal was thus rapidly making his way
+toward the gates of Rome, the people of the city became more and more
+alarmed, until at last a general feeling of terror pervaded all the
+ranks of society. Citizens and soldiers were struck with one common
+dread. They had raised a new army and put it under the command of a
+new consul, for the terms of service of the others had expired.
+Flaminius was the name of this new commander, and he was moving
+northward at the head of his forces at the time that Hannibal was
+conducting his troops with so much labor and difficulty through the
+meadows and morasses of the Arno.
+
+This army was, however, no more successful than its predecessors had
+been. Hannibal contrived to entrap Flaminius by a stratagem, as he had
+entrapped Sempronius before. There is in the eastern part of Etruria,
+near the mountains, a lake called Lake Thrasymene. It happened that
+this lake extended so near to the base of the mountains as to leave
+only a narrow passage between--a passage but little wider than was
+necessary for a road. Hannibal contrived to station a detachment of
+his troops in ambuscade at the foot of the mountains, and others on
+the declivities above, and then in some way or other to entice
+Flaminius and his army through the defile. Flaminius was, like
+Sempronius, ardent, self-confident, and vain. He despised the power of
+Hannibal, and thought that his success hitherto had been owing to the
+inefficiency or indecision of his predecessors. For his part, his only
+anxiety was to encounter him, for he was sure of an easy victory. He
+advanced, therefore, boldly and without concern into the pass of
+Thrasymene, when he learned that Hannibal was encamped beyond it.
+
+Hannibal had established an encampment openly on some elevated ground
+beyond the pass, and as Flaminius and his troops came into the
+narrowest part of the defile, they saw this encampment at a distance
+before them, with a broad plain beyond the pass intervening. They
+supposed that the whole force of the enemy was there, not dreaming of
+the presence of the strong detachments which were hid on the slopes of
+the mountains above them, and were looking down upon them at that
+very moment from behind rocks and bushes. When, therefore, the Romans
+had got through the pass, they spread out upon the plain beyond it,
+and were advancing to the camp, when suddenly the secreted troops
+burst forth from their ambuscade, and, pouring down the mountains,
+took complete possession of the pass, and attacked the Romans in the
+rear, while Hannibal attacked them in the van. Another long, and
+desperate, and bloody contest ensued. The Romans were beaten at every
+point, and, as they were hemmed in between the lake, the mountain, and
+the pass, they could not retreat; the army was, accordingly, almost
+wholly cut to pieces. Flaminius himself was killed.
+
+The news of this battle spread every where, and produced the strongest
+sensation. Hannibal sent dispatches to Carthage announcing what he
+considered his final victory over the great foe, and the news was
+received with the greatest rejoicings. At Rome, on the other hand, the
+news produced a dreadful shock of disappointment and terror. It seemed
+as if the last hope of resisting the progress of their terrible enemy
+was gone, and that they had nothing now to do but to sink down in
+despair, and await the hour when his columns should come pouring in
+through the gates of the city.
+
+The people of Rome were, in fact, prepared for a panic, for their
+fears had been increasing and gathering strength for some time. They
+were very superstitious in those ancient days in respect to signs and
+omens. A thousand trifling occurrences, which would, at the present
+day, be considered of no consequence whatever, were then considered
+bad signs, auguring terrible calamities; and, on occasions like these,
+when calamities seemed to be impending, every thing was noticed, and
+circumstances which would not have been regarded at all at ordinary
+times, were reported from one to another, the stories being
+exaggerated as they spread, until the imaginations of the people were
+filled with mysterious but invincible fears. So universal was the
+belief in these prodigies and omens, that they were sometimes formally
+reported to the senate, committees were appointed to inquire into
+them, and solemn sacrifices were offered to "expiate them," as it was
+termed, that is, to avert the displeasure of the gods, which the omens
+were supposed to foreshadow and portend.
+
+A very curious list of these omens was reported to the senate during
+the winter and spring in which Hannibal was advancing toward Rome. An
+ox from the cattle-market had got into a house, and, losing his way,
+had climbed up into the third story, and, being frightened by the
+noise and uproar of those who followed him, ran out of a window and
+fell down to the ground. A light appeared in the sky in the form of
+ships. A temple was struck with lightning. A spear in the hand of a
+statue of Juno, a celebrated goddess, shook, one day, of itself.
+Apparitions of men in white garments were seen in a certain place. A
+wolf came into a camp, and snatched the sword of a soldier on guard
+out of his hands, and ran away with it. The sun one day looked smaller
+than usual. Two moons were seen together in the sky. This was in the
+daytime, and one of the moons was doubtless a halo or a white cloud.
+Stones fell out of the sky at a place called Picenum. This was one of
+the most dreadful of all the omens, though it is now known to be a
+common occurrence.
+
+These omens were all, doubtless, real occurrences, more or less
+remarkable, it is true, but, of course, entirely unmeaning in respect
+to their being indications of impending calamities. There were other
+things reported to the senate which must have originated almost wholly
+in the imaginations and fears of the observers. Two shields, it was
+said, in a certain camp, sweated blood. Some people were reaping, and
+bloody ears of grain fell into the basket. This, of course, must have
+been wholly imaginary, unless, indeed, one of the reapers had cut his
+fingers with the sickle. Some streams and fountains became bloody;
+and, finally, in one place in the country, some goats turned into
+sheep. A hen, also, became a cock, and a cock changed to a hen.
+
+Such ridiculous stories would not be worthy of a moment's attention
+now, were it not for the degree of importance attached to them then.
+They were formally reported to the Roman senate, the witnesses who
+asserted that they had seen them were called in and examined, and a
+solemn debate was held on the question what should be done to avert
+the supernatural influences of evil which the omens expressed. The
+senate decided to have three days of expiation and sacrifice, during
+which the whole people of Rome devoted themselves to the religious
+observances which they thought calculated to appease the wrath of
+Heaven. They made various offerings and gifts to the different gods,
+among which one was a golden thunderbolt of fifty pounds' weight,
+manufactured for Jupiter, whom they considered the thunderer.
+
+All these things took place before the battle at Lake Thrasymene, so
+that the whole community were in a very feverish state of excitement
+and anxiety before the news from Flaminius arrived. When these tidings
+at last came, they threw the whole city into utter consternation. Of
+course, the messenger went directly to the senate-house to report to
+the government, but the story that such news had arrived soon spread
+about the city, and the whole population crowded into the streets and
+public squares, all eagerly asking for the tidings. An enormous throng
+assembled before the senate-house calling for information. A public
+officer appeared at last, and said to them in a loud voice, "We have
+been defeated in a great battle." He would say no more. Still rumors
+spread from one to another, until it was generally known throughout
+the city that Hannibal had conquered the Roman army again in a great
+battle, that great numbers of the soldiers had fallen or been taken
+prisoners, and that the consul himself was slain.
+
+The night was passed in great anxiety and terror, and the next day,
+and for several of the succeeding days, the people gathered in great
+numbers around the gates, inquiring eagerly for news of every one that
+came in from the country. Pretty soon scattered soldiers and small
+bodies of troops began to arrive, bringing with them information of
+the battle, each one having a different tale to tell, according to his
+own individual experience in the scene. Whenever these men arrived,
+the people of the city, and especially the women who had husbands or
+sons in the army, crowded around them, overwhelming them with
+questions, and making them tell their tale again and again, as if the
+intolerable suspense and anxiety of the hearers could not be
+satisfied. The intelligence was such as in general to confirm and
+increase the fears of those who listened to it; but sometimes, when it
+made known the safety of a husband or a son, it produced as much
+relief and rejoicing as it did in other cases terror and despair. That
+maternal love was as strong an impulse in those rough days as it is in
+the more refined and cultivated periods of the present age, is evinced
+by the fact that two of these Roman mothers, on seeing their sons
+coming suddenly into their presence, alive and well, when they had
+heard that they had fallen in battle, were killed at once by the
+shock of surprise and joy, as if by a blow.
+
+In seasons of great and imminent danger to the commonwealth, it was
+the custom of the Romans to appoint what they called a dictator, that
+is, a supreme executive, who was clothed with absolute and unlimited
+powers; and it devolved on him to save the state from the threatened
+ruin by the most prompt and energetic action. This case was obviously
+one of the emergencies requiring such a measure. There was no time for
+deliberations and debates; for deliberations and debates, in periods
+of such excitement and danger, become disputes, and end in tumult and
+uproar. Hannibal was at the head of a victorious army, ravaging the
+country which he had already conquered, and with no obstacle between
+him and the city itself. It was an emergency calling for the
+appointment of a dictator. The people made choice of a man of great
+reputation for experience and wisdom, named Fabius, and placed the
+whole power of the state in his hands. All other authority was
+suspended, and every thing was subjected to his sway. The whole city,
+with the life and property of every inhabitant, was placed at his
+disposal; the army and the fleets were also under his command, even
+the consuls being subject to his orders.
+
+Fabius accepted the vast responsibility which his election imposed
+upon him, and immediately began to take the necessary measures. He
+first made arrangements for performing solemn religious ceremonies, to
+expiate the omens and propitiate the gods. He brought out all the
+people in great convocations, and made them take vows, in the most
+formal and imposing manner, promising offerings and celebrations in
+honor of the various gods, at some future time, in case these
+divinities would avert the threatening danger. It is doubtful,
+however, whether Fabius, in doing these things, really believed that
+they had any actual efficiency, or whether he resorted to them as a
+means of calming and quieting the minds of the people, and producing
+that composure and confidence which always results from a hope of the
+favor of Heaven. If this last was his object, his conduct was
+eminently wise.
+
+Fabius, also, immediately ordered a large levy of troops to be made.
+His second in command, called his _master of horse_, was directed to
+make this levy, and to assemble the troops at a place called Tibur, a
+few miles east of the city. There was always a master of horse
+appointed to attend upon and second a dictator. The name of this
+officer in the case of Fabius was Minucius. Minucius was as ardent,
+prompt, and impetuous, as Fabius was cool, prudent, and calculating.
+He levied the troops and brought them to their place of rendezvous.
+Fabius went out to take the command of them. One of the consuls was
+coming to join him, with a body of troops which he had under his
+command. Fabius sent word to him that he must come without any of the
+insignia of his authority, as all his authority, semi-regal as it was
+in ordinary times, was superseded and overruled in the presence of a
+dictator. A consul was accustomed to move in great state on all
+occasions. He was preceded by twelve men, bearing badges and insignia,
+to impress the army and the people with a sense of the greatness of
+his dignity. To see, therefore, a consul divested of all these marks
+of his power, and coming into the dictator's presence as any other
+officer would come before an acknowledged superior, made the army of
+Fabius feel a very strong sense of the greatness of their new
+commander's dignity and power.
+
+Fabius then issued a proclamation, which he sent by proper messengers
+into all the region of country around Rome, especially to that part
+toward the territory which was in possession of Hannibal. In this
+proclamation he ordered all the people to abandon the country and the
+towns which were not strongly fortified, and to seek shelter in the
+castles, and forts, and fortified cities. They were commanded, also,
+to lay waste the country which they should leave, and destroy all the
+property, and especially all the provisions, which they could not take
+to their places of refuge. This being done, Fabius placed himself at
+the head of the forces which he had got together, and moved on,
+cautiously and with great circumspection, in search of his enemy.
+
+In the mean time, Hannibal had crossed over to the eastern side of
+Italy, and had passed down, conquering and ravaging the country as he
+went, until he got considerably south of Rome. He seems to have
+thought it not quite prudent to advance to the actual attack of the
+city, after the battle of Lake Thrasymene; for the vast population of
+Rome was sufficient, if rendered desperate by his actually threatening
+the capture and pillage of the city, to overwhelm his army entirely.
+So he moved to the eastward, and advanced on that side until he had
+passed the city, and thus it happened that Fabius had to march to the
+southward and eastward in order to meet him. The two armies came in
+sight of each other quite on the eastern side of Italy, very near the
+shores of the Adriatic Sea.
+
+The policy which Fabius resolved to adopt was, not to give Hannibal
+battle, but to watch him, and wear his army out by fatigue and delays.
+He kept, therefore, near him, but always posted his army on
+advantageous ground, which all the defiance and provocations of
+Hannibal could not induce him to leave. When Hannibal moved, which he
+was soon compelled to do to procure provisions, Fabius would move too,
+but only to post and intrench himself in some place of security as
+before. Hannibal did every thing in his power to bring Fabius to
+battle, but all his efforts were unavailing.
+
+In fact, he himself was at one time in imminent danger. He had got
+drawn, by Fabius's good management, into a place where he was
+surrounded by mountains, upon which Fabius had posted his troops, and
+there was only one defile which offered any egress, and this, too,
+Fabius had strongly guarded. Hannibal resorted to his usual resource,
+cunning and stratagem, for means of escape. He collected a herd of
+oxen. He tied fagots across their horns, filling the fagots with
+pitch, so as to make them highly combustible. In the night on which he
+was going to attempt to pass the defile, he ordered his army to be
+ready to march through, and then had the oxen driven up the hills
+around on the further side of the Roman detachment which was guarding
+the pass. The fagots were then lighted on the horns of the oxen. They
+ran about, frightened and infuriated by the fire, which burned their
+horns to the quick, and blinded them with the sparks which fell from
+it. The leaves and branches of the forests were set on fire. A great
+commotion was thus made, and the guards, seeing the moving lights and
+hearing the tumult, supposed that the Carthaginian army were upon the
+heights, and were coming down to attack them. They turned out in great
+hurry and confusion to meet the imaginary foe, leaving the pass
+unguarded, and, while they were pursuing the bonfires on the oxens'
+heads into all sorts of dangerous and impracticable places, Hannibal
+quietly marched his army through the defile and reached a place of
+safety.
+
+Although Fabius kept Hannibal employed and prevented his approaching
+the city, still there soon began to be felt a considerable degree of
+dissatisfaction that he did not act more decidedly. Minucius was
+continually urging him to give Hannibal battle, and, not being able to
+induce him to do so, he was continually expressing his discontent and
+displeasure. The army sympathized with Minucius. He wrote home to Rome
+too, complaining bitterly of the dictator's inefficiency. Hannibal
+learned all this by means of his spies, and other sources of
+information, which so good a contriver as he has always at command.
+Hannibal was, of course, very much pleased to hear of these
+dissensions, and of the unpopularity of Fabius. He considered such an
+enemy as he--so prudent, cautious, and watchful--as a far more
+dangerous foe than such bold and impetuous commanders as Flaminius and
+Minucius, whom he could always entice into difficulty, and then easily
+conquer.
+
+Hannibal thought he would render Minucius a little help in making
+Fabius unpopular. He found out from some Roman deserters that the
+dictator possessed a valuable farm in the country, and he sent a
+detachment of his troops there, with orders to plunder and destroy
+the property all around it, but to leave the farm of Fabius untouched
+and in safety. The object was to give to the enemies of Fabius at Rome
+occasion to say that there was secretly a good understanding between
+him and Hannibal, and that he was kept back from acting boldly in
+defense of his country by some corrupt bargain which he had
+traitorously made with the enemy.
+
+These plans succeeded. Discontent and dissatisfaction spread rapidly,
+both in the camp and in the city. At Rome they made an urgent demand
+upon Fabius to return, ostensibly because they wished him to take part
+in some great religious ceremonies, but really to remove him from the
+camp, and give Minucius an opportunity to attack Hannibal. They also
+wished to devise some method, if possible, of depriving him of his
+power. He had been appointed for six months, and the time had not yet
+nearly expired: but they wished to shorten, or, if they could not
+shorten, to limit and diminish his power.
+
+Fabius went to Rome, leaving the army under the orders of Minucius,
+but commanding him positively not to give Hannibal battle, nor expose
+his troops to any danger, but to pursue steadily the same policy
+which he himself had followed. He had, however, been in Rome only a
+short time before tidings came that Minucius had fought a battle and
+gained a victory. There were boastful and ostentatious letters from
+Minucius to the Roman senate, lauding the exploit which he had
+performed.
+
+Fabius examined carefully the accounts. He compared one thing with
+another, and satisfied himself of what afterward proved to be the
+truth, that Minucius had gained no victory at all. He had lost five or
+six thousand men, and Hannibal had lost no more, and Fabius showed
+that no advantage had been gained. He urged upon the senate the
+importance of adhering to the line of policy he had pursued, and the
+danger of risking every thing, as Minucius had done, on the fortunes
+of a single battle. Besides, he said, Minucius had disobeyed his
+orders, which were distinct and positive, and he deserved to be
+recalled.
+
+In saying these things Fabius irritated and exasperated his enemies
+more than ever. "Here is a man," said they, "who will not only not
+fight the enemies whom he is sent against himself, but he will not
+allow any body else to fight them. Even at this distance, when his
+second in command has obtained a victory, he will not admit it, and
+endeavors to curtail the advantages of it. He wishes to protract the
+war, that he may the longer continue to enjoy the supreme and
+unlimited authority with which we have intrusted him."
+
+The hostility to Fabius at last reached such a pitch, that it was
+proposed in an assembly of the people to make Minucius his equal in
+command. Fabius, having finished the business which called him to
+Rome, did not wait to attend to the discussion of this question, but
+left the city, and was proceeding on his way to join the army again,
+when he was overtaken with a messenger bearing a letter informing him
+that the decree had passed, and that he must thenceforth consider
+Minucius as his colleague and equal. Minucius was, of course,
+extremely elated at this result. "Now," said he, "we will see if
+something can not be done."
+
+The first question was, however, to decide on what principle and in
+what way they should share their power. "We can not both command at
+once," said Minucius. "Let us exercise the power in alternation, each
+one being in authority for a day, or a week, or a month, or any other
+period that you prefer."
+
+"No," replied Fabius, "we will not divide the time, we will divide the
+men. There are four legions. You shall take two of them, and the other
+two shall be mine. I can thus, perhaps, save half the army from the
+dangers in which I fear your impetuosity will plunge all whom you have
+under your command."
+
+This plan was adopted. The army was divided, and each portion went,
+under its own leader, to its separate encampment. The result was one
+of the most curious and extraordinary occurrences that is recorded in
+the history of nations. Hannibal, who was well informed of all these
+transactions, immediately felt that Minucius was in his power. He knew
+that he was so eager for battle that it would be easy to entice him
+into it, under almost any circumstances that he himself might choose
+to arrange. Accordingly, he watched his opportunity when there was a
+good place for an ambuscade near Minucius's camp, and lodged five
+thousand men in it in such a manner that they were concealed by rocks
+and other obstructions to the view. There was a hill between this
+ground and the camp of Minucius. When the ambuscade was ready,
+Hannibal sent up a small force to take possession of the top of the
+hill, anticipating that Minucius would at once send up a stronger
+force to drive them away. He did so. Hannibal then sent up more as a
+re-enforcement. Minucius, whose spirit and pride were now aroused,
+sent up more still, and thus, by degrees, Hannibal drew out his
+enemy's whole force, and then, ordering his own troops to retreat
+before them, the Romans were drawn on, down the hill, till they were
+surrounded by the ambuscade. These hidden troops then came pouring out
+upon them, and in a short time the Romans were thrown into utter
+confusion, flying in all directions before their enemies, and entirely
+at their mercy.
+
+All would have been irretrievably lost had it not been for the
+interposition of Fabius. He received intelligence of the danger at his
+own camp, and marched out at once with all his force, and arrived upon
+the ground so opportunely, and acted so efficiently, that he at once
+completely changed the fortune of the day. He saved Minucius and his
+half of the army from utter destruction. The Carthaginians retreated
+in their turn, Hannibal being entirely overwhelmed with disappointment
+and vexation at being thus deprived of his prey. History relates that
+Minucius had the candor and good sense, after this, to acknowledge
+his error, and yield to the guidance and direction of Fabius. He
+called his part of the army together when they reached their camp, and
+addressed them thus: "Fellow-soldiers, I have often heard it said that
+the wisest men are those who possess wisdom and sagacity themselves,
+and, next to them, those who know how to perceive and are willing to
+be guided by the wisdom and sagacity of others; while they are fools
+who do not know how to conduct themselves, and will not be guided by
+those who do. We will not belong to this last class; and since it is
+proved that we are not entitled to rank with the first, let us join
+the second. We will march to the camp of Fabius, and join our camp
+with his, as before. We owe to him, and also to all his portion of the
+army, our eternal gratitude for the nobleness of spirit which he
+manifested in coming to our deliverance, when he might so justly have
+left us to ourselves."
+
+The two legions repaired, accordingly, to the camp of Fabius, and a
+complete and permanent reconciliation took place between the two
+divisions of the army. Fabius rose very high in the general esteem by
+this transaction. The term of his dictatorship, however, expired soon
+after this, and as the danger from Hannibal was now less imminent,
+the office was not renewed, but consuls were chosen as before.
+
+The character of Fabius has been regarded with the highest admiration
+by all mankind. He evinced a very noble spirit in all that he did. One
+of his last acts was a very striking proof of this. He had bargained
+with Hannibal to pay a certain sum of money as ransom for a number of
+prisoners which had fallen into his hands, and whom Hannibal, on the
+faith of that promise, had released. Fabius believed that the Romans
+would readily ratify the treaty and pay the amount; but they demurred,
+being displeased, or pretending to be displeased, because Fabius had
+not consulted them before making the arrangement. Fabius, in order to
+preserve his own and his country's faith unsullied, sold his farm to
+raise the money. He did thus most certainly protect and vindicate his
+own honor, but he can hardly be said to have saved that of the people
+of Rome.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+THE BATTLE OF CANNAE.
+
+B.C. 215
+
+Interest excited by the battle of Cannae.--Various military
+operations.--State of the public mind at Rome.--The plebeians
+and patricians.--The consuls AEmilius and Varro.--A new army
+raised.--Self-confidence of Varro.--Caution of AEmilius.--Views of
+AEmilius.--Counsel of Fabius.--Conversation between Fabius and
+AEmilius.--Resolution of AEmilius.--The consuls join the army.--Situation
+of Hannibal.--Scarcity of food.--Sufferings of Hannibal's
+troops.--Defeat of a foraging party.--Hannibal's pretended abandonment
+of his camp.--Mission of Statilius.--The stratagem discovered.--Chagrin
+of Hannibal and the Romans.--Apulia.--Hannibal marches into
+Apulia.--The Romans follow him.--The new encampments.--Dissensions
+between the consuls.--Flight of the inhabitants.--Maneuvers.--The
+battle of Cannae.--Another stratagem.--Defeat of the Romans.--AEmilius
+wounded.--Death of AEmilius.--Escape of Varro.--Condition of the
+battle-field.--The wounded and dying.--The Roman and Carthaginian
+soldier.--Immense plunder.
+
+
+The battle of Cannae was the last great battle fought by Hannibal in
+Italy. This conflict has been greatly celebrated in history, not only
+for its magnitude, and the terrible desperation with which it was
+fought, but also on account of the strong dramatic interest which the
+circumstances attending it are fitted to excite. This interest is
+perhaps, however, quite as much due to the peculiar skill of the
+ancient historian who narrates the story, as to the events themselves
+which he records.
+
+It was about a year after the close of the dictatorship of Fabius that
+this battle was fought. That interval had been spent by the Roman
+consuls who were in office during that time in various military
+operations, which did not, however, lead to any decisive results. In
+the mean time, there were great uneasiness, discontent, and
+dissatisfaction at Rome. To have such a dangerous and terrible foe, at
+the head of forty thousand men, infesting the vicinage of their city,
+ravaging the territories of their friends and allies, and threatening
+continually to attack the city itself, was a continual source of
+anxiety and vexation. It mortified the Roman pride, too, to find that
+the greatest armies they could raise, and the ablest generals they
+could choose and commission, proved wholly unable to cope with the
+foe. The most sagacious of them, in fact, had felt it necessary to
+decline the contest with him altogether.
+
+This state of things produced a great deal of ill humor in the city.
+Party spirit ran very high; tumultuous assemblies were held; disputes
+and contentions prevailed, and mutual criminations and recriminations
+without end. There were two great parties formed: that of the middling
+classes on one side, and the aristocracy on the other. The former were
+called the Plebeians, the latter the Patricians. The division between
+these two classes was very great and very strongly marked. There was,
+in consequence of it, infinite difficulty in the election of consuls.
+At last the consuls were chosen, one from each party. The name of the
+patrician was Paulus AEmilius. The name of the plebeian was Varro. They
+were inducted into office, and were thus put jointly into possession
+of a vast power, to wield which with any efficiency and success would
+seem to require union and harmony in those who held it, and yet
+AEmilius and Varro were inveterate and implacable political foes. It
+was often so in the Roman government. The consulship was a
+double-headed monster, which spent half its strength in bitter
+contests waged between its members.
+
+The Romans determined now to make an effectual effort to rid
+themselves of their foe. They raised an enormous army. It consisted of
+eight legions. The Roman legion was an army of itself. It contained
+ordinarily four thousand foot soldiers, and a troop of three hundred
+horsemen. It was very unusual to have more than two or three legions
+in the field at a time. The Romans, however, on this occasion,
+increased the number of the legions, and also augmented their size, so
+that they contained, each, five thousand infantry and four hundred
+cavalry. They were determined to make a great and last effort to
+defend their city, and save the commonwealth from ruin. AEmilius and
+Varro prepared to take command of this great force, with very strong
+determinations to make it the means of Hannibal's destruction.
+
+The characters of the two commanders, however, as well as their
+political connections, were very dissimilar, and they soon began to
+manifest a very different spirit, and to assume a very different air
+and bearing, each from the other. AEmilius was a friend of Fabius, and
+approved of his policy. Varro was for greater promptness and decision.
+He made great promises, and spoke with the utmost confidence of being
+able to annihilate Hannibal at a blow. He condemned the policy of
+Fabius in attempting to wear out the enemy by delays. He said it was a
+plan of the aristocratic party to protract the war, in order to put
+themselves in high offices, and perpetuate their importance and
+influence. The war might have been ended long ago, he said; and he
+would promise the people that he would now end it, without fail, the
+very day that he came in sight of Hannibal.
+
+As for AEmilius, he assumed a very different tone. He was surprised, he
+said, that any man could pretend to decide before he had even left the
+city, and while he was, of course, entirely ignorant, both of the
+condition of their own army, and of the position, and designs, and
+strength of the enemy, how soon and under what circumstances it would
+be wise to give him battle. Plans must be formed in adaptation to
+circumstances, as circumstances can not be made to alter to suit
+plans. He believed that they should succeed in the encounter with
+Hannibal, but he thought that their only hope of success must be based
+on the exercise of prudence, caution, and sagacity; he was sure that
+rashness and folly could only lead in future, as they had always done
+in the past, to discomfiture and ruin.
+
+It is said that Fabius, the former dictator, conversed with AEmilius
+before his departure for the army, and gave him such counsel as his
+age and experience, and his knowledge of the character and operations
+of Hannibal, suggested to his mind. "If you had a colleague like
+yourself," said he, "I would not offer you any advice; you would not
+need it. Or, if you were yourself like your colleague, vain,
+self-conceited, and presumptuous, then I would be silent; counsel
+would be thrown away upon you. But as it is, while you have great
+judgment and sagacity to guide you, you are to be placed in a
+situation of extreme difficulty and peril. If I am not mistaken, the
+greatest difficulty you will have to encounter will not be the open
+enemy you are going to meet upon the field. You will find, I think,
+that Varro will give you quite as much trouble as Hannibal. He will be
+presumptuous, reckless, and headstrong. He will inspire all the rash
+and ardent young men in the army with his own enthusiastic folly, and
+we shall be very fortunate if we do not yet see the terrible and
+bloody scenes of Lake Thrasymene acted again. I am sure that the true
+policy for us to adopt is the one which I marked out. That is always
+the proper course for the invaded to pursue with invaders, where there
+is the least doubt of the success of a battle. We grow strong while
+Hannibal grows continually weaker by delay. He can only prosper so
+long as he can fight battles and perform brilliant exploits. If we
+deprive him of this power, his strength will be continually wasting
+away, and the spirit and courage of his men waning. He has now scarce
+a third part of the army which he had when he crossed the Iberus, and
+nothing can save this remnant from destruction if we are wise."
+
+AEmilius said, in reply to this, that he went into the contest with
+very little of encouragement or hope. If Fabius had found it so
+difficult to withstand the turbulent influences of his master of
+horse, who was his subordinate officer, and, as such, under his
+command, how could _he_ expect to restrain his colleague, who was
+entitled, by his office, to full equality with him. But,
+notwithstanding the difficulties which he foresaw, he was going to do
+his duty, and abide by the result; and if the result should be
+unfavorable, he should seek for death in the conflict, for death by
+Carthaginian spears was a far lighter evil, in his view, than the
+displeasure and censures of his countrymen.
+
+The consuls departed from Rome to join the army, AEmilius attended by a
+moderate number of men of rank and station, and Varro by a much larger
+train, though it was formed of people of the lower classes of society.
+The army was organized, and the arrangements of the encampments
+perfected. One ceremony was that of administering an oath to the
+soldiers, as was usual in the Roman armies at the commencement of a
+campaign. They were made to swear that they would not desert the army,
+that they would never abandon the post at which they were stationed in
+fear or in flight, nor leave the ranks except for the purpose of
+taking up or recovering a weapon, striking an enemy, or protecting a
+friend. These and other arrangements being completed, the army was
+ready for the field. The consuls made a different arrangement in
+respect to the division of their power from that adopted by Fabius and
+Minucius. It was agreed between them that they would exercise their
+common authority alternately, each for a day.
+
+In the mean time, Hannibal began to find himself reduced to great
+difficulty in obtaining provisions for his men. The policy of Fabius
+had been so far successful as to place him in a very embarrassing
+situation, and one growing more and more embarrassing every day. He
+could obtain no food except what he got by plunder, and there was now
+very little opportunity for that, as the inhabitants of the country
+had carried off all the grain and deposited it in strongly-fortified
+towns; and though Hannibal had great confidence in his power to cope
+with the Roman army in a regular battle on an open field, he had not
+strength sufficient to reduce citadels or attack fortified camps. His
+stock of provisions had become, therefore, more and more nearly
+exhausted, until now he had a supply for only ten days, and he saw no
+possible mode of increasing it.
+
+His great object was, therefore, to bring on a battle. Varro was ready
+and willing to give him battle, but AEmilius, or, to call him by his
+name in full, Paulus AEmilius, which is the appellation by which he is
+more frequently known, was very desirous to persevere in the Fabian
+policy till the ten days had expired, after which he knew that
+Hannibal must be reduced to extreme distress, and might have to
+surrender at once to save his army from actual famine. In fact, it was
+said that the troops were on such short allowance as to produce great
+discontent, and that a large body of Spaniards were preparing to
+desert and go over together to the Roman camp.
+
+Things were in this state, when, one day, Hannibal sent out a party
+from his camp to procure food, and AEmilius, who happened to hold the
+command that day, sent out a strong force to intercept them. He was
+successful. The Carthaginian detachment was routed. Nearly two
+thousand men were killed, and the rest fled, by any roads they could
+find, back to Hannibal's camp. Varro was very eager to follow them
+there, but AEmilius ordered his men to halt. He was afraid of some
+trick or treachery on the part of Hannibal, and was disposed to be
+satisfied with the victory he had already won.
+
+This little success, however, only inflamed Varro's ardor for a
+battle, and produced a general enthusiasm in the Roman army; and, a
+day or two afterward, a circumstance occurred which raised this
+excitement to the highest pitch. Some reconnoiterers, who had been
+stationed within sight of Hannibal's camp to watch the motions and
+indications there, sent in word to the consuls that the Carthaginian
+guards around their encampment had all suddenly disappeared, and that
+a very extraordinary and unusual silence reigned within. Parties of
+the Roman soldiers went up gradually and cautiously to the
+Carthaginian lines, and soon found that the camp was deserted, though
+the fires were still burning and the tents remained. This
+intelligence, of course, put the whole Roman army into a fever of
+excitement and agitation. They crowded around the consuls' pavilions,
+and clamorously insisted on being led on to take possession of the
+camp, and to pursue the enemy. "He has fled," they said, "and with
+such precipitation that he has left the tents standing and his fires
+still burning. Lead us on in pursuit of him."
+
+Varro was as much excited as the rest. He was eager for action.
+AEmilius hesitated. He made particular inquiries. He said they ought
+to proceed with caution. Finally, he called up a certain prudent and
+sagacious officer, named Statilius, and ordered him to take a small
+body of horsemen, ride over to the Carthaginian camp, ascertain the
+facts exactly, and report the result. Statilius did so. When he
+reached the lines he ordered his troops to halt, and took with him two
+horsemen on whose courage and strength he could rely, and rode in. The
+three horsemen rode around the camp and examined every thing with a
+view of ascertaining whether Hannibal had really abandoned his
+position and fled, or whether some stratagem was intended.
+
+When he came back he reported to the army that, in his opinion, the
+desertion of the camp was not real, but a trick to draw the Romans
+into some difficulty. The fires were the largest on the side toward
+the Romans, which indicated that they were built to deceive. He saw
+money, too, and other valuables strewed about upon the ground, which
+appeared to him much more like a bait set in a trap, than like
+property abandoned by fugitives as incumbrances to flight. Varro was
+not convinced; and the army, hearing of the money, were excited to a
+greater eagerness for plunder. They could hardly be restrained. Just
+then, however, two slaves that had been taken prisoners by the
+Carthaginians some time before, came into the Roman camp. They told
+the consuls that the whole Carthaginian force was hid in ambush very
+near, waiting for the Romans to enter their encampment, when they were
+going to surround them and cut them to pieces. In the bustle and
+movement attendant on this plan, the slaves had escaped. Of course,
+the Roman army were now satisfied. They returned, chagrined and
+disappointed, to their own quarters, and Hannibal, still more
+chagrined and disappointed, returned to his.
+
+He soon found, however, that he could not remain any longer where he
+was. His provisions were exhausted, and he could obtain no more. The
+Romans would not come out of their encampment to give him battle on
+equal terms, and they were too strongly intrenched to be attacked
+where they were. He determined, therefore, to evacuate that part of
+the country, and move, by a sudden march, into Apulia.
+
+Apulia was on the eastern side of Italy. The River Aufidus runs
+through it, having a town named Cannae near its mouth. The region of
+the Aufidus was a warm and sunny valley, which was now waving with
+ripening grain. Being further south than the place where he had been,
+and more exposed to the influence of the sun, Hannibal thought that
+the crops would be sooner ripe, and that, at least, he should have a
+new field to plunder.
+
+He accordingly decided now to leave his camp in earnest, and move into
+Apulia. He made the same arrangements as before, when his departure
+was a mere pretense. He left tents pitched and fires burning, but
+marched his army off the ground by night and secretly, so that the
+Romans did not perceive his departure; and the next day, when they saw
+the appearances of silence and solitude about the camp, they suspected
+another deception, and made no move themselves. At length, however,
+intelligence came that the long columns of Hannibal's army had been
+seen already far to the eastward, and moving on as fast as possible,
+with all their baggage. The Romans, after much debate and uncertainty,
+resolved to follow. The eagles of the Apennines looked down upon the
+two great moving masses, creeping slowly along through the forests and
+valleys, like swarms of insects, one following the other, led on by a
+strange but strong attraction, drawing them toward each other when at
+a distance but kept asunder by a still stronger repulsion when near.
+
+The Roman army came up with that of Hannibal on the River Aufidus,
+near Cannae, and the two vast encampments were formed with all the
+noise and excitement attendant on the movements of two great armies
+posting themselves on the eve of a battle, in the neighborhood of each
+other. In the Roman camp, the confusion was greatly aggravated by the
+angry disputes which immediately arose between the consuls and their
+respective adherents as to the course to be pursued. Varro insisted on
+giving the Carthaginians immediate battle. AEmilius refused. Varro said
+that he must protest against continuing any longer these inexcusable
+delays, and insist on a battle. He could not consent to be responsible
+any further for allowing Italy to lie at the mercy of such a scourge.
+AEmilius replied, that if Varro did precipitate a battle, he himself
+protested against his rashness, and could not be, in any degree,
+responsible for the result. The various officers took sides, some with
+one consul and some with the other, but most with Varro. The
+dissension filled the camp with excitement, agitation, and ill will.
+
+In the mean time, the inhabitants of the country into which these two
+vast hordes of ferocious, though restrained and organized combatants,
+had made such a sudden irruption, were flying as fast as they could
+from the awful scene which they expected was to ensue. They carried
+from their villages and cabins what little property could be saved,
+and took the women and children away to retreats and fastnesses,
+wherever they imagined they could find temporary concealment or
+protection. The news of the movement of the two armies spread
+throughout the country, carried by hundreds of refugees and
+messengers, and all Italy, looking on with suspense and anxiety,
+awaited the result.
+
+The armies maneuvered for a day or two, Varro, during his term of
+command, making arrangements to promote and favor an action, and
+AEmilius, on the following day, doing every thing in his power to
+prevent it. In the end, Varro succeeded. The lines were formed and the
+battle must be begun. AEmilius gave up the contest now, and while he
+protested earnestly against the course which Varro pursued, he
+prepared to do all in his power to prevent a defeat, since there was
+no longer a possibility of avoiding a collision.
+
+The battle began, and the reader must imagine the scene, since no pen
+can describe it. Fifty thousand men on one side and eighty thousand on
+the other, at work hard and steadily, for six hours, killing each
+other by every possible means of destruction--stabs, blows, struggles,
+outcries, shouts of anger and defiance, and screams of terror and
+agony, all mingled together, in one general din, which covered the
+whole country for an extent of many miles, all together constituted a
+scene of horror of which none but those who have witnessed great
+battles can form any adequate idea.
+
+It seems as if Hannibal could do nothing without stratagem. In the
+early part of this conflict he sent a large body of his troops over to
+the Romans as deserters. They threw down their spears and bucklers, as
+they reached the Roman lines, in token of surrender. The Romans
+received them, opened a passage for them through into the rear, and
+ordered them to remain there. As they were apparently unarmed, they
+left only a very small guard to keep them in custody. The men had,
+however, daggers concealed about their dress, and, watching a
+favorable moment, in the midst of the battle, they sprang to their
+feet, drew out their weapons, broke away from their guard, and
+attacked the Romans in the rear at a moment when they were so pressed
+by the enemy in front that they could scarcely maintain their ground.
+
+It was evident before many hours that the Roman forces were every
+where yielding. From slowly and reluctantly yielding they soon began
+to fly. In the flight, the weak and the wounded were trampled under
+foot by the throng who were pressing on behind them, or were
+dispatched by wanton blows from enemies as they passed in pursuit of
+those who were still able to fly. In the midst of this scene, a Roman
+officer named Lentulus, as he was riding away, saw before him at the
+road-side another officer wounded, sitting upon a stone, faint and
+bleeding. He stopped when he reached him, and found that it was the
+consul AEmilius. He had been wounded in the head with a sling, and his
+strength was almost gone. Lentulus offered him his horse, and urged
+him to take it and fly. AEmilius declined the offer. He said it was too
+late for his life to be saved, and that, besides, he had no wish to
+save it. "Go on, therefore, yourself," said he, "as fast as you can.
+Make the best of your way to Rome. Tell the authorities there, from
+me, that all is lost, and they must do whatever they can themselves
+for the defense of the city. Make all the speed you can, or Hannibal
+will be at the gates before you."
+
+AEmilius sent also a message to Fabius, declaring to him that it was
+not his fault that a battle had been risked with Hannibal. He had done
+all in his power, he said, to prevent it, and had adhered to the
+policy which Fabius had recommended to the last. Lentulus having
+received these messages, and perceiving that the Carthaginians were
+close upon him in pursuit, rode away, leaving the consul to his fate.
+The Carthaginians came on, and, on seeing the wounded man, they thrust
+their spears into his body, one after another, as they passed, until
+his limbs ceased to quiver. As for the other consul, Varro, he escaped
+with his life. Attended by about seventy horsemen, he made his way to
+a fortified town not very remote from the battle-field, where he
+halted with his horsemen, and determined that he would attempt to
+rally there the remains of the army.
+
+The Carthaginians, when they found the victory complete, abandoned the
+pursuit of the enemy, returned to their camp, spent some hours in
+feasting and rejoicing, and then laid down to sleep. They were, of
+course, well exhausted by the intense exertions of the day. On the
+field where the battle had been fought, the wounded lay all night
+mingled with the dead, filling the air with cries and groans, and
+writhing in their agony.
+
+Early the next morning the Carthaginians came back to the field
+to plunder the dead bodies of the Romans. The whole field presented
+a most shocking spectacle to the view. The bodies of horses and men
+lay mingled in dreadful confusion, as they had fallen, some dead,
+others still alive, the men moaning, crying for water, and feebly
+struggling from time to time to disentangle themselves from the
+heaps of carcasses under which they were buried. The deadly and
+inextinguishable hate which the Carthaginians felt for their foes not
+having been appeased by the slaughter of forty thousand of them, they
+beat down and stabbed these wretched lingerers wherever they found
+them, as a sort of morning pastime after the severer labors of the
+preceding day. This slaughter, however, could hardly be considered a
+cruelty to the wretched victims of it, for many of them bared their
+breasts to their assailants, and begged for the blow which was to put
+an end to their pain. In exploring the field, one Carthaginian soldier
+was found still alive, but imprisoned by the dead body of his Roman
+enemy lying upon him. The Carthaginian's face and ears were shockingly
+mangled. The Roman, having fallen upon him when both were mortally
+wounded, had continued the combat with his teeth when he could no
+longer use his weapon, and had died at last, binding down his
+exhausted enemy with his own dead body.
+
+The Carthaginians secured a vast amount of plunder. The Roman army was
+full of officers and soldiers from the aristocratic ranks of society,
+and their arms and their dress were very valuable. The Carthaginians
+obtained some bushels of gold rings from their fingers, which Hannibal
+sent to Carthage as a trophy of his victory.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+SCIPIO.
+
+B.C. 215-201
+
+Reason of Hannibal's success.--The Scipios.--Fragments of the
+Roman army.--Scipio elected commander.--Scipio's energy.--Case of
+Metellus.--Metellus yields.--Consternation at Rome.--The senate
+adjourns.--Hannibal refuses to march to Rome.--Hannibal makes his
+head-quarters at Capua.--Hannibal sends Mago to Carthage.--Mago's
+speech.--The bag of rings.--Debate in the Carthaginian senate.--The
+speech of Hanno in the Carthaginian senate.--Progress of the
+war.--Enervation of Hannibal's army.--Decline of the Carthaginian
+power.--Marcellus.--Success of the Romans.--Siege of Capua.--Hannibal's
+attack on the Roman camp.--He marches to Rome.--Preparations for a
+battle.--Prevented by storms.--Sales at auction.--Hasdrubal crosses the
+Alps.--Livius and Nero.--Division of the provinces.--The intercepted
+letters.--Nero's perplexity.--Laws of military discipline.--Their
+strictness and severity.--Danger of violating discipline.--An
+illustration.--Plan of Nero.--A night march.--Livius and Nero attack
+Hasdrubal.--Hasdrubal orders a retreat.--Butchery of Hasdrubal's
+army.--Hasdrubal's death.--Progress of the Roman arms.--Successes of
+Scipio.--Scipio in Africa.--Carthage threatened.--A truce.--Hannibal
+recalled.--Hannibal raises a new army.--The Romans capture his
+spies.--Negotiations.--Interview between Hannibal and Scipio.--The
+last battle.--Defeat of the Carthaginians.
+
+
+The true reason why Hannibal could not be arrested in his triumphant
+career seems not to have been because the Romans did not pursue the
+right kind of policy toward him, but because, thus far, they had no
+general who was his equal. Whoever was sent against him soon proved to
+be his inferior. Hannibal could out-maneuver them all in stratagem,
+and could conquer them on the field. There was, however, now destined
+to appear a man capable of coping with Hannibal. It was young Scipio,
+the one who saved the life of his father at the battle of Ticinus.
+This Scipio, though the son of Hannibal's first great antagonist of
+that name, is commonly called, in history, the elder Scipio; for there
+was another of his name after him, who was greatly celebrated for his
+wars against the Carthaginians in Africa. These last two received from
+the Roman people the surname of Africanus, in honor of their African
+victories, and the one who now comes upon the stage was called Scipio
+Africanus the elder, or sometimes simply the elder Scipio. The deeds
+of the Scipio who attempted to stop Hannibal at the Rhone and upon the
+Po were so wholly eclipsed by his son, and by the other Scipio who
+followed him, that the former is left out of view and forgotten in
+designating and distinguishing the others.
+
+Our present Scipio first appears upon the stage, in the exercise of
+military command, after the battle of Cannae. He was a subordinate
+officer and on the day following the battle he found himself at a
+place called Canusium, which was at a short distance from Cannae, on
+the way toward Rome, with a number of other officers of his own rank,
+and with broken masses and detachments of the army coming in from time
+to time, faint, exhausted, and in despair. The rumor was that both
+consuls were killed. These fragments of the army had, therefore, no
+one to command them. The officers met together, and unanimously agreed
+to make Scipio their commander in the emergency, until some superior
+officer should arrive, or they should get orders from Rome.
+
+An incident here occurred which showed, in a striking point of view,
+the boldness and energy of the young Scipio's character. At the very
+meeting in which he was placed in command, and when they were
+overwhelmed with perplexity and care, an officer came in, and reported
+that in another part of the camp there was an assembly of officers and
+young men of rank, headed by a certain Metellus, who had decided to
+give up the cause of their country in despair, and that they were
+making arrangements to proceed immediately to the sea-coast, obtain
+ships, and sail away to seek a new home in some foreign lands,
+considering their cause in Italy as utterly lost and ruined. The
+officer proposed that they should call a council and deliberate what
+was best to do.
+
+"Deliberate!" said Scipio; "this is not a case for deliberation, but
+for action. Draw your swords and follow me." So saying, he pressed
+forward at the head of the party to the quarters of Metellus. They
+marched boldly into the apartment where he and his friends were in
+consultation. Scipio held up his sword, and in a very solemn manner
+pronounced an oath, binding himself not to abandon his country in this
+the hour of her distress, nor to allow any other Roman citizen to
+abandon her. If he should be guilty of such treason, he called upon
+Jupiter, by the most dreadful imprecations, to destroy him utterly,
+house, family, fortune, soul, and body.
+
+"And now, Metellus, I call upon you," said he, "and all who are with
+you, to take the same oath. You must do it, otherwise you have got to
+defend yourselves against these swords of ours, as well as those of
+the Carthaginians." Metellus and his party yielded. Nor was it wholly
+to fear that they yielded. It was to the influence of hope quite as
+much as to that of fear. The courage, the energy, and the martial
+ardor which Scipio's conduct evinced awakened a similar spirit in
+them, and made them hope again that possibly their country might yet
+be saved.
+
+The news of the awful defeat and destruction of the Roman army flew
+swiftly to Rome, and produced universal consternation. The whole city
+was in an uproar. There were soldiers in the army from almost every
+family, so that every woman and child throughout the city was
+distracted by the double agitation of inconsolable grief at the death
+of their husband or their father, slain in the battle, and of terrible
+fear that Hannibal and his raging followers were about to burst in
+through the gates of the city to murder them. The streets of the city,
+and especially the Forum, were thronged with vast crowds of men,
+women, and children, who filled the air with loud lamentations, and
+with cries of terror and despair.
+
+The magistrates were not able to restore order. The senate actually
+adjourned, that the members of it might go about the city, and use
+their influence and their power to produce silence at least, if they
+could not restore composure. The streets were finally cleared. The
+women and children were ordered to remain at home. Armed patrols were
+put on guard to prevent tumultuous assemblies forming. Men were sent
+off on horseback on the road to Canusium and Cannae, to get more
+accurate intelligence, and then the senate assembled again, and began
+to consider, with as much of calmness as they could command, what was
+to be done.
+
+The panic at Rome was, however, in some measure, a false alarm, for
+Hannibal, contrary to the expectation of all Italy, did not go to
+Rome. His generals urged him very strongly to do so. Nothing could
+prevent, they said, his gaining immediate possession of the city. But
+Hannibal refused to do this. Rome was strongly fortified, and had an
+immense population. His army, too, was much weakened by the battle of
+Cannae, and he seems to have thought it most prudent not to attempt
+the reduction of Rome until he should have received re-enforcements
+from home. It was now so late in the season that he could not expect
+such re-enforcements immediately, and he accordingly determined to
+select some place more accessible than Rome and make it his
+head-quarters for the winter. He decided in favor of Capua, which was
+a large and powerful city one or two hundred miles southeast of Rome.
+
+Hannibal, in fact, conceived the design of retaining possession of
+Italy and of making Capua the capital of the country, leaving Rome to
+itself, to decline, as under such circumstances it inevitably must, to
+the rank of a second city. Perhaps he was tired of the fatigues and
+hazards of war, and having narrowly escaped ruin before the battle of
+Cannae, he now resolved that he would not rashly incur any new dangers.
+It was a great question with him whether he should go forward to Rome,
+or attempt to build up a new capital of his own at Capua. The question
+which of these two he ought to have done was a matter of great debate
+then, and it has been discussed a great deal by military men in every
+age since his day. Right or wrong, Hannibal decided to establish his
+own capital at Capua, and to leave Rome, for the present, undisturbed.
+
+He, however, sent immediately to Carthage for re-enforcements. The
+messenger whom he sent was one of his generals named Mago. Mago made
+the best of his way to Carthage with his tidings of victory and his
+bushel of rings, collected, as has been already said, from the field
+of Cannae. The city of Carthage was greatly excited by the news which
+he brought. The friends and patrons of Hannibal were elated with
+enthusiasm and pride, and they taunted and reproached his enemies with
+the opposition to him they had manifested when he was originally
+appointed to the command of the army of Spain.
+
+Mago met the Carthaginian senate, and in a very spirited and eloquent
+speech he told them how many glorious battles Hannibal had fought, and
+how many victories he had won. He had contended with the greatest
+generals that the Romans could bring against him, and had conquered
+them all. He had slain, he said, in all, over two hundred thousand
+men. All Italy was now subject to his power; Capua was his capital,
+and Rome had fallen. He concluded by saying that Hannibal was in need
+of considerable additional supplies of men, and money, and provisions,
+which he did not doubt the Carthaginians would send without any
+unnecessary delay. He then produced before the senate the great bag of
+rings which he had brought, and poured them upon the pavement of the
+senate-house as a trophy of the victories which he had been
+announcing.
+
+This would, perhaps, have all been very well for Hannibal if his
+friends had been contented to have left the case where Mago left it;
+but some of them could not resist the temptation of taunting his
+enemies, and especially Hanno, who, as will be recollected, originally
+opposed his being sent to Spain. They turned to him, and asked him
+triumphantly what he thought now of his factious opposition to so
+brave a warrior. Hanno rose. The senate looked toward him and were
+profoundly silent, wondering what he would have to reply. Hanno, with
+an air of perfect ease and composure, spoke somewhat as follows:
+
+"I should have said nothing, but should have allowed the senate to
+take what action they pleased on Mago's proposition if I had not been
+particularly addressed. As it is, I will say that I think now just as
+I always have thought. We are plunged into a most costly and most
+useless war, and are, as I conceive, no nearer the end of it now than
+ever, notwithstanding all these boasted successes. The emptiness of
+them is clearly shown by the inconsistency of Hannibal's pretensions
+as to what he has done, with the demands that he makes in respect to
+what he wishes us to do. He says he has conquered all his enemies, and
+yet he wants us to send him more soldiers. He has reduced all
+Italy--the most fertile country in the world--to subjection, and
+reigns over it at Capua, and yet he calls upon us for corn. And then,
+to crown all, he sends us bushels of gold rings as a specimen of the
+riches he has obtained by plunder, and accompanies the offering with a
+demand for new supplies of money. In my opinion, his success is all
+illusive and hollow. There seems to be nothing substantial in his
+situation except his necessities, and the heavy burdens upon the state
+which these necessities impose."
+
+Notwithstanding Hanno's sarcasms, the Carthaginians resolved to
+sustain Hannibal, and to send him the supplies that he needed. They
+were, however, long in reaching him. Various difficulties and delays
+occurred. The Romans, though they could not dispossess Hannibal from
+his position in Italy, raised armies in different countries, and waged
+extended wars with the Carthaginians and their allies, in various
+parts of the world, both by sea and land.
+
+The result was, that Hannibal remained fifteen or sixteen years in
+Italy, engaged, during all this time, in a lingering struggle with the
+Roman power, without ever being able to accomplish any decisive
+measures. During this period he was sometimes successful and
+victorious, and sometimes he was very hard pressed by his enemies. It
+is said that his army was very much enervated and enfeebled by the
+comforts and luxuries they enjoyed at Capua. Capua was a very rich and
+beautiful city, and the inhabitants of it had opened their gates to
+Hannibal of their own accord, preferring, as they said, his alliance
+to that of the Romans. The officers--as the officers of an army almost
+always do, when they find themselves established in a rich and
+powerful city, after the fatigues of a long and honorable
+campaign--gave themselves up to festivities and rejoicing, to games,
+shows, and entertainments of every kind, which they soon learned
+infinitely to prefer to the toil and danger of marches and battles.
+
+Whatever may have been the cause, there is no question about the fact
+that, from the time Hannibal and his army got possession of their
+comfortable quarters in Capua, the Carthaginian power began gradually
+to decline. As Hannibal determined to make that city the Italian
+capital instead of Rome, he, of course, when established there, felt
+in some degree settled and at home, and was less interested than he
+had been in plans for attacking the ancient capital. Still, the war
+went on; many battles were fought, many cities were besieged, the
+Roman power gaining ground all the time, though not, however, by any
+very decisive victories.
+
+In these contests there appeared, at length, a new Roman general named
+Marcellus, and, either on account of his possessing a bolder and more
+active temperament, or else in consequence of the change in the
+relative strength of the two contending powers, he pursued a more
+aggressive policy than Fabius had thought it prudent to attempt.
+Marcellus was, however, cautious and wary in his enterprises, and he
+laid his plans with so much sagacity and skill that he was almost
+always successful. The Romans applauded very highly his activity and
+ardor, without, however, forgetting their obligations to Fabius for
+his caution and defensive reserve. They said that Marcellus was the
+_sword_ of their commonwealth, as Fabius had been its _shield_.
+
+The Romans continued to prosecute this sort of warfare, being more and
+more successful the longer they continued it, until, at last, they
+advanced to the very walls of Capua, and threatened it with a siege.
+Hannibal's intrenchments and fortifications were too strong for them
+to attempt to carry the city by a sudden assault, nor were the Romans
+even powerful enough to invest the place entirely, so as completely to
+shut their enemies in. They, however, encamped with a large army in
+the neighborhood, and assumed so threatening an attitude as to keep
+Hannibal's forces within in a state of continual alarm. And, besides
+the alarm, it was very humiliating and mortifying to Carthaginian
+pride to find the very seat of their power, as it were, shut up and
+overawed by an enemy over whom they had been triumphing themselves so
+short a time before, by a continued series of victories.
+
+Hannibal was not himself in Capua at the time that the Romans came to
+attack it. He marched, however, immediately to its relief, and
+attacking the Romans in his turn, endeavored to compel them to _raise
+the siege_, as it is technically termed, and retire. They had,
+however, so intrenched themselves in the positions that they had
+taken, and the assaults with which he encountered them had lost so
+much of their former force, that he could accomplish nothing decisive.
+He then left the ground with his army, and marched himself toward
+Rome. He encamped in the vicinity of the city, and threatened to
+attack it; but the walls, and castles, and towers with which Rome, as
+well as Capua, was defended, were too formidable, and the preparations
+for defense too complete, to make it prudent for him really to assail
+the city. His object was to alarm the Romans, and compel them to
+withdraw their forces from his capital that they might defend their
+own.
+
+There was, in fact, some degree of alarm awakened, and in the
+discussions which took place among the Roman authorities, the
+withdrawal of their troops from Capua was proposed; but this proposal
+was overruled; even Fabius was against it. Hannibal was no longer to
+be feared. They ordered back a small detachment from Capua, and added
+to it such forces as they could raise within the city, and then
+advanced to give Hannibal battle. The preparations were all made, it
+is said, for an engagement, but a violent storm came on, so violent as
+to drive the combatants back to their respective camps. This happened,
+the great Roman historian gravely says, two or three times in
+succession; the weather immediately becoming serene again, each time,
+as soon as the respective generals had withdrawn their troops from the
+intended fight. Something like this may perhaps have occurred, though
+the fact doubtless was that both parties were afraid, each of the
+other, and were disposed to avail themselves of any excuse to postpone
+a decisive conflict. There was a time when Hannibal had not been
+deterred from attacking the Romans even by the most tempestuous
+storms.
+
+Thus, though Hannibal did, in fact, in the end, get to the walls of
+Rome, he did nothing but threaten when he was there, and his
+encampment near the city can only be considered as a bravado. His
+presence seems to have excited very little apprehension within the
+city. The Romans had, in fact, before this time, lost their terror of
+the Carthaginian arms. To show their contempt of Hannibal, they sold,
+at public auction the land on which he was encamped, while he was
+upon it besieging the city, and it brought the usual price. The
+bidders were, perhaps, influenced somewhat by a patriotic spirit, and
+by a desire to taunt Hannibal with an expression of their opinion that
+his occupation of the land would be a very temporary encumbrance.
+Hannibal, to revenge himself for this taunt, put up for sale at
+auction, in his own camp, the shops of one of the principal streets of
+Rome, and they were bought by his officers with great spirit. It
+showed that a great change had taken place in the nature of the
+contest between Carthage and Rome, to find these vast powers, which
+were a few years before grappling each other with such destructive and
+terrible fury on the Po and at Cannae, now satisfying their declining
+animosity with such squibbing as this.
+
+When the other modes by which Hannibal attempted to obtain
+re-enforcements failed, he made an attempt to have a second army
+brought over the Alps under the command of his brother Hasdrubal. It
+was a large army, and in their march they experienced the same
+difficulties, though in a much lighter degree, that Hannibal had
+himself encountered. And yet, of the whole mighty mass which set out
+from Spain, nothing reached Hannibal except his brother's _head_. The
+circumstances of the unfortunate termination of Hasdrubal's attempt
+were as follows:
+
+When Hasdrubal descended from the Alps, rejoicing in the successful
+manner in which he had surmounted those formidable barriers, he
+imagined that all his difficulties were over. He dispatched couriers
+to his brother Hannibal, informing him that he had scaled the
+mountains, and that he was coming on as rapidly as possible to his
+aid.
+
+The two consuls in office at this time were named, the one Nero, and
+the other Livius. To each of these, as was usual with the Roman
+consuls, was assigned a particular province, and a certain portion of
+the army to defend it, and the laws enjoined it upon them very
+strictly not to leave their respective provinces, on any pretext
+whatever, without authority from the Roman Legislature. In this
+instance Livius had been assigned to the northern part of Italy, and
+Nero to the southern. It devolved upon Livius, therefore, to meet and
+give battle to Hasdrubal on his descent from the Alps, and to Nero to
+remain in the vicinity of Hannibal, to thwart his plans, oppose his
+progress, and, if possible, conquer and destroy him, while his
+colleague prevented his receiving the expected re-enforcements from
+Spain.
+
+Things being in this state, the couriers whom Hasdrubal sent with his
+letters had the vigilance of both consuls to elude before they could
+deliver them into Hannibal's hands. They did succeed in passing
+Livius, but they were intercepted by Nero. The patrols who seized
+these messengers brought them to Nero's tent. Nero opened and read the
+letters. All Hasdrubal's plans and arrangements were detailed in them
+very fully, so that Nero perceived that, if he were at once to proceed
+to the northward with a strong force, he could render his colleague
+such aid as, with the knowledge of Hasdrubal's plans, which he had
+obtained from the letters, would probably enable them to defeat him;
+whereas, if he were to leave Livius in ignorance and alone, he feared
+that Hasdrubal would be successful in breaking his way through, and in
+ultimately effecting his junction with Hannibal. Under these
+circumstances, he was, of course, very earnestly desirous of going
+northward to render the necessary aid, but he was strictly forbidden
+by law to leave his own province to enter that of his colleague
+without an authority from Rome, which there was not now time to
+obtain.
+
+The laws of military discipline are very strict and imperious, and in
+theory they are never to be disobeyed. Officers and soldiers, of all
+ranks and gradations, must obey the orders which they receive from the
+authority above them, without looking at the consequences, or
+deviating from the line marked out on any pretext whatever. It is, in
+fact, the very essence of military subordination and efficiency, that
+a command, once given, suspends all exercise of judgment or discretion
+on the part of the one to whom it is addressed; and a good general or
+a good government would prefer generally that harm should be done by a
+strict obedience to commands, rather than a benefit secured by an
+unauthorized deviation from them. It is a good principle, not only in
+war, but in all those cases in social life where men have to act in
+concert, and yet wish to secure efficiency in action.
+
+And yet there are cases of exception--cases where the necessity is so
+urgent, or the advantages to be derived are so great; where the
+interests involved are so momentous, and the success so sure, that a
+commander concludes to disobey and take the responsibility. The
+responsibility is, however, very great, and the danger in assuming it
+extreme. He who incurs it makes himself liable to the severest
+penalties, from which nothing but clear proof of the most imperious
+necessity, and, in addition to it, the most triumphant success, can
+save him. There is somewhere in English history a story of a naval
+commander, in the service of an English queen, who disobeyed the
+orders of his superiors at one time, in a case of great emergency at
+sea, and gained by so doing a very important victory. Immediately
+afterward he placed himself under arrest, and went into port as a
+prisoner accused of crime instead of a commander triumphing in his
+victory. He surrendered himself to the queen's officers of justice,
+and sent word to the queen herself that he knew very well that death
+was the penalty for his offense, but that he was willing to sacrifice
+his life _in any way_ in the service of her majesty. He was pardoned!
+
+Nero, after much anxious deliberation, concluded that the emergency in
+which he found himself placed was one requiring him to take the
+responsibility of disobedience. He did not, however, dare to go
+northward with all his forces, for that would be to leave southern
+Italy wholly at the mercy of Hannibal. He selected, therefore, from
+his whole force, which consisted of forty thousand men, seven or
+eight thousand of the most efficient and trustworthy; the men on whom
+he could most securely rely, both in respect to their ability to bear
+the fatigues of a rapid march, and the courage and energy with which
+they would meet Hasdrubal's forces in battle at the end of it. He was,
+at the time when Hasdrubal's letters were intercepted, occupying a
+spacious and well-situated camp. This he enlarged and strengthened, so
+that Hannibal might not suspect that he intended any diminution of the
+forces within. All this was done very promptly, so that, in a few
+hours after he received the intelligence on which he was acting, he
+was drawing off secretly, at night, a column of six or eight thousand
+men, none of whom knew at all where they were going.
+
+He proceeded as rapidly as possible to the northward, and, when he
+arrived in the northern province, he contrived to get into the camp of
+Livius as secretly as he had got out from his own. Thus, of the two
+armies, the one where an accession of force was required was greatly
+strengthened at the expense of the other, without either of the
+Carthaginian generals having suspected the change.
+
+Livius was rejoiced to get so opportune a re-enforcement. He
+recommended that the troops should all remain quietly in camp for a
+short time, until the newly-arrived troops could rest and recruit
+themselves a little after their rapid and fatiguing march; but Nero
+opposed this plan, and recommended an immediate battle. He knew the
+character of the men that he had brought, and he was, besides,
+unwilling to risk the dangers which might arise in his own camp, in
+southern Italy, by too long an absence from it. It was decided,
+accordingly, to attack Hasdrubal at once, and the signal for battle
+was given.
+
+It is not improbable that Hasdrubal would have been beaten by Livius
+alone, but the additional force which Nero had brought made the Romans
+altogether too strong for him. Besides, from his position in the front
+of the battle, he perceived, from some indications that his watchful
+eye observed, that a part of the troops attacking him were from the
+southward; and he inferred from this that Hannibal had been defeated,
+and that, in consequence of this, the whole united force of the Roman
+army was arrayed against him. He was disheartened and discouraged, and
+soon ordered a retreat. He was pursued by the various divisions of the
+Roman army, and the retreating columns of the Carthaginians were soon
+thrown into complete confusion. They became entangled among rivers and
+lakes; and the guides who had undertaken to conduct the army, finding
+that all was lost, abandoned them and fled, anxious only to save their
+own lives. The Carthaginians were soon pent up in a position where
+they could not defend themselves, and from which they could not
+escape. The Romans showed them no mercy, but went on killing their
+wretched and despairing victims until the whole army was almost
+totally destroyed. They cut off Hasdrubal's head, and Nero sat out the
+very night after the battle to return with it in triumph to his own
+encampment. When he arrived, he sent a troop of horse to throw the
+head over into Hannibal's camp, a ghastly and horrid trophy of his
+victory.
+
+Hannibal was overwhelmed with disappointment and sorrow at the loss of
+his army, bringing with it, as it did, the destruction of all his
+hopes. "My fate is sealed," said he; "all is lost. I shall send no
+more news of victory to Carthage. In losing Hasdrubal my last hope is
+gone."
+
+[Illustration: HASDRUBAL'S HEAD.]
+
+While Hannibal was in this condition in Italy, the Roman armies, aided
+by their allies, were gaining gradually against the Carthaginians in
+various parts of the world, under the different generals who had been
+placed in command by the Roman senate. The news of these victories
+came continually home to Italy, and encouraged and animated the
+Romans, while Hannibal and his army, as well as the people who were in
+alliance with him, were disheartened and depressed by them. Scipio was
+one of these generals commanding in foreign lands. His province was
+Spain. The news which came home from his army became more and more
+exciting, as he advanced from conquest to conquest, until it seemed
+that the whole country was going to be reduced to subjection. He
+overcame one Carthaginian general after another until he reached New
+Carthage, which he besieged and conquered, and the Roman authority was
+established fully over the whole land.
+
+Scipio then returned in triumph to Rome. The people received him with
+acclamations. At the next election they chose him consul. On the
+allotment of provinces, Sicily fell to him, with power to cross into
+Africa if he pleased. It devolved on the other consul to carry on the
+war in Italy more directly against Hannibal. Scipio levied his army,
+equipped his fleet, and sailed for Sicily.
+
+The first thing that he did on his arrival in his province was to
+project an expedition into Africa itself. He could not, as he wished,
+face Hannibal directly, by marching his troops into the south of
+Italy, for this was the work allotted to his colleague. He could,
+however, make an incursion into Africa, and even threaten Carthage
+itself, and this, with the boldness and ardor which marked his
+character, he resolved to do.
+
+He was triumphantly successful in all his plans. His army, imbibing
+the spirit of enthusiasm which animated their commander, and confident
+of success, went on, as his forces in Spain had done, from victory to
+victory. They conquered cities, they overran provinces, they defeated
+and drove back all the armies which the Carthaginians could bring
+against them, and finally they awakened in the streets and dwellings
+of Carthage the same panic and consternation which Hannibal's
+victorious progress had produced in Rome.
+
+The Carthaginians being now, in their turn, reduced to despair, sent
+embassadors to Scipio to beg for peace, and to ask on what terms he
+would grant it and withdraw from the country. Scipio replied that _he_
+could not make peace. It rested with the Roman senate, whose servant
+he was. He specified, however, certain terms which he was willing to
+have proposed to the senate, and, if the Carthaginians would agree to
+them, he would grant them a _truce_, that is, a temporary suspension
+of hostilities, until the answer of the Roman senate could be
+returned.
+
+The Carthaginians agreed to the terms. They were very onerous. The
+Romans say that they did not really mean to abide by them, but acceded
+for the moment in order to gain time to send for Hannibal. They had
+great confidence in his resources and military power, and thought
+that, if he were in Africa, he could save them. At the same time,
+therefore, that they sent their embassadors to Rome with their
+propositions for peace, they dispatched expresses to Hannibal,
+ordering him to embark his troops as soon as possible, and, abandoning
+Italy, to hasten home, to save, if it was not already too late, his
+native city from destruction.
+
+When Hannibal received these messages, he was overwhelmed with
+disappointment and sorrow. He spent hours in extreme agitation,
+sometimes in a moody silence, interrupted now and then by groans of
+despair, and sometimes uttering loud and angry curses, prompted by the
+exasperation of his feelings. He, however, could not resist. He made
+the best of his way to Carthage. The Roman senate, at the same time,
+instead of deciding on the question of peace or war, which Scipio had
+submitted to them, referred the question back to him. They sent
+commissioners to Scipio, authorizing him to act for them, and to
+decide himself alone whether the war should be continued or closed,
+and if to be closed, on what conditions.
+
+Hannibal raised a large force at Carthage, joining with it such
+remains of former armies as had been left after Scipio's battles, and
+he went forth at the head of these troops to meet his enemy. He
+marched five days, going, perhaps, seventy-five or one hundred miles
+from Carthage, when he found himself approaching Scipio's camp. He
+sent out spies to reconnoiter. The patrols of Scipio's army seized
+these spies and brought them to the general's tent, as they supposed,
+for execution. Instead of punishing them, Scipio ordered them to be
+led around his camp, and to be allowed to see every thing they
+desired. He then dismissed them, that they might return to Hannibal
+with the information they had obtained.
+
+Of course, the report which they brought in respect to the strength
+and resources of Scipio's army was very formidable to Hannibal. He
+thought it best to make an attempt to negotiate a peace rather than to
+risk a battle, and he accordingly sent word to Scipio requesting a
+personal interview. Scipio acceded to this request, and a place was
+appointed for the meeting between the two encampments. To this spot
+the two generals repaired at the proper time, with great pomp and
+parade, and with many attendants. They were the two greatest generals
+of the age in which they lived, having been engaged for fifteen or
+twenty years in performing, at the head of vast armies, exploits which
+had filled the world with their fame. Their fields of action had,
+however, been widely distant, and they met personally now for the
+first time. When introduced into each other's presence, they stood for
+some time in silence, gazing upon and examining one another with
+intense interest and curiosity, but not speaking a word.
+
+At length, however, the negotiation was opened. Hannibal made Scipio
+proposals for peace. They were very favorable to the Romans, but
+Scipio was not satisfied with them. He demanded still greater
+sacrifices than Hannibal was willing to make. The result, after a long
+and fruitless negotiation, was, that each general returned to his
+camp and prepared for battle.
+
+In military campaigns, it is generally easy for those who have been
+conquering to go on to conquer: so much depends upon the expectations
+with which the contending armies go into battle. Scipio and his troops
+expected to conquer. The Carthaginians expected to be beaten. The
+result corresponded. At the close of the day on which the battle was
+fought, forty thousand Carthaginians were dead and dying upon the
+ground, as many more were prisoners in the Roman camp, and the rest,
+in broken masses, were flying from the field in confusion and terror,
+on all the roads which led to Carthage. Hannibal arrived at the city
+with the rest, went to the senate, announced his defeat, and said that
+he could do no more. "The fortune which once attended me," said he,
+"is lost forever, and nothing is left to us but to make peace with our
+enemies on any terms that they may think fit to impose."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+HANNIBAL A FUGITIVE AND AN EXILE.
+
+B.C. 200-182
+
+Hannibal's conquests.--Peaceful pursuits.--The danger of a spirit of
+ambition and conquest.--Gradual progress of Scipio's victories.--Severe
+conditions of peace exacted by Scipio.--Debates in the Carthaginian
+senate.--Terms of peace complied with.--Surrender of the elephants and
+ships.--Scipio burns the Carthaginian fleet.--Feelings of the
+spectators.--Scipio sails to Rome.--His reception.--Hannibal's position
+and standing at Carthage.--Orders from Rome.--Hannibal's
+mortification.--Syria and Phoenicia.--King Antiochus.--Hannibal's
+intrigues with Antiochus.--Embassy from Rome.--Flight of
+Hannibal.--Island of Cercina.--Stratagem of Hannibal.--He sails for
+Syria.--Excitement at Carthage.--Hannibal safe at Ephesus.--Carthaginian
+deputies.--The change of fortune.--Hannibal's unconquerable spirit.--His
+new plans.--Hannibal sends a secret messenger to Carthage.--The
+placards.--Excitement produced by them.--Roman commissioners.--Supposed
+interview of Hannibal and Scipio.--Hannibal's opinion of Alexander and
+Pyrrhus.--Anecdotes.--Hannibal's efforts prove vain.--Antiochus agrees
+to give him up.--Hannibal's treasures.--His plan for securing
+them.--Hannibal's unhappy condition.--The potion of poison.--Hannibal
+fails in his attempt to escape.--He poisons himself.
+
+
+Hannibal's life was like an April day. Its brightest glory was in the
+morning. The setting of his sun was darkened by clouds and showers.
+Although for fifteen years the Roman people could find no general
+capable of maintaining the field against him, Scipio conquered him at
+last, and all his brilliant conquests ended, as Hanno had predicted,
+only in placing his country in a far worse condition than before.
+
+In fact, as long as the Carthaginians confined their energies to
+useful industry, and to the pursuits of commerce and peace, they were
+prosperous, and they increased in wealth, and influence, and honor
+every year. Their ships went every where, and were every where
+welcome. All the shores of the Mediterranean were visited by their
+merchants, and the comforts and the happiness of many nations and
+tribes were promoted by the very means which they took to swell their
+own riches and fame. All might have gone on so for centuries longer,
+had not military heroes arisen with appetites for a more piquant sort
+of glory. Hannibal's father was one of the foremost of these. He began
+by conquests in Spain and encroachments on the Roman jurisdiction. He
+inculcated the same feelings of ambition and hate in Hannibal's mind
+which burned in his own. For many years, the policy which they led
+their countrymen to pursue was successful. From being useful and
+welcome visitors to all the world, they became the masters and the
+curse of a part of it. So long as Hannibal remained superior to any
+Roman general that could be brought against him, he went on
+conquering. But at last Scipio arose, greater than Hannibal. The tide
+was then turned, and all the vast conquests of half a century were
+wrested away by the same violence, bloodshed, and misery with which
+they had been acquired.
+
+We have described the exploits of Hannibal, in making these conquests,
+in detail, while those of Scipio, in wresting them away, have been
+passed over very briefly, as this is intended as a history of
+Hannibal, and not of Scipio. Still Scipio's conquests were made by
+slow degrees, and they consumed a long period of time. He was but
+about eighteen years of age at the battle of Cannae, soon after which
+his campaigns began, and he was thirty when he was made consul, just
+before his going into Africa. He was thus fifteen or eighteen years in
+taking down the vast superstructure of power which Hannibal had
+raised, working in regions away from Hannibal and Carthage during all
+this time, as if leaving the great general and the great city for the
+last. He was, however, so successful in what he did, that when, at
+length, he advanced to the attack of Carthage, every thing else was
+gone. The Carthaginian power had become a mere hollow shell, empty and
+vain, which required only one great final blow to effect its absolute
+demolition. In fact, so far spent and gone were all the Carthaginian
+resources, that the great city had to summon the great general to its
+aid the moment it was threatened, and Scipio destroyed them both
+together.
+
+And yet Scipio did not proceed so far as literally and actually to
+destroy them. He spared Hannibal's life, and he allowed the city to
+stand; but the terms and conditions of peace which he exacted were
+such as to put an absolute and perpetual end to Carthaginian dominion.
+By these conditions, the Carthaginian state was allowed to continue
+free and independent, and even to retain the government of such
+territories in _Africa_ as they possessed before the war; but all
+their foreign possessions were taken away; and even in respect to
+Africa, their jurisdiction was limited and curtailed by very hard
+restrictions. Their whole navy was to be given to the Romans except
+ten small ships of three banks of oars, which Scipio thought the
+government would need for the purposes of civil administration. These
+they were allowed to retain. Scipio did not say what he should do with
+the remainder of the fleet: it was to be unconditionally surrendered
+to him. Their elephants of war were also to be all given up, and they
+were to be bound not to train any more. They were not to appear at all
+as a military power in any other quarter of the world but Africa, and
+they were not to make war in Africa except by previously making known
+the occasion for it to the Roman people, and obtaining their
+permission. They were also to pay to the Romans a very large annual
+tribute for fifty years.
+
+There was great distress and perplexity in the Carthaginian councils
+while they were debating these cruel terms. Hannibal was in favor of
+accepting them. Others opposed. They thought it would be better still
+to continue the struggle, hopeless as it was, than to submit to terms
+so ignominious and fatal.
+
+Hannibal was present at these debates, but he found himself now in a
+very different position from that which he had been occupying for
+thirty years as a victorious general at the head of his army. He had
+been accustomed there to control and direct every thing. In his
+councils of war, no one spoke but at his invitation, and no opinion
+was expressed but such as he was willing to hear. In the Carthaginian
+senate, however, he found the case very different. There, opinions
+were freely expressed, as in a debate among equals, Hannibal taking
+his place among the rest, and counting only as one. And yet the spirit
+of authority and command which he had been so long accustomed to
+exercise, lingered still, and made him very impatient and uneasy under
+contradiction. In fact, as one of the speakers in the senate was
+rising to animadvert upon and oppose Hannibal's views, he undertook to
+pull him down and silence him by force. This proceeding awakened
+immediately such expressions of dissatisfaction and displeasure in the
+assembly as to show him very clearly that the time for such
+domineering was gone. He had, however, the good sense to express the
+regret he soon felt at having so far forgotten the duties of his new
+position, and to make an ample apology.
+
+[Illustration: THE BURNING OF THE CARTHAGINIAN FLEET.]
+
+The Carthaginians decided at length to accede to Scipio's terms of
+peace. The first instalment of the tribute was paid. The elephants
+and the ships were surrendered. After a few days, Scipio announced
+his determination not to take the ships away with him, but to
+destroy them there. Perhaps this was because he thought the ships
+would be of little value to the Romans, on account of the difficulty
+of manning them. Ships, of course, are useless without seamen, and
+many nations in modern times, who could easily build a navy, are
+debarred from doing it, because their population does not furnish
+sailors in sufficient numbers to man and navigate it. It was
+probably, in part, on this account that Scipio decided not to take
+the Carthaginian ships away, and perhaps he also wanted to show to
+Carthage and to the world that his object in taking possession of
+the national property of his foes was not to enrich his own country
+by plunder, but only to deprive ambitious soldiers of the power
+to compromise any longer the peace and happiness of mankind by
+expeditions for conquest and power. However this may be, Scipio
+determined to destroy the Carthaginian fleet, and not to convey
+it away.
+
+On a given day, therefore, he ordered all the galleys to be got
+together in the bay opposite to the city of Carthage, and to be
+burned. There were five hundred of them, so that they constituted a
+large fleet, and covered a large expanse of the water. A vast
+concourse of people assembled upon the shores to witness the grand
+conflagration. The emotion which such a spectacle was of itself
+calculated to excite was greatly heightened by the deep but stifled
+feelings of resentment and hate which agitated every Carthaginian
+breast. The Romans, too, as they gazed upon the scene from their
+encampment on the shore, were agitated as well, though with different
+emotions. Their faces beamed with an expression of exultation and
+triumph as they saw the vast masses of flame and columns of smoke
+ascending from the sea, proclaiming the total and irretrievable ruin
+of Carthaginian pride and power.
+
+Having thus fully accomplished his work, Scipio set sail for Rome. All
+Italy had been filled with the fame of his exploits in thus
+destroying the ascendency of Hannibal. The city of Rome had now
+nothing more to fear from its great enemy. He was shut up, disarmed,
+and helpless, in his own native state, and the terror which his
+presence in Italy had inspired had passed forever away. The whole
+population of Rome, remembering the awful scenes of consternation and
+terror which the city had so often endured, regarded Scipio as a great
+deliverer. They were eager to receive and welcome him on his arrival.
+When the time came and he approached the city, vast throngs went out
+to meet him. The authorities formed civic processions to welcome him.
+They brought crowns, and garlands, and flowers, and hailed his
+approach with loud and prolonged acclamations of triumph and joy. They
+gave him the name of Africanus, in honor of his victories. This was a
+new honor--giving to a conqueror the name of the country that he had
+subdued; it was invented specially as Scipio's reward, the deliverer
+who had saved the empire from the greatest and most terrible danger by
+which it had ever been assailed.
+
+Hannibal, though fallen, retained still in Carthage some portion of
+his former power. The glory of his past exploits still invested his
+character with a sort of halo, which made him an object of general
+regard, and he still had great and powerful friends. He was elevated
+to high office, and exerted himself to regulate and improve the
+internal affairs of the state. In these efforts he was not, however,
+very successful. The historians say that the objects which he aimed to
+accomplish were good, and that the measures for effecting them were,
+in themselves, judicious; but, accustomed as he was to the
+authoritative and arbitrary action of a military commander in camp, he
+found it hard to practice that caution and forbearance, and that
+deference for the opinion of others, which are so essential as means
+of influencing men in the management of the civil affairs of a
+commonwealth. He made a great many enemies, who did every thing in
+their power, by plots and intrigues, as well as by open hostility, to
+accomplish his ruin.
+
+His pride, too, was extremely mortified and humbled by an occurrence
+which took place very soon after Scipio's return to Rome. There was
+some occasion of war with a neighboring African tribe, and Hannibal
+headed some forces which were raised in the city for the purpose, and
+went out to prosecute it. The Romans, who took care to have agents in
+Carthage to keep them acquainted with all that occurred, heard of
+this, and sent word to Carthage to warn the Carthaginians that this
+was contrary to the treaty, and could not be allowed. The government,
+not willing to incur the risk of another visit from Scipio, sent
+orders to Hannibal to abandon the war and return to the city. Hannibal
+was compelled to submit; but after having been accustomed, as he had
+been, for many years, to bid defiance to all the armies and fleets
+which Roman power could, with their utmost exertion, bring against
+him, it must have been very hard for such a spirit as his to find
+itself stopped and conquered now by a word. All the force they could
+command against him, even at the very gates of their own city, was
+once impotent and vain. Now, a mere message and threat, coming across
+the distant sea, seeks him out in the remote deserts of Africa, and in
+a moment deprives him of all his power.
+
+Years passed away, and Hannibal, though compelled outwardly to submit
+to his fate, was restless and ill at ease. His scheming spirit,
+spurred on now by the double stimulus of resentment and ambition, was
+always busy, vainly endeavoring to discover some plan by which he
+might again renew the struggle with his ancient foe.
+
+It will be recollected that Carthage was originally a commercial
+colony from Tyre, a city on the eastern shores of the Mediterranean
+Sea. The countries of Syria and Phoenicia were in the vicinity of
+Tyre. They were powerful commercial communities, and they had always
+retained very friendly relations with the Carthaginian commonwealth.
+Ships passed continually to and fro, and always, in case of calamities
+or disasters threatening one of these regions, the inhabitants
+naturally looked to the other for refuge and protection, Carthage
+looking upon Phoenicia as its mother, and Phoenicia regarding
+Carthage as her child. Now there was, at this time, a very powerful
+monarch on the throne in Syria and Phoenicia, named Antiochus. His
+capital was Damascus. He was wealthy and powerful, and was involved in
+some difficulties with the Romans. Their conquests, gradually
+extending eastward, had approached the confines of Antiochus's realms,
+and the two nations were on the brink of war.
+
+Things being in this state, the enemies of Hannibal at Carthage sent
+information to the Roman senate that he was negotiating and plotting
+with Antiochus to combine the Syrian and Carthaginian forces against
+them, and thus plunge the world into another general war. The Romans
+accordingly determined to send an embassage to the Carthaginian
+government, and to demand that Hannibal should be deposed from his
+office, and given up to them a prisoner, in order that he might be
+tried on this charge.
+
+These commissioners came, accordingly, to Carthage, keeping, however,
+the object of their mission a profound secret, since they knew very
+well that, if Hannibal should suspect it, he would make his escape
+before the Carthaginian senate could decide upon the question of
+surrendering him. Hannibal was, however, too wary for them. He
+contrived to learn their object, and immediately resolved on making
+his escape. He knew that his enemies in Carthage were numerous and
+powerful, and that the animosity against him was growing stronger and
+stronger. He did not dare, therefore, to trust to the result of the
+discussion in the senate, but determined to fly.
+
+He had a small castle or tower on the coast, about one hundred and
+fifty miles southeast of Carthage. He sent there by an express,
+ordering a vessel to be ready to take him to sea. He also made
+arrangements to have horsemen ready at one of the gates of the city at
+nightfall. During the day he appeared freely in the public streets,
+walking with an unconcerned air, as if his mind was at ease, and
+giving to the Roman embassadors, who were watching his movements, the
+impression that he was not meditating an escape. Toward the close of
+the day, however, after walking leisurely home, he immediately made
+preparations for his journey. As soon as it was dark he went to the
+gate of the city, mounted the horse which was provided for him, and
+fled across the country to his castle. Here he found the vessel ready
+which he had ordered. He embarked, and put to sea.
+
+There is a small island called Cercina at a little distance from the
+coast. Hannibal reached this island on the same day that he left his
+tower. There was a harbor here, where merchant ships were accustomed
+to come in. He found several Phoenician vessels in the port, some
+bound to Carthage. Hannibal's arrival produced a strong sensation
+here, and, to account for his appearance among them, he said he was
+going on an embassy from the Carthaginian government to Tyre.
+
+He was now afraid that some of these vessels that were about setting
+sail for Carthage might carry the news back of his having being seen
+at Cercina, and, to prevent this, he contrived, with his
+characteristic cunning, the following plan. He sent around to all the
+ship-masters in the port, inviting them to a great entertainment which
+he was to give, and asked, at the same time, that they would lend him
+the main-sails of their ships, to make a great awning with, to shelter
+the guests from the dews of the night. The ship-masters, eager to
+witness and enjoy the convivial scene which Hannibal's proposal
+promised them, accepted the invitation, and ordered their main-sails
+to be taken down. Of course, this confined all their vessels to port.
+In the evening, the company assembled under the vast tent, made by the
+main-sails, on the shore. Hannibal met them, and remained with them
+for a time. In the course of the night, however, when they were all in
+the midst of their carousing, he stole away, embarked on board a ship,
+and set sail, and, before the ship-masters could awake from the deep
+and prolonged slumbers which followed their wine, and rig their
+main-sails to the masts again, Hannibal was far out of reach on his
+way to Syria.
+
+In the mean time, there was a great excitement produced at Carthage
+by the news which spread every where over the city, the day after his
+departure, that he was not to be found. Great crowds assembled before
+his house. Wild and strange rumors circulated in explanation of his
+disappearance, but they were contradictory and impossible, and only
+added to the universal excitement. This excitement continued until the
+vessels at last arrived from Cercina, and made the truth known.
+Hannibal was himself, however, by this time, safe beyond the reach of
+all possible pursuit. He was sailing prosperously, so far as outward
+circumstances were concerned, but dejected and wretched in heart,
+toward Tyre. He landed there in safety, and was kindly received. In a
+few days he went into the interior, and, after various wanderings,
+reached Ephesus, where he found Antiochus, the Syrian king.
+
+As soon as the escape of Hannibal was made known at Carthage, the
+people of the city immediately began to fear that the Romans would
+consider them responsible for it, and that they should thus incur a
+renewal of Roman hostility. In order to avert this danger, they
+immediately sent a deputation to Rome, to make known the fact of
+Hannibal's flight, and to express the regret they felt on account of
+it, in hopes thus to save themselves from the displeasure of their
+formidable foes. It may at first view seem very ungenerous and
+ungrateful in the Carthaginians to abandon their general in this
+manner, in the hour of his misfortune and calamity, and to take part
+against him with enemies whose displeasure he had incurred only in
+their service and in executing their will. And this conduct of the
+Carthaginians would have to be considered as not only ungenerous, but
+extremely inconsistent, if it had been the same individuals that acted
+in the two cases. But it was not. The men and the influences which now
+opposed Hannibal's projects and plans had opposed them always and from
+the beginning; only, so long as he went on successfully and well, they
+were in the minority, and Hannibal's adherents and friends controlled
+all the public action of the city. But, now that the bitter fruits of
+his ambition and of his totally unjustifiable encroachments on the
+Roman territories and Roman rights began to be realized, the party of
+his friends was overturned, the power reverted to the hands of those
+who had always opposed him, and in trying to keep him down when he was
+once fallen, their action, whether politically right or wrong, was
+consistent with itself, and can not be considered as at all subjecting
+them to the charge of ingratitude or treachery.
+
+One might have supposed that all Hannibal's hopes and expectations of
+ever again coping with his great Roman enemy would have been now
+effectually and finally destroyed, and that henceforth he would have
+given up his active hostility and would have contented himself with
+seeking some refuge where he could spend the remainder of his days in
+peace, satisfied with securing, after such dangers and escapes, his
+own personal protection from the vengeance of his enemies. But it is
+hard to quell and subdue such indomitable perseverance and energy as
+his. He was very little inclined yet to submit to his fate. As soon as
+he found himself at the court of Antiochus, he began to form new plans
+for making war against Rome. He proposed to the Syrian monarch to
+raise a naval force and put it under his charge. He said that if
+Antiochus would give him a hundred ships and ten or twelve thousand
+men, he would take the command of the expedition in person, and he did
+not doubt that he should be able to recover his lost ground, and once
+more humble his ancient and formidable enemy. He would go first, he
+said, with his force to Carthage, to get the co-operation and aid of
+his countrymen there in his new plans. Then he would make a descent
+upon Italy, and he had no doubt that he should soon regain the
+ascendency there which he had formerly held.
+
+Hannibal's design of going first to Carthage with his Syrian army was
+doubtless induced by his desire to put down the party of his enemies
+there, and to restore the power to his adherents and partisans. In
+order to prepare the way the more effectually for this, he sent a
+secret messenger to Carthage, while his negotiations with Antiochus
+were going on, to make known to his friends there the new hopes which
+he began to cherish, and the new designs which he had formed. He knew
+that his enemies in Carthage would be watching very carefully for any
+such communication; he therefore wrote no letters, and committed
+nothing to paper which, on being discovered, might betray him. He
+explained, however, all his plans very fully to his messenger, and
+gave him minute and careful instructions as to his manner of
+communicating them.
+
+The Carthaginian authorities were indeed watching very vigilantly, and
+intelligence was brought to them, by their spies, of the arrival of
+this stranger. They immediately took measures for arresting him. The
+messenger, who was himself as vigilant as they, got intelligence of
+this in his secret lurking-place in the city, and determined
+immediately to fly. He, however, first prepared some papers and
+placards, which he posted up in public places, in which he proclaimed
+that Hannibal was far from considering himself finally conquered; that
+he was, on the contrary, forming new plans for putting down his
+enemies in Carthage, resuming his former ascendency there, and
+carrying fire and sword again into the Roman territories; and, in the
+mean time, he urged the friends of Hannibal in Carthage to remain
+faithful and true to his cause.
+
+The messenger, after posting his placards, fled from the city in the
+night, and went back to Hannibal. Of course, the occurrence produced
+considerable excitement in the city. It aroused the anger and
+resentment of Hannibal's enemies, and awakened new encouragement and
+hope in the hearts of his friends. Further than this, however, it led
+to no immediate results. The power of the party which was opposed to
+Hannibal was too firmly established at Carthage to be very easily
+shaken. They sent information to Rome of the coming of Hannibal's
+emissary to Carthage, and of the result of his mission, and then every
+thing went on as before.
+
+In the mean time, the Romans, when they learned where Hannibal had
+gone, sent two or three commissioners there to confer with the Syrian
+government in respect to their intentions and plans, and watch the
+movements of Hannibal. It was said that Scipio himself was joined to
+this embassy, and that he actually met Hannibal at Ephesus, and had
+several personal interviews and conversations with him there. Some
+ancient historian gives a particular account of one of these
+interviews, in which the conversation turned, as it naturally would do
+between two such distinguished commanders, on military greatness and
+glory. Scipio asked Hannibal whom he considered the greatest military
+hero that had ever lived. Hannibal gave the palm to Alexander the
+Great, because he had penetrated, with comparatively a very small
+number of Macedonian troops, into such remote regions, conquered such
+vast armies, and brought so boundless an empire under his sway. Scipio
+then asked him who he was inclined to place next to Alexander. He said
+Pyrrhus. Pyrrhus was a Grecian, who crossed the Adriatic Sea, and
+made war, with great success, against the Romans. Hannibal said that
+he gave the second rank to Pyrrhus because he systematized and
+perfected the art of war, and also because he had the power of
+awakening a feeling of personal attachment to himself on the part of
+all his soldiers, and even of the inhabitants of the countries that he
+conquered, beyond any other general that ever lived. Scipio then asked
+Hannibal who came next in order, and he replied that he should give
+the third rank to himself. "And if," added he, "I had conquered
+Scipio, I should consider myself as standing above Alexander, Pyrrhus,
+and all the generals that the world ever produced."
+
+Various other anecdotes are related of Hannibal during the time of his
+first appearance in Syria, all indicating the very high degree of
+estimation in which he was held, and the curiosity and interest that
+were every where felt to see him. On one occasion, it happened that a
+vain and self-conceited orator, who knew little of war but from his
+own theoretic speculations, was haranguing an assembly where Hannibal
+was present, being greatly pleased with the opportunity of displaying
+his powers before so distinguished an auditor. When the discourse was
+finished, they asked Hannibal what he thought of it. "I have heard,"
+said he, in reply, "many old dotards in the course of my life, but
+this is, verily, the greatest dotard of them all."
+
+Hannibal failed, notwithstanding all his perseverance, in obtaining
+the means to attack the Romans again. He was unwearied in his efforts,
+but, though the king sometimes encouraged his hopes, nothing was ever
+done. He remained in this part of the world for ten years, striving
+continually to accomplish his aims, but every year he found himself
+farther from the attainment of them than ever. The hour of his good
+fortune and of his prosperity were obviously gone. His plans all
+failed, his influence declined, his name and renown were fast passing
+away. At last, after long and fruitless contests with the Romans,
+Antiochus made a treaty of peace with them, and, among the articles of
+this treaty, was one agreeing to give up Hannibal into their power.
+
+Hannibal resolved to fly. The place of refuge which he chose was the
+island of Crete. He found that he could not long remain here. He had,
+however, brought with him a large amount of treasure, and when about
+leaving Crete again, he was uneasy about this treasure, as he had
+some reason to fear that the Cretans were intending to seize it. He
+must contrive, then, some stratagem to enable him to get this gold
+away. The plan he adopted was this:
+
+He filled a number of earthen jars with lead, covering the tops of
+them with gold and silver. These he carried, with great appearance of
+caution and solicitude, to the Temple of Diana, a very sacred edifice,
+and deposited them there, under very special guardianship of the
+Cretans, to whom, as he said, he intrusted all his treasures. They
+received their false deposit with many promises to keep it safely, and
+then Hannibal went away with his real gold cast in the center of
+hollow statues of brass, which he carried with him, without suspicion,
+as objects of art of very little value.
+
+Hannibal fled from kingdom to kingdom, and from province to province,
+until life became a miserable burden. The determined hostility of the
+Roman senate followed him every where, harassing him with continual
+anxiety and fear, and destroying all hope of comfort and peace. His
+mind was a prey to bitter recollections of the past, and still more
+dreadful forebodings for the future. He had spent all the morning of
+his life in inflicting the most terrible injuries on the objects of
+his implacable animosity and hate, although they had never injured
+him, and now, in the evening of his days, it became his destiny to
+feel the pressure of the same terror and suffering inflicted upon
+_him_. The hostility which he had to fear was equally merciless with
+that which he had exercised; perhaps it was made still more intense by
+being mingled with what they who felt it probably considered a just
+resentment and revenge.
+
+When at length Hannibal found that the Romans were hemming him in more
+and more closely, and that the danger increased of his falling at last
+into their power, he had a potion of poison prepared, and kept it
+always in readiness, determined to die by his own hand rather than to
+submit to be given up to his enemies. The time for taking the poison
+at last arrived. The wretched fugitive was then in Bithynia, a kingdom
+of Asia Minor. The King of Bithynia sheltered him for a time, but at
+length agreed to give him up to the Romans. Hannibal learning this,
+prepared for flight. But he found, on attempting his escape, that all
+the modes of exit from the palace which he occupied, even the secret
+ones which he had expressly contrived to aid his flight, were taken
+possession of and guarded. Escape was, therefore, no longer possible,
+and Hannibal went to his apartment and sent for the poison. He was now
+an old man, nearly seventy years of age, and he was worn down and
+exhausted by his protracted anxieties and sufferings. He was glad to
+die. He drank the poison, and in a few hours ceased to breathe.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+THE DESTRUCTION OF CARTHAGE.
+
+B.C. 146-145
+
+Destruction.--The third Punic war.--Chronological table of the
+Punic wars.--Character of the Punic wars.--Intervals between
+them.--Animosities and dissensions.--Numidia.--Numidian
+horsemen.--Masinissa.--Parties at Rome and Carthage.--Their
+differences.--Masinissa prepares for war.--Hasdrubal.--Carthage
+declares war.--Parallel between Hannibal and Hasdrubal.--Battle with
+Masinissa.--Defeat of the Carthaginians.--The younger Scipio.--A
+spectator of the battle.--Negotiations for peace.--Scipio
+made umpire.--Hasdrubal surrenders.--Terms imposed by
+Masinissa.--Carthaginian embassy to Rome.--Their mission
+fruitless.--Another embassy.--The Romans declare war.--Negotiations
+for peace.--The Romans demand hostages.--Cruelty of the hostage
+system.--Return of the embassadors.--Consternation in Carthage.--Its
+deplorable condition.--Selecting the hostages.--The hour of
+parting.--The parting scene.--Grief and despair.--Advance of the
+Roman army.--Surrender of Utica.--Demands of the Romans.--The
+Carthaginians comply.--The Romans demand all the munitions of
+war.--Their great number.--Brutal demands of the Romans.--Carthage
+to be destroyed.--Desperation of the people.--Preparations for
+defense.--Hasdrubal.--Destruction of the Roman fleet.--Horrors
+of the siege.--Heroic valor of the Carthaginians.--Battering
+engines.--Attempt to destroy them.--The city stormed.--A desperate
+struggle.--The people retreat to the citadel.--The city
+fired.--Hasdrubal's wife.--Hasdrubal surrenders.--The citadel
+fired.--Resentment and despair of Hasdrubal's wife.--Carthage
+destroyed.--Its present condition.--War and commerce.--Antagonistic
+principles.--Hannibal's greatness as a military hero.
+
+
+The consequences of Hannibal's reckless ambition, and of his wholly
+unjustifiable aggression on Roman rights to gratify it, did not end
+with his own personal ruin. The flame which he had kindled continued
+to burn until at last it accomplished the entire and irretrievable
+destruction of Carthage. This was effected in a third and final war
+between the Carthaginians and the Romans, which is known in history as
+the third Punic war. With a narrative of the events of this war,
+ending, as it did, in the total destruction of the city, we shall
+close this history of Hannibal.
+
+It will be recollected that the war which Hannibal himself waged
+against Rome was the second in the series, the contest in which
+Regulus figured so prominently having been the first. The one whose
+history is now to be given is the third. The reader will distinctly
+understand the chronological relations of these contests by the
+following table:
+
+                         TABLE.
+
+ +------+--------------------------------------+-------------+
+ | Date |                                      |             |
+ | B.C. |             Events.                  | Punic Wars. |
+ +------+--------------------------------------+-------------+
+ |      |                                      |             |
+ |  264 | War commenced in Sicily            } |             |
+ |      |                                    } |             |
+ |  262 | Naval battles in the Mediterranean } |      I.     |
+ |      |                                    } |             |
+ |  249 | Regulus sent prisoner to Rome      } |  24 years.  |
+ |      |                                    } |             |
+ |  241 | Peace concluded                    } |             |
+ |      |                                      |             |
+ |      |                                      |             |
+ |      |          Peace for 24 years.         |             |
+ |      |                                      |             |
+ |      |                                      |             |
+ |  217 | Hannibal attacks Saguntum          } |             |
+ |      |                                    } |             |
+ |  218 | Crosses the Alps                   } |     II.     |
+ |      |                                    } |             |
+ |  216 | Battle of Cannae                    } |  17 years.  |
+ |      |                                    } |             |
+ |  205 | Is conquered by Scipio             } |             |
+ |      |                                    } |             |
+ |  200 | Peace concluded                    } |             |
+ |      |                                      |             |
+ |      |                                      |             |
+ |      |          Peace for 52 years          |             |
+ |      |                                      |             |
+ |      |                                      |             |
+ |  148 | War declared                       } |     III.    |
+ |      |                                    } |             |
+ |  145 | Carthage destroyed                 } |   3 years.  |
+ +------+--------------------------------------+-------------+
+
+These three Punic wars extended, as the table shows, over a period of
+more than a hundred years. Each successive contest in the series was
+shorter, but more violent and desperate than its predecessor, while
+the intervals of peace were longer. Thus the first Punic war continued
+for twenty-four years, the second about seventeen, and the third only
+three or four. The interval, too, between the first and second was
+twenty-four years, while between the second and third there was a sort
+of peace for about fifty years. These differences were caused, indeed,
+in some degree, by the accidental circumstances on which the
+successive ruptures depended, but they were not entirely owing to that
+cause. The longer these belligerent relations between the two
+countries continued, and the more they both experienced the awful
+effects and consequences of their quarrels, the less disposed they
+were to renew such dreadful struggles, and yet, when they did renew
+them they engaged in them with redoubled energy of determination and
+fresh intensity of hate. Thus the wars followed each other at greater
+intervals, but the conflicts, when they came, though shorter in
+duration, were more and more desperate and merciless in character.
+
+We have said that, after the close of the second Punic war, there was
+a sort of peace for about fifty years. Of course, during this time,
+one generation after another of public men arose, both in Rome and
+Carthage, each successive group, on both sides, inheriting the
+suppressed animosity and hatred which had been cherished by their
+predecessors. Of course, as long as Hannibal had lived, and had
+continued his plots and schemes in Syria, he was the means of keeping
+up a continual irritation among the people of Rome against the
+Carthaginian name. It is true that the government at Carthage
+disavowed his acts, and professed to be wholly opposed to his designs;
+but then it was, of course, very well known at Rome that this was only
+because they thought he was not able to execute them. They had no
+confidence whatever in Carthaginian faith or honesty, and, of course,
+there could be no real harmony or stable peace.
+
+There arose gradually, also, another source of dissension. By
+referring to the map, the reader will perceive that there lies, to the
+westward of Carthage, a country called Numidia. This country was a
+hundred miles or more in breadth, and extended back several hundred
+miles into the interior. It was a very rich and fertile region, and
+contained many powerful and wealthy cities. The inhabitants were
+warlike, too, and were particularly celebrated for their cavalry. The
+ancient historians say that they used to ride their horses into the
+field without saddles, and often without bridles, guiding and
+controlling them by their voices, and keeping their seats securely by
+the exercise of great personal strength and consummate skill. These
+Numidian horsemen are often alluded to in the narratives of Hannibal's
+campaigns, and, in fact, in all the military histories of the times.
+
+Among the kings who reigned in Numidia was one who had taken sides
+with the Romans in the second Punic war. His name was Masinissa. He
+became involved in some struggle for power with a neighboring monarch
+named Syphax, and while he, that is, Masinissa, had allied himself to
+the Romans, Syphax had joined the Carthaginians, each chieftain
+hoping, by this means, to gain assistance from his allies in
+conquering the other. Masinissa's patrons proved to be the strongest,
+and at the end of the second Punic war, when the conditions of peace
+were made, Masinissa's dominions were enlarged, and the undisturbed
+possession of them confirmed to him, the Carthaginians being bound by
+express stipulations not to molest him in any way.
+
+In commonwealths like those of Rome and Carthage, there will always be
+two great parties struggling against each other for the possession of
+power. Each wishes to avail itself of every opportunity to oppose and
+thwart the other, and they consequently almost always take different
+sides in all the great questions of public policy that arise. There
+were two such parties at Rome, and they disagreed in respect to the
+course which should be pursued in regard to Carthage, one being
+generally in favor of peace, the other perpetually calling for war. In
+the same manner there was at Carthage a similar dissension, the one
+side in the contest being desirous to propitiate the Romans and avoid
+collisions with them, while the other party were very restless and
+uneasy under the pressure of the Roman power upon them, and were
+endeavoring continually to foment feelings of hostility against their
+ancient enemies, as if they wished that war should break out again.
+The latter party were not strong enough to bring the Carthaginian
+state into an open rupture with Rome itself, but they succeeded at
+last in getting their government involved in a dispute with Masinissa,
+and in leading out an army to give him battle.
+
+Fifty years had passed away, as has already been remarked, since the
+close of Hannibal's war. During this time, Scipio--that is, the Scipio
+who conquered Hannibal--had disappeared from the stage. Masinissa
+himself was very far advanced in life, being over eighty years of age.
+He, however, still retained the strength and energy which had
+characterized him in his prime. He drew together an immense army, and
+mounting, like his soldiers, bare-back upon his horse, he rode from
+rank to rank, gave the necessary commands, and matured the
+arrangements for battle.
+
+The name of the Carthaginian general on this occasion was Hasdrubal.
+This was a very common name at Carthage, especially among the friends
+and family of Hannibal. The bearer of it, in this case, may possibly
+have received it from his parents in commemoration of the brother of
+Hannibal, who lost his head in descending into Italy from the Alps,
+inasmuch as during the fifty years of peace which had elapsed, there
+was ample time for a child born after that event to grow up to full
+maturity. At any rate, the new Hasdrubal inherited the inveterate
+hatred to Rome which characterized his namesake, and he and his party
+had contrived to gain a temporary ascendency in Carthage, and they
+availed themselves of their brief possession of power to renew,
+indirectly at least, the contest with Rome. They sent the rival
+leaders into banishment, raised an army, and Hasdrubal himself taking
+the command of it, they went forth in great force to encounter
+Masinissa.
+
+It was in a way very similar to this that Hannibal had commenced his
+war with Rome, by seeking first a quarrel with a Roman ally. Hannibal,
+it is true, had commenced his aggressions at Saguntum, in Spain.
+Hasdrubal begins in Numidia, in Africa, but, with the exception of the
+difference of geographical locality, all seems the same, and Hasdrubal
+very probably supposed that he was about to enter himself upon the
+same glorious career which had immortalized his great ancestor's name.
+
+There was another analogy between the two cases, viz., that both
+Hannibal and Hasdrubal had strong parties opposed to them in Carthage
+in the incipient stages of their undertakings. In the present
+instance, the opposition had been violently suppressed, and the
+leaders of it sent into banishment; but still the elements remained,
+ready, in case of any disaster to Hasdrubal's arms, or any other
+occurrence tending to diminish his power, to rise at once and put him
+down. Hasdrubal had therefore a double enemy to contend against: one
+before him, on the battle-field, and the other, perhaps still more
+formidable, in the city behind him.
+
+The parallel, however, ends here. Hannibal conquered at Saguntum, but
+Hasdrubal was entirely defeated in the battle in Numidia. The battle
+was fought long and desperately on both sides, but the Carthaginians
+were obliged to yield, and they retreated at length in confusion to
+seek shelter in their camp. The battle was witnessed by a Roman
+officer who stood upon a neighboring hill, and looked down upon the
+scene with intense interest all the day. It was Scipio--the younger
+Scipio--who became afterward the principal actor in the terrible
+scenes which were enacted in the war which followed. He was then a
+distinguished officer in the Roman army, and was on duty in Spain. His
+commanding general there had sent him to Africa to procure some
+elephants from Masinissa for the use of the army. He came to Numidia,
+accordingly, for this purpose, and as the battle between Masinissa and
+Hasdrubal came on while he was there, he remained to witness it.
+
+This second Scipio was not, by blood, any relative of the other, but
+he had been adopted by the elder Scipio's son, and thus received his
+name; so that he was, by adoption, a grandson. He was, even at this
+time, a man of high consideration among all who knew him, for his
+great energy and efficiency of character, as well as for his sound
+judgment and practical good sense. He occupied a very singular
+position at the time of this battle, such as very few great commanders
+have ever been placed in; for, as he himself was attached to a Roman
+army in Spain, having been sent merely as a military messenger to
+Numidia, he was a neutral in this contest, and could not, properly,
+take part on either side. He had, accordingly, only to take his place
+upon the hill, and look down upon the awful scene as upon a spectacle
+arranged for his special gratification. He speaks of it as if he were
+highly gratified with the opportunity he enjoyed, saying that only two
+such cases had ever occurred before, where a general could look down,
+in such a way, upon a great battle-field, and witness the whole
+progress of the fight, himself a cool and disinterested spectator. He
+was greatly excited by the scene and he speaks particularly of the
+appearance of the veteran Masinissa, then eighty-four years old, who
+rode all day from rank to rank, on a wild and impetuous charger,
+without a saddle, to give his orders to his men, and to encourage and
+animate them by his voice and his example.
+
+Hasdrubal retreated with his forces to his camp as soon as the battle
+was over, and intrenched himself there, while Masinissa advanced with
+his army, surrounded the encampment, and hemmed the imprisoned
+fugitives in. Finding himself in extreme and imminent danger,
+Hasdrubal sent to Masinissa to open negotiations for peace, and he
+proposed that Scipio should act as a sort of umpire or mediator
+between the two parties, to arrange the terms. Scipio was not likely
+to be a very impartial umpire; but still, his interposition would
+afford him, as Hasdrubal thought, some protection against any
+excessive and extreme exorbitancy on the part of his conqueror. The
+plan, however, did not succeed. Even Scipio's terms were found by
+Hasdrubal to be inadmissible. He required that the Carthaginians
+should accord to Masinissa a certain extension of territory. Hasdrubal
+was willing to assent to this. They were to pay him, also, a large sum
+of money. He agreed, also to this. They were, moreover, to allow
+Hasdrubal's banished opponents to return to Carthage. This, by putting
+the party opposed to Hasdrubal once more into power in Carthage, would
+have been followed by his own fall and ruin; he could not consent to
+it. He remained, therefore, shut up in his camp, and Scipio, giving up
+the hope of effecting an accommodation, took the elephants which had
+been provided for him, and returned across the Mediterranean to Spain.
+
+Soon after this, Hasdrubal's army, worn out with hunger and misery in
+their camp, compelled him to surrender on Masinissa's own terms. The
+men were allowed to go free, but most of them perished on the way to
+Carthage. Hasdrubal himself succeeded in reaching some place of
+safety, but the influence of his party was destroyed by the disastrous
+result of his enterprise, and his exiled enemies being recalled in
+accordance with the treaty of surrender, the opposing party were
+immediately restored to power.
+
+Under these new councils, the first measure of the Carthaginians was
+to impeach Hasdrubal on a charge of treason, for having involved his
+country in these difficulties, and the next was to send a solemn
+embassy to Rome, to acknowledge the fault of which their nation had
+been guilty, to offer to surrender Hasdrubal into their hands, as the
+principal author of the deed, and to ask what further satisfaction the
+Romans demanded.
+
+In the mean time, before these messengers arrived, the Romans had been
+deliberating what to do. The strongest party were in favor of urging
+on the quarrel with Carthage and declaring war. They had not, however,
+come to any positive decision. They received the deputation,
+therefore, very coolly, and made them no direct reply. As to the
+satisfaction which the Carthaginians ought to render to the Romans for
+having made war upon their ally contrary to the solemn covenants of
+the treaty, they said that that was a question for the Carthaginians
+themselves to consider. They had nothing at present to say upon the
+subject. The deputies returned to Carthage with this reply, which, of
+course, produced great uneasiness and anxiety.
+
+The Carthaginians were more and more desirous now to do every thing in
+their power to avert the threatened danger of Roman hostility. They
+sent a new embassy to Rome, with still more humble professions than
+before. The embassy set sail from Carthage with very little hope,
+however, of accomplishing the object of their mission. They were
+authorized, nevertheless, to make the most unlimited concessions, and
+to submit to any conditions whatever to avert the calamity of another
+war.
+
+But the Romans had been furnished with a pretext for commencing
+hostilities again, and there was a very strong party among them now
+who were determined to avail themselves of this opportunity to
+extinguish entirely the Carthaginian power. War had, accordingly, been
+declared by the Roman senate very soon after the first embassy had
+returned, a fleet and army had been raised and equipped, and the
+expedition had sailed. When, therefore, the embassy arrived in Rome,
+they found that the war, which it was the object of their mission to
+avert, had been declared.
+
+The Romans, however, gave them audience. The embassadors expressed
+their willingness to submit to any terms that the senate might propose
+for arresting the war. The senate replied that they were willing to
+make a treaty with the Carthaginians, on condition that the latter
+were to surrender themselves entirely to the Roman power, and bind
+themselves to obey such orders as the consuls, on their arrival in
+Africa with the army, should issue; the Romans, on their part,
+guarantying that they should continue in the enjoyment of their
+liberty, of their territorial possessions, and of their laws. As
+proof, however, of the Carthaginian honesty of purpose in making the
+treaty, and security for their future submission, they were required
+to give up to the Romans three hundred hostages. These hostages were
+to be young persons from the first families in Carthage, the sons of
+the men who were most prominent in society there, and whose influence
+might be supposed to control the action of the nation.
+
+The embassadors could not but consider these as very onerous terms.
+They did not know what orders the consuls would give them on their
+arrival in Africa, and they were required to put the commonwealth
+wholly into their power. Besides, in the guarantee which the Romans
+offered them, their _territories_ and their _laws_ were to be
+protected, but nothing was said of their cities, their ships, or their
+arms and munitions of war. The agreement there, if executed, would put
+the Carthaginian commonwealth wholly at the mercy of their masters, in
+respect to all those things which were in those days most valuable to
+a nation as elements of power. Still, the embassadors had been
+instructed to make peace with the Romans on any terms, and they
+accordingly acceded to these, though with great reluctance. They were
+especially averse to the agreement in respect to the hostages.
+
+This system, which prevailed universally in ancient times, of having
+the government of one nation surrender the children of the most
+distinguished citizens to that of another, as security for the
+fulfillment of its treaty stipulations, was a very cruel hardship to
+those who had to suffer the separation; but it would seem that there
+was no other security strong enough to hold such lawless powers as
+governments were in those days, to their word. Stern and rough as the
+men of those warlike nations often were, mothers were the same then as
+now, and they suffered quite as keenly in seeing their children sent
+away from them, to pine in a foreign land, in hopeless exile, for many
+years; in danger, too, continually, of the most cruel treatment, and
+even of death itself, to revenge some alleged governmental wrong.
+
+Of course, the embassadors knew, when they returned to Carthage with
+these terms, that they were bringing heavy tidings. The news, in fact,
+when it came, threw the community into the most extreme distress. It
+is said that the whole city was filled with cries and lamentations.
+The mothers, who felt that they were about to be bereaved, beat their
+breasts, and tore their hair, and manifested by every other sign their
+extreme and unmitigated woe. They begged and entreated their husbands
+and fathers not to consent to such cruel and intolerable conditions.
+They could not, and they would not give up their children.
+
+The husbands and the fathers, however, felt compelled to resist all
+these entreaties. They could not now undertake to resist the Roman
+will. Their army had been well-nigh destroyed in the battle with
+Masinissa; their city was consequently defenseless, and the Roman
+fleet had already reached its African port, and the troops were
+landed. There was no possible way, it appeared, of saving themselves
+and their city from absolute destruction, but entire submission to the
+terms which their stern conquerors had imposed upon them.
+
+The hostages were required to be sent, within thirty days, to the
+island of Sicily, to a port on the western extremity of the island,
+called Lilybaeum. Lilybaeum was the port in Sicily nearest to Carthage,
+being perhaps at a distance of a hundred miles across the waters of
+the Mediterranean Sea. A Roman escort was to be ready to receive them
+there and conduct them to Rome. Although thirty days were allowed to
+the Carthaginians to select and send forward the hostages, they
+determined not to avail themselves of this offered delay, but to send
+the unhappy children forward at once, that they might testify to the
+Roman senate, by this their promptness, that they were very earnestly
+desirous to propitiate their favor.
+
+The children were accordingly designated, one from each of the leading
+families in the city, and three hundred in all. The reader must
+imagine the heart-rending scenes of suffering which must have
+desolated these three hundred families and homes, when the stern and
+inexorable edict came to each of them that one loved member of the
+household must be selected to go. And when, at last, the hour arrived
+for their departure, and they assembled upon the pier, the picture was
+one of intense and unmingled suffering. The poor exiles stood
+bewildered with terror and grief, about to part with all that they
+ever held dear--their parents, their brothers and sisters, and their
+native land--to go they knew not whither, under the care of
+iron-hearted soldiers, who seemed to know no feelings of tenderness or
+compassion for their woes. Their disconsolate mothers wept and groaned
+aloud, clasping the loved ones who were about to be torn forever from
+them in their arms, in a delirium of maternal affection and
+irrepressible grief; their brothers and sisters, and their youthful
+friends stood by, some almost frantic with emotions which they did not
+attempt to suppress, others mute and motionless in their sorrow,
+shedding bitter tears of anguish, or gazing wildly on the scene with
+looks of despair; while the fathers, whose stern duty it was to pass
+through this scene unmoved, walked to and fro restlessly, in deep but
+silent distress, spoke in broken and incoherent words to one another,
+and finally aided, by a mixture of persuasion and gentle force, in
+drawing the children away from their mothers' arms, and getting them
+on board the vessels which were to convey them away. The vessels made
+sail, and passed off slowly from the shore. The mothers watched them
+till they could no longer be seen, and then returned, disconsolate and
+wretched, to their homes; and then the grief and agitation of this
+parting scene was succeeded by the anxious suspense which now
+pervaded the whole city to learn what new dangers and indignities
+they were to suffer from the approaching Roman army, which they knew
+must now be well on its way.
+
+The Roman army landed at Utica. Utica was a large city to the north of
+Carthage, not far from it, and upon the same bay. When the people of
+Utica found that another serious collision was to take place between
+Rome and Carthage, they had foreseen what would probably be the end of
+the contest, and they had decided that, in order to save themselves
+from the ruin which was plainly impending over the sister city, they
+must abandon her to her fate, and make common cause with Rome. They
+had, accordingly, sent deputies to the Roman senate, offering to
+surrender Utica to their power. The Romans had accepted the
+submission, and had made this city, in consequence, the port of
+debarkation for their army.
+
+As soon as the news arrived at Carthage that the Roman army had landed
+at Utica, the people sent deputies to inquire what were the orders of
+the consuls, for it will be recollected they had bound themselves by
+the treaty to obey the orders which the consuls were to bring. They
+found, when they arrived there, that the bay was covered with the
+Roman shipping. There were fifty vessels of war, of three banks of
+oars each, and a vast number of transports besides. There was, too, in
+the camp upon the shore, a force of eighty thousand foot soldiers and
+four thousand horse, all armed and equipped in the most perfect
+manner.
+
+The deputies were convinced that this was a force which it was in vain
+for their countrymen to think of resisting. They asked, trembling, for
+the consuls' orders. The consuls informed them that the orders of the
+Roman senate were, first, that the Carthaginians should furnish them
+with a supply of corn for the subsistence of their troops. The
+deputies went back to Carthage with the demand.
+
+The Carthaginians resolved to comply. They were bound by their treaty
+and by the hostages they had given, as well as intimidated by the
+presence of the Roman force. They furnished the corn.
+
+The consuls, soon after this, made another demand of the
+Carthaginians. It was, that they should surrender to them all their
+vessels of war. They were more unwilling to comply with this
+requisition than with the other; but they assented at last. They hoped
+that the demands of their enemies would stop here, and that,
+satisfied with having weakened them thus far, they would go away and
+leave them; they could then build new ships again when better times
+should return.
+
+But the Romans were not satisfied yet. They sent a third order, that
+the Carthaginians should deliver up all their arms, military stores,
+and warlike machines of every kind, by sending them into the Roman
+camp. The Carthaginians were rendered almost desperate by this
+requisition. Many were determined that they would not submit to it,
+but would resist at all hazards. Others despaired of all possibility
+of resisting now, and gave up all as lost; while the three hundred
+families from which the hostages had gone, trembled for the safety of
+the captive children, and urged compliance with the demand. The
+advocates for submission finally gained the day. The arms were
+collected, and carried in an immensely long train of wagons to the
+Roman camp. There were two hundred thousand complete suits of armor,
+with darts and javelins without number, and two thousand military
+engines for hurling beams of wood and stones. Thus Carthage was
+disarmed.
+
+All these demands, however unreasonable and cruel as the
+Carthaginians deemed them, were only preliminary to the great final
+determination, the announcement of which the consuls had reserved for
+the end. When the arms had all been delivered, the consuls announced
+to their now defenseless victims that the Roman senate had come to the
+determination that Carthage was to be destroyed. They gave orders,
+accordingly, that the inhabitants should all leave the city, which, as
+soon as it should be thus vacated, was to be burned. They might take
+with them such property as they could carry; and they were at liberty
+to build, in lieu of this their fortified sea-port, an inland town,
+not less than ten miles' distance from the sea, only it must have no
+walls or fortifications of any kind. As soon as the inhabitants were
+gone, Carthage, the consuls said, was to be destroyed.
+
+The announcement of this entirely unparalleled and intolerable
+requisition threw the whole city into a phrensy of desperation. They
+could not, and would not submit to this. The entreaties and
+remonstrances of the friends of the hostages were all silenced or
+overborne in the burst of indignation and anger which arose from the
+whole city. The gates were closed. The pavements of the streets were
+torn up, and buildings demolished to obtain stones, which were
+carried up upon the ramparts to serve instead of weapons. The slaves
+were all liberated, and stationed on the walls to aid in the defense.
+Every body that could work at a forge was employed in fabricating
+swords, spear-heads, pikes, and such other weapons as could be formed
+with the greatest facility and dispatch. They used all the iron and
+brass that could be obtained, and then melted down vases and statues
+of the precious metals, and tipped their spears with an inferior
+pointing of silver and gold. In the same manner, when the supplies of
+flax and hempen twine for cordage for their bows failed, the beautiful
+sisters and mothers of the hostages cut off their long hair, and
+twisted and braided it into cords to be used as bow-strings for
+propelling the arrows which their husbands and brothers made. In a
+word, the wretched Carthaginians had been pushed beyond the last limit
+of human endurance, and had aroused themselves to a hopeless
+resistance in a sort of phrensy of despair.
+
+The reader will recollect that, after the battle with Masinissa,
+Hasdrubal lost all his influence in Carthage, and was, to all
+appearance, hopelessly ruined. He had not, however, then given up the
+struggle. He had contrived to assemble the remnant of his army in the
+neighborhood of Carthage. His forces had been gradually increasing
+during these transactions, as those who were opposed to these
+concessions to the Romans naturally gathered around him. He was now in
+his camp, not far from the city, at the head of twenty thousand men.
+Finding themselves in so desperate an emergency, the Carthaginians
+sent to him to come to their succor. He very gladly obeyed the
+summons. He sent around to all the territories still subject to
+Carthage, and gathered fresh troops, and collected supplies of arms
+and of food. He advanced to the relief of the city. He compelled the
+Romans, who were equally astonished at the resistance they met with
+from within the walls, and at this formidable onset from without, to
+retire a little, and intrench themselves in their camp, in order to
+secure their own safety. He sent supplies of food into the city. He
+also contrived to fit up, secretly, a great many fire-ships in the
+harbor, and, setting them in flames, let them drift down upon the
+Roman fleet, which was anchored in supposed security in the bay. The
+plan was so skillfully managed that the Roman ships were almost all
+destroyed. Thus the face of affairs was changed. The Romans found
+themselves disappointed for the present of their prey. They confined
+themselves to their encampment, and sent home to the Roman senate for
+new re-enforcements and supplies.
+
+In a word, the Romans found that, instead of having only to effect,
+unresisted, the simple destruction of a city, they were involved in
+what would, perhaps, prove a serious and a protracted war. The war
+did, in fact, continue for two or three years--a horrible war, almost
+of extermination, on both sides. Scipio came with the Roman army, at
+first as a subordinate officer; but his bravery, his sagacity, and the
+success of some of his almost romantic exploits, soon made him an
+object of universal regard. At one time, a detachment of the army,
+which he succeeded in releasing from a situation of great peril in
+which they had been placed, testified their gratitude by platting a
+crown of _grass_, and placing it upon his brow with great ceremony and
+loud acclamations.
+
+The Carthaginians did every thing in the prosecution of this war that
+the most desperate valor could do; but Scipio's cool, steady, and
+well-calculated plans made irresistible progress, and hemmed them in
+at last, within narrower and narrower limits, by a steadily-increasing
+pressure, from which they found it impossible to break away.
+
+Scipio had erected a sort of mole or pier upon the water near the
+city, on which he had erected many large and powerful engines to
+assault the walls. One night a large company of Carthaginians took
+torches, not lighted, in their hands, together with some sort of
+apparatus for striking fire, and partly by wading and partly by
+swimming, they made their way through the water of the harbor toward
+these machines. When they were sufficiently near, they struck their
+lights and set their torches on fire. The Roman soldiers who had been
+stationed to guard the machines were seized with terror at seeing all
+these flashing fires burst out suddenly over the surface of the water,
+and fled in dismay. The Carthaginians set the abandoned engines on
+fire, and then, throwing their now useless torches into the flames,
+plunged into the water again, and swam back in safety. But all this
+desperate bravery did very little good. Scipio quietly repaired the
+engines, and the siege went on as before.
+
+But we can not describe in detail all the particulars of this
+protracted and terrible struggle. We must pass on to the closing
+scene, which as related by the historians of the day, is an almost
+incredible series of horrors. After an immense number had been killed
+in the assaults which had been made upon the city, besides the
+thousands and thousands which had died of famine, and of the exposures
+and hardships incident to such a siege, the army of Scipio succeeded
+in breaking their way through the gates, and gaining admission to the
+city. Some of the inhabitants were now disposed to contend no longer,
+but to cast themselves at the mercy of the conqueror. Others, furious
+in their despair, were determined to fight to the last, not willing to
+give up the pleasure of killing all they could of their hated enemies,
+even to save their lives. They fought, therefore, from street to
+street, retreating gradually as the Romans advanced, till they found
+refuge in the citadel. One band of Scipio's soldiers mounted to the
+tops of the houses, the roofs being flat, and fought their way there,
+while another column advanced in the same manner in the streets below.
+No imagination can conceive the uproar and din of such an assault upon
+a populous city--a horrid mingling of the vociferated commands of the
+officers, and of the shouts of the advancing and victorious
+assailants, with the screams of terror from affrighted women and
+children, and dreadful groans and imprecations from men dying maddened
+with unsatisfied revenge, and biting the dust in an agony of pain.
+
+The more determined of the combatants, with Hasdrubal at their head,
+took possession of the citadel, which was a quarter of the city
+situated upon an eminence, and strongly fortified. Scipio advanced to
+the walls of this fortification, and set that part of the city on fire
+which lay nearest to it. The fire burned for six days, and opened a
+large area, which afforded the Roman troops room to act. When the
+troops were brought up to the area thus left vacant by the fire, and
+the people within the citadel saw that their condition was hopeless,
+there arose, as there always does in such cases, the desperate
+struggle within the walls whether to persist in resistance or to
+surrender in despair. There was an immense mass, not far from sixty
+thousand, half women and children, who were determined on going out to
+surrender themselves to Scipio's mercy, and beg for their lives.
+Hasdrubal's wife, leading her two children by her side, earnestly
+entreated her husband to allow her to go with them. But he refused.
+There was a body of deserters from the Roman camp in the citadel, who,
+having no possible hope of escaping destruction except by desperate
+resistance to the last, Hasdrubal supposed would never yield. He
+committed his wife and children, therefore, to their charge, and these
+deserters, seeking refuge in a great temple within the citadel, bore
+the frantic mother with them to share their fate.
+
+Hasdrubal's determination, however, to resist the Romans to the last,
+soon after this gave way, and he determined to surrender. He is
+accused of the most atrocious treachery in attempting thus to save
+himself, after excluding his wife and children from all possibility of
+escaping destruction. But the confusion and din of such a scene, the
+suddenness and violence with which the events succeed each other, and
+the tumultuous and uncontrollable mental agitation to which they give
+rise, deprive a man who is called to act in it of all sense and
+reason, and exonerate him, almost as much, from moral responsibility
+for what he does, as if he were insane. At any rate, Hasdrubal, after
+shutting up his wife and children with a furious gang of desperadoes
+who could not possibly surrender, surrendered himself, perhaps hoping
+that he might save them after all.
+
+The Carthaginian soldiers, following Hasdrubal's example, opened the
+gates of the citadel, and let the conqueror in. The deserters were now
+made absolutely desperate by their danger, and some of them, more
+furious than the rest, preferring to die by their own hands rather
+than to give their hated enemies the pleasure of killing them, set the
+building in which they were shut up in on fire. The miserable inmates
+ran to and fro, half suffocated by the smoke and scorched by the
+flames. Many of them reached the roof. Hasdrubal's wife and children
+were among the number. She looked down from this elevation, the
+volumes of smoke and flame rolling up around her, and saw her husband
+standing below with the Roman general--perhaps looking, in
+consternation, for his wife and children, amid this scene of horror.
+The sight of the husband and father in a position of safety made the
+wife and mother perfectly furious with resentment and anger. "Wretch!"
+she screamed, in a voice which raised itself above the universal din,
+"is it thus you seek to save your own life while you sacrifice ours? I
+can not reach you in your own person, but I kill you hereby in the
+persons of your children." So saying, she stabbed her affrighted sons
+with a dagger, and hurled them down, struggling all the time against
+their insane mother's phrensy, into the nearest opening from which
+flames were ascending, and then leaped in after them herself to share
+their awful doom.
+
+The Romans, when they had gained possession of the city, took most
+effectual measures for its complete destruction. The inhabitants were
+scattered into the surrounding country, and the whole territory was
+converted into a Roman province. Some attempts were afterward made to
+rebuild the city, and it was for a long time a place of some resort,
+as men lingered mournfully there in huts that they built among the
+ruins. It, however, was gradually forsaken, the stones crumbled and
+decayed, vegetation regained possession of the soil, and now there is
+nothing whatever to mark the spot where the city lay.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+War and commerce are the two great antagonistic principles which
+struggle for the mastery of the human race, the function of the one
+being to preserve, and that of the other to destroy. Commerce causes
+cities to be built and fields to be cultivated, and diffuses comfort
+and plenty, and all the blessings of industry and peace. It carries
+organization and order every where; it protects property and life; it
+disarms pestilence, and it prohibits famine. War, on the other hand,
+_destroys_. It disorganizes the social state. It ruins cities,
+depopulates fields, condemns men to idleness and want, and the only
+remedy it knows for the evils which it brings upon man is to shorten
+the miseries of its victims by giving pestilence and famine the most
+ample commission to destroy their lives. Thus war is the great enemy,
+while commerce is the great friend of humanity. They are antagonistic
+principles, contending continually for the mastery among all the
+organizations of men.
+
+When Hannibal appeared upon the stage, he found his country engaged
+peacefully and prosperously in exchanging the productions of the
+various countries of the then known world, and promoting every where
+the comfort and happiness of mankind. He contrived to turn all these
+energies into the new current of military aggression, conquest, and
+war. He perfectly succeeded. We certainly have in his person and
+history all the marks and characteristics of a great military hero. He
+gained the most splendid victories, devastated many lands,
+embarrassed and stopped the commercial intercourse which was carrying
+the comforts of life to so many thousand homes, and spread, instead of
+them, every where, privation, want, and terror, with pestilence and
+famine in their train. He kept the country of his enemies in a state
+of incessant anxiety, suffering, and alarm for many years, and
+overwhelmed his own native land, in the end, in absolute and
+irresistible ruin. In a word, he was one of the greatest military
+heroes that the world has ever known.
+
+                         THE END.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Hannibal, by Jacob Abbott
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