was doubled, and every legion augmented with an addition of a thousand foot, and an hundred horse. The strength of Hannibal's army lay in his horse, for which reason L. Paulus declined engaging in the open plain. Besides, the Carthaginians were in great distress for want of provisions, and could not possibly subsist ten days in the country, so that the Spanish troops were upon the point of disbanding. The armies continued some days in view of each other, till at last, after different motions, Varro, notwithstanding the remonstrances of his colleague, came to an engagement near the little village of Cannæ. The ground was very favourable to the Carthaginians; and Hannibal, who knew how to improve every circumstance, drew up his army in such a manner, that the wind [a] Vulturnus, which rose at a certain regular time, blew directly upon the faces of the Romans during the battle, and poured a shower of dust upon them. The battle was fought. I shall not relate the particulars of it; the curious reader may find them in Polybius and Livy, and especially in the former, who, being himself, a soldier, must have succeeded better than the other, in relating all the circumstances of so memorable an action. The victory was long disputed, and at last became complete on the side of the Carthaginians. The consul L. Paulus was mortally wounded, and above fifty thousand men left dead in the field, and amongst them the best part of the officers. Varro, the other consul, escaped to Venusia, with no more than seventy horsemen. 66 Maharbal, one of the Carthaginian generals, advised Hannibal to march directly to Rome, without losing time, promising him that within five days he should sup in the capitol. And upon the other's reply, that he must take time to consider of that: I see, [b] says Maharbal, the gods have not given "the same man all talents at once. You know how "to conquer, Hannibal; not how to improve the nimirum eidem dii dedere. Vincere scis. Annibal : victoriâ uti nescis [a] It is a wind blowing from the south, which way the Romans having implored the assistance of the gods by public prayers and sacrifices, the magistrates, encouraged by the prudent counsels and firm resolution of Fabius, made all proper dispositions, and provided for the security of the city. They immediately raised four legions, and a thousand horse, and granted a dispensation of age to several that were not quite seventeen years old. The allies also raised new levies. Ten Roman officers, that were dismissed by Hanibal upon their parole, came to Rome to require a ransom for the prisoners. But though the republic was in great distress for soldiers, they constantly refused to redeem them, that they might not injure the Roman discipline, which punished without pity whoever voluntarily submitted to the enemy; and they chose rather to arm the slaves they bought of private persons, to the number of eight thousand, and the prisoners confined for debt or crimes, which amounted to six thousand more; [d] the necessary taking place of the decent, ays the historian, in this sad conjuncture. At Rome, the zeal of particular persons, and regard for the public, shone out at this time in a wonlerful manner. But the case was not the same with he allies. The preceding losses had not been able o shake their fidelity; but this last stroke, which, as hey thought, must determine the ruin of the republic, hey could not withstand, and several of them went ver to the conqueror's side. And yet neither the loss of so many troops, nor the revolt of so many of their llies, could induce the Roman people to give any ar to an accommodation. [e] Instead of losing courage, [c] Mora ejus diei satis creditur aluti fuisse urbi atque imperio. Ib. [d] Ad ultimum propè desperate ipublicæ auxilium, cùm honesta utilibus cedunt, descendit. Liv. lib. xxiii. n. 14. [e] Adeo magno animo civitas fuit, ut consuli ex tantâ clade, cu rage, they never shewed so great magnanimity; and' when the consul returned to Rome, after so considerable an overthrow, whereof he had been the principal cause, all the orders of the state went out to meet him, and returned him thanks for not having despaired of the republic; whereas at Carthage, no punishment would have been great enough for a general after such a disgrace. Capua was one of the allied cities, which surrendered to Hannibal: but the stay he made there with his troops during the winter, proved very fatal to him. [f] That manly courage, which no misfortunes, no fatigues, had been able to subdue, was entirely enervated by the pleasures of Capua, which the soldiers ran into with the greater gust from being the less accustomed to them. This fault of Hannibal, in the opinion of good judges, was greater than the mistake in not marching directly to Rome after the battle of Cannæ. For the delay might seem only to have retarded the victory, whereas this last circumstance absolutely lost him the power of conquering. †Thus Capua was to Hannibal what Cannæ had been to the Romans. SCIPIO CHOSEN GENERAL, RESTORES THE AFFAIRS OF SPAIN. The death of the two Scipios, the father and uncle, of him I am about to speak of, seemed likely to ruin entirely the Roman affairs in Spain, which hitherto had been very successful. It is a question, whether it occasioned greater mourning at Rome, or in Spain. For the defeat of the two armies, the almost certain loss jus ipse causa maxima fuisset, redeunti, & obviam itum frequenter ab omnibus ordinibus sit, & gratiæ actæ quod de republicâ non desperasset; cui, si ductor Carthaginiensium fuisset nihil recusandum supplicii foret. Liv. lib. xxii. n. 61. [] Quos nulla mali vicerat vis, perdidere nimia bona ac voluptates serant... Majusque id peccatum ducis apud peritos artium militarium habitum est, quàm quòd non ex Cannensi acie protinus ad urbem Romanam duxisset. Illa enim cunctatio distulisse modò victoriam videri potuit; hic error vires ademisse ad vincendum. Liv. I. xxiii, n, 18, + Capuam Annibali Cannas fu hem relish the Roman justice and moderation. [h] Tears flowed afresh at Rome, when they met o appoint a successor to those two great men. The ffairs of that province appeared so desperate, that no ody presumed to offer himself as a candidate for the lace; and the mournful silence, which reigned in the -hole assembly, made them more sensibly regret the oss they had sustained. In this universal consternaon, Publius Corn. Scipio, a youth of four and twenty, e son of Publius who was lately slain, rises up, and, anding in an higher place than the rest, offers to go nd command in Spain, if the people would accept of s service. This courageous offer gives life and joy the assembly, and all without exception unanimously ect him general. But as soon as the first heat was er, and the people reflected upon Scipio's age, they gan to repent of what they had done. Some even ew a scornful presage from his name and family, en they considered that they sent him into a proace, where he was to fight over the graves of his faer and uncle. Scipio perceiving they grew cool, de a speech to them so full of confidence, and spoke Eh so much discretion of his own age, and the hour they had done him, as also of the war that he untook, that he at once entirely dispersed the people's rs, and rekindled the ardour, with which they had ferred the command upon him. The same Scipio ne years before having demanded the edileship be e the time expressed by the laws, and the tribunes that reason opposing his demand, "[i] if the peo ] Hispaniæ ipsos lugebant deabantque duces. Cnæum tamagis, quò diutiùs præfuerat priorque & favorem occupave specimen justitiæ temperan Liv. lib. xxv. n. 36. [b] Lib. xxvi. n. 18, 19. tes dilem facere volunt, satis an- ple, says he, unanimously think proper to chuse me "edile, I am then old enough. Scipio's arrival in Spain inspired the troops with fresh courage. [4] They discerned with joy the lines and resemblance of his father and uncle in his countenance; and in the first speech he made them, he told them, that he hoped they would soon likewise discern in him the same spirit, the same courage, and the same integrity. His promises were not without effect. His first enterprise was the siege of Carthagena, the richest, and at the same time the strongest city in Spain. It was the repository of the enemies arms, their arsenal, magazine, treasury, and place of security, where they laid up whatever was necessary for the subsistence of their armies, and where all the hostages of princes and people were also detained. Thus the conquest of this city alone would in a manner make him the master of all Spain. This important and difficult expedition, which till then had been looked upon as impossible cost him only one day. [1] The booty was immense insomuch, that Carthagena itself was regarded as the least part of the acquisition. Scipio began by returning thanks to the gods, not only for having made hin master of the most opulent city in the country in on day, but for having before amassed in it the strengt and riches of almost all Africa and of all Spain. H then made his acknowledgments to the troops, an loaded them with praises, rewards and honours, ac cording to their condition and merit. [m] Then causing the prisoners to be brought be fore him, he spoke very obligingly to them, an [k] Brevi faciam, ut quemadmodum nunc noscitatis in me patris patruique similitudinem oris vultûsque, & lineamenta corporis; ita ingenii, fidei, virtutisque exemplum expressum ad effigiem vobis reddam. Lib. xxvi. n. 3.. [4] Ut minimum omnium, inter tantas opes belli captas, Carthago ipsa fuerit. Ib. n. 47. [m] Scipio, vocatis obsidibu universos bonum animum habe jussit: venisse eos in populi Roma potestatem, qui beneficio quàm m tu obligare homines malit; exte asque gentes fide ac societate jur tas habere, quam tristi subjectas s vitio. Ib. n. 49. con |