CARTHAGE, 





war. 



and 

 ture of 



intum. 



n'oassy 



Formal de- 

 ciaratiou 

 of war. 



Hannibal': 

 prcpara- 



ty-iixtli year, full of confidence and hope. From the 

 .loin. ''it i.t liis kppoilttmenti lie conducted him- 

 ttrlf ab though Italy had hrrn the piovince allotted to 

 him. A I'm- several successful enterprises against the 

 t Spain, which served both to secure his 

 pteviom conquests and to augment hia resources; 

 thi-n having, with singular address, furnished himself 

 with all things necessary for the important enterpri/.e, 

 without affording to the Romans a pretext for decla- 

 riug war, he on a sudden laid siege to Saguntum ; 

 and thus, by the infraction of Hasdrubal's treaty, 

 struck the first blow in this eventful wa"r. ( 13. C. 21<J.) 

 The train for this tremendous explosion had been 

 laid long before. Polybius mentions three causes, 

 which more immediately led to the second Punic war : 

 the fraudulent and tyrannical conduct of the Romans 

 with respect to (Sardinia ; the jealousy which was en- 

 tertained, of witnessing the progress of the Cartha- 

 ginian arms in Spain ; and, lastly, that bitter hatred 

 to the Roman name and nation, which Hamilcar had 

 bequeathed to his son Hannibal, and which \vai in 

 both the predominant feeling influencing the whole 

 conduct of their lives. 



Hannibal opened the siege of Saguntum with an 

 army consisting of 120,000 foot, and 20,000 horse. 

 The defence is one of the most memorable in history. 

 The limits of this work do not allow us to enter into 

 the minute details which Livy and Polybius supply. 

 We must be content with stating, that, after a con- 

 test of eight months continuance, almost unparalleled 

 for its fierceness and obstinacy, the city was razed, 

 and its inhabitants, without distinction of age or sex, 

 put to the sword, or sold for slaves. The Saguntines 

 had early in the siege dispatched ambassadors to 

 Rome, and deputies were in consequence sent to ex- 

 postulate against this infraction of the treaty ; but 

 Hannibal refused to give them audience. They pro- 

 ceeded, therefore, immediately to Carthage ; but 

 found the senate and people little disposed to censure 

 the conduct of their favourite general. After the 

 capture of Saguntum, a formal embassy was sent 

 from Rome, to require a disavowal of the conduct of 

 Hannibal, and satisfaction for the injuries he had in- 

 flicted on the Saguntines. Hanno and his friends ex- 

 erted themselves vigorously to counteract the views of 

 the Barcine party ; but in vain. The Roman embassy 

 were not able to effect their purpose of frightening 

 the senate into submission. Upon which, Quintus 

 Fabius, the senior of the ambassadors, held up a fold 

 in the bosom of his robe, and said, We bring both 

 peace and war ; choose ye." He was answered, 

 " We choose that which you like best." ' Then 

 be it war," said he, throwing open his robe ; and 

 from that both parties prepared themselves for the 

 contest. (7,iYy, lib. xxi. c. 18. Polyfi. lib. iii. p. 187.) 



Hannibal had probably long devised the invasion 

 of Italy, and had convinced himself of the practica- 

 bility of the attempt. War being now declared, he 

 made his dispobitions foi the safety of Spain and of 

 Africa, and collected his troops for that great under- 

 taking, the conduct of which had procured for him 



arch of 



a reputation superior to all other military comma. C rU*age. 

 er. lie had well wrighi-d the difficulties of the en- "^ "~.^ ' 

 terprise, the \ u ^era of the march, and the 



uncertainty of procuring oupplits : To these were op- 

 posed, the advantages which would accrue from car- 

 rying the war into the heart of the enemy's country; 

 the assistance he might expect, if he could once reach 

 Italy in force, from those states which were actually 

 in rebellion against the Roman authority, or bore to 

 it only a feigned and uncertain allegiai.ce. Let us 

 not, therefore, magnify the courage of this celebrated 

 warrior at the expeiu e of his judgment, nor suffer 

 the unwarrantable ra->hiiebs of inexperience to shelter 

 itself behind the great name of Hannibal. 



In his march to the Ibcrus, he experienced no in- 

 terruption. Thence to the Pyrenees he was obliged , 



. _ it* i font 



to force his way ; and apprehending some incouvem- Spain. 



eiice from the leaving an hostile people in his rear, 

 he stationed his brother Hanno, with ten thousand 

 foot and one thou-.and horse, to observe their mo- 

 tions, and secure the passes of the mountains. Du- 

 ring the passage of the Pyrenees, a considerable bo- 

 dy of the Spanish allies deserted. Lest this exam- 

 ple should prove contagious, he gave out that they 

 had fallen back by his express order, and that he 

 meant to spare a few more troops of the same nation. 

 By these separations, his numbers were reduced from 

 90,000 to 50,000 foot ; he had likewise 9000 horse 

 and 37 elephants. (Livy, book xxi. 23. Polyb. lib. 

 iii. p. 189, 190.) 



After entering Gaul, his march was for some time 

 hindered by the jealousy of the natives ; but upon 

 his convincing them he had no object in view besides 

 a mere passage through their territories, he was suf- 

 fered to proceed without molestation. The river 

 Rhone presented the first serious obstacle. As the 

 Gauls, who inhabited the country contiguous to it, 

 seemed resolved to oppose his passage, he contrived 

 to disperse their forces by a stratagem ; but a new 

 difficulty occurred, he had no means of wafting the 

 elephants over this broad and rapid current. The 

 difficulty was at last obviated, by the construction of 

 a s>ort of flying bridge, by means of which they were 

 all transported in perfect safety. (Livy, Polyb. ut 

 supra.) 



Hannibal crossed the Rhone at Lauriol in Dau- 

 phiny.* Hence he marched up the left bank of the 

 river, towards the midland parts of Gaul ; not be- 

 cau>e this was the direct road to the Alps, but be- 

 cause he thought the further he advanced from the 

 sea the less likely he was to meet the Romans. Nor 

 was he mistaken ; for at the very time he reached 

 the banks of the Rhone, Scipio (the father of Afri- 

 canus) landed at the mouth of it, and a rencontre 

 actually took place between some detachments of ca- 

 valry from the two armies. Brancus, a prince of p TO g rest 

 the Allobroges, having offered to become his guid , toward* 

 he advanced towards the Alps, following the course ihe Alps, 

 of the Rhone. Turning to the right, f he passed 

 through the country of the Tricastini ; from the grand 

 angle of the Rhone at Lyons, to the deep indent 



The account of ;Hannib a r s route wliich follows, is pi VC n on the authority of Whitakcr, whose book (notwithstanding it* 



nt digtMriom, and tfu Sohiness ,,f its sptcnl ti,,ns.) eminently deserve* to be consulted. 

 p Livy, by an extraordinary mistake, says adJaevam." 



