VIII, 24.—Hannibal did not learn of his withdrawal till daybreak and then went to the Po, and finding there neither rafts nor boats,—for they had been burned by Scipio,—he ordered his brother Mago to swim across with the cavalry and pursue the Romans, whereas he himself marched up toward the sources of the river and commanded that the elephants cross where the tributary streams converged. In this manner, while the water was temporarily dammed and torn piecemeal by the animals' bulk, he effected a crossing more easily below them. Scipio overtaken stood his ground and would have offered battle but for the fact that by night the Gauls in his army deserted. Embarrassed by this occurrence and still suffering from his wound he once more broke up at night and located his entrenchments on high ground. He was not pursued, but subsequently the Carthaginians came up and encamped, with the river between the two forces.

Scipio on account of his wound and because of what had taken place was inclined to wait and send for reinforcements; and Hannibal after many attempts to provoke him to battle, finding that he could not do this and that he was short of food, attacked a fort where a large supply for the Romans was stored. As he made no headway he employed money to bribe the commander of the garrison, which thus came into his possession by betrayal. He hoped also to attain his other objects, partly by arms and partly by gold. Meanwhile Longus had entrusted Sicily to his lieutenant and had come in response to Scipio's call. Not much later influenced by ambition on the one hand and also by the fact of a victory over some marauders he presented himself in battle array. He lost the day by falling into an ambuscade, and when Hannibal appeared upon the scene with his infantry and elephants the followers of the Roman leader turned to flight and many were put to the sword, many also heedless of the river fell in and were choked. Only a few saved themselves with Longus. However, Hannibal though victorious was not happy, because he had lost many soldiers and all of his elephants, except one, as a result of the winter and from wounds.

Accordingly, they arranged an armistice without any desire for peace implied and both sides retired to the territory of their allies and passed the winter in the cities there. Plenty of provisions kept coming to the Romans, but Hannibal, not satisfied with the contributions of the allies, made frequent raids upon the Roman villages and cities and sometimes would conquer, sometimes be repulsed. Once he was beaten by Longus with the cavalry and received a wound. Some of the Roman settlers encouraged by this came out by themselves to oppose him when he assailed them. These would-be warriors he destroyed and received the capitulation of the place, which he razed to the ground. Of the captives taken he killed the Romans but released the rest. This he did also in the case of all those taken alive, hoping to conciliate the cities by their influence. And, indeed, many of the Gauls as well as Ligurians and Etruscans either murdered the Romans dwelling within their borders or surrendered them and then transferred their allegiance.

As Hannibal was advancing toward Etruria Longus attacked him in the midst of a great storm. Many fell on both sides and Hannibal entered Ligurian territory and delayed some time. He was suspicious of even his own men and was free to trust no one, but made frequent changes of costume, wore false hair, spoke different languages at different times (for he knew a number, including Latin) and both night and day he would frequently make the rounds of his camp. He was always listening to some conversations in the guise of an entirely different person from Hannibal and occasionally he talked thus in character.

VIII, 25.—While this was going on in Italy the other Scipio, Gaius, had sailed along the coast to Spain, and had won over, partly by force and partly without opposition, all the districts to the Iber that border on the sea and considerable of the upper peninsula. He had also defeated Banno in battle and had taken him prisoner. Hasdrubal, the brother of Hannibal, on learning this crossed the Iber and reduced some of the rebels, but at Scipio's approach he fell back.

B.C. 217
(a.u. 537)The people of Rome again chose Flaminius and Geminus consuls. Just after the advent of spring Hannibal was apprised that Flaminius together with Servilius Geminus would march against him with a large force, and he devoted his attention to deceiving them. He pretended that he was going to spend his time and meet the issue where he was, and when the Romans, thinking that he was permanently located, began to show carelessness in their line of march, he started just after nightfall, leaving his cavalry behind at camp, noiselessly traversed the passes and hastened on toward Aretium; and the cavalry, after he had got far ahead, set out to follow him. When the consuls found out that they had been tricked, Geminus stayed behind to harass the revolted districts and prevent them from assisting the Carthaginians, and Flaminius alone pursued, eager that his alone should be the credit of the expected victory. He succeeded in occupying Aretium beforehand, for Hannibal in taking a shorter road had encountered difficult marching, and had lost numerous men, many pack animals, and one of his eyes. It was late, then, before he reached Aretium and found there Flaminius, whom he regarded with contempt. He did not give battle, for the situation was unsuitable, but by way of testing his enemy's disposition he laid waste the country. At this the Romans made a sally and he retired, to give them the idea that he was afraid. During the night he broke up and found a satisfactory spot for battle, where he remained. He arranged that most of the infantry should form an ambush along the mountain sides and ordered all the cavalry to lie in wait concealed from view outside the pass; he himself encamped with a few followers on the hilltop. Flaminius was in good spirits and when he saw him with but a few men on the high ground he believed that the rest of the army must have been sent to some distant point and hoped to take him easily thus isolated. So he carelessly entered the mouth of the pass and there (for it was late) pitched camp. About midnight, when they were sleeping unguarded through scorn of their enemies, the Carthaginians surrounded them on every side at once and by using from a distance javelins, slings, and arrows they killed some still in their beds, others just seizing their arms, without receiving any serious harm in return. The Romans, having no tangible adversaries and with darkness and mist prevailing, found no chance to employ their valor. So great was the uproar and of such a nature the disordered alarm that seized them, that they were not even aware of earthquakes then prevailing, although many buildings fell in ruins and many mountains either were cleft asunder or collapsed so that they blocked up ravines, and rivers shut off from their ancient outlet sought another. Such were the earthquakes which overwhelmed Etruria, yet the combatants were not conscious of them. Flaminius himself and a vast number of others fell, though not a few managed to climb a hill. When it became day, they started to flee and being overtaken surrendered themselves and their arms on promise of free pardon. Hannibal, however, recking little of his oaths, imprisoned and kept under guard the Romans themselves, but released their subjects and allies among all the captives he had in his army. After this success he hastened toward Rome and proceeded as far as Narnia devastating the country and winning over the cities, save Spoletium; there he surrounded and slew the prætor Gaius Centenius who was in ambush. He made an attack upon Spoletium, but was repulsed, and as he saw that the bridge over the Nar had been torn down and ascertained that this had been done also in the case of the other rivers which he was obliged to cross, he ceased his headlong rush upon Rome. Instead, he turned aside into Campania, for he heard that the land was excellent and that Capua was a great city, and thought that if he should first occupy these he might acquire the rest of Italy in a short time.

The people of Rome when informed of the defeat were grieved and lamented both for themselves and for the lost. They were in sore straits and tore down the bridges over the Tiber, save one, and proceeded hurriedly to repair their walls, which were weak in many places. Frag. 569wishing to have a dictator ready, they had proclaimed one in assembly. satisfied if they themselves only should be saved, they had despatched no aid to the allies. but now, learning that hannibal had set out into campania, they determined to assist the allies also. To Hannibal they opposed the dictator Fabius and the master of horse Marcus Minucius. These leaders set out in his direction but did not come into close quarters with him. They followed and kept him in view in the hope that a favorable opportunity for battle might possibly befall. Fabius was unwilling to risk a conflict with cowed and beaten soldiers against a greater number who had been victorious. Furthermore he hoped that the more his foes should injure the country, the sooner would they be in want of food. Calculating in this way he did not defend Campania nor any other district. For these reasons he confined hostilities entirely within Campania; unknown to the enemy he had surrounded them on every side and now kept guard over them. He himself secured an abundance of provisions both from the sea and from the territory of allies, but the invaders, he knew, had only the products of the land which they were devastating to depend upon. Therefore he waited and did not mind the delay. Hence also he was blamed by his fellow-citizens and was even given the name of The Delayer.

VIII, 26.—When it came to be nearly winter and Hannibal could not pass that season where he was owing to a lack of the necessities of life and had been checked in many attempts to get out of Campania, he devised a plan of this kind. He first slew all the captives, that no one of them might escape and acquaint the Romans with what was being done. Then he gathered the cattle which were in camp, affixed torches to their horns, and went at nightfall to the mountains forming the boundary of Samnium, where he lighted the torches and threw the cattle into a fright. They, maddened by the fire and the driving, set fire to the forest in many places and consequently rendered it easy for Hannibal to cross the mountains. The Romans in the plain as well as those on the heights dreaded an ambuscade and would not budge. Thus Hannibal got across and made his way into Samnium.

Fabius, ascertaining the next day what had been done, gave chase and routed those left behind on the road to hinder his men's progress, afterward defeating also troops that came to the assistance of the first party. He then encamped not far from the enemy, yet would not come into conflict with them. However, he prevented them from scattering and foraging, so that Hannibal in perplexity at first started for Rome. As Fabius would not fight, but quietly accompanied him, he again turned back into Samnium. Frag. 5610and fabius following on continued to besiege him from a safe distance, being anxious not to lose any of his own troops, especially since he could obtain necessities in abundance, whereas he saw that his foe actually possessed nothing outside of his weapons and that no assistance was sent to him from home. Frag. 5611for the carthaginians were disposed to make sport of him in that he wrote of his splendid progress and his many successes and in the same breath asked soldiers of them and money. they said that his requests were not in accord with his successes: conquerors ought to find their army sufficient, and to forward money to their homes instead of demanding more.

As long as Fabius was in the field, no disaster happened to the Romans, but when he started for Rome on some public business, they met with a setback. Rufus, his master of horse, was only a young man and therefore full of empty conceit; he was not observant of the errors of warfare and was wearied by the delays of Fabius: hence, when he once held the leadership of the army alone, he disregarded the injunctions of the dictator and hastened to bring on a set battle, in which at first he seemed to be victorious, but was soon defeated. Indeed, he would have been utterly destroyed, had not some Samnites arrived by chance to aid the Romans and impressed the Carthaginians with the idea that Fabius was approaching. When for this reason they retired he thought that he had vanquished them and sent messages to Rome magnifying his exploit and also slandering the dictator; he called Fabius timorous and hesitating and a sympathizer with the enemy.