12 discriminata = regulated, lit. ‘divided off’; cf. dis-cerno, dis-crimen.
14 accersita (= arcessita) = wooed.
15 sagulo = in his military cloak: diminutive of sagum.
21 inhumana crudelitas. Polybius says that many of his alleged cruelties were to be set down to his namesake H. Monomachus.
21-23 perfidia plus quam Punica. ‘This does not seem to have been anything worse than a consummate adroitness in laying traps for his enemies.’—Church and Brodribb. Cf. ‘Perfidious Albion.’
23 nulla religio = no scruples, i.e. no force binding (re + ligare) or restraining from wrong-doing, no conscience.
Parallel Passages. Livy xxvi. 41 of Scipio Africanus Minor—Sallust Cat. 5 of Catiline—Polybius ix. 22-26 (important).
‘Bitterly as the Romans hated, reviled, and persecuted Carthage, the most deadly poison of their hatred they poured upon Hannibal; they did not hesitate to blacken his memory by the most revolting accusations.’—Ihne.