BOOK IV. proconsuls in command of the army before Capua, with instructions not to withdraw from the siege until they had taken the place. After the fall of Syracuse, the Romans justly looked upon the reduction of Capua as the most important object to be attained in Italy. The period when Capua would fall could be calculated with tolerable accuracy. It was determined by the quantity of provisions which the besieged had had time to accumulate before they were entirely cut off from external supplies. Yet there was one hope left. An agile Numidian succeeded in making his way through both Roman lines, and in informing Hannibal of the serious danger in which the town was now placed. Hannibal immediately broke up from the extreme south, with a body of light troops and thirty-three elephants, and advanced by forced marches into Campania.1 Having stormed at Galatia 2 one of the outer posts which the Romans had erected all round Capua, he encamped behind the ridge of Mount Tifata, and immediately directed a brisk attack against the outer Roman lines, whilst simultaneously the Capuans made a sally and tried to force the inner circumvallation. A Spanish cohort had already scaled the mound, some elephants had been killed, their bodies filled up the ditch and formed a bridge over it, others had penetrated into one of the Roman camps, and had spread terror and confusion. But the Roman forces were so numerous that they were able to keep their ground, and to repel the enemy on both sides. Hannibal was obliged to give up the plan of raising the blockade of Capua by a direct attack on the Roman lines. He at once changed his plan. Whilst the Romans were preparing to meet a second attack, he left his camp at nightfall, gave information to the Capuans of his intention, encouraged them to persevere, and set himself in motion towards Rome. 1 Livy, xxvi. 5. 2 The situation of Galatia, which is called a castellum (Livy, xxvi. 5), is not known. 3 Livy, xxvi. 5, § 9. This is a second version mentioned by Livy. CHAP. FOURTH PERIOD, 212-211 B.C. March of Hannibal Rome. No event in all the wars since the Gallic conflagration produced a deeper impression on the excitable masses of the capital than the appearance of the dreaded Carthaginian before its walls. The most disastrous defeats and the most glorious victories at a distance from Rome could not work upon fear and hope in a manner so direct and powerful as the sight of a hostile camp before their eyes. towards The terrible words 'Hannibal at the gates!' never vanished from the memory of the Romans; and the fear and anguish with which these words were first heard enhanced the satisfaction which was felt when, by the firmness of the senate and the Roman people, the danger was overcome. For this reason the imagination of narrators was particularly fertile in adorning the story of Hannibal's march to Rome in a manner flattering to the national pride. There arose a number of stories, some altogether fictitious, others suggested by mistakes; and it is consequently impossible for us to harmonise into a consistent narrative the statements of the two principal witnesses, Polybius and Livy, which differ in some essential points. We are compelled to make a selection; and as it appears that the report of Livy, though not free from errors, is, on the whole, more in harmony with the general course of events than that of Polybius, we give the preference to it on this occasion.1 1 According to Polybius, (ix. 3 ff.), Hannibal left his camp before Capua so secretly, and marched so rapidly that he appeared before Rome before the news of his march had arrived. The Romans therefore believed that their whole army in Campania must have been annihilated, like the legions of Varro and Emilius Paullus at Cannæ; and if by a mere chance two newly raised legions had not been in the town, there would have been no means of defending the walls, except by the citizens themselves. If we bear in mind that Hannibal could not march from Capua to Rome by the straight road (the Via Appia) which was open to the Romans, but that he was obliged to take a circuitous way, we shall think it hardly likely that he could proceed faster with the bulk of his army, through a hostile and mountainous district, than a messenger could ride on the direct way. Hence we may rather follow the account of Livy (xxvi. 7 ff.), according to which the news of Hannibal's march preceded him to Rome, and Hannibal did not use the utmost speed, but purposely delayed his approach several days by laying waste the country. As his object was not to surprise and take Rome, but to draw away the blockading army from Capua, this strategy is perfectly intelligible. In preferring this account to that of Polybius, we agree with Rospatt (Feldzüge des Hannibal, p. 80), and differ BOOK IV. Dismay of the Ro mans. For five days Hannibal had lingered before Capua,' trying in vain to raise the siege. In the night following the fifth day he crossed the Volturnus in boats, and marched past the Roman colony of Cales by Teanum on the Latin road to the valley of the Liris, in the direction of Interamna and Fregellæ. All these towns were held by Roman garrisons, and Hannibal could not think of laying siege to them. Nevertheless he felt so safe in the midst of the hostile fortresses, with an army of 60,000 men in his rear and Rome itself before him, that he leisurely plundered the districts through which he marched, tarried a whole day near Teanum, remained two days at Casilinum and then at Fregellae, and thus gave time to the Roman army before Capua either to overtake him or to precede him to Rome by the direct road. The former alternative he would probably have preferred, for he sought above all things to bring on a battle, and it was for this reason that he devastated the country without mercy. But the Romans steadily adhered to their plan of avoiding a battle, and allowed him to advance unmolested. From Fregellæ Hannibal marched further north, through the country of the Hernicans, by Frusino, Ferentinum, and Anagnia, and between Tibur and Tusculum reached the river Anio, which he crossed in order to pitch his camp in sight of Rome, and to announce his arrival by the conflagration of the surrounding farms and villages. Terror and dismay had preceded him. The fugitives, who had with difficulty escaped the fast Numidian horsemen, and had poured into Rome in vast crowds to find shelter for themselves, their property, and their cattle, spread heart-rending reports of the cruelties committed by the savage Punians. The rich, well-tilled country about from Vincke (Der zweite pun. Krieg, p. 282), Mommsen (Röm. Gesch. i. 649; English translation, ii. 169), Peter (Gesch. Roms, i. 386), and Arnold (Hist, of Rome, iii. 242). 1 Polybius, ix. 5, § 7. 2 The road, as Livy (xxvi. 9) describes it, is unintelligible; it goes right and left, forwards and again backwards. Either the names of places are written wrong, or Livy had an erroneous notion of the situation of the several places between Capua and Rome. See above, p. 172. Rome, which since the days of King Pyrrhus had seen no CHAP. VIII. PERIOD, 212-211 B.C. enemy, was now the prey of war. this dreaded Hannibal, before whose sword the sons of FOURTH Rome had fallen fast and thick as the ears of corn before the mower's scythe. The irresistible conqueror, whom no Roman general ventured to encounter, who but a very short time before had annihilated two Roman armies, had now arrived to accomplish his work, to raze the city of Rome to the ground, to murder the men, and to carry away the women and children into slavery far beyond the sea. The city was filled with a tumult and a confusion that were uncontrollable. Seeing a troop of Numidian deserters pass down from the Aventine, the people, demented with fright, thought the enemy was already in the city. Maddened with despair, they thought of nothing but flight, and would have rushed out of the gates if the dread of encountering the hostile cavalry had not kept them back. The women filled all the sanctuaries, poured out their prayers and lamentations, and on their knees swept the ground with their dishevelled hair.' of the senate. Yet Rome was not unprepared. Hannibal's intention Measures of marching upon Rome had been made known by deserters even before he broke up from Capua,2 and even without such indirect or casual information his march could not long remain a secret. When the news arrived, the first thought of the senate was, as Hannibal had anticipated, to withdraw the whole army forthwith from Capua for the protection of the capital. But on the advice of the cautious T. Valerius Flaccus, it was resolved to order only a portion of the legions under Fulvius to come to Rome, and to continue the blockade of Capua with the rest. Fulvius therefore broke up with only 16,000 men, and hastened to Rome by the Appian road, arriving either simultaneously with Hannibal or a very short time after him. As proconsul he could not have a military command It seems not unlikely that Hannibal himself spread this news, as his object was to draw away the blockading army from Capua. BOOK Retreat of Hannibal from Rome. in the city of Rome. A decree of the senate, therefore, conferred upon him a command equal to that of the consuls of the year, and provided for the defence of the city. The senate remained assembled on the Forum; all those who had in former years discharged the office of dictator, consul, or censor were invested with the imperium for the duration of the present crisis. A garrison, under the command of the prætor C. Calpurnius, occupied the Capitol, and the consuls encamped outside the town towards the northeast, between the Colline and the Esquiline gates. The two newly raised legions, which happened to be in Rome, joined to the army of the proconsul, were strong enough to baffle any attempt of Hannibal to take the town by storm. Accordingly Hannibal never ventured to make an attack. He approached the city with a few thousand Numidians, and leisurely rode along the walls, eagerly watched, but undisturbed by the awe-struck garrison.' It was a triumphal procession, and Hannibal may have felt legitimate pride in the thought that he had so far humbled his enemies. But when he reflected that Rome, though humbled, was still unconquered, all premature exultation must have been suppressed, while his eye was fixed anxiously on the dark future. So far he had realised his own and his country's ardent wishes. With the devastation of Italy and the blood of her sons, Rome had atoned for the wrong which she had done to Carthage; but the spirit of the Roman people was unsubdued, and it stood even this severe test without despairing or even doubting of ultimate success. No battle was fought before Rome, as the Romans did not accept Hannibal's challenge. It could not be un According to Pliny (Hist. Nat. xxxiv. 15), he threw his spear across the wall. This theatrical performance seems hardly worthy of Hannibal, and the testimony of Pliny does not suffice to make it credible. where 2 According to Livy (xxvi. 11), Flaccus, on two successive days, drew up his army in battle array in front of the army of Hannibal; but each time a terrible storm compelled both armies to seek shelter in their respective camps, upon the weather immediately cleared up. This is evidently a legend, invented for the purpose of clearing the Romans of the reproach of cowardice. Not |