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tutela urbis, ut circumvallari monia viderunt, priusquam U. C. 538. continuarentur hostium opera, per intermissa munimenta A. C. 216. neglectasque custodias silentio noctis dilapsi, per vias inviaque, qua quemque aut consilium aut error tulit, in urbes Campaniæ, quas satis certum erat non mutasse fidem, perfugerunt.

8

Hannibal, Acerris direptis atque incensis, quum a Casilino dictatorem Romanum legionesque novas acciri nuntiassent, ne quis tam propinquis hostium castris Capuam quoque recurrat, exercitum ad Casilinum ducit. Casilinum eo tempore quingenti Prænestini habebant, cum paucis Romanis Latinique nominis, quos eodem audita Cannensis clades compulerat. Hi, non confecto Præneste ad diem delectu, serius profecti domo, quum Casilinum ante adversæ pugnæ famam venissent, et aliis aggregarent sese Romanis sociisque, profecti a Casilino cum satis magno agmine irent; avertit eos retro Casilinum nuntius Cannensis pugnæ. quum dies aliquot, suspecti Campanis timentesque, cavendis' ac struendis in vicem insidiis traduxissent, jamque de

• Priusquam continuarentur hostium &c.] "Before the enemy's lines could be completed, escaping in the stillness of night through the unconnected works and neglected posts, they made their way by roads and through wilds to those cities of Campania, which, it was tolerably certain, had not changed their allegiance."

7 Ne quis-Capuam quoque recurrat.] This reading is very generally regarded as incorrect. The obvious meaning is an allusion to some revulsion of sentiment in Capua; and, if we were to read quid Capua, we might, without much violence, translate," Lest any reaction should take place in Capua.' Gronovius suggests a still more decided alteration, sc. ne quis Capuæ motus oriretur, or, ne quid moveretur. As the text stands, the only sense it can convey is, "lest any (of the exiled Roman party) should effect their return to Capua."

8 Audita Cannensis clades.] "The news of the defeat," &c.

Ibi

fore the announcement of the dis-
astrous engagement, and effected a
junction with the other Romans and
allies; and as, on their way from
Casilinum, they were marching in
a tolerably numerous body, the in-
telligence of the action at Cannæ
turned them back to Casilinum."
The emendations proposed by Dra-
kenborch and Crevier would change
the sentence to, et aliis aggregantibus
Romanis sociisque profecti a Casi-
lino cum satis magno agmine irent.
i. e.

"And as, in company with
other Romans and allies, leaving
Casilinum, they were," &c. This
would present more unity in the
sentence, but the alteration is scarcely
worth the trouble, as we must in
any case (in translation) repeat the
conjunction. The new garrison, on
this occasion, treated the natives of
Casilinum in the same manner as
the Campanians themselves had
acted toward the people of Rhegium
in the Tarentine war. The great
importance of Casilinum was its
situation, which commanded Capua
and the passage of the Vulturnus.

Suspecti timentesque. cavendis &c.] Feared by and fearing &c. defeating and contriving mutual surprises."

A. C. 216.

U. C. 538. Capuæ defectione agi, accipique Hannibalem satis pro certo haberent, interfectis nocte oppidanis, partem urbis, quæ cis Vulturnum2 est, (eo enim dividitur amni) occupavere: idque præsidium Casilini habebant Romani. Additur et Perusina3 cohors, homines quadringenti sexaginta, eodem nuntio, quo Prænestini paucos ante dies, Casilinum compulsi. Et satis ferme armatorum ad tam exigua mœnia, et flumine altera parte cincta, tuenda erat: penuria frumenti, nimium etiam ut videretur hominum, efficiebat.

18.

6

Hannibal quum jam inde haud procul esset, Gætulos cum præfecto, nomine Isalca, præmittit: ac primo, si fiat colloquii copia', verbis benignis ad portas aperiendas præsidiumque accipiendum pellicere jubet: si in pertinacia perstent, rem gerere ac tentare, si qua parte invadere urbem possit. Ubi ad moenia accessere, quia silentium erat, solitudo visa; metuque concessum barbarus ratus, moliri portas et claustra refringere parat: quum, patefactis repente portis, cohortes duæ, ad id ipsum instructæ intus, ingenti cum tumultu erumpunt, stragemque hostium faciunt. Ita primis repulsis, Maharbal, cum majore robore virorum missus, nec ipse eruptionem cohortium sustinuit. Postremo Hannibal, castris ante ipsa moenia oppositis, parvam urbem parvumque præsidium summa vi atque omnibus copiis oppugnare parat. Ac, dum instat lacessitque', corona undique circumdatis moenibus, aliquot milites et promptissimum quemque3, e muro turribusque ictos, amisit. Semel ultro erumpentes agmine elephantorum opposito prope interclusit, trepidosque compulit in urbem, satis multis, ut ex tanta paucitate, interfectis. Plures cecidissent, ni nox prælio intervenisset. Postero die omnium animi ad oppugnandum accenduntur; utique postquam corona aurea muralis proposita est, atque ipse dux castelli, plano loco positi, segnem oppugnationem Sagunti' expugnatoribus exprobrabat, Can

2 Cis Vulturnum.]
"On the
near side (the north) of the V."
3 Additur (mid. voice) Perusing
&c.] "A cohort of Perusians joined
them," lit. " added themselves."

4 Si fiat colloquii copia.] "In
case there should be an opportunity
of conversation."

5 Quia silentium erat &c.] "As
all was silent, it looked like (was
supposed to be) desertion; and the
barbarian imagining that it was the
submission of terror," &c.
6 Nec ipse.]
than the others," &c.
7 Instat lacessitque.]
in harassing."

"Did not, any more

"Persisted

8 Aliquot milites et promptissimum quemque.] "Several soldiers, and those the most active."

On

9 Agmine elephantorum.] reference to 1. xxi. c. 56, we find, that several elephants survived the passage of the Alps; in l. xxii. 2, it is stated, that after crossing the Apennines, but one survived. Some reinforcements must, then, have arrived in the mean time; for those which Mago had gone to Carthage to solicit, were not yet come.

1 Segnem oppugnationem Sagunti &c.] "Taunted the captors of Saguntum with the slow progress of the siege."

narum Trasimenique et Trebiæ singulos admonens univer- U. C. 538. sosque. Inde vineæ quoque cœptæ agi cuniculique: nec A. C. 216. ad varios conatus2 hostium aut vis ulla, aut ars deerat. Socii Romanorum propugnacula adversus vineas statuere, transversis cuniculis3 hostium cuniculos excipere, et palam et clam cœptis obviam ire; donec pudor etiam Hannibalem ab incepto avertit: castrisque communitis, ac præsidio modico. imposito, ne omissa res videretur, in hiberna Capuam concessit.

Ibi partem majorem hiemis exercitum in tectis habuit, adversus omnia humana mala1 sæpe ac diu duratum, bonis inexpertum atque insuetum. Itaque, quos nulla mali vicerat vis, perdidere nimia bona ac voluptates immodicæ; et eo impensius, quo avidius ex insolentia in eas se merserant. Somnus enim, et vinum, et epulæ, et scorta, balineaque, et otium, consuetudine in dies blandius, ita enervaverunt corpora animosque, ut magis deinde præteritæ victoriæ eos, quam præsentes tutarentur vires; majusque id peccatum ducis apud peritos artium militarium haberetur, quam quod non ex Cannensi acie protinus ad urbem Romanam duxisset. Illa enim cunctatio' distulisse modo victoriam videri

2 Ad varios conatus.] "Against their several attempts."

3

Transversis cuniculis &c.] "Crossed the enemy's mines at right angles."

4 Adversus omnia humana mala &c.] “Inured by many and long intervals to all the hardships of life, ignorant of and unused to indulgence; and, accordingly," &c. If Thucydides or Sallust, or some such philosopher, had recorded the Punic wars, we should never have been taught to believe that it was the enervating luxury of Capua that checked Hannibal's career of victory. The causes of the turn in the tide of war are to be sought much farther below the surface; if for no other reason, because the sensual indulgences of a single winter could never have so utterly demoralized or enfeebled an army of hardy veterans; and because the deterioration described by Livy and Polybius could have resulted only either from a short period of intense physical suffering and privation, or, from the progressive degeneracy of some successive generations. The real cause was the change which the character of the war assumed after the battle of Cannæ. The Romans

then began to understand the nature
and requirements of the campaign,
and the temper of the enemy; and
the war consequently resolved itself
into a trial of patience and perse-
verance, in which Hannibal's most
powerful arm-his cavalry—became
almost totally useless. Had the
Romans continued to meet him in
the field, or had Hannibal been
only assisted by a corps of Mace-
donian engineers, or even by Archi-
medes-which would have been im-
possible during the life of Hiero-
there is no reason to suppose that
his victories would not have been
repeated. And if the Carthaginian
army did really become demoralized,
the cause was rather their com-
parative inaction, and the cessation
of their usual success, than the com-
forts and enjoyments of the Cam-
panian capital.

6

5 Quo avidius &c.] "As they
plunged into them the more greedily
for their inexperience."
Ut magis deinde.]
"That,
thenceforth, it was rather their pre-
vious success, than their present
strength, that supported them."
7 Illa enim cunctatio.]
"For
that hesitation may be regarded as

U. C. 538. potuit; hic error vires ademisse ad vincendum. Itaque, A. C. 216. hercule, velut si cum alio exercitu a Capua exiret, nihil usquam pristinæ disciplinæ tenuit. Nam et redierunt plerique scortis impliciti: et, ubi primum sub pellibus haberi cæpti sunt, viaque et alius militaris labor excepit, tironum modo corporibus animisque deficiebant: et deinde per omne æstivorum tempus magna pars sine commeatibus ab signis dilabebantur: neque aliæ latebræ, quam Capua, desertori

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bus erant.

2

Ceterum, mitescente jam hieme, educto ex hibernis milite, Casilinum redit. Ubi, quanquam ab oppugnatione cessatum erat, obsidio tamen continuata oppidanos præsidiumque ad ultimum inopiæ adduxerat. Castris Romanis Ti. Sempronius præerat, dictatore auspiciorum repetendorum causa profecto Romam. Marcellum, et ipsum cupientem1 ferre auxilium obsessis, et Vulturnus amnis inflatus aquis, et preces Nolanorum atque Acerranorum tenebant, Campanos timentium, si præsidium Romanum abscessisset. Gracchus, assidens tantum Casilino, quia prædictum erat dictatoris, ne quid absente eo rei gereret, nihil movebat: quanquam, quæ facile omnem patientiam vincerent, nuntiabantur a Casilino. Nam et, præcipitasse se3 quosdam non tolerantes famem, constabat; et stare inermes in muris, nuda corpora ad missilium telorum ictus præbentes. Ea ægre patiens Gracchus, quum neque pugnam conserere dictatoris injussu auderet, (pugnandum autem esse, si palam frumentum importaret, videbat) neque clam importandi spes esset, farre, ex agris circa undique convecto, quum complura dolia complesset, nuntium ad magistratum Casilinum misit, ut exciperent dolia, quæ amnis deferret. Insequenti nocte, intentis omnibus in flumen ac spem ab nuntio Romano factam, dolia medio missa amni defluxerunt. Æqualiter inter omnes frumentum divisum. Id postero quoque die ac tertio factum est. Nocte et mittebantur et perveniebant: eo custodias hostium fallebant. Imbribus deinde continuis citatior solito amnis, transverso vortice dolia impulit ad

having merely postponed a victory; 9 Ab oppugnatione cessatum erat.]
this mistake as having destroyed "The assault had been discon-
the strength to conquer." Here tinued."
again, the historian judges too
superficially; for the victory that
might have followed the blow struck
at Cannæ, could not be postponed.
It must have been either secured at
once, or abandoned for ever.

8 Neque aha latebræ.] "And the retreat of the deserters was no other than Capua."

1 Marcellum, et ipsum cupientem &c.] 'Marcellus, who also desired to bring relief to the besieged, the river Vulturnus, swollen by the rain, and the entreaties of &c. &c. detained."

2 Prædictum.] "Warning." 3 Præcipitasse se.] sc. From the walls, or, into the river.

6

ripam, quam hostes servabant. Ibi hærentia inter obnata U. C. 538. ripis salicta conspiciuntur: nuntiatumque Hannibali est, et A. C. 216. deinde intentiore custodia cautum, ne quid falleret Vulturno ad urbem missum. Nuces tamen fusæ ad Romanis castris, quum medio amni ad Casilinum defluerent, cratibus excipiebantur. Postremo ad id ventum inopiæ est, ut lora detractasque scutis pelles, ubi fervida mollissent aqua, mandere conarentur, nec muribus aliove animali abstinerent, et omne herbarum radicumque genus aggeribus infimis muri eruerent; et, quum hostes obarassent', quicquid herbidi terreni extra murum erat, raporum semen injecerunt, ut Hannibal, 'Eone usque, dum ea nascantur, ad Casilinum sessurus 'sum?' exclamaret: et, qui nullam antea pactionem auribus admiserat, tum demum agi secum est passus de redemptione liberorum capitum. Septunces auri in singulos pretium convenit. Fide accepta, sese tradiderunt: donec omne aurum persolutum est, in vinculis habiti: tum remissi Cumas cum fide. Id verius est, quam ab equite in abeuntes immisso interfectos. Prænestini maxima pars fuere. Ex quingentis septuaginta, qui in præsidio fuerunt, minus dimidium ferrum famesque absumpsit: ceteri incolumes Præneste cum prætore suo M. Anicio (scriba is antea fuerat) redierunt. Statua ejus indicio fuit, Præneste in foro statuta, loricata, amicta toga, velato capite; et tria signa cum titulo lamnæ æneæ inscripto, M. Anicium pro 'militibus, qui Casilini in præsidio fuerint, votum vovisse.' Idem titulus tribus signis in æde Fortunæ positis fuit subjectus. Casilinum oppidum redditum Campanis est, firmatum septingentorum militum de exercitu Hannibalis præsidio; ne, ubi Poenus inde abscessisset, Romani oppugnarent. Prænestinis militibus senatus Romanus duplex stipendium et quinquennii militiæ vacationem decrevit. Civitate quum donarentur ob virtutem, non mutaverunt. Perusinorum casus obscurior fama est; quia nec ipsorum monumento ullo est illustratus, nec decreto Romanorum. Eodem tempore Petelinos, qui uni ex Bruttiis manserant

20.