measures were daily in contemplation, not only among the soldiery, a multitude compounded of the refuse of all nations, but even in the mind of the general himself; for the men began to murmur, and afterwards proceeded with open clamors to demand the arrears of their pay, and to complain at first of the dearness of provisions, at last of famine. A report too prevailed that the mercenary soldiers, particularly those from Spain, had formed a scheme of going over to the enemy, so that Hannibal himself is said to have sometimes entertained thoughts of flying into Gaul, intending to have left all the infantry behind, and with the cavalry to have made a hasty retreat. While these matters were in agitation, and this the disposition in the camp, he formed a résolution of removing into Apulia, where the weather was warmer, and consequently more favorable to the ripening of the harvest; and where, in proportion as he was placed at a greater distance from the enemy, the discontented would find desertion the more difficult. Accordingly he set out by night, after kindling fires as before, and leaving a few tents to keep up the appearance of a camp, in the expectation that fears of an ambush, as on the former occasion, would keep the Romans within their works. But Statilius, the Lucanian, having examined all the ground beyond the camp, and on the other side of the mountains, and bringing back an account that he had seen the enemy marching at a great distance, a consultation was held about pursuing him. Here each consul maintained the same opinion which he had ever held; but almost all the officers siding with Varro, and no one except Servilius, the consul of the former year, with Paulus, they, pursuant to the determination of the majority, set forward, under the impulse of unhappy fate, to render Cannæ for ever memorable as a scene of disaster to the Romans. Near that town Hannibal had pitched his camp, turning the rear towards the wind called Vulturnus, which, in those plains, parched with heat, carries along with it clouds of dust. As this choice of situation was highly com

modious to the men, while in camp, so was it particularly advantageous when they were drawn up for battle; because, while the wind only blew on their backs, it would nearly blind the enemy with whom they were to fight, by carrying great quantities of dust into their faces.

44. The consuls pursued the Carthaginians, taking proper care to examine the roads: when they arrived near Cannæ, and had the foe in sight, they divided their forces, as before, and fortified two camps at nearly the same distance from each other as they had been at Geronium. As the river Aufidus ran by the camps of both, the watering parties of both had access to it, as opportunity served, but not without encountering opposition. The Romans, however, in the smaller camp, which was pitched on the other side of the Aufidus, had greater liberty of supplying themselves with water, because there were none of the enemy posted on the farther bank. Hannibal now, conceiving hopes that the consuls might be brought to an engagement in this tract, where the nature of the ground was advantageous to cavalry, in which kind of forces he had a manifest superiority, drew out his army in order of battle, and endeavored to provoke them by skirmishes of the Numidians. On this the Roman camp was again thrown into disturbance by mutinous behavior in the soldiers, and dissension between the consuls; Paulus representing to Varro the fatal rashness of Sempronius and Flaminius; and Varro to him the example of Fabius as a specious precedent for timid and inactive commanders: the one calling gods and men to witness that none of the blame was to be imputed to him of Hannibal's now holding Italy as if by prescriptive right of possession ; for that he was chained down by his colleague, while the soldiers, full of rage and ardor for the fight, were kept unarmed. To which the other replied that, if any misfortune should happen to the legions from their being hurried into an inconsiderate and rash engagement, he himself, although intirely free from all

reproach, must yet bear a share of the consequences, be they what they might. Let him take care that those whose tongues were now so ready and impetuous showed the same alertness during the fight.

45. While, instead of deliberating on proper measures, they thus wasted time in altercation, Hannibal, who had kept his forces drawn up in order of battle during a great part of the day, led back the rest towards the camp, and despatched the Numidian horse to the other side of the river to attack a watering party, which had come from the smaller camp of the Romans. They had scarcely reached the opposite bank when, merely by their shout, and the rapidity of their motions, they dispersed this disorderly crowd; and then pushed forward against an advanced guard stationed before the rampart, and almost up to the very gates. The Romans, in having their camp threatened by a band of irregular auxiliaries, felt an intolerable affront, so that nothing could have restrained them from drawing out their forces and passing the river, but from the chief command being then in the hands of Paulus. On the next day, therefore, Varro, whose turn it was to command, without conferring with his colleague, displayed the signal for battle,' and marshalling his forces, led them over the river, while Paulus followed; because, though he did not approve of his design, yet he could not avoid giving him his support. Having crossed the river, they were joined by the troops from the smaller camp, and formed their line in this manner: in the right wing, next the river, they placed the Roman cavalry, and adjoining them the Roman infantry; the extremity of the left wing was composed of the confederate cavalry; and, inclosed by these, the confederate infantry stretched to the centre, so as to unite with the Roman legions. The archers and other light-armed auxiliaries formed the van. The consuls commanded the wings, Terentius the left, Æmilius the right; the charge of the centre was committed to Geminus Servilius.

1

1 A purple cloak raised on a spear over the pretorium.

46. Hannibal, at the first light, sending before him the Balearians and the other light-armed troops, crossed the river, and posted each company in his line of battle, in the same order in which he had led them over. The Gallic and Spanish cavalry occupied the left wing near the bank, opposite the Roman cavalry, and the Numidian horse the right; the infantry forming the centre in such a manner, that both ends of their line were composed of Africans, and between these were placed the Gauls and Spaniards. The Africans, for the most part, resembled a body of Roman troops, being furnished in great abundance with the arms taken partly at the Trebia, but the greater part at the Thrasymenus. The shields of the Gauls and Spaniards were nearly of the same make; their swords were dif ferent, both in length and form; those of the Gauls being very long, and without points; those of the Spaniards, whose practice was rather to thrust at their enemy than to strike, light and handy, and sharp at the point. The troops of these nations made a more terrible appearance than any of the rest, on account of the size of their bodies, and also of their figure. The Gauls were naked from their middle upward; the Spaniards clad in linen vests, of a surprising and dazzling whiteness, and bordered with purple. The whole number of infantry drawn up in the field on this occasion was forty thousand, of cavalry ten thousand. The generals who commanded the wings were, Hasdrubal on the left, and Maharbal on the right. Hannibal

himself, with his brother Mago, took the command of the centre. The sun, very conveniently for both parties, shone on their flanks, whether this position was chosen designedly or that it fell out by accident; for the Romans faced the south, the Carthaginians the north. The wind, which the natives of the country call Vulturnus, blew briskly against the Romans; and, by driving great quantities of sand into their faces, prevented them from seeing clearly.

47. The shout being raised, the auxiliaries advanced, and the fight commenced, first between the light-armed troops; then the left wing, consisting of Gallic and

Spanish cavalry, engaged with the right wing of the Romans; but not in the usual method of fighting between horsemen, for they were obliged to engage front to front, no room having been left for any evolutions, the river on one side, and the line of infantry on the other, confining them, so that they could only push directly forward; at last, the horses being pressed together in a crowd, and stopped from advancing, the riders, grappling man to man, dragged each other to the ground. The contest was now maintained chiefly on foot, but was more furious than lasting; for the Roman horsemen, unable to keep their stand, turned their backs. When the fight between the cavalry was almost decided the infantry began to engage. At first the Gauls and Spaniards maintained their ranks, without betraying any inferiority either in strength or courage. At length the Romans, by frequent and persevering efforts, with their front regular and in compact order, drove back a body which projected before the rest of their line in form of a wedge, and which, being too thin, consequently wanted strength: as these gave ground, and retreated hastily and in disorder, they pursued, and, without slackening their charge, broke through their dismayed and flying battalions; at first, to their centre line; and, at length, meeting with no resistance, they arrived at the reserved troops of the Africans, which latter had been posted on both flanks of the others, inclining backwards towards the rear, while the centre, composed of the Gauls and Spaniards, jutted considerably forward. By the retreat of this prominent part the front was first rendered even; then, by their proceeding still in the same direction, a bending inward was at length formed in the middle, on each side of which the Africans now formed wings; and the Romans incautiously rushing into the centre, these flanked them on each side, and, by extending themselves from the extremities, surrounded them on the rear also. In consequence of this, the Romans who had already finished one battle, quitting the Gauls and Spaniards, whom they had pursued with much slaugh

LIV.

VOL. IV.

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