Exercises upon the Different Parts of Italian Speech, with References to Veneroni's Grammar / to which is added an abridgement of the Roman history, intended at once to make the learner acquainted with history, and the idiom of the Italian language

CHAP. V.

(Of the World, 3790—Of Rome, 490.)

[1]After this, a [2]war [3]broke out [4]between the Romans and the [5]Carthaginians, in the year of the city 490, [6]occasioned by the [7]ambition and [8]formidable [9]power of each of them. [10]Hiero, king of Syracuse, and [11]ally of the Carthaginians, [12]made war against the [13]Mamertini, who had [14]seized upon Messana. They [15]applied to the Romans for [16]help, who [17]carrying over an [18]army into [19]Sicily, [20]fell upon Hiero, and the Carthaginians. The [21]fortune of the war was for a [22]long time very [23]doubtful; the Carthaginians [24]being successful by [25]sea, and the Romans by [26]land. The most [27]memorable [28]person in all this war was [29]Attilius Regulus, who having [30]brought the Carthaginians [31]very low by two [32]victories [33]obtained over them at sea and land; and [34]refusing to [35]grant them [36]peace but upon [37]hard terms, he was [38]vanquished by [39]Xantippus the [40]Lacedæmonian [41]general, and [42]taken [43]prisoner with 15,000 [44]men, 30,000 being [45]slain, in the year 498. Being [46]afterwards [47]sent to [48]Rome by the [49]Carthaginians, to [50]treat with the [51]senate upon an [52]exchange of [53]prisoners, he [54]interposed to [55]prevent it, and [56]returning to [57]Carthage, was [58]put to [59]death in the most [60]cruel [61]manner [62]imaginable, as [63]many [64]authors [65]tell us. The [66]first among the Romans that [67]obtained a [68]victory by sea, was C. [69]Duilius, in the first year of this [70]war. C. [71]Lutatius [72]gained [73]another in the 23rd and [74]last year; in which he [75]made an end of the war with the Carthaginians, [76]near the [77]island of the [78]Ægates. A [79]peace was [80]concluded upon these [81]terms, that they should [82]quit all the islands which [83]lie between Italy and Africa, and should [84]pay [85]yearly 2,200 [86]talents for [87]twenty years [88]together. This [89]happened in the year of the city 513, and 241 before [90]Christ.

In the year 519, the [91]temple of [92]Janus was [93]shut, which very rarely [94]happened in Rome; but upon the [95]breaking out of new wars, it was [96]soon [97]open again. The [98]Ligures, the Sardi, and Corsi were [99]subdued; after which the Romans [100]had war with the [101]Illyrians, and their [102]queen Teuta, which war was [103]ended in [104]three years time. There [105]happened [106]about this [107]time a [108]dreadful [109]irruption of the [110]Gauls. The [111]Insubres and [112]Boii, having [113]first [114]sent for some [115]transalpine Gauls, [116]fell upon the Romans, [117]on account of the [118]land in Picene, that had been [119]taken from the Galli [120]Senones, and [121]disposed of by [122]Flaminius, [123]tribune of the [124]people, by virtue of the [125]Agrarian law, [126]made in the year of the city 452. They were [127]several times [128]worsted, and the Insubres [129]entirely [130]subdued, and king [131]Virdumarus [132]slain by C. [133]Marcellus, the [134]consul, who was the only person after [135]Romulus that [136]consecrated [137]Opima Spolia to [138]Jupiter Feretrius. In this war Hiero, king of Sicily, [139]sent the Romans a [140]vast quantity of [141]corn, the [142]price of which he [143]received after the war was [144]ended.

After this, [145]followed a [146]second war with the Carthaginians, four and twenty years after the [147]end of the [148]former; which [149]indeed did not [150]last [151]so long, but was [152]so much more [153]terrible for the [154]dreadful [155]slaughter that was made in it ([156]says Florus) that if [157]any one [158]compared the [159]losses on [160]each side, the [161]people that [162]proved [163]victorious [164]seemed more [165]likely to be [166]conquered. The first cause of this war was the [167]same with that of the former, [168]ambition and the [169]impatience of the Carthaginians [170]under their [171]servitude. The first cause of this [172]combustion was [173]Hannibal, the son of [174]Hamilcar, who was [175]general of the [176]Carthaginians in the [177]former [178]war, and had [179]accepted the [180]conditions of peace [181]with a heavy heart. For after [182]affairs were [183]settled in Africa, being [184]sent into [185]Spain, in the year of the city 517, he [186]carried along with him Hannibal, who [187]was then nine years old, having [188]first [189]brought him before an [190]altar, and [191]made him [192]swear that he [193]never would be a [194]friend to the Romans. Hamilcar being [195]slain about nine years after, Asdrubal, his son-in-law, was [196]put in his [197]place. He [198]sent for Hannibal, and being slain himself eight years after, was [199]succeeded by him, [200]being in the 27th year of his age. [201]As soon as he was made [202]general, he [203]conquered all Spain within the river [204]Iberus. After that he [205]fell upon the [206]town of [207]Saguntum with all his [208]forces, and [209]took it, after a [210]siege of seven [211]months. The [212]Saguntines having [213]in vain [214]waited for [215]assistance from the Romans, [216]were all destroyed [217]partly by the [218]enemy’s [219]sword, and [220]partly by their own [221]hands. This war [222]broke out in the year of the city 536; and [223]lasted seventeen years.

Upon the first [224]coming of Hannibal into Italy, both the [225]consuls were [226]defeated, P. [227]Cornelius at [228]Ticinum, and [229]Sempronius at Trebia. They [230]received a greater [231]overthrow the [232]following year near the [233]Thrasymene [234]lake. [235]In the mean time, Q. [236]Fabius Maximus being made [237]dictator by the [238]people, [239]recovered in some [240]measure the Roman [241]affairs. But the most [242]fatal [243]stroke was that of Cannæ, in the year of the city 538, [244]occasioned by the [245]rashness of one of the [246]consuls, [247]Terentius Varro. [248]Forty thousand Romans were [249]killed in that [250]battle: [251]however, their [252]courage was not [253]cast down by this [254]overthrow; [255]for they would not [256]redeem those that had been [257]taken [258]prisoners, in the battle of Cannæ. In the year 540, the [259]consul [260]Marcellus [261]besieged [262]Syracuse, which had [263]declared for the Carthaginians; it was [264]wonderfully [265]defended a long time by the [266]contrivance of [267]Archimedes, who was an [268]excellent [269]astronomer, but more [270]famous for the [271]invention of [272]military [273]engines. It was [274]taken [275]at last with [276]much [277]difficulty, after a [278]siege of three years. We are [279]told that Archimedes being very [280]intent upon his [281]study at that time, and not [282]minding the [283]hurry, and [284]noise of the [285]army, when they [286]broke into the [287]town, was [288]killed by a [289]soldier; that Marcellus was much [290]concerned for his [291]death, having [292]given [293]strict [294]charge to his [295]men to [296]spare his [297]life.