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.