WEBVTT 1 00:00:01.320 --> 00:00:05.879 Chapter ten of Hannibal. This is a LibriVox recording. All 2 00:00:05.919 --> 00:00:09.720 LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information 3 00:00:09.919 --> 00:00:14.599 or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. Recording by 4 00:00:14.640 --> 00:00:21.640 Shane Nolan. Hannibal by Jacob Abbott, Chapter ten. The true 5 00:00:21.679 --> 00:00:24.760 reason why Hannibal could not be arrested in his triumphant 6 00:00:24.760 --> 00:00:27.480 career seems not to have been because the Romans did 7 00:00:27.559 --> 00:00:30.359 not pursue the right kind of policy toward him, but 8 00:00:30.519 --> 00:00:34.039 because thus far they had no general who was his equal. 9 00:00:34.679 --> 00:00:37.759 Whoever was sent against him soon proved to be his inferior. 10 00:00:38.479 --> 00:00:41.600 Hannibal could out maneuver them all in stratagem, and could 11 00:00:41.600 --> 00:00:45.240 conquer them on the field. There was, however, now destined 12 00:00:45.240 --> 00:00:48.280 to appear, a man capable of coping with Hannibal. It 13 00:00:48.359 --> 00:00:51.200 was young Scipio, the one who saved the life of 14 00:00:51.240 --> 00:00:55.359 his father at the Battle of Tysinius. This Scipio, though 15 00:00:55.399 --> 00:00:58.399 the son of Hannibal's first great antagonist of that name, 16 00:00:58.719 --> 00:01:03.000 is commonly called in history the elder Scipio, for there 17 00:01:03.079 --> 00:01:06.000 was another of his name after him, who was greatly 18 00:01:06.040 --> 00:01:10.319 celebrated for his wars against the Carthaginians in Africa. These 19 00:01:10.400 --> 00:01:13.599 last two received from the Roman people the surname of 20 00:01:13.719 --> 00:01:17.480 Africanus in honor of their African victories, and the one 21 00:01:17.519 --> 00:01:21.719 who now comes upon the stage was called Scipio Africanus, 22 00:01:21.879 --> 00:01:27.000 the Elder, or sometimes simply the elder Scipio. The deeds 23 00:01:27.000 --> 00:01:29.359 of the Scipio who attempted to stop Hannibal at the 24 00:01:29.439 --> 00:01:33.079 Rhone and upon the po were so wholly eclipsed by 25 00:01:33.120 --> 00:01:36.280 his son and by the other Scipio who followed him, 26 00:01:36.760 --> 00:01:39.760 that the former is left out of view and forgotten 27 00:01:39.879 --> 00:01:45.040 in designating and distinguishing the others. Our present Scipio first 28 00:01:45.079 --> 00:01:48.239 appears upon the stage in the exercise of military command. 29 00:01:48.840 --> 00:01:52.519 After the Battle of Cane. He was a subordinate officer, 30 00:01:52.640 --> 00:01:55.560 and on the day following the battle he found himself 31 00:01:55.599 --> 00:01:59.480 at a place called Canusium, which was a short distance 32 00:01:59.480 --> 00:02:03.079 from Cana, on the way towards Rome, with a number 33 00:02:03.120 --> 00:02:05.400 of other officers of his own rank, and with the 34 00:02:05.439 --> 00:02:08.319 broken masses and detachments of the army coming in from 35 00:02:08.319 --> 00:02:12.919 time to time, thanked, exhausted and in despair. The rumor 36 00:02:13.039 --> 00:02:16.759 was that both consuls were killed. These fragments of the 37 00:02:16.879 --> 00:02:20.680 army had therefore no one to command them and unanimously 38 00:02:20.719 --> 00:02:24.319 agreed to make Scipio their commander in the emergency until 39 00:02:24.400 --> 00:02:28.080 some superior officer should arrive or they should get orders 40 00:02:28.120 --> 00:02:31.919 from Rome. An incident here occurred which showed in a 41 00:02:32.000 --> 00:02:35.120 striking point of view the boldness and energy of the 42 00:02:35.159 --> 00:02:38.639 young Scipio's character at the very meeting in which he 43 00:02:38.759 --> 00:02:41.599 was placed in command, and when they were overwhelmed with 44 00:02:41.639 --> 00:02:45.159 perplexity and care, an officer came in and reported that 45 00:02:45.199 --> 00:02:47.759 in another part of the camp there was an assembly 46 00:02:47.800 --> 00:02:50.560 of officers and young men of rank, headed by a 47 00:02:50.599 --> 00:02:54.280 certain Metallus, who had decided to give up the cause 48 00:02:54.319 --> 00:02:57.080 of their country in despair, and that they were making 49 00:02:57.199 --> 00:03:01.520 arrangements to proceed immediately to the sea coast, obtained ships, 50 00:03:01.560 --> 00:03:03.599 and sail away to seek a new home in some 51 00:03:03.639 --> 00:03:08.120 foreign lands. Considering their cause in Italy as utterly lost 52 00:03:08.240 --> 00:03:11.560 and ruined, the officer proposed that they should call a 53 00:03:11.639 --> 00:03:16.400 council and deliberate what was best to do. Deliberate, said Scipio, 54 00:03:17.039 --> 00:03:19.800 This is not a case for deliberation, but for action. 55 00:03:20.560 --> 00:03:24.680 Draw your swords and follow me, so saying, he pressed 56 00:03:24.680 --> 00:03:26.560 forward at the head of the party to the quarters 57 00:03:26.560 --> 00:03:30.039 of Metalus. They marched boldly into the apartment where he 58 00:03:30.080 --> 00:03:33.520 and his friends were in consultation. Scipio held up his 59 00:03:33.599 --> 00:03:36.840 sword and in a very solemn manner, pronounced an oath 60 00:03:37.520 --> 00:03:40.400 binding himself not to abandon his country in this hour 61 00:03:40.439 --> 00:03:43.840 of her distress, nor to allow any other Roman citizen 62 00:03:43.919 --> 00:03:47.280 to abandon her if he should be guilty of such treason. 63 00:03:47.319 --> 00:03:51.240 He called upon Jupiter by the most dreadful imprecations to 64 00:03:51.360 --> 00:03:58.680 destroy him utterly, house, family, fortune, soul and body, and 65 00:03:58.759 --> 00:04:01.840 now metalus. I call up on you, said he, and 66 00:04:01.960 --> 00:04:04.560 all who are with you, to take the same oath. 67 00:04:05.000 --> 00:04:07.520 You must do it, otherwise you have got to defend 68 00:04:07.560 --> 00:04:11.039 yourselves against these swords of ours, as well as those 69 00:04:11.080 --> 00:04:16.319 of the Carthaginians. Medallas and his party yielded. Nor was 70 00:04:16.360 --> 00:04:19.399 it holy to fear that they yielded. It was to 71 00:04:19.439 --> 00:04:21.720 the influence of hope quite as much as to that 72 00:04:21.839 --> 00:04:25.360 of fear. The courage, the energy, and the martial ardor 73 00:04:25.680 --> 00:04:29.800 which Scipio's conduct evinced awakened a similar spirit in them 74 00:04:29.879 --> 00:04:32.439 and made them hope again that possibly their country might 75 00:04:32.519 --> 00:04:36.160 yet be saved. The news of the awful defeat and 76 00:04:36.240 --> 00:04:39.319 destruction of the Roman army flew swiftly to Rome and 77 00:04:39.399 --> 00:04:43.639 produced universal consternation. The whole city was in an uproar. 78 00:04:44.120 --> 00:04:46.800 There were soldiers in the army from almost every family, 79 00:04:47.240 --> 00:04:49.600 so that every woman and child throughout the city was 80 00:04:49.639 --> 00:04:53.720 distracted by the double agitation of inconsolable grief at the 81 00:04:53.759 --> 00:04:57.279 death of their husband or their father slain in the battle, 82 00:04:57.720 --> 00:05:01.160 and of terrible fear that Hannibal and his raging followers 83 00:05:01.600 --> 00:05:03.800 were about to burst into the gates of the city 84 00:05:03.839 --> 00:05:07.199 to murder them. The streets of the city, and especially 85 00:05:07.240 --> 00:05:10.839 the Forum, were thronged with vast crowds of men, women 86 00:05:10.959 --> 00:05:14.839 and children, who filled the air with loud lamentations and 87 00:05:14.920 --> 00:05:19.040 with cries of terror and despair. The magistrates were not 88 00:05:19.079 --> 00:05:23.079 able to restore order. The Senate actually adjourned that the 89 00:05:23.120 --> 00:05:25.160 members of it might go about the city and use 90 00:05:25.240 --> 00:05:28.199 their influence and their power to produce silence, at least 91 00:05:28.759 --> 00:05:32.800 if they could not restore composure. The streets were finally cleared, 92 00:05:33.279 --> 00:05:35.759 the women and the children were ordered to remain at home. 93 00:05:36.360 --> 00:05:40.040 Armed patrols were put on guard to prevent tumultuous assemblies forming. 94 00:05:40.639 --> 00:05:42.680 Men were sent off on horseback on the road to 95 00:05:42.720 --> 00:05:46.879 Canusium and Canai to get more accurate intelligence, and then 96 00:05:46.920 --> 00:05:50.079 the Senate assembled again and began to consider with as 97 00:05:50.199 --> 00:05:54.120 much calmness as they could command, what was to be done. 98 00:05:54.439 --> 00:05:57.079 The panic at Rome was, however, in some measure, a 99 00:05:57.120 --> 00:06:01.680 false alarm, for Hannibal, contrary to the expectation of all Italy, 100 00:06:02.079 --> 00:06:05.360 did not go to Rome. His generals urged him very 101 00:06:05.399 --> 00:06:10.240 strongly to do so. Nothing could prevent they said, his 102 00:06:10.439 --> 00:06:14.399 gaining immediate possession of the city, but Hannibal refused to 103 00:06:14.439 --> 00:06:18.879 do this. Rome was strongly fortified and had immense population. 104 00:06:19.560 --> 00:06:22.199 His army, too, was much weakened by the Battle of Canai, 105 00:06:22.879 --> 00:06:24.920 and he seemed to have thought it most prudent not 106 00:06:25.000 --> 00:06:27.920 to attempt the reduction of Rome until he should have 107 00:06:27.959 --> 00:06:31.720 received reinforcements from home. It was now so late in 108 00:06:31.720 --> 00:06:34.959 the season that he could not expect such reinforcements immediately, 109 00:06:35.600 --> 00:06:39.199 and he accordingly determined to select some place more accessible 110 00:06:39.240 --> 00:06:42.000 than Rome and make it his headquarters for the winter. 111 00:06:42.720 --> 00:06:45.879 He decided in favor of Capua, which was a large 112 00:06:45.879 --> 00:06:50.439 and powerful city one or two hundred miles southeast of Rome. 113 00:06:51.079 --> 00:06:54.920 Hannibal in fact conceived the design of retaining possession of 114 00:06:54.959 --> 00:06:59.279 Italy and making Capua, the capital of the country, leaving 115 00:06:59.399 --> 00:07:04.560 Rome to its to decline, as under such circumstances it 116 00:07:04.639 --> 00:07:08.639 inevitably must to the rank of a second city. Perhaps 117 00:07:08.639 --> 00:07:11.040 he was tired of the fatigues and hazards of war, 118 00:07:11.519 --> 00:07:14.759 and having narrowly escaped ruined before the Battle of Canai, 119 00:07:15.439 --> 00:07:18.759 he now resolved that he would not rashly incur any 120 00:07:18.800 --> 00:07:22.600 new dangers. It was a great question with him whether 121 00:07:22.600 --> 00:07:25.360 he should go forward to Rome or attempt to build 122 00:07:25.439 --> 00:07:28.800 up a new capital of his own at Capua. The 123 00:07:28.920 --> 00:07:32.319 question which of these two he ought to have done, 124 00:07:32.360 --> 00:07:35.519 was a matter of great debate then, and it has 125 00:07:35.600 --> 00:07:38.319 been discussed a great deal by military men in every 126 00:07:38.319 --> 00:07:42.319 age since his day. Right or wrong, Hannibal decided to 127 00:07:42.439 --> 00:07:46.120 establish his own capital at Capua, and to leave Rome 128 00:07:46.279 --> 00:07:51.720 for the present undisturbed. He however, sent immediately to Carthage 129 00:07:51.759 --> 00:07:54.839 for reinforcements. The messenger whom he sent was one of 130 00:07:54.839 --> 00:07:58.439 his general's named Mago. Maugel made the best of his 131 00:07:58.519 --> 00:08:01.480 way to Carthage with his tile of victory and his 132 00:08:01.680 --> 00:08:05.199 bushel of rings collected. As had been already said, from 133 00:08:05.240 --> 00:08:08.639 the field of Canai, the city of Carthage was greatly 134 00:08:08.639 --> 00:08:11.560 excited by the news which he brought. The friends and 135 00:08:11.600 --> 00:08:15.399 patrons of Hannibal were elated with enthusiasm and pride, and 136 00:08:15.480 --> 00:08:18.319 they taunted and reproached his enemies with the opposition to 137 00:08:18.399 --> 00:08:21.879 him they had manifested when he was originally appointed to 138 00:08:21.959 --> 00:08:25.240 the command of the army of Spain. Malgam met the 139 00:08:25.279 --> 00:08:30.079 Carthaginian Senate, and with very spirited and eloquent speech, he 140 00:08:30.199 --> 00:08:33.360 told them how many glorious battles Hannibal had fought, and 141 00:08:33.399 --> 00:08:36.799 how many victories he had won. He had contended with 142 00:08:36.879 --> 00:08:39.600 the greatest generals that the Romans could bring against him, 143 00:08:39.960 --> 00:08:43.360 and had conquered them. All he had slain, He said, 144 00:08:43.480 --> 00:08:48.600 in all over two hundred thousand men. All Italy was 145 00:08:48.639 --> 00:08:52.440 now subject to his power, Capule was his capital, and 146 00:08:52.600 --> 00:08:57.039 Rome had fallen. He concluded by saying that Hannibal was 147 00:08:57.080 --> 00:09:00.440 in need of considerable additional supplies of men and money, 148 00:09:00.480 --> 00:09:03.840 and provisions, which he did not doubt the Carthaginians would 149 00:09:03.840 --> 00:09:08.000 send without any unnecessary delay. He then produced before the 150 00:09:08.039 --> 00:09:11.039 Senate the great bag of rings which he had brought, 151 00:09:11.559 --> 00:09:13.879 and poured them upon the pavement of the Senate house 152 00:09:13.919 --> 00:09:17.120 as a trophy of the victories which he had been announcing. 153 00:09:18.000 --> 00:09:21.159 This would perhaps have been very well for Hannibal if 154 00:09:21.200 --> 00:09:23.480 his friends had been contented to have left the case 155 00:09:23.519 --> 00:09:26.240 where Mago left it. But some of them could not 156 00:09:26.399 --> 00:09:31.720 resist the temptation of taunting his enemies, and especially Hanno, who, 157 00:09:31.840 --> 00:09:35.759 as will be recollected, originally opposed his being sent to Spain. 158 00:09:36.559 --> 00:09:39.759 They turned to him and asked him triumphantly what he 159 00:09:39.799 --> 00:09:43.440 thought now of his facetious opposition to so brave a warrior. 160 00:09:44.279 --> 00:09:48.320 Anna arose. The Senate looked toward him, and were profoundly silent, 161 00:09:48.919 --> 00:09:52.159 wondering what he would have to reply. Anne, with an 162 00:09:52.200 --> 00:09:55.600 air of perfect ease and composure, spoke somewhat as follows. 163 00:09:57.039 --> 00:09:59.320 I should have said nothing, but should have allowed the 164 00:09:59.360 --> 00:10:02.240 Senate to take what action they pleased on Mago's proposition. 165 00:10:03.080 --> 00:10:07.080 If I had not been particularly addressed as it is, 166 00:10:07.519 --> 00:10:10.240 I will say that I think now, just as I 167 00:10:10.240 --> 00:10:13.679 have always thought, we are plunged into a most costly 168 00:10:13.799 --> 00:10:18.080 and most useless war, and are as I conceive no 169 00:10:18.240 --> 00:10:22.679 nearer the end of it now than ever. Notwithstanding all 170 00:10:22.720 --> 00:10:26.879 these boasted successes, the emptiness of them is clearly shown 171 00:10:26.879 --> 00:10:29.840 by the inconsistency of Hannibal's pretensions as to what he 172 00:10:29.879 --> 00:10:32.720 has done with the demands that he makes. In respect 173 00:10:32.720 --> 00:10:35.879 to what he wishes us to do, he says he 174 00:10:35.919 --> 00:10:38.720 has conquered all his enemies, and yet he wants us 175 00:10:38.720 --> 00:10:43.080 to send more soldiers. He has reduced all Italy, the 176 00:10:43.080 --> 00:10:46.200 most fertile country in the world, is subjection, and reigns 177 00:10:46.240 --> 00:10:49.240 over it at Capua, and yet he calls upon us 178 00:10:49.279 --> 00:10:52.879 for corn and then to crown all. He sends us 179 00:10:52.879 --> 00:10:55.840 bushels of gold rings as a specimen of the riches 180 00:10:55.879 --> 00:10:59.159 he has obtained by plunder, and accompanies the offering with 181 00:10:59.200 --> 00:11:02.720 a demand for new supplies of money. In my opinion, 182 00:11:03.480 --> 00:11:07.519 his success is all elusive and hollow. There seems to 183 00:11:07.519 --> 00:11:11.679 be nothing substantial in his situation except his necessities and 184 00:11:11.720 --> 00:11:15.600 the heavy burdens upon the state which these necessities impose. 185 00:11:16.679 --> 00:11:22.039 Notwithstanding Hanno's sarcasms, the Carthaginians resolved to sustain Hannibal and 186 00:11:22.159 --> 00:11:25.440 to send him the supplies that he needed. There were, however, 187 00:11:25.759 --> 00:11:30.639 long in reaching him. Various difficulties and delays occurred. The Romans, 188 00:11:31.440 --> 00:11:34.840 though they could not dispossess Hannibal from his position in Italy, 189 00:11:35.440 --> 00:11:39.080 raised armies in different countries and waged extended wars with 190 00:11:39.120 --> 00:11:42.440 the Carthaginians and their allies in various parts of the world, 191 00:11:42.879 --> 00:11:47.559 both by sea and land. The result was that Hannibal 192 00:11:47.600 --> 00:11:51.639 remained fifteen or sixteen years in Italy, engaged during all 193 00:11:51.679 --> 00:11:55.000 this time in a lingering struggle with the Roman power, 194 00:11:55.360 --> 00:12:00.039 without ever being able to accomplish any decisive measures. In 195 00:12:00.159 --> 00:12:04.279 his period, he was sometimes successful and victorious, and sometimes 196 00:12:04.320 --> 00:12:07.399 he was very hard pressed by his enemies. It is 197 00:12:07.440 --> 00:12:11.120 said that his army was very much enervated and enfeebled 198 00:12:11.519 --> 00:12:15.720 by the comforts and luxuries they enjoyed at Capua. Capua 199 00:12:15.879 --> 00:12:19.320 was a very rich and beautiful city, and the inhabitants 200 00:12:19.360 --> 00:12:21.360 of it had opened their gates to Hannibal of their 201 00:12:21.360 --> 00:12:26.240 own accord, preferring, as they said, his alliance to that 202 00:12:26.360 --> 00:12:30.919 of the Romans. The officers, as the officers of any army, 203 00:12:30.960 --> 00:12:34.360 almost do, when they find themselves established in a rich 204 00:12:34.399 --> 00:12:37.279 and powerful city after the fatigues of a long and 205 00:12:37.360 --> 00:12:42.679 honorable campaign, gave themselves up to festivities and rejoicing, to gains, 206 00:12:42.919 --> 00:12:47.399 shows and entertainments of every kind, which they soon learned 207 00:12:47.480 --> 00:12:50.639 infinitely to prefer to the toil and danger of marches 208 00:12:50.639 --> 00:12:54.360 and battles. Whatever may have been the cause, there is 209 00:12:54.399 --> 00:12:57.639 no question about the fact that from the time Hannibal 210 00:12:57.639 --> 00:13:00.720 and his army got possession of their comfortable quarters in Capua, 211 00:13:01.279 --> 00:13:06.120 the Carthaginian power began to gradually decline, as Hannibal determined 212 00:13:06.159 --> 00:13:09.279 to make that city the Italian capital, and said of Rome, he, 213 00:13:09.399 --> 00:13:13.559 of course, when established there, felt in some degree settled 214 00:13:13.600 --> 00:13:16.200 and at home, and was less interested than he had 215 00:13:16.240 --> 00:13:20.399 been in plans for attacking the ancient capital. Still, the 216 00:13:20.440 --> 00:13:25.039 war went on, many battles were fought, many cities were besieged, 217 00:13:25.639 --> 00:13:29.480 the Roman power gaining ground all the time, though not however, 218 00:13:29.919 --> 00:13:34.320 by any very decisive victories. In these contests, there appeared 219 00:13:34.320 --> 00:13:38.000 at length a new Roman general named Marcellus, and, either 220 00:13:38.039 --> 00:13:41.519 on account of his possessing a bolder and more active temperament, 221 00:13:42.240 --> 00:13:44.720 or else in consequence of the change in the relative 222 00:13:44.799 --> 00:13:48.519 strength of the two continuing powers, he pursued a more 223 00:13:48.519 --> 00:13:51.960 aggressive policy than Fabius had thought it prudent to attempt. 224 00:13:52.480 --> 00:13:56.559 Marcellus was, however, cautious and wary in his enterprises, and 225 00:13:56.679 --> 00:13:59.320 he laid his plans with so much sagacity and skill 226 00:13:59.759 --> 00:14:04.000 that he he was almost always successful. The Romans applauded 227 00:14:04.080 --> 00:14:07.240 very highly his activity and ardor without, however, forgetting their 228 00:14:07.279 --> 00:14:11.759 obligations to Fabius for his caution and defensive reserve. They 229 00:14:11.759 --> 00:14:14.600 said that Marcellus was a sword of their commonwealth, as 230 00:14:14.639 --> 00:14:18.960 Fabius had been its shield. The Romans continued to prosecute 231 00:14:18.960 --> 00:14:22.159 this sort of warfare, being more and more successful the 232 00:14:22.200 --> 00:14:25.919 longer they continued it, until at last they advanced to 233 00:14:25.960 --> 00:14:29.399 the very walls of Capua and threatened it with a siege. 234 00:14:29.559 --> 00:14:32.679 Annibal's intrenchment and fortifications were too strong for them to 235 00:14:32.720 --> 00:14:36.080 attempt to carry the city by sudden assault, nor were 236 00:14:36.080 --> 00:14:39.440 the Romans even powerful enough to invest the place entirely 237 00:14:39.960 --> 00:14:43.440 so as completely to shut their enemies in. They, however, 238 00:14:43.559 --> 00:14:46.519 encamped with a large army in the neighborhood and assumed 239 00:14:46.519 --> 00:14:49.799 so threatening an attitude as to keep Hannibal's forces within 240 00:14:49.840 --> 00:14:54.320 a state of continual alarm. And besides the alarm, it 241 00:14:54.399 --> 00:14:58.840 was very humiliating and mortifying to Carthaginian pride to find 242 00:14:58.840 --> 00:15:01.720 the very seat of their paswers as it were, shut 243 00:15:01.840 --> 00:15:04.840 up and over awed by an enemy over whom they 244 00:15:04.879 --> 00:15:08.559 had been triumphing themselves so short a time before. By 245 00:15:08.600 --> 00:15:12.679 a continued series of victories. Annabel was not himself in 246 00:15:12.720 --> 00:15:16.080 Capua at the time that the Romans came to attack it. 247 00:15:16.720 --> 00:15:20.320 He marched, however, immediately to its relief, and attacking the 248 00:15:20.399 --> 00:15:23.600 Romans in his turn, endeavored to compel them to raise 249 00:15:23.720 --> 00:15:29.240 the siege, as it is technically termed and retired. They had, however, 250 00:15:29.320 --> 00:15:32.200 so intrenched themselves in the positions that they had taken, 251 00:15:32.559 --> 00:15:35.720 and the assaults with which he encountered them had lost 252 00:15:35.720 --> 00:15:38.600 so much of their former force that he could accomplish 253 00:15:38.639 --> 00:15:42.039 nothing decisive. He then left the ground with his army 254 00:15:42.120 --> 00:15:45.919 and marched himself towards Rome. He encamped himself in the 255 00:15:46.000 --> 00:15:48.799 vicinity of the city and threatened to attack it. But 256 00:15:48.919 --> 00:15:51.919 the walls and castles and towers with which Rome, as 257 00:15:51.960 --> 00:15:55.759 well as Capule, was defended, were too formidable, and the 258 00:15:55.840 --> 00:15:59.440 preparations for defense too complete, to make it prudent for 259 00:15:59.519 --> 00:16:03.399 him toulyus sail the city. His object was to alarm 260 00:16:03.440 --> 00:16:05.960 the Romans and compel them to withdraw their forces from 261 00:16:06.039 --> 00:16:09.840 his capital, that they might defend their own. There was, 262 00:16:09.840 --> 00:16:12.840 in fact some degree of alarm awakened, and then the 263 00:16:12.879 --> 00:16:16.879 discussions which took place among the Roman authorities the withdrawal 264 00:16:16.919 --> 00:16:20.360 of their troops from Capua was proposed, but this proposal 265 00:16:20.440 --> 00:16:24.759 was overruled. Even Fabius was against it. Annibal was no 266 00:16:24.840 --> 00:16:28.200 longer to be feared. They ordered back a small detachment 267 00:16:28.240 --> 00:16:31.440 from Capua and added to it such forces as they 268 00:16:31.440 --> 00:16:34.399 could raise within the city, and then advance to give 269 00:16:34.480 --> 00:16:38.840 Hannibal battle. The preparations were all made, it is said, 270 00:16:39.440 --> 00:16:42.919 for an engagement, but a violent storm came on, so 271 00:16:43.080 --> 00:16:46.519 violent as to drive the combatants back to their respective camps. 272 00:16:47.279 --> 00:16:51.320 This happened, the great Roman historian Gravely says, two or 273 00:16:51.320 --> 00:16:55.720 three times in succession, the weather immediately becoming serene again, 274 00:16:56.039 --> 00:16:59.159 each time as soon as the respective generals had withdrawn 275 00:16:59.200 --> 00:17:02.679 their troops from the us intended fight. Something like this 276 00:17:02.759 --> 00:17:06.119 may perhaps have occurred, though the fact, doubtless was that 277 00:17:06.200 --> 00:17:09.519 both parties were afraid each of the other, and were 278 00:17:09.559 --> 00:17:13.119 disposed to avail themselves of any excuse to postpone a 279 00:17:13.200 --> 00:17:16.599 decisive conflict. There was a time when Hannibal had not 280 00:17:16.680 --> 00:17:19.200 been deterred from attacking the Romans, even by the most 281 00:17:19.200 --> 00:17:24.160 tempestuous storms. Thus, though Hannibal did, in fact, in the 282 00:17:24.279 --> 00:17:27.359 end get to the walls of Rome, he did nothing 283 00:17:27.400 --> 00:17:30.279 but threaten when he was there, and his encampment near 284 00:17:30.319 --> 00:17:33.920 the city can only be considered as bravado. His presence 285 00:17:33.920 --> 00:17:37.640 seems to have had excited very little apprehension within the city. 286 00:17:38.519 --> 00:17:41.880 The Romans had, in fact, before this time lost their 287 00:17:41.960 --> 00:17:46.160 terror of the Carthaginian arms. To show their contempt of Hannibal, 288 00:17:46.680 --> 00:17:50.480 they sold at public auction the land on which he 289 00:17:50.559 --> 00:17:53.319 was encamped while he was upon at besieging the city, 290 00:17:53.720 --> 00:17:57.599 and it brought the usual price. Their bidders were perhaps 291 00:17:57.720 --> 00:18:01.519 influenced somewhat by a patriotic spirit and by a desire 292 00:18:01.559 --> 00:18:04.359 to taunt Hannibal, with the very expression of their opinion 293 00:18:04.400 --> 00:18:09.519 that his occupation of the land would be very temporary encumbrance. Hannibal, 294 00:18:09.640 --> 00:18:12.480 to revenge himself for this taunt, put up for sale 295 00:18:12.519 --> 00:18:15.559 at auction in his own camp the shops of one 296 00:18:15.559 --> 00:18:18.400 of the principal streets of Rome, and they were bought 297 00:18:18.519 --> 00:18:21.799 by his officers with great spirit. It showed that a 298 00:18:21.799 --> 00:18:23.920 great change had taken place in the nature of the 299 00:18:23.960 --> 00:18:27.799 contest between Carthage and Rome. To find these vast powers, 300 00:18:28.319 --> 00:18:31.359 which were a very few years before grappling each other 301 00:18:31.400 --> 00:18:35.000 with such destructive and terrible fury on the Poe and 302 00:18:35.079 --> 00:18:40.240 that Canine, now satisfying their declining animosity with such wibbling 303 00:18:40.359 --> 00:18:44.799 as this. When the other modes by which Hannibal attempted 304 00:18:44.839 --> 00:18:48.519 to obtain reinforcements failed, he made an attempt to have 305 00:18:48.559 --> 00:18:51.240 a second army brought over the Alps, under the command 306 00:18:51.279 --> 00:18:55.759 of his brother Hasdrubl. It was a large army, and 307 00:18:55.799 --> 00:18:59.079 in their march they experienced the same difficulties, though in 308 00:18:59.119 --> 00:19:03.160 a much lighter degree that Hannibal himself had encountered. And 309 00:19:03.279 --> 00:19:06.160 yet of the whole mighty mass which had sat out 310 00:19:06.200 --> 00:19:11.079 from Spain, nothing reached Hannibal except his brother's head. The 311 00:19:11.200 --> 00:19:15.559 circumstances of the unfortunate termination of Hastruble's attempts were as followed. 312 00:19:16.519 --> 00:19:20.359 When Hastrubl descended from the Alps, rejoicing in the successful 313 00:19:20.359 --> 00:19:23.640 manner in which he had surmounted those formidable barriers, he 314 00:19:23.720 --> 00:19:28.640 imagined that all his difficulties were over. He despatched couriers 315 00:19:28.680 --> 00:19:31.759 to his brother Hannibal, informing him that he had scaled 316 00:19:31.799 --> 00:19:34.680 the mountains and that he was coming on as rapidly 317 00:19:34.720 --> 00:19:39.240 as possible to his aid. The two consuls in office 318 00:19:39.279 --> 00:19:42.400 at this time were named the one Nero and the 319 00:19:42.440 --> 00:19:46.039 other Livius to each of these, as was usual with 320 00:19:46.119 --> 00:19:49.720 the Roman consuls, was assigned a particular province and a 321 00:19:49.720 --> 00:19:52.559 certain portion of the army to defend it, and the 322 00:19:52.640 --> 00:19:55.720 laws enjoined upon them very strictly not to leave their 323 00:19:55.720 --> 00:20:00.920 respective provinces on any pretext whatever withou authority from the 324 00:20:01.000 --> 00:20:05.839 Roman legislature. In this instance, Livius had been assigned to 325 00:20:05.880 --> 00:20:08.839 the northern part of Italy, and Nero to the southern. 326 00:20:09.720 --> 00:20:13.079 It devolved upon Livius therefore, to meet and give battle 327 00:20:13.119 --> 00:20:16.160 to Hastruble on his descent from the Alps, and to 328 00:20:16.279 --> 00:20:19.519 Nero to remain in the vicinity of Hannibal, to thwart 329 00:20:19.559 --> 00:20:24.480 his plans, oppose his progress, and if possible, conquer and 330 00:20:24.599 --> 00:20:29.119 destroy him, while his colleague prevented his receiving the expected 331 00:20:29.119 --> 00:20:34.880 reinforcements from Spain. Things being in this state, the couriers 332 00:20:34.880 --> 00:20:37.759 whom Hastrubles sent with his letters had the vigilance of 333 00:20:37.839 --> 00:20:40.559 both consuls to allude before they could deliver them into 334 00:20:40.599 --> 00:20:45.200 Hannibal's hands. They did succeed in passing Livius, but they 335 00:20:45.200 --> 00:20:49.519 were insucepted by Nero. The patrols who seized these messengers 336 00:20:49.559 --> 00:20:53.319 brought them to Nero's tent Nero opened and read the letters. 337 00:20:54.160 --> 00:20:58.279 All Hastruble's plans and arrangements were detailed in them very fully, 338 00:20:59.079 --> 00:21:02.279 so that receive that if he were at once to 339 00:21:02.359 --> 00:21:05.440 proceed to the northward with such a strong force, he 340 00:21:05.480 --> 00:21:08.880 could render his colleagues such aid, as with the knowledge 341 00:21:08.920 --> 00:21:12.279 of Hastruble's plans, which he had obtained from the letters, 342 00:21:12.559 --> 00:21:16.559 would probably enable them to defeat him. Whereas if he 343 00:21:16.599 --> 00:21:19.720 were to leave Livia's in ignorance and alone, he feared 344 00:21:19.720 --> 00:21:22.519 that Hastrubul would be as successful in breaking his way 345 00:21:22.559 --> 00:21:27.359 through and in ultimately effecting his junction with Hannibal. Under 346 00:21:27.400 --> 00:21:31.680 these circumstances, he was, of course very earnestly desiris of 347 00:21:31.720 --> 00:21:34.880 going northward to render the necessary aid. But he was 348 00:21:34.920 --> 00:21:37.759 strictly forbidden by law to leave his own province to 349 00:21:37.920 --> 00:21:41.319 enter that of his own colleagues without an authority from Rome, 350 00:21:41.880 --> 00:21:45.599 which there was not now time to obtain. The laws 351 00:21:45.640 --> 00:21:49.519 of military discipline are very strict and imperious, and in 352 00:21:49.640 --> 00:21:54.079 theory they are never to be disobeyed. Officers and soldiers 353 00:21:54.119 --> 00:21:57.759 of all ranks and graduations must obey the orders which 354 00:21:57.799 --> 00:22:00.960 they received from the authority above them, without looking at 355 00:22:01.000 --> 00:22:04.359 the consequences or deviating from the line marked out on 356 00:22:04.480 --> 00:22:09.279 any pretext whatever. It is, in fact the very essence 357 00:22:09.319 --> 00:22:14.359 of military subordination and efficiency that a command, once given, 358 00:22:14.759 --> 00:22:18.519 suspends all exercise of judgment or discretion on the part 359 00:22:18.519 --> 00:22:21.720 of one to whom it is addressed. And a good 360 00:22:21.799 --> 00:22:25.319 general or a good government would prefer generally that harm 361 00:22:25.359 --> 00:22:28.920 should be done by a strict obedience to commands, rather 362 00:22:28.960 --> 00:22:32.680 than a benefit secured by an unauthorized deviation from them. 363 00:22:33.240 --> 00:22:36.480 It is a good principle not only in war, but 364 00:22:36.559 --> 00:22:39.119 in all those cases in social life where men have 365 00:22:39.240 --> 00:22:42.920 to act in concert and yet wish to secure efficiency 366 00:22:43.039 --> 00:22:47.920 in action. And yet there are cases of exception, cases 367 00:22:47.960 --> 00:22:51.240 where the necessity is so urgent, or the advantages to 368 00:22:51.319 --> 00:22:55.079 be derived so great, where the interest involved are so 369 00:22:55.279 --> 00:22:59.960 momentous and the success so sure, that a commander concludes 370 00:23:00.119 --> 00:23:05.160 to disobey and take the responsibility. The responsibility is, however, 371 00:23:05.319 --> 00:23:09.720 very great, and the danger in assuming it extreme. He 372 00:23:09.759 --> 00:23:13.599 who incurs it makes himself liable to the severest penalties, 373 00:23:14.119 --> 00:23:18.319 from which nothing but clear proof of the most imperious necessity, 374 00:23:18.880 --> 00:23:22.720 and in addition to it, the most triumphant success can 375 00:23:22.759 --> 00:23:26.839 save him. There is somewhere in English history a story 376 00:23:26.839 --> 00:23:29.359 of a naval commander in the service of an English 377 00:23:29.480 --> 00:23:33.319 queen who disobeys the orders of his superiors at one 378 00:23:33.400 --> 00:23:37.400 time in a case of great emergency at sea, and 379 00:23:37.519 --> 00:23:42.799 gain by doing so a very important victory. Immediately afterwards, 380 00:23:43.279 --> 00:23:46.640 he placed himself under arrest and went into port as 381 00:23:46.680 --> 00:23:49.359 a prisoner accused of a crime, instead of a commander 382 00:23:49.480 --> 00:23:53.920 triumphing in his victory. He surrendered himself to the queen's 383 00:23:53.960 --> 00:23:57.880 officers of justice, and sent word to the Queen herself 384 00:23:58.200 --> 00:24:00.559 that he knew very well that death was the penalty 385 00:24:00.599 --> 00:24:03.759 for his offense, but that he was willing to sacrifice 386 00:24:03.759 --> 00:24:07.200 his life in any way in the service of her majesty. 387 00:24:07.759 --> 00:24:14.160 He was pardoned. Nero, after much anxious deliberation, concluded that 388 00:24:14.200 --> 00:24:16.920 the emergency in which he found himself placed was one 389 00:24:17.000 --> 00:24:22.559 requiring him to take the responsibility of disobedience. He did not, however, 390 00:24:23.079 --> 00:24:25.920 dare to go northward with all his forces, for that 391 00:24:25.960 --> 00:24:28.960 would be to leave southern Italy wholly. At the mercy 392 00:24:28.960 --> 00:24:34.119 of Hannibal. He selected therefore, from his whole force, which 393 00:24:34.160 --> 00:24:38.039 consisted of forty thousand men, seven or eight thousand of 394 00:24:38.079 --> 00:24:41.759 the most deficient and trustworthy, the men on whom he 395 00:24:41.799 --> 00:24:45.519 could most securely rely, both in respect to their ability 396 00:24:45.559 --> 00:24:48.400 to bear the fatigues of a rapid march and the 397 00:24:48.480 --> 00:24:52.119 courage and energy with which they would meet Hastruble's forces 398 00:24:52.119 --> 00:24:54.839 in the battle. At the end of it. He was, 399 00:24:55.119 --> 00:24:59.759 at the time when Hastrubule's letters were intercepted, occupying a 400 00:25:00.000 --> 00:25:04.680 facious and well situated camp. This he enlarged and strengthened, 401 00:25:05.400 --> 00:25:08.279