was called, and war was decreed unanimously against the Carthaginians.

mans.

War proclaimed. That no ceremony might be wanting, deputies were sent to Carthage, to inquire whether Saguntum had been besieged by order of the republic, and if so, to declare war; or, in case this siege had been undertaken solely by the authority of Hannibal, to require that he should be delivered up to the RoThe deputies perceiving that the senate gave no direct answer to their demands, one of them taking up the folded lappet of his robe, "I bring here," says he, in a haughty tone, "either peace or war; the choice is left to yourselves." The senate answering, that they left the choice to him, "I give you war then," says he, unfolding his robe. "And we," replied the Carthaginians, with the same haughtiness,

as heartily accept it, and are resolved to prosecute it with the same cheerfulness." Such was the beginning of the second Punic war.

"If the cause of this war should be ascribed to the taking of Saguntum, the whole blame, says Polybius, lies upon the Carthaginians, who could not, with any colourable pretence, besiege a city that was in alliance with Rome, and as such comprehended in the treaty which forbade either party to make war upon the allies of the other. But should the origin of the war be traced higher, and carried back to the time when the Carthaginians were dispossessed of Sardinia by the Romans, and a new tribute was so unreasonably imposed on them, it must be confessed, continues Polybius, that the conduct of the Romans is entirely unjustifiable on these two points, as being founded Polyb. l. iii. p. 184, 185.

Polyb. p. 187. Liv. 1. xxi. n. 18, 19.

merely on violence and injustice; and that, had the Carthaginians, without having recourse to ambiguous and frivolous pretences, plainly demanded satisfaction upon these two grievances, and upon their being refused it, had declared war against Rome, in that case reason and justice had been entirely on their side.

The interval between the conclusion of the first, and the beginning of the second Punic war, was twenty four years.

The beginning of the second Punic war. d When war was resolved upon, and proclaimed on both sides, Hannibal, who then was twenty six or twenty seven years of age, before he discovered his grand design, thought it incumbent on him to provide for the security of Spain and Africa. With this view, he marched the forces out of the one into the other, so that the Africans served in Spain and the Spaniards in Africa. He was prompted to this from a persuasion that these soldiers, being thus at a distance from their respective countries, would be fitter for service, and more firmly attached to him, as they would be a kind of hostages for each other's fidelity. The forces which he left in Africa amounted to about forty thousand men, twelve hundred whereof were horse: those of Spain were something above fifteen thousand, of which two thousand five hundred and fifty were horse. He left the command of the Spanish forces to his brother Asdrubal, with a fleet of about sixty ships to guard the coast; and at the same time gave him the wisest counsel for his conduct, whether with regard to the Spaniards or the Romans, in case they should attack him.

d A. M. 3787. A. Carth. 629. A. Rom. 531, Ant. J. C. 217. Poly. 1. iii. p. 187. Liv. 1. xxi. n, 21, 22.

e

Livy observes, that Hannibal, before he set forward on this expedition, went to Cadiz to discharge his vows made to Hercules; and that he engaged himself by new ones, in order to obtain success in the war he was entering upon. * Polybius gives us, in few words, a very clear idea of the distance of the several places through which Hannibal was to march, in his way to Italy. From New Carthage, whence he set out, to the Iberus, were computed two thousand two hundred £ furlongs. From the Iberus to Emporium, a small maritime town which separates Spain from the Gauls, according to Strabo, were sixteen hundred furlongs. From Emporium to the pass of the Rhone, the like space of sixteen hundred furlongs. From the pass the Rhone to the Alps, fourteen hundred furlongs.' From the Alps to the plains of Italy, twelve hundred furlongs." Thus, from New Carthage to the plains of Italy, were eight thousand furlongs."

k

of

• Hannibal had long before taken all the proper measures to discover the nature and situation of the places through which he was to pass; to sound how the Gauls stood affected to the Romans; to win over their chiefs, who he knew were very greedy of gold, by his bounty to them ;P and to secure to himself the affections and fidelity of one part of the nations through

Polybius makes the distance from New Carthage to be 2600 fur. longs; consequently the whole number of furlongs will be 8400; or, al lowing 625 feet to the furlong, 994 English miles, and almost one third. See Polybius, Gronov. edit. p. 267.

℗ Audierunt præoccupatos jam ab Annibale Gallorum animos esse : sed ne illi quidem ipsi satis mitem gentem fore, ni subinde auro, cujus avidissima gens est, principum animi concilientur. Liv. 1. xxi. n. 20.

whose country his march lay. He was not ignorant, that the passage of the Alps would be attended with great difficulties, but he knew they were not unsurmountable, and that was enough for his purpose.

Hannibal began his march early in the spring from New Carthage, where he had wintered. His army then consisted of above one hundred thousand men, of which twelve thousand were horse, and he had near forty elephants. Having crossed the Iberus, he soon subdued the several nations which opposed him in his march, and lost a considerable part of his army in this expedition. He left Hanno to command all the country lying between the Iberus and the Pyrenean hills, with eleven thousand men, who were appointed to guard the baggage of those that were to follow him. He dismissed the like number, sending them back to their respective countries; thus securing to himself their affection when he should want recruits, and assuring the rest that they should be allowed to return whenever they should desire it. He passed the Pyrenean hills, and advanced as far as the banks of the Rhone, at the head of fifty thousand foot, and nine thousand horse; a formidable army, but less so from the number than from the valor of the troops that composed it; troops who had served several years in Spain, and learned the art of war under the ablest eaptains that Carthage could ever boast.

Passage of the Rhone. * Hannibal being arrived within about four days march from the mouth of the Rhone, attempted to cross it, because the river in this

9 Polyb. l. iii. p. 189, 190. Liv. I. xxi. n. 22-24.

Polyb. 1. iii. p. 270-274, edit. Gronov. Liv. 1. xxi. n. 26-28.

On his arrival, he opposite bank, and

place took up only the breadth of its channel. He bought up all the ship boats and little vessels he could meet with, of which the inhabitants had a great number, because of their commerce. He likewise built with great diligence a prodigious number of boats, little vessels, and floats of timber. found the Gauls encamped on the prepared to dispute the passage. There was no possibility of his attacking them in the front. He there. fore ordered a considerable detachment of his forces, under the command of Hanno, the son of Bomilcar, to pass the river higher; and, in order to conceal his march, and the design he had in view, from the enemy, he obliged them to set out in the night. All things succeeded as he desired; and the river was passed the next day without the least opposition.

They passed the rest of the day in refreshing themselves, and in the night they advanced silently towards the enemy. In the morning, when the signals agreed upon had been given, Hannibal prepared to attempt the passage. Part of his horses, completely harnessed, were put into boats, that their riders might, on their landing, immediately charge the enemy. The rest of the horses swam over on both sides of the boats, from which one single man held the bridles of three or four. The infantry crossed the river, either on floats of timber or in small boats, and in a kind of gundolas, which were only the trunks of trees they themselves had made hollow. The great boats were drawn up in a line at the top of the channel, in order to break the force of the waves, and facilitate the passage to the rest of the small fleet. When the Gauls saw it advanc

It is thought that it was betwixt Roquemaure and Pont St. Esprit.