HANNIBAL AT SAGUNTUM.
B.C. 234-218
Parentage of Hannibal.--Character of Hamilcar.--Religious
ceremonies.--Hannibal's famous oath of enmity to Rome.--Hamilcar
in Spain.--Hasdrubal.--Death of Hamilcar.--Hannibal sent for to
Spain.--Opposition of Hanno.--Hannibal sets out for Spain.--Favorable
impression on the army.--Character of Hannibal.--He is elevated to
the supreme command.--The River Iberus.--Hannibal seeks a war with
the Romans.--Stratagem of Hannibal.--Fording the river.--Great
battle in the River Tagus.--Victory of Hannibal.--Saguntum.--Hannibal
attacks it.--Progress of the siege.--Hannibal wounded.--Hannibal
recovers.--The falarica.--Arrival of the Roman embassadors.--Hannibal's
policy.--Hannibal sends embassadors to Carthage.--The Roman
embassadors.--Parties in the Carthaginian senate.--Speech of
Hanno.--Hanno proposes to give up Hannibal.--Defense of Hannibal's
friends.--Hannibal triumphant.--Saguntum falls.
The name of Hannibal's father was Hamilcar. He was one of the leading
Carthaginian generals. He occupied a very prominent position, both on
account of his rank, and wealth, and high family connections at
Carthage, and also on account of the great military energy which he
displayed in the command of the armies abroad. He carried on the wars
which the Carthaginians waged in Africa and in Spain after the
conclusion of the war with the Romans, and he longed to commence
hostilities with the Romans again.
At one time, when Hannibal was about nine years of age, Hamilcar was
preparing to set off on an expedition into Spain, and, as was usual in
those days, he was celebrating the occasion with games, and
spectacles, and various religious ceremonies. It has been the custom
in all ages of the world, when nations go to war with each other, for
each side to take measures for propitiating the favor of Heaven.
Christian nations at the present day do it by prayers offered in each
country for the success of their own arms. Heathen nations do it by
sacrifices, libations, and offerings. Hamilcar had made arrangements
for such sacrifices, and the priests were offering them in the
presence of the whole assembled army.
Young Hannibal, then about nine years of age, was present. He was a
boy of great spirit and energy, and he entered with much enthusiasm
into the scene. He wanted to go to Spain himself with the army, and he
came to his father and began to urge his request. His father could not
consent to this. He was too young to endure the privations and
fatigues of such an enterprise. However, his father brought him to one
of the altars, in the presence of the other officers of the army, and
made him lay his hand upon the consecrated victim, and swear that, as
soon as he was old enough, and had it in his power, he would make war
upon the Romans. This was done, no doubt, in part to amuse young
Hannibal's mind, and to relieve his disappointment in not being able
to go to war at that time, by promising him a great and mighty enemy
to fight at some future day. Hannibal remembered it, and longed for
the time to come when he could go to war against the _Romans_.
Hamilcar bade his son farewell and embarked for Spain. He was at
liberty to extend his conquests there in all directions west of the
River Iberus, a river which the reader will find upon the map, flowing
southeast into the Mediterranean Sea. Its name, Iberus, has been
gradually changed, in modern times, to Ebro. By the treaty with the
Romans the Carthaginians were not to cross the Iberus. They were also
bound by the treaty not to molest the people of Saguntum, a city lying
between the Iberus and the Carthaginian dominions. Saguntum was in
alliance with the Romans and under their protection.
Hamilcar was, however, very restless and uneasy at being obliged thus
to refrain from hostilities with the Roman power. He began,
immediately after his arrival in Spain, to form plans for renewing the
war. He had under him, as his principal lieutenant, a young man who
had married his daughter. His name was Hasdrubal. With Hasdrubal's
aid, he went on extending his conquests in Spain, and strengthening
his position there, and gradually maturing his plans for renewing war
with the Romans, when at length he died. Hasdrubal succeeded him.
Hannibal was now, probably, about twenty-one or two years old, and
still in Carthage. Hasdrubal sent to the Carthaginian government a
request that Hannibal might receive an appointment in the army, and be
sent out to join him in Spain.
On the subject of complying with this request there was a great debate
in the Carthaginian senate. In all cases where questions of government
are controlled by _votes_, it has been found, in every age, that
_parties_ will always be formed, of which the two most prominent will
usually be nearly balanced one against the other. Thus, at this time,
though the Hamilcar family were in power, there was a very strong
party in Carthage in opposition to them. The leader of this party in
the senate, whose name was Hanno, made a very earnest speech against
sending Hannibal. He was too young, he said, to be of any service. He
would only learn the vices and follies of the camp, and thus become
corrupted and ruined. "Besides," said Hanno, "at this rate, the
command of our armies in Spain is getting to be a sort of hereditary
right. Hamilcar was not a king, that his authority should thus descend
first to his son-in-law and then to his son; for this plan of making
Hannibal," he said, "while yet scarcely arrived at manhood, a high
officer in the army, is only a stepping-stone to the putting of the
forces wholly under his orders, whenever, for any reason, Hasdrubal
shall cease to command them."
The Roman historian, through whose narrative we get our only account
of this debate, says that, though these were good reasons, yet
strength prevailed, as usual, over wisdom, in the decision of the
question. They voted to send Hannibal, and he set out to cross the sea
to Spain with a heart full of enthusiasm and joy.
A great deal of curiosity and interest was felt throughout the army to
see him on his arrival. The soldiers had been devotedly attached to
his father, and they were all ready to transfer this attachment at
once to the son, if he should prove worthy of it. It was very evident,
soon after he reached the camp, that he was going to prove himself
thus worthy. He entered at once into the duties of his position with a
degree of energy, patience, and self-denial which attracted universal
attention, and made him a universal favorite. He dressed plainly; he
assumed no airs; he sought for no pleasures or indulgences, nor
demanded any exemption from the dangers and privations which the
common soldiers had to endure. He ate plain food, and slept, often in
his military cloak, on the ground, in the midst of the soldiers on
guard; and in battle he was always foremost to press forward into the
contest, and the last to leave the ground when the time came for
repose. The Romans say that, in addition to these qualities, he was
inhuman and merciless when in open warfare with his foes, and cunning
and treacherous in every other mode of dealing with them. It is very
probable that he was so. Such traits of character were considered by
soldiers in those days, as they are now, virtues in themselves, though
vices in their enemies.
However this may be, Hannibal became a great and universal favorite in
the army. He went on for several years increasing his military
knowledge, and widening and extending his influence, when at length,
one day, Hasdrubal was suddenly killed by a ferocious native of the
country whom he had by some means offended. As soon as the first shock
of this occurrence was over, the leaders of the army went in pursuit
of Hannibal, whom they brought in triumph to the tent of Hasdrubal,
and instated him at once in the supreme command, with one consent and
in the midst of universal acclamations. As soon as news of this event
reached Carthage, the government there confirmed the act of the army,
and Hannibal thus found himself suddenly but securely invested with a
very high military command.
His eager and restless desire to try his strength with the Romans
received a new impulse by his finding that the power was now in his
hands. Still the two countries were at peace. They were bound by
solemn treaties to continue so. The River Iberus was the boundary
which separated the dominions of the two nations from each other in
Spain, the territory east of that boundary being under the Roman
power, and that on the west under that of the Carthaginians; except
that Saguntum, which was on the western side, was an ally of the
Romans, and the Carthaginians were bound by the treaty to leave it
independent and free.
Hannibal could not, therefore, cross the Iberus or attack Saguntum
without an open infraction of the treaty. He, however, immediately
began to move toward Saguntum and to attack the nations in the
immediate vicinity of it. If he wished to get into a war with the
Romans, this was the proper way to promote it; for, by advancing thus
into the immediate vicinity of the capital of their allies, there was
great probability that disputes would arise which would sooner or
later end in war.
The Romans say that Hannibal was cunning and treacherous, and he
certainly did display, on some occasions, a great degree of adroitness
in his stratagems. In one instance in these preliminary wars he gained
a victory over an immensely superior force in a very remarkable
manner. He was returning from an inroad upon some of the northern
provinces, laden and encumbered with spoil, when he learned that an
immense army, consisting, it was said, of a hundred thousand men, were
coming down upon his rear. There was a river at a short distance
before him. Hannibal pressed on and crossed the river by a ford, the
water being, perhaps, about three feet deep. He secreted a large body
of cavalry near the bank of the stream, and pushed on with the main
body of the army to some little distance from the river, so as to
produce the impression upon his pursuers that he was pressing forward
to make his escape.
[Illustration: THE BATTLE IN THE RIVER.]
The enemy, thinking that they had no time to lose, poured down in
great numbers into the stream from various points along the banks;
and, as soon as they had reached the middle of the current, and were
wading laboriously, half submerged, with their weapons held above
their heads, so as to present as little resistance as possible to the
water, the horsemen of Hannibal rushed in to meet and attack them. The
horsemen had, of course, greatly the advantage; for, though their
horses were in the water, they were themselves raised above it, and
their limbs were free, while their enemies were half submerged, and,
being encumbered by their arms and by one another, were nearly
helpless. They were immediately thrown into complete confusion, and
were overwhelmed and carried down by the current in great numbers.
Some of them succeeded in landing below, on Hannibal's side; but, in
the mean time, the main body of his army had returned, and was ready
to receive them, and they were trampled under foot by the elephants,
which it was the custom to employ, in those days, as a military force.
As soon as the river was cleared, Hannibal marched his own army across
it, and attacked what remained of the enemy on their own side. He
gained a complete victory, which was so great and decisive that he
secured by it possession of the whole country west of the Iberus,
except Saguntum, and Saguntum itself began to be seriously alarmed.
The Saguntines sent embassadors to Rome to ask the Romans to interpose
and protect them from the dangers which threatened them. These
embassadors made diligent efforts to reach Rome as soon as possible,
but they were too late. On some pretext or other, Hannibal contrived
to raise a dispute between the city and one of the neighboring tribes,
and then, taking sides with the tribe, he advanced to attack the city.
The Saguntines prepared for their defense, hoping soon to receive
succors from Rome. They strengthened and fortified their walls, while
Hannibal began to move forward great military engines for battering
them down.
Hannibal knew very well that by his hostilities against this city he
was commencing a contest with Rome itself, as Rome must necessarily
take part with her ally. In fact, there is no doubt that his design
was to bring on a general war between the two great nations. He began
with Saguntum for two reasons: first, it would not be safe for him to
cross the Iberus, and advance into the Roman territory, leaving so
wealthy and powerful a city in his rear; and then, in the second
place, it was easier for him to find pretexts for getting indirectly
into a quarrel with Saguntum, and throwing the odium of a declaration
of war on Rome, than to persuade the Carthaginian state to renounce
the peace and themselves commence hostilities. There was, as has been
already stated, a very strong party at Carthage opposed to Hannibal,
who would, of course, resist any measures tending to a war with Rome,
for they would consider such a war as opening a vast field for
gratifying Hannibal's ambition. The only way, therefore, was to
provoke a war by aggressions on the Roman allies, to be justified by
the best pretexts he could find.
Saguntum was a very wealthy and powerful city. It was situated about a
mile from the sea. The attack upon the place, and the defense of it by
the inhabitants, went on for some time with great vigor. In these
operations, Hannibal exposed himself to great danger. He approached,
at one time, so near the wall, in superintending the arrangements of
his soldiers and the planting of his engines, that a heavy javelin,
thrown from the parapet, struck him on the thigh. It pierced the
flesh, and inflicted so severe a wound that he fell immediately, and
was borne away by the soldiers. It was several days before he was free
from the danger incurred by the loss of blood and the fever which
follows such a wound. During all this time his army were in a great
state of excitement and anxiety, and suspended their active
operations. As soon, however, as Hannibal was found to be decidedly
convalescent, they resumed them again, and urged them onward with
greater energy than before.
The weapons of warfare in those ancient days were entirely different
from those which are now employed, and there was one, described by an
ancient historian as used by the Saguntines at this siege, which might
almost come under the modern denomination of fire-arms. It was called
the _falarica_. It was a sort of javelin, consisting of a shaft of
wood, with a long point of iron. This point was said to be three feet
long. This javelin was to be thrown at the enemy either from the hand
of the soldier or by an engine. The leading peculiarity of it was,
however, that, near to the pointed end, there were wound around the
wooden shaft long bands of _tow_, which were saturated with pitch and
other combustibles, and this inflammable band was set on fire just
before the javelin was thrown. As the missile flew on its way, the
wind fanned the flames, and made them burn so fiercely, that when the
javelin struck the shield of the soldier opposing it, it could not be
pulled out, and the shield itself had to be thrown down and abandoned.
While the inhabitants of Saguntum were vainly endeavoring to defend
themselves against their terrible enemy by these and similar means,
their embassadors, not knowing that the city had been attacked, had
reached Rome, and had laid before the Roman senate their fears that
the city would be attacked, unless they adopted vigorous and immediate
measures to prevent it. The Romans resolved to send embassadors to
Hannibal to demand of him what his intentions were, and to warn him
against any acts of hostility against Saguntum. When these Roman
embassadors arrived on the coast, near to Saguntum, they found that
hostilities had commenced, and that the city was hotly besieged. They
were at a loss to know what to do.
It is better for a rebel not to hear an order which he is determined
beforehand not to obey. Hannibal, with an adroitness which the
Carthaginians called sagacity, and the Romans treachery and cunning,
determined not to see these messengers. He sent word to them, at the
shore, that they must not attempt to come to his camp, for the country
was in such a disturbed condition that it would not be safe for them
to land; and besides, he could not receive or attend to them, for he
was too much pressed with the urgency of his military works to have
any time to spare for debates and negotiations.
Hannibal knew that the embassadors, being thus repulsed, and having
found, too, that the war had broken out, and that Saguntum was
actually beset and besieged by Hannibal's armies, would proceed
immediately to Carthage to demand satisfaction there. He knew, also,
that Hanno and his party would very probably espouse the cause of the
Romans, and endeavor to arrest his designs. He accordingly sent his
own embassadors to Carthage, to exert an influence in his favor in the
Carthaginian senate, and endeavor to urge them to reject the claims of
the Romans, and allow the war between Rome and Carthage to break out
again.
The Roman embassadors appeared at Carthage, and were admitted to an
audience before the senate. They stated their case, representing that
Hannibal had made war upon Saguntum in violation of the treaty, and
had refused even to receive the communication which had been sent him
by the Roman senate through them. They demanded that the Carthaginian
government should disavow his acts, and deliver him up to them, in
order that he might receive the punishment which his violation of the
treaty, and his aggressions upon an ally of the Romans, so justly
deserved.
The party of Hannibal in the Carthaginian senate were, of course,
earnest to have these proposals rejected with scorn. The other side,
with Hanno at their head, maintained that they were reasonable
demands. Hanno, in a very energetic and powerful speech, told the
senate that he had warned them not to send Hannibal into Spain. He had
foreseen that such a hot and turbulent spirit as his would involve
them in inextricable difficulties with the Roman power. Hannibal had,
he said, plainly violated the treaty. He had invested and besieged
Saguntum, which they were solemnly bound not to molest, and they had
nothing to expect in return but that the Roman legions would soon be
investing and besieging their own city. In the mean time, the Romans,
he added, had been moderate and forbearing. They had brought nothing
to the charge of the Carthaginians. They accused nobody but Hannibal,
who, thus far, alone was guilty. The Carthaginians, by disavowing his
acts, could save themselves from the responsibility of them. He
urged, therefore, that an embassage of apology should be sent to Rome,
that Hannibal should be deposed and delivered up to the Romans, and
that ample restitution should be made to the Saguntines for the
injuries they had received.
On the other hand, the friends of Hannibal urged in the Carthaginian
senate their defense of the general. They reviewed the history of the
transactions in which the war had originated, and showed, or attempted
to show, that the Saguntines themselves commenced hostilities, and
that consequently they, and not Hannibal, were responsible for all
that followed; that, under those circumstances, the Romans ought not
to take their part, and if they did so, it proved that they preferred
the friendship of Saguntum to that of Carthage; and that it would be
cowardly and dishonorable in the extreme for them to deliver the
general whom they had placed in power, and who had shown himself so
worthy of their choice by his courage and energy, into the hands of
their ancient and implacable foes.
Thus Hannibal was waging at the same time two wars, one in the
Carthaginian senate, where the weapons were arguments and eloquence,
and the other under the walls of Saguntum, which was fought with
battering rains and fiery javelins. He conquered in both. The senate
decided to send the Roman embassadors home without acceding to their
demands, and the walls of Saguntum were battered down by Hannibal's
engines. The inhabitants refused all terms of compromise, and resisted
to the last, so that, when the victorious soldiery broke over the
prostrate walls, and poured into the city, it was given up to them to
plunder, and they killed and destroyed all that came in their way. The
disappointed embassadors returned to Rome with the news that Saguntum
had been taken and destroyed by Hannibal, and that the Carthaginians,
far from offering any satisfaction for the wrong, assumed the
responsibility of it themselves, and were preparing for war.
Thus Hannibal accomplished his purpose of opening the way for waging
war against the Roman power. He prepared to enter into the contest
with the utmost energy and zeal. The conflict that ensued lasted
seventeen years, and is known in history as the second Punic war. It
was one of the most dreadful struggles between rival and hostile
nations which the gloomy history of mankind exhibits to view. The
events that occurred will be described in the subsequent chapters.