(216-202).
ROME was appalled; but though defeated, she was not subdued. All the
Latin allies were summoned for aid in the common peril. Boys and old men
alike took up arms even the slaves were promised freedom if they would
join the ranks.
Hannibal marched from Cannae into Campania. He induced Capua, the second
city of Italy, to side with him. But his expectations that other
cities would follow her example were not fulfilled. He went into winter
quarters here (215-214). The Capuans, notorious for their luxurious and
effeminate habits, are said to have injured his soldiers. But Hannibal's
superiority as a general is unquestionable, and his want of success
after this was due to insufficient aid from home, and to the fact that
the resources of Rome were greater than those of Carthage. The Latin
allies of Rome had remained true to their allegiance, and only one city
of importance was under his control. It was an easy matter to conquer
the enemy in open battle, but to support his own army was more
difficult, for all Italy had been devastated. On the other hand, the
Romans were well supplied with food from their possessions in Sicily.
Hannibal saw, therefore, that more active measures than those already
employed were necessary. He sent to Carthage an appeal for aid. He
formed an alliance with Philip V. of Macedonia, and earnestly urged
Hasdrubal Baroa, his lieutenant in Spain, to come to his assistance. He
hoped, with this army from the north, with supplies and reinforcements
from Carthage, and with such troops as he might obtain from Macedonia,
to concentrate a large force at Rome and compel her into submission.
The Romans, realizing the position of Hannibal, kept what forces they
could spare in Spain, under the two Scipio brothers, Publius and Gnaeus.
With these they hoped to stop reinforcements from reaching the enemy
from that quarter. At the same time their army in Northern Greece
effectually engaged the attention of Philip. Thus two years (214-212)
passed without any material change in the situation of affairs in Italy.
In 212, while the Carthaginians were in the extreme south of Italy,
besieging Tarentum, the Romans made strenuous efforts to recover
Campania, and especially Capua. Hannibal, learning the danger, marched
rapidly north, and failing to break through the lines which enclosed the
city, resolved to advance on Rome itself.
Silently and quickly he marched along the _Via Latino_ through the heart
of the territory of Rome, to within three miles of the city, and with
his vanguard he even rode up to one of the city gates. But no ally
joined him; no Roman force was recalled to face him; no proposals of
peace reached his camp. Impressed by the unmoved confidence of
the enemy, he withdrew as quickly as he came, and retreated to his
head-quarters in the South.
Capua fell in 211, and the seat of war, to the great relief of Rome, was
removed to Lucania and Bruttium. The punishment inflicted upon Capua was
severe. Seventy of her Senators were killed, three hundred of her chief
citizens imprisoned, and the whole people sold as slaves. The city and
its territory were declared to be Roman territory, and the place was
afterwards repeopled by Roman occupants.
Such was the fate of this famous city. Founded in as early times as Rome
itself, it became the most flourishing city of Magna Graecia, renowned
for its luxury and refinement, and as the home of all the highest arts
and culture.
AFFAIRS IN SICILY.
HIERO II., tyrant of Syracuse, died in 216. During his long reign of
more than fifty years he had been the stanch friend and ally of Rome in
her struggles with Carthage. Hieronymus, the grandson and successor of
Hiero, thought fit to ally himself with Carthage. The young tyrant, who
was arrogant and cruel, was assassinated after reigning a few months.
The Roman Governor of Sicily, MARCELLUS, troubled by the Carthaginian
faction in Syracuse, threatened the city with an attack unless the
leaders of this faction were expelled. In return, they endeavored to
arouse the citizens of the neighboring city of Leontini against Rome
and the Roman party in Syracuse. Marcellus at once attacked and stormed
Leontini. The Syracusans then closed their city gates against him. A
siege of two years (214-212) followed, famous for the various devices
adopted by the noted mathematician ARCHIMEDES (Footnote: Archimedes was
a great investigator in the science of mathematics. He discovered the
ratio of a sphere to its circumscribed cylinder. One of his famous
sayings was, "Give me where to stand, and I will move the world." He
exerted his ingenuity in the invention of powerful machines for the
defence of Syracuse. Eight of his works on mathematics are in existence.
He was killed at the close of the siege by a Roman soldier, who would
have spared his life had he not been too intent on a mathematical
problem to comply with the summons to surrender. On his tombstone, it
is said, was engraved a cylinder enclosing a sphere.) to defeat the
movements of the Romans. The city was finally betrayed by a Spanish
officer, and given up to plunder. The art treasures in which it was so
rich were conveyed by Marcellus to Rome. From this time (212) the city
became a part of the province of Sicily and the head-quarters of the
Roman Governor.
THE CAMPAIGNS IN SPAIN.
PUBLIUS CORNELIUS SCIPIO, with his brother, GNAEUS CORNELIUS SCIPIO
CALVUS, were winning victories over the Carthaginians under HANNO
and HASDRUBAL. The greatest of these was fought in 215 at Ibera, the
location of which is uncertain. Spain was gradually being gained over
to Rome, when the Carthaginians, making desperate efforts, sent large
reinforcements there (212). The armies of the Scipios were separated,
surprised, and overwhelmed. Both their leaders were slain, and Spain was
lost to Rome.
Unless checked, the Carthaginians would now cross the Alps, enter Italy,
and, joining forces with Hannibal, place Rome in great danger. PUBLIUS
CORNELIUS SCIPIO, son of one of the slain generals, then but twenty-four
years of age, offered to go to Spain and take command. He had previously
made himself very popular as Aedile, and was unanimously elected to the
command. On his arrival in Spain in 210, he found the whole country west
of the Ebro under the enemy's control.
Fortunately for the Romans, the three Carthaginian generals, HASDRUBAL
and MAGO, brothers of Hannibal, and HASDRUBAL, son of Gisco, did not act
in harmony. Thus Scipio was enabled, in the following spring (209), to
capture Carthago Nova, the head-quarters of the enemy. A good harbor was
gained, and eighteen ships of war, sixty-three transports, $600,000, and
10,000 captives fell into the hands of the Romans.
Shortly after, Scipio fought Hasdrubal, the brother of Hannibal, at
BAECULAE, in the upper valley of the Baetis (Guadalquivir); but the
battle was not decisive, for Hasdrubal was soon seen crossing the
Pyrenees, with a considerable force, on his way to Italy. He spent the
winter (209-208) in Gaul.
The two Carthaginian generals now in Spain, Mago, and Hasdrubal, the son
of Gisco, retired, the latter to Lusitania, the former to the Baleares,
to wait for reinforcements from home.
The next year another battle was fought near Baecula, resulting in
the total defeat of the Carthaginians, who retreated to Gadus, in the
southwestern part of Spain.
The country being now (206) under Roman influence, Scipio crossed
the straits to Africa, and visited the Numidian princes, SYPHAX and
MASINISSA, whom he hoped to stir up against Carthage. On his return,
after quelling a mutiny of the soldiers, who were dissatisfied about
their pay, he resigned his command, and started for Rome, where he
intended to become a candidate for the consulship.
OPERATIONS IN ITALY.
The news of the approach of Hasdrubal caused intense anxiety at Rome.
Every nerve was strained to prevent the union of the two brothers. The
Consuls for this year (207) were GAIUS CLAUDIUS NERO, a patrician,
and MARCUS LIVIUS, a plebeian. To the former was intrusted the task of
keeping Hannibal in check in Bruttium, while the duty of intercepting
Hasdrubal was given to the latter.
The Carthaginian had already reached the neighborhood of the river
Metaurus, a small stream south of the Rubicon. From here he sent
messengers to inform his brother of his approach and proposed line of
march. These messengers were captured by Nero, and the contents of their
despatches learned. He at once pushed north with his forces, joined
Livius, met Hasdrubal on the METAURUS early in 207, and defeated his
army with great slaughter. Among the slain was Hasdrubal himself. Nero
returned south without delay, and the first intimation that Hannibal had
of this battle was the sight of his brother's head thrown into the camp
by the victorious foe.
The war in Italy was now virtually ended, for, although during four
years more Hannibal stood at bay in a corner of Bruttium, he was
powerless to prevent the restoration of Roman authority throughout
Italy. Nothing now remained to Carthage outside of Africa, except the
ground on which Hannibal was making his last stand.
INVASION OF AFRICA.
Scipio, on his return from Spain, urged an immediate invasion of Africa.
He was elected Consul in 205, receiving Sicily as his province, with
permission to cross into Africa if it seemed to him wise. He was so
popular that voluntary contributions of men, money, and supplies poured
in from all sides. The old-fashioned aristocracy, however, did not like
him, as his taste for splendid living and Greek culture was particularly
offensive to them; and a party in the Senate would have recalled him,
had not the popular enthusiasm in his favor been too strong to be
resisted.
In 204 he sailed from Lilybaeum, and landed near Utica. He was welcomed
by Masinissa, whose friendship he had gained in his previous visit to
Africa from Spain. Syphax, however, sided with Carthage; but in 203
Scipio twice defeated him and the Carthaginian forces.
Negotiations for peace followed, but the war party in Carthage
prevailed. Hannibal was recalled. He returned to fight his last battle
with Rome, October 19, 202, at ZAMA, a short distance west of Carthage.
The issue was decided by the valor of the Roman legions, who loved their
commander and trusted his skill. Hannibal met his first and only defeat,
and Scipio won his title of AFRICANUS. The battle was a hard one. After
all the newly enrolled troops of Hannibal had been killed or put
to flight, his veterans, who had remained by him in Italy, although
surrounded on all sides by forces far outnumbering their own, fought
on, and were killed one by one around their beloved chief. The army was
fairly annihilated. Hannibal, with only a handful, managed to escape to
Hadrumetum.
The battle of Zama decided the fate of the West. The power of Carthage
was broken, and her supremacy passed to Rome. She was allowed to retain
her own territory intact, but all her war-ships, except ten, were given
up, and her prisoners restored; an annual tax of about $200,000, for
fifty years, was to be paid into the Roman treasury, and she could carry
on no war without the consent of Rome. Masinissa was rewarded by an
increase in territory, and was enrolled among the "allies and friends of
the Roman people."
Rome was now safe from any attack. She had become a great Mediterranean
power. Spain was divided into two provinces, and the north of Africa was
under her protection.
Such was the result of the seventeen years' struggle. Scipio was
welcomed home, and surnamed AFRICANUS. He enjoyed a triumph never before
equalled. His statue was placed, in triumphal robes and crowned with
laurels, in the Capitol. Many honors were thrust upon him, which he had
the sense to refuse. He lived quietly for some years, taking no part in
politics.