HANNIBAL.

HANNIBAL, the great Carthaginian general, was a military genius of the first order. He was born about B.C. 247, and was the son of Hamilicar Barcas, the leader of the popular party at Carthage. Hamilicar's prominent position was due not only to his rank, wealth and high family connections at Carthage, but also to his great military genius. At the trying moment when Carthage was obliged to yield to the threats of Rome, and desist from her attempts to recover Sardinia from her revolted mercenaries,

Hamilicar, turning to Spain for new conquest, performed a solemn sacrifice for the success of his intended enterprise. At the close of this ceremony he took his son Hannibal, then only nine years of age, and, placing his hand on the sacrificial offering, made him swear eternal enmity to the Romans. Hannibal related this incident to Antiochus the Great, King of Syria. The youth grew up under a keen sense of this obligation, and served his military apprenticeship in Spain. He was present at the battle in which his father was killed in 229 B.C. The chief command was then given to Hasdrubal, Hamilicar's son-in-law, under whom Hannibal discharged his military duties with remarkable energy and self-denial. He lived on plain diet, and often slept in his military cloak in the open air. Ever foremost in the fight, he was always one of the last to leave the field. Hannibal became, as his

father had been, a universal favorite in the army. He served with ever-increasing distinction until Hasdrubal was assassinated by a native Spaniard in 221 B.C.

Hannibal, now at the age of twenty-six, was made commander-in-chief, and, with a heart full of enthusiasm, entered deliberately on the career of conquest which led to the inevitable life-or-death struggle with Rome. He quickly conquered the Spanish tribes that had not been subdued by Hasdrubal, as far as the river Iberus or Ebro. He then commenced to march on Saguntum, and first attacked the neighboring tribes. The Saguntines, being allies of the Romans, appealed to Rome for protection against the designs of Hannibal. The Romans sent at once ambassadors to New Carthage, where Hannibal was in winter quarters, to remind him of the treaty concluded between Carthage and Rome, B. C. 226, whereby the independence of Saguntum was guaranteed; and declared that injury done to that town would be considered a declaration of war against Rome. Hannibal received the ambassadors courteously, but paid no heed to their remonstrance.

Twenty years had elapsed since the termination of the First Punic War, and during that period Carthage had recovered her strength and seized the greater portion of Spain. Hannibal, fully aware that the capture of Saguntum was an indispensable preliminary to his contest with Rome, vigorously attacked the city, while the inhabitants, full of hopes of relief, maintained the defence with great courage. After a siege of eight months Saguntum yielded to the Carthaginian general, in B.C. 219. This was the prelude of the Second Punic War, which became eventually a struggle between the individual genius of Hannibal and the power and resources of the Roman Republic.

The Carthaginian determined to invade Italy by land. Africa and Spain he made secure, by leaving in Africa 16,000 Spanish troops, and in Spain an equal African force, under the command of his brother Hasdrubal. Hannibal had already received proffers of assistance from the Gauls, who were anxious to throw off the yoke of Rome. Early in the spring of B.C. 218, the young general crossed the Ebro with an army of 90,000 foot, 12,000 horse and thirty-seven elephants.