Part 4 (1/2)
Dido listened, and as she had talked with many traders from all countries she understood somewhat of his speech, and bade him stay awhile and behold the wonders of the city she was building So aeneas stayed, and the heart of the queen went out to him; but as the days passed by he tired of rich food and baths ed for wild hills and the flocks driven by the shepherds Then onehe sailed away, and Dido saw his face no rief she ordered a tall pyre to be reared of logs of sandalwood and cedar
When all was prepared she caolden circlet round her head, and a robe of scarlet falling to her feet, till men marvelled at her fairness, and laid herself down on the top of the pyre
'I am ready,' she said to the chief of her slaves, who stood by, and a lighted torch was placed against the pile, and the flah
In this reen in her city to the end
[Illustration: She caolden circlet round her head]
But though Dido was dead, her city of Carthage went on growing, and conquering, and planting colonies, in Sicily, Spain, and Sardinia Not that the Carthaginians the an empire, but they loved riches, and to protect their trade fro fleets and armies For some time the various Greek states were her most powerful enens appeared to those with eyes to read thee and Rootten for a moment that neither then, nor for over two thousand years later, was there any such thing as Italy, as _we_ understand it
The southern part of the peninsula was called 'Greater Greece,' and filled, as we have said, by colonies from different Greek towns In the northern parts, about the river Po, tribes from Gaul had settled themselves, and in the centre were various cities peopled by strange races, who for long joined theue to resist the power of Rome But by the third century BC the Roman empire, which was afterwards to s up the whole of the civilised world from the straits of Gibraltar to the deserts of Asia, had started on its career; the league had been broken up, the Gauls and Greeks had been driven back, and the whole of Italy south of the river Rubicon paid tribute to the City of the Seven Hills on the Tiber
Having an to watch with anxious eyes the proceedings of Carthage in Spain and in Sicily The struggle for lordshi+p was bound to co, but it was quite clear that to gain the victory over Carthage she reat war than the deterain and again fitted out vessels, and when they were destroyed or sunk gave orders to build alleys, with high carved prows and five banks of oars, beat the shi+ps which had been hitherto thought invincible
It was in 263 BC that the war at last broke out in Sicily, and after gaining victories both by land and sea, Rohth year of the contest sent an arulus and Volso, with orders to besiege Carthage The invading army consisted of forty thousand men, and was joined as soon as it touched the African shore by some tributary towns, and also by twenty thousand slaves--for Carthage was hated by all who cae cruelty
At the news of the invasion the people see for peace, peace at any price, at the cost of any hu, and Carthage would have fallen completely into her eneates But at thisVolso with twenty-four thousand ulus with only sixteen thousand With exceeding folly Regulus left the strongly fortified camp, which in Roman warfare formed one of the chief defences, and arrayed his forces in the open plain There Carthage, driven to bay, gave hiinians, coulus, won the day, and only two thousand Roave heart to the e, and when news came from Sicily that Rome had been driven back and her fleets destroyed, their joy knew no bounds In her turn Roe had no arn land, and contented herself with destroying during the war seven hundred five-banked Ro swiftness
The war had raged for sixteen years when Haeneral before Caesar (except Alexander the Great), was given co ed to one of the oldest fae Unlike hly than litter and show and luxury in which all the Carthaginians delighted A boy of fourteen when the first Punic war began (for this is its naest passion was hatred of Ro desire to humble the pohich had defied his own beloved city It did not matter to Hamilcar that his shi+ps were few and his soldiers undisciplined The great point was that he had absolute power over the he would undertake that hian his work, and in course of time, after hard labour, his raw troops becan in Sicily--so often the battleground of ancient Europe--was croith success The Roy, and if he had only been given a proper number of shi+ps it would have been easy for him to have landed in Italy, and perhaps marched to Roe, absorbed in counting her ains and losses, could never understand where her real interest lay She waited until Rome, by a supreme effort, built another fleet of two hundred vessels, which suddenly appeared on the west coast of Sicily, and gave battle to the Carthaginian shi+ps when, too late, they caeneral The battle was lost, the fleet destroyed, and Haed to e had held for four hundred years, was ceded to Roe sums of money paid into her treasury for the expenses of the war
Bitterly disappointed at the failure forced on hirasp, Hae to put down a rebellion which the govern tribes and subject cities joined the foreign troops whose pay had been held back, and soon an ar upon Carthage So widespread was the revolt that it took Ha absolute power, three years to quell the revolt; but at length he triu those who had only been led
Peace having been restored, Hamilcar was immediately despatched to look after affairs in Spain, where both Carthage and Roe to say, he took with hio, and before they sailed he bade Hannibal, then only nine, coreat teed on Rome
If you read this story you will see how Hannibal kept his oath
As this is a history of Hannibal, and not of his father, I have not room to tell you how Hamilcar took measures to carry out the purpose of his life, namely, the destruction of Rome To this end he fortified the towns that had hitherto only been used as manufactories or store-houses, turned the traders into steady soldiers, sent for heavy arht horse from Numidia, made friends with the Iberian (or Spanish) tribes, and ruled wisely and well from the straits of Gibraltar to the river Ebro But, busy as he ht be, he always had time to remember his three boys, and saw that they were trained in the habits and learning of a soldier All three were apt pupils, and loved flinging darts and slinging stones, and shooting with the bow, though in these arts they could not rival their masters from the Balearic isles, however much they practised
[Illustration: All three were apt pupils]
When Hannibal was eighteen, Hamilcar was killed in a battle with some of the native tribes who had refused to sube In spite of the hatred that he cherished for everything Ro the was equal to Hamilcar Barca,' writes Cato the elder, and the words of Livy the historian about Hannibal enius more fitted to obey or to command His body could not be exhausted nor his mind subdued by toil, and he ate and drank only what he needed' He had failed in his aie to his son, who, on the point of victory, was to fail also
Under Ha the ar trade was carried on as before