Part 6 (1/2)

Here Hannibal forn He found out that Flaminius the consul was a vain, self-confident man, with neither experience nor skill in war It would be easy, he thought, by laying waste the rich country to the south, to draw the Roeneral froreedy of glory he could never gain, refused to listen to the advice of his officers and wait for the arrival of the other consul, and set out in pursuit of Hannibal, who felt that victory was once more in his hands

The place which Hannibal chose for his battle was close to lake Thrasymene, a reedy basin in the mountains not far from the city of Cortona At this spot a narrow valley ran down to the lake, with lines of hills on both sides, and a very steep mountain at the opposite end of the lake At the lake end the hills cah which a fewsure that his ene in his footsteps, Hannibal placed his steady heavy armed Spaniards and Libyans on the hill at the end of the valley opposite the lake, in full view of anyone who ers and archers, and light-armed troops, were hidden behind the rocks of the hills on the right, and the Gauls and cavalry were posted in gorges on the left, close to the entrance of the defile, but concealed by folds in the ground Next day Flaminius arrived at the lake, and, as Hannibal intended, perceived the caht, but the next ave orders for the advance through the pass Gri at the success of his scheme, Hannibal waited till the Ronal for the assault from all three sides at once

Never in the whole of history was a rout more sudden and more complete

Fla could get no idea fro The soldiers see on every quarter All that the Roht they did with desperation But there was no one to lead theenerals, like themselves, were bewildered, and Flaminius speedily met with the fate his folly deserved Fifteen thousand Ro which even an earthquake passed unheeded

Multitudes were pushed back into the lake and were dragged down to the bottoht of their armour Some fled to the hills and surrendered on the pro spared, and a few thousands found their way back to Roed the soldiers to seek for the body of Flaive it honourable burial, by which nations in ancient tiht, they could not find it, nor was it ever knohat becaeneral Nero behave eleven years later on the banks of the Metaurus, when Hannibal's brother Hasdrubal, seeing that the day was lost, rode straight into the ranks of the eneery worthy of his nainian and threw it into Hannibal's camp

[Illustration: Fifteen thousand Romans fell that day]

There was silence in Ro to the gates, bearing the news of this fresh disaster Fifteen thousand men slain, fifteen thousand men taken prisoners! Hardly a family in Rome that was not stricken, and who could tell when the banners of the Carthaginians ht not be seen on the crests of the hills? But as the troubles of life show the stuff of which reat as when their cause seemed hopeless The city was at once put in a state of defence, every boy and old es over the Tiber were destroyed, and the senate, putting aside the consuls, elected a dictator, who for six months had absolute power over the whole state

The man who in this hour of sorest need was chosen to save the city was Quintus Fabius, whose policy of 'waiting' has become a proverb even to this day He was already old, and was never a brilliant general, but, likethe senate he saw that there was no hope of conquering Hannibal in a pitched battle Role general with a genius equal to his; but there was one way, and one only, by which he ht be vanquished, and that was to leave him where he was, in the reeary of expecting a battle which never was fought, and his Gallic allies became tired of inaction and deserted him

Such was the plan of warfare which Fabius proposed, but his own countrymen put many obstacles in the way of its success Many ti a battle which would certainly have been a defeat; but he let such idle cries pass hi his soldiers, many of ere raw and untrained, under his own eye In vain Hannibal drew up his men in order of battle and tried by every kind of insult to induce Fabius to fight

The old general was not to be provoked, and the eneth understood this and retired to his camp

I quite well that he was not strong enough to attack Rome, had taken up his headquarters on the shores of the Adriatic, so as to be at hand if Philip of Macedon e sent the reinforceeneral had so frequently asked for But it was as useless to trust to the pro laid waste the country nearly as far south as Tarentum, he suddenly crossed the Apennines to the plain on the western sea, where he hoped to gain over soain he was doomed to disappointment, for the rich Campanian towns, notably Capua, richest of all, held aloof till they knew for certain ould be conqueror

In all Hannibal's caed to elude his enemies, ere always close to him and always on the look-out for hi that he could not hope for support in Campania, Hannibal determined to carry off the stores and booty he had collected into a safe place east of the Apennines, in order that his troopsthe winter This Fabius learned through a spy, and, knowing that there was only one pass through the mountains, sent a body of four thousand ht fall upon the Carthaginians as they entered the gorge, while he hie force on a hill near at hand

We can iine the old dictator's satisfaction when he had coinians, and felt that _this_ tis of the people in Ro his plan of the attack which was to take place on the hts to linger a little on the triuht Hannibal ordered one of his generals to fell soots, which were to be piled close to where two thousand oxen were tethered outside the ca to happen, but did as they were bid, and then, by Hannibal's directions, had supper and lay down to sleep Very early in thethey were awakened by Hannibal himself, who bade theots on to the horns of the oxen

This was soon done, and then the faggots were kindled by a burning torch, and the oxen were driven up a low ridge which stretched before the pass

'Help the drivers get theht troops, 'and then pass the all the noise you can'

The march was conducted silently for some distance, but no sooner did the soldiers break out into shrieks and yells than the oxen grew frightened and wildly rushed hither and thither The Ro lights, but could not tell what theytheir post, the whole four thousand cliinians But it was still too dark for the Rohts really were, so they drew up on the ridge to wait till daybreak, by which tih the pass, when he sent back some of his Spanish troops to help the force he had left behind him The troops speedily defeated the entire ar Hannibal, pushed on to Apulia

[Illustration: The whole four thousand clih Rome at the news that they had once eneralshi+p was forgotten in this fresh defeat Yet, had they stopped to think, the fault did not lie with the dictator, whose plans had been well laid, but with the co out scouts to find out the cause of the disturbance on the ridge, uarded Perhaps Hannibal, in arranging the surprise, had known so of the commander and what to expect of him; or he may merely have counted--as he had often done before--on the effects of curiosity But time after time he traded on the weakness of man, and always succeeded