The Story of the Roman People Day 29

HOW THE ROMANS CONQUERED CARTHAGE 79

obedient to her . Sicily she made into what was called a " province ; that is , a district ruled by magistrates sent from ? Rome . She collected taxes from the islanders, but she gave them no hope that they could ever become Roman citizens .

Rome soon gained a second province , for she forced Car thage to yield Sar -din'i - a and Corsica to her . These she ruled in the same way as Sicily , that is , as if the people were not allies but subjects . She was rapidly increasing in power on the water as well as on the land , and now no one could dis pute her rule of the western Mediterranean .

She was also gaining power to the eastward . For a long time the people of Il-lyr'i-a , on the eastern shores of the Ad-ri-at'ic , had been a nation of pirates . If a rich merchant vessel sailed into the Adriatic Sea , it was quite likely to meet a fleet of pirate ships darting out upon it from behind some promontory . These pirates made the I -o'ni-an Sea almost as unsafe as the Adriatic and even attacked the coast cities of Italy and Greece . The Romans broke up this piracy completely , and so won the gratitude of the Greeks .

The Romans now began to think about pushing to the north ; and they founded colonies on the land that they had taken from the Gauls long before . They had already built the great road called the Fla -min'i - an Way , and now they extended it much farther north . The Gauls were alarmed , and they made ready to come down upon Rome . Now it was the turn of the Romans to be frightened , for they remem bered an old prophecy that some day Gauls would occupy a part of the Roman territory . There is a tradition that to fulfill this prophecy and so make themselves safe , they seized

two Gauls and buried them alive in the city . Then they did something decidedly more reasonable ; they sent for the troops that were away from Rome, and with their help the Gallic forces were almost ut terly destroyed .

In the strug gle of Rome with Carthage, Rome had one great ( Sometimes called Dying Gladiator ) a d y ant a ge ; namely, most of her soldiers were citizens or hoped to be come citizens , and were eager that she should win . The soldiers of Carthage, on the contrary, were hired to fight. They cared little whether Carthage or Rome was the win ner, provided they had their pay . After they were sent home from Sicily , there was no pay ready , for the treasury was empty . Then the Carthaginians saw what a mistake they had made in not being as fair as the Romans to the countries that they had conquered , for the soldiers had little trouble in persuading the Carthaginian colonies to revolt . A savage war followed ; and if Carthage had not had an especially brilliant general, she might possibly have been destroyed without the attacks of the Romans . This general's name was Ha -mil'car. He had met the Ro mans in Sicily , and had fought successfully against them . He

DYING GAUL

HOW THE ROMANS CONQUERED CARTHAGE 81

was wise as well as brave, and he had insisted upon asking for peace , because he saw that Carthage must have time to train soldiers before she could hope to stand against Rome. Money , too , was needed ; and it was decided that the best way to get it was for Hamilcar to go to Spain and gain firm hold of the southern part of the country and also develop the mines of gold and silver.

He was soon ready to start, the augurs declared that the omens were favorable , and he was about to offer up a final sacrifice to the gods when a thought struck him . His little nine- year old son Han'ni-bal was watching the preparations for the sacrifice when his father called him and asked , Do you wish to go to the war with me? Yes , the boy cried eagerly . Then lay your hand upon the sacrifice , said Ha milcar , " and swear that you will never be a friend to the Roman people. I swear that I will never be a friend to the Roman people , the child repeated solemnly ; and he never forgot his oath .

The vessels set sail for Spain . Hamilcar understood how to deal with the natives , and by his wisdom and kindness more than by warfare , he gained for Carthage the country as far north as the Ta'gus River . Nine years later, he was slain in battle . The Carthaginians would have been glad to give the command of the army into the hands of the brilliant young Hannibal ; but he was only nineteen , so they gave it to Hamilcar's son - in -law , Has'dru-bal . Seven years later, Hasdrubal was killed ; and now Hannibal , though only twenty-six years of age , was put at the head of the Car thaginian forces in Spain .

82 STORY OF THE ROMAN PEOPLE

Two years later, he felt that he was prepared to conquer Rome . He began by besieging Sa - gun'tum , a Greek colony in Spain . Saguntum had made a treaty with Rome, and Rome sent Hannibal a formal warning not to harass the friends of the Roman people . Hannibal paid no more attention to it than to the wind , but pushed on the siege . The day came when the people of Saguntum saw that they must yield . They meant that the Carthaginians should gain as little as possible by the surrender , so they built a great fire, and into it they tossed all their most valuable possessions . Then in utter despair they threw them selves into the flames .

Of course the Romans did not bear tamely such treat ment of their allies . They sent ambassadors to Carthage to demand the surrender of Han nibal and his principal officers. The Carthaginians would not give them up . Then the chief ambassador gathered up the folds of his toga as if some thing were wrapped in it , and cried , Here are peace and war ; which do you choose ? Give us whichever you will, was the reply . The Roman shook out his toga , and said , Then we give you war . We wel come it with all our hearts," cried several of the councillors . Hannibal was in Spain meanwhile. He sent for African