University of Virginia Library

The Argument.

The People's Fears, when Hannibal had past
The Alpine Hils: the Senate's Care, and Haste
T'oppose His Progress. On Ticinus Shore
The Armies meet. What Auguries, before
The Fight begun, foretold the Libyans Stay
In Italy: the Romanes lose the Day.
Scipio in Fight's relieved by his Son,
Then but a Boy. The Romanes, marching on
To Trebia, their Arms with Gracchus join,
And lose a second Day. The Apennine
When Hannibal had with His Army crost,
In Cold, and Moorish Grounds, an Eye He lost.
His Son, demanded for a Sacrifice
To Saturn, by the Senate, He denies;
And promiseth hereafter to make good
Those Rites, again, with Noble Romane Blood.

Now Fame Ausonia's frighted Cities fills
With Rumours; That the Cloud-encompass'd Hills,
And Rocks, that threatned Heaven, the War imbrac'd;
That now the Carthaginians had pass'd
Those pathless Waies: and often doth repeat,
That Hannibal, who seem'd to emulate
Alcides Labours, did the Plain possess.
And thus mischievous Tumults doth express,
Encreasing as She goes; and, Swifter far,
Then swiftest Winds, with the Report of War,
Shakes the affrighted Tow'rs. The People's Fear
(Apt to believe the Vainest things they hear)
The Rumour feeds. Now all with Care, and Speed,
Prepare for War, the Noise whereof is spread
Through all Ausonia, must'ring Arms, and Men.
They whet their Piles, and (Rust wip'd off agen)
Its cruel Splendour to the Steel restore.
The Youth their Plumed Helmets, long before
Lai'd up in Peace, repair: their Loops they join
To Darts; and new, from Forges, Axes shine.
With these, impenetrable Coats of Mail
They form, and Breast-Plates, destin'd to prevail
'Gainst many Hands, and frustrate strongest Blows.
Some, carefully, provide Italian Bows;
While others teach the panting Steeds to wheel,
Or trot the Round; and whet on Stones their Steel.
Then with like Care, and Speed, they Stones convay
To antient Walls, and Castles; whose Decay
Was wrought by Time: in these their Magazin
Of Arms they make, and speedily begin
With Bars of Oak their Trenches, and their Gates
To fortifie; while Fear precipitates
All that they Act, and doth in chief Command.
Some in the Desert Fields, amazed, stand;
Others their Houshold-Gods, and Home forsake,
And, frighted, on their trembling Shoulders take
Their feeble Parents, whose weak Thread of Life
Was almost spent. One drives before, his Wife,
With Locks dishevel'd, dragging a little Son,
That in each Hand unequally doth run.
Thus do the People vent their Fears, nor scan
The Cause, or whence those Rumours first began.

The Senate, though these bold Beginnings fill'd
Their Hearts with Terrour, and they now beheld,
Ev'n in the Heart of Italy, a War,
To which the Alps, and pathless Rocks, from far
Seem'd to descend, oppose a valiant Mind
Against Adversity, resolv'd to finde
Honour in Dangers, and by Valour raise
A Name so great, of such Immortal Praise,
As Fortune never did before bestow,
Or to the best Successes would allow.

But, now, his Troops, chill'd with a long Excess
Of Cold, and Tyr'd, doth Hannibal Caress
In safe Retreats, and to their joyfull Eyes
Shews through rich Fields their Way, and Rome their Prize.
Yet He omits not to pursue the Cares
Of War; and, still consulting his Affairs,
He, onely, takes no Rest. As, when of old
Ausonia's happy Territory bold,
And Warlike, Nations fiercely did invade,
And by their Valour to the World were made
A Terrour, the Tarpeian Thunderer,
And Captiv'd Romanes, felt a cruel War.
While He endeavours, with his Gifts, the vain,
And wav'ring, Nations to his Side to gain,
And join in Arms; the Consul Scipio from
Massilia, by Sea, returning Home,
Arrived, suddenly, upon the Shore:
And these great Captains, that had try'd before
The sev'ral Labours of the Sea, and Land,
Now, in the Plain, more near to Danger stand,
And joyn their Fates; while a most dismal Hour
Approach'd. For, when the Consul, with His Power,
Came to the Camp, and Fortune all Delay
Had lai'd aside, the Troops no longer Stay
Endure; but all, incensed with Desire
Of Fight, the Fo in view, the Sign require.
The Tyrian Captain then, to animate
His num'rous Army, doth aloud relate
His glorious Conquests in th'Iberian War:
That not Pyrene's Hills could set a Bar
To his Commands; nor furious Rhodanus:
Sagunthus burnt; that, through the Celtæ, thus
He had, conqu'ring, made his Way, and where 't had been
Alcides Labour, he in Arms had seen
His Libyan Horse insult; and, trampling on
The Rocks, with Neighing make the Alps to groan.
But, contrary, the Consul to the Fight,
And noble Actions, doth his Men excite.

You have (said He) a Tyr'd, and weary Fo,
Already half consum'd with Frost, and Snow:
Who scarce can drag his Limbs, benumm'd with Cold.
Go on, and let him Learn, that was so Bold
To pass those Sacred Mountains, and those high
And airy Rocks, how far this Trench doth ly
Above Herculean Tow'rs: that with more Ease
He may ascend those Hills; then break through these
Impenetrable Ranks. Let him recite
To Fame his vain Attempts, untill in Fight
Subdu'd, and hasting to Return again
By the same Way he came, the Alps restrain
His Flight. The Gods have brought him hither, through
Those Difficulties, that he might imbrue,
With his perfidious Blood, th'Italian Ground,
And that his Bones, hereafter, may be found
Scatter'd in hostile Land. I fain would know,
If't be another Carthage, that doth now
Intend us War, or is't the same again,
That, near Ægates, perish'd in the Main?

This said; the Army to Ticinus goes.
Ticinus in a shallow Chanel flows
With clear, and quiet Waters, and the Stream
So Slowly passeth on; that it doth seem
To Stand, as it, with Silence, glides along
T'embrace the shady Banks, where Birds do throng,
And their shrill Quires perpetually keep,
As if to charm the lazy Flood asleep.

Now, at Night's Period, the Morn begun
With shining Shades, and Sleep its Course had run:
When, to explore the Place's Nature, round
The neighb'ring Hill, and view the Champagn-ground,
The Consul went abroad: the Libyans too
The like resolve, and it with Care pursue.
This done, they both advance into the Field,
With Wings of Horsemen; and, as they beheld
The Clouds of Dust to rise, and heard the Sound
Of furious Steeds, that, prancing, made the Ground
To tremble, and the Trumpet's shrill Alarms,
Each Captain cries, Now (Souldiers!) to your Arms.
In both, an equal Valour, and Desire
Of Honour, shin'd, in both an equal Fire
To press into the Fight: and when, as nigh
They came, as from a Sling a Dart might fly,
A sudden Augury diverts their Eyes,
And Minds (all Clouds dispers'd) unto the Skies.
An Hawk pursuing, from the South, the fair,
And gentle Birds, that by Dione are
So well belov'd, with his devouring Bill,
His Pounces, and his Wings, fifteen did kill;
Nor would be satisfied: his strong Desire
Of Blood increas'd, and Slaughter fed the Fire;
Untill, as stooping at a trembling Dove,
That knew not, in its Flight, which Way to move
To meet with Safety, from the Rise of Day
An Eagle came; and, frighting him away,
Towards the Romane Ensigns flies, and where
The General's Son (young Scipio) did appear
(Then but a Boy) in Arms, with a loud Cry
There twice, or thrice, Proclaims the Victory:
Then, with his Bill, his Helmet's Crest doth bite,
And to the Stars again resumes his Flight.
Liger, who knew, by his Divining Skill,
The God's Advice, and by his Learned Quill
Could Future things declare, aloud, to all,
Exclaims. Full eighteen years the Libyan shall
Th'Ausonian Youth in Italy pursue,
Like that rapacious Bird, and shall imbrue
His Hands in Blood, and wealthy Trophies gain.
But yet, proud African, thy Rage restrain;
For, see! Jove's Thunder-Bearer Thee denies
Italian Scepters. Chief of Deities
Be present! may thy Eagle's Omen be
At length confirm'd. For, noble Youth, to Thee
The final Fates of conquer'd Libya are
Reserv'd, and a most glorious Name in War;
Greater then Carthage, in her Height of Pride,
Unless those Birds, in Flight, the Gods bely'd.

But Bogus, contrary to this, doth sing
All happy Omens to the Tyrian King.
The Hawk a good Presage; The Doves, that fell,
Slain in their Airy Region, foretell
The Fall, and Ruin, of the Romane State.
Thus having said, as Conscious of Fate,
And prompted by the Gods; He, first, doth throw
With Strength, a ready Jav'lin at the Fo:
But, through the spacious Field, 't had Vainly flown,
And lost its killing Force; if Riding on
Full Speed, Ambitious to be first of all,
That gave the Charge, bold Catus Horse ith' Fall
Had not receiv'd it, on his Face; and, though
It then was weak, he met the Fatal Blow,
And found his Ruin: for the trembling Wood,
Fix'd in his Front, between his Temples stood.
Now, with loud shouts, both Armies, through the plain,
Came rushing on, and meeting, all Restrain
Their Reins, to stand the Charge. The furious Steed
Erected stands, and struggling to get Head,
Flies, like a Tempest, through the Champagne-Field;
While to his Feet the Sand doth hardly yield.
Before the rest, a nimble Active Band

Of Boii, whom stout Chryxus did command,
Assault the Van; and Chryxus, with a Rage,
Great as his Giant-Body, doth engage.
From Brennus, He his fam'd Original
Deriv'd; and, now, the Conquer'd Capitol
Among his Titles wore: upon his Shield
The Pensive Romanes, ready all to yield,
On the Tarpeian Sacred Hill behold
The Celtæ, weighing their redeeming Gold.
His Iv'ry-Neck a Golden Chain did bear,
His Garments with pure Gold Embroider'd were,
Bracelets of massie Gold adorn his Wrest,
And the like Metal shin'd upon his Crest:
By his fierce Onset, the Camertine Bands
At first were routed. Nothing now withstands
The Boii; who, in a condensed Throng,
Break through the thickest Ranks, and, mix'd among
The Barb'rous Senones, beneath the Feet
Of their fierce Horses, trample all they meet,
And strew, with mangled Corps, the Field, which seems
To swim in Blood, that in continued Streams
From Men, and Horses, flows, and doth imbrue
The sliding Steps of them, that still pursue.
Bodies half-dead, by Horses hoofs, are slain
Out-right, which, flying round the fatal Plain,
Scatter'd from their light Heels the purple Flood,
And lave the Wretches Faces with their Blood.
Tyrrhenus, born near high Pelorus Shore,
First dying, stained with his purple Gore
A conqu'ring Dart; for, as he did excite,
With a shrill Trumpet, others to the Fight,
Reviving Courage by the Warlike Sound,
Received, by a Barb'rous Dart, a Wound
In's panting Throat: which quickly doth impair
The rising Noise, yet the infused Air,
Blown from his dying Mouth, awhile, doth pass
(His Lips now silent) through the winding Brass:
Picens, and Laurus, both by Chryxus dy.
But yet not both alike: for Laurus by
His Sword was slain; selected near the Po,
A polish'd Spear, gave Picens fatal Blow.
For, as aside he turned, to Delude
(By wheeling round) the Fo, that him pursu'd,
The Spear, at once, both penetrates his Thigh,
And's Horses Flank; and both together dy
Next he wounds Venulus, and from his Neck
Retires the Weapon stain'd with Blood, to check
Thy Speed (rash Farfarus) who by the same
Dost likewise fall: with Tullus, near the Stream
Of cold Velinus bred, Ausonia's Pride,
And of a glorious Name, had he not dy'd;
Or had the Tyrians their League maintain'd.
With these the great Tyburti, who had gain'd
Renown in Wars, and Romulus his Hand
Sent to the Shades below. Hispellas, and
Metaurus, Daunus too, his Ruin found
From him, whom, with his Lance, he thought to wound.
Nor was there room for Tyrians to engage
In Battel, with the rest. The Celtick Rage
Fill'd the whole Field: no Shafts from any Hand
Were sent in Vain; but fix'd in Bodies stand.
Here, among trembling Files, Quirinus, high
In Courage, and disdaining Thoughts to fly,
Resolv'd to meet, with an undaunted Mind,
His Fate, if prosp'rous Fortune once declin'd:
Inflames his furious Courser with his Spear,
And with his Arms disperseth here, and there,
The Shafts, that him invade; thinking to make
His Way, and through the thickest Ranks to break,
T'attach the King: and, certain to receive
His Death, attempts by Valour to atchieve
That Honour, he could not survive. A Wound
Into the Groin of Teutalus, the Ground
Doth make to tremble, with his weighty Fall.
Next Sarmens dy'd, for Valour known to all:
Who his long yellow Tresses, that out-shin'd
Pure Gold, contracted in a Knot behind,
Had vow'd (if He return'd a Conquerour)
A Sacrifice to Thee, the God of War.
But the stern Fates, regarding not his Vow,
Him, with his Hair unshorn, to th'Shades below
Untimely sent. O're all his Snow-white Limbs,
The reeking Blood, in Streams diffused, Swims,
And stains the Earth. Lycaunus, whom a Dart,
That met him, as he mov'd, could not divert,
Rush'd in, and, waving his Revenging Sword,
With all the Strength, that Fury could afford,
Upon his Shoulder gives a fatal Wound,
Where his left Arm (by yielding Sinews bound)
Its Strength, and Motion did receive; which now
Hangs loosely down, and lets the Bridle go:
And, as he, Stooping, labour'd to retain,
Within his trembling Hand, the Reins again,
From's Body Vegasus lop'd off his Head,
And in his Helmet, as it largely bled,
Ty'd to his Horse's Main, it bears about;
The Gods saluting with a barb'rous Shout.

While thus the Field the Gauls with Slaughter feed;
The Consul, mounted on a Milk-white Steed,
Into the Fight advanc'd, with fresh Supplies:
And first, of all, with high-rais'd Courage, flies
On the prevailing Fo, On Him attend
The choicest Youth, that Italy could send.
The Marsi, Coræ, and the Latines Pride,
Sabellus, who by all was magnifi'd
For flinging his swift Dart with certain Skill:
With stout Tudertes, from his Native Hill,
Devote to Mars; and the Falisci, who,
Deck'd in their Countries-Linen, Wars pursue;
With these, that by a silent River, near
Herculean Walls, their wealthy Orchards rear,
With Apples crown'd. Next the Catilli came,
That dwell on Banks, where Anyo's swift Stream
To Tyber hasts; and those, that from their Slings
Send Hernick Stones, hardned in freezing Springs.
Nor were they absent, that inhabit where
Casinum still is crown'd with misty Air.
Thus went th'Italian Youth to War, and by
Th'unequal Gods were destin'd there to dy.
But Scipio, where the Fury of the Fo
Did highest Triumph in the Overthrow,
And Slaughter of his Men, spurs on his Horse;
And, as if from their Fall inspir'd with Force,
To their sad Ghosts kills frequent Sacrifice.
There Padus, Labarus, and Camus dies:
Brennus, whom many Wounds could scarce destroy;
And Larus, that, like Gorgon, turn'd his Eye.
And there Leponticus by cruel Fate,
Most fiercely fighting, fell: for, snatching at
The Consul's Reins, and, as he stood Upright
Afoot, the Horsman equal'd in his Height,
With his sharp Sword his Head the Consul cleaves,
And it, divided on his Shoulders, leaves.
Next Abbatus; that, in its furious Course,
Endeavour'd, with his Shield, to stop his Horse;
Was by a Kick struck dead, upon the Place;
The Beast still trampling on his wounded Face.
The Romane Captain, through the bloody Plain,
Thus raging Rides: as, when th'Icarian Main
Cold Boreas, with victorious Blasts, doth raise
From its deep Bottom, over all the Seas,
In batter'd Ships, the Mariners are tost,
And in white Foam the Cyclades are lost.
Chryxus now seeing Hopes of Life declin'd,
And Death's Approach, confirms his valiant Mind
With a contempt of Fate. His horrid Beard
Shin'd with a bloody Foam: his Jaws appear'd
All white with Froth: his Locks, with flying Sand,
And Dust made squallid, stiff, like Bristles, stand.
Thus Tarius fiercely he invades, who nigh
The Consul fought, and with strong Blows doth ply:
Then fells him to the Ground; for with a Spear,
(That his last Fate upon its Point did bear)
Wounded, he tumbles Headlong from his Steed:
Which mov'd by Fear, with uncontrouled Speed,
Drags him (his Legs fast in the Stirrop bound)
About the Field. Blood issuing from the Wound
Leaves a long winding Tract, that, with his Spear
Trail'd in his Hand, doth in the Dust appear.
The Consul prais'd his Death, and doth prepare
To vindicate his Ghost: when through the Air
An horrid Noise was heard; and he descries
Those Shouts commended Chryxus, whom his Eys,
Scarce known before, beheld. His Anger now
Grew high, and viewing, with a troubled Brow,
His Giant-Body, with a gentle Hand
Clapping his Horse's Neck, he makes a Stand,
And thus bespeaks him. We, as yet, have made
A vulgar War, and to the Stygian Shade
Have sent down People of no Name at all:
But, my Garganus, now, the Gods us call
To greater Actions. See'st thou not how great
Chryxus appears? To thee I'le Dedicate
Those Trappings, that with Tyrian Lustre shine:
Their Grace, and golden Reins shall all be thine.
This said: he Chryxus in the open Plain
Aloud provokes the Combate to maintain.
His willing Enemy the like Desire
Inflames. On either Side the Troops retire,
Commanded to give way, and strait beheld
The Champions in the Lists, amidst the Field.
Great as the Earth-born Mimas did appear
In the Phlegræan Plains, when Heav'n for Fear
Ev'n trembled at his Arms: from's salvage Breast
Such cruel Chryxus, here, himself exprest
With horrid Murmuring: and, to engage
His valiant Fo, with Howling whets his Rage,
And thus, insulting, speaks. Do none Survive
In Burnt, and Captivated Rome, could give
Thee Notice, what brave Hands the Progeny
Of Brennus bring to War? now Learn of Me:
And, as he spake, a knotty Beam of Oak,
That would have shaken with its weighty Stroak
A Citie's Gates, he flings. A dreadfull Sound
It makes, and, falling vainly, tears the Ground:
For, having lost his Distance, by a Throw
Too strong, it flew beyond his nearer Fo.
To him the Consul answers: Take to Hell
This with Thee, and remember, that thou tell
Thy Grand-sire, how far distant thou didst fall
From the Tarpeian-Hill: and say withall,
It was not lawfull for thee once to view
The Capitol. And, as he spake, he threw
A Jav'lin (fitted to destroy so vast
A Fo) which, from the thong with vigour cast,
Pierc'd through his Cassock's num'rous Folds, and through
His Coat of Mail, which Nerves confirm'd, into
His Breast, whose Depth the Weapon wholly drown'd:
With a vast Ruin, prostrate on the Ground
He falls. The suff'ring Earth beneath the Weight
Of's Arms, and Body, groans, and feels his Fate.
So on the Tyrrhene Coast the Hills, that stand
T'oppose the Billows, that invade the Land,
Struck by impetuous Storms, immanely roar,
And raving Nereus, beating on the Shore,
The Waves, divided by their furious Shocks,
Drown in the angry Deep the broken Rocks.
Their Captain slain, the Celtæ all to flight
Themselves, and Hopes, commit; their Courage quite
Declines. As when, on the Pyrænean-Hill,
The busie Hunter, with Sagacious Skill
Searching the secret Dens, to rouze his Game
From their thick Coverts, fires the Thornes: the Flame
With Silence gathers Strength, and to the Skies
Dark Clouds of pitchy Smoke aspiring rise;
Then all on fire the Hill doth strait appear,
Loud Noises fill the Woods: The Beasts, for fear,
And Birds, forsake their Shelter, and from far
Through all the Vale the Cattle frighted are.
When Mago saw the Celtick Troops were gone,
And their first Onset (which in them, alone,
Is vigorous) was lost, he strait doth call
His Countreymen to fight: and first of all
The Horse-men; who appear on ev'ry Side
In Troops, and, without Reins, or Bridles ride.
Now the Italians fly, and then renew
The Fight. The Tyrians then for Fear withdrew,
And now advance again. These their Right Wing
In Moon-like Circles lead; The other bring
Their Left alike in Form: Alternately
In Close-form'd Globes they fight, and, when they fly,
With Art avoid the Slaughter of the Fo.
So, when the Winds from sev'ral Quarters blow,
Fierce Boreas one way drives the swelling Main,
Which Eurus meeting tumbles back again,
And with alternate Blasts, both furious, throw
The Ocean (that obeys them) to and fro.
At length in Tyrian Purple shining, wrought
With Gold, comes Hannibal, and with Him brought
Terrour, and Fear, and Fury to the Field.
And soon as He His bright Callaick Shield
Held up, and struck a piercing Light through all,
Their Hopes, and Valour both together fall.
Their trembling Souls cast off all Shame of Flight:
None care to seek a noble Death in Fight.
Resolv'd to fly, they rather wish to know
Death by the gaping Earth, then by the Fo.
So when a Tiger from's Caucasean Den
Descends, the Fields forsaken are by Men,
And Beasts. All, as distracted, fly for Fear,
And Shelter seek; while, as a Conqe'rour,
He wanders up, and down, the desart Plain,
And now extends, then shuts his Jaws again,
As if some present Carcass he did eat;
And, gaping wide, doth Slaughter meditate.
Him nor could Metabus, nor Ufens shun:
Though Ufens, very tall, did swiftly run;
And Metabus, full Speed, on Horse-back fled:
For Metabus was with his Lance struck dead;
And Ufens, falling on his Knees, did bleed
By's Sword: so lost his Life, and Praise of Speed.
Then Sthenius, Laurus, and Collinus dy.
Collinus, born in a cold Climate, nigh
The Chrystal Caves of Fusinus, and o're
That Lake, by Swimming, pass'd from either Shore.
The next Companion of their Fate, that fell
Was Massicus; born on that Sacred Hill,
That crown'd with fruitfull Vines doth bear his Name,
Near Lyris nurs'd, that with a silent Stream
Its Course dissembleth, and with glitt'ring Waves,
Unchang'd by Rain, the quiet Margent Laves.
But now the Heat of Slaughter grew so high,
That they could scarce finde Weapons to supply
Their Active Rage; Shields clash on Shields, and Feet
On Feet do press: and, as they, Furious, meet,
Encountring close, the waving Crests, that crown'd
Their Helmets, mutually their Fore-Heads wound.
Three famous Twins, all valiant Brothers, whom
Sidonian Barcè, happy in her Womb,
In time of War, unto Xantippus bare,
Most fiercely fighting, in the Van appear.
Their Power, and Wealth in Greece, their Father's Fame
(A valiant Captain) with Amycle's Name,
And Regulus, in Spartan Fetters bound,
With all that their Fore-Fathers had renown'd,
Inflam'd their Minds, in Arms to prove their high
Descent, and by their Deeds to testifie
That they from Lacon sprang: to visit then
The cold Taygeta, and Wars again
Allai'd, through their Eurotas sail, and see
Those Rites, Lycurgus, were ordain'd by Thee.
But Heav'n, and three Ausonian Brothers, who
In Age, and Courage, equalled the Fo,
Sent by Aricia from those lofty Groves,
Where Numa with the Nymph his secret Loves
Enjoy'd, deny'd they should to Sparta go.
Nor would the too impartial Fates allow,
That they Diana's Altars should behold,
And Sacred Lakes. For now the fierce, and bold
Clytias, Eumachus, and Xantippus, proud
Of's Father's Name, engaged in the Croud,
And Heat of all the Fight. As when, within
The Libyan Plains, the Lyons do begin
A War among themselves, their Roaring fills
The Fields, and Cottages; or'e secret Hills,
And pathless Rocks, th'affrighted Moor doth fly;
His Wife endeavouring to suppress the Cry
O'th' tender Infant, hanging at the Teat
Of her large Breast; the raging Beasts repeat
Their Murmurs, and between their bloody Jaws
Crash broken Bones: while limbs beneath their Claws,
And cruel Teeth, still fight; as if with Scorn
To seem to yield, though from the Body torn:
So the Egerian Youth, fierce Virbius, here,
There Capys press to fight; Albanus there,
Alike in Arms: Him Clytias by Chance,
Stooping to shun a Blow, strikes with his Lance,
Quite through the Belly. Strait his Bowels fill'd,
Extruded by his Fall, his hollow Shield.
Next by stout Eumachus was Capys slain:
Who, as if fix'd, endeavour'd to retain
His Target; till a Sword from his Left Side
Lopp'd off his Arm, and by the Wound he dy'd:
While his unhappy Hand refus'd to yield
Its Hold, and stuck unto the falling Shield.
Two of the three thus miserably slain,
The last great Conquest Virbius doth remain:
Who, as he fain'd to fly, Xantippus slew
With his keen Sword, and eager to pursue
Eumachus by his Jav'lin likewise falls.
And thus the Fight by double Funerals
Is equal made. Then the Survivers dy'd
By mutual Wounds, and lai'd their Rage aside.
Oh happy you, whom noble Piety,
Urging your Fate, did thus perswade to dy!
Such Brothers future Times shall wish to see,
And your last valiant Acts your Memory
Shall crown with Honour; if our Verses live,
Or miserable Nephews, that survive,
Shall read these Monuments your Virtues claim,
And great Apollo envy not Our Fame.

But now his Troops, dispers'd through all the Plains,
The Consul, with his Voice, from Flight restrains,
While He could use His Voice. Whither d'ye bear
Those Ensigns? How are you destroy'd by Fear?
If the first Place of Battel you affright,
Or you want Courage in the Front to fight,
Behinde Me stand; but lay aside your Fear,
And see Me fight. Their Fathers Captives were,
From whom you fly. What Hopes can we pretend,
If once subdu'd? Shall we the Alps ascend?
Oh! think, you see Tower-bearing Rome, whose Head
Her Walls do crown, submissively, now, spread
Her Hands; while her proud Foes her Sons enchain;
Daughters are ravish'd, and their Parents slain.
And in their Blood, me thinks, I see the Fire
Of holy Vesta now (alass) expire.
Oh! then prevent this Sin. Thus having said,
His Jaws with Dust, and Clamour, weary made;
His Left Hand snatching up the Reins; the Right
His Sword; his Breast to those, that fled the Fight,
He doth oppose: now threatens Them, and then
Himself to Kill, unless they turn agen.

These Armies when, from high Olympus, Jove
Beheld, the noble Consul's Dangers move
His Mind to Pitty. Then, he calls his Son
(The God of War) and to Him thus begun.
My Son, I fear that gallant Man's not far
From Ruin, if thou tak'st not up the War.
Withdraw him, full of Fury, from the Fight;
Forgetfull of Himself, through the Delight
Of Slaughter. Stop the Libyan General,
Who will more glory in the Consul's Fall,
Then all those Numbers, that He doth destroy.
Thou seest, besides, how soon that Warlike Boy
His tender Hands in Battel doth engage,
And strives by Action to transcend his Age,
Thinking it tedious to be young in War.
Thou guiding Him, he shall hereafter dare
T'attempt Great things, and his first Trophie shall
Be to prevent his Noble Father's Fall.

Thus Jove; strait Mars from the Odrysian Field
His Chariot summons, and assumes his Shield:
Which, like a gloomy Thunder-bolt, its Beams
Scatters abroad: his Helmet too, that seems
To other Deities a Weight too great:
And's Breast-Plate, that with so much Toil, and Sweat
The lab'ring Cyclops form'd: then shakes his Spear,
Stain'd with the Blood of Titans, through the Air,
And with his Chariot fills the dusty Plain.
The dire Eumenides, and dreadfull Train
Of Furies him attend, and ev'ry where
Innumerable Forms of Death appear:
While fierce Bellona, who doth guid the Reins,
Whips on his Steeds, and all Delay disdains.
Then from the troubled Heav'n a Tempest forth
Doth break, and in dark Clouds involves the Earth.
His Entrance ev'n the Court of Jove doth shake,
And Rivers, by his Chariots Noise, forsake
Their Banks, and, struck with Horrour, backward fly
To their first Springs, and leave their Chanels dry.
The Garamantian Bands, now, ev'ry where
Invest with Darts the Consul, and prepare
New Presents for the Tyrian Prince: the Spoils
Of his rich Arms, his Head, through many Toils
Of that sad Day, bedew'd with Sweat, and, Blood.
While He, not to give way to Fortune, stood
Resolv'd, and then, more fierce with Slaughter grown,
Returns the num'rous Darts against him thrown.
Till over all his Limbs the Blood of Foes,
Mix'd with his own, in Streams diffused flows,
And then, his Crest declining, in a Ring
More closely girt, the Garamantians fling
Their steeled Shafts, with nearer Aim, and all,
Like Storms of Hail, at once, about him fall.

But, when his Son perceiv'd a Dart to be
Fix'd in his Father's Body (as if He
Had felt the deadly Wound) his pious Tears
Bedews his Cheeks, and Paleness strait appears,
To run o're all his Body, and with Groans,
That pierce the Skies, his Danger he Bemoans.
Twice he Attempted, to anticipate
By piercing his own Breast, his Father's Fate:
As oft the God of War converts his Rage
Against the Fo; with whom he doth engage,
And, Fearless, through the armed Squadrons flies,
And, in his furious Speed, doth equalize
The Deity, his Guid. The Troops, that round
His Father fight, give Way, and on the Ground
A Tract of Blood appears. Where er'e he goes,
(Protected by the Heavenly Shield) he mows
Whole Squadrons down. On heaps of Arms he Slew,
Such as oppos'd his Rage, with him that Threw
The Dart, who dy'd before his Father's Eys;
With many more, as pleasing Sacrifice.
Then, snatching from the Bones the fixed Spear,
Upon his Neck, from Danger, he doth bear
His fainting Sire. The Troops at such a Sight
Amazed stand: the Libyans cease to fight:
Th'Iberians all give way. A Piety
So great, in tender Years, turns ev'ry Eye
Upon him, to Admire what they beheld,
And strikes deep Silence through the dusty Field.
Then said the God of War: Thou Dido's Towers
Hereafter shalt destroy; and Tyrian Powers,
Compell'd by Thee, a League shall entertain:
Yet never shalt thou greater Honour gain,
Then this. Go on (brave Youth) go on, and prove
Thy self to be, indeed, the Son of Jove.
Go on: for greater Things reserved be;
Though better never can be giv'n to Thee.
This said: the Sun now stooping to the Main,
The Deity returns to Heav'n again,
Involv'd in Clouds. Darkness the Fight decides,
And, in their Camps, the weary Armies hides.

But, when in her declining Wain the Night
Phœbe withdrew, and, by her Brother's Light,
The rosie Flames from the Eöan Main
Gilded the Margent of the Skies again;
The Consul, fearing that the Plain might be
A great Advantage to the Enemy,
To Trebia, and the Mountains, takes his Way.
And now the winged Hours advanc'd the Day,
When with much Toil the Bridg was broken down,
(O're which the Romane Army pass'd) and thrown
Into the Flood: when to the Rapid Stream
Of swift Eridanus, the Libyan came;
Seeking, by marching round, through various Waies,
The Fords, and where its Course the River staies:
Trees from the Neighb'ring Groves at length he takes,
And, to transport his Troops, a Navy makes.
The valiant Consul (from the antient Line
O'th' Gracchi sprang, whose Ancestours did shine
In Monuments, with noble Titles crown'd,
For Valour, both in Peace, and War Renown'd)
Thither, from high Pelorus, came by Sea,
Incamping near the Banks of Trebia.
The Carthaginians, likewise, in the Plain
(The River over-pass'd) encamp'd remain,
Encourag'd by Success of their Affairs:
While their insulting General prepares
Their Minds, and to their Fury still doth give
Fresh Fewel. What third Consul doth survive
In Rome? (said He) What other Sicily
Remaineth now in Arms against us? See!
All the Italian Bands, and Daunian Line,
Are met. Now let the Latine Princes joyn
In League with Me; now let them Laws require.
But thou, that in the Fight, unhappy Sire,
Ow'st to thy Son thy Life, so may'st thou live!
May'st thou to him again that Honour give!
May'st thou not dy in War so old! 'tis I,
(When Fate shall call) that must in Battel dy.
This with high Rage express'd; he doth advance
With his Massilian Troops, and with his Lance,
Ev'n at the Trenches, doth provoke the Fo.
The Latine Souldiers, scorning thus to ow
Their Safety to their Rampires, and to hear
The Gates to Eccho with an Hostile Spear,
Break forth: and through the Breach, before the Rest,
The valiant Consul flies. The plumed Crest
Of his bright Helmet waving with the Wind;
His Cassock stain'd with honour'd Blood behind:
He calls, with a loud Voice, the following Bands,
And, where the Fo in strongest Bodies stands,
He breaks his Way, and chargeth through the Plain,
As when a furious Torrent, swell'd with Rain,
Falling from lofty Pindus Top, doth fill
The Vallies with a Noise; as if the Hill,
By some rude Tempest, were in Pieces torn:
The Heards, and salvage Beasts, and Woods are born
Away; the foaming Waves o're all prevail,
And pass with Roaring through the stony Dale.
Could I like the Mæonian Prophet sing,
Or would Apollo, to assist me, bring
An hundred Voices, I could not declare
What Slaughter here the Consul made: what there
The Libyan's Fury acted. Hannibal
Murranus, and the Romane General
Phalantus, old in Labours, and for Skill
In War all famous, hand to hand, did kill.
From Anxur's stormy Cliffs Murranus: from
Sea-wash'd Tritonis did Phalantus come.
But when, by his Illustrious Habit shown,
The Consul was engag'd, Cupentus, one
Depriv'd of half his Sight, that with one Eye
Pursu'd the War, assaults him suddenly;
And fixeth in the Margent of his Shield
His trembling Lance. The Consul him beheld
With boiling Rage; Now (Villain) lay aside
(Said he) what ever Mischief thou dost hide
Beneath thy Ugly, and Deformed Brow.
And, as he spake, with Aim, directly through
His glaring Eye he thrusts his fatal Spear.
No less incens'd doth Hannibal appear;
By whom, in silver Arms, unfortunate
Varrenus fell: Varrenus, whom of late
Fertile Fulginia's wealthy Fields with Gain
Enrich'd, and, wandring in the open Plain,
His curled Bulls, as white as Alpine Snow,
Return'd from cold Clitumnus Stream: but now
The Gods were angry, and those Victimes prove
Nourish'd in vain; which for Tarpeian Jove,
With so much Care, by him were fed before.
Then light Iberians with the nimble Moor
Advance. Here Piles, there Libyan Arrows fly;
So thick, from either Side, they hide the Sky:
And all the Space, between the River's Shore,
And Champagn-Ground, with Darts is cover'd o're.
So thick they stand, the Wounded have no Room
To Fall, and Dy. There Allius, that from
Argyripa, through Daunian Fields, with rude
Unpolish'd Shafts, his flying Game pursu'd,
Was born, into the midst of all his Foes,
Upon his Iäpygian Steed, and throws
(Not vainly) his Apalian Darts: his Breast
The Skins of rough Samnitick Bears invest,
Instead of Steel: his Head an Helmet wore,
Fenc'd with the Tushes of an Aged Boar.
But him, thus Active, as if he had bin
Then following the Chase of Beasts, within
The Gargan Woods, when Mago here espy'd,
There bold Maharbal; they on either Side
Charge him. As Bears, more fierce by Hunger made,
From sev'ral Rocks a trembling Bull invade;
Their Fury not permitting them to share
Their Prey with Leisure: so both here, and there,
Gainst Allius discharged Weapons flew.
At length, through both his Sides, the Libyan Yew
Doth, singing, pierce into his trembling Heart,
And Death remain'd ambiguous, to which Dart
It should give way; for both together there,
As in their Center, met. Now full of Fear
The Romane Troops, with scatter'd Ensigns, fly;
Whom to the Banks the Libyan furiously,
(A Sight of Pitty!) wandring up and down,
Pursues, and in the River strives to drown.
Then Trebia to their Ruin doth conspire,
And raising, at Saturnia's Desire,
His fatal Waves, begins a second War
Against the weary Vanquished: who are
By Earth, that shrank beneath them, where they stood,
Devour'd, and cover'd by the treach'rous Flood.
Nor could they from the thick, tenacious Mire,
(If once engag'd) their weary Limbs retire:
But stand, as bound, and fix'd within the Mud,
Untill, o'rewhelm'd by the deceitfull Flood,
Or Ruins of the hollow Banks, some fall;
While others through the Slippery places crawl,
And seek through the inextricable Shore,
Their several Ways to Safety. But, as or'e
The rotten Bogs they fly, and Ruin think
To shun, by their own Weight oppress'd, they Sink.
Here one swims swiftly, and now near the Land,
Snatching the tops of Rushes in his Hand,
To raise himself above the Flood again,
Nail'd by a Jav'lin to the Bank, is slain:
Another, having lost his Weapon, fast
Within his Arms his strugling Fo embrac't,
And in one Fate, both joyn'd together, dy'd.
Death in a thousand Shapes, on ev'ry Side,
Appears. There wounded Ligus backward fell
Upon the Shore; and, as the Flood doth swell
With Heaps of Bodies, and his Visage laves,
He sucks in, with his Sighs, the bloody Waves.
But scarce half-way did fair Hirpinus swim,
And beckned to the rest to follow him:
When, carryed by the Stream's impetuous Force,
And gaul'd with many wounds, his head-strong Horse
Obeys the Torrent, till with Labour tir'd,
Under prevailing Waves, they both expir'd.
Yet still these Miseries encrease: for, as
The towred Elephants attempt to pass
Into the Flood, with Violence they fell
(As when a Rock, torn from its native Hill
By Tempest, falls into the angry Main)
And Trebia afraid to entertain
Such Monstrous Bodies, flies before their Breast,
Or shrinks beneath them with their Weight opprest,
But as Adversity man's Courage tries,
And fearless Valour, doth to Honour rise
Through Danger; stout Fibrenus doth disclaim
A Death ignoble, or that wanted Fame:
And cries, My Fate shall be observ'd, nor shall
Fortune, beneath these Waters, hide my Fall.
I'le try, if Earth doth any living bear,
Which the Ausonian Sword, and Tyrrhen Spear
Cannot subdue, and kill. With that, he prest
His Lance into the right Eye of the Beast,
That, with blind Rage, the penetrating Blow
Pursu'd, and tossing up his mangled Brow,
Besmear'd with reeking Blood, with horrid Cries
Turns round, and from his fallen Master flies.
Then with their Darts, and frequent Arrows all
Invade him, and now dare to hope his Fall.
His immense Shoulders, and his Sides, appear
One Wound entire, his dusky Back doth bear
Innumerable Shafts; that, like a Wood,
Still waving, as he mov'd, upon him stood:
Till in so long a Fight, their Weapons all
Consum'd, he fell, Death hasting through his Fall.

But now (although a Wound, which by the way
An Adverse Hand inflicted, did delay
His Speed a while) implacable with Rage,
Within the River, Scipio doth engage.
And with unnumbred Slaughters doth infest
The Enemy; while Trebia seems opprest
With Targets, Helmets, and with Bodies slain;
And scarce doth any vacant Space remain
To see the Water. There Mazêus by
His Lance, there Gostar by his Sword doth dy.
Then against Telgon, who from Pelops sprung,
And in Cyrene dwelt, a Pile he flung,
Snatch'd from the stained Torrent, and within
His gaping Mouth fix'd the whole Steel. His Chin
Now falls: against his Teeth the trembling Wood
Rebounds with Noise, and sudden Streams of Blood,
Together with his Life, flow from the Wound?
Yet, after Death, no Rest his Body found;
For Trebia it t'Eridanus conveys,
Eridanus it tumbles to the Seas.
With him, and others, Lapsus likewise dy'd,
To whom the Fates a Sepulchre deny'd.
What then avail'd his rich Hesperides,
Or Groves by Nymphs frequented? What his Trees,
That, bearing Gold, extend their shining Boughs?
But Trebia, swelling, from the Bottom throws
His curling Waves, unlocketh all his Springs,
And all his Forces with fresh Fury brings:
The Billows roar aloud, and, as they fly,
Still a new Torrent doth their Place supply.
The General perceiving this, his Blood
With greater Fury boils. Perfidious Flood
(Said He) severely shalt thou punish'd be,
For this thy Insolence. I'le scatter thee
In lesser Streams, through all the Gallick Coast,
Untill the Name of River thou hast lost.
I'le choak thee in thy Birth: nor shalt thou flow,
Through this thy Chanel, to the Banks of Po.
What sudden Rage is this, doth thee invade,
And thee Sidonian of a Latine made?
Him boasting thus, the Waters in a Heap
Assail, and on his lofty Shoulders leap.

Himself against their Rage He doth oppose,
And with His Shield sustains their furious Throws.
Behind, the Storm-rais'd Surges thicker come,
And cover His Plum'd Helmet with their Foam.
That He should farther wade, the God deny'd;
While from His Feet the slipp'ry Earth doth slide.
The angry Billows, now, begin a War
Among themselves, and, striking Rocks, afar
Diffuse the Noise through all the Neighb'ring Coast,
And in the Fight his Banks the River lost.
Then, lifting up his streaming Locks, his Brow
Impail'd with Bull-Rushes, said He, Dost Thou
So proudly threaten Thy Revenge on Me?
And that the Name of Trebia shall be
By Thee extinguish'd? Oh, Thou Enemy
To this My Empire! see what Bodies I
Do bear; that by thy fatal Hand were slain:
Such Heaps of Shields, and Helmets here remain,
That they my Waters from my Chanel force,
And I'me constrain'd to leave my former Course.
Thou see'st how deep with Slaughter they are stain'd,
And backward flie. Restrain thy killing Hand,
And pitch Thy Camp within this Neighb'ring Field.

This Cytherea from an Hill beheld,
And, near her, Vulcan; who themselves did shroud
From Mortal Eyes, within an airy Cloud.
But Scipio, sighing, lifteth to the Skies
His Hands, and saith; Ye Gods, whose Auspicies
Have hitherto preserv'd Dardanian Rome,
Must I, at length, a Sacrifice become
To such a Death, preserv'd by You of late
In so great Fights? Is it above my Fate
To fall by Fortune? Oh, deliver me
Again (my Son) unto the Enemy;
That I may dy in Battel! and My End
Unto My Brothers, and to Rome, commend.

Griev'd with this Language, Venus sigh'd, and all
Her Husband's Fury on the Flood lets fall.
O're all the Banks, the active Flames appear
Dispersed, and the Streams, that many a Year
Had there been Nourish'd by the aged Flood,
Most furiously devour. The Neighb'ring Wood
Doth likewise burn, and through the highest Groves
Vulcan, an uncontrouled Conqu'rour, moves.
Now Fir-Trees lose their Arms; the lofty Pines,
And Alders sink, the Poplar too declines;
And from their standing Trunks those Branches fell,
Where Quires of Chanting Birds were wont to dwell.
Ev'n from the Bottom of the troubled Flood,
The Fire licks up the Waters, dries the Blood,
Late shed upon the Banks. The parched Earth,
(As when rash Phaëton, to prove his Birth,
Did Fire the World) with Heat excessive cleaves,
And Heaps of Ashes on the Waters leaves.
Father Eridanus now thinks it strange,
That his Eternal Course so soon doth change,
The Nymphs their liquid Caves with mournfull Cries
Now fill, and, as the Flood endeavour'd thrice
To raise his scorched Head, the God of Fire,
Throwing a Lamp, constrain'd him to retire
Beneath his smoaking Waves, and thrice his Head
Of Reeds deprives: at length, as Vanquished,
And Weak, submitting to his Conqu'ring Fo,
'Twas granted in his former Banks to flow.
Scipio, and Gracchus, then; from Trebia, all
Their Troops, unto a fenced Hill, recall.

But Hannibal the River doth adore,
And, with much Honour, sprinkles near the Shore
His Social Waters on the Holy Grass:
Not knowing how much greater things (alass!)
The Gods would act. What Woes for Italy
Were (Thrasimenus) then prepar'd by Thee.

Not long before, Flaminius did invade
The Boii, and an easie Conquest made
Over that Nation, Weak, and void of all
Deceit. But to contend with Hannibal
Requir'd more Toil, more Vigilance, and Skill.
Him, fatal to his Countrey, and with ill
Presages born, Saturnia prepares
As General, while Italie's Affairs
Sadly declin'd: A man most worthy all
The Mischief, that did on his Countrey fall.
For, in the first Day, that he took in Hand
The Helm of State, and th'Army did command:
As Mariners, unskilfull to convey
A beaten Ship through a tempestuous Sea,
Obey the Winds, and leave to ev'ry Blast,
Or Wave, the wandring Vessel; which at last
Is driven by the Pilot's artless Hands
On Rocks, or else is swallow'd up in Sands:
So, with rash Arms, Flaminius doth invade
The Lydians, and those Mansions Sacred made
By antient Corythus Arrival there;
And the Mæonian Colonies, that were
Joyn'd to Italian, by their Grand-sires Blood,
And in the Catalogue of Kindred stood.
Nor did the Gods neglect to advertise
The Libyan Captain of an Enterprize,
That to his Name such Honour might produce.
For when that Sleep, o're all the World, his Juice
Of Poppy had diffus'd, and with his Wings
Had cover'd o're the Tedious Care of things.
Juno the Figure of the Neighb'ring Flood
Assumes, and, as he slept, before him stood:
The dangling Tresses, on her watry Brow,
Encompass'd with a wreathed Poplar-Bough.
With sudden Cares, she dives into his Breast,
And with this pow'rfull Language breaks his Rest.

Oh Hannibal, most happy in thy Fame,
And unto Italy a fatal Name!
Who, if th'Ausonian Land had giv'n Thee Birth,
Might'st with the Gods, when Thou forsak'st the Earth,
Hereafter be Enthron'd. While yet we may,
And Fates permit us, banish all Delay:
The great Success, which Fortune doth allow,
Not long endures. Go on; the Blood, which Thou
Didst to thy Father promise, when the War
'Gainst Rome, before the Altar, Thou didst swear,
Shall from Ausonian Bodies flow to Thee,
And Thou Thy Father's Ghost shalt satisfie
With Slaughter, and to Me securely pay
Deserved Honours. Therefore now Obey:
For I that Thrasimenus am, that by
The Bands, from Tmolus sent, encompass'd ly
Beneath high Hills, and reign in shady Streams.

By this Advice excited from his Dreams,
His Army, which the Deity doth fill
With Courage, strait He leadeth to the Hill.
High Apenninus, who his Fore-head joyns
Unto the Stars, surcharg'd with lofty Pines,
Was cover'd, then, with Ice. Among the steep,
And slipp'ry Rocks, all Trees, in Snow, as deep
As is his Height, were hid, and to the Skies
His hoary Head, with Frost congeal'd, did rise.
Here He commands them on: for having cross'd
The Alps, all former Glory had been lost,
And quite extinguish'd; had they made a Stand
At other Mountains: therefore they ascend
Those broken Cliffs, whose Tops the Clouds invest
Perpetually with Showrs. Nor did they rest,
When once that Labour they had overcome;
But strait descend into the Plains, that swum
With thawing Ice, and where, in Moorish Ground,
The cold, unfrozen Waters did abound:
In these unwholsome Fens, the Gen'ral's bare,
Uncover'd, Head, was shaken by the Air,
And on his bloodless Cheeks his melting Eye
In Tears descends. While, scorning Remedy,
He thinks the Time of Battel is to be
Purchas'd with any Danger. Therefore He
Disdains the Beauty of his Face to spare,
So He may have His Ends; nor doth He care,
To part with other Limbs, if Victory
May be the Price, and thinks his single Eye
Enough; if so a Conquerour He may
Behold the Capitol: or any way
Subdue a Fo, that bears the Romane Name.
Through all these Miseries at length He came
Unto the Lake, where for His Loss of Sight
He kills unnumbred Piacles in Fight.

But now, behold, from Tyrian Carthage sent
Ambassadours arrive. The first Intent,
And Motive, of their Journey was of Weight:
Yet could they nothing of Content relate.
It was a Custome 'mong those People, where
Exil'd Elisa, first, her Walls did Rear,
The Favour of the Angry Gods to seek
With Humane Slaughter, and (what ev'n to speak
Is Horrour) on their flaming Altars burn
Their tender Sons. Those Lots an annual Urn
Reviv'd; the bloody Rites to imitate
Of Thoantêan Dian: to this Fate,
And Lot of Heav'n, as Custome was, inspir'd
Of old, with Malice, Hanno then requir'd
The Son of Hannibal, although the Fear
Of his Return, and Arms, did then appear
As present, for Revenge, to other Eyes.
Mov'd by this dire Demand, with mournfull Cries,
Tearing her Hair, and Cheeks, Imilce fills
The Town. As when, on the Pangæan Hills,
Edonian Froes their Treiterian Feast
Perform, and Bacchus reigns in ev'ry Breast.
Imilce so, among the Tyrian Dames,
(As if she saw her Son amidst the Flames)
Cries Iö, Husband, in what Part soe're
O'th' World thou wagest War, Oh, hither bear
Thine Ensigns; here, here is an Enemy
More violent, more near. Thou, happily,
Ev'n at the Walls of Rome, receivest now
Darts, flying, in Thy Target, or dost throw
A burning Lamp, Tarpeian Tow'rs to fire.
In the mean time, Thy Son, Thy onely Heir,
Ev'n from the Bosom of Thy Countrey, to
The Stygian Altar's drag'd. Whilst Thou dost go
To wast Ausonian Houses with Thy Sword,
Tread in forbidden Paths, break that Accord,
That League; which, once, by all the Gods was sworn:
These dire Rewards doth Carthage, now, return
For Thy Deserts; such Honours unto Thee,
Ingratefull, Shee decrees. What Piety
Is this, the Temples thus with Humane Blood
To stain? Alass! had Mortals understood
The Nature of the Gods, this horrid Crime
Had ne're been known. Go, and, at such a Time,
With Holy Frankincense, just Things desire
Of Heav'n; and let those cruel Rites expire.
The Gods to Men are mild: let it suffice
(I pray) that we fat Oxen Sacrifice:
Or, if the Gods resolve, that this Decree
Shall stand, to Your Desires, accept of Me,
Me that have born him; why should You deprive
Libya of those great Hopes, that in him live?
Why should Ægates more lamented be;
Or, if the Punick Kingdoms we should see
Now sinking; then the sad untimely Fall
Of this brave Off-spring of my Hannibal?

This Speech, the Senate wav'ring 'twixt a Fear
Of Gods, and Men, invited, to forbear
Their Sentence, and to Her 'twas left to chuse;
Whether She would the killing Lot refuse;
Or else the Honour of the Gods obey.
At this Imilce trembled, ev'ry way
With Fear distracted: there Her Husband's Ire
She apprehends; and there the fatal Fire.

This heard with greedy Ears: the General
Replies, Dear Carthage, What can Hannibal,
Though equal to the Gods, return to Thee,
Worthy such Favours? What Rewards can be
Invented? Day, and Night, I Arms will bear,
And make, that to Thy Temples Rome repair,
With gen'rous Victimes, that their Blood derive
From Her Quirinus. But My Boy shall live,
Heir to these Arms, and War, My onely Hope;
And, while Hesperia threats, the onely Prop
Of Tyrian Affairs by Sea, and Land.
And (Boy) remember that Thou take in Hand,
And wage a War with Rome, while Life doth last.
Go on, behold the Alps which I have past,
Are open. Me succeed in Toils, and War,
And you my Countrey's Gods, whose Temples are
By Slaughter Holy made, who 're pleas'd to be
Ador'd with Fears of Mothers, turn to Me
Your Minds, and pleas'd Aspect: for I prepare
Your Sacrifice, and better Altars Rear.
You Mago, to the Top of yonder Hill
Conduct your Troops; and let Chaospe fill
Those nearer to the Left; Sichæus shall
Into those Avenues, in Ambush fall.
While, I will Thrasimenus quickly view,
With lighter Troops, and for the Gods their Due,
Of Warlike Sacrifice prepare. For now,
They, with clear Promises, great things allow,
Which having seen (dear Countrey-men) you may
Into your native City, home convey.