28.12
No
action was fought with Hannibal this year, for after the blow which had
fallen upon him and upon his country, he made no forward movement, nor
did the Romans care to disturb him, such was their impression of the powers
which that single general possessed, even while his cause was everywhere
round him crumbling into ruin. I am inclined to think that he deserves our
admiration more in adversity than in the time of his greatest successes. For
thirteen years he had been carrying on war with varying fortune in an
enemy's country far from home. His army was not made up of his own
fellow-countrymen, it was a mixed assemblage of various nationalities who
had nothing in common, neither laws nor customs, nor language, who
differed in appearance, dress and arms, who were strangers to one another in
their religious observances, who hardly recognised the same gods. And yet
he had united them so closely together that no disturbance ever broke out,
either amongst the soldiers themselves or against their commander, though
very often money and supplies were lacking and it was through want of these
that numerous incidents of a disgraceful character had occurred between the
generals and their soldiers in the First Punic War. He had rested all his hopes
of victory on Hasdrubal and his army, and after that army had been wiped
out he withdrew into Bruttium and abandoned the rest of Italy to the
Romans. Is it not a matter of surprise that no mutiny broke out in his camp?
For in addition to all his other difficulties, there was no prospect of feeding
his army except from the resources of Bruttium, and even if the whole of
that country had been in cultivation it would have afforded but meager
support for so large an army. But as it was, a large part of the population
had been diverted from the tillage of the soil by the war and by their
traditional and innate love of brigandage. He received no assistance from
home, for the government was mainly concerned about keeping their hold on
Spain, just as though everything in Italy was going on successfully.
The situation in Spain was in some respects similar, in others
completely dissimilar to the state of affairs in Italy. It was similar in so far as
the Carthaginians after their defeat and the loss of their general had been
driven into the most distant parts of Spain to the shores of the ocean. It was
dissimilar because the natural features of the country and the character of the
inhabitants made Spain more fitted than Italy, more fitted, in fact, than any
country in the world for the constant renewal of hostilities. Though it was
the first province, at all events on the continent, into which the Romans
made their way, it was, owing to this cause, the very last to be completely
subjugated, and this only in our own days under the conduct and auspices of
Augustus Caesar. Hasdrubal Gisgo, who, next to the Barcine family, was the
greatest and most brilliant general that held command in this war, was
encouraged by Mago to renew hostilities. He left Gades, and traversing
Further Spain, raised a force of 50,000 infantry and 4500 cavalry. As to the
strength of his cavalry the authorities are generally agreed, but some writers
assert that the infantry force which he led to Silpia amounted to 70,000 men.
Near this city the two Carthaginian commanders encamped on a wide and
open plain, determined to accept battle if offered.
