ng the winter months following the victory of Trebia, Hannibal
pitched his camp in the territories of his Gallic allies, and busied
himself with making friendly advances to the Italian cities which had
been forced to acknowledge the headship of Rome. 'He had not come to
fight against them,' he said, 'but against Rome, on their behalf.' So
the Italian prisoners were set free without ransom, while the Roman
captives were kept in close confinement. He also sent out spies to
collect all the information they could as to the country through which
he had to travel. He was anxious, for other reasons, to break up his
camp as soon as he was able, as he saw signs that the Gauls were weary
and rather afraid of having him for a neighbour.

* * * * *

Therefore, in the spring of 217 B.C. he marched southwards, placing the
Spaniards and Libyans in front, with the baggage and stores behind them,
the Gauls, whom he never quite trusted, in the centre, and the Numidian
light horse and cavalry in the rear, under his brother Mago. There were
no elephants to be thought of now, for they had all died of cold after
the battle of Trebia. North of the Arno was a wide tract of marshland,
which had to be crossed before the Apennine mountains could be reached.
Never, during all his campaigns, did Hannibal's army have to undergo
such suffering. In many ways it was worse than the passage of the Alps,
for once in the midst of the morasses, swollen by the melting snows, it
was hardly possible to snatch a moment of sleep. Many of the oxen fell
and died, and when this happened the wearied men stretched themselves on
their still warm bodies, and closed their eyes for a short space.

At length, after three nights and four days of incessant marching, till
the troops were nearly numb with cold, firm ground was reached, and for
a while they rested in peace on the hill of Fiesole, above the Arno.

Here Hannibal formed his plans for the next campaign. 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 Roman general from his
camp at Arretium; and so it proved. Flaminius, greedy 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