ce more he escaped and spent some time first in Crete, and
then in Armenia, and finally, for the last time, returned to Asia Minor
on the invitation of Prusias, king of Bithynia.

* * * * *

The hearty welcome of Prusias gave Hannibal a feeling of pleasure and
rest that he had not known for long; but he was never destined to be at
peace, and soon after a Roman envoy arrived at the palace of Prusias and
demanded that the enemy of Rome should instantly be given up. To a brave
soldier like Flaminius the mission was highly distasteful, which is
another proof, if one were wanted, how great even in his downfall was
the dread the Carthaginian inspired. 'Italy will never be without war
while Hannibal lives!' had been the cry long, long ago, and it still
rang proudly in his ears. He knew, and had always known, that his life
would end by his own hand, and most likely he was not sorry that the
moment had come.

'Let me release the Romans from their anxiety, since they cannot wait
for the death of one old man,' he said, when he heard that soldiers had
surrounded his house, and drawing from his tunic some poison that he
carried, he swallowed it and fell back dead. He had escaped at last.

[Illustration: 'Let me release the Romans from their anxiety,' he said.]

His last words had told truly the story of his life. It was the one old
man who had held at bay the whole of the great nation.

* * * * *

On reading the tale of his steadfastness, his unselfishness, his
goodness to his soldiers, and the base ingratitude and wickedness with
which his countrymen treated him, more than ever do we instinctively
long that the lost cause had proved the winning one, and again and again
we have to remind ourselves of the terrible evil it would have been to
the world if Carthage had overcome Rome. For Carthage was possessed of
almost every bad quality which could work ill to the human race. Greed
for money was her passion, and in order to obtain wealth she proved
herself fickle, short-sighted, lawless, and boundlessly cruel. The
government of Rome, which the Eternal City handed on to the countries
she conquered, was founded not only on law, but on common-sense.
Considering the customs of the world during the thousand years of her
greatest glory, she was seldom cruel, and her people were ready at all
times to sacrifice themselves for the good of the state.

So it was well for us now