d gulf, she had turned her prow toward
Emporion, and had skirted the coasts of Iberia.

The ambassadors from Rome were the patricians Valerius Flaccus, one of
those who desired to maintain the peace with prudent words, and Baebius
Tamphilus who enjoyed the love of the Roman plebs because of his
sympathy for their sufferings.

Actaeon displayed impatience to reach Saguntum. He wished to confer with
his friends and avoid the useless sacrifice of the city, explaining to
them the mood of Rome so that they should not persist in a useless
defense. For seven months Saguntum had held out in strenuous resistance.
Autumn had not yet commenced when Hannibal's army had appeared before
the city, and it was now near the end of winter.

The Greek reflected sadly upon the fond illusions he had cherished while
making his adventurous and perilous way to Rome. He had hoped that his
presence in the great city, and his story of the sufferings of the
faithful ally, would arouse the Romans, and that the legions would shout
for vengeance----but he was returning without soldiers, in a ship with
ambassadors feigning interest in Saguntum but not deeply moved by her
misfortunes----returning without other support than high-sounding,
impotent words, and a bronze wolf on the end of a staff proclaiming the
dignity of the embassy.

What of the enthusiastic and credulous multitude fighting on the walls,
filling the yawning breach with their unflinching breasts, and who to
gather fresh courage only needed to imagine the coming of the
Romans!----What would they say? Then, with a sudden turn of thought,
what of Sonnica, she so brave, sending him that he might save the city!
How could she, accustomed to a life of luxury and ease, live in the
misery and horror of that siege, which had endured until the stores of
the city must be consumed, and the energy of its defenders exhausted!

The ship left the mouth of the Ebro, and struggling against contrary
winds, at length, one morning, sighted the Acropolis of Saguntum. From
the tall tower of Hercules shot up a cloud of smoke in greeting! They
had recognized the vessel by the square rigging of the Roman men-of-war.

The sun was in the zenith when the ship, with reefed sails, and driven
by the triple bank of oars, stood into the channel which gave entrance
to the port of Saguntum. Within the harbor, above the reeds waving in
the marshes, rose the masts of Carthaginian vessels anchored in the
triple port.

T