i, nullus deum metus, nullum jusjurandum, nulla __
religio._ According to Polybius,(842) he rejected a barbarous proposal
that was made him before he entered Italy, which was, to eat human flesh,
at a time when his army was in absolute want of provisions. Some years
after, so far from treating with barbarity, as he was advised to do, the
dead body of Sempronius Gracchus, which Mago had sent him, he caused his
funeral obsequies to be solemnized in presence of the whole army.(843) We
have seen him, on many occasions, evince the highest reverence for the
gods; and Justin,(844) who copied Trogus Pompeius, an author worthy of
credit, observes, that he always showed uncommon moderation and
continence, with regard to the great number of women taken by him during
the course of so long a war; insomuch that no one would have imagined he
had been born in Africa, where incontinence is the predominant vice of the
country. _Pudicitiamque eum tantam inter tot captivas habuisse, ut in
Africa natum quivis negaret._

His disregard of wealth, at a time when he had so many opportunities to
enrich himself by the plunder of the cities he stormed, and the nations he
subdued, shows that he knew the true and genuine use which a general ought
to make of riches, _viz._ to gain the affection of his soldiers, and to
attach his allies to his interest, by diffusing his beneficence on proper
occasions, and not being sparing in his rewards: a quality very essential,
and at the same time as uncommon, in a commander. The only use Hannibal
made of money was to purchase success; firmly persuaded, that a man who is
at the head of affairs is sufficiently recompensed by the glory derived
from victory.

He always led a very regular, austere life;(845) and even in times of
peace, and in the midst of Carthage, when he was invested with the first
dignity of the city, we are told that he never used to recline himself on
a bed at meals, as was the custom in those ages, and that he drank but
very little wine. So regular and uniform a life may serve as an
illustrious example to our commanders, who often include, among the
privileges of war and the duty of officers, the keeping of splendid
tables, and living luxuriously.

I do not, however, pretend altogether to exculpate Hannibal from all the
errors with which he is charged. Though he possessed an assemblage of the
most exalted qualities, it cannot be denied but that he had some little
tincture of the vices of his