ongest navy in the world. The Carthaginian army was
much the larger, though it was composed of paid soldiers of foreign
race. There was no outstanding leader on the Roman side equal to
Hamilcar, who commanded the Carthaginians in its later stages.

When the war began the Romans had no fleet. They had never had more than
a few transport vessels: no fighting ships. They did not know how they
were constructed. This did not daunt them, however. A Carthaginian
man-of-war was driven ashore. Roman carpenters and shipwrights at once
set to work, studying how it was put together, and thinking out devices
by which it could be improved. While the shipwrights were busy the men
practised rowing on dry land. The most famous improvement invented by
the Romans was the 'crow'. This was an attachment to the prow, worked by
a pulley, consisting of a long pole with a sharp and strong curved iron
spike at the end. As soon as an enemy ship came within range this pole
was swung round so that the spike caught the vessel and held it in an
iron grip. A bridge was fastened to the pole: the soldiers ran along and
boarded, forcing a hand-to-hand fight. To this the Carthaginian sailors
were not used. They were better navigators than the Romans, but not such
good fighters. In hand-to-hand encounters the Romans got the best of it.
But they did not know so much of wind and weather, and again and again
the storms made havoc with them. Four great fleets were destroyed or
captured in the first sixteen years of the war, which lasted for
twenty-three. In the year 249 Claudius the Consul lost 93 vessels at a
stroke in the disastrous battle of Drepana and killed himself rather
than live on under the disgrace. Later in the same year another great
fleet was dashed to pieces in a storm.

[Illustration: PICTURES FROM POMPEII--]

The year ended with the Carthaginians masters of the seas and on land.
Four Roman armies had been lost almost to a man. In five years one man
in every six of the population of Rome had perished in battle or on the
sea. After sixteen years' hard fighting and extraordinary efforts the
end of the war seemed further off than ever, unless the Romans were to
admit defeat. But it was no part of their character to admit defeat. As
Polybius, the great Greek historian who knew them well, said some years
later, 'The Romans are never so dangerous as when they seem to be
reduced to desperation.' So it proved. No one had any thought of giving
in. R