o part in the strife of the
day, were then surrounded, and butchered almost without resistance.
Hasdrubal, after having, by the confession of his enemies, done all that
a general could do, when he saw that the victory was irreparably lost,
scorning to survive the gallant host which he had led, and to gratify,
as a captive, Roman cruelty and pride, spurred his horse into the midst
of a Roman cohort, and sword in hand, met the death that was worthy of
the son of Hamilcar and the brother of Hannibal.

Success the most complete had crowned Nero's enterprise. Returning as
rapidly as he had advanced, he was again facing the inactive enemies in
the South before they even knew of his march. But he brought with him a
ghastly trophy of what he had done. In the true spirit of that savage
brutality which deformed the Roman national character, Nero ordered
Hasdrubal's head to be flung into his brother's camp. Ten years had
passed since Hannibal had last gazed on those features. The sons of
Hamilcar had then planned their system of warfare against Rome which
they had so nearly brought to successful accomplishment. Year after year
had Hannibal been struggling in Italy, in the hope of one day hailing
the arrival of him whom he had left in Spain, and of seeing his
brother's eye flash with affection and pride at the junction of their
irresistible hosts. He now saw that eye glazed in death, and in the
agony of his heart the great Carthaginian groaned aloud that he
recognized his country's destiny.

Meanwhile, at the tidings of the great battle, Rome at once rose from
the thrill of anxiety and terror to the full confidence of triumph.
Hannibal might retain his hold on Southern Italy for a few years longer,
but the imperial city and her allies were no longer in danger from his
arms; and, after Hannibal's downfall, the great military republic of the
ancient world met in her career of conquest no other worthy competitor.
Byron has termed Nero's march "unequalled," and, in the magnitude of its
consequences, it is so. Viewed only as a military exploit, it remains
unparalleled save by Marlborough's bold march from Flanders to the
Danube in the campaign of Blenheim, and perhaps also by the Archduke
Charles' lateral march in 1796, by which he overwhelmed the French under
Jourdan, and then, driving Moreau through the Black Forest and across
the Rhine, for a while freed Germany from her invaders.

SCIPIO AFRICANUS CRUSHES HANNIBAL AT ZAMA AN