ed along, half laughing, half
resisting, and wholly possessed by Bacchic frenzy.

In front of the company marched a slender youth with dark, curling hair
and delicate features. In his hand was a thyrsis, and his eyes blazed
with the madness of the wine.

"Evoe! evoe!" he shouted. "Comrades! Bacchantes! there is no water in
Capua to mix with wine. Equal mixture for poets and fools; undiluted
wine for victors and lovers!"

"Perolla is a good Carthaginian to-day," shouted one of his fellows.
"Behold how Bacchus has answered our prayers! Kiss him, Cluvia, for a
reward."

Pushed forward, the courtesan fell upon the young man's neck, almost
bearing him to the street and overwhelming him with drunken caresses.
A moment later he freed himself from her arms.

"What is Roman beauty to our Capuan?" he hiccoughed.
"Marcia--Cluvia--all are one. All are women, and we are Capuans;
braver than Romans, wiser than Carthaginians. Listen, friends! when my
father rules Italy, you shall all be kings and queens. Evoe! evoe!"

Shouts and shrieks of drunken joy greeted his words. Several sought to
embrace him, and, staggering back, he stumbled over the Gaul and the
dead Capuan where they sprawled in the street. Mingled laughter and
curses rose all around. Blows and kisses were given and received, and
the mad company rolled on through the Seplasia and into the Forum.

Here, too, were intoxication and debauchery, but they were restrained
within some manner of bounds. The fact that grave events were taking
place, seemed to exert a sobering influence on the populace, and they
gathered in a dense throng around the Senate House, whence ominous
rumours pursued each other in quick succession.

"The Senate was in session. Hannibal was before them. Decius Magius
had been arrested at his demand." So ran the talk.

Guards of Carthaginian soldiery were posted at several points, but
especially at all the entrances to the chamber in which the fathers of
the city discussed--or obeyed; and against these lines the waves of the
rabble surged and broke and receded. Men offered the soldiers money
for free passage or news; women offered them kisses for money; and the
soldiers took both and gave nothing but jeers and blows.

Perolla and his drunken company had but just poured out to swell the
tide of this ocean of popular passion, when a commotion of a different
character began at the other end of the Forum. The closed door of the
Senate