. They had annihilated two Roman armies, had marched
almost unopposed through some of the richest provinces of Italy, and yet
they were no nearer the great object of their enterprise than they were
when they crossed the Alps.

Some of the Cisalpine Gauls had joined them, but even in the plains
north of the Apennines the majority of the tribes had remained firm to
their alliance with the Romans, while south of that range of mountains
the inhabitants had in every case shown themselves bitterly hostile.
Everywhere on the approach of the Carthaginians they had retired
to their walled towns, which Hannibal had neither the time nor the
necessary machines to besiege.

Although Rome had lost two armies she had already equipped and placed in
the field a third force superior in number to that of the Carthaginians;
her army in Spain had not been drawn upon; her legion north of the
Apennines was operating against the revolted tribes; other legions were
in course of being raised and equipped, and Rome would take the field
in the spring with an army greatly superior in strength to that of
Carthage. Victorious as Hannibal had been in battle, the army which had
struggled through the Alps had in the year which had elapsed, greatly
diminished in numbers. Trebia and Trasimene had both lessened their
strength, but their losses had been much heavier in the terrible
march across the Apennines in the spring, and by fevers subsequently
contracted from the pestiferous malaria of the marshes in the summer.
In point of numbers the gaps had been filled up by the contingents
furnished by their Gaulish allies. But the loss of all the elephants,
of a great number of the cavalry, and of the Carthaginian troops, who
formed the backbone of the army, was not to be replaced.

"Malchus," Hannibal said, "you know what we were speaking of
yesterday evening. It is absolutely necessary that we should receive
reinforcements. If Carthage aids me I regard victory as certain. Two
or three campaigns like the last would alike break down the strength of
Rome, and will detach her allies from her.

"The Latins and the other Italian tribes, when they find that Rome is
powerless to protect them, that their flocks and herds, their crops and
possessions are at our mercy, will at length become weary of supporting
her cause, and will cast in their lot with us; but if the strife is to
be continued, Carthage must make an effort--must rouse herself from the
lethargy in whic