assuredly, had Hanno and his party triumphed, a stern vengeance would
have been taken upon all the leading members of the Barcine faction.

After the banquet, while Hamilcar and his companions reclined on their
couches at tables, a Greek slave, a captive in war, sang songs of his
native land to the accompaniment of the lyre. A party of dancing girls
from Ethiopia performed their rhythmical movements to the sound of the
tinkling of a little guitar with three strings, the beating of a small
drum, the clashing of cymbals, and the jingling of the ornaments and
little metal bells on their arms and ankles. Perfumes were burned in
censers, and from time to time soft strains of music, played by a party
of slaves among the trees without, floated in through the casements.

Malchus was in wild spirits, for his father had told him that it was
settled that he was to have the command of a body of troops which were
very shortly to proceed to Spain to reinforce the army under Hannibal,
and that he should allow Malchus to enter the band of Carthaginian horse
which was to form part of the body under his command.

The regular Carthaginian horse and foot formed but a very small portion
of the armies of the republic. They were a corps d'elite, composed
entirely of young men of the aristocratic families of Carthage, on whom
it was considered as almost a matter of obligation to enter this
force. They had the post of honour in battle, and it was upon them the
Carthaginian generals relied principally to break the ranks of the enemy
in close battle. All who aspired to distinguish themselves in the eyes
of their fellow citizens, to rise to power and position in the state, to
officer the vast bodies of men raised from the tributary nations, and to
command the armies of the country, entered one or other of these bodies.
The cavalry was the arm chosen by the richer classes. It was seldom that
it numbered more than a thousand strong. The splendour of their armour
and appointments, the beauty of their horses, the richness of the
garments of the cavaliers, and the trappings of their steeds, caused
this body to be the admiration and envy of Carthage. Every man in it was
a member of one of the upper ranks of the aristocracy; all were nearly
related to members of the senate, and it was considered the highest
honour that a young Carthaginian could receive to be admitted into it.

Each man wore on his wrist a gold band for each campaign which he had
under