ured to murmur again, and everything yielded to the violence
of his genius.

He assumed sole charge of the war, the government, and the finances;
and as a precaution against accusations he demanded the Suffet Hanno as
examiner of his accounts.

He set to work upon the ramparts, and had the old and now useless inner
walls demolished in order to furnish stones. But difference of fortune,
replacing the hierarchy of race, still kept the sons of the vanquished
and those of the conquerors apart; thus the patricians viewed the
destruction of these ruins with an angry eye, while the plebeians,
scarcely knowing why, rejoiced.

The troops defiled under arms through the streets from morning till
night; every moment the sound of trumpets was heard; chariots passed
bearing shields, tents, and pikes; the courts were full of women engaged
in tearing up linen; the enthusiasm spread from one to another, and
Hamilcar's soul filled the Republic.

He had divided his soldiers into even numbers, being careful to place
a strong man and a weak one alternately throughout the length of his
files, so that he who was less vigorous or more cowardly might be at
once led and pushed forward by two others. But with his three thousand
Ligurians, and the best in Carthage, he could form only a simple phalanx
of four thousand and ninety-six hoplites, protected by bronze helmets,
and handling ashen sarissae fourteen cubits long.

There were two thousand young men, each equipped with a sling, a dagger,
and sandals. He reinforced them with eight hundred others armed with
round shields and Roman swords.

The heavy cavalry was composed of the nineteen hundred remaining
guardsmen of the Legion, covered with plates of vermilion bronze, like
the Assyrian Clinabarians. He had further four hundred mounted archers,
of those that were called Tarentines, with caps of weasel's skin,
two-edged axes, and leathern tunics. Finally there were twelve hundred
Negroes from the quarter of the caravans, who were mingled with the
Clinabarians, and were to run beside the stallions with one hand resting
on the manes. All was ready, and yet Hamilcar did not start.

Often at night he would go out of Carthage alone and make his way beyond
the lagoon towards the mouths of the Macaras. Did he intend to join the
Mercenaries? The Ligurians encamped in the Mappalian district surrounded
his house.

The apprehensions of the rich appeared justified when, one day, three
hundred Barbar