skinned Libyans
might at first sight have been taken for deserters from the Roman camp,
as they, like their enemies, were clad in the same armour and bore the
same arms, the spoils of many a victory; and the young men of the
legions trembled with rage as they beheld the glittering line, and
thought of what it betokened. But the Gauls were almost naked, and their
swords, unlike those of the Romans, could only cut, and were useless for
thrusting, while the Spanish troops were clothed in a uniform of short
linen tunics striped with purple. In the van, or front of the army, were
the small remainder of the contingent from the Balearic Isles, with
their slings and bows.

In spite of the faults committed by Varro in placing his troops,
Hannibal's lines were once broken by the heavy-armed Roman soldiers,
while the cavalry on the wing by the river were fighting in such deadly
earnest that they leaped from their horses and closed man to man. But at
Cannae, as at Trebia, the honours of the day fell to the Numidians and to
the Spanish and Gallic horse commanded by Hasdrubal. The Romans had been
again routed by an army weaker by thirty thousand men than their own;
the consul Paulus, and Servilius and Atilius, consuls of the year
before, were all dead: only Varro saved his life by a disgraceful
flight.

* * * * *

Still Hannibal did not march to Rome, as the senate expected. Though the
battle of Cannae decided the wavering minds of those who had been waiting
to see on which side lay the victory; though the southern half of Italy
and many cities of Campania were now anxious to throw in their lot with
him; though Philip of Macedon promised once more to send ships and men
to his support, and thousands of Gauls swarmed into his camp, the army
on which he could actually rely was too small to besiege the city with
any chance of success. He did, indeed, send ambassadors to Rome, with
powers to treat for the ransoming of some Roman prisoners, but as before
in the case of the Gauls, the envoys were not even given a hearing by
the senate.

Till he got reinforcements from Carthage, Hannibal felt he must remain
where he was; but surely she would delay no longer when she knew that
the moment for which Hannibal was waiting had come, and his allies were
ready. So he sent his brother Mago to tell the story of his triumphs and
his needs to the Carthaginian senate, never doubting that a few weeks
would see the tall-