n Italy, having safely accomplished the
greatest military feat of ancient times.

But Hannibal found himself here with a frightfully reduced army. The
Alps had taken toll of their invader. He had reached Gaul from Spain
with fifty thousand foot and nine thousand horse. He reached Italy with
only twenty thousand foot and six thousand horse. No fewer than
thirty-three thousand men had perished by the way. It was a puny force
with which to invade a country that could oppose it with hundreds of
thousands of men. But it had Hannibal at its head.

_HOW HANNIBAL FOUGHT AND DIED._

The career of Hannibal was a remarkable one. For fifteen years he
remained in Italy, frequently fighting, never losing a battle, keeping
Rome in a state of terror, and dwelling with his army in comfort and
plenty on the rich Italian plains. Yet he represented a commercial city
against a warlike state. He was poorly supported by Carthage; Rome was
indomitable; great generals rose to command her armies; in the end the
mighty effort of Hannibal failed, and he was forced to leave Rome
unconquered and Italy unsubdued.

The story of his deeds is a long one, a record of war and bloodshed
which our readers would be little the wiser and none the better for
hearing. We shall therefore only give it in the barest outline.

Hannibal defeated the Romans on first meeting them, and the Gauls
flocked to his army. But of the elephants, which he had brought with
such difficulty over the Rhone and the Alps, the cold of December killed
all but one. But without them he met a large Roman army at Lake
Trasimenus, and defeated it so utterly that but six thousand escaped.

Rome, in alarm, chose a dictator, Fabius Maximus by name. This leader
adopted a new method of warfare, which has ever since been famous as
the "Fabian policy." This was the policy of avoiding battle and seeking
to wear the enemy out, while harassing him at every opportunity. Fabius
kept to the hills, followed and annoyed his great antagonist, yet
steadily avoided being drawn into battle.

For more than a year this continued, during all which time Fabius grew
more and more unpopular at Rome. The waiting policy was not that which
the Romans had hitherto employed, and they became more impatient as days
and months passed without an effort to drive this eating ulcer from
their plains. In time the discontent grew too strong to be ignored. A
_man of business_, who was said to have begun life as a bu