d were trampled under
foot by the throng who were pressing on behind them, or were
dispatched by wanton blows from enemies as they passed in pursuit of
those who were still able to fly. In the midst of this scene, a Roman
officer named Lentulus, as he was riding away, saw before him at the
road-side another officer wounded, sitting upon a stone, faint and
bleeding. He stopped when he reached him, and found that it was the
consul AEmilius. He had been wounded in the head with a sling, and his
strength was almost gone. Lentulus offered him his horse, and urged
him to take it and fly. AEmilius declined the offer. He said it was too
late for his life to be saved, and that, besides, he had no wish to
save it. "Go on, therefore, yourself," said he, "as fast as you can.
Make the best of your way to Rome. Tell the authorities there, from
me, that all is lost, and they must do whatever they can themselves
for the defense of the city. Make all the speed you can, or Hannibal
will be at the gates before you."

AEmilius sent also a message to Fabius, declaring to him that it was
not his fault that a battle had been risked with Hannibal. He had done
all in his power, he said, to prevent it, and had adhered to the
policy which Fabius had recommended to the last. Lentulus having
received these messages, and perceiving that the Carthaginians were
close upon him in pursuit, rode away, leaving the consul to his fate.
The Carthaginians came on, and, on seeing the wounded man, they thrust
their spears into his body, one after another, as they passed, until
his limbs ceased to quiver. As for the other consul, Varro, he escaped
with his life. Attended by about seventy horsemen, he made his way to
a fortified town not very remote from the battle-field, where he
halted with his horsemen, and determined that he would attempt to
rally there the remains of the army.

The Carthaginians, when they found the victory complete, abandoned the
pursuit of the enemy, returned to their camp, spent some hours in
feasting and rejoicing, and then laid down to sleep. They were, of
course, well exhausted by the intense exertions of the day. On the
field where the battle had been fought, the wounded lay all night
mingled with the dead, filling the air with cries and groans, and
writhing in their agony.

Early the next morning the Carthaginians came back to the field
to plunder the dead bodies of the Romans. The whole field presented
a most shocking spectacle