ssions on the Roman allies, to be justified by
the best pretexts he could find.

Saguntum was a very wealthy and powerful city. It was situated about a
mile from the sea. The attack upon the place, and the defense of it by
the inhabitants, went on for some time with great vigor. In these
operations, Hannibal exposed himself to great danger. He approached,
at one time, so near the wall, in superintending the arrangements of
his soldiers and the planting of his engines, that a heavy javelin,
thrown from the parapet, struck him on the thigh. It pierced the
flesh, and inflicted so severe a wound that he fell immediately, and
was borne away by the soldiers. It was several days before he was free
from the danger incurred by the loss of blood and the fever which
follows such a wound. During all this time his army were in a great
state of excitement and anxiety, and suspended their active
operations. As soon, however, as Hannibal was found to be decidedly
convalescent, they resumed them again, and urged them onward with
greater energy than before.

The weapons of warfare in those ancient days were entirely different
from those which are now employed, and there was one, described by an
ancient historian as used by the Saguntines at this siege, which might
almost come under the modern denomination of fire-arms. It was called
the _falarica_. It was a sort of javelin, consisting of a shaft of
wood, with a long point of iron. This point was said to be three feet
long. This javelin was to be thrown at the enemy either from the hand
of the soldier or by an engine. The leading peculiarity of it was,
however, that, near to the pointed end, there were wound around the
wooden shaft long bands of _tow_, which were saturated with pitch and
other combustibles, and this inflammable band was set on fire just
before the javelin was thrown. As the missile flew on its way, the
wind fanned the flames, and made them burn so fiercely, that when the
javelin struck the shield of the soldier opposing it, it could not be
pulled out, and the shield itself had to be thrown down and abandoned.

While the inhabitants of Saguntum were vainly endeavoring to defend
themselves against their terrible enemy by these and similar means,
their embassadors, not knowing that the city had been attacked, had
reached Rome, and had laid before the Roman senate their fears that
the city would be attacked, unless they adopted vigorous and immediate
measures to prevent it