. The Romans resolved to send embassadors to
Hannibal to demand of him what his intentions were, and to warn him
against any acts of hostility against Saguntum. When these Roman
embassadors arrived on the coast, near to Saguntum, they found that
hostilities had commenced, and that the city was hotly besieged. They
were at a loss to know what to do.

It is better for a rebel not to hear an order which he is determined
beforehand not to obey. Hannibal, with an adroitness which the
Carthaginians called sagacity, and the Romans treachery and cunning,
determined not to see these messengers. He sent word to them, at the
shore, that they must not attempt to come to his camp, for the country
was in such a disturbed condition that it would not be safe for them
to land; and besides, he could not receive or attend to them, for he
was too much pressed with the urgency of his military works to have
any time to spare for debates and negotiations.

Hannibal knew that the embassadors, being thus repulsed, and having
found, too, that the war had broken out, and that Saguntum was
actually beset and besieged by Hannibal's armies, would proceed
immediately to Carthage to demand satisfaction there. He knew, also,
that Hanno and his party would very probably espouse the cause of the
Romans, and endeavor to arrest his designs. He accordingly sent his
own embassadors to Carthage, to exert an influence in his favor in the
Carthaginian senate, and endeavor to urge them to reject the claims of
the Romans, and allow the war between Rome and Carthage to break out
again.

The Roman embassadors appeared at Carthage, and were admitted to an
audience before the senate. They stated their case, representing that
Hannibal had made war upon Saguntum in violation of the treaty, and
had refused even to receive the communication which had been sent him
by the Roman senate through them. They demanded that the Carthaginian
government should disavow his acts, and deliver him up to them, in
order that he might receive the punishment which his violation of the
treaty, and his aggressions upon an ally of the Romans, so justly
deserved.

The party of Hannibal in the Carthaginian senate were, of course,
earnest to have these proposals rejected with scorn. The other side,
with Hanno at their head, maintained that they were reasonable
demands. Hanno, in a very energetic and powerful speech, told the
senate that he had warned them not to send Hannibal into Spain. H