n wholly by surprise, unable to advance or retreat, desperate at
finding themselves thus caught in a trap, the Romans fought bravely but
in vain. An earthquake shook the ground on which the terrible fight was
going on; but not for a moment did it interrupt the struggle. For three
hours the Romans, although suffering terribly, still fought on; then
Flaminius was killed, and from that time they thought only of escape.
But this was next to impossible. Six thousand only cut their way out.
Fifteen thousand fell, and nine thousand were taken prisoners.

As soon as the battle was over Hannibal despatched Maharbal with his
division of the army in pursuit of the six thousand who had escaped,
and, overtaking them next morning at Perugia, Maharbal forced them to
surrender. At the same time he detached a strong force against the four
thousand horsemen, whom Servilius had despatched from Rimini to aid his
colleague, and the whole of these were surrounded and taken prisoners.
Thus of the Roman army, thirty-six thousand strong, not a single man
escaped.

In all history there is no record of so great and successful a surprise.
Hannibal retained as prisoners the Roman citizens and Latins, but
released the rest of the captives, telling them that, far from being
their enemy, he had invaded Italy for the purpose of liberating its
helpless people from the tyranny of the Roman domination. The loss
to the Carthaginians in the battle of Lake Trasimene was only fifteen
hundred men.

Hannibal has been blamed for not advancing against Rome after the battle
of Lake Trasimene; but he knew that he could not hope to subdue that
city so long as she was surrounded by faithful allies. His army was
numerically insufficient to undertake such a siege, and was destitute
of the machines for battering the walls. Rome was still defended by
the city legions, besides which every man capable of bearing arms was
a soldier. The bitter hostility of the Latins would have rendered it
difficult in the extreme for the army to have obtained provisions while
carrying on the siege, while in its rear, waiting for an opportunity to
attack, would have lain the army of Servilius, thirty thousand strong,
and growing daily more numerous as the friends and allies of Rome
flocked to its banners.

Hannibal saw that to undertake such an enterprise at present would be
ruin. His course was clear. He had to beat the armies which Rome could
put into the field; to shake the confidenc