agnified by
the Romans into a defeat. As the winter approached he withdrew into
Apulia, and took up his quarters in the plains around Arpi. But other
prospects were already opening before him. In his camp on Tifata he had
received embassies from Philip, king of Macedon, and Hieronymus of
Syracuse, both of which he had eagerly welcomed, and thus sowed the
seeds of two fresh wars, and raised up two formidable enemies against
the Roman power.

These two collateral wars in some degree drew off the attention of both
parties from that in Italy itself; yet the Romans still opposed to the
Carthaginian general a chain of armies which fettered all his
operations; and though Hannibal was ever on the watch for the
opportunity of striking a blow, the campaign of B.C. 214 was still less
decisive than that of the preceding year. Fabius was again elected
Consul, and Marcellus was appointed his colleague. Early in the summer
Hannibal advanced from Apulia to his former station on Mount Tifata to
watch over the safety of Capua; from thence he had descended to the Lake
Avernus, in hopes of making himself master of Puteoli, when a prospect
was held out to him of surprising the important city of Tarentum.
Thither he hastened by forced marches, but arrived too late; Tarentum
had been secured by a Roman force. After this his operations were of
little importance, until he again took up his winter quarters in Apulia.

During the following summer (B.C. 213), while all eyes were turned
toward the war in Sicily, Hannibal remained almost wholly inactive in
the neighborhood of Tarentum, the hopes he still entertained of making
himself master of that important city rendering him unwilling to quit
that quarter of Italy. Before the close of the ensuing winter he was
rewarded with the long-looked-for prize, and Tarentum was betrayed into
his hands by two of its citizens. The advantage, however, was
incomplete, for a Roman garrison still held possession of the citadel,
from which he was unable to dislodge them. The next year (B.C. 212) was
marked by important events in Sicily and Spain, to which we must now
direct our attention.

Hiero, so long the faithful ally of Rome, died shortly after the battle
of Cannae (B.C. 216), and was succeeded by his grandson Hieronymus, a
vain youth, who abandoned the alliance of Rome for that of Carthage. But
he was assassinated after a reign of fifteen months, and a republican
form of government was established in Syrac