til his brother Hasdrubal should appear in the north of
Italy, an event to which he had long anxiously looked forward. Yet the
following summer (B.C. 208) was marked by some brilliant achievements.
The two Consuls, Crispinus and Marcellus, who were opposed to Hannibal
in Lucania, allowed themselves to be led into an ambush, in which
Marcellus was killed, and Crispinus mortally wounded. Marcellus was one
of the ablest of the Roman generals. Hannibal displayed a generous
sympathy for his fate, and caused due honors to be paid to his remains.

The following year (B.C. 207) decided the issue of the war in Italy. The
war in Spain during the last few years had been carried on with
brilliant success by the young P. Scipio, of whose exploits we shall
speak presently. But in B.C. 208, Hasdrubal, leaving the two other
Carthaginian generals to make head against Scipio, resolved to set out
for Italy to the assistance of his brother. As Scipio was in undisputed
possession of the province north of the Iberus, and had secured the
passes of the Pyrenees on that side, Hasdrubal crossed these mountains
near their western extremity, and plunged into the heart of Gaul. After
spending a winter in that country, he prepared to cross the Alps in the
spring of B.C. 207, and to descend into Italy. The two Consuls for this
year were C. Claudius Nero and M. Livius. Nero marched into Southern
Italy to keep a watch upon Hannibal; Livius took up his quarters at
Ariminum to oppose Hasdrubal. The latter experienced little loss or
difficulty in crossing the Alps. The season of the year was favorable,
and the Gauls were friendly to his cause. But instead of pushing on at
once into the heart of Italy, he allowed himself to be engaged in the
siege of Placentia, and lost much precious time in fruitless efforts to
reduce that colony. When at length he abandoned the enterprise, he sent
messengers to Hannibal to apprize him of his movements, and concert
measures for their meeting in Umbria. But his dispatches fell into the
hands of the Consul Nero, who formed the bold resolution of instantly
marching with a picked body of 7000 men to join his colleague, and fall
upon Hasdrubal with their united forces before Hannibal could receive
any information of his brother's movements. Nero executed his design
with equal secrecy and rapidity. Hannibal knew nothing of his departure,
and in a week's time Nero marched 250 miles to Sena, where his colleague
was encamped in pre