Encyclopaedia Britannica, or, a Dictionary of arts, sciences, and miscellaneous literature : enlarged and improved. Illustrated with nearly six hundred engravings > Volume 5, BUR-CHI

137
ntenius
nula de-
ited by
unibal;
alfo the
CAR f 2
isrthagf. ftieSns to acquaint them with his deiign. The news
»=-V“— of his approach caufed great confternation in the me¬
tropolis. Some of the fenators were for calling all the
armies in Italy into the neighbourhood of Romej as
thinking nothing lefs was able to refill the terrible Car¬
thaginian. But Fabius told them that Hannibal’s de¬
iign was not to take Rome, but relieve Capua ; upon
which Fulvius was recalled to Rome with 15,000 foot
T^(. and 1000 horfe j and this obliged Hannibal again to
h furprifes retire. He then returned before Capua fo fuddenly
i deteats ^3+ he furprifed Appius in his camp, drove him out
jppius. 0f t]ie j0fs 0f a great number of men, and obli¬
ged him to intrench himfelf on fome eminences, where
he expefled to be foon joined by his colleague Fulvius.
ipuafub- As Hannibal, however, now expefted to have all the
tsto the Roman forces upon him, he could do nothing more for
imans. t^e reijef Gf Capua ; which was of confequenee obliged
to fubmit to the Romans.
A little before the furrender of Capua, Hannibal
came up with a Roman army commanded by one M.
Centemus Penula, who had fignalized himfelf on many
occafions as a centurion. This rafh man, being intro¬
duced to the fenate, had the aflurance to tell them,
that if they would trull him with a body of only 5000
men, he would give a good account of Hannibal. They
gave him 8000, and his army was foon increafed to
double that number. He engaged the Carthaginians
on Hannibal’s firll offering him battle •, but, after an
engagement of two hours, was defeated, himfelf and
all his men being flain except about 1000. Soon
tor Fnl-after} Having found means to draw the prcetor Cneius
Fulvius into an ambufcade, Hannibal cut in pieces
almoll his whole army, confiding of 18,000 men.
In the mean time Marcellus v’as making great pro-
Bgrefs in Samnium. The city of Salapia was betray¬
ed to him ; but he took other two by affault. In the
lad of thefe he found 3000 Carthaginians, whom he
put to the fword 5 and carried off 240,000 bulhels of
wheat, and 110,000 of barley. This, however, was
by no means a compenfation for the defeat which Han¬
nibal foon after gave the proconful Fulvius Centuma-
lus, whom he furprifed and cut off, with 13,000 of
his men.
After this defeat the great Marcellus advanced with
his army to oppofe Hannibal. Various engagements
happened without any thing decifive. In one of them
the Romans are faid to have been defeated, and in
Another Hannibal } but notwithllanding thefe, it was
neither in the power of Marcellus, nor any other Ro¬
man general, totally to defeat or difperfe the army
commanded by Hannibal in perfon. Nay, in the
iwn into eleventh year of the war, Hannibal found means to de-
^arabuf- COy in|-0 an ambufcade and cut off the great Marcel-
e anc* lus himfelf j the confequence of which was, that the
Romans were obliged to raife the fiege of Locri, with
the lofs of all their military engines.
Hitherto the Carthaginians, though no longer the
favourites of fortune, had lod but little ground 5 but
allv ruin-now they met with a blow which totally ruined their
affairs. This was the defeat of Afdrubal, Hannibal’s
brother, who had left Spain, and was marching to his
affiilance. He croffed the Pyrenees, without any dif¬
ficulty ; and, as the filver mines had fupplied him with
a very confiderable quantity of treafure, he not on¬
ly prevailed upon the Gauls to grant him a paffage
J39
1 ‘he
>conful
Ivius
•ntuma-
140
lircellus
1e and
led.
I41. .
tbagini-
affairs
19 ] CAR
through their territories, but likewife to furnilh him Oai’thhgfo ^
with a confiderable number of recruits. Meeting with —
many favourable circumilances to expedite his march,
he arrived at Placentia fooner than the Romans or
even his brother Hannibal expedled. Had he conti¬
nued to ufe the fame expedition with which he fet;
out, and haltened to join his brother, it w'ould have
been utterly impoflible to have faved Rome J but, fit¬
ting down before Placentia, he gave the Romans an
opportunity of affembling all their forces to attack
him. At laft he wras obliged to raife the fiege, and
began his march for Umbria. He fent a letter to ac¬
quaint his brother of his intended motion $ but the
meffenger was intercepted : and the tw'o confuls, join¬
ing their armies, with united forces fell upon th6
Carthaginians. As the latter were inferior both in
numbers and refolution, they were utterly defeated,
and Afdrubal was killed. About the fame time, Han¬
nibal himfelf is faid to have fuffered feveral defeats,
and was retired to Canufium : but, on the fatal news
of his brother’s defeat and death, he was filled with
defpair, and retired to the extremity of Bruttium :
where, affembling all his forces, he remained for a
confiderable time in a Hate of inaction, the Romans
not daring to difburb him •, fo formidable did they
eftcem him alone, though every thing about him went
to wreck, and the Carthaginian aftairs feemed not
far from the verge of deft ruction. Livy tells us, that
it was difficult to determine whether his. conduct was
more wonderful in profperity or in adverfity. Not¬
withstanding which, Bruttium being but a iinall pro¬
vince, and many of its inhabitants being either forced
into the fervice, or forming themfelves into parties of
banditti, fo that a great part of it remained unculti¬
vated, he found it a difficult matter to fubfift there,
especially as no manner of fupplies were fent him from
Carthage. The people there were as folicitous about
preferving their poffeftions in Spain, and as little con¬
cerned about the lituation of affairs in Italy, as if Han¬
nibal had met with an uninterrupted courfe of fuecefs,
and no difafter befallen him fince he firft entered that
country*
All their folicitude, however, about the affairs of rhe great
Spain, was to no purpofe j their generals, one after progrefs of
another, were defeated by the Romans. They had Scipio Afri-
indeed cut oft* the two Scipios j but found a muchc<inuS’
more formidable enemy in the young Scipio, after¬
wards furnamed Africanus. He overthrew them in
oonjumftion with Mafiniffa king of Numidia 5 and the
latter thereafter abandoned their intereft. Soon af¬
ter, Syphax, king of the Mafoefylii, was likewife peri
fuaded to abandon their party. Scipio alfo gave the
Spaniffi reguli a great overthrow, and reduced the
cities of New Carthage, Gades, and many other im¬
portant places. At laft the Carthaginians began to
open their eyes when it Was too late. Mago was or¬
dered to abandon Spain, and fail with all expedition
to Italy. He landed on the coaft of Liguria with an jviao^f^u.0%
army of 1 2,000 foot and 2000 horfe 5 where he fur- jn J
prifed Genoa, and alfo feized upon the town and port
of Savo. A reinforcement was lent him to this place,
and new levies went on very brilkly in Liguria ; but
the opportunity was paft, and could not be recalled. ^
Scipio having carried all before him in Spain, paffed Scipio lands
over into Africa, where he met with no enemy capable in Africa.
Eg 2 of