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THE YOUNG CARTHAGINIAN

A STORY OF THE TIMES OF HANNIBAL,

By G. A. Henty

PREFACE.

MY DEAR LADS,

When I was a boy at school, if I remember rightly, our sympathies were

generally with the Carthaginians as against the Romans. Why they were

so, except that one generally sympathizes with the unfortunate, I do

not quite know; certainly we had but a hazy idea as to the merits of

the struggle and knew but little of its events, for the Latin and Greek

authors, which serve as the ordinary textbooks in schools, do not treat

of the Punic wars. That it was a struggle for empire at first, and

latterly one for existence on the part of Carthage, that Hannibal was a

great and skilful general, that he defeated the Romans at Trebia, Lake

Trasimenus, and Cannae, and all but took Rome, and that the Romans

behaved with bad faith and great cruelty at the capture of Carthage,

represents, I think, pretty nearly the sum total of our knowledge.

I am sure I should have liked to know a great deal more about this

struggle for the empire of the world, and as I think that most of you

would also like to do so, I have chosen this subject for my story.

Fortunately there is no lack of authentic material from which to glean

the incidents of the struggle. Polybius visited all the passes of the

Alps some forty years after the event, and conversed with tribesmen who

had witnessed the passage of Hannibal, and there can be no doubt that

his descriptions are far more accurate than those of Livy, who wrote

somewhat later and had no personal knowledge of the affair. Numbers of

books have been written as to the identity of the passes traversed by

Hannibal. The whole of these have been discussed and summarized by

Mr. W. J. Law, and as it appears to me that his arguments are quite

conclusive I have adopted the line which he lays down as that followed

by Hannibal.

In regard to the general history of the expedition, and of the manners,

customs, religion, and politics of Carthage, I have followed M.

Hennebert in his most exhaustive and important work on the subject. I

think that when you have read to the end you will perceive that although

our sympathies may remain with Hannibal and the Carthaginians, it was

nevertheless for the good of the world that Rome was the conqueror in

the great struggle for empire. At the time the war began Carthage was

already corrupt to the core, and although she might have enslaved many

nations she would never have civilized them. Rome gave free institutions

to the people she conquered, she subdued but she never enslaved them,

but rather strove to plant her civilization among them and to raise them

to her own level. Carthage, on the contrary, was from the first a cruel

mistress to the people she conquered. Consequently while all the peoples

of Italy rallied round Rome in the days of her distress, the tribes

subject to Carthage rose in insurrection against her as soon as the

presence of a Roman army gave them a hope of escape from their bondage.

Had Carthage conquered Rome in the struggle she could never have

extended her power over the known world as Rome afterwards did, but

would have fallen to pieces again from the weakness of her institutions

and the corruption of her people. Thus then, although we may feel

sympathy for the failure and fate of the noble and chivalrous Hannibal

himself, we cannot regret that Rome came out conqueror in the strife,

and was left free to carry out her great work of civilization.

Yours sincerely,

G. A. Henty

CHAPTER I: THE CAMP IN THE DESERT

It is afternoon, but the sun's rays still pour down with great power

upon rock and sand. How great the heat has been at midday may be seen

by the quivering of the air as it rises from the ground and blurs all

distant objects. It is seen, too, in the attitudes and appearance of a

large body of soldiers encamped in a grove. Their arms are thrown aside,

the greater portion of their clothing has been dispensed with. Some

lie stretched on the ground in slumber, their faces protected from any

chance rays which may find their way through the foliage above by little

shelters composed of their clothing hung on two bows or javelins. Some,

lately awakened, are sitting up or leaning against the trunks of the

trees, but scarce one has energy to move.

The day has indeed been a hot one even for the southern edge of the

Libyan desert. The cream coloured oxen stand with their heads down,

lazily whisking away with their tails the flies that torment them. The

horses standing near suffer more; the lather stands on their sides,

their flanks heave, and from time to time they stretch out their

extended nostrils in the direction from which, when the sun sinks a

little lower, the breeze will begin to blow.

The occupants of the grove are men of varied races, and, although there

is no attempt at military order, it is clear at once that they are

divided into three parties. One is composed of men more swarthy than

the others. They are lithe and active in figure, inured to hardship,

accustomed to the burning sun. Light shields hang against the trees with

bows and gaily painted quivers full of arrows, and near each man are

three or four light short javelins. They wear round caps of metal, with

a band of the skin of the lion or other wild animal, in which are stuck

feathers dyed with some bright colour. They are naked to the waist, save

for a light breastplate of brass. A cloth of bright colours is wound

round their waist and drops to the knees, and they wear belts of leather

embossed with brass plates; on their feet are sandals. They are the

light armed Numidian horse.

Near them are a party of men lighter in hue, taller and stouter in

stature. Their garb is more irregular, their arms are bare, but they

wear a sort of shirt, open at the neck and reaching to the knees, and

confined at the waist by a leather strap, from which hangs a pouch of

the same material. Their shirts, which are of roughly made flannel, are

dyed a colour which was originally a deep purple, but which has faded,

under the heat of the sun, to lilac. They are a company of Iberian

slingers, enlisted among the tribes conquered in Spain by the

Carthaginians. By them lie the heavy swords which they use in close

quarters.

The third body of men are more heavily armed. On the ground near the

sleepers lie helmets and massive shields. They have tightly fitting

jerkins of well-tanned leather, their arms are spears and battleaxes.

They are the heavy infantry of Carthage. Very various is their

nationality; fair skinned Greeks lie side by side with swarthy negroes

from Nubia. Sardinia, the islands of the Aegean, Crete and Egypt, Libya

and Phoenicia are all represented there.

They are recruited alike from the lower orders of the great city and

from the tribes and people who own her sway.

Near the large grove in which the troops are encamped is a smaller one.

A space in the centre has been cleared of trees, and in this a large

tent has been erected. Around this numerous slaves are moving to and

fro.

A Roman cook, captured in a sea fight in which his master, a wealthy

tribune, was killed, is watching three Greeks, who are under his

superintendence, preparing a repast. Some Libyan grooms are rubbing down

the coats of four horses of the purest breed of the desert, while

two Nubians are feeding, with large flat cakes, three elephants, who,

chained by the leg to trees, stand rocking themselves from side to side.

The exterior of the tent is made of coarse white canvas; this is thickly

lined by fold after fold of a thin material, dyed a dark blue, to keep

out the heat of the sun, while the interior is hung with silk, purple

and white. The curtains at each end are looped back with gold cord to

allow a free passage of the air.

A carpet from the looms of Syria covers the ground, and on it are spread

four couches, on which, in a position half sitting half reclining,

repose the principal personages of the party. The elder of these is a

man some fifty years of age, of commanding figure, and features which

express energy and resolution. His body is bare to the waist, save for

a light short sleeved tunic of the finest muslin embroidered round the

neck and sleeves with gold.

A gold belt encircles his waist, below it hangs a garment resembling the

modern kilt, but reaching halfway between the knee and the ankle. It

is dyed a rich purple, and three bands of gold embroidery run round

the lower edge. On his feet he wears sandals with broad leather lacings

covered with gold. His toga, also of purple heavily embroidered with

gold, lies on the couch beside him; from one of the poles of the tent

hang his arms, a short heavy sword, with a handle of solid gold in a

scabbard incrusted with the same metal, and a baldrick, covered with

plates of gold beautifully worked and lined with the softest leather, by

which it is suspended over his shoulder.

Two of his companions are young men of three or four and twenty, both

fair like himself, with features of almost Greek regularity of outline.

Their dress is similar to his in fashion, but the colours are gayer.

The fourth member of the party is a lad of some fifteen years old. His

figure, which is naked to the waist, is of a pure Grecian model, the

muscles, showing up clearly beneath the skin, testify to hard exercise

and a life of activity.

Powerful as Carthage was, the events of the last few years had shown

that a life and death struggle with her great rival in Italy was

approaching. For many years she had been a conquering nation. Her

aristocracy were soldiers as well as traders, ready at once to embark on

the most distant and adventurous voyages, to lead the troops of Carthage

on toilsome expeditions against insurgent tribes of Numidia and Libya,

or to launch their triremes to engage the fleets of Rome.

The severe checks which they had lately suffered at the hands of the

newly formed Roman navy, and the certainty that ere long a tremendous

struggle between the two powers must take place, had redoubled the

military ardour of the nobles. Their training to arms began from their

very childhood, and the sons of the noblest houses were taught, at the

earliest age, the use of arms and the endurance of fatigue and hardship.

Malchus, the son of Hamilcar, the leader of the expedition in the

desert, had been, from his early childhood, trained by his father in the

use of arms. When he was ten years old Hamilcar had taken him with him

on a campaign in Spain; there, by a rigourous training, he had learned

to endure cold and hardships.

In the depth of winter his father had made him pass the nights uncovered

and almost without clothing in the cold. He had bathed in the icy water

of the torrents from the snow clad hills, and had been forced to keep

up with the rapid march of the light armed troops in pursuit of the

Iberians. He was taught to endure long abstinence from food and to bear

pain without flinching, to be cheerful under the greatest hardships,

to wear a smiling face when even veteran soldiers were worn out and

disheartened.

"It is incumbent upon us, the rulers and aristocracy of this great

city, my son, to show ourselves superior to the common herd. They must

recognize that we are not only richer and of better blood, but that we

are stronger, wiser, and more courageous than they. So, only, can we

expect them to obey us, and to make the sacrifices which war entails

upon them. It is not enough that we are of pure Phoenician blood, that

we come of the most enterprising race the world has ever seen, while

they are but a mixed breed of many people who have either submitted to

our rule or have been enslaved by us.

"This was well enough in the early days of the colony when it was

Phoenician arms alone that won our battles and subdued our rivals. In

our days we are few and the populace are many. Our armies are composed

not of Phoenicians, but of the races conquered by us. Libya and Numidia,

Sicily, Sardinia, and Spain, all in turn conquered by us, now furnish us

with troops.

"Carthage is a mighty city, but it is no longer a city of Phoenicians.

We form but a small proportion of the population. It is true that all

power rests in our hands, that from our ranks the senate is chosen, the

army officered, and the laws administered, but the expenses of the state

are vast. The conquered people fret under the heavy tributes which they

have to pay, and the vile populace murmur at the taxes.

"In Italy, Rome looms greater and more powerful year by year. Her people

are hardy and trained to arms, and some day the struggle between us

and her will have to be fought out to the death. Therefore, my son,

it behooves us to use every effort to make ourselves worthy of our

position. Set before yourself the example of your cousin Hannibal,

who, young as he is, is already viewed as the greatest man in Carthage.

Grudge no hardship or suffering to harden your frame and strengthen your

arms.

"Some day you too may lead armies in the field, and, believe me, they

will follow you all the better and more cheerfully if they know that in

strength and endurance, as well as in position, their commander is the

foremost man in his army."

Malchus had been an apt pupil, and had done justice to the pains which

his father had bestowed upon him and to the training he had undergone.

He could wield the arms of a man, could swim the coldest river, endure

hardship and want of food, traverse long distances at the top of his

speed, could throw a javelin with unerring aim, and send an arrow to the

mark as truly as the best of the Libyan archers.

"The sun is going down fast, father," the lad said, "the shadows are

lengthening and the heat is declining."

"We have only your word for the decline of the heat, Malchus," one of

the younger men laughed; "I feel hotter than ever. This is the fifteenth