第 7 页

an army. Night and day the doors stood open, messengers came and went

continually, consultations of the leading men of the city were held

almost without a break. Every man belonging to it had his appointed

task. The landed proprietors stirred up the cultivators of the soil, the

manufacturers were charged with the enlightenment of their hands as to

the dangers of the situation, the soldiers were busy among the

troops; but theirs was a comparatively easy task, for these naturally

sympathized with their comrades in Spain, and the name of the great

Hamilcar was an object of veneration among them.

Hanno's faction was not idle. The Syssite which was composed of his

adherents was as large as its rival. Its orators harangued the people in

the streets on the dangers caused to the republic by the ambition of

the family of Barca, of the expense entailed by the military and naval

establishments required to keep up the forces necessary to carry out

their aggressive policy, of the folly of confiding the principal army of

the state to the command of a mere youth. They dilated on the wealth and

generosity of Hanno, of his lavish distribution of gifts among the poor,

of his sympathy with the trading community. Each day the excitement

rose, business was neglected, the whole population was in a fever of

excitement.

On the evening of the fourth day the agents of the Barcine Club

discovered that Hanno's party were preparing for a public demonstration

on the following evening. They had a certainty of a majority in the

public vote, which, although nominally that of the people, was, as has

been said, confined solely to what would now be called the middle class.

Hitherto the Barcine party had avoided fixing any period for their own

demonstration, preferring to wait until they knew the intention of their

opponents. The council now settled that it should take place on the

following day at eleven o'clock, just when the working classes would

have finished their morning meal.

The secret council, however, determined that no words should be

whispered outside their own body until two hours before the time, in

order that it should not be known to Hanno and his friends until too

late to gather their adherents to oppose it. Private messengers were,

however, sent out late to all the members to assemble early at the club.

At nine o'clock next morning the Syssite was crowded, the doors were

closed, and the determination of the council was announced to the

members, each of whom was ordered to hurry off to set the train in

motion for a popular outbreak for eleven o'clock. It was not until an

hour later that the news that the Barcine party intended to forestall

them reached Hanno's headquarters. Then the most vigourous efforts

were made to get together their forces, but it was too late. At eleven

o'clock crowds of men from all the working portions of the town

were seen making their way towards the forum, shouting as they went,

"Hannibal for general!" "Down with Hanno and the tax gatherers!"

Conspicuous among them were the sailors and fishermen from the port,

armed with oars, and the gang of stevedores with heavy clubs. Hanno and

a large number of his party hurried down to the spot and tried to pacify

the crowd, but the yells of execration were so loud and continuous that

they were forced to leave the forum. The leaders of the Barcine party

now appeared on the scene, and their most popular orator ascended the

rostrum. When the news spread among the crowd that he was a friend of

Hannibal and an opponent of Hanno, the tumult was stayed in order that

all might hear his words.

"My friends," he said, "I am glad to see that Carthage is still true to

herself, and that you resent the attempt made by a faction to remove the

general of the army's choice, the son of the great Hamilcar Barca. To

him and to Hasdrubal, his son-in-law, you owe the conquest of Spain, you

owe the wealth which has of late years poured into Carthage, you owe the

trade which is already doing so much to mitigate your condition. What

have Hanno and his friends done that you should listen to him? It is

their incapacity which has lost Carthage so many of its possessions. It

is their greed and corruption which place such burdens on your backs.

They claim that they are generous. It is easy to be generous with the

money of which they have plundered you; but let them know your will, and

they must bend before it. Tell them that you will have Hannibal and none

other as the general of your armies, and Spain is secure, and year by

year your commerce with that country will increase and flourish."

A roar of assent arose from the crowd. At the same instant a tumult was

heard at the lower entrance to the forum, and the head of a dense body

of men was seen issuing from the street, with shouts of "Hanno forever!"

They were headed by the butchers and tanners, an important and powerful

body, for Carthage did a vast trade in leather.

For a time they bore all before them, but the resistance increased every

foot they advanced. The shouts on both sides became louder and more

angry. Blows were soon exchanged, and ere long a pitched battle was

raging. The fishermen and sailors threw themselves into the thick of

it, and for ten minutes a desperate fight raged in the forum. Soon

the battle extended, as bodies of men belonging to either faction

encountered each other as they hurried towards the forum.

Street frays were by no means unusual in Carthage, but this was a

veritable battle. Hanno had at its commencement, accompanied by a strong

body of his friends, ridden to Byrsa, and had called upon the soldiers

to come out and quell the tumult They, however, listened in sullen

silence, their sympathies were entirely with the supporters of Hannibal,

and they had already received orders from their officers on no account

to move, whosoever might command them to do so, until Hamilcar placed

himself at their head.

The general delayed doing this until the last moment. Hannibal's friends

had hoped to carry their object without the intervention of the troops,

as it was desirable in every way that the election should appear to be a

popular one, and that Hannibal should seem to have the suffrages of the

people as well as of the army. That the large majority of the people

were with them they knew, but the money which Hanno's friends had

lavishly spent among the butchers, skinners, tanners, and smiths had

raised up a more formidable opposition than they had counted upon.

Seeing that their side was gaining but little advantage, that already

much blood had been shed, and that the tumult threatened to involve all

Carthage, Hamilcar and a number of officers rode to the barracks. The

troops at once got under arms, and, headed by the elephants, moved out

from Byrsa Being desirous to avoid bloodshed, Hamilcar bade his men

leave their weapons behind them, and armed them with headless spear

shafts, of which, with all other things needed for war, there was a

large store in the citadel. As the column sallied out it broke up into

sections. The principal body marched toward the forum, while others,

each led by officers, took their way down the principal streets.

The appearance of the elephants and troops, and the loud shouts of the

latter for Hannibal, quickly put an end to the tumult. Hanno's hired

mob, seeing that they could do nothing against such adversaries, at once

broke up and fled to their own quarters of the city, and Hanno and his

adherents sought their own houses. The quiet citizens, seeing that the

fight was over, issued from their houses, and the forum was soon again

crowded.

The proceedings were now unanimous, and the shouts raised that the

senate should assemble and confirm the vote of the army were loud and

strenuous. Parties of men went out in all directions to the houses of

the senators to tell them the people demanded their presence at the

forum. Seeing the uselessness of further opposition, and fearing the

consequences if they resisted, Hanno and his friends no longer offered

any opposition.

The senate assembled, and, by a unanimous vote the election of Hannibal

as one of the suffetes in place of Hasdrubal, and as commander-in-chief

of the army in Spain, was carried, and was ratified by that of the

popular assembly, the traders and manufacturers of Hanno's party not

venturing to oppose the will of the mass of mechanics and seafaring

population.

"It has been a victory," Hamilcar said, when, accompanied by a number of

his friends, he returned to his home that evening, "but Hanno will not

forget or forgive the events of this day. As long as all goes well in

Spain we may hope for the support of the people, but should any disaster

befall our arms it will go hard with all who have taken a prominent part

in this day's proceedings. Hanno's friends have so much at stake that

they will not give up the struggle. They have at their back all the

moneys which they wring from the people and the tributaries of Carthage,

and they will work night and day to strengthen their party and to buy

over the lower classes. We are the stronger at present; but to carry

the popular vote on a question which would put a stop to the frightful

corruption of our administration, to suppress the tyranny of the

council, to sweep away the abuses which prevail in every class in the

state--for that we must wait till Hannibal returns victorious. Let him

but humble the pride of Rome, and Carthage will be at his feet."

The party were in high spirits at the result of the day's proceedings.

Not only had they succeeded in their principal object of electing

Hannibal, but they had escaped from a great personal danger; for,

assuredly, had Hanno and his party triumphed, a stern vengeance would

have been taken upon all the leading members of the Barcine faction.

After the banquet, while Hamilcar and his companions reclined on their

couches at tables, a Greek slave, a captive in war, sang songs of his

native land to the accompaniment of the lyre. A party of dancing girls

from Ethiopia performed their rhythmical movements to the sound of the

tinkling of a little guitar with three strings, the beating of a small

drum, the clashing of cymbals, and the jingling of the ornaments and

little metal bells on their arms and ankles. Perfumes were burned in

censers, and from time to time soft strains of music, played by a party

of slaves among the trees without, floated in through the casements.

Malchus was in wild spirits, for his father had told him that it was

settled that he was to have the command of a body of troops which were

very shortly to proceed to Spain to reinforce the army under Hannibal,

and that he should allow Malchus to enter the band of Carthaginian horse

which was to form part of the body under his command.

The regular Carthaginian horse and foot formed but a very small portion

of the armies of the republic. They were a corps d'elite, composed

entirely of young men of the aristocratic families of Carthage, on whom

it was considered as almost a matter of obligation to enter this

force. They had the post of honour in battle, and it was upon them the

Carthaginian generals relied principally to break the ranks of the enemy

in close battle. All who aspired to distinguish themselves in the eyes

of their fellow citizens, to rise to power and position in the state, to

officer the vast bodies of men raised from the tributary nations, and to

command the armies of the country, entered one or other of these bodies.

The cavalry was the arm chosen by the richer classes. It was seldom that

it numbered more than a thousand strong. The splendour of their armour

and appointments, the beauty of their horses, the richness of the

garments of the cavaliers, and the trappings of their steeds, caused

this body to be the admiration and envy of Carthage. Every man in it was

a member of one of the upper ranks of the aristocracy; all were nearly

related to members of the senate, and it was considered the highest

honour that a young Carthaginian could receive to be admitted into it.

Each man wore on his wrist a gold band for each campaign which he had

undertaken. There was no attempt at uniformity as to their appointments.

Their helmets and shields were of gold or silver, surmounted with plumes

or feathers, or with tufts of white horsehair. Their breastplates were

adorned with arabesques or repousse work of the highest art. Their belts

were covered with gold and studded with gems. Their short kilted skirts

were of rich Tyrian purple embroidered with gold.

The infantry were composed of men of good but less exalted families.

They wore a red tunic without a belt. They carried a great circular

buckler of more than a yard in diameter, formed of the tough hide of the

river horse, brought down from the upper Nile, with a central boss of

metal with a point projecting nearly a foot in front of the shield,

enabling it to be used as an offensive weapon in a close fight. They

carried short heavy swords similar to those of the Romans, and went

barefooted. Their total strength seldom exceeded two thousand.

These two bodies constituted the Carthaginian legion, and formed but

a small proportion indeed of her armies, the rest of her forces being

entirely drawn from the tributary states. The fact that Carthage, with

her seven hundred thousand inhabitants, furnished so small a contingent

of the fighting force of the republic, was in itself a proof of the

weakness of the state. A country which relies entirely for its defence

upon mercenaries is rapidly approaching decay.

She may for a time repress one tributary with the soldiers of the

others; but when disaster befalls her she is without cohesion and falls

to pieces at once. As the Roman orator well said of Carthage: "She was

a figure of brass with feet of clay"--a noble and imposing object to

the eye, but whom a vigourous push would level in the dust. Rome, on the

contrary, young and vigourous, was a people of warriors. Every one of

her citizens who was capable of bearing arms was a soldier. The manly