Hannibal: Makers of History

Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year one thousand eight hundred and forty-nine, by Harper & Brothers, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Southern District of New York. Copyright, 1876, by Jacob Abbott . PREFACE The author of this series has made it his special object to confine himself very strictly, even in the most minute details which he records, to historic truth. The narratives are not tales founded upon history, but history itself, without any embellishment or any deviations from the strict truth, so far as it can now be discovered by an attentive examination of the annals written at the time when the events themselves occurred. In writing the narratives, the author has endeavored to avail himself of the best sources of information which this country affords; and though, of course, there must be in these volumes, as in all historical narratives, more or less of imperfection and error, there is no intentional embellishment. Nothing is stated, not even the most minute and apparently imaginary details, without what was deemed good historical authority. The readers, therefore, may rely upon the record as the truth, and nothing but the truth, so far as an honest purpose and a careful examination have been effectual in ascertaining it. CONTENTS. Page I. THE FIRST PUNIC WAR 13 II. HANNIBAL AT SAGUNTUM 33 III. OPENING OF THE SECOND PUNIC WAR 52 IV. THE PASSAGE OF THE RHONE 69 V. HANNIBAL CROSSES THE ALPS 90 VI. HANNIBAL IN THE NORTH OF ITALY 126 VII. THE APENNINES 144 VIII. THE DICTATOR FABIUS 163 IX. THE BATTLE OF CANNÆ 185 X. SCIPIO 205 XI. HANNIBAL A FUGITIVE AND AN EXILE 235 XII. THE DESTRUCTION OF CARTHAGE 262 ENGRAVINGS. PAGE MAP Frontispiece. THE BATTLE IN THE RIVER 42 THE ELEPHANTS CROSSING THE RHONE 87 HANNIBAL ON THE ALPS 111 CROSSING THE MARSHES 161 HASDRUBAL'S HEAD 227 THE BURNING OF THE CARTHAGINIAN FLEET 242 HANNIBAL. The First Punic War. B.C. 280-249 Hannibal. Rome and Carthage. H annibal was a Carthaginian general. He acquired his great distinction as a warrior by his desperate contests with the Romans. Rome and Carthage grew up together on opposite sides of the Mediterranean Sea. For about a hundred years they waged against each other most dreadful wars. There were three of these wars. Rome was successful in the end, and Carthage was entirely destroyed. There was no…