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books were deposited in the receptacledd for sacred things, and were called the Sibylline Books. Certain priests consulted them as they would an oracle, whenever the Romans considered that the gods should be consulted on behalf of the state.5

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VI. HANNIBAL AND ANTIOCHUS.

WHEN Hannibal on his expulsion from Carthage went to stay with Antiochus,* king of Syria, the king passed before him in review immense bodies of troops, which he had equipped with the view of making war against the Roman people. He showed him an army decorated with gold and silver ornaments; he also brought on the field" scythed chariots and elephants with towers, and cavalry glittering with their bits, housings, collars, and breast-trappings. And then the king, elated at the sight of an army so great in numbers and so splendidly equipped, turned to Hannibal and remarked, "Do you think this army can be matched with that of the Romans? and do you think all this will be enough for the Romans?" To this Hannibal, jeering at the cowardice and weakness of his soldiers, though so splendidly equipped, replied,' "It is my belief" all this will be enough, quite enough, for the Romans, however greedy they may be."

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Nothing, certainly, could have been said more smart or cutting: the king had put the question with respect to the number of the army, whether it would be a match for that" of the Romans; Hannibal's answers had reference to the booty the Romans" would acquire."

1 Lit. "showed to him in the field."

2 Participle in rus.

VII. THE TALKING CROW.

AFTER the victory of Actium, amongst those who came to congratulate Augustus there approached himtt a certain man, having with him a crow, which he had taught to say, Hail, Cæsar, conqueror, emperor! Cæsar, struck with the cleverness of the bird, bought it for twenty thousand sesterces. Being greeted in a like manner by a parrot, he ordered it to be purchased. He was amused in the same way with a magpie, and it also he bought. These instances1 induced a poor shoemaker to teach a crow a similar salutation. Often, when wearied with his task, he would say to the bird, when1 it did not give the required" answer, "I have lost my time and my trouble." At length, however, the crow learned to speak the address. Then he brought the bird to Augustus. He, however, upon hearing the crow's greeting, remarked, "I have plenty of such saluters at home." Whereupon the crow added, very opportunely, "I have lost my time and my trouble." At this Augustus laughed, and ordered the bird to be bought at a still higher price than he had hitherto given for the others. 1 Participle.

VIII.

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DAY dawned; the main" army broke up1 from its camp, and began to enter the defile; while the natives,a finding their positions occupied by the enemy, at first looked on quietly, and offered no disturbance to the march. But when they saw the long narrow line of the Carthaginian army" winding" along the steep mountain side, and the cavalry and 1 With moveo (i, y). 2 arx (i).

baggage-cattle struggling at every step, with the difficulties of the road, the temptation to plunder1 was too strong' to be resisted; and from many points. of the mountain, above the road, they rushed down" upon the Carthaginians. The confusion was terrible;' for the road or track was so narrowk that the least crowd or disorder pushed the heavily loaded' baggage-cattle down the steep below;" and the horses, wounded by the barbarians' missiles, and plungingi about wildly 10 in their pain and terror, increased the mischief."1

3 Relative with insistere (i). 4 Lesson 15, a (ƒ). 5 Impersonal. 6 imminens. 7 Imperfect. 9 With siquid.

10 furo.

8 quippe.

11 strages (a, i).

IX. THE EMBASSY OF PHILIP.- Arnold.

FORTUNE in another quarter served the Romans no less effectually. The Macedonian ambassadors, after having concluded their treaty with Hannibal at Tifata, made their way back into Bruttium in safety, and embarked to return" to Greece. But their ship was taken, off the Calabrian coast, by the Roman. squadron on that" station; and the ambassadors, with all their papers, were sent prisoners to Rome. A2 vessel which had been of this company escaped the Romans, and informed the king what had happened. He was obliged, therefore, to send a second embassy to Hannibal, as the former treaty had never reached him; and although this second mission1 went and returned safely, yet the loss of time was irreparable,1 and nothing could be done till the following year.

2 unus (as opposed to the rest). 4 defero (dd).

1 Rel. clause (cf. Lesson 8, 3).
"out of the hands of," &c. (i).
5 Participle.

8 Lit.

6 Lit." done this year."

X. HANNIBAL NEAR ROME.

1. THE next day, Hannibal, crossing the Anio, drew out all his forces in order of battle.dd Nor did Flaccus and his consuls decline the contest. The troops on both sides having been drawn up to try" the chances of a1 battle, in which the city of Rome was to be the conqueror's prize, a violent shower mingled with hail so disordered both the lines, that the troops, scarcely able to hold their arms, retired into their camps, with less apprehension of the enemy than of any thing else. On the following day, also, a similar storm separated the armies marshalled on the same ground. After they had retired to their camps, an extraordinary calm and tranquillity arose. This circumstance was held providential2 among the Carthaginians; and an expression of Hannibal's is said to have been heard, "That at one moment' the inclination, at another the opportunity, of becoming master of Rome, was not allowed him."

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2. Other contingencies also, the one important,1 the other insignificant,' diminished his hopes. The important one was, that, while he was encamped under arms near the walls of the city, he heard that troops had marched out with colors flying," as a reinforcement for Spain; while the less significant circumstance" was that it was discovered, from one of his prisoners, that at this very time the very ground on which he was encamped had been sold, with no diminution of price on that account. Indeed, it appeared so great an insults and indignity that a purchaser should have been discovered at Rome for 2 With religio (dd). 3 fortuna. 5 sedere (i).

1 See Lesson 7, 1. Note.
4 dare (i).

the very soil which he possessed and held as the prize of war, that, calling instantly for a crier, he ordered that the silversmiths' shops, which then were ranged around the Roman Forum, should be put up for sale.dd

XI. YOUNG SCIPIO.

1. AT Rome, after the recovery of Capua, the attention of the Senate and people was fixed' upon Spain as much ash upon Italy; and it was resolved da that the army there should be recruited,1 and a general despatched.i It was not, however, so clear whom they should send, as that, since two great generals had fallen within thirty days, he who was to supplydd their place should be chosen with extraordinary care. As some named one man, others another, it was at last determined that the people should hold an assembly to electda a pro-consul for Spain; and the consuls proclaimed a day for the assembly. At first they had expected that those who believed themselves worthy of so important a command would give indd their names. As this expectation was defeated, their sorrow for the disaster sustained was renewed, and also their regret for the generals lost.

2. Accordingly, the people sorrowfully, and almost at a loss what to decide upon, descended into the Campus Martius" on the day of the election; and, turning towards the magistrates, looked round upon the countenances of their leading men, who were anxiously gazing at each other, and murmured that their fortunes were so fallen, and such despair" was felt for the state, that no one ventured to accept the 3 consilium (dd). 4 Lesson 22, 3. a.

1 cura.

Lesson 15, a.

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