Excerpt from Masterpieces of the World's Literature, Ancient and Modern, Vol. 17: The Great Authors of the World With Their Master Productions Living in a great commonwealth, surrounded by many enemies, he saw the wisdom of inuring his body (nature's own weapon) to warlike exercises, and disciplining his tongue for public oratory in a style conformable to his life and character. His eloquence, indeed, had not much of popular ornament, nor empty artifice, but there was in it great weight of sense it was strong and sententious, much after the way of Thucydides. He was five times consul, and in his first consulship had the honor of a triumph for the victory he gained over the Ligurians, whom be defeated in a set battle, and drove them to take shelter in the Alps, from whence they never after made any in road or depredation upon their neighbors. After this, Hannibal came into Italy, who, at his first entrance, having gained a great battle near the river Trebis, traversed all Tuscany with his victorious army, and, desolating the country round about, filled Rome itself with astonishment and terror. Besides the more common signs of thunder and lightning then happening, the report Of several unheard-oi and utterly strange portents much increased the popular consternation. Butthese prodigies had no effect upon the impetuous and fiery temper of the consul Flaminius, whose natural promptness had been much heightened by his late unexpected victory over the Gauls, when he fought them contrary to the order of the senate and the advice of his colleague. Fabius, on the other side, thought it not seasonable to engage with the enemy; not that he much regarded the prodigies, which he thought too strange to be easily understood, though many were alarmed by them but in regard that the Carthaginians were but few, and in want of money and supplies, be deemed it best not to meet in the field a general whose army had been tried in many encounters, and whose Object was a battle, but to send aid to their allies, con trol the movements of the various subject cities, and let the force and vigor of Hannibal waste away and expire, like a flame, for want of the aliment. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.