was the reply. "War, then," said Fabius, dropping his toga. The "die was
now cast; and the arena was cleared for the foremost man of his race and
his time, perhaps the mightiest military genius of any race and of any
time."


THE SECOND PUNIC WAR.

HANNIBAL'S PASSAGE OF THE ALPS.--The Carthaginian empire was now stirred
with preparations for the impending struggle. Hannibal was the life and
soul of every movement. His bold plan was to cross the Pyrenees and the
Alps and descend upon Rome from the north.

[Illustration: HANNIBAL]

With his preparations completed, Hannibal left New Carthage early in the
spring of 218 B.C., with an army numbering about one hundred thousand men,
and including thirty-seven war elephants. Crossing the Pyrenees and the
Rhone, he reached the foot-hills of the Alps. Nature and man joined to
oppose the passage. The season was already far advanced--it was October--
and snow was falling upon the higher portions of the trail. Day after day
the army toiled painfully up the dangerous path. In places the narrow way
had to be cut wider for the monstrous bodies of the elephants. Often
avalanches of stone were hurled upon the trains by the hostile bands that
held possession of the heights above. At last the summit was gained, and
the shivering army looked down into the warm haze of the Italian plains.
The sight alone was enough to rouse the drooping spirits of the soldiers;
but Hannibal stirred them to enthusiasm by addressing them with these
words: "Ye are standing upon the Acropolis of Italy; yonder lies Rome."
The army began its descent, and at length, after toils and losses equalled