Hannibal was astonished by the constancy of the senate, who, without raising the siege of Capua, or recalling their scattered forces, expected his approach.

He encamped on the banks of the Anio, at the distance of three miles from the city; and he was soon informed, that the ground on which he had pitched his tent, was sold for an adequate price at a public auction; [911] and that a body of troops was dismissed by an opposite road, to reenforce the legions of Spain.

[10] He led his Africans to the gates of Rome, where he found three armies in order of battle, prepared to receive him; but Hannibal dreaded the event of a combat, from which he could not hope to escape, unless he destroyed the last of his enemies; and his speedy retreat confessed the invincible courage of the Romans.
[Footnote 7: The march and retreat of Hannibal are described by Livy, l.xxvi.c.7, 8, 9, 10, 11; and the reader is made a spectator of the interesting scene.] [Footnote 8: These comparisons were used by Cyneas, the counsellor of Pyrrhus, after his return from his embassy, in which he had diligently studied the discipline and manners of Rome.

See Plutarch in Pyrrho.

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ii.p.