After the men had been received and thrown into prison, and the gold and silver returned, the ambassadors were thanked, and received, besides, presents and ships to convey them back into Spain.

Some of the older senators then observed, that men were less powerfully affected by prosperity than adversity.

That they themselves remembered what terror and consternation had been occasioned by the passage of Hannibal into Italy; what disasters and what lamentations had followed that event.

When the camp of the enemy was seen from their walls, what vows were poured forth by each and all! How often, extending their hands to heaven, exclamations were heard in their assemblies.

Oh! will that day ever arrive when we shall behold Italy cleared of her enemies and enjoying the blessings of peace! The gods, they said, had at length, in the sixteenth year, granted that favour and yet there was no one who proposed that thanks should be returned to them for it.