*The Metaurus: 207 B. C.* The next spring he arrived among the Gauls to the south of the Alps. Reinforced by them he marched into the peninsula to join forces with Hannibal. For the Romans it was of supreme importance to prevent this. They therefore divided their forces; the consul Gaius Claudius faced Hannibal in Apulia, while Marcus Livius went to intercept Hasdrubal. Through the capture of messengers sent by the latter Claudius learned of his position and, leaving part of his army to detain Hannibal, he withdrew the rest without his enemy’s knowledge and joined his colleague Livius. Together they attacked Hasdrubal at the Metaurus; his army was cut to pieces and he himself was slain. With the battle the doom of Hannibal’s plans was sealed, and with them the doom of Carthage. Hannibal himself recognized that all was lost and withdrew into the mountains of Bruttium. *The conquest of Carthaginian Spain, and peace with Philip.* For the first time in the war the Romans could breathe freely and look forward with confidence to the issue. In the two years (207–206 B. C.) following the departure of Hasdrubal Scipio completed the conquest of what remained to Carthage in Spain. In 205 he returned to Rome to enter upon the consulship, and thereupon went to Sicily to make preparations for the invasion of Africa, since the Romans were now able to carry out their plan of 218 B. C. which Hannibal had then interrupted. At this moment, too, the Romans found themselves free from any embarrassment from the side of Macedonia. In Greece the war had dragged on without any decided advantage for either side until 207, when the temporary withdrawal of the Roman fleet enabled Philip and the Achaean Confederacy to win such successes that their opponents listened to the intervention of the neutral states and made peace (206 B. C.). In the next year the Romans also came to terms with Philip.