HANNIBAL. The Carthaginians in the new war were led by Hannibal, who understood how to fight battles better than any of the generals whom the Romans sent against him. The story is told that when he was a boy his father made him promise, at the altar of his city's gods, undying hatred to Rome. Even the Romans thought him a wonderful man. Their historians said that toil did not wear out his body or exhaust his energy. Cold or heat were alike to him. He never ate or drank more than he needed. He slept when he had time, whether it was day or night, wrapping himself in a military cloak and lying on the ground in the midst of his soldiers. He did not dress better than the other officers, but his weapons and his horses were the best in the army. WAR CARRIED INTO ITALY, 218 B.C. Hannibal decided that the war should be carried into Italy to the very gates of Rome. He started from Spain, half of which the Carthaginians ruled, marched across southern Gaul, and came to the foot-hills of the Alps. To climb the Alps was the most difficult part of his long journey. CROSSING THE ALPS. There were no roads across the mountains, only rough paths used by the mountaineers, who constantly attacked Hannibal's soldiers, bursting out suddenly upon them from behind a turn in the trail, or rolling huge rocks upon them from above. The elephants, the horses, and the baggage animals of the army were frightened, and in the tumult many of them slipped over the precipices and were dashed on the rocks below. For five days the army toiled upward, and then rested two days on the summit of the pass. [Illustration: THE ALPS THAT HANNIBAL HAD TO CROSS] Although the road down into Italy was short, it was steep, and the paths were slippery with ice and with snow trodden into slush by thousands of men and animals. In one place there had been a landslide, and the road along the rocky slope was cut away for a thousand feet. In order to build a new road it was necessary to crack the rocks. This the soldiers did by making huge fires and pouring wine over the heated surface. At last, worn out, ragged, and half starved, the army reached the plains of Italy, but with a loss of half its men. HOW HANNIBAL WON A VICTORY. The first great battle with the Romans was fought on the river Trebia in northern Italy, and in it Hannibal showed how easily he could outwit and destroy a Roman army. It was a winter's day and the river was swollen by rains. The two camps lay on opposite banks. In the early morning Hannibal sent across the river a body of horsemen to attack the Roman camp and draw the Romans into a battle. At the same time he ordered his other soldiers to eat breakfast, to build fires before their tents to warm themselves, and to rub their bodies with oil, so that they might be strong for the coming fight.