“The yet prevailing Roman, to withstand The fury of these monsters, gives command That burning torches, wheresoe’er they go, Should be opposed, and sulph’rous flames to throw Into their towers. This, with all speed, obeyed, The elephants they suddenly invade; Whose smoking backs with flames collected shined, That, driven on by the tempestuous wind, Through their high bulwarks fire devouring spread. As when on Rhodope or Pindus’ head A shepherd scatters fire, and through the groves And woods, like an hot plague, it raging moves, The leafy rocks are fired, and all the hills, Leaping, now here, now there, bright Vulcan fills. But when the burning sulphur once begun To parch their skins, th’ unruly monsters run Like mad, and drive the cohorts from their stand: Neither durst any undertake at hand To fight them; but their darts and javelins throw At distance burning, they impatient grow, And, through the heat of their vast bodies, here And there, the flames increasing bear; Till, by the smooth adjoining stream, at last Deceived, themselves into it they headlong cast, And with them all their flames, that still appear ’Bove the tall banks, till, both together, there In the deep channel of the flood expire.” _Silius Italicus_, by THOMAS ROSS. It would seem that Hannibal was sometimes actuated by motives similar to those of our Indians of the West, who, in former days, sometimes offered to release prisoners of war, if they would defeat a number of warriors in a struggle. After the battle just referred to, he offered some Roman prisoners their liberty if they could conquer the elephants. One of the Romans accepted the offer, and actually killed the elephant single-handed. But Hannibal broke his word, perhaps fearing, that, if such an instance was circulated among the Roman soldiers, they would lose their fear of the animals; so he had the courageous Roman murdered. When the Carthaginians were before Capua, they had a strong force of elephants, and we read of their obtaining re-enforcements from Carthage as early as 215 B.C.; so that this city must have been a central depot of elephant supplies. The management of war elephants in Spain was mostly conducted by Asdrubal, who was in command of the Carthaginian forces in the absence of his brother. According to Livy, he was defeated in the famous fight between the two Scipios at Tortosa, but managed to save his elephants. In other battles, large numbers of these animals were killed and left upon the field.