A Roman of high fame. At his hands Hannibal received the first check that he experienced in Italy. He subsequently besieged Syracuse, but was forced to convert the siege into a blockade in consequence of the genius displayed in the defence of the city by the great Archimedes, who rendered of no avail every engine brought against Syracuse, and inspired dread by his own instruments of war. At length Marcellus triumphed, the city was given over to pillage, and its defender perished, whilst pondering over a geometrical problem, by the hand of a common soldier. He again turned his victorious arms against Hannibal, winning fresh laurels and new honours from the state. It was whilst fighting against the Carthaginian hero that he fell, slain by a spear of the enemy. Hannibal sympathized with his fall, and paid honour to his remains. A plain, stern, unlettered soldier, brave to recklessness, rude and unpolished in manners, unyielding in temper. [This Bust bears the name of Marcellus in the Capitoline Museum. It may be the nephew of Augustus when a child.] 109. SCIPIO--PUBLIUS CORNELIUS AFRICANUS MAJOR. _Roman General._ [Born probably at Rome, B.C. 234. Died at Liternum, in Campania, B.C. 183. Aged 51.] Son of Publius Cornelius Scipio, whose life he saved in the battle of the Ticinus. One of the few Roman generals who survived the fatal battle of Cannæ, and chosen with Appius Claudius to command the remains of the army. Went as Prætor or Pro-Consul to Spain at the age of 24, where he took Carthagena, gained the battle of Bœcula, and recovered the whole country. Forcing Hannibal, the victorious Carthaginian general, to carry the theatre of war to Africa, he gained the celebrated victory of Zama, which decided the long conflict between Rome and Carthage for dominion. Received the surname of Africanus in consequence, but, vexed with the ingratitude of his countrymen he withdrew to Liternum, where he died. Like Mahomet and Cromwell, he believed himself the special instrument of Heaven. He was undoubtedly the greatest man of his age, and one of the first of the Roman worthies. The affectionate friend of the poet Ennius, and the patron of literature. The Spaniards, for his virtues, would have made him king. [From the Capitol at Rome. Many busts of this great general are in existence. They all represent him with the head and face close shaved, according to the fashion of his day, when men shaved closely after the age of forty. The authentic busts have the scar on the left side of the head, and some have a scar on each side, and some on the wrong side. No. 127 is from the bust in basalt belonging to the Rospigliosi Palace. No. 125 is from the bronze found in the Villa of the Papyri at Herculaneum, and now in the Naples Museum.] 110. CATO--MARCUS PORCIUS. _Roman Patriot and General._ [Born B.C. 95. Died at Utica, in Africa, B.C. 46. Aged 49.]