In this part of my work, allow me, following the example of most authors who place a preface at the head of their history, to announce that I am going to write the most memorable of all wars, the one that the Carthaginians, under the leadership of Hannibal, did to the Roman people. Never did two cities, two more formidable nations,
measure their arms; never had Rome and Carthage themselves had so much strength and
power; nor was it without knowledge of the art of war, but with the experience gained in the First Punic War, that they measured themselves together.
The inconstancy of fate, the chances of combat were such that the victor was nearer to succumbing. (3) It was rather a struggle of hatred than of force:the Romans were indignant to see the vanquished provoke the victors, and the Carthaginians found that the vanquished had been treated with tyranny and greed. (4) It is also reported that Hannibal, barely nine years old, in the midst of the childish caresses he gave his father, begged him to
take him to Spain. The war in Africa had just ended happily, and Amilcar, about to undertake a new expedition, offered a sacrifice to the gods; he brings his son forward to the foot of the altars, and orders him to swear, stretching out his hand over the
victim, that as soon as possible he will be the enemy of Rome. This haughty courage could not be consoled for the loss of Sicily and Sardinia:despair, he said, had caused the first of these provinces to yield too quickly; the other, in the midst of the troubles of Africa, had been carried off by the perfidy of the Romans, who had imposed a new tribute.