She was weary, and bleeding at
every pore; and there seemed to be little hope of her escape if the
other hound of old Hamilcar's race should come up in time to aid his
brother in the death grapple.
Hasdrubal had commanded the Carthaginian armies in Spain for some time
with varying but generally unfavorable fortune. He had not the full
authority over the Punic forces in that country which his brother and
his father had previously exercised. The faction at Carthage, which was
at feud with his family, succeeded in fettering and interfering with his
power; and other generals were from time to time sent into Spain, whose
errors and misconduct caused the reverses that Hasdrubal met with. This
is expressly attested by the Greek historian Polybius, who was the
intimate friend of the younger Africanus, and drew his information
respecting the Second Punic War from the best possible authorities. Livy
gives a long narrative of campaigns between the Roman commanders in
Spain and Hasdrubal, which is so palpably deformed by fictions and
exaggerations as to be hardly deserving of attention.
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