Close of the siege by a Roman soldier, who would have spared his life had he not been too intent on a mathematical problem to comply with the summons to surrender. On his tombstone, it is said, was engraved a cylinder enclosing a sphere. to defeat the movements of the Romans after Cannae . The city was finally betrayed by a Spanish officer, and given up to plunder. The art treasures in which it was so rich were conveyed by Marcellus to Rome. From this time the city became a part of the province of Sicily and the headquarters of the Roman Governor.
In return, they endeavored to arouse the citizens of the neighboring city of Leontini against Rome and the Roman party in Syracuse. Marcellus at once attacked and stormed Leontini. The Syracusans then closed their city gates against him. A siege of two years followed, famous for the various devices adopted by the noted mathematician ARCHIMÉDES .Archimédes was a great investigator in the science of mathematics. He discovered the ratio of a sphere to its circumscribed cylinder. One of his famous sayings was, "Give me where to stand, and I will move the world." He exerted his ingenuity in the invention of powerful machines for the defence of Syracuse. Eight of his works on mathematics are in existence.
The news of the approach of Hasdrubal caused intense anxiety at Rome. Every nerve was strained to prevent the union of the two brothers. The Consuls for this year were GAIUS CLAUDIUS NERO, a patrician, and MARCUS LIVIUS, a plebeian. To the former was intrusted the task of keeping Hannibal in check in Bruttium, while the duty of intercepting Hasdrubal was given to the latter.
The Carthaginian had already reached the neighborhood of the river Metaurus, a small stream south of the Rubicon. From here he sent messengers to inform his brother of his approach and proposed line of march.
The two Carthaginian generals now in Spain, Mago, and Hasdrubal, the son of Gisco, retired, the latter to Lusitania, the former to the Baleares, to wait for reinforcements from home.
The next year another battle was fought near Baecula, resulting in the total defeat of the Carthaginians, who retreated to Gadus, in the southwestern part of Spain.
The country being now under Roman influence, Scipio crossed the straits to Africa, and visited the Numidian princes, SYPHAX and MASINISSA, whom he hoped to stir up against Carthage.
Fortunately for the Romans, the three Carthaginian generals, HASDRUBAL and MAGO, brothers of Hannibal, and HASDRUBAL, son of Gisco, did not act in harmony. Thus Scipio was enabled, in the following spring (209), to capture Carthago Nova, the head-quarters of the enemy. A good harbor was gained, and eighteen ships of war, sixty-three transports, $600,000, and 10,000 captives fell into the hands of the Romans.
Shortly after, Scipio fought Hasdrubal, the brother of Hannibal, at BAECULAE, in the upper valley of the Baetis (Guadalquivir); but the battle was not decisive, for Hasdrubal was soon seen crossing the Pyrenees, with a considerable force, on his way to Italy.
Negotiations for peace followed, but the war party in Carthage prevailed. Hannibal was recalled. He returned to fight his last battle with Rome, October 19, 202, at ZAMA, a short distance west of Carthage. The issue was decided by the valor of the Roman legions, who loved their commander and trusted his skill. Hannibal met his first and only defeat, and Scipio won his title of AFRICÁNUS. The battle was a hard one. After all the newly enrolled troops of Hannibal had been killed or put to flight, his veterans, who had remained by him in Italy, although surrounded on all sides by forces far outnumbering their own, fought on, and were killed one by one around their beloved chief. The army was fairly annihilated.
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