veteran Romans, who were sent to Spain under Claudius Nero, a man of
exceptional ability, to whom was due later the most decisive military
movement made by any Roman general during the Second Punic War. This
seasonable reinforcement, which again assured the shaken grip on
Hasdrubal's line of march, came by sea,--a way which, though most
rapid and easy, was closed to the Carthaginians by the Roman navy.

Two years later the younger Publius Scipio, celebrated afterward as
Africanus, received the command in Spain, and captured Cartagena by a
combined military and naval attack; after which he took the most
extraordinary step of breaking up his fleet and transferring the
seamen to the army. Not contented to act merely as the "containing"
(1) force against Hasdrubal by closing the passes of the Pyrenees,
Scipio pushed forward into southern Spain, and fought a severe but
indecisive battle on the Guadalquivir; after which Hasdrubal slipped
away from him, hurried north, crossed the Pyrenees at their extreme
west, and pressed on to Italy, where Hannibal's position was daily
growing weaker, the natural waste of his army not being replaced.

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1. A "containing" force is one to which, in a military combination, is
assigned the duty of stopping, or delaying the advance of a portion of the
enemy, while the main effort of the army or armies is being exerted in a
different quarter.
-----

The war had lasted ten years, when Hasdrubal, having met little loss
on the way, entered Italy at the north. The troops he brought, could
they be safely united with those under the command of the unrivalled
Hannibal, might give a decisive turn to the war, for Rome herself was