was a more accurate knowledge of North-West India. Even as late
as Strabo, the sole knowledge possessed at Alexandria of Indian
places was that given by Megasthenes, the ambassador to India in
the third century B.C.

Meanwhile, in the western portion of the civilised world a similar
process had gone on. In the Italian peninsula the usual struggle
had gone on between the various tribes inhabiting it. The fertile
plain of Lombardy was not in those days regarded as belonging to
Italy, but was known as Cisalpine Gaul. The south of Italy, as we
have seen, was mainly inhabited by Greek colonists, and was called
Great Greece. Between these tracts of country the Italian territory
was inhabited by three sets of federate tribes--the Etrurians,
the Samnites, and the Latins. During the 230 years between 510
B.C. and 280 B.C. Rome was occupied in obtaining the supremacy
among these three sets of tribes, and by the latter date may be
regarded as having consolidated Central Italy into an Italian
federation, centralised at Rome. At the latter date, the Greek
king Pyrrhus of Epirus, attempted to arouse the Greek colonies
in Southern Italy against the growing power of Rome; but his
interference only resulted in extending the Roman dominion down
to the heel and big toe of Italy.

If Rome was to advance farther, Sicily would be the next step,
and just at that moment Sicily was being threatened by the other
great power of the West--Carthage. Carthage was the most important
of the colonies founded by the Phoenicians (probably in the ninth
century B.C.), and pursued in the Western Mediterranean the policy
of establishing trading stations along the coast, which had
distinguished the Phoenicians from their first appearance in history.