by our great hero, the demigod Hercules; but no less a hand can
accomplish it. You know how every attempt at revolt has failed;
how terrible a vengeance fell on Matho and the mercenaries; how
the down trodden tribes have again and again, when victory seemed
in their hands, been crushed into the dust.

"No, Giscon, we must suffer the terrible ills which you speak
of until some hero arises -- some hero whose victories will bind
not only the army to him, but will cause all the common people of
Carthage -- all her allies and tributaries -- to look upon him as
their leader and deliverer.

"I have hopes, great hopes, that such a hero may be found in my
nephew, Hannibal, who seems to possess all the genius, the wisdom,
and the talent of his father. Should the dream which he cherished,
and of which I was but now speaking to you, that of leading
a Carthaginian army across the Ebro, over the Apennines, through
the plains of lower Gaul, and over the Alps into Italy, there to
give battle to the cohorts of Rome on their own ground, -- should
this dream be verified I say, should success attend him, and Rome
be humbled to the dust, then Hannibal would be in a position to
become the dictator of Carthage, to overthrow the corrupt council,
to destroy this tyranny -- misnamed a republic -- and to establish
a monarchy, of which he should be the first sovereign, and under
which Carthage, again the queen of the world, should be worthy of
herself and her people. And now let us speak of it no more. The
very walls have ears, and I doubt not but even among my attendants
there are men who are spies in the pay of the council. I see and
lament as much as any man the ruin of my country; but, until I
see a fair hope of deliverance, I am content to do the best I can