that a life and death struggle with her great rival in Italy was
approaching. For many years she had been a conquering nation. Her
aristocracy were soldiers as well as traders, ready at once to
embark on the most distant and adventurous voyages, to lead the
troops of Carthage on toilsome expeditions against insurgent tribes
of Numidia and Libya, or to launch their triremes to engage the
fleets of Rome.

The severe checks which they had lately suffered at the hands
of the newly formed Roman navy, and the certainty that ere long
a tremendous struggle between the two powers must take place, had
redoubled the military ardour of the nobles. Their training to
arms began from their very childhood, and the sons of the noblest
houses were taught, at the earliest age, the use of arms and the
endurance of fatigue and hardship.

Malchus, the son of Hamilcar, the leader of the expedition in the
desert, had been, from his early childhood, trained by his father
in the use of arms. When he was ten years old Hamilcar had taken him
with him on a campaign in Spain; there, by a rigourous training,
he had learned to endure cold and hardships.

In the depth of winter his father had made him pass the nights
uncovered and almost without clothing in the cold. He had bathed
in the icy water of the torrents from the snow clad hills, and had
been forced to keep up with the rapid march of the light armed
troops in pursuit of the Iberians. He was taught to endure long
abstinence from food and to bear pain without flinching, to be
cheerful under the greatest hardships, to wear a smiling face when
even veteran soldiers were worn out and disheartened.