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the strength of a single colony which he had unsuccessfully attacked
how vast an undertaking the city of Rome would be, he turned aside
into the Picentine territory.
Foster, 1949, 229.
In Livy‟s eyes the strength of a Roman colony is measured by its social tie (and the
implicit military experience of its veteran citizens), not physical size or defences, to be
less than that of Rome. Therefore, the message from this test of strength is that if
Hannibal cannot take a single loyal colony, he will not succeed against Rome.
Woodman identifies this „intended but aborted‟ march on Rome after Trasimene as a
literary foreshadowing for the real march. 228 If this is the case, it could also be
postulated that Polybius‟ presentation of Hannibal considering but deciding against
marching on Rome is a foreshadowing of the actual march on Rome.
Silius Italicus does not turn immediately to Rome. The opening scene of Punica 6 is
a moment of pathos in the battlefield on the morning after the battle at Trasimene as
Bruttius, the standard bearer, though mortally wounded, manages to bury the eagle in
his dying moments. Eventually those at Rome learn of the crisis, personifications of
Fear and Rumour exacerbate the fear, causing people to recall the sack of Rome in 390:
Interea rapidas perfusa cruoribus alas
sicut sanguinea Thrasymenni tinxerat unda
vera ac ficta simul spargebat Fama per urbem.
Allia et infandi Senones captaeque recursat
attonitis acris facies: excussit habenas
luctificus Pavor, et tempestas aucta timendo.
89
Pun. 6.552-8
Meanwhile, Rumour, her swift wings dyed with blood – she had
dipped them in the blood-stained waters of Lake Trasimene – spread
tidings true and false throughout Rome. In their terror men recalled the
battle of the Allia, the accursed Senones and the sight of the captured
citadel. Woeful Fear shook off all restraint and the calamity was made
worse by apprehension.
Duff, 1996, 323.
The sight of women with hair turned grey from the dust in the temples indicates the
extreme level of tension. As noted previously, Polybius and Livy only present this
evocative detail in relation to Hannibal‟s actual appearance outside Rome in 211 (Pun.
6.560-2; Livy, 26.9.8; Hist. 9.6).
228 Woodman, in Kraus and Woodman, 1997, 61: „the aborted march is a foreshadowing function with the
real march to tie the text together.‟