Character of Hannibal
An admirable feature in Hannibal's
note
character, and the strongest proof of his having
been a born ruler of men, and having possessed
statesmanlike qualities of an unusual kind, is
that, though he was for seventeen years engaged
in actual warfare, and though he had to make his way through
numerous barbaric tribes, and to employ innumerable men of
different nationalities in what appeared desperate and hazardous
enterprises, he was never made the object of a conspiracy by
any of them, nor deserted by any of those who had joined him
and put themselves under his command. . . .