Capture of Arpi.-One night, Dasius Altinius of Arpi paid a stealthy visit to this camp, accompanied by three slaves, and offered for a fitting re,vard to betray Arpi. Fabius referred the matter to the council of war, and some thought he ought to be treated as a deserter, scourged and beheaded. They said he was a trimmer, an enemy to both sides, for, after the defeat of Cannae, as though loyalty depended on success, he had gone over to IIannibal and had drawn Arpi over with him, and now .that the cause of Rome \vas, in the teeth of all his hopes and wishes, springing up, as it \vere, again from its roots, he was promising a fresh treason by way of indemnifying those whom he betrayed before. I-Ie openly espoused one side while all his sympathies were with the other, faithless as an ally, contemptible as an enemy; like the n1an who would have betrayed Falerii, or the man who offered to poison Pyrrhus, let him be made a third warning to all renegades. The consul's father took a different view. "Some men," he said, "oblivious of times and seasons, pass judgment upon everything as calmly and impartially in the excitement of war as though they were at peace. The more important matter for us to discuss and decide is how we can possibly prevent our .allies from deserting us, but this is the last thing we are thinking about; we are talking about the duty of making an example of anyone ,vho sees his error and looks back ,vith regret to the old alliance. But if a man is at liberty to forsake Rome, but not at liberty to return to her, who can fail to see that in a short time the Roman empire, bereft of its allies, will find every part of Italy bound by treaty to Carthage? Still I am not going to advise that any confidence be placed in Altinius; I shall suggest a middle course in dealing with him. I should recommend that he be treated neither as an enemy nor as a friend, but be interned in some city we can trust not far from our camp and kept there during the war. When that is over, then we should discuss whether he deserves punishment for his former disloyalty more than he merits pardon for his coming back to us now." Fabius' suggestions met \vith general approval, and Altinius v;as handed over to some officials from Cales together with those v;ho accompanied him. He had brought with him a considerable amount of gold, and this ,vas ordered to be taken care of for him. At Cales he was free to move about in the daytime, but ,vas always followed by a guard, who kept him in confinement at night. .At Arpi he was missed from home and a search was commenced, rumours soori ran through the city and naturally caused intense excitement, seeing they had lost their leader. Fears were entertained of a revolution, and messengers were at once despatched to Hannibal. The Carthaginian was not at an concerned at what had happened; he had long suspected the man and doubted his loyalty, and he had now a plausible reason for seizing and selling the property of a very rich man. But,. in order to create a belief that he was swayed more by anger than by avarice, he aggravated his rapacity by an act of atrocious cruelty. He sent for the wife and children, and after questioning them first about the circumstances under which Altinius had disappeared, and then about the amount of gold and silver which he had left at home, and so finding out all he wanted to know, he had them burnt alive.