Hannibal down Bruttium

Hannibal's camp was now in Bruttium on the toe of Italy. He was trying to surround Rome and Latin territory. At Beneventum, Hannibal lost 20,000 men. Gracchus told his ex-slaves and convicts to cut the enemies heads off. Every head presented to the Roman consul would guarantee their individual freedom. This tactic certainly worked as many soldiers were going out of their way to cut the heads off Carthaginian corpses on the battlefield. This also caused problems as instead of carrying a more useful sword the Romans were carrying heads which Gracchus thought was starting to hinder the battle. Gracchus ordered the slave warriors to 'drop the heads' and this instantly improved the fighting. Gracchus also said that if the Carthaginians are defeated every slave and prisoner will be set free and granted Roman citizenship. This compelled them to go into manic mode and the Carthaginians were overwhelmed by a new Roman aggression. Hannibal knew his guys were flagging and were lacking incentive. Rome was gaining momentum. The Volturnus river offered a formidable crossing point. Naples, then Neapolis, was on alert. Nearby Puteoli was attacked by Hannibal. Meanwhile, Manlius was on alert in Sardinia. Someone had seen a spear on a statue move forward slightly and heard a cow talk and this was enough to have the Romans consulting the sacred books. A jar of prawns in a Co-op started spouting out Latin invective. It rained chalk supposedly. I'm just guessing it was hailstones. They say it rained stones on various occasions when it thundered and this phenomenon could be put down as hailstones. Who knows. New consuls and praetors etc were elected in Rome as was usual. Fabius had been elected for the fourth time despite protestations. It seems the second Punic war was a sort of rebellious uprising in Italy where the commoners were fed up with being subject to a corrupt and greedy aristocracy. The commoners of many Italian cities were rebelling against the local Senate. It was pretty much a class war! Greek colonies in Bruttium were under attack as they were mostly pro-Roman, including Croton. Wheat and barley were a priority. At Casilinum Hannibal constructed a defensive tower at the city wall, but the Romans had built a taller one. Much stone and missile throwing took place with the Romans having the edge. Eventually the fighting spilled into the gates.