The city was panicked—to say nothing of the countryside—and otherwise erstwhile Roman allies broke ranks and sought to cut their own deals with the victorious Carthaginian general. Rome, for the first time in its history, threw out the requirements for land ownership and conscripted criminals, slaves, and the very poor into hastily put-together legions. Everyone expected the worst. Everyone—even Hannibal—thought that this just might be it. The end of the line. You just can’t overstate the danger to Rome at this time, nor the lengths to which the Senate might go to keep the boat afloat.