_Scipio, aided by Masinissa, defeats the Carthaginians, Syphax
and Hasdrubal, in several battles. Syphax taken by Laelius and
Masinissa. Masinissa espouses Sophonisba, the wife of Syphax,
Hasdrubal's daughter; being reproved by Scipio, he sends
her poison, with which she puts an end to her life. The
Carthaginians, reduced to great extremity by Scipio's
repeated victories, call Hannibal home from Italy; he holds a
conference with Scipio on the subject of peace, and is again
defeated by him in battle. The Carthaginians sue for peace,
which is granted them. Masinissa reinstated in his kingdom.
Scipio returns to Rome; his splendid triumph; is surnamed
Africanus_.
1. Cneius Servilius and Caius Servilius Geminus, the consuls in
the sixteenth year of the Punic war, having consulted the senate
respecting the state, the war, and the provinces, they decreed that
the consuls should arrange between themselves, or draw lots, which of
them should have the province of Bruttium, to act against Hannibal,
and which that of Etruria and Liguria; that the consul to whose lot
Bruttium fell should receive the army from Publius Sempronius; that
Publius Sempronius, who was continued in command as proconsul for a
year, should succeed Publius Licinius, who was to return to Rome. In
addition to the other qualifications with which he was adorned in
a degree surpassed by no citizen of that time, for in him were
accumulated all the perfections of nature and fortune, Licinius was
also esteemed eminent in war. He was at once a man of noble family and
great wealth; possessing a fine person and great bodily strength.
He was considered an orator of the highest order, both in respect of
judicial eloquence, and also when engaged in promoting or opposing any
measure in the senate, or before the people. He was also
accurately skilled in the pontifical law. In addition to all these
recommendations, the consulship enabled him to acquire military glory.
The senate adopted the same course in the decree with respect to the
province of Etruria and Liguria as had been observed with regard to
Bruttium. Marcus Cornelius was ordered to deliver his army to the new
consul, and with continued command to hold himself the province of
Gaul, with those legions which the praetor Lucius Scribonius had
commanded the former year. The consuls then cast lots for their
provinces: Bruttium fell to the lot of Caepio, Etruria to the lot of
Servilius Geminus. The provinces of the praetors were then put to the
lot. Paetus Aelius obtained the city jurisdiction; Publius Lentulus,
Sardinia; Publius Villius, Sicily; Quinctilius Varus, Ariminum, with
two legions which had served under Lucretius Spurius. Lucretius also
was continued in command that he might complete the building of the
town of Genoa, which had been destroyed by Mago the Carthaginian.
Publius Scipio was continued in command for a period not limited in
point of time, but the object he had to achieve, namely, till the war
in Africa had been brought to a termination; and a decree was passed,
ordering a supplication to be made that the circumstance of his
crossing over into Africa might be beneficial to the Roman people, the
general himself, and his army.
2. Three thousand men were enlisted for Sicily, and lest any fleet
should go thither from Africa, as all the efficient troops that
province had possessed had been transported into Africa, it was
resolved that the sea-coast of that island should be guarded with
forty ships. Villius took with him into Sicily thirteen ships, the
rest consisted of the old ones, which were repaired. Marcus Pomponius,
the praetor of the former year, who was continued in command, having
been placed at the head of this fleet, put on board the fresh soldiers
brought from Italy. The senate assigned by a decree an equal number of
ships to Cneius Octavius, who was also a praetor of the former year,
with a similar privilege of command, for the protection of the coast
of Sardinia. Lentulus the praetor was ordered to furnish two thousand
soldiers to put on board it. The protection of the coast of Italy was
assigned to Marcus Marcius, a praetor of the former year, with
the same number of ships; for it was uncertain to what quarter the
Carthaginians would send a fleet, though it was supposed that they
would attack any quarter which was destitute of defence. The consuls,
in conformity with a decree of the senate, enlisted three thousand
soldiers for this fleet, and two city legions with a view to the
hazards of war. The Spains were assigned to the former generals,
Lucius Lentulus and Lucius Manlius Acidinus, who were continued in
command, and retained their former armies. The operations of the
war on the part of the Romans this year were carried on with twenty
legions in all, and one hundred and sixty ships of war. The praetors
were ordered to proceed to their provinces. Directions were given to
the consuls, that before they left the city they should celebrate the
great games which Titus Manlius Torquatus, when dictator, had vowed
to exhibited in the fifth year, if the condition of the state remained
unaltered. Accounts of prodigies brought from several places excited
fresh superstitious fears in the minds of men. It was believed that
crows had not only torn with their beaks some gold in the Capitol, but
had even eaten it. At Antium mice gnawed a golden crown. An immense
quantity of locusts filled the whole country around Capua, nor could
it be made appear satisfactorily whence they came. At Reate a foal was
produced with five feet. At Anagnia at first scattered fires appeared
in the sky, afterwards a vast meteor blazed forth. At Frusino a circle
surrounded the sun with a thin line, which was itself afterwards
included within the sun's disc which extended beyond it. At Arpinum
the earth sank into an immense gulf, in a place where the ground was
level. When one of the consuls was immolating the first victim, the
head of the liver was wanting. These prodigies were expiated with
victims of the larger kind. The college of pontiffs gave out to what
gods sacrifice was to be made.
3. After these matters were finished, the consuls and praetors set
out for their provinces. All, however, made Africa the great object of
their concern, as though it had been allotted to them; whether it was
because they saw that the welfare of the state and the issue of
the war turned upon the operations there, or that they might oblige
Scipio, on whom the whole state was then intent. Accordingly, not only
from Sardinia, as has been before mentioned, but from Sicily also and
Spain, clothing and corn, and from Sicily arms also, together with
every kind of stores, were conveyed thither. Nor did Scipio at any
time during the winter relax in any of the various military operations
in which he was engaged on all sides. He continued the siege of Utica.
His camp was within sight of Hasdrubal. The Carthaginians had launched
their ships, and had a fleet prepared and equipped to intercept his
supplies. Amid these occupations he had not even lost sight of his
endeavours to regain the friendship of Syphax, whose passion for his
bride he thought might now perhaps have become satiated from
unlimited enjoyment. From Syphax he received terms of peace with the
Carthaginians, with proposals that the Romans should evacuate Africa,
and the Carthaginians Italy, rather than any ground of hope that he
would desert their cause if the war proceeded. For my part I am of
opinion, and in this I am countenanced by the majority of writers,
that these negotiations were carried on through messengers, rather
than that Syphax himself came to the Roman camp to hold a conference,
as Antias Valerius relates. At first the Roman general scarcely
allowed these terms to be mentioned, but afterwards, in order that
there might exist a plausible pretext for his emissaries to go
frequently into the camp of the enemy, he rejected these same terms in
a more qualified manner, holding out a hope that they might eventually
come to an agreement by agitating the question on both sides.
The winter huts of the Carthaginians, which were constructed from
materials hastily collected out of the fields, were almost entirely
of wood. The Numidians, particularly, lay for the most part in huts
formed of interwoven reeds, and covered with mats, dispersed up and
down without any regard to order; while some of them, having chosen
the situations for their tents without waiting for orders, lay even
without the trench and rampart. These circumstances having been
reported to Scipio, gave him hopes that he might have an opportunity
of burning the enemy's camp.
4. In company with the ambassadors whom he sent to Syphax, he also
sent some centurions of the first rank, of tried valour and prudence,
dressed as servants, in lieu of soldiers' drudges; in order that,
while the ambassadors were engaged in conference, they might ramble
through the camp, one in one direction and another in another, and
thus observe all the approaches and outlets, the situation and form
both of the camp in general and of its parts; where the Carthaginians
lay, where the Numidians, and what was the distance between the camp
of Hasdrubal and that of the king; and that they might at the same
time acquaint themselves with their customary mode of stationing
outposts and watches, and learn whether they were more open to
stratagem by night or by day. During the frequent conferences which
were held, several different persons were purposely sent, in order
that every circumstance might be known to a greater number. When the
more frequent agitation of the matter had given to Syphax a daily
increasing hope of peace, and to the Carthaginians through him, the
Roman ambassadors at length declared that they were forbidden to
return to their general unless a decisive answer was given, and that,
therefore, if his own determination was now fixed, he should declare
it, or if Hasdrubal and the Carthaginians were to be consulted, he
should consult them. That it was time either that an accommodation
should be settled or the war vigorously prosecuted. While Hasdrubal
was consulted by Syphax, and the Carthaginians by Hasdrubal, the spies
had time to inspect every thing, and Scipio to get together what was
necessary for the accomplishment of his project. In consequence of the
mention and prospect of a peace, neglect arose among the Carthaginians
and Numidians, as is usually the case, to take precautions in the mean
time that they might not suffer an attack of the enemy. At length an
answer was returned; and as the Romans appeared excessively eager
for peace, advantage was taken of that circumstance to add certain
unreasonable conditions, which afforded Scipio a very seasonable
pretext for putting an end to the truce according to his wishes; and
telling the king's messenger that he would refer the matter to his
council, he answered him the next day. He said, that while he alone
had in vain endeavoured to restore peace, no one else had desired it.
That he must, therefore, carry word back that Syphax must hope for
peace on no other condition than his abandonment of the Carthaginians.
Thus he put an end to the truce, in order that he might be free to
execute his designs without breaking his faith; and, launching
his ships, for it was now the beginning of spring, he put on board
machines and engines, with the purpose of assaulting Utica from
the sea. He also sent two thousand men to seize the eminence which
commanded that place, and which he had before occupied, at once with
the view of turning the attention of the enemy from the design he was
endeavouring to effect to another object of concern, and to prevent
any sally or attack which might be made from the city upon his camp,
which would be left with a slight force to protect it, while he
himself went against Syphax and Hasdrubal.
5. Having made these preparations, he called a council and after
ordering the spies to give an account of the discoveries they
had made, and requesting Masinissa, who was acquainted with every
circumstance relating to the enemy, to state what he knew, lastly, he
himself laid before the council the plan proposed for the following
night. He gave directions to the tribunes, that when, after the
breaking up of the council, the trumpets had sounded, they should
immediately march the legions out of the camp. Agreeably to his
commands, the standards began to be carried out about sun-set. About
the first watch they formed the troops in marching order. At midnight,
for it was seven miles' march, they came up at a moderate pace to the
camp of the enemy. Here Scipio assigned a part of his forces, together
with Masinissa and the Numidians, to Laelius, ordering them to fall
upon the camp of Syphax, and throw fire upon it. Then taking each
of the commanders, Masinissa and Laelius, aside, he implored them
separately to make up by diligence and care for the absence of that
foresight which the night rendered it impossible to exercise. He said,
that he should himself attack Hasdrubal and the Carthaginian camp; but
that he should not begin till he saw the fire in that of the king.
Nor did this delay him long; for when the fire thrown upon the nearest
huts had taken effect, immediately communicating with all those which
were within the shortest distance, and those connected with them in
regular succession, it spread itself throughout the whole camp. The
confusion and alarm which took place, in consequence of so widely
extended a fire breaking out during the night, were as great as might
naturally be expected; but as they concluded that it was the effect of
chance, and not produced by the enemy, or connected with the war, they
rushed out in a disorderly manner, without their arms, to extinguish
the flames, and fell in with armed enemies, particularly the
Numidians, who on account of their knowledge of the king's camp
were placed by Masinissa in convenient places at the openings of the
passes. Many perished in the flames in their beds while half asleep;
and many, tumbling over one another in their haste to escape, were
trampled to death in the narrow passages of the gates.
6. When first the Carthaginian sentinels, and afterwards the rest,
roused by the terrifying effects of a tumult by night, beheld the
light emitted from the flames, they also, labouring under the same
delusion, imagined that the fire had originated from accidental
causes; while the shout raised amidst the slaughter and wounds, being
of a confused kind, prevented their distinguishing whether it was
occasioned by the trepidation of an alarm by night. Accordingly,
rushing out one and all at every gate, each man taking the nearest
road, without their arms, as not suspecting any hostile attack,
and carrying with them only such things as might be useful in
extinguishing the flames, they fell upon the Roman troops. After all
these had been slain, not only with the animosity of enemies, but also
that no one might escape as a messenger, Scipio immediately attacked
the gates, which were unguarded in consequence of the confusion; and,
having thrown fire upon the nearest huts, at first the flames blazed
forth with great fury, in several places at once, in consequence
of the fire having been applied to different parts, but afterwards
extending themselves along the contiguous huts, they suddenly
enveloped the whole camp in one general conflagration. Men and cattle
scorched with the flames blocked up the passages of the gates, first
in a terrible rush to escape, and afterwards with their prostrate
bodies. Those who got out of the way of the fire were cut off by the
sword, and the two camps were involved in one common destruction. The
two generals, however, and out of so many thousand troops only two
thousand foot and five hundred horsemen, escaped, half armed, a great
many of them being wounded and scorched. Forty thousand men were
either slain or destroyed by the flames, and above five thousand
captured. Among the captured were many Carthaginian nobles, eleven
senators, with a hundred and seventy-four military standards, above
two thousand seven hundred Numidian horses, and six elephants. Eight
elephants were destroyed either by fire or sword, and a great quantity
of arms taken. All the latter the general dedicated to Vulcan and
burnt.
7. Hasdrubal, in his flight, had made for the nearest city of the
Africans, accompanied by a few attendants; and hither all those
who survived, following the footsteps of their general had betaken
themselves. But afterwards, fearing lest he should be given up to
Scipio, he quitted that city. Soon after the Romans were received
there with open gates; nor was any act of hostility committed, because
the inhabitants had surrendered voluntarily. Shortly after, two other
cities were captured and plundered. The booty found there, together
with what had been rescued from the camps when burning, and from the
flames, was given up to the soldiers. Syphax took up a position in a
fortified place about eight miles off. Hasdrubal hastened to Carthage,
lest the apprehensions occasioned by the recent disaster should lead
to any timorous measures. So great was the consternation created there
on the first receipt of the news, that it was fully anticipated that
Scipio, suspending his operations against Utica, would immediately
lay siege to Carthage. The suffetes, therefore, who form with them an
authority similar to the consular, summoned the senate, when the
three following opinions were given. The first proposed, that a decree
should be passed to the effect, that ambassadors should be sent to
Scipio to treat of peace; the second, that Hannibal should be recalled
to defend his country from a war which threatened its annihilation;
the third breathed the spirit of Roman constancy under adversity; it
recommended that the losses of the army should be repaired, and that
Syphax should be exhorted not to abandon the war. The latter opinion
prevailed, because it was that which Hasdrubal, who was present, and
all the members of the Barcine faction, preferred. After this,
the levy commenced in the city and country, and ambassadors were
despatched to Syphax, who was himself employing every effort to
restore the war; for his wife had prevailed upon him, not, as
heretofore, by caresses, powerful as they are in influencing the mind
of a lover, but by prayers and appeals to his compassion, imploring
him, with streaming eyes, not to betray her father and her country,
nor suffer Carthage to be consumed by the same flames which had
reduced the camps to ashes. In addition to this, the ambassadors
informed him of a circumstance which had occurred very seasonably to
raise their hopes; that they had met with four thousand Celtiberians
in the neighbourhood of a city named Abba, a fine body of young men
who had been enlisted by their recruiting officers in Spain; and that
Hasdrubal would very soon arrive with a body of troops by no means
contemptible. Accordingly, he not only returned a kind answer to the
ambassadors, but also showed them a multitude of Numidian rustics,
whom he had lately furnished with arms and horses; and at the same
time assured them that he would call out all the youth in his kingdom.
He said, he well knew that the loss sustained had been occasioned by
fire, and not by battle, and that he was inferior to his adversary in
war who was overcome by force of arms. Such was the answer given to
the ambassadors; and, after a few days, Hasdrubal and Syphax again
united their forces. This army consisted of about thirty-five thousand
fighting men.
8. Scipio, considering that Syphax and the Carthaginians could make no
further efforts, gave his whole attention to the siege of Utica, and
was now bringing up his engines to the walls, when he was diverted
from his purpose by a report of the renewal of the war; and, leaving
small forces merely to keep up the appearance of a siege by sea and
land, he set out himself with the main strength of his army to meet
the enemy. At first he took up his position on an eminence about five
miles distant from the king's camp. The next day, coming down with his
cavalry into a place called the great plains, which lay at the foot of
that eminence, he spent the day in advancing up to the outposts of the
enemy, and provoking them by skirmishing attacks. During the ensuing
two days, irregular excursions were made by both sides alternately,
but nothing worthy of notice was achieved. On the fourth day, both
sides came down in battle-array. The Romans placed their principes
behind the spearmen, which latter formed the front line, and the
triarii they stationed in reserve; the Italian cavalry they opposed to
the enemy in the right wing, the Numidians and Masinissa on the
left. Syphax and Hasdrubal, placing the Numidians against the Italian
cavalry, and the Carthaginians opposite to Masinissa, received the
Celtiberians into the centre of their line, to face the Roman legions.
Thus arranged, they then commenced the encounter. At the first charge,
both the wings, the Numidians and Carthaginians, were together driven
from their ground; for neither could the Numidians, who consisted
principally of rustics, sustain the shock of the Roman cavalry, nor
the Carthaginians, who were also raw soldiers, withstand Masinissa,
who, in addition to other circumstances, was rendered formidable by
his recent victory. The Celtiberian line, though stript of the support
of both the wings, stood their ground; for neither did any hope of
safety by flight present itself, as they were ignorant of the country,
nor could they expect pardon from Scipio, against whom, though he had
deserved well both of them and their nation, they had come into Africa
to fight for hire. Surrounded therefore, on all sides by the enemy,
they died with obstinate resolution, falling one upon another; and,
while the attention of all was turned upon them, Syphax and Hasdrubal
gained a considerable space of time to effect their escape. The
victors, fatigued with the slaughter, which had continued for a
greater length of time than the battle, were interrupted by the night.
9. The next day Scipio sent Laelius and Masinissa, with all the Roman
and Numidian cavalry, and the light infantry, to pursue Syphax and
Hasdrubal. He himself, with the main strength of the army, reduced the
neighbouring towns, which were all subject to the Carthaginians, some
by holding out hopes to them, some by threats, and others by force.
At Carthage, indeed, the consternation was extreme; and it was fully
anticipated there, that Scipio, who was carrying his arms to the
different places around, would, after having rapidly subdued all the
neighbouring parts, suddenly attack Carthage itself. Their walls
were repaired and protected with outworks; and every man individually
exerted himself to the utmost in collecting from the country the
requisites for holding out against a protracted siege. Mention was
seldom made of peace, but not so seldom of sending deputies to recall
Hannibal. The majority of them urged that the fleet, which had been
equipped to intercept the convoys of the enemy, should be sent to
surprise the ships stationed near Utica, which were lying in an
unguarded state. It was also urged that they might perhaps overpower
the naval camp, which was left under the protection of a trifling
force. They chiefly inclined to the latter plan, though they thought,
nevertheless, that deputies should be sent to Hannibal; for should the
operations of the fleet succeed in the highest degree, the siege of
Utica would be partially raised, but they had no general remaining but
Hannibal, and no army but his which could defend Carthage itself.
The ships were therefore launched the following day, and, at the same
time, the deputies set out for Italy; and, their position stimulating
them, every thing was done with the greatest expedition; each man
considering, that the safety of all was betrayed in whatever degree he
remitted his own individual exertions. Scipio, who drew after him
an army now encumbered with the spoils of many cities, sent his
prisoners, and other booty, to his old camp at Utica, and, as his
views were now fixed on Carthage, he seized on Tunes, which was
abandoned in consequence of the flight of the garrison. This city is
about fifteen miles distant from Carthage, being a place secured both
by works, and also by its own natural position; it may be seen from
Carthage, and itself affords a prospect both of that city and of the
sea which washes it.
10. From this place the Romans, while diligently employed in raising
a rampart, descried the fleet of the enemy, on its way to Utica from
Carthage. Desisting from their work, therefore, orders for marching
were given, and the troops began to move with the utmost haste, lest
the ships which were turned towards the land, and occupied with
the siege, and which were far from being in a condition for a naval
battle, should be surprised and overpowered. For how could ships,
carrying engines and machines, and either converted to the purposes
of transports, or brought up to the walls so as to afford the means
of mounting up, in lieu of a mound and bridges, resist a fleet, with
nothing to impede its movements, furnished with every kind of naval
implement, and prepared for action. Scipio, therefore, contrary to
his usual practice in naval engagements, drew the ships of war, which
might have been employed in defending the rest, into the rear, and
formed them into a line near the land; opposing to the enemy a row
of transports, four deep, to serve as a wall; and, lest these same
transports should be thrown into disorder during the confusion of the
battle, he bound them together by placing masts and yard-arms across
them, from one vessel to the other; and, by means of strong ropes,
fastened them together, as it were, by one uninterrupted bond. He also
laid planks upon them, so as to form a free passage along the line,
leaving spaces under these bridges of communication by which the
vessels of observation might run out towards the enemy, and retreat
with safety. Having hastily made these arrangements as well as the
time would permit, he put on board the transports about a thousand
picked men, to keep off the enemy, with a very large store of weapons,
particularly missiles, that they might hold out, however long the
contest lasted. Thus prepared, and on the watch, they waited the
approach of the enemy. The Carthaginians, who, if they had made haste
would, on the first assault, have surprised their adversaries while
every thing was in a state of confusion, from the hurry and bustle
attending the preparations, were so dismayed at their losses by land,
and thereby had lost so much confidence even in their strength by sea,
in which they had the advantage, that, after consuming the day, in
consequence of the slow rate at which they sailed, about sun-set they
put in to a harbour which the Africans call Ruscino. The following
day, at sun-rise, they drew up their ships towards the open sea, as
for a regular naval battle, and with the expectation that the Romans
would come out to engage them. After they had continued stationary for
some time, and saw that no movement was made on the part of the enemy,
then, at length, they attacked the transports. The affair bore no
resemblance to a naval fight, but rather had the appearance of ships
attacking walls. The transports had considerably the advantage in
respect of height; and as the Carthaginians had to throw their weapons
upward, against a mark which was above them, most of them failed of
taking effect; while the weapons thrown from the transports from above
fell with increased force, and derived additional impetus from their
very weight. The vessels of observation, and even the lighter kind
of barks, which went out through the spaces left under the flooring,
which formed a communication between the ships, were at first run down
by the mere momentum and bulk of the ships of war; and afterwards they
proved a hindrance to the troops appointed to keep the enemy off; for
as they mixed with the ships of the enemy, they were frequently under
the necessity of withholding their weapons for fear, by a misdirected
effort, they should fall on their friends. At length, beams with iron
hooks at their ends, called harpoons, began to be thrown from the
Carthaginian upon the Roman ships; and, as they could not cut the
harpoons themselves, nor the chains suspended by which they were
thrown upon their ships, as each of the ships of war of the enemy,
being pulled back, drew with it a transport, connected with it by a
harpoon, you might see the fastenings by which the transports were
joined together rent asunder, and in another part a series of many
vessels dragged away together. In this manner chiefly were all the
bridges of communication torn to pieces, and scarcely had the troops
who fought in front time to leap to the second line of ships. About
six transports were towed away to Carthage, where the joy felt was
greater than the occasion warranted; but their delight was increased
from the reflection, that, in the midst of so many successive
disasters and woes, one event, however trifling, which afforded matter
of joy, had unexpectedly occurred; besides which, it was manifest that
the Roman fleet would have been well nigh annihilated, had not their
own commanders been wanting in diligence, and had not Scipio come up
to its assistance in time.
11. It happened about the same time, that Laelius and Masinissa
having arrived in Numidia after a march of about fifteen days, the
Massylians, Masinissa's hereditary kingdom, placed themselves under
the protection of their king with the greatest joy, as they had long
wished him among them. After the commanders and garrisons of Syphax
had been expelled from thence, that prince kept himself within
the limits of his original dominions, but without any intention of
remaining quiet. Subdued by the power of love, he was spurred on by
his wife and father-in-law; and he possessed such an abundance of men
and horses, that a review of the resources of his kingdom, which had
flourished for so many years, was calculated to infuse spirit into a
mind even less barbarous and impetuous than his. Wherefore, collecting
together all who were fit for service, he distributed among them
horses, armour, and weapons. He divided his horsemen into troops, and
his infantry into cohorts, as he had formerly learnt from the Roman
centurions. With an army not less than that which he had before, but
almost entirely raw and undisciplined, he set out to meet the enemy,
and pitched his camp at a short distance from them. At first a few
horsemen advanced cautiously from the outposts to reconnoitre, and
being compelled to retire, from a discharge of javelins, they ran back
to their friends. Then skirmishing parties were sent out from both
sides, and the vanquished, fired with indignation, returned to the
encounter with increased numbers. This is the usual incitement of
battles between cavalry, when the victors are joined by more of their
party from hope, and the vanquished from resentment. Thus, on the
present occasion, the action commencing with a few, at last the whole
body of the cavalry on both sides poured out to join in it from the
zeal excited by the contest. While the cavalry only were engaged, it
was scarcely possible to withstand the numbers of the Masaesylians,
which Syphax sent out in immense bodies. But afterwards, when the
Roman infantry, suddenly coming up between the troops of horse which
made way for them, gave stability to their line, and checked the
enemy, who were charging furiously, at first the barbarians slackened
their speed, then halted, and were in a manner confounded at this
novel kind of battle. At length, they not only retired before the
infantry, but were unable to sustain the shock even of the cavalry,
who had assumed courage from the support of the infantry. By this time
the legions also were approaching; when, indeed, the Masaesylians not
only dared not await their first charge, but could not bear even
the sight of the standards and arms; so powerful was either the
recollection of their former defeats, or their present fears.
12. It was then that Syphax, while riding up to the troops of the
enemy to try if, either by shame or by exposing his own person to
danger, he could stop their flight, being thrown from his horse, which
was severely wounded, was overpowered, and being made prisoner, was
dragged alive into the presence of Laelius; a spectacle calculated to
afford peculiar satisfaction to Masinissa. Cirta was the capital of
the dominions of Syphax; to which a great number of men fled. The
number of the slain in this battle was not so great as the victory was
important, because the cavalry only had been engaged. Not more than
five thousand were slain, and less than half that number were made
prisoners in an attack upon the camp, to which the multitude, dismayed
at the loss of their king, had fled. Masinissa declared that nothing
could be more highly gratifying to him than, having gained this
victory, to go now and visit his hereditary dominions, which he had
regained after having been kept out of them so long a time; but it was
not proper in prosperity any more than in adversity to lose any time.
That if Laelius would allow him to go before him to Cirta with the
cavalry and the captive Syphax, he should overpower the enemy while
all was in a state of consternation and dismay; and that Laelius might
follow with the infantry at a moderate rate. Laelius assenting, he
advanced to Cirta, and ordered the principal inhabitants to be called
out to a conference. But as they were not aware of what had befallen
their king, he was unable to prevail upon them, either by laying
before them what had passed, by threats, or by persuasion, until the
king was presented to their view in chains. A general lamentation
arose at this shocking exhibition, and while some deserted the walls
in a panic, others, who sought to ingratiate themselves with the
victor, suddenly came to an agreement to throw open the gates.
Masinissa, having sent troops to keep guard near the gates, and
at such parts of the wall as required it, that no one might have a
passage out to escape by, galloped off to seize the palace. While
entering the porch, Sophonisba, the wife of Syphax and daughter of
Hasdrubal the Carthaginian, met him in the very threshold, and seeing
Masinissa in the midst of the armed band, for he was distinguished
both by his arms and also by his habiliments, she concluded, as was
really the case, that he was the king; and, falling down at his knees,
thus addressed him: "The gods, together with your own valour and good
fortune, have given you the power of disposing of us as you please.
But if a captive may be allowed to give utterance to the voice of
supplication before him who is the sovereign arbiter of her life or
death; if she may be permitted to touch his knees and his victorious
right hand, I entreat and beseech, you by the majesty of royalty,
which we also a short time ago possessed; by the name of the Numidian
race, which was common to Syphax and yourself; by the guardian deities
of this palace, (and O! may they receive you more auspiciously than
they sent Syphax from it!) that you would indulge a suppliant by
determining yourself whatever your inclination may suggest respecting
your captive, and not suffer me to be placed at the haughty and
merciless disposal of any Roman. Were I nothing more than the wife of
Syphax, yet would I rather make trial of the honour of a Numidian,
one born in Africa, the same country which gave me birth than of
a foreigner and an alien. You know what a Carthaginian, what the
daughter of Hasdrubal, has to fear from a Roman. If you cannot effect
it by any other means, I beg and beseech you that you will by my death
rescue me from the power of the Romans." She was remarkably beautiful,
and in the full bloom of youth. Accordingly, while she pressed his
right hand, and only implored him to pledge himself that she should
not be delivered up to any Roman, her language assuming the character
of amorous blandishment rather than entreaty, the heart of the
conqueror not only melted with compassion, but, as the Numidians are
an excessively amorous race, he became the slave of his captive; and
giving his right hand as a pledge for the performance of her request,
withdrew into the palace. He then set upon reflecting in what manner
he could make good his promise; and not being able to hit upon any
expedient, his passion suggested to him an inconsiderate and barefaced
alternative. He ordered that preparations should be instantly made
for celebrating the nuptials that very day; in order that he might
not leave it at all open to Laelius, or Scipio himself, to adopt
any measure respecting her as a captive who had become the wife of
Masinissa. After the nuptials were concluded, Laelius came up: and so
far was he from dissembling his disapprobation of the proceeding, that
at first he would even have had her dragged from the marriage bed
and sent with Syphax and the rest of the captives to Scipio: but
afterwards, having been prevailed upon by the entreaties of Masinissa,
who begged of him to leave it to Scipio to decide which of the two
kings should have his fortunes graced by the accession of Sophonisba
he sent away Syphax and the prisoners; and, aided by Masinissa,
employed himself in reducing the rest of the cities of Numidia, which
were occupied by the king's garrisons.
13. When it was announced that Syphax was being brought into the camp,
the whole multitude poured out, as if to behold a triumphal pageant.
The king himself walked first in chains, and a number of Numidian
nobles followed. On this occasion every one strove to the utmost to
increase the splendour of their victory, by magnifying the greatness
of Syphax and the renown of his nation. "That was the king," they
said, "to whose dignity the two most powerful nations in the world the
Roman and the Carthaginian, had paid so much deference, that their own
general, Scipio, leaving his province of Spain and his army, sailed
into Africa with only two quinqueremes to solicit his friendship;
while Hasdrubal, the Carthaginian general, not only visited him in his
dominions, but gave him his daughter in marriage. That he had in his
power two commanders, one a Roman and the other a Carthaginian, at the
same time. That as both the contending parties sought the favour
of the immortal gods by the immolation of victims, so had they both
equally solicited his friendship. That he had lately possessed such
great power, that after expelling Masinissa from his kingdom, he
reduced him to such a state, that his life was protected by a report
of his death, and by concealment, while he supported himself in the
woods on prey after the manner of wild beasts." Thus signalized by the
observations of the surrounding multitude, the king was brought into
the pavilion before Scipio, who was moved by the former condition
of the man compared with his present, and particularly by the
recollection of their relation of hospitality, his right hand pledged,
and the public and private connexion which had been formed between
them. These same considerations inspired Syphax also with confidence
in addressing the conqueror; for when Scipio asked what had been his
object in not only renouncing his alliance with the Romans, but in
making war against them without provocation, he fully admitted "that
he had indeed done wrong, and acted like a madman; but not at that
time only when he took up arms against the Roman people; that was the
consummation of his frenzy, not its commencement. Then it was that
he is mad; then it was that he banished from his mind all regard
for private friendship and public treaties, when he received a
Carthaginian wife into his house. It was by the flames kindled by
those nuptial torches that his palace had been consumed. That fury
and pest had by every kind of fascination engrossed his affections
and obscured his reason; nor had she rested till she had with her own
hands clad him with impious arms against his guest and friend. Yet
ruined and fallen as he was, he derived some consolation in his
misfortunes when he saw that that same pest and fury had been
transferred to the dwelling and household gods of the man who was of
all others his greatest enemy. That Masinissa was neither more prudent
nor more firm than Syphax; but even more incautious by reason of his
youth. Doubtless he had shown greater folly and want of self-control
in marrying her than he himself had."
14. These words, dictated not merely by the hatred naturally felt
towards an enemy, but also by the anguish of jealousy, on seeing the
object of his affections in the possession of his rival, affected the
mind of Scipio with no ordinary degree of anxiety. His accusations
against Masinissa derived credibility from the fact of the nuptials
having, been celebrated in the most violent hurry, almost amid the
clash of arms, without consulting or waiting for Laelius, and with
such precipitate haste, that on the very day on which he saw the
captive enemy he united himself with her in matrimony, and performed
the nuptial rite in the presence of the household gods of his enemy.
This conduct appeared the more heinous to Scipio, because when a very
young man in Spain he had not allowed himself to be influenced by
the beauty of any captive. While ruminating on these circumstances,
Laelius and Masinissa came up. Without making any distinction between
them he received them both with a cheerful countenance, and having
bestowed upon them the highest commendations before a full assembly
of his officers, he took Masinissa aside and thus addressed him:
"I suppose, Masinissa, that it was because you saw in me some good
qualities that you at first came to me when in Spain, for the purpose
of forming a friendship with me, and that afterwards in Africa you
committed yourself and all your hopes to my protection. But of all
those virtues, on account of which I seemed to you worthy of your
regard, there is not one in which I gloried so much as temperance and
the control of my passions. I could wish that you also, Masinissa,
had added this to your other distinguished qualities. There is not,
believe me, there is not so much danger to be apprehended by persons
at our time of life from armed foes, as from the pleasures which
surround us on all sides. The man who by temperance has curbed and
subdued his appetite for them, has acquired for himself much greater
honour and a much more important victory than we now enjoy in the
conquest of Syphax. I have mentioned with delight, and I remember with
pleasure, the instances of fortitude and courage which you displayed
in my absence. As to other matters, I would rather that you should
reflect upon them in private, than that you should be put to the
blush by my reciting them. Syphax was subdued and captured under
the auspices of the Roman people; therefore he himself, his wife his
kingdom, his territories, his towns and their inhabitants, in short,
every thing which belonged to him, is the booty of the Roman people,
and it was proper that the king himself and his consort, even though
she had not been a citizen of Carthage, even though we did not see her
father commanding the armies of our enemies, should be sent to Rome,
and that the senate and people of Rome should judge and determine
respecting her who is said to have alienated from us a king in
alliance with us, and to have precipitated him into war with us.
Subdue your passions. Beware how you deform many good qualities by one
vice, and mar the credit of so many meritorious deeds by a degree of
guilt more than proportioned to the value of its object."
15. While Masinissa heard these observations, he not only became
suffused with blushes, but burst into tears; and after declaring that
he would submit to the discretion of the general, and imploring him
that, as far as circumstances would permit, he would consider the
obligation he had rashly imposed upon himself, for he had promised
that he would not deliver her into the power of any one, he retired in
confusion from the pavilion into his own tent. There, dismissing
his attendants, he spent a considerable time amid frequent sighs and
groans, which could be distinctly heard by those who stood around the
tent. At last, heaving a deep groan, he called one of his servants in
whom he confided, in whose custody poison was kept, according to the
custom of kings, as a remedy against the unforeseen events of fortune,
and ordered him to mix some in a cup and carry it to Sophonisba; at
the same time informing her that Masinissa would gladly have fulfilled
the first obligation which as a husband he owed to her his wife; but
since those who had the power of doing so had deprived him of the
exercise of that right, he now performed his second promise, that she
should not come alive into the power of the Romans. That, mindful of
her father the general, of her country, and of the two kings to whom
she had been married, she would take such measures as she herself
thought proper. When the servant came to Sophonisba bearing this
message and the poison, she said, "I accept this nuptial present; nor
is it an unwelcome one, if my husband can render me no better service.
Tell him, however, that I should have died with greater satisfaction
had I not married so near upon my death." The spirit with which she
spoke was equalled by the firmness with which she took and drained the
chalice, without exhibiting any symptom of perturbation. When Scipio
was informed of this event, fearful lest the high-spirited young
man should in the distempered state of his mind adopt some desperate
resolution, he immediately sent for him, and at one time endeavoured
to solace him, at another gently rebuked him for expiating one act of
temerity with another, and rendering the affair more tragical than was
necessary. The next day, in order to divert his mind from his present
affliction, he ascended his tribunal and ordered an assembly to be
summoned, in which having first saluted Masinissa with the title of
king, and distinguished him with the highest encomiums, he presented
him with a golden goblet, a curule chair, an ivory sceptre, an
embroidered gown, and a triumphal vest. He increased the honour by
observing, that among the Romans there was nothing more magnificent
than a triumph; and that those who triumphed were not arrayed with
more splendid ornaments than those with which the Roman people
considered Masinissa alone, of all foreigners, worthy. He then
bestowed the highest commendations upon Laelius also, and presented
him with a golden crown, and gave presents to the other military
characters proportioned to their respective merits. By these honours
the king's mind was soothed, and encouraged to hope that he would
speedily become master of all Numidia, now that Syphax was removed.
16. Scipio, having sent Caius Laelius with Syphax and the rest of the
prisoners to Rome, with whom went also ambassadors from Masinissa, led
his troops back again to Tunes, and completed the fortifications which
he had before begun. The Carthaginians, who had experienced not only
a short-lived but almost groundless joy, from their attack upon the
fleet, which, under existing circumstances, was tolerably successful,
were so dismayed at the account of the capture of Syphax, in whom they
reposed almost greater confidence than in Hasdrubal and his army, that
now listening no longer to any who advocated war, they sent thirty
of their principal elders as deputies to solicit peace. With them the
council of elders is held in the highest reverence, and has supreme
power even to control the senate itself. When they came into the Roman
camp and entered the pavilion, they prostrated themselves after the
manner of those who pay profound adoration to kings, adopting the
custom, I suppose, from the country from which they derived their
origin. Their language corresponded with such abject humiliation, for
they did not endeavour to deny their guilt, but charged Hannibal and
the favourers of his violent measures with being the originators of
it. They implored pardon for their state, which had been now twice
brought to the brink of ruin by the temerity of its citizens, and
would again owe its safety to the indulgence of its enemies. They
said, the object the Roman people aimed at in the subjugation of their
enemies was dominion, and not their destruction; that he might enjoin
what he pleased upon them, as being prepared submissively to obey.
Scipio replied, "that he had come into Africa with the hope, and
that hope had been increased by the success he had experienced in his
operations, that he should carry home victory and not terms of peace.
Still, though he had victory in a manner within his grasp, he would
not refuse all accommodation, that all the nations of the world may
know that the Roman people both undertake and conclude wars with
justice." The terms of peace which he prescribed were these: "That
they should restore the prisoners, deserters, and fugitives; withdraw
their armies from Italy and Gaul; give up all claim to Spain; retire
from all the islands between Italy and Africa; deliver up all their
ships of war except twenty, and furnish five hundred thousand pecks of
wheat, and three hundred thousand of barley." Authors are not agreed
as to the sum of money he demanded. In some I find five thousand
talents; in others five thousand pounds' weight of silver; in others,
that double pay for the troops was required. "Three days," he said,
"shall be allowed to deliberate whether you accept of peace on these
terms. If you do accept it, make a truce within me, and send deputies
to Rome to the senate." The Carthaginians being thus dismissed, as
they thought it proper to accept of any conditions of peace, for their
only object was to gain time for Hannibal to cross over into Africa,
sent some ambassadors to Scipio to conclude a truce, and others to
Rome to solicit peace; the latter taking with them a few prisoners,
deserters, and fugitives, in order to facilitate the attainment of
peace.
17. Laelius with Syphax and the principal Numidian prisoners arrived
at Rome several days before, and laying before the senate all the
transactions which had occurred in Africa in order, the greatest joy
was felt for the present, and the most sanguine anticipations formed
of the future. The sense of the senate being then taken upon the
subject, they resolved that the king should be sent to Alba to be kept
in custody, and that Laelius should be detained until the arrival
of the Carthaginian ambassadors. A supplication for four days was
decreed. The senate breaking up and an assembly of the people being
then called, Publius Aelius the praetor accompanied by Caius Laelius,
mounted the rostrum. There, on hearing that the armies of the
Carthaginians had been routed, that a king of the greatest renown had
been vanquished and made prisoner, that all Numidia had been overrun
with brilliant success, the people were unable to refrain from
expressing their delight, but manifested their transports by shouts
and all the other means usually resorted to by the multitude. The
praetor, therefore, immediately issued orders that the keepers should
open all the temples throughout the city, and that the people should
be allowed during the whole day to go round and make their adoration
to the gods, and return their thanks. The next day he brought the
ambassadors of Masinissa before the senate. They in the first place
congratulated the senate on the successes of Scipio in Africa, and
then thanked them, not only for having saluted him with the title of
king, but for having made him one, by reinstating him in his paternal
dominions, where, now that Syphax was removed, he would reign, if it
was the pleasure of the senate, without fear or opposition. Next, for
having bestowed upon him the highest commendations in the assembly,
and decorated him with the most magnificent presents, of which
Masinissa had endeavoured, and would in future endeavour, to render
himself worthy. They requested that the senate would by a decree
confirm the title of king with the other favours and benefits
conferred by Scipio, and, if it were not troublesome, they said, that
Masinissa further Requested that they would send home the Numidian
captives who were detained at Rome; for that this boon would procure
him the esteem and honour of his countrymen. On these points the
senate replied to the ambassadors, "that they reciprocated the
congratulations of the king on the successes in Africa. That Scipio
was considered to have acted properly and regularly in saluting him
with the title of king, and that the senate applauded and approved of
every thing else he had done which was gratifying to Masinissa." They
appointed by a decree what presents the ambassadors should carry to
the king; they were, two purple cloaks, each having a golden clasp,
and each accompanied with vests and broad purple borders, two horses
arrayed with trappings, two suits of equestrian armour with coats of
mail, together with tents and other military apparatus such as those
usually provided for a consul. These the praetor was directed to send
for the king. The ambassadors were severally presented with not less
than five thousand _asses_, their attendants with one thousand. Two
suits of apparel were presented to each of the ambassadors, and one
to each of their attendants and to the Numidians, who were discharged
from custody and given back to the king. In addition to these,
dwellings, reserved by the state for such purposes, grounds, and
entertainment, were assigned to the ambassadors.
18. The same summer during which these decrees were passed at Rome,
and these transactions took place in Africa, Publius Quinctilius
Varus, the praetor, and Marcus Cornelius, the proconsul, fought a
pitched battle with Mago the Carthaginian in the territories of the
Insubrian Gauls. The legions of the praetor were in the first line;
Cornelius kept his in reserve, riding forward into the front himself,
and the praetor and proconsul, leading on the two wings, exhorted
the soldiers to attack the enemy with the utmost vigour. Finding they
produced no impression upon the enemy, Quinctilius said to Cornelius:
"The battle, as you perceive, does not proceed with spirit, the enemy,
having succeeded in their resistance beyond expectation, have become
callous to fear, and there is danger lest it should be converted into
boldness. We must stir up a tempest of cavalry if we wish to disorder
and drive them from their ground; therefore, either do you sustain the
fight in front, and I will lead the cavalry into the action; or else,
I will act in the front line and you send out the cavalry of the four
legions against the enemy." The proconsul offering to take whichever
part of the service the praetor pleased, Quinctilius the praetor, with
his son, surnamed Marcus, a spirited youth, went off to the cavalry,
and desiring them to mount, instantly led them to the charge. The
confusion on occasioned by these was increased by a shout raised by
the legions; nor would the line of the enemy have stood unbroken, had
not Mago, as soon as he saw the cavalry in motion, immediately brought
into the action his elephants, which he kept in readiness. The horses
were so terrified at the snorting, the smell, and appearance of these
animals, that the aid of the cavalry was rendered ineffectual. As the
Roman horseman had the advantage in point of efficiency in a close
fight, when he could use his javelin and sword hand to hand, so the
Numidians had the advantage when throwing their darts from a distance
upon enemies borne away from them by their terrified horses. At the
same time the twelfth legion, though a great number of them were
slain, maintained their ground through shame rather than a reliance on
their strength; but they would not have continued to do so longer,
had not the thirteenth legion, brought up into the front line from the
reserve, taken up the doubtful conflict. Mago, also, bringing up the
Gauls from his reserve, opposed them to the fresh legion. The Gauls
being routed without any great effort, the spearmen of the eleventh
legion formed themselves into a circular body and charged the
elephants, which were now disordering the line of infantry; and as
scarcely one of the javelins which they threw upon them failed of
taking effect, as they were close together, they turned them all
upon the line of their own party. Four of them fell overpowered with
wounds. It was then that the front line of the enemy gave ground, the
whole body of the Roman infantry at the same time rushing forward to
increase the panic and confusion, on seeing the elephants turn their
backs. As long as Mago stood in front, the troops stepped back slowly,
preserving their ranks and not relaxing their ardour in fighting;
but when they saw him falling, from a wound in his thigh, which was
transfixed, and carried off the field almost lifeless, in an instant
they all betook themselves to flight. As many as five thousand of the
enemy were slain, and twenty-two military standards captured on that
day. Nor did the Romans obtain a bloodless victory. Two thousand three
hundred of the army of the praetor, by far the greater part of whom
belonged to the twelfth legion, were lost. Two military tribunes,
Marcus Cosconius and Marcus Maenius, of the same legion; and of the
thirteenth legion also, which joined in the action at its close,
Cneius Helvius, a military tribune, fell in restoring the fight;
and about twenty-two distinguished horsemen, together with several
centurions, were trampled upon and killed by the elephants. The
contest would have continued longer, had not the enemy conceded the
victory, in consequence of the wound of their general.
19. Mago, setting out during the silence of the succeeding night, and
marching as far at a time as his wounds would allow him, reached
the sea-coast in the territory of the Ingaunian Ligurians. Here
ambassadors from Carthage, who had put into the Gallic bay a few days
before, came to him with directions to cross over into Africa with all
speed; informing him that his brother Hannibal, for to him also they
said ambassadors had gone with similar directions, would do the same,
for the affairs of the Carthaginians were not in a condition to
admit of their occupying Gaul and Italy with armies. Mago, not
only influenced by the command of the senate and the danger which
threatened his country, but fearful also lest the victorious enemy
should be upon him if he delayed, and lest the Ligurians themselves,
seeing that the Carthaginians were leaving Italy, should pass over
to those under whose power they were likely soon to be placed; at the
same time hoping that his wound would be less irritated by the motion
of sailing than marching, and that he would have greater facilities
for the cure of it, put his troops on board and set sail. But he had
scarcely cleared Sardinia when he died of his wound. Several also of
his ships, which had been dispersed in the main sea, were captured by
the Roman fleet which lay near Sardinia. Such were the transactions by
sea and land in that part of Italy which is adjacent to the Alps.
The consul, Caius Servilius, without having performed any memorable
achievement in Etruria, his province, and in Gaul, for he had advanced
thither also, but having rescued from slavery, which they had endured
for now the sixteenth year, his father, Caius Servilius, and his
uncle, Caius Lutatius, who had been taken by the Boians at the village
of Tanetum, returned to Rome with his father on one side of him and
his uncle on the other, distinguished, by family, rather than by
public, honours. It was proposed to the people, that Caius Servilius
should be indemnified for having filled the offices of plebeian
tribune and plebeian aedile contrary to what was established by the
laws, while his father, who had sat in the curule chair, was still
alive, he being ignorant of that circumstance. This proposition
having been carried, he returned to his province. The towns Consentia,
Uffugum, Vergae, Besidiae, Hetriculum, Sypheum, Argentanum, Clampetia,
and many other inconsiderable states, perceiving that the Carthaginian
cause was declining, went over to Cneius Servilius the consul in
Bruttium. The same consul fought a battle with Hannibal, in the
territory of Croto. The accounts of this battle are not clear.
Valerius Antias states that five thousand men were slain. But this
is an event of such magnitude, that either it must be an impudent
fiction, or negligently omitted. It is certain that nothing further
was done by Hannibal in Italy; for ambassadors from Carthage,
recalling him into Africa, came to him, as it happened, at the same
time that they came to Mago.
20. It is said that when Hannibal heard the message of the ambassadors
he gnashed with his teeth, groaned, and scarcely refrained from
shedding tears. After they had delivered the commands with which
they were charged, he said: "Those who have for a long time been
endeavouring to drag me home, by forbidding the sending of supplies
and money to me, now recall me, not indirectly, but openly. Hannibal,
therefore, hath been conquered, not by the Roman people, who have been
so often slain and routed, but by the Carthaginian senate, through
envy and detraction; nor will Publius Scipio exult and glory in this
unseemly return so much as Hanno, who has crushed our family, since
he could not effect it by any other means, by the ruins of Carthage."
Already had his mind entertained a presentiment of this event, and he
had accordingly prepared ships beforehand. Having, therefore, sent a
crowd of useless soldiers under pretence of garrisons into the towns
in the Bruttian territory, a few of which continued their adherence to
him, more through fear than attachment, he transported the strength
of his army into Africa. Many natives of Italy who, refusing to follow
him into Africa had retired to the shrine of Juno Lacinia, which had
never been violated up to that day, were barbarously massacred in the
very temple. It is related, that rarely any person leaving his
country to go into exile exhibited deeper sorrow than Hannibal did on
departing from the land of his enemies; that he frequently looked back
upon the shores of Italy, and, arraigning both gods and men, cursed
himself and his own head that he did not lead his troops, while
reeking with blood from the victory at Cannae, to Rome. Scipio, who
since his appointment to the office of consul had not looked at the
Carthaginian enemy in Italy, had dared, he said, to go and attack
Carthage, while he, after slaying a hundred thousand fighting men at
Trasimenus and Cannae, had suffered his strength to wear away around
Casilinum, Cumae, and Nola. Amid these reproaches and complaints he
was borne away from his long occupation of Italy.
21. At the same time intelligence was brought to Rome that both Mago
and Hannibal had taken their departure. But the delight occasioned by
this twofold source of joy was diminished by the reflection that their
commanders had wanted either spirit or strength sufficient to detain
them, for they had been charged by the senate to do so; and also in
consequence of the anxiety they felt for the issue of a contest, in
which the whole weight of the war rested on the efforts of one general
and his army. About the same time ambassadors from Saguntum arrived,
bringing with them some Carthaginians who had crossed over into Spain
for the purpose of hiring auxiliaries, having seized them and the
money they had with them. They laid down in the vestibule of the
senate-house two hundred and fifty pounds' weight of gold, and eight
hundred of silver. After the men had been received and thrown into
prison, and the gold and silver returned, the ambassadors were
thanked, and received, besides, presents and ships to convey them back
into Spain. Some of the older senators then observed, that men were
less powerfully affected by prosperity than adversity. That they
themselves remembered what terror and consternation had been
occasioned by the passage of Hannibal into Italy; what disasters and
what lamentations had followed that event. When the camp of the enemy
was seen from their walls, what vows were poured forth by each and
all! How often, extending their hands to heaven, exclamations were
heard in their assemblies. Oh! will that day ever arrive when we shall
behold Italy cleared of her enemies and enjoying the blessings of
peace! The gods, they said, had at length, in the sixteenth year,
granted that favour and yet there was no one who proposed that thanks
should be returned to them for it. That if men received a present
blessing so ungratefully, they would not be very mindful of it when it
was past. In consequence of this a general shout was raised from every
part of the senate-house, that Publius Aelius the praetor, should
lay the matter before the senate, and a decree was passed, that a
supplication should be performed at all the shrines for the space of
five days, and that a hundred and twenty victims of the larger sort
should be immolated. Laelius and the ambassadors of Masinissa having
been by this time dismissed, and intelligence having arrived that
ambassadors of the Carthaginians, who were coming to the senate to
treat about peace, had been seen at Puteoli, and would proceed thence
by land, it was resolved, that Caius Laelius should be recalled,
that the negotiations respecting the peace might take place in his
presence. Quintus Fulvius Gillo, a lieutenant-general of Scipio,
conducted the Carthaginians to Rome; and as they were forbidden to
enter the city, they were lodged in a country-house belonging to the
state, and admitted to an audience of the senate at the temple of
Bellona.
22. They addressed the senate in nearly the same terms as they
had employed before Scipio; laying the whole blame of the war upon
Hannibal, and exculpating their state. They declared, that he had not
only crossed the Alps, but the Iberus also, without the sanction
of the senate; and that he had made war not only on the Romans,
but previously on the Saguntines also, on his own individual
responsibility. That, if the question were viewed in its proper light,
it would be found that the league between the senate and people of
Carthage and the Romans remained unbroken up to that day. Accordingly,
all they had in charge to solicit was, that they might be allowed to
continue in the enjoyment of that peace which was last entered into
with the consul Caius Lutatius. When the praetor, according to
the custom handed down from their ancestors, had given the fathers
permission to ask the ambassadors any questions they might be pleased
to put, and the older members who had been present at the making
of the treaties had put some one question and others another, the
ambassadors declared that they were not old enough to recollect, for
they were nearly all of them young men. Upon this every part of the
senate-house resounded with exclamations, that with Carthaginian
knavery men had been chosen to solicit a renewal of the old peace who
did not recollect its terms.
23. After this, the ambassadors having been removed out of the
senate-house, the senators began to be asked their opinions. Marcus
Livius recommended, that Caius Servilius, the consul nearest home,
should be sent for, that he might be present at the proceedings
relative to the peace; for as it was impossible that any subject of
deliberation could occur of greater importance than the present, he
did not see how it could be discussed, consistently with the dignity
of the Roman people, in the absence of one or both of the consuls.
Quintus Metellus, who three years before had been consul, and had
filled the office of dictator, said that, since Publius Scipio, by
destroying the armies and by devastating the lands of the enemy, had
reduced them to such a state that they were compelled as supplicants
to sue for peace; and as no one could estimate with more truth the
intentions with which it was solicited, than he who was prosecuting
the war before the gates of Carthage; the peace should be rejected
or adopted on the advice of none other than Scipio. Marcus Valerius
Laevinus, who had been twice consul, endeavoured to show that those
who had come were spies, and not ambassadors; that they ought to be
ordered to depart from Italy; that guards should be sent with them to
their very ships, and that Scipio should be written to not to relax
in prosecuting the war. Laelius and Fulvius added, that Scipio had
grounded his hopes of effecting a peace on Hannibal and Mago not
being recalled from Italy. He considered that the Carthaginians would
practise every species of dissimulation, in expectation of the
arrival of those generals and their armies, and then, forgetful of all
treaties, however recent, and all gods, would proceed with the war.
For these reasons they were the more disposed to adopt the opinion of
Laevinus. The ambassadors were dismissed without having accomplished
the peace, and almost without an answer.