that he should enjoy the glory of having restored Italy to a state of
peace, pursued Hannibal, whom he considered had fled before him, and
crossed over into Sicily, with the intention of proceeding thence into
Africa. As soon as this became known at Rome, at first the fathers
gave it as their opinion, that the praetor should inform the consul
by letter that the senate thought it proper that he should return into
Italy; but afterwards, the praetor declaiming that he would not heed
his letter, Publius Sulpicius, who was created dictator for this
very purpose, recalled the consul to Italy, in virtue of his superior
authority. The remainder of the year he employed in conjunction with
Marcus Servilius, his master of the horse, in going round to the
cities of Italy, which had been alienated from the Romans during the
war, and in taking cognizance of the cases of each. During the time of
the truce, Lentulus the praetor sent over into Africa, from Sardinia,
a hundred transports with stores, under a convoy of twenty ships of
war, without meeting with any injury either from the enemy or storms.
The same good fortune did not attend Cneius Octavius, while crossing
over from Sicily with two hundred transports and thirty men of war.
Having experienced a prosperous voyage until he arrived almost within
sight of Africa, at first the wind dropped, but afterwards changing to
the south-west, it dispersed his ships in every direction. He himself
with the ships of war, having struggled through the opposing billows
by the extraordinary exertions of his rowers, made the promontory of
Apollo. The greater part of the transports were driven to Aegimurus,
an island filling the mouth of the bay on which Carthage stands,
and about thirty miles from the city; the rest were driven on shore
directly opposite the city, near the warm baths. The whole occurrence
was within sight of Carthage, and, accordingly, the people ran in
crowds to the forum, from every part of the city. The magistrates
summoned the senate, and the people were yelling in the vestibule of
the senate-house, lest so great a booty should escape from their hands
and their sight. Though some urged as an objection the obligation
imposed upon them by having solicited peace, and others the restraint
occasioned by the existence of a truce, the period of which had not
yet expired, it was agreed in an assembly, made up almost of a
mixture of the senate and people, that Hasdrubal should cross over to
Aegimurus with fifty ships, and, proceeding thence, pick up the Roman
ships scattered along the coasts and in the different ports. First the
transports from Aegimurus, and then those from the baths, abandoned by
the crews, were towed to Carthage.
25. The ambassadors had not as yet returned from Rome, nor was it
known whether the Roman senate had pronounced in favour of peace
or war; nor as yet had the period of the truce expired. Scipio,
therefore, considering that the malignity of their offence was
heightened by the fact, that, though they had solicited peace and
a truce, they had cut off all hopes of the former and violated the
latter, immediately despatched Lucius Baebius, Lucius Sergius, and
Lucius Fabius, as ambassadors to Carthage. These, having narrowly
escaped violence from the assembled multitude, and perceiving that
they would be exposed to similar danger on their return, requested of
the magistrates, by whose aid they had been protected from violence,
to send ships to escort them. Two triremes were assigned them, which,
when they had come to the river Bagradas, whence the Roman camp could
be seen, returned to Carthage. The Carthaginian fleet was stationed at
Utica, and from this three quadriremes were despatched, which suddenly
attacked the Roman quinquereme from the main sea, while doubling the
promontory, either owing to a message sent from Carthage that
this should be done, or that Hasdrubal, who commanded the fleet,
perpetrated the atrocity without public connivance. But neither could
they strike it with their beaks from the rapidity with which it evaded
them, nor could the fighting men board the higher from lower vessels.
The quinquereme was gallantly defended as long as their weapons
lasted; but these failing, and there being now nothing which could
save them but the nearness of the land, and the multitude which had
poured out from the camp upon the shore, they communicated a rapid
motion to the vessel by means of their oars, and running her against
the shore with all the force they could, they escaped themselves
without injury, and only lost the vessel. Thus when the truce had
been unequivocally violated by repeated acts of villany, Laelius and
Fulvius arrived from Rome with the Carthaginian ambassadors. Scipio
told them, that although the Carthaginians had not only broken their
faith pledged in the truce, but had also violated the laws of nations
in the persons of his ambassadors, yet he would not in their case
do any thing unworthy of the maxims of the Roman people or his own
principles; after saying which, he dismissed the ambassadors and
prepared for war. When Hannibal was now drawing near land, one of the
sailors, who was ordered to climb the mast to see what part of the
country they were making, said the prow pointed toward a demolished
sepulchre, when Hannibal, recognising the inauspicious omen, ordered
the pilot to steer by that place, and putting in his fleet at Leptis,
landed his forces there.
26. Such were the transactions in Africa this year. Those which
followed extended themselves into that year in which Marcus Servilius
Geminus, who was then master of the horse and Tiberius Claudius Nero
were consuls. However, at the close of the former year, deputies from
the allied states in Greece having arrived with complaints that their
lands had been devastated by the king's garrisons, and that their
ambassadors, who had gone into Macedonia to demand restitution had
not been admitted into the presence of Philip; and having also brought
information that four thousand men were said to have been conveyed
over into Africa, under the conduct of Sopater, to assist the
Carthaginians, and that a considerable quantity of money had been sent
with them; the senate resolved that ambassadors should be sent to the
king to inform him that the fathers considered that these acts were
contrary to the treaty. The persons sent were Caius Terentius Varro,
Caius Mamilius, and Marcus Aurelius. Three quinqueremes were assigned
to them. This year was rendered remarkable by a most extensive fire,
by which the buildings on the Publician hill were burned to the
ground, and by the greatness of the floods. But still provisions were
cheap, not only because, as it was a time of peace, supplies could be
obtained from every part of Italy, but also because Marcus Valerius
Falto and Marcus Fabius Buteo, the curule aediles, distributed to the
people, so much for each street, at the rate of four _asses_ a bushel,
a great quantity of corn which had been sent out of Spain. The same
year died Quintus Fabius Maximus at an advanced age, if, indeed, it be
true that he was augur sixty-two years, which some historians relate.
He was a man unquestionably worthy of the high surname which he bore,
even had it begun with him. He surpassed the honours of his father,
and equalled those of his grandfather. His grandfather, Rullus, was
distinguished by a greater number of victories and more important
battles; but one antagonist like Hannibal is sufficient to
counterbalance them all. He was esteemed rather cautious than
spirited; and though it may be questioned whether he was naturally
dilatory, or whether he adopted that kind of conduct because it was
peculiarly suited to the war which he was carrying on, yet nothing can
be more clear that he was that one man who by his delay retrieved
our affairs, as Ennius says. Quintus Fabius Maximus, his son, was
consecrated augur in his room. In the room of the same, for he held
two priesthoods, Servius Sulpicius Galba was consecrated pontiff.
The Roman games were repeated for one day, the plebeian were thrice
repeated entire by the aediles, Marcus Sextius Sabinus and Cneius
Tremellius Flaccus. Both these were elected praetors, and with them
Caius Livius Salinator and Caius Aurelius Cotta. The difference in the
accounts of historians renders it uncertain whether Caius Servilius
the consul presided in the elections this year, or Publius Sulpicius,
nominated dictator by him, because business detained him in Etruria;
being engaged, according to a decree of the senate, in making
inquisitions respecting the conspiracies of the principal inhabitants.
27. In the beginning of the following year, Marcus Servilius and
Tiberius Claudius, having assembled the senate, consulted them
respecting the provinces. As both were desirous of having Africa, they
wished Italy and Africa to be disposed of by lots; but, principally in
consequence of the exertions of Quintus Metellus, Africa was neither
assigned to any one nor withheld. The consuls were ordered to make
application to the tribunes of the people, to the effect, that, if
they thought proper, they should put it to the people to decide whom
they wished to conduct the war in Africa. All the tribes nominated
Publius Scipio. Nevertheless, the consuls put the province of Africa
to the lot, for so the senate had decreed. Africa fell to the lot of
Tiberius Claudius, who was to cross over into Africa with a fleet of
fifty ships, all quinqueremes, and have an equal command with Scipio.
Marcus Servilius obtained Etruria. Caius Servilius was continued in
command in the same province, in case the senate resolved that the
consul should remain at the city. Of the praetors, Marcus Sextus
obtained Gaul; which province, together with two legions, Publius
Quinctilius Varus was to deliver to him; Caius Livius obtained
Bruttium, with the two legions which Publius Sempronius, the
proconsul, had commanded the former year; Cneius Tremellius had
Sicily, and was to receive the province and two legions from
Publius Villius Tappulus, a praetor of the former year; Villius, as
propraetor, was to protect the coast of Sicily with twenty men of war,
and a thousand soldiers; and Marcus Pomponius was to convey thence
to Rome one thousand five hundred soldiers, with the remaining twenty
ships. The city jurisdiction fell to Caius Aurelius Cotta; and the
rest of the praetors were continued in command of the respective
provinces and armies which they then had. Not more than sixteen
legions were employed this year in the defence of the empire. And,
that they might have the gods favourably disposed towards them in all
their undertakings and proceedings, it was ordered that the consuls,
before they set out to the war, should celebrate those games, and
sacrifice those victims of the larger sort, which, in the consulate
of Marcus Claudius Marcellus and Titus Quinctius, Titus Manlius, the
dictator, had vowed, provided the commonwealth should continue in the
same state for the next five years. The games were exhibited in the
circus during four days, and the victims sacrificed to those deities
to whom they had been vowed.
28. Meanwhile, hope and anxiety daily and simultaneously increased;
nor could the minds of men be brought to any fixed conclusion, whether
it was a fit subject for rejoicing, that Hannibal had now at length,
after the sixteenth year, departed from Italy, and left the Romans in
the unmolested possession of it, or whether they had not greater cause
to fear, from his having transported his army in safety into Africa.
They said that the scene of action certainly was changed, but not the
danger. That Quintus Fabius, lately deceased, who had foretold how
arduous the contest would be, was used to predict, not without good
reason, that Hannibal would prove a more formidable enemy in his own
country than he had been in a foreign one; and that Scipio would have
to encounter not Syphax, a king of undisciplined barbarians, whose
armies Statorius, a man little better than a soldier's drudge, was
used to lead; nor his father-in-law, Hasdrubal, that most fugacious
general; nor tumultuary armies hastily collected out of a crowd of
half-armed rustics, but Hannibal, born in a manner in the pavilion
of his father, that bravest of generals, nurtured and educated in
the midst of arms, who served as a soldier formerly, when a boy, and
became a general when he had scarcely attained the age of manhood;
who, having grown old in victory, had filled Spain, Gaul, and Italy,
from the Alps to the strait, with monuments of his vast achievements;
who commanded troops who had served as long as he had himself; troops
hardened by the endurance of every species of suffering, such as it
is scarcely credible that men could have supported; stained a thousand
times with Roman blood, and bearing with them the spoils not only of
soldiers but of generals. That many would meet the eyes of Scipio in
battle who had with their own hands slain Roman praetors, generals,
and consuls; many decorated with crowns, in reward for having scaled
walls and crossed ramparts; many who had traversed the captured camps
and cities of the Romans. That the magistrates of the Roman people
had not then so many fasces as Hannibal could have carried before him,
having taken them from generals whom he had slain. While their minds
were harassed by these apprehensions, their anxiety and fears were
further increased from the circumstance, that, whereas they had been
accustomed to carry on war for several years, in different parts of
Italy, and within their view, with languid hopes, and without the
prospect of bringing it to a speedy termination, Scipio and Hannibal
had stimulated the minds of all, as generals prepared for a final
contest. Even those persons whose confidence in Scipio and hopes
of victory were great, were affected with anxiety, increasing in
proportion as they saw their completion approaching. The state of
feeling among the Carthaginians was much the same; for, when they
turned their eyes on Hannibal, and the greatness of his achievements,
they repented having solicited peace; but when again they reflected
that they had been twice defeated in a pitched battle, that Syphax had
been made prisoner, that they had been driven out of Spain and Italy,
and that all this had been effected by the valour and conduct of
Scipio alone, they regarded him with horror, as a general marked out
by destiny, and born, for their destruction.
29. Hannibal had by this time arrived at Adrumetum; from which place,
after employing a few days there in refreshing his soldiers, who had
suffered from the motion by sea, he proceeded by forced marches to
Zama, roused by the alarming statements of messengers, who brought
word, that all the country around Carthage was filled with armed
troops. Zama is distant from Carthage a five days' journey. Some
spies, whom he sent out from this place, being intercepted by the
Roman guard, and brought before Scipio, he directed that they should
be handed over to the military tribunes, and after having been desired
fearlessly to survey every thing, to be conducted through the camp
wherever they chose; then, asking them whether they had examined every
thing to their satisfaction, he assigned them an escort, and sent them
back to Hannibal. Hannibal received none of the circumstances which
were reported to him with feelings of joy; for they brought word that,
as it happened, Masinissa had joined the enemy that very day, with
six thousand infantry and four thousand horse; but he was principally
dispirited by the confidence of his enemy, which, doubtless, was not
conceived without some ground. Accordingly, though he himself was the
originator of the war, and by his coming had upset the truce which had
been entered into, and cut off all hopes of a treaty, yet concluding
that more favourable terms might be obtained if he solicited peace
while his strength was unimpaired, than when vanquished, he sent a
message to Scipio, requesting permission to confer with him. I have
no means of affirming whether he did this on his own spontaneous
suggestion, or by the advice of his state. Valerius Antias says,
that after having been beaten by Scipio in a battle, in which twelve
thousand armed men were slain, and one thousand seven hundred made
prisoners, he came himself with ten other deputies into the camp
to Scipio. However, as Scipio did not decline the proposal for a
conference, both the generals, by concert, brought their camps forward
in order to facilitate their meeting by shortening the distance.
Scipio took up his position not far from the city Naragara, in a
situation convenient not only for other purposes, but also because
there was a watering place within a dart's throw. Hannibal took
possession of an eminence four miles thence, safe and convenient in
every respect, except that he had a long way to go for water. Here,
in the intermediate space, a place was chosen, open to view from all
sides, that there might be no opportunity for treachery.
30. Their armed attendants having retired to an equal distance, they
met, each attended by one interpreter, being the greatest generals not
only of their own times, but of any to be found in the records of the
times preceding them, and equal to any of the kings or generals of
any nation whatever. When they came within sight of each other they
remained silent for a short time, thunderstruck, as it were, with
mutual admiration. At length Hannibal thus began: "Since fate hath so
ordained it, that I, who was the first to wage war upon the Romans,
and who have so often had victory almost within my reach, should
voluntarily come to sue for peace, I rejoice that it is you, above all
others, from whom it is my lot to solicit it. To you, also, amid the
many distinguished events of your life, it will not be esteemed one
of the least glorious, that Hannibal, to whom the gods had so often
granted victory over the Roman generals, should have yielded to
you; and that you should have put an end to this war, which has been
rendered remarkable by your calamities before it was by ours. In this
also fortune would seem to have exhibited a disposition to sport with
events, for it was when your father was consul that I first took up
arms; he was the first Roman general with whom I engaged in a pitched
battle; and it is to his son that I now come unarmed to solicit peace.
It were indeed most to have been desired, that the gods should have
put such dispositions into the minds of our fathers, that you should
have been content with the empire of Italy, and we with that
of Africa: nor, indeed, even to you, are Sicily and Sardinia of
sufficient value to compensate you for the loss of so many fleets, so
many armies, so many and such distinguished generals. But what is past
may be more easily censured than retrieved. In our attempts to acquire
the possessions of others we have been compelled to fight for our own;
and not only have you had a war in Italy, and we also in Africa, but
you have beheld the standards and arms of your enemies almost in
your gates and on your walls, and we now, from the walls of Carthage,
distinctly hear the din of a Roman camp. What, therefore, we should
most earnestly deprecate, and you should most devoutly wish for, is
now the case: peace is proposed at a time when you have the advantage.
We who negotiate it are the persons whom it most concerns to obtain
it, and we are persons whose arrangements, be they what they will,
our states will ratify. All we want is a disposition not averse
from peaceful counsels. As far as relates to myself, time, (for I
am returning to that country an old man which I left a boy,) and
prosperity, and adversity, have so schooled me, that I am more
inclined to follow reason than fortune. But I fear your youth and
uninterrupted good fortune, both of which are apt to inspire a degree
of confidence ill comporting with pacific counsels. Rarely does
that man consider the uncertainty of events whom fortune hath never
deceived. What I was at Trasimenus, and at Cannae, that you are this
day. Invested with command when you had scarcely yet attained
the military age, though all your enterprises were of the boldest
description, in no instance has fortune deserted you. Avenging the
death of your father and uncle, you have derived from the calamity of
your house the high honour of distinguished valour and filial duty.
You have recovered Spain, which had been lost, after driving thence
four Carthaginian armies. When elected consul, though all others
wanted courage to defend Italy, you crossed over into Africa; where
having cut to pieces two armies, having at once captured and burnt two
camps in the same hour; having made prisoner Syphax, a most powerful
king, and seized so many towns of his dominions and so many of ours,
you have dragged me from Italy, the possession of which I had firmly
held for now sixteen years. Your mind, I say, may possibly be more
disposed to conquest than peace. I know the spirits of your country
aim rather at great than useful objects. On me, too, a similar fortune
once shone. But if with prosperity the gods would also bestow upon us
sound judgment, we should not only consider those things which have
happened, but those also which may occur. Even if you should forget
all others, I am myself a sufficient instance of every vicissitude
of fortune. For me, whom a little while ago you saw advancing my
standards to the walls of Rome, after pitching my camp between the
Anio and your city, you now behold here, bereft of my two brothers,
men of consummate bravery, and most renowned generals, standing
before the walls of my native city, which is all but besieged, and
deprecating, in behalf of my own city, those severities with which I
terrified yours. In all cases, the most prosperous fortune is least to
be depended upon. While your affairs are in a favourable and ours in
a dubious state, you would derive honour and splendour from granting
peace; while to us who solicit it, it would considered as necessary
rather than honourable. A certain peace is better and safer than a
victory in prospect; the former is at your own disposal, the latter
depends upon the gods. Do not place at the hazard of a single hour the
successes of so many years. When you consider your own strength, then
also place before your view the power of fortune, and the fluctuating
nature of war. On both sides there will be arms, on both sides human
bodies. In nothing less than in war do events correspond (with men's
calculations). Should you be victorious in a battle, you will not add
so much to that renown which you now have it in your power to acquire
by granting peace, as you will detract from it should any adverse
event befall you. The chance of a single hour may at once overturn the
honours you have acquired and those you anticipate. Every thing is at
your own disposal in adjusting a peace; but, in the other case, you
must be content with that fortune which the gods shall impose upon
you. Formerly, in this same country, Marcus Atilius would have formed
one among the few instances of good fortune and valour, if, when
victorious, he had granted a peace to our fathers when they requested
it; but by not setting any bounds to his success, and not checking
good fortune, which was elating him, he fell with a degree of ignominy
proportioned to his elevation. It is indeed the right of him who
grants, and not of him who solicits it, to dictate the terms of peace;
but perhaps we may not be unworthy to impose upon ourselves the fine.
We do not refuse that all those possessions on account of which the
war was begun should be yours; Sicily, Sardinia, Spain, with all the
islands lying in any part of the sea, between Africa and Italy. Let us
Carthaginians, confined within the shores of Africa, behold you, since
such is the pleasure of the gods, extending your empire over foreign
nations, both by sea and land. I cannot deny that you have reason to
suspect the Carthaginian faith, in consequence of their insincerity
lately in soliciting a peace and while awaiting the decision. The
sincerity with which a peace will be observed, depends much, Scipio,
on the person by whom it is sought. Your senate, as I hear, refused to
grant a peace in some measure because the deputies were deficient in
respectability. It is I, Hannibal, who now solicit peace; who would
neither ask for it unless I believed it expedient, nor will I fail
to observe it for the same reason of expedience on account of which
I have solicited it. And in the same manner as I, because the war was
commenced by me, brought it to pass that no one regretted it till the
gods began to regard me with displeasure; so will I also exert myself
that no one may regret the peace procured by my means."
31. In answer to these things the Roman general spoke nearly to the
following effect: "I was aware that it was in consequence of the
expectation of your arrival, that the Carthaginians violated the
existing faith of the truce and broke off all hope of a peace. Nor,
indeed, do you conceal the fact; inasmuch as you artfully withdraw
from the former conditions of peace every concession except what
relates to those things which have for a long time been in our own
power. But as it is your object, that your countrymen should be
sensible how great a burden they are relieved from by your means, so
it is incumbent upon me to endeavour that they may not receive, as
the reward of their perfidy, the concessions which they formerly
stipulated, by expunging them now from the conditions of the peace.
Though you do not deserve to be allowed the same conditions as before,
you now request even to be benefited by your treachery. Neither did
our fathers first make war respecting Sicily, nor did we respecting
Spain. In the former case the danger which threatened our allies the
Mamertines, and in the present the destruction of Saguntum, girded
us with just and pious arms. That you were the aggressors, both you
yourselves confess, and the gods are witnesses, who determined
the issue of the former war, and who are now determining and will
determine the issue of the present according to right and justice. As
to myself, I am not forgetful of the instability of human affairs,
but consider the influence of fortune, and am well aware that all
our measures are liable to a thousand casualties. But as I should
acknowledge that my conduct would savour of insolence and oppression,
if I rejected you on your coming in person to solicit peace, before
I crossed over into Africa, you voluntarily retiring from Italy, and
after you had embarked your troops; so now, when I have dragged you
into Africa almost by manual force, notwithstanding your resistance
and evasions, I am not bound to treat you with any respect. Wherefore,
if in addition to those stipulations on which it was considered that a
peace would at that time have been agreed upon, and what they are you
are informed, a compensation is proposed for having seized our ships,
together with their stores, during a truce, and for the violence
offered to our ambassadors, I shall then have matter to lay before my
council. But if these things also appear oppressive, prepare for war,
since you could not brook the conditions of peace." Thus, without
effecting an accommodation, when they had returned from the conference
to their armies, they informed them that words had been bandied to no
purpose, that the question must be decided by arms, and that they must
accept that fortune which the gods assigned them.
32. When they had arrived at their camps, they both issued orders that
their soldiers should get their arms in readiness, and prepare their
minds for the final contest; in which, if fortune should favour them,
they would continue victorious, not for a single day, but for ever.
"Before to-morrow night," they said, "they would know whether Rome or
Carthage should give laws to the world; and that neither Africa nor
Italy, but the whole world, would be the prize of victory. That the
dangers which threatened those who had the misfortune to be defeated,
were proportioned to the rewards of the victors." For the Romans had
not any place of refuge in an unknown and foreign land, and immediate
destruction seemed to await Carthage, if the troops which formed
her last reliance were defeated. To this important contest, the
day following, two generals, by far the most renowned of any, and
belonging to two of the most powerful nations in the world, advanced,
either to crown or overthrow, on that day, the many honours they had
previously acquired. Their minds, therefore, were agitated with the
opposite feelings of hope and fear; and while they contemplated at
one time their own troops, at another those of their enemy, estimating
their powers more by sight than by reason, they saw in them at once
the grounds for joy and grief. Those circumstances which did not occur
to the troops themselves spontaneously, their generals suggested by
their admonitions and exhortations. The Carthaginian recounted his
achievements in the land of Italy during sixteen years the many Roman
generals and armies annihilated, reminding each individually of the
honours he had acquired as he came to any soldier who had obtained
distinction in any of his battles. Scipio referred to Spain, the
recent battles in Africa and the enemy's own confession, that they
could not through fear but solicit peace, nor could they, through
their inveterate perfidy, abide by it. In addition to this he gave
what turn he pleased to his conference with Hannibal, which was held
in private, and was therefore open to misrepresentation. He augured
success that the gods had exhibited the same omens to them on going
out to battle on the present occasion, as they had to their fathers
when they fought at the islands Aegates. He told them that the
termination of the war, and their hardships, had arrived; that they
had within their grasp the spoils of Carthage, and the power of
returning home to their country, their parents, their children, their
wives, and their household gods. He delivered these observations with
a body so erect, and with a countenance so full of exultation, that
one would have supposed that he had already conquered. He then drew up
his troops, posting the hastati in front, the principes behind them,
and closing his rear line with the triarii.
33. He did not draw up his cohorts in close order, but each before
their respective standards; placing the companies at some distance
from each other, so as to leave a space through which the elephants of
the enemy passing might not at all break their ranks. Laelius, whom he
had employed before as lieutenant-general, but this year as quaestor,
by special appointment, according to a decree of the senate, he posted
with the Italian cavalry in the left wing, Masinissa and the Numidians
in the right. The open spaces between the companies of those in the
van he filled with velites, which then formed the Roman light-armed
troops, with an injunction, that on the charge of the elephants they
should either retire behind the files, which extended in a right line,
or, running to the right and left and placing themselves by the side
of those in the van, afford a passage by which the elephants might
rush in between weapons on both sides. Hannibal, in order to terrify
the enemy, drew up his elephants in front, and he had eighty of
them, being more than he had ever had in any battle; behind these his
Ligurian and Gallic auxiliaries, with Balearians and Moors intermixed.
In the second line he placed the Carthaginians, Africans, and a legion
of Macedonians; then, leaving a moderate interval, he formed a reserve
of Italian troops, consisting principally of Bruttians, more of
whom had followed him on his departure from Italy by compulsion and
necessity than by choice. His cavalry also he placed in the wings, the
Carthaginian occupying the right, the Numidian the left. Various were
the means of exhortation employed in an army consisting of a mixture
of so many different kinds of men; men differing in language, customs
laws, arms, dress, and appearance, and in the motives for serving.
To the auxiliaries, the prospect both of their present pay, and many
times more from the spoils, was held out. The Gauls were stimulated
by their peculiar and inherent animosity against the Romans. To the
Ligurians the hope was held out of enjoying the fertile plains of
Italy, and quitting their rugged mountains, if victorious. The Moors
and Numidians were terrified with subjection to the government of
Masinissa, which he would exercise with despotic severity. Different
grounds of hope and fear were represented to different persons. The
view of the Carthaginians was directed to the walls of their city,
their household gods, the sepulchres of their ancestors, their
children and parents, and their trembling wives; they were told, that
either the destruction of their city and slavery or the empire of the
world awaited them; that there was nothing intermediate which they
could hope for or fear. While the general was thus busily employed
among the Carthaginians, and the captains of the respective nations
among their countrymen, most of them employing interpreters among
troops intermixed with those of different nations, the trumpets and
cornets of the Romans sounded; and such a clamour arose, that the
elephants, especially those in the left wing, turned round upon their
own party, the Moors and Numidians. Masinissa had no difficulty in
increasing the alarm of the terrified enemy, and deprived them of the
aid of their cavalry in that wing. A few, however, of the beasts which
were driven against the enemy, and were not turned back through fear,
made great havoc among the ranks of the velites, though not without
receiving many wounds themselves; for when the velites, retiring to
the companies, had made way for the elephants, that they might not be
trampled down, they discharged their darts at them, exposed as they
were to wounds on both sides, those in the van also keeping up a
continual discharge of javelins; until, driven out of the Roman line
by the weapons which fell upon them from all quarters, these elephants
also put to flight even the cavalry of the Carthaginians posted in
their right wing. Laelius, when he saw the enemy in disorder, struck
additional terror into them in their confusion.
34. The Carthaginian line was deprived of the cavalry on both
sides, when the infantry, who were now not a match for the Romans in
confidence or strength, engaged. In addition to this there was one
circumstance, trifling in itself, but at the same time producing
important consequences in the action. On the part of the Romans the
shout was uniform, and on that account louder and more terrific; while
the voices of the enemy, consisting as they did of many nations of
different languages, were dissonant. The Romans used the stationary
kind of fight, pressing upon the enemy with their own weight and that
of their arms; but on the other side there was more of skirmishing
and rapid movement than force. Accordingly, on the first charge,
the Romans immediately drove back the line of their opponents; then
pushing them with their elbows and the bosses of their shields, and
pressing forward into the places from which they had pushed them,
they advanced a considerable space, as though there had been no one to
resist them, those who formed the rear urging forward those in
front when they perceived the line of the enemy giving way; which
circumstance itself gave great additional force in repelling them. On
the side of the enemy, the second line, consisting of the Africans and
Carthaginians, were so far from supporting the first line when giving
ground, that, on the contrary, they even retired, lest their enemy,
by slaying those who made a firm resistance, should penetrate to
themselves also. Accordingly, the auxiliaries suddenly turned their
backs, and facing about upon their own party, fled, some of them into
the second line, while others slew those who did not receive them into
their ranks, since before they did not support them, and now refused
to receive them. And now there were, in a manner, two contests going
on together, the Carthaginians being compelled to fight at once with
the enemy and with their own party. Not even then, however, did they
receive into their line the terrified and exasperated troops; but,
closing their ranks, drove them out of the scene of action to the
wings and the surrounding plain, lest they should mingle these
soldiers, terrified with defeat and wounds, with that part of their
line which was firm and fresh. But such a heap of men and arms had
filled the space in which the auxiliaries a little while ago had
stood, that it was almost more difficult to pass through it than
through a close line of troops. The spearmen, therefore, who formed
the front line, pursuing the enemy as each could find a way through
the heap of arms and men, and streams of blood, threw into complete
disorder the battalions and companies. The standards also of the
principes had begun to waver when they saw the line before them driven
from their ground. Scipio, perceiving this, promptly ordered the
signal to be given for the spearmen to retreat, and, having taken his
wounded into the rear, brought the principes and triarii to the wings,
in order that the line of spearmen in the centre might be more strong
and secure. Thus a fresh and renewed battle commenced, inasmuch as
they had penetrated to their real antagonists, men equal to them in
the nature of their arms, in their experience in war, in the fame of
their achievements, and the greatness of their hopes and fears. But
the Romans were superior both in numbers and courage, for they had now
routed both the cavalry and the elephants, and having already defeated
the front line, were fighting against the second.
35. Laelius and Masinissa, who had pursued the routed cavalry through
a considerable space, returning very opportunely, charged the rear of
the enemy's line. This attack of the cavalry at length routed them.
Many of them, being surrounded, were slain in the field; and many,
dispersed in flight through the open plain around, were slain on
all hands, as the cavalry were in possession of every part. Of the
Carthaginians and their allies, above twenty thousand were slain on
that day; about an equal number were captured, with a hundred and
thirty-three military standards, and eleven elephants. Of the victors
as many as two thousand fell. Hannibal, slipping off during the
confusion, with a few horsemen came to Adrumetum, not quitting the
field till he had tried every expedient both in the battle and before
the engagement; having, according to the admission of Scipio, and
every one skilled in military science, acquired the fame of having
marshalled his troops on that day with singular judgment. He placed
his elephants in the front, in order that their desultory attack, and
insupportable violence, might prevent the Romans from following their
standards, and preserving their ranks, on which they placed their
principal dependence. Then he posted his auxiliaries before the line
of Carthaginians, in order that men who were made up of the refuse of
all nations and who were not bound by honour but by gain, might not
have any retreat open to them in case they fled; at the same time that
the first ardour and impetuosity might be exhausted upon them, and,
if they could render no other service, that the weapons of the enemy
might be blunted in wounding them. Next he placed the Carthaginian
and African soldiers, on whom he placed all his hopes, in order that,
being equal to the enemy in every other respect, they might have the
advantage of them, inasmuch as, being fresh and unimpaired in strength
themselves, they would fight with those who were fatigued and wounded.
The Italians he removed into the rear, separating them also by an
intervening space, as he knew not, with certainty, whether they were
friends or enemies. Hannibal, after performing this as it were his
last work of valour, fled to Adrumetum, whence, having been summoned
to Carthage, he returned thither in the six and thirtieth year after
he had left it when a boy; and confessed in the senate-house that he
was defeated, not only in the battle, but in the war, and that there
was no hope of safety in any thing but in obtaining peace.
36. Immediately after the battle, Scipio, having taken and plundered
the enemy's camp, returned to the sea and his ships, with an immense
booty, news having reached him that Publius Lentulus had arrived at
Utica with fifty men of war, and a hundred transports laden with every
kind of stores. Concluding that he ought to bring before Carthage
every thing which could increase the consternation already existing
there, after sending Laelius to Rome to report his victory, he ordered
Cneius Octavius to conduct the legions thither by land; and, setting
out himself from Utica with the fresh fleet of Lentulus, added to
his former one, made for the harbour of Carthage. When he had arrived
within a short distance, he was met by a Carthaginian ship decked with
fillets and branches of olive. There were ten deputies, the leading
men in the state, sent at the instance of Hannibal to solicit peace;
to whom, when they had come up to the stern of the general's ship,
holding out the badges of suppliants, entreating and imploring the
protection and compassion of Scipio, the only answer given was, that
they must come to Tunes, to which place he would move his camp. After
taking a view of the site of Carthage, not so much for the sake of
acquainting himself with it for any present object, as to dispirit
the enemy, he returned to Utica, having recalled Octavius to the
same place. As they were proceeding thence to Tunes, they received
intelligence that Vermina, the son of Syphax, with a greater number of
horse than foot, was coming to the assistance of the Carthaginians.
A part of his infantry, with all the cavalry, having attacked them on
their march on the first day of the Saturnalia, routed the Numidians
with little opposition; and as every way by which they could escape in
flight was blocked up, for the cavalry surrounded them on all sides,
fifteen thousand men were slain, twelve hundred were taken alive, with
fifteen hundred Numidian horses, and seventy-two military standards.
The prince himself fled from the field with a few attendants during
the confusion. The camp was then pitched near Tunes in the same place
as before, and thirty ambassadors came to Scipio from Carthage. These
behaved in a manner even more calculated to excite compassion than the
former, in proportion as their situation was more pressing; but
from the recollection of their recent perfidy, they were heard with
considerably less pity. In the council, though all were impelled by
just resentment to demolish Carthage, yet, when they reflected upon
the magnitude of the undertaking, and the length of time which would
be consumed in the siege of so well fortified and strong a city,
while Scipio himself was uneasy in consequence of the expectation of
a successor, who would come in for the glory of having terminated the
war, though it was accomplished already by the exertions and danger of
another, the minds of all were inclined to peace.
37. The next day the ambassadors being called in again, and with
many rebukes for their perfidy, warned that, instructed by so many
disasters, they would at length believe in the existence of the gods,
and the obligation of an oath, these conditions of the peace were
stated to them: "That they should enjoy their liberty and live under
their own laws; that they should possess such cities and territories
as they had enjoyed before the war, and with the same boundaries, and
that the Romans should on that day desist from devastation. That they
should restore to the Romans all deserters and fugitives, giving up
all their ships of war except ten triremes, with such tamed elephants
as they had, and that they should not tame any more. That they should
not carry on war in or out of Africa without the permission of the
Roman people. That they should make restitution to Masinissa, and
form a league with him. That they should furnish corn, and pay for the
auxiliaries until the ambassadors had returned from Rome. That they
should pay ten thousand talents of silver, in equal annual instalments
distributed over fifty years. That they should give a hundred
hostages, according to the pleasure of Scipio, not younger than
fourteen nor older than thirty. That he would grant them a truce on
condition that the transports, together with their cargoes, which had
been seized during the former truce, were restored. Otherwise they
would have no truce, nor any hope of a peace." When the ambassadors
who were ordered to bear these conditions home reported them in an
assembly, and Gisgo had stood forth to dissuade them from the
terms, and was being listened to by the multitude, who were at once
indisposed for peace and unfit for war, Hannibal, indignant that such
language should be held and listened to at such a juncture, laid
hold of Gisgo with his own hand, and dragged him from his elevated
position. This unusual sight in a free state having raised a murmur
among the people, the soldier, disconcerted at the liberties which the
citizens took, thus addressed them: "Having left you when nine years
old, I have returned after a lapse of thirty-six years. I flatter
myself I am well acquainted with the qualifications of a soldier,
having been instructed in them from my childhood, sometimes by my own
situation, and sometimes by that of my country. The privileges, the
laws, and customs of the city and the forum you ought to teach me."
Having thus apologized for his indiscretion, he discoursed largely
concerning the peace, showing how inoppressive the terms were, and how
necessary it was. The greatest difficulty was, that of the ships which
had been seized during the truce nothing was to be found except the
ships themselves: nor was it easy to collect the property, because
those who were charged with having it were opposed to the peace. It
was resolved that the ships should be restored, and that the men at
least should be looked up; and as to whatever else was missing, that
it should be left to Scipio to put a value upon it, and that the
Carthaginians should make compensation accordingly in money. There
are those who say that Hannibal went from the field of battle to the
sea-coast; whence he immediately sailed in a ship, which he had ready
for the purpose, to king Antiochus; and that when Scipio demanded
above every thing that Hannibal should be given up to him, answer was
made that Hannibal was not in Africa.
38. After the ambassadors returned to Scipio, the quaestors were
ordered to give in an account, made out from the public registers,
of the public property which had been in the ships; and the owners
to make a return of the private property. For the amount of the value
twenty-five thousand pounds of silver were required to be paid down;
and a truce for three months was granted to the Carthaginians. It
was added, that during the time of the truce they should not
send ambassadors any where else than to Rome; and that, whatever
ambassadors came to Carthage, they should not dismiss them before
informing the Roman general who they were, and what they sought. With
the Carthaginian ambassadors, Lucius Veturius Philo, Marcus Marcius
Ralla, and Lucius Scipio, brother of the general, were sent to Rome.
At the time in which these events took place, the supplies sent from
Sicily and Sardinia produced such cheapness of provisions, that the
merchant gave up the corn to the mariners for their freight. At
Rome alarm was excited at the first intelligence of the renewal of
hostilities by the Carthaginians; and Tiberius Claudius was directed
to conduct the fleet with speed into Sicily, and cross over from that
place into Africa. The other consul, Marcus Servilius, was directed to
stay at the city until the state of affairs in Africa was ascertained.
Tiberius Claudius, the consul, proceeded slowly with every thing
connected with the equipment and sailing of the fleet, because the
senate had decided that it should be left to Scipio, rather than to
the consul, to determine the conditions on which the peace should be
granted. The accounts also of prodigies which arrived just at the time
of the news of the revival of the war, had occasioned great alarm.
At Cumae the orb of the sun seemed diminished, and a shower of stones
fell; and in the territory of Veliternum the earth sank in great
chasms, and trees were swallowed up in the cavities. At Aricia the
forum and the shops around it, at Frusino a wall in several places,
and a gate, were struck by lightning; and in the Palatium a shower of
stones fell. The latter prodigy, according to the custom handed down
by tradition, was expiated by a nine days' sacred rite; the rest
with victims of the larger sort. Amid these events an unusually great
rising of the waters was converted into a prodigy; for the Tiber
overflowed its banks to such a degree, that as the circus was under
water, the Apollinarian games were got up near the temple of Venus
Erycina, without the Colline gate. However, the weather suddenly
clearing up on the very day of the celebration, the procession, which
had begun to move at the Colline gate, was recalled and transferred to
the circus, on its being known that the water had retired thence. The
joy of the people and the attraction of the games were increased by
the restoration of this solemn spectacle to its proper scene.
39. The consul Claudius, having set out at length from the city,
was placed in the most imminent danger by a violent tempest, which
overtook him between the ports of Cosa and Laurentum. Having reached
Populonii, where he waited till the remainder of the tempest had
spent itself, he crossed over to the island Ilva. From Ilva he went to
Corsica, and from Corsica to Sardinia. Here, while sailing round the
Montes Insani, a tempest much more violent in itself, and in a more
dangerous situation, dispersed his fleet. Many of his ships were
shattered and stripped of their rigging, and some were wrecked. His
fleet thus weatherbeaten and shattered arrived at Carales, where the
winter came on while the ships were drawn on shore and refitted. The
year having elapsed, and no one proposing to continue him in command,
Tiberius Claudius brought back his fleet to Rome in a private
capacity. Marcus Servilius set out for his province, having nominated
Caius Servilius Geminus as dictator, that he might not be recalled to
the city to hold the elections. The dictator appointed Publius Aelius
Paetus master of the horse. It frequently happened, that the elections
could not be held on account of bad weather, though the days were
fixed for them; and, therefore, as the magistrates of the former year
retired from their offices on the day before the ides of March, and
fresh ones were not appointed to succeed them, the state was without
curule magistrates. Lucius Manlius Torquatus, a pontiff, died this
year. Caius Sulpicius Galba was elected in his room. The Roman games
were thrice repeated by the curule aediles, Lucius Licinius Lucullus
and Quintus Fulvius. Some scribes and runners belonging to the
aediles were found, on the testimony of an informer, to have privately
conveyed money out of the treasury, and were condemned, not without
disgrace to the aedile Lucullus. Publius Aelius Tubero and Lucius
Laetorius, plebeian aediles, on account of some informality in their
creation, abdicated their office, after having celebrated the games,
and the banquet on occasion of the games, in honour of Jupiter, and
after having placed in the Capitol three statues made out of silver
paid as fines. The dictator and master of the horse celebrated the
games in honour of Ceres, in conformity with a decree of the senate.
40. The Roman, together with the Carthaginian ambassadors, having
arrived at Rome from Africa, the senate was assembled at the temple
of Bellona; when Lucius Veturius Philo stated, to the great joy of
the senate, that a battle had been fought with Hannibal, which was
decisive of the fate of the Carthaginians, and that a period was
at length put to that calamitous war. He added what formed a small
accession to their successes, that Vermina, the son of Syphax,
had been vanquished. He was then ordered to go forth to the public
assembly, and impart the joyful tidings to the people. Then, a
thanksgiving having been appointed, all the temples in the city
were thrown open, and supplications for three days were decreed. The
ambassadors of the Carthaginians, and those of king Philip, for they
also had arrived, requesting an audience of the senate, answer was
made by the dictator, by order of the fathers, that the new consuls
would give them an audience. The elections were then held. The consuls
elected were Cneius Cornelius Lentulus and Publius Aelius Paetus.
The praetors elected were Marcus Junius Pennus, to whose lot the
city jurisdiction fell, Marcus Valerius Falto, who received Bruttium,
Marcus Fabius Buteo, who received Sardinia, and Publius Aelius Tubero,
who received Sicily. It was the pleasure of the senate that nothing
should be done respecting the provinces of the consuls, till the
ambassadors of king Philip and the Carthaginians had been heard;
for they foresaw the termination of one war and the commencement
of another. Cneius Lentulus, the consul, was inflamed with a strong
desire to have the province of Africa, looking forward to an easy
victory if there was still war, or, if it was on the point of being
concluded, to the glory of having it terminated in his consulate. He
therefore refused to allow any business to be transacted before the
province of Africa was assigned him; his colleague, who was a moderate
and prudent man, giving up his claim to it, for he clearly saw that
a contest with Scipio for that honour would be not only unjust
but unequal. Quintus Minucius Thermus, and Manius Acilius Glabrio,
tribunes of the people, said that Cneius Cornelius was endeavouring to
effect the same object which had been attempted in vain by the consul
Tiberius Claudius the former year. That, by the direction of the
senate, it had been proposed to the people to decide whom they wished
to have the command in Africa, and all the thirty-five tribes had
concurred in assigning that command to Publius Scipio. After many
discussions, both in the senate and popular assembly, it was at length
determined to leave it to the senate. The fathers, therefore, on
oath, for so it had been agreed, voted, that as to the provinces, the
consuls should settle between themselves, or determine by lots, which
of them should have Italy, and which a fleet of fifty ships. That he
to whose lot the fleet fell should sail to Sicily, and if peace could
not be concluded with the Carthaginians, that he should cross over
into Africa. That the consul should act by sea, and Scipio by land,
with the same right of command as heretofore. If an agreement should
be come to, as to the terms of the peace, that then the plebeian
tribunes should consult the commons as to whether they ordered the
consul or Publius Scipio to grant the peace; and if the victorious
army was to be brought home out of Africa, whom they ordered to bring
it. That if they ordered that the peace should be granted by Publius
Scipio, and that the army should be brought home likewise by him, then
the consul should not pass out of Sicily into Africa. That the other
consul, to whose lot Italy fell, should receive two legions from
Marcus Sextius the praetor.
41. Publius Scipio was continued in command in the province of Africa,
with the armies which he then had. To the praetor Marcus Valerius
Falto the two legions in Bruttium, which Caius Livius had commanded
the preceding year, were assigned. Publius Aelius, the praetor, was to
receive two legions in Sicily from Cneius Tremellius. To Marcus Fabius
was assigned one legion, which Publius Lentulus, propraetor, had
commanded, to be employed in Sardinia; Marcus Servilius, the consul of
the former year, was continued in command in Etruria, with his own
two legions likewise. As to Spain, it appeared that Lucius Cornelius
Lentulus and Lucius Manlius Acidinus had been there for now several
years. It was resolved, therefore, that the consuls should make
application to the plebeian tribunes to take the opinion of the
people, if they thought proper, as to whom they ordered to have
command in Spain; that the person so ordered should form one legion of
Roman soldiers out of the two armies, and also fifteen cohorts of
the allies of the Latin confederacy, with which he should occupy the
province. That Lucius Cornelius Lentulus and Lucius Manlius Acidinus
should convey the old soldiers into Italy. To Cornelius, the consul,
was assigned a fleet of fifty ships formed out of the two fleets, one
of which was under Cneius Octavius in Africa, the other employed
in protecting the coast of Sicily, under Publius Villius. He was to
select such ships as he pleased. That Publius Scipio should still
have the forty ships of war which he before had, or if he wished that
Cneius Octavius should command it, as he had commanded a fleet there
before, that Octavius should be continued in command for a year as
propraetor; but if he appointed Laelius to the command of it, Octavius
should retire to Rome, and bring with him the ships which the consul
did not want. To Marcus Fabius also ten men of war were assigned for
Sardinia. The consuls were directed to enlist two city legions, so
that the operations of the state might be carried on this year with
fourteen legions, and one hundred men of war.
42. Then the business relating to the ambassadors of Philip and the
Carthaginians was considered. It was resolved that the Macedonians
should be brought before the senate first. Their address comprehended
a variety of subjects, being employed partly in clearing themselves
from the charges relative to the depredations committed against the
allies, which the deputies sent to the king from Rome had brought
against them; and partly in preferring accusations themselves against
the allies of the Roman people, but particularly against Marcus
Aurelius, whom they inveighed against with much greater acrimony; for
they said that, being one of the three ambassadors sent to them,
he had staid behind, and levying soldiers, had assailed them with
hostilities contrary to the league, and frequently fought pitched
battles with their prefects; and partly in preferring a request that
the Macedonians and their general, Sopater, who had served in the
army of Hannibal for hire, and having been made prisoners were kept
in bondage, should be restored to them. In opposition to these things
Marcus Furius, who had been sent from Macedonia for the express
purpose by Aurelius, thus argued: he said, "that Aurelius, having
been left behind, lest the allies of the Roman people, wearied by
devastations and injuries, should revolt to the king, had not gone
beyond the boundaries of the allies; but had taken measures to prevent
plundering parties from crossing over into their lands with impunity.
That Sopater was one of those who wore purple, and was related to
the king; that he had been lately sent into Africa with four
thousand Macedonians and a sum of money to assist Hannibal and the
Carthaginians." The Macedonians, on being interrogated on these
points, proceeded to answer in a subtle and evasive manner; but
without waiting for the conclusion of their reply they were told,
"that the king was seeking occasion for war, and that if he persisted
he would soon obtain his object. That the treaty had been doubly
violated by him, both by offering insults to the allies of the Roman
people, by assaulting them with hostilities and arms, and also by
aiding their enemies with auxiliaries and money. That Publius Scipio
was deemed to have acted properly and regularly in keeping in chains,
as enemies, those who had been made prisoners while bearing arms
against the Romans; and that Marcus Aurelius had consulted the
interest of the state, and the senate were thankful to him for it, in
protecting the allies of the Roman people by arms, since he could not
do it by the obligation of the treaty." The Macedonian ambassadors
having been dismissed with this unpleasant answer, the Carthaginian
ambassadors were called. On observing their ages and dignified
appearance, for they were by far the first men of the state, all
promptly declared their conviction, that now they were sincere in
their desire to effect a peace. Hasdrubal, however, surnamed by his
countrymen Haedus, who had invariably recommended peace, and was
opposed to the Barcine faction, was regarded with greater interest
than the rest. On these accounts the greater weight was attached to
him when transferring the blame of the war from the state at large to
the cupidity of a few. After a speech of varied character, in which he
sometimes refuted the charges which had been brought, at other times
admitted some, lest by impudently denying what was manifestly
true their forgiveness might be the more difficult; and then, even
admonishing the conscript fathers to be guided by the rules of decorum
and moderation in their prosperity, he said, that if the Carthaginians
had listened to himself and Hanno, and had been disposed to make a
proper use of circumstances, they would themselves have dictated
terms of peace, instead of begging it as they now did. That it rarely
happened that good fortune and a sound judgment were bestowed upon
men at the same time. That the Roman people were therefore invincible,
because when successful they forgot not the maxims of wisdom and
prudence; and indeed it would have been matter of astonishment did
they act otherwise. That those persons to whom success was a new and
uncommon thing, proceeded to a pitch of madness in their ungoverned
transports in consequence of their not being accustomed to it. That to
the Roman people the joy arising from victory was a matter of common
occurrence, and was now almost become old-fashioned. That they
had extended their empire more by sparing the vanquished than by
conquering. The language employed by the others was of a nature more
calculated to excite compassion; they represented from what a height
of power the Carthaginian affairs had fallen. That nothing, besides
the walls of Carthage, remained to those who a little time ago held
almost the whole world in subjection by their arms; that, shut up
within these, they could see nothing any where on sea or land which
owned their authority. That they would retain possession of their city
itself and their household gods only, in case the Roman people should
refrain from venting their indignation upon these, which is all that
remains for them to do. When it was manifest that the fathers were
moved by compassion, it is said that one of the senators, violently
incensed at the perfidy of the Carthaginians, immediately asked with
a loud voice, by what gods they would swear in striking the league,
since they had broken their faith with those by whom they swore in
striking the former one? By those same, replied Hasdrubal, who have
shown such determined hostility to the violators of treaties.
43. The minds of all being disposed to peace, Cneius Lentulus, whose
province the fleet was, protested against the decree of the senate.
Upon this, Manius Acilius and Quintus Minucius, tribunes of the
people, put the question to the people, whether they willed and
ordered that the senate should decree that peace should be made with
the Carthaginians? whom they ordered to grant that peace, and whom to
conduct the army out of Africa? All the tribes ordered respecting
the peace according as the question had been put. That Publius Scipio
should grant the peace, and that he also should conduct the army
home. Agreeably to this order, the senate decreed that Publius Scipio,
acting according to the opinion of the ten deputies, should make
peace with the Carthaginian people on what terms he pleased. The
Carthaginians then returned thanks to the senate, and requested
that they might be allowed to enter the city and converse with their
countrymen who had been made prisoners and were in custody of the
state; observing, that some of them were their relations and friends,
and men of rank, and some, persons to whom they were charged with
messages from their relations. Having obtained these requests, they
again asked permission to ransom such of them as they pleased; when
they were desired to give in their names. Having given in a list of
about two hundred, a decree of the senate was passed to the effect,
that the Carthaginian ambassadors should be allowed to take away into
Africa to Publius Cornelius Scipio two hundred of the Carthaginian
prisoners, selecting whom they pleased; and that they should convey
to him a message, that if the peace were concluded, he should restore
them to the Carthaginians without ransom. The heralds being; ordered
to go into Africa to strike the league, at their own desire the senate
passed a decree that they should take with them flint stones of their
own, and vervain of their own; that the Roman praetor should command
them to strike the league, and that they should demand of him herbs.
The description of herb usually given to the heralds is taken from the
Capitol. Thus the Carthaginians, being allowed to depart from Rome,
when they had gone into Africa to Scipio concluded the peace on the
terms before mentioned. They delivered up their men-of-war, their
elephants, deserters, fugitives, and four thousand prisoners, among
whom was Quintus Terentius Culleo, a senator. The ships he ordered to
be taken out into the main and burnt. Some say there were five hundred
of every description of those which are worked with oars, and that the
sudden sight of these, when burning, occasioned as deep a sensation
of grief to the Carthaginians as if Carthage had been in flames. The
measures adopted respecting the deserters were more severe than those
respecting the fugitives. Those who were of the Latin confederacy were
decapitated; the Romans were crucified.
44. The last peace with the Carthaginians was made forty years before
this, in the consulate of Quintus Lutatius and Aulus Manlius. The war
commenced twenty-three years afterwards, in the consulate of Publius
Cornelius and Tiberius Sempronius. It was concluded in the seventeenth
year, in the consulate of Cneius Cornelius and Publius Aelius Paetus.
It is related that Scipio frequently said afterwards, that first the
ambition of Tiberius Claudius, and afterwards of Cneius Cornelius,
were the causes which prevented his terminating the war by the
destruction of Carthage. The Carthaginians, finding difficulty in
raising the first sum of money to be paid, as their finances were
exhausted by a protracted war, and in consequence great lamentation
and grief arising in the senate-house, it is said that Hannibal was
observed laughing; and when Hasdrubal Haedus rebuked him for laughing
amid the public grief, when he himself was the occasion of the tears
which were shed, he said: "If, as the expression of the countenance
is discerned by the sight, so the inward feelings of the mind could be
distinguished, it would clearly appear to you that that laughter which
you censure came from a heart not elated with joy, but frantic with
misfortunes. And yet it is not so ill-timed as those absurd and
inconsistent tears of yours. Then you ought to have wept, when our
arms were taken from us, our ships burnt, and we were forbidden to
engage in foreign wars, for that was the wound by which we fell. Nor
is it just that you should suppose that the measures which the Romans
have adopted towards you have been dictated by animosity. No great
state can remain at rest long together. If it has no enemy abroad
it finds one at home, in the same manner as over-robust bodies
seem secure from external causes, but are encumbered with their own
strength. So far, forsooth, we are affected with the public calamities
as they reach our private affairs; nor is there any circumstance
attending them which is felt more acutely than the loss of money.
Accordingly, when the spoils were torn down from vanquished Carthage,
when you beheld her left unarmed and defenceless amid so many armed
nations of Africa, none heaved a sigh. Now, because a tribute is to be
levied from private property, you lament with one accord, as though at
the funeral of the state. How much do I dread lest you should soon be
made sensible that you have shed tears this day for the lightest of
your misfortunes!" Such were the sentiments which Hannibal delivered
to the Carthaginians. Scipio, having summoned an assembly, presented
Masinissa, in addition to his paternal dominions, with the town of
Cirta, and the other cities and territories which had passed from the
kingdom of Syphax into the possession of the Romans. He ordered Cneius
Octavius to conduct the fleet to Sicily and deliver it to Cneius
Cornelius the consul, and directed the Carthaginian ambassadors to go
to Rome, that the arrangements he had made, with the advice of the
ten deputies, might be ratified by the sanction of the fathers and the
order of the people.
45. Peace having been established by sea and land, he embarked his
troops and crossed over to Lilybaeum in Sicily; whence, having sent
a great part of his soldiers by ships, he himself proceeded through
Italy, which was rejoicing, not less on account of the peace than the
victory; while not only the inhabitants of the cities poured out to
show him honour, but crowds of rustics thronged the roads. He arrived
at Rome and entered the city in a triumph of unparalleled splendour.
He brought into the treasury one hundred and twenty-three thousand
pounds of silver. He distributed to each of his soldiers four hundred
asses out of the spoils. By the death of Syphax, which took place but
a short time before at Tibur, whither he had been removed from Alba,
a diminution was occasioned in the interest of the pageant rather than
in the glory of him who triumphed. His death, however, was attended
with circumstances which produced a strong sensation, for he was
buried at the public expense. Polybius, an author by no means to
be despised, asserts that this king was led in the triumph. Quintus
Terentius Culleo followed Scipio in his triumph with a cap of liberty
on his head, and during the remainder of his life treated him with the
respect due to him as the author of his freedom. I have not been able
to ascertain whether the partiality of the soldiers or the favour of
the people fixed upon him the surname of Africanus, or whether in the
same manner as Felix was applied to Sulla, and Magnus to Pompey,
in the memory of our fathers, it originated in the flattery of his
friends. He was, doubtless, the first general who was distinguished by
a name derived from the nation which he had conquered. Afterwards,
in imitation of his example, some, by no means his equals in his
victories, affixed splendid inscriptions on their statues and gave
honourable surnames to their families.