IN THE ROMAN CAMP.
There had been, as has been seen, not a few fluctuations of fortune in
the conflicts which had followed after the landing of Mancinus. One
result of this had been that a considerable number of prisoners had been
taken on both sides. Both sides, also, were anxious for an exchange. The
Carthaginians did not care to have any more useless men to feed than
could be helped; the Romans feared, and not without reason, that their
friends and comrades would be barbarously treated. Carthage had always
had an evil reputation in this respect, and was only too likely to
justify it, if ever she should be driven to extremities.
The envoy who conducted the negotiations on behalf of the city was a
member of the Senate named Maharbal. He had made himself conspicuous as
a leader of the peace, otherwise the pro-Roman, party, and was supposed,
therefore, to be acceptable to Scipio. Cleanor accompanied him in the
capacity of interpreter. The interviews would be conducted in Greek, a
language which Scipio spoke fluently. As for Latin, there was no one in
Carthage who was able to speak more than a few words of it; nor was
there in the Roman camp any more knowledge of the Punic tongue. There
could not be a greater proof of the irreconcilable hostility of the two
nations than this mutual ignorance.
Cleanor's visit was paid at a very interesting time, for the Roman camp
was undergoing, at the hands of the new commander, a very thorough
process of cleansing. It had fallen, under the management of his
incompetent predecessors, into a most deplorable condition. In the first
place it swarmed with disreputable camp-followers. There was a crowd of
sutlers, traders who sold to the soldiers various luxuries at the most
extravagant prices, and bought from them their plunder for ridiculously
small sums of ready money. There was a still greater multitude of
soldiers' servants. Even a private trooper must have a slave to groom
his horse; and an infantry soldier thought it a hardship if he had to
clean and polish his own arms. As some of the officers had a whole
establishment of attendants, there was a second army of servants
actually more numerous than the first army of fighting men.
Scipio made short work with these useless and mischievous encumbrances.
No sutler or dealer was allowed to remain in the camp, or even in the
neighbourhood, unless he held the general's license. Even then he was
not allowed to sell any articles but such as were contained in a very
brief list authorized by the general, and at prices which had received
his sanction. The purchase of articles from the soldiers was absolutely
forbidden. Indeed, the trade ceased of itself, for plunder was rigidly
prohibited. Any soldier who went further from the camp than the bugle
could be heard made himself liable to be treated as a deserter. The
reform in the matter of the soldiers' servants was no less radical. Two
were allowed to a tribune, one to a centurion, and four, who were to be
owned and employed in common, to a century or company of infantry and a
troop of cavalry. All these were to be able-bodied men, who had learnt
military drill; and they were liable on occasion to serve in the ranks.
Scipio, still acting on the principle which had made him announce his
arrival to the Carthaginians, kept nothing secret from the envoy and his
escort; he took pains, on the contrary, that they should see and learn
everything that was to be seen or learnt. He invited them to be present
at a general assembly of the army, which was summoned during their stay
in the camp to hear an address from himself. Maharbal knew, as has been
said, next to nothing of Latin, and Cleanor did not know enough to
enable him to follow Scipio throughout. Nevertheless, they could see
that the effect of the speech was remarkable. The orator held his
audience, so to speak, in the hollow of his hand. He was not speaking
smooth things to his army; on the contrary, he told them that they were
robbers rather than soldiers. He laid down for them for the future a
most rigid discipline; he gave them no hope of indulgence. But he was
heard with profound attention and without a murmur of dissent or
complaint.
The next morning Cleanor saw the banished multitude embark. A stranger
spectacle, a more motley crowd, and a more curious miscellany of
property was never beheld. One man was disconsolately watching while a
score of wine casks, full of some poisonous liquid which he had hoped an
African sun would sell for him, was hoisted on board; another had with
him a troop of performing dogs; a third was conducting a troop of
singing and dancing girls, whose rouged cheeks and tawdry finery looked
melancholy enough in the merciless light. The exiles were not by any
means silent; they cursed and quarrelled in a perfect Babel of
languages; but they did not dare to linger. A _cordon_ of soldiers kept
them rigidly within the boundaries of the place of embarkation. Vessel
after vessel took on board its cargo with a marvellous regularity and
speed. Before evening the camp had been brought back to a primitive
severity and simplicity which were worthy of the best times of the
Republic.
In the matter of the exchange Maharbal found the Roman general liberal
to the point of generosity. He was not careful to exact a very close
correspondence in the dignity or the number of the prisoners to be given
up and received. When every Roman had been accounted for, a considerable
balance of Carthaginians still remained in Scipio's hands. The envoy
offered to redeem them at the price which had been customary in former
wars, two pounds and a half of silver per man. Scipio smilingly refused
to receive it. "Your Hannibal," he said, "used to empty our treasury,
for it was seldom but he had more prisoners to give than to receive. You
must let me have the satisfaction of feeling that for once I am able to
be generous."
It was easy to transact business on such terms. When all was settled
the general invited the Carthaginian and his interpreter, whom he had
greeted in a most friendly fashion, to share his evening meal. He had
thoughtfully arranged that the two young officers who were his
_aides-de-camp_, and as such were commonly guests at his table, should
not be present. He felt that their company would not be agreeable to
Maharbal and still less to the young Greek. The only other guest was a
person whom Cleanor especially was delighted to meet. This was the
historian Polybius, who had already acquired a considerable reputation
as a soldier, a statesman, and a man of letters. Cleanor, during his
sojourn at Athens, had heard his character as a politician hotly
debated; that he was an honest man no one doubted. Personally he was
prejudiced against him as a partisan of Rome. But he found it impossible
to resist the charm of his conversation.
The hours passed only too quickly in such delightful company, and when
the time came to separate, Cleanor felt that he had not said a tenth
part of what he wanted to say to his new acquaintance. As they were
making their farewells, Polybius, who had heard from Scipio an outline
of the young Greek's story, found an opportunity of saying a few kindly
words.
"I could wish," he whispered, with a friendly pressure of the hand,
"that things were otherwise with you. Mind, I don't blame you, or doubt
but that you are quite loyal to conscience in what you do. But, believe
me, you are on the wrong side. Is there anyone in Carthage whom you can
compare in anything that makes the worth of a man with our noble Scipio?
I know something of what you feel, though I have not the same cause, for
I also am a Greek and have lost my country; but the gods give the
sovereignty to whom they will, and who are we to fight against them?
Farewell for the present! but I am sure that we shall meet again, and
under happier circumstances."
"I thank you for saying so," replied Cleanor; "but the future looks very
dark to me."
And, indeed, as he made his way back to the city, listening with but
half his mind to Maharbal's enthusiastic praises of the courtesy and
liberality of the Roman commander, he felt his spirits sink into a
deeper depression than he had ever known before.