Fifty years had passed since Zama. It was a period of great commercial
prosperity for Carthage, but her government was weakened by the quarrels
of conflicting factions.
MASINISSA, King of Numidia, an ally of the Romans, was a continual
source of annoyance to Carthage. He made inroads upon her territory,
and, as she was bound by her treaty not to war upon any allies of Rome,
her only recourse was to complain to the Senate. In 157 an embassy was
sent to inquire into the troubles. MARCUS PORCIUS CATO, the chief of the
embassy, was especially alarmed at the prosperity of the city, and from
that time never ceased to urge its destruction. The embassy did not
reach any decision, but allowed matters to go on as they might. Finally,
when some sympathizers with Masinissa were banished from the city, he
attacked and defeated the Carthaginians, compelled their army to
pass under the yoke, and afterwards treacherously destroyed it (150).
Carthage was compelled to give up some of her territory, and pay
$5,000,000 indemnity.
After this victory, matters came to a crisis. The city must be
disciplined for warring with an ally of Rome. Cato never failed to
close any speech he might make in the Senate with the same cruel words,
_Delenda est Carthago_, "Carthage must be destroyed." The people of
Carthage were called to account. Desponding and broken-hearted, they
sent ambassadors to Rome. The answer given them was obscure. They were
requested to make reparation to Rome, and at the same time they were
assured that nothing should be undertaken against Carthage herself.
But in 149 the Consuls crossed with a large army into Sicily, where the
troops were organized, and Carthaginian ambassadors were expected.
When they appeared, the Consuls declared that the Senate did not wish to
encroach upon the freedom of the people, but only desired some security;
for this purpose it demanded that, within thirty days, three hundred
children of the noblest families should be delivered into their hands
as hostages. This demand was met. The Romans then coolly crossed over
to Africa, and informed the Carthaginians that they were ready to treat
with them on any question not previously settled.
When the ambassadors again appeared before the Consuls, they were told
that Carthage must deliver over all her arms and artillery; for, they
said, as Rome was able to protect her, there was no need of Carthage
possessing arms. Hard as was this command, it was obeyed. They were then
told that Carthage had indeed shown her good will, but that Rome had no
control over the city so long as it was fortified. The preservation of
peace, therefore, required that the people should quit the city, give
up their navy, and build a new town without walls at a distance of ten
miles from the sea. The indignation and fury which this demand excited
were intense. The gates were instantly closed, and all the Romans and
Italians who happened to be within the city were massacred.
The Romans, who expected to find a defenceless population, imagined
that the storming of the place would be an easy matter. But despair had
suggested to the Carthaginians means of defence in every direction.
All assaults were repelled. Everybody was engaged day and night in the
manufacture of arms. Nothing can be more heartrending than this last
struggle of despair. Every man and every woman labored to the uttermost
for the defence of the city with a furious enthusiasm.
Two years after the siege began, PUBLIUS CORNELIUS SCIPIO AFRICANUS,
the Younger, was elected Consul while but thirty-seven (under the legal
age), for the express purpose of giving him charge of the siege. After
two years of desperate fighting and splendid heroism on the part of the
defenders, the famished garrison could hold out no longer.
Carthage fell in 146, and the ruins of the city burned for seventeen
days. The destruction was complete. A part of her territory was given to
Numidia. The rest was made a Roman province, and called AFRICA.
The year 149 saw the death of two men who had been Carthage's most
bitter enemies, but who were not allowed to see her downfall,--MASINISSA
and CATO, the one aged ninety, the other eighty-five.
Masinissa's (239-149) hostility dates from the time he failed to get the
promised hand of Hasdrubal's daughter, Sophonisba, who was given to
his rival, Syphax. After the battle of Zama, most of the possessions of
Syphax fell to Masinissa, and among them this same Sophonisba, whom he
married. Scipio, however, fearing her influence over him, demanded
her as a Roman captive, whereupon she took poison. Masinissa was a
courageous prince, but a convenient tool for the Romans.
CATO THE ELDER (_Major_), (234-149,) whose long public career was a
constant struggle with the enemies of the state abroad, and with the
fashions of his countrymen at home, was a type of the _old_ Roman
character, with a stern sense of duty that forbade his neglecting the
interests of state, farm, or household. In 184, in his capacity as
Censor, he acted with extreme rigor. He zealously asserted old-fashioned
principles, and opposed the growing tendency to luxury. All innovations
were in his eyes little less than crimes. He was the author of several
works, one of which, a treatise on agriculture, has been preserved.
Cicero's "Cato Major" represents him in his eighty-fourth year
discoursing about old age with Africanus the younger, and Laelius, a
friend of the latter.