25.10
By this
time there was as much shouting and uproar as usually happens when a city
is taken, but nobody knew for certain what had happened. The Tarentines
thought that the Roman garrison had started to pillage the town; the Romans
were under the impression that the townsfolk had got up a disturbance with
some treacherous design. The commandant, awakened by the tumult, hurried
away to the harbour, and getting into a boat was rowed round to the citadel.
To add to the confusion the sound of a trumpet was heard from the theatre.
It was a Roman trumpet which the conspirators had procured for the
purpose, and being blown by a Greek who did not know how to use it, no
one could make out who gave the signal or for whom it was intended. When
it began to grow light, the Romans recognised the arms of the Carthaginians
and Gauls, and all doubt was removed; the Greeks, too, seeing the bodies of
the Romans lying about everywhere, became aware that the city had been
taken by Hannibal. When the light grew clearer and the Romans who
survived the massacre had taken refuge in the citadel, the tumult having
somewhat subsided, Hannibal ordered the Tarentines to assemble without
their arms. After they had all assembled, with the exception of those who
had accompanied the Romans into the citadel to share their fate whatever it
might be, Hannibal addressed some kind words to them, and reminded them
of the way he had treated their compatriots whom he had taken in the battle
of Cannae. He went on to inveigh bitterly against the tyranny of Roman
domination, and ended by ordering them each to return to their homes and
write their names over their doors; if any houses were not so inscribed he
should at once give the signal for them to be plundered, and if any one
placed an inscription on a house occupied by a Roman -they were in a
separate quarter -he should treat him as an enemy. The people were
dismissed, and after the inscriptions had been placed on the doors, so that
the houses could be distinguished from those of the enemy, the signal was
given and the troops dispersed in all directions to plunder the Roman houses.
There was a considerable amount of plunder seized.
