23.32
The
consuls divided the armies between them; the army at Teanum which M.
Junius the Dictator had been commanding passed to Fabius, Sempronius
took command of the volunteer slaves there and 25,000 troops furnished by
the allies; the legions which had returned from Sicily were assigned to M.
Valerius the praetor; M. Claudius was sent to the army which was in camp
above Suessa to protect Nola; the praetors went to their respective
provinces in Sicily and Sardinia. The consuls issued a notice that whenever
the senate was summoned the senators and all who had the right of speaking
in the senate should meet at the Capena gate. The praetors whose duty it
was to hear cases set up their tribunals near the public bathing place and
ordered all litigants to answer to their recognisances at that place, and there
they administered justice during the year. In the meanwhile the news was
brought to Carthage that things had gone badly in Spain and that almost all
the communities in that country had gone over to Rome. Mago, Hannibal's
brother, was preparing to transport to Italy a force of 12,000 infantry, 1500
cavalry, and 20 elephants, escorted by a fleet of 60 warships. On the receipt
of this news, however, some were in favour of Mago, with such a fleet and
army as he had, going to Spain instead of Italy, but whilst they were
deliberating there was a sudden gleam of hope that Sardinia might be
recovered. They were told that "there was only a small Roman army there,
the old praetor, A. Cornelius, who knew the province well, was leaving and
a fresh one was expected; the Sardinians, too, were tired of their long
subjection, and during the last twelve months the government had been harsh
and rapacious and had crushed them with a heavy tax and an unfair exaction
of corn. Nothing was wanting but a leader to head their revolt. "This report
was brought by some secret agents from their leaders, the prime mover in
the matter being Hampsicora, the most influential and wealthy man amongst
them at that time. Perturbed by the news from Spain, and at the same time
elated by the Sardinian report, they sent Mago with his fleet and army to
Spain and selected Hasdrubal to conduct the operations in Sardinia,
assigning to him a force about as large as the one they had furnished to
Mago.
After they had transacted all the necessary business in Rome the
consuls began to prepare for war. Ti. Sempronius gave his soldiers notice of
the date when they were to assemble at Sinuessa, and Q. Fabius, after
previously consulting the senate, issued a proclamation warning every one to
convey the corn from their fields into the fortified cities by the first day of
the following June, all those who failed to do so would have their land laid
waste, their farms burnt, and they themselves would be sold into slavery.
Even the praetors who had been appointed to administer the law were not
exempted from military duties. It was decided that Valerius should be sent to
Apulia to take over the army from Terentius: when the legions came from
Sicily he was to employ them mainly for the defence of that district and send
the army of Terentius under one of his lieutenants to Tarentum. A fleet of
twenty-five vessels was also supplied him for the protection of the coast
between Brundisium and Tarentum. A fleet of equal strength was assigned to
Q. Fulvius, the praetor in charge of the City, for the defence of the coast
near Rome. C. Terentius, as proconsul, was commissioned to raise a force in
the territory of Picenum to defend that part of the country. Lastly, T.
Otacilius Crassus was despatched to Sicily, after he had dedicated the temple
of Mens, with full powers as propraetor to take command of the fleet.
