24.42
The
Carthaginian camp was next shifted to Munda, and the Romans instantly
followed them. Here a pitched battle was fought for four hours and the
Romans were winning a splendid victory when the signal was given to retire.
Cn. Scipio was wounded in the thigh with a javelin and the soldiers round
him were in great fear lest the wound should prove fatal. There was not the
smallest doubt that if that delay had not occurred the Carthaginian camp
could have been captured that same day, for the men and the elephants, too,
had been driven back to their lines, and thirty-nine of the latter had been
transfixed by the heavy Roman javelins. It is stated that 12,000 men were
killed in this battle and about 3000 made prisoners, whilst fifty-seven
standards were taken. From there the Carthaginians retreated to Auringis,
the Romans following them up slowly and allowing them no time to recover
from their defeats. There another battle was fought, and Scipio was carried
into the field on a litter. The victory was decisive, though not half as many of
the enemy were killed as on the previous occasion, for there were fewer left
to fight. But the Spaniards have a natural instinct for repairing the losses in
war, and when Mago was sent by his brother to raise troops, they very soon
filled up the gaps in the army and encouraged their generals to try another
battle. Though they were mostly fresh soldiers, yet as they had to defend a
cause which had been repeatedly worsted in so short a time, they fought with
the same spirit and the same result as those before them had done. More
than 8000 men were killed, not less than 1000 made prisoners, and fifty-eight
standards were captured. Most of the spoil had belonged to Gauls, there
were a large number of golden armlets and chains, and two distinguished
Gaulish chieftains, Moeniacoepto and Vismaro, fell in the battle. Eight
elephants were captured and three killed. As things were going so
prosperously in Spain, the Romans at last began to feel ashamed of having
left Saguntum, the primary cause of the war, in the possession of the enemy
for almost eight years. So after expelling the Carthaginian garrison they
recovered the town and restored it to all the former inhabitants whom the
ravages of war had spared. The Turdetani, who had brought about the war
between Saguntum and Carthage, were reduced to subjection and sold as
slaves; their city was utterly destroyed.
