24.49
Gala
had a son called Masinissa, seventeen years old, but a youth of such a strong
character that even then it was evident that he would make the kingdom
greater and wealthier than he received it. The envoys pointed out to Gala
that since Syphax had joined the Romans in order to strengthen his hands, by
their alliance, against the kings and peoples of Africa, the best thing for him
to do would be to unite with the Carthaginians as soon as possible, before
Syphax crossed into Spain or the Romans into Africa. Syphax, they said,
could easily be crushed, for he had got nothing out of the Roman alliance
except the name. Gala's son asked to be entrusted with the management of
the war and easily persuaded his father to send an army, which in
conjunction with the Carthaginians conquered Syphax in a great battle, in
which it is stated that 30,000 men were killed. Syphax with a few of his
horse fled from the field to the Maurusii, a tribe of Numidians who dwell at
almost the furthest point of Africa near the ocean, opposite Gades. At the
news of his arrival the barbarians flocked to him from all sides and in a short
time he armed an immense force. Whilst he was preparing to cross over with
them into Spain, which was only separated by a narrow strait, Masinissa
arrived with his victorious army, and won a great reputation by the way in
which he concluded the war against Syphax without any help from the
Carthaginians. In Spain nothing of any importance took place except that the
Romans secured for themselves the services of the Celtiberians by offering
them the same pay which the Carthaginians had agreed to pay. They also
sent to Italy three hundred of the leading Spanish nobility to win over their
countrymen who were serving with Hannibal. That is the solitary incident in
Spain worth recording for the year, and its interest lies in the fact that the
Romans had never had a mercenary soldier in their camp until they employed
the Celtiberians.
End of Book 24
