22.20
Though the Romans saw that the enemy
were in force on land and that their army was extended along the shore, they
showed no hesitation in following up the enemy's panic-stricken fleet. They
secured all the ships which had not staved their prows in on the beach, or
grounded with their keels in the mud by fastening hawsers to their sterns and
dragging them into deep water. Out of forty vessels twenty-five were
captured in this way. This was not, however, the best part of the victory. Its
main importance lay in the fact that this one insignificant encounter gave the
mastery of the whole of the adjacent sea. The fleet accordingly sailed to
Onusa, and there the soldiers disembarked, captured and plundered the place
and then marched towards New Carthage. They ravaged the entire country
round, and ended by setting fire to the houses which adjoined the walls and
gates. Re-embarking laden with plunder, they sailed to Longuntica, where
they found a great quantity of esparto grass which Hasdrubal had collected
for the use of the navy, and after taking what they could use they burnt the
rest. They did not confine themselves to cruising along the coast, but crossed
over to the island of Ebusus, where they made a determined but unsuccessful
attack upon the capital during the whole of two days. As they found that
they were only wasting time on a hopeless enterprise, they took to
plundering the country, and sacked and burnt several villages. Here they
secured more booty than on the mainland, and after placing it on board, as
they were on the point of sailing away, some envoys came to Scipio from the
Balearic isles to sue for peace. From this point the fleet sailed back to the
eastern side of the province where envoys were assembled from all the tribes
in the district of the Ebro, and many even from the remotest parts of Spain.
The tribes which actually acknowledged the supremacy of Rome and gave
hostages amounted to more than a hundred and twenty. The Romans felt
now as much confidence in their army as in their navy, and marched as far as
the pass of Castulo. Hasdrubal retired to Lusitania where he was nearer to
the Atlantic.
