29.26
Many
Roman fleets had put out from Sicily and from that very port, but not even
during the First Punic War -in the present war the majority were simply
raiding expeditions -had any afforded a more striking picture at its
departure. And yet, if you only take into account the number of vessels, it
must be remembered that two consuls with their respective armies had left
that port on a previous occasion and the warships in their fleets were almost
as numerous as the transports with which Scipio was now making his
passage, for in addition to the forty ships of war he was carrying his army in
four hundred transports. Several causes conspired to invest the occasion
with unique interest. The Romans regarded the present war as a more
serious one than the former because it was going on in Italy, and had
involved the destruction of so many armies with their generals. Scipio, again,
had become the most popular general of his time for his gallant deeds of
arms, and his unvarying good fortune had immensely raised his reputation as
a soldier. His design of invading Africa had never before been attempted by
any commander, and it was generally believed that he would succeed in
drawing Hannibal away from Italy and finish the war on African soil. A vast
crowd of spectators had gathered in the harbour; besides the population of
Lilybaeum, all the deputations from the different cities in the island who had
come to pay their respects to Scipio as well as those who had accompanied
M. Pomponius, the governor of the province, were present. The legions
which were to remain in Sicily also marched down to bid their comrades
God-speed, and the throng which crowded the harbour was as grand a
spectacle to those afloat as the fleet itself was to those ashore.