Livy's History of Rome: Book 30
Close of the Hannibalic War
30.1
It was now the
sixteenth year of the Punic War. The new consuls, Cnaeus Servilius and
Caius Servilius, laid before the senate the questions of the general policy of
the republic, the conduct of the war and the assignment of the provinces. It
was resolved that the consuls should come to an arrangement, or failing that
decide by ballot, which of them should oppose Hannibal in Bruttium whilst
the other should have Etruria and the Ligurians as his province. The one to
whom Bruttium fell was to take over the army from P. Sempronius, and
Sempronius, whose command was extended for a year as proconsul, was to
relieve P. Licinius; the latter was to return to Rome. Licinius was not only a
fine soldier but he was in every respect one of the most accomplished
citizens of the time; he combined in himself all the advantages which nature
or fortune could bestow; he was an exceptionally handsome man and
possessed remarkable physical strength; he was considered a most eloquent
speaker, whether he was pleading a cause or defending or attacking a
measure in the senate or before the Assembly, and he was thoroughly
conversant with pontifical law. And his recent consulship had established his
reputation as a military leader. Arrangements similar to those in Bruttium
were also made in Etruria and Liguria; M. Cornelius was to hand over his
army to the new consul and hold the province of Gaul with the legions which
L. Scribonius had commanded the previous year. Then the consuls balloted
for their provinces; Bruttium fell to Caepio, Etruria to Servilius Geminus.
The balloting for the praetors' provinces followed; Aelius Paetus obtained
the City jurisdiction, P. Lentulus drew Sardinia, P. Villius Sicily, and
Quintilius Varus Ariminum with the two legions which had formed Lucretius
Spurius' command. Lucretius had his command extended for a year to allow
of his rebuilding Genua, which had been destroyed by Mago. Scipio's
command was extended until the war in Africa was brought to a close. A
decree was also made that, as he had entered upon his province of Africa,
solemn intercessions should be offered up that the expedition might be to the
advantage of the Roman people, of the general himself and of his army.
30.2
3000
men were raised for service in Sicily, as all the troops in that province had
been taken to Africa and it had been decided that Sicily should be protected
by forty ships until the fleet returned from Africa. Villius took with him
thirteen new ships, the rest were the old ones in Sicily which were refitted.
M. Pomponius, who had been praetor the year before, was appointed to take
charge of this fleet, and placed on board the new levies he had brought from
Italy. A fleet of equal strength was assigned to Cnaeus Octavius, who also
had been praetor the previous year and was now invested with similar
powers for the protection of the Sardinian coast. The praetor Lentulus was
ordered to furnish 2000 men for service with the fleet. In view of the
uncertainty as to where the Carthaginian fleet would land, though they
would be sure to seek some unguarded spot, M. Marcius was furnished with
forty ships to watch the coast of Italy. The consuls were authorised by the
senate to raise 3000 men for this fleet and also two legions to defend the
City against all contingencies. The province of Spain was left in the hands of
the former commanders, L. Lentulus and L. Manlius Acidinus, who retained
their old legions. Altogether there were 20 legions and 160 ships of war on
active service this year. The praetors were ordered to go to their respective
provinces. Before the consuls left the City they received the commands of
the senate to celebrate the Great Games which the vow of the Dictator T.
Manlius Torquatus required to be celebrated every five years, if the
condition of the republic remained unaltered. Numerous stories of portents
filled men's minds with superstitious terrors. It was said that crows picked
with their beaks some of the gold on the Capitol and actually ate it, and rats
gnawed a golden crown at Antium. The whole of the country round Capua
was covered by an immense flight of locusts, and no one knew whence they
had come. At Reate a foal was born with five feet; at Anagnia fiery meteors
were seen in different parts of the sky and these were followed by a huge
blazing torch; at Frusino a thin bow encircled the sun, which afterwards
grew to such a size that it extended beyond the bow; at Arpinum there was a
subsidence of the ground and a vast chasm was formed. Whilst one of the
consuls was sacrificing, the liver of the first victim was found to be without a
head. These portents were expiated by sacrifices of full-grown animals, the
college of pontiffs intimated the deities to whom they were to be offered.
30.3
When
this business was completed the consuls and praetors departed to their
various provinces. They were all, however, interested in Africa, as much so
indeed as if the ballot had assigned it to them, whether it was that they saw
that the issue of the war and their country's fate would be decided there, or
that they wished to do a service to Scipio as the man to whom all eyes were
turned. So it was that not only from Sardinia, as above stated, but from
Sicily itself and from Spain, clothing, corn, even arms as well as supplies of
all kinds were forwarded to him from the Sicilian harbours. Throughout the
winter there had been no pause in the numerous operations which Scipio was
conducting on all sides. He maintained the investment of Utica; his camp was
in full view of Hasdrubal; the Carthaginians had launched their ships, their
fleet was fully equipped and ready to intercept his supplies. Nevertheless he
had not lost sight of his purpose to win Syphax, in case his passion for his
bride should have cooled through unstinted enjoyment. Syphax was anxious
for peace and proposed as conditions that the Romans should evacuate
Africa, and the Carthaginians Italy, but he gave Scipio to understand that if
the war continued he should not desert his allies. I believe that the
negotiations were conducted through intermediaries -and most of the
authorities take this view -rather than that Syphax, as Antias Valerius
asserts, came to the Roman camp to confer personally with Scipio. At first
the Roman commander would hardly allow these terms to be mentioned;
afterwards, however, in order that his men might have a plausible reason for
visiting the enemies' camp he did not reject then so decidedly, and held out
hopes that after frequent discussions they might come to an agreement. The
winter quarters of the Carthaginians, constructed as they were of materials
collected haphazard from the country round, were almost wholly built of
wood. The Numidians in particular lived in huts made of wattled reeds and
roofed with grass matting; they were dispersed all over the camp in no order
or arrangement, and some even lay outside the lines. When this was reported
to Scipio, he was hopeful of burning the camp down if an opportunity
presented itself.
30.4
The
envoys who were sent to Syphax were accompanied by some first-rank
centurions, men of tried courage and sagacity, who were disguised as
camp-servants. Whilst the envoys were in conference these men strolled
about the camp noting all the adits and exits, the general arrangement of the
camp, the positions of the Carthaginians and Numidians, respectively, and
the distance between Hasdrubal's camp and that of Syphax. They also
watched the methods adopted in posting the watches and guards, to see
whether a surprise attack would be better made by night or by day. The
conferences were pretty frequent, and different men were purposely sent
each time in order that these details might become known to a larger
number. As the discussions went on with increasing frequency, Syphax, and
through him the Carthaginians, fully expected that peace would be attained
with a few days. Suddenly the Roman envoys announced that they had been
forbidden to return to headquarters unless a definite reply were given.
Syphax must either say what he had made up his mind to do or, if it was
necessary for him to consult Hasdrubal and the Carthaginians, he should do
so; the time had come for either a peace settlement or an energetic
resumption of hostilities. Whilst Syphax was consulting Hasdrubal and the
Carthaginians, the Roman spies had time to visit every part of the camp, and
Scipio was able to make all his arrangements. The prospect of peace had, as
usually happens, made Syphax and the Carthaginians less on the alert to
guard against any hostile attempt which might be made in the meantime. At
last a reply came, but as the Romans were supposed to be anxious for peace,
the opportunity was taken of adding some unacceptable conditions. This was
just what Scipio wanted to justify him in breaking off the armistice. He told
the king's messenger that he would refer the matter to his council, and the
next day he gave his reply to the effect that not a single member of the
council beside himself was in favour of peace. The messenger was to take
word that the only hope of peace for Syphax lay in his abandoning the cause
of the Carthaginians. Thus Scipio put an end to the truce in order that he
might be free to carry out his plans without any breach of faith. He launched
his ships -it was now the commencement of spring -and placed his engines
and artillery on board as though he were going to attack Utica from the sea.
He also sent 2000 men to hold the hill commanding the city which he had
previously occupied, partly with a view of diverting the enemy's attention
from his real design, and partly to prevent his camp from being attacked
from the city, as it would be left with only a weak guard while he was
marching against Syphax and Hasdrubal.
30.5
After
making these arrangements he summoned a council of war and ordered the
spies to report what they had discovered, and at the same time requested
Masinissa who knew all about the enemy to give the council any information
he could. He then laid before them his own plan of operations for the coming
night and directed the tribunes to lead the troops out of camp as soon as the
trumpets sounded on the break-up of the council. In obedience to his order
the march out began at sunset. About the first watch the column of march
was deployed into line of battle. After advancing in this order at an easy pace
for seven miles they reached the hostile camp about midnight. Scipio
assigned a portion of his force, including Masinissa and his Numidians, to
Laelius with instructions to attack Syphax and fire his camp. Then he took
Laelius and Masinissa apart and appealed to them each separately to make
up by extra care and diligence for the confusion inseparable from a night
attack. He told them that he should attack Hasdrubal and the Carthaginian
camp, but would wait until he saw the king's camp on fire. He had not to
wait long, for when the fire was cast on the nearest huts it very soon caught
the next ones and then running along in all directions spread over the whole
camp. Such an extensive fire breaking out at night naturally produced alarm
and confusion, but Syphax's men thinking it was due to accident and not to
the enemy rushed out without arms to try and extinguish it. They found
themselves at once confronted by an armed foe, mainly Numidians whom
Masinissa, thoroughly acquainted with the arrangement of the camp, had
posted in places where they could block all the avenues. Some were caught
by the flames, whilst half asleep in their beds, numbers who had fled
precipitately, scrambling over one another were trampled to death in the
camp gates.
30.6
In the
Carthaginian camp the first to see the glowing flames were the watch, then
others wakened by the tumult observed them, and all fell into the same
mistake of supposing that it was an accidental outbreak. They took the cries
proceeding from wounded combatants as due to the nocturnal alarm, and so
were unable to realise what had actually happened. Not in the least
suspecting the presence of an enemy, they rushed out, each through the gate
nearest to him, without any weapons carrying out what might help to
extinguish the flames, and so came right on the Roman army. They were all
cut down, for the enemy gave no quarter, that none might escape and give
the alarm. In the confusion the gates were left unguarded, and Scipio at once
seized them and fire was flung upon the nearest huts. The flames broke out
at first in different places but, creeping from hut to hut, in a very few
moments wrapped the whole camp in one vast conflagration. Men and
animals alike scorched with the heat blocked the passages to the gates and
fell crushed by each other. Those whom the fire did not overtake perished by
the sword and the two camps were involved in one common destruction.
Both the generals, however, saved themselves, and out of all those
thousands only 2000 infantry and 500 cavalry made good their escape, the
majority being wounded or suffering from the fire. Forty thousand men
perished either from the fire or the enemy, over 5000 were taken alive,
including many Carthaginian nobles of whom eleven were senators; 174
standards were captured, 2700 horses and 6 elephants, 8 others having been
killed or burnt to death. An enormous quantity of arms was secured, these
the general devoted to Vulcan, and they were all burnt.
30.7
Hasdrubal, who was accompanied in his
flight by a small body of horse, made for the nearest city, where he was
subsequently joined by all who survived, but fearing that it might be
surrendered to Scipio, he left it in the night. Soon after his departure the
gates were opened to admit the Romans, and as the surrender was a
voluntary one the place suffered no hostile treatment. Two cities were taken
and sacked soon afterwards, and the loot found there with what had been
rescued from the burning camp was all given to the soldiers. Syphax
established himself in a fortified position about eight miles distant; Hasdrubal
hastened to Carthage, fearing lest the recent disaster should frighten the
senate into a more yielding mood. So great in fact was the alarm that people
expected Scipio to leave Utica alone and instantly commence the siege of
Carthage. The sufetes -a magistrate corresponding to our consul -convened
a meeting of the senate. Here three proposals were made. One was to send
envoys to Scipio to negotiate a peace; another, to recall Hannibal to protect
his country from the ruin which threatened it; the third, which showed a
firmness worthy of Romans in adversity, urged the reinforcement of the army
to its proper strength and an appeal to Syphax not to abandon hostilities.
The last proposal, which was supported by Hasdrubal and the whole of the
Barcine party, was adopted. Recruiting began at once in the city and the
country districts, and a deputation was sent to Syphax, who was already
doing his utmost to repair his losses and renew hostilities. He was urged on
by his wife, who did not now trust to the endearments and caresses with
which she had formerly swayed her lover, but with prayers and piteous
appeals and eyes bathed in tears she conjured him not to betray her father
and her country, or allow Carthage to be devastated by the flames which had
consumed his camp. The deputation gave him encouragement and hope by
informing him that they had met near a city called Obba a body of 4000
Celtiberian mercenaries who had been raised in Spain, a splendid force, and
that Hasdrubal would appear ere long with a formidable army. He answered
them in friendly terms, and then took them to see a large number of
Numidian peasants to whom he had just given arms and horses, and assured
them that he would call out all the fighting men in his kingdom. He was well
aware, he said, that he owed his defeat to fire, and not to the chances of
battle; it was only the man who was vanquished by arms that was inferior in
war. Such was the tenor of his reply to the deputation. A few days later,
Hasdrubal and Syphax joined forces; their united strength amounted to about
30,000 men.
30.8
Just as
though the war were at end, so far as Syphax and the Carthaginians were
concerned, Scipio pressed on the siege of Utica and was already bringing his
engines up to the walls when he received intelligence of the enemy's activity.
Leaving a small force to keep up the appearance of an investment by land
and sea, he marched with the main body of his army to meet his foes. His
first position was on a hill some four miles distant from the king's camp. The
next day he marched his cavalry down into what are called the Magni Campi,
a stretch of level country extending from the foot of the hill, and spent the
day in riding up to the enemies' outposts and harassing them with skirmishes.
For the next two days both sides kept up this desultory fighting without any
result worth mentioning; on the fourth day both sides came down to battle.
The Roman commander drew up his principes behind the leading maniples of
the hastati, and the triarii as reserves; the Italian cavalry were stationed on
the right wing, Masinissa and the Numidians on the left. Syphax and
Hasdrubal placed the Numidian cavalry opposite the Italian, and the
Carthaginian horse fronted Masinissa, whilst the Celtiberians formed the
centre to meet the charge of the legions. In this formation they closed. The
Numidians and Carthaginians on the two wings were routed at the first
charge; the former consisting mostly of peasants could not withstand the
Roman horse, nor could the Carthaginians, also raw levies, hold their own
against Masinissa, whose recent victory had made him more formidable than
ever. Though exposed on both flanks the Celtiberians stood their ground, for
as they did not know the country, flight offered no chance of safety, nor
could they hope for any quarter from Scipio after carrying their mercenary
arms into Africa to attack the man who had done so much for them and their
countrymen. Completely enveloped by their foes they died fighting to the
last, and fell one after another on the ground where they stood. Whilst the
attention of all was turned to them, Syphax and Hasdrubal gained time to
make their escape. The victors, wearied with slaughter more than with
fighting, were at last overtaken by the night.
30.9
On the
morrow Scipio sent Laelius with the whole of the Roman and Numidian
cavalry and some light-armed infantry in pursuit of Syphax and Hasdrubal.
The cities in the neighbourhood, all of which were subject to Carthage, he
attacked successively with his main body; some he won by appealing to their
hopes and fears, some he took by storm. Carthage was in a state of terrible
panic, they felt quite sure that when he had subjugated all their neighbours in
the rapid progress of his arms, he would make a sudden attack on Carthage.
The walls were repaired and protected by outworks, and each man carried
off from the fields, on his own account, what would enable him to endure a
long siege. Few ventured to mention the word "peace" in the senate, many
were in favour of recalling Hannibal, the majority were of opinion that the
fleet which was intended to intercept supplies should be sent to destroy the
ships anchored off Utica, possibly the naval camp as well, which was
insufficiently guarded. This proposal found most favour, at the same time
they decided to send to Hannibal, "for even," it was argued, "supposing that
the naval operations were completely successful, the siege of Utica would be
only partly raised, and then there was the defence of Carthage -they had no
general but Hannibal, no army but his that could undertake that task." The
next day the ships were launched, and at the same time a party of delegates
set sail for Italy. The critical state of affairs acted as strong stimulus,
everything was done with feverish energy, any one who showed hesitation or
slackness was regarded as a traitor to the safety of all. As Scipio was making
slow progress, his army being encumbered with the spoils of many cities, he
sent the prisoners and the rest of the booty to his old camp at Utica. As
Carthage was now his objective, he seized Tyneta, from which the garrison
had fled, a place about fifteen miles from Carthage, protected by its natural
situation as well as by defensive works. It is visible from Carthage and its
walls afford a view of the sea which surrounds that city.
30.10
Whilst
the Romans were busily engaged in intrenching they saw the hostile fleet
sailing from Carthage to Utica. They at once ceased work, orders were given
to march, and the army made a rapid advance, fearing lest the ships should
be caught with their prows turned shorewards for siege operations, in utter
unreadiness for a naval battle. "How" they asked themselves, "can a mobile
and fully armed fleet in perfect sailing order be successfully resisted by ships
loaded with artillery and war machines, or converted into transports, or
brought up so close to the walls as to allow of scaling parties using them
instead of an agger and gangways?" Under the circumstances Scipio
abandoned the usual tactics. Bringing the warships which could have
protected the others into the rearmost position close inshore, he lined up the
transports in front of them four deep to serve as a wall against the enemy's
attack. To prevent the lines from being broken by violent charges he laid
masts and yard-arms from ship to ship and secured them by stout ropes
which bound them together like one continuous chain. He then fastened
planks upon the top of these, so making a free passage along the whole line,
and under these bridges the despatch-boats had room to run out against the
enemy and retire into safety. After making these hurried arrangements as
complete as time would allow, he placed about 1000 picked men on board
the transports and an immense quantity of missile weapons, so that however
long the fighting went on there might be enough. Thus ready and eager, they
waited for the enemy.
If the Carthaginians had moved more rapidly they would have
found hurry and confusion everywhere, and they might have destroyed the
fleet in the first onset. They were, however, disheartened by the defeat of
their land forces, and now they did not feel confidence even on the sea, the
element where they were strongest. After sailing slowly all through the day
they brought up towards sunset at a harbour called by the natives Rusocmon.
The following day, they put out to sea in line of battle, expecting the
Romans to come out and attack them. After they had been stationary for a
long time and no movement on the part of the enemy was visible, they at last
commenced an attack on the transports. There was nothing in the least
resembling a naval action, it looked almost exactly as if ships were attacking
walls. The transports were considerably higher than their opponents, and
consequently the missiles from the Carthaginian vessels, which had to be
hurled from below, were mostly ineffective; those from the transports
thrown from above fell with more force, their weight adding to the blow.
The despatch-boats and light vessels which ran out through the intervals
under the plank gangways were many of them run down by the momentum
and bulk of the warships, and in time they became a hindrance to those
fighting on the transports, who were often obliged to desist for fear of hitting
them while they were mixed up with the enemy's ships. At last the
Carthaginans began to throw poles with grappling-hooks at the end -the
soldiers call them harpagones -on to the Roman ships, and it was impossible
to cut away either the poles or the chains by which they were suspended.
When a warship had hooked one of the transports it was rowed astern, and
you would see the ropes which fastened the transports one to another give
way, and sometimes a whole line of transports would be dragged off
together. In this way all the gangways connecting the first line of transports
were broken up, and there was hardly any place left where the defenders
could spring back into the second line. Six transports were towed off to
Carthage. Here the rejoicing was greater than the circumstances of the case
warranted, but what made it all the more welcome was the fact that the
Roman fleet had narrowly escaped destruction, an escape due to the
Carthaginian commander's slackness and the timely arrival of Scipio. Amid
such continual disasters and mourning this was an unhoped-for cause of
congratulation.
30.11
Meantime Laelius and Masinissa, after a
fifteen days' march, entered Numidia, and the Maesulians, delighted to see
their king whose absence they had so long regretted, placed him once more
on his ancestral throne. All the garrisons with which Syphax had held the
country were expelled and he was confined within the limits of his former
dominions. He had no intention, however, of remaining quiet; he was goaded
on by his wife, whom he passionately loved, and by her father, and he had
such an abundance of men and horses that the mere sight of the resources
afforded by a realm which had enjoyed many years of prosperity would have
stimulated the ambition of even a less barbarous and impulsive nature than
Syphax possessed. He assembled all who were fit for war, and after
distributing horses, armour and weapons amongst them he formed the
mounted men into squadrons and the infantry into cohorts, a plan which he
had learnt in the old days from the centurions. With this army, quite as
numerous as the one he had had before but consisting almost entirely of raw
and untrained levies, he marched off to meet his enemies, and fixed his camp
in their vicinity. At first he sent small bodies of cavalry from the outposts to
make a cautious reconnaissance; compelled to retire by showers of darts they
galloped back to their comrades. Sorties were made on both sides
alternately, and indignant at being repulsed, larger bodies came up. This acts
as an incentive in cavalry skirmishes when the winning side find their
comrades flocking to them in hopes of victory and rage at the prospect of
defeat brings supports to those who are losing. So it was then, the fighting
had been begun by a few, but the love of battle at last brought the whole of
the cavalry on both sides into the field. As long as the cavalry only were
engaged the Romans had great difficulty in withstanding the immense
numbers of Maesulians whom Syphax was sending forward. Suddenly,
however, the Roman light infantry ran out between the cavalry who made
way for them, and this gave steadiness to the line and checked the rush of
the enemy. The latter slackened speed and then came to a halt, and were
soon thrown into confusion by this unaccustomed mode of fighting. At last
they gave ground not only before the infantry but before the cavalry also, to
whom the support of their infantry had given fresh courage. By this time the
legions were coming up, but the Maesulians did not wait for their attack, the
mere sight of the standards and arms was enough, such was the effect either
of the recollection of their past defeats or of the fear which the enemy now
inspired.
30.12
Syphax was riding up to the hostile
squadrons in the hope that either a sense of honour or his own personal
danger might check the flight of his men, when his horse was severely
wounded and he was thrown, overpowered and made prisoner, and carried
off to Laelius. Masinissa was especially delighted to see him as a captive.
Cirta was Syphax's capital, and a considerable number escaped to that city.
The losses sustained were insignificant compared with the importance of the
victory, for the fighting had been confined to the cavalry. There were not
more than 5000 killed, and in the storming of the camp, whither the mass of
troops had fled after losing their king, less than half that number were made
prisoners. Masinissa told Laelius that nothing would delight him more for the
moment than to visit as conqueror his ancestral dominions which had after so
many years been recovered, but prompt action was as necessary in success as
in defeat. He suggested that he should be allowed to go on with the cavalry
and the vanquished Syphax to Cirta, which he would be able to surprise
amidst the general confusion and alarm; Laelius might follow with the
infantry by easy stages. Laelius gave his consent and Masinissa advanced to
Cirta and ordered the leading citizens to be invited to a conference. They
were ignorant of what had happened to the king, and though Masinissa told
them all that had occurred he found threats and persuasion equally unavailing
until the king was brought before them in chains. At this painful and
humiliating spectacle there was an outburst of grief, the defences were
abandoned, and there was a unanimous resolve to seek the victor's favour by
opening the gates to him. After placing guards round all the gates and at
suitable places in the fortifications he galloped up to the palace to take
possession of it.
As he was entering the vestibule, on the very threshold in fact, he
was met by Sophonisba, the wife of Syphax and daughter of the Carthaginian
Hasdrubal. When she saw him surrounded by an armed escort, and
conspicuous by his arms and general appearance, she rightly guessed that he
was the king, and throwing herself at his feet, exclaimed: "Your courage and
good fortune aided by the gods have given you absolute power over us. But
if a captive may utter words of supplication before one who is master of her
fate, if she may touch his victorious right hand, then I pray and beseech you
by the kingly greatness in which we too not long ago were clothed, by the
name of Numidian which you and Syphax alike bear, by the tutelary deities
of this royal abode who, I pray, may receive you with fairer omens than
those with which they sent him hence, grant this favour at least to your
suppliant that you yourself decide your captive's fate whatever it may be, and
do not leave me to fall under the cruel tyranny of a Roman. Had I been
simply the wife of Syphax I would still choose to trust to the honour of a
Numidian, born under the same African sky as myself, rather than that of an
alien and a foreigner. But I am a Carthaginian, the daughter of Hasdrubal,
and you see what I have to fear. If no other way is possible then I implore
you to save me by death from falling into Roman hands." Sophonisba was in
the bloom of youth and in all the splendour of her beauty, and as she held
Masinissa's hand and begged him to give his word that she should not be
surrendered to the Romans, her tone became one of blandishment rather than
entreaty. A slave to passion like all his countrymen, the victor at once fell in
love with his captive. He gave her his solemn assurance that he would do
what she wished him to do and then retired into the palace. Here he
considered in what way he could redeem his promise, and as he saw no
practical way of doing so he allowed his passion to dictate to him as a
method equally reckless and indecent. Without a moment's delay he made
preparations for celebrating his nuptials on that very day, so that neither
Laelius nor Scipio might be free to treat as a prisoner one who was now
Masinissa's wife. When the marriage ceremony was over Laelius appeared on
the scene, and, far from concealing his disapproval of what had been done,
he actually attempted to drag her from her bridegroom's arms and send her
with Syphax and the other prisoners to Scipio. However, Masinissa's
remonstrances so far prevailed that it was left to Scipio to decide which of
the two kings should be the happy possessor of Sophonisba. After Laelius
had sent Syphax and the other prisoners away, he recovered, with
Masinissa's aid, the remaining cities in Numidia which were still held by the
king's garrisons.
30.13
When
the news arrived that Syphax was being brought into camp, the whole army
turned out as though to watch a triumphal procession. The king himself, in
chains, was the first to appear, he was followed by a crowd of Numidian
nobles. As they passed the soldiers each in turn sought to magnify their
victory by exaggerating the greatness of Syphax and the military reputation
of his nation. "This is the king," they said, "whose greatness has been so far
acknowledged by the most powerful States in the world -Rome and
Carthage -that Scipio left his army in Spain and sailed with two triremes to
Africa to secure his alliance, whilst the Carthaginian Hasdrubal not only
visited him in his kingdom, but even gave him his daughter in marriage. He
has had the Roman and the Carthaginian commanders both in his power at
the same time. As each side has sought peace and friendship from the
immortal gods by sacrifices duly offered, so each side alike has sought peace
and friendships from him. He was powerful enough to expel Masinissa from
his kingdom, and he reduced him to such a condition that he owed his life to
the report of his death and to his concealment in the forest, where he lived
on what he could catch there like a wild beast." Amidst these remarks of the
bystanders, the king was conducted to the headquarters tent. As Scipio
compared the earlier fortunes of the man with his present condition and
recalled to mind his own hospitable relations with him, the mutually pledged
right hands, the political and personal bonds between them, he was greatly
moved. Syphax, too, thought of these things, but they gave him courage in
addressing his conqueror. Scipio questioned him as to his object in first
denouncing his alliance with Rome and then starting an unprovoked war
against her. He admitted that he had done wrong and behaved like a madman
but his taking up arms against Rome was not the beginning of his madness, it
was the last act. He first exhibited his folly, his utter disregard of all private
ties and public obligations, when he admitted a Carthaginian bride into his
house. The torches which illuminated these nuptials had set his palace in a
blaze. That fury of a woman, that scourge, had used every endearment to
alienate and warp his feelings, and would not rest till she had with her own
impious hands armed him against his host and friend. However, broken and
ruined as he was, he had this to console him in his misery -that pestilential
fury had entered the household of his bitterest foe. Masinissa was not wiser
or more consistent than he had been, his youth made him even less cautious;
at all events that marriage proved him to be more foolish and headstrong.
30.14
This
was the language of a man animated, not only by hatred towards an enemy,
but also by the sting of hopeless love, knowing as he did that the woman he
loved was in the house of his rival. Scipio was deeply distressed at what he
heard. Proof of the charges was found in the hurrying on of the nuptials
almost amid the clash of arms without consulting or even waiting for Laelius.
Masinissa had acted with such precipitancy that the very first day he saw his
prisoner he married her, and the rites were actually performed before the
tutelary deities of his enemy's house. This conduct appeared all the more
shocking to Scipio because when he himself was in Spain, young as he was,
no captive girl had ever moved him by her beauty. Whilst he was thinking all
this over, Laelius and Masinissa appeared. He extended the same gracious
and friendly welcome to both, and in the presence of a large number of his
officers addressed them in most laudatory terms. Then he took Masinissa
quietly aside and spoke to him as follows: "I think, Masinissa, that you must
have seen some good qualities in me when you went to Spain to establish
friendly relations with me, and also when, afterwards, you trusted yourself
and all your fortunes to me in Africa. Now, among all the virtues which
attracted you there is none upon which I pride myself so much as upon my
continence and the control of my passions. I wish, Masinissa, that you would
add these to the other noble features of your own character. At our time of
life we are not, believe me, so much in danger from armed foes as from the
seductive pleasures which tempt us on every side. The man who has curbed
and subjugated these by his self-control has won for himself greater glory
and a greater victory than we have won over Syphax. The courage and
energy you have displayed in my absence I have gladly dwelt upon and
gratefully remember; the rest of your conduct I prefer that you should reflect
upon when alone, rather than that I should make you blush by alluding to it.
Syphax has been defeated and made prisoner under the auspices of the
people of Rome, and this being so, his wife, his kingdom, his territory, his
towns with all their inhabitants, whatever in short Syphax possessed, belong
now to Rome as the spoils of war. Even if his wife were not a Carthaginian,
if we did not know that her father is in command of the enemy's forces, it
would still be our duty to send her with her husband to Rome, and leave it to
the senate and people to decide the fate of one who is alleged to have
estranged our ally and precipitated him in arms against us. Conquer your
feelings and be on your guard against letting one vice mar the many good
qualities you possess and sullying the grace of all your services by a fault
which is out of all proportion to its cause."
30.15
On
hearing this Masinissa blushed furiously and even shed tears. He said that he
would comply with the general's wishes, and begged him to take into
consideration, as far as he could, the pledge he had rashly given, for he had
promised that he would not let her pass into any one's power. Then he left
the headquarters tent and retired to his own in a state of distraction.
Dismissing all his attendants he remained there some time, giving vent to
continual sighs and groans which were quite audible to those outside. At last
with a deep groan he called one of his slaves in whom he placed complete
confidence and who had in his keeping the poison which kings usually have
in reserve against the vicissitudes of Fortune. After mixing it in a cup he told
him to take it to Sophonisba, and at the same time tell her that Masinissa
would have gladly fulfilled the first promise that he made to his wife, but as
those who have the power were depriving him of the right to do so, he was
fulfilling the second -that she should not fall into the hands of the Romans
alive. The thought of her father, her country, and the two kings who had
wedded her would decide her how to act. When the servant came with the
poison and the message to Sophonisba, she said, "I accept this wedding gift,
no unwelcome one if my husband can do nothing more for his wife. But tell
him that I should have died more happily had not my marriage bed stood so
near my grave." The high spirit of these words was sustained by the fearless
way in which, without the slightest sign of trepidation, she drank the potion.
When the news reached Scipio he was afraid that the young man, wild with
grief, would take some still more desperate step, so he at once sent for him,
and tried to console him. at the same time gently censuring him for having
atoned for one act of madness by committing another and making the affair
more tragic than it need have been. The next day, with the view of diverting
his thoughts, Scipio mounted the tribunal and ordered the assembly to be
sounded. Addressing Masinissa as king and eulogising him in the highest
possible terms, he presented him with a golden crown, curule chair, an ivory
sceptre and also with a purple-bordered toga and a tunic embroidered with
palms. He enhanced the value of these gifts by informing him that the
Romans considered no honour more splendid than that of a triumph, and that
no more magnificent insignia were borne by triumphing generals than those
which the Roman people deemed Masinissa, alone of all foreigners, worthy
to possess. Laelius was the next to be commended, he was presented with a
golden crown. Other soldiers received rewards according to their services.
The honours which had had been conferred on the king went far to assuage
his grief, and he was encouraged to hope for the speedy possession of the
whole of Numidia now that Syphax was out of the way.
30.16
Laelius was sent in charge of Syphax and
the other prisoners to Rome, and envoys from Masinissa accompanied him.
Scipio returned to his camp at Tyneta and completed the fortifications which
he had commenced. The rejoicing of the Carthaginians over the temporary
success of their naval attack was short-lived and evanescent, for when they
heard of the capture of Syphax, on whom they had rested their hopes almost
more than on Hasdrubal and his army, they completely lost heart. The war
party could no longer gain a hearing and the senate sent the "Thirty Seniors"
to Scipio to sue for peace. This body was the most august council in their
state and controlled to a very large extent even the senate itself. When they
reached the headquarters tent in the Roman camp, they made a profound
obeisance and prostrated themselves -a practice, I believe, which they
brought with them from their original home. Their language corresponded to
their abject posture. They made no excuse for themselves, but threw the
responsibility for the war on Hannibal and his supporters. They craved
pardon for a city which had been twice ruined by the recklessness of its
citizens and could only be preserved in safety by the good-will of its enemy.
What Rome sought, they pleaded, was the homage and submission of the
vanquished, not their annihilation. They professed themselves ready to
execute any commands which he chose to give. Scipio replied that he had
come to Africa in the hope -a hope which his successes had confirmed -of
taking back to Rome a complete victory, and not merely proposals for peace.
Still, though victory was almost within his grasp, he would not refuse to
grant terms of peace, that all nations might know that Rome was actuated by
the spirit of justice, whether she was undertaking a war or putting an end to
one.
He stated the terms of peace, which were the surrender of all
prisoners, deserters and refugees; the withdrawal of the armies from Italy
and Gaul; the abandonment of all action in Spain; the evacuation of all the
islands lying between Italy and Africa and the surrender of their entire navy
with the exception of twenty vessels. They were also to provide 500,000
pecks of wheat and 300,000 of barley, but the actual amount of the money
indemnity is doubtful. In some authors I find 5000 talents, in others 5000
pounds of silver mentioned; some only say that double pay for the troops
was demanded. "You will be allowed," he added, "three days to consider
whether you will agree to peace on these terms. If you decide to do so,
arrange an armistice with me, and send envoys to the senate in Rome." The
Carthaginians were then dismissed. As their object was to gain time to allow
of Hannibal's sailing across to Africa they resolved that no conditions of
peace should be rejected, and accordingly they sent delegates to conclude an
armistice with Scipio, and a deputation was also sent to Rome to sue for
peace, the latter taking with them a few prisoners and deserters for the sake
of appearance, in order that peace might more be readily granted.
30.17
Several days previously Laelius arrived in
Rome with Syphax and the Numidian prisoners. He made a report to the
senate of all that had been done in Africa and there were great rejoicings at
the present position of affairs and sanguine hopes for the future. After
discussing the matter the senate decided that Syphax should be interned at
Alba and that Laelius should stay in Rome until the Carthaginian delegates
arrived. A four days' thanksgiving was ordered. On the adjournment of the
House, P. Aelius, the praetor, forthwith convened a meeting of the
Assembly, and mounted the rostrum, accompanied by C. Laelius. When the
people heard that the armies of Carthage had been routed, a far-famed king
defeated and made prisoner, and a victorious progress made throughout
Numidia, they could no longer restrain their feelings and expressed their
unbounded joy in shouts and other demonstrations of delight. Seeing the
people in this mood the praetor at once gave orders for the sacristans to
throw open the holy places throughout the City in order that the people
might have the whole day for going round the shrines to offer up their
adoration and thanksgivings to the gods.
The next day he introduced Masinissa's envoys to the senate. They
first of all congratulated the senate upon Scipio's successes in Africa and
then expressed thanks on behalf of Masinissa for Scipio's action in not only
conferring upon him the title of king, but also in giving practical effect to it
by restoring to him his ancestral dominion where now that Syphax was
disposed of he would, if the senate so decided, reign free from all fear of
opposition. He was grateful for the way in which Scipio had spoken of him
before his officers and for the splendid insignia with which he had been
honoured and which he had done his best to prove himself worthy of and
would continue to do so. They petitioned the senate to confirm by a formal
decree the royal title and the other favours and dignities which Scipio had
conferred upon him. And as an additional boon, Masinissa begged, if he was
not asking too much, that they would release the Numidian prisoners who
were under guard in Rome; that, he considered, would increase his prestige
with his subjects. The reply given to the envoys was to the effect that the
senate congratulated the king as much as themselves upon the successes in
Africa; Scipio had acted rightly and in perfect order in recognising Masinissa
as king, and the senators warmly approved of all he had done to meet
Masinissa's wishes. They passed a decree that the presents which the envoys
were to take to the king should comprise two purple cloaks with a golden
clasp on each and two tunics embroidered with the laticlave; two richly
caparisoned horses and a set of equestrian armour with cuirasses for each;
two tents and military furniture such as the consuls are usually provided
with. The praetor received instructions to see that these things were sent to
the king. The envoys each received presents to the value of 5000 ases, and
each member of their suite to the value of 1000 ases. Besides these, two
suits of apparel were given to each of the envoys, and one to each of their
suite and also to each of the Numidian prisoners who were to be restored to
the king. During their stay in Rome a house was placed at their disposal and
they were treated as guests of the State.
30.18
During
this summer P. Quintilius Varus the praetor and M. Cornelius the proconsul
fought a regular engagement with Mago. The praetor's legions formed the
fighting line; Cornelius kept his in reserve, but rode to the front and took
command of one wing, the praetor leading the other, and both of them
exhorted the soldiers to make a furious charge on the enemy. When they
failed to make any impression upon them, Quintilius said to Cornelius, "As
you see, the battle is progressing too slowly; the enemy finding themselves
offering an unhoped-for resistance have steeled themselves against fear,
there is danger of this fear passing into audacity. We must let loose a
hurricane of cavalry against them if we want to shake them and make them
give ground. Either, then, you must keep up the fighting at the front and I
will bring the cavalry into action, or I will remain here and direct the
operations of the first line while you launch the cavalry of the four legions
against the enemy." The proconsul left it to the praetor to decide what he
would do. Quintilius, accordingly, accompanied by his son Marcus, an
enterprising and energetic youth, rode off to the cavalry, ordered them to
mount and sent them at once against the enemy. The effect of their charge
was heightened by the battle-shout of the legions, and the hostile lines would
not have stood their ground, had not Mago, at the first movement of the
cavalry, promptly brought his elephants into action. The appearance of these
animals, their trumpeting and smell so terrified the horses as to render the
assistance of the cavalry futile. When engaged at close quarters and able to
use sword and lance the Roman cavalryman was the better fighter, but when
carried away by a frightened horse, he was a better target for the Numidian
darts. As for the infantry, the twelfth legion had lost a large proportion of
their men and were holding their ground more to avoid the disgrace of
retreat than from any hope of offering effectual resistance. Nor would they
have held it any longer if the thirteenth legion which was in reserve had not
been brought up and taken part in the doubtful conflict. To oppose this fresh
legion Mago brought up his reserves also. These were Gauls, and the hastati
of the eleventh legion had not much trouble in putting them to rout. They
then closed up and attacked the elephants who were creating confusion in
the Roman infantry ranks. Showering their darts upon them as they crowded
together, and hardly ever failing to hit, they drove them all back upon the
Carthaginian lines, after four had fallen, severely wounded.
At last the enemy began to give ground, and the whole of the
Roman infantry, when they saw the elephants turning against their own side,
rushed forward to increase the confusion and panic. As long as Mago kept
his station in front, his men retreated slowly and in good order, but when
they saw him fall, seriously wounded and carried almost fainting from the
field, there was a general flight. The losses of the enemy amounted to 5000
men, and 22 standards were taken. The victory was a far from bloodless one
for the Romans, they lost 2300 men in the praetor's army, mostly from the
twelfth legion, and amongst them two military tribunes, M. Cosconius and
M. Maevius. The thirteenth legion, the last to take part in the action, also
had its losses; C. Helvius, a military tribune, fell whilst restoring the battle,
and twenty-two members of the cavalry corps, belonging to distinguished
families, together with some of the centurions were trampled to death by the
elephants. The battle would have lasted longer had not Mago's wound given
the Romans the victory.
30.19
Mago
withdrew during the night and marching as rapidly as his wound would allow
reached that part of the Ligurian coast which is inhabited by the Ingauni.
Here he was met by the deputation from Carthage which had landed a few
days previously at Genua. They informed him that he must sail for Africa at
the earliest possible moment; his brother Hannibal, to whom similar
instructions had been given, was on the point of doing so. Carthage was not
in a position to retain her hold upon Gaul and Italy. The commands of the
senate and the dangers threatening his country decided Mago's course, and
moreover there was the risk of an attack from the victorious enemy if he
delayed, and also of the desertion of the Ligurians who, seeing Italy
abandoned by the Carthaginians, would go over to those in whose power
they would ultimately be. He hoped too that a sea voyage would be less
trying to his wound than the jolting of the march had been, and that
everything would contribute to his recovery. He embarked his men and set
sail, but he had not cleared Sardinia when he died of his wound. Some of his
ships which had parted company with the rest when out at sea were captured
by the Roman fleet which was lying off Sardinia. Such was the course of
events in the Alpine districts of Italy. The consul C. Servilius had done
nothing worth recording in Etruria, nor after his departure for Gaul. In the
latter country he had rescued his father C. Servilius and also C. Lutatius after
sixteen years of servitude, the result of their capture by the Boii at
Tannetum. With his father on one side of him and Lutatius on the other he
returned to Rome honoured more on personal than public grounds. A
measure was proposed to the people relieving him from penalties for having
illegally acted as tribune of the plebs and plebeian aedile while his father who
had filled a curule chair was, unknown to him, still alive. When the bill of
indemnity was passed he returned to his province. The consul Cnaeus
Servilius in Bruttium received the surrender of several places, now that they
saw that the Punic War was drawing to a close. Amongst these were
Consentia, Aufugium, Bergae, Besidiae, Oriculum, Lymphaeum,
Argentanum, and Clampetia. He also fought a battle with Hannibal in the
neighbourhood of Croto, of which no clear account exists. According to
Valerius Antias, 5000 of the enemy were killed, but either this is an
unblushing fiction, or its omission in the annalists shows great carelessness.
At all events nothing further was done by Hannibal in Italy, for the
delegation summoning him to Africa happened to arrive from Carthage
about the same time as the one to Mago.
30.20
It is
said that he gnashed his teeth, groaned, and almost shed tears when he heard
what the delegates had to say. After they had delivered their instructions, he
exclaimed, "The men who tried to drag me back by cutting off my supplies
of men and money are now recalling me not by crooked means but plainly
and openly. So you see, it is not the Roman people who have been so often
routed and cut to pieces that have vanquished Hannibal, but the Carthaginian
senate by their detraction and envy. It is not Scipio who will pride himself
and exult over the disgrace of my return so much as Hanno who has crushed
my house, since he could do it in no other way, beneath the ruins for
Carthage." He had divined what would happen, and had got his ships ready
in anticipation. The unserviceable portion of his troops he got rid of by
distributing them ostensibly as garrisons amongst the few towns which, more
out of fear than loyalty, still adhered to him. The main strength of his army
he transported to Africa. Many who were natives of Italy refused to follow
him, and withdrew into the temple of Juno Lacinia, a shrine which up to that
day had remained inviolate. There, actually within the sacred precinct, they
were foully murdered. Seldom, according to the accounts, has any one left
his native country to go into exile in such gloomy sorrow as Hannibal
manifested when quitting the country of his foes. It is stated that he often
looked back to the shores of Italy, accusing gods and men and even cursing
himself for not having led his soldiers reeking with blood from the victorious
field of Cannae straight to Rome. Scipio, he said, who whilst consul had
never seen a Carthaginian in Italy, had dared to go to Africa, whereas he
who had slain 100,000 men at Thrasymenus and at Cannae had wasted his
strength round Casilinum and Cumae and Nola. Amid these accusations and
regrets he was borne away from his long occupation of Italy.
30.21
The
news of Mago's departure reached Rome at the same time as that of
Hannibal. The joy with which the intelligence of this twofold relief was
received was, however, chastened by the fact that their generals had, through
lack of either courage or strength, failed to detain them, though they had
received express instructions from the senate to that effect. There was also a
feeling of anxiety as to what the issue would be now that the whole brunt of
the war fell upon one army and one commander. Just at this time, a
commission arrived from Saguntum bringing some Carthaginians who had
landed in Spain for the purpose of hiring auxiliaries, and whom they had
captured together with the money they had brought. 250 pounds of silver
and 800 pounds of gold were deposited in the vestibule of the senate-house.
After the men had been handed over and thrown into prison, the gold and
silver was returned to the Saguntines. A vote of thanks was accorded to
them, they were presented with gifts and also provided with ships in which
to return to Spain. Following upon this incident some of the senior senators
reminded the House of a great omission. "Men," they said, "are much more
alive to their misfortunes than to the good things that come to them. We
remember what panic and terror we felt when Hannibal descended upon
Italy. What defeats and mourning followed! The enemy's camp was visible
from the City -what prayers we one and all put up! How often in our
councils have we heard the plaint of men lifting up their hands to heaven and
asking whether the day would ever come when they would see Italy freed
from an enemy's presence and flourishing in peace and prosperity! At last,
after sixteen years of war, the gods have granted us this boon, and yet there
are none who ask that thanks should be offered to them. Men do not receive
even a present blessing with grateful hearts, much less are they are likely to
remember past benefits." A general shout arose from all parts of the House
calling upon the praetor P. Aelius to submit a motion. It was decreed that a
five days' thanksgiving should be offered at all the shrines and a hundred and
twenty full-grown victims sacrificed. Laelius had by this time left Rome with
Masinissa's envoys. On tidings being received that the Carthaginian peace
deputation had been seen at Puteoli and would come on from there by land it
was decided to recall Laelius in order that he might be present at the
interview. Q. Fulvius Gillo, one of Scipio's staff-officers, conducted the
Carthaginians to Rome. As they were forbidden to enter the City they were
domiciled in a country house belonging to the State, and an audience of the
senate was granted them in the temple of Bellona.
30.22
Their
speech to the senate was much the same as the one they had made to Scipio;
they disclaimed any responsibility for the war on the part of the government
and threw the entire blame on Hannibal. "He had no orders from their senate
to cross the Ebro, much less the Alps. It was on his own authority that he
had made war not only on Rome but even on Saguntum; any one who took a
just view would recognise that the treaty with Rome remained unbroken to
that day. Their instructions accordingly were simply that they should ask to
be allowed to continue on the same terms of peace as those which had been
settled on the last occasion with C. Lutatius." In accordance with the
traditional usage the praetor gave any one who wished permission to
interrogate the envoys, and the senior members who had taken part in
arranging the former treaties put various questions. The envoys, who were
almost all young men, said that they had no recollection of what happened.
Then loud protests broke out from all parts of the House; the senators
declared that it was an instance of Punic treachery, men were selected to ask
for a renewal of the old treaty who did not even remember its terms.
30.23
The
envoys were then ordered to withdraw and the senators were asked for their
opinions. M. Livius advised that as the consul C. Servilius was the nearest he
should be summoned to Rome in order that he might be present during the
debate. No more important subject could be discussed than the one before
them, and it did not seem to him compatible with the dignity of the Roman
people that the discussion should take place in the absence of both the
consuls. Q. Metellus, who had been consul three years previously and had
also been Dictator, gave it as his opinion that as P. Scipio, after destroying
their armies and devastating their land, had driven the enemy to the necessity
of suing for peace, there was no one in the world who could form a truer
judgment as to their real intention in opening negotiations than the man who
was at that moment carrying the war up to the gates of Carthage. In his
opinion they ought to take Scipio's advice and no other as to whether the
offer of peace ought to be accepted or rejected. M. Valerius Laevinus, who
had filled two consulships, declared that they had come as spies and not as
envoys, and he urged that they should be ordered to leave Italy and escorted
by a guard to their ships, and that written instructions should be sent to
Scipio not to relax hostilities. Laelius and Fulvius supported this proposal
and stated that Scipio thought that the only hope of peace lay in Mago and
Hannibal not being recalled, but the Carthaginians would adopt every
subterfuge whilst waiting for their generals and their armies, and would then
continue the war, ignoring treaties however recent, and in defiance of all the
gods. These statements led the senate to adopt Laevinus' proposal. The
envoys were dismissed with no prospect of peace and the curtest of replies.
30.24
The
consul Cnaeus Servilius, fully persuaded that the credit of restoring peace in
Italy was due to him, and that it was he who had driven Hannibal out of the
country, followed the Carthaginian commander to Sicily, intending to sail
from there to Africa. When this became known in Rome the senate decided
that the praetor should write to him and inform him that the senate thought it
right that he should remain in Italy. The praetor said that Servilius would pay
no attention to a letter from him, and on this it was resolved to appoint P.
Sulpicius Dictator, and he by virtue of his superior authority recalled the
consul to Italy. The Dictator spent the remainder of the year in visiting,
accompanied by M. Servilius, his Master of the Horse, the different cities of
Italy which had fallen away from Rome during the war, and holding an
enquiry in each case. During the armistice a hundred transports carrying
supplies and escorted by twenty warships were despatched from Sardinia by
Lentulus the praetor and reached Africa without any damage either from the
enemy or from storms. Cnaeus Octavius sailed from Sicily with two hundred
transports and thirty warships, but was not equally fortunate. He had a
favourable voyage until he was almost within sight of Africa, when he was
becalmed; then a south-westerly wind sprang up which scattered his ships in
all directions. Thanks to the extraordinary efforts of the rowers against the
adverse waves, Octavius succeeded in making the Promontory of Apollo.
The greater part of the transports were driven to Aegimurus, an island which
forms a breakwater to the bay on which Carthage is situated and about thirty
miles distant from the city. Other were carried up to the city itself as far as
the Aquae Calidae ("hot-springs"). All this was visible from Carthage, and a
crowd gathered from all parts of the city in the forum. The magistrates
convened the senate; the people who were in the vestibule of the
senate-house protested against so much booty being allowed to slip out of
their hands and out of their sight. Some objected that this would be a breach
of faith whilst peace negotiations were going on, others were for respecting
the truce which had not yet expired. The popular assembly was so mixed up
with the senate that they almost formed one body, and they unanimously
decided that Hasdrubal should proceed to Aegimurum with fifty ships of war
and pick up the Roman ships which were scattered along the coast or in the
harbours. Those transports which had been abandoned by their crews at
Aegimurum were towed to Carthage, and subsequently others were brought
in from Aquae Calidae.
30.25
The
envoys had not yet come back from Rome, and it was not known whether
the senate had decided for peace or for war. What did most to arouse
Scipio's indignation was the fact that all hopes of peace were destroyed and
all respect for the truce flouted by the very men who had asked for a truce
and were suing for peace. He at once sent L. Baebius, M. Servilius and L.
Fabius to Carthage to protest. As they were in danger of ill-treatment from
the mob and saw that they might be prevented from returning, they
requested the magistrates who had protected them from violence to send
ships to escort them. Two triremes were supplied to them, and when they
reached the mouth of the Bagradas, from which the Roman camp was
visible, the ships returned to Carthage. The Carthaginian fleet was lying off
Utica, and whether it was in consequence of a secret message from
Carthage, or whether Hanno, who was in command, acted on his own
responsibility without the connivance of his government, in any case, three
quadriremes from the fleet made a sudden attack upon the Roman
quinquereme as it was rounding the promontory. They were, however,
unable to ram it owing to its superior speed, and its greater height prevented
any attempt to board it. As long as the missiles lasted, the quinquereme made
a brilliant defence, but when these failed nothing could have saved it but the
nearness of the land and the numbers of men who had come down from the
camp to the shore to watch. The rowers drove the ships on to the beach with
their utmost strength; the vessel was wrecked, but the passengers escaped
uninjured. Thus, by one misdeed after another, all doubt was removed as to
the truce having been broken when Laelius and the Carthaginians arrived on
their return from Rome. Scipio informed them that in spite of the fact that
the Carthaginians had broken not only the truce which they had pledged
themselves to observe, but even the law of nations in their treatment of the
envoys, he should himself take no action in their case which would be
inconsistent with the traditional maxims of Rome or contrary to his own
principles. He then dismissed them and prepared to resume operations.
Hannibal was now nearing the land and he ordered a sailor to climb the mast
and find out what part of the country they were making for. The man
reported that they were heading for a ruined sepulchre. Hannibal regarding it
as an evil omen ordered the pilot to sail past the place and brought up the
fleet at Leptis, where he disembarked his force.
30.26
The
above-described events all happened during this year, the subsequent ones
belong to the year following when M. Servilius the Master of the Horse and
Tiberius Claudius Nero were the consuls. Towards the close of the year a
deputation came from the Greek cities in alliance with us to complain that
their country had been devastated and the envoys who had been sent to
demand redress were not allowed to approach Philip. They also brought
information that 4000 men under Sopater had sailed for Africa to assist the
Carthaginians, taking a considerable sum of money with them. The senate
decided to send to Philip and inform him that they regarded these
proceedings as a violation of the treaty. C. Terentius Varro, C. Mamilius and
M. Aurelius were entrusted with this mission, and they were furnished with
three quinqueremes. The year was rendered memorable by an enormous fire,
in which the houses on the Clivus Publicius were burnt to the ground, and
also by a great flood. Food, however, was extremely cheap, for not only was
the whole of Italy open, now that it was left in peace, but a great quantity of
corn had been sent from Spain, which the curule aediles, M. Valerius Falto
and M. Fabius Buteo, distributed to the people, ward by ward, at four ases
the peck. The death occurred this year of Quintus Fabius Maximus at a very
advanced age, if it be true, as some authorities assert, that he had been augur
for sixty-two years. He was a man who deserved the great surname he bore,
even if he had been the first to bear it. He surpassed his father in his
distinctions, and equalled his grandfather Rullus. Rullus had won more
victories and fought greater battles, but his grandson had Hannibal for an
opponent and that made up for everything. He was held to be cautious rather
than energetic, and though it may be a question whether he was naturally
slow in action or whether he adopted these tactics as especially suitable to
the character of the war, nothing is more certain that that, as Ennius says,
"one man by his slowness restored the State." He had been both augur and
pontifex; his son Q. Fabius Maximus succeeded him as augur, Ser. Sulpicius
Galba as pontifex. The Roman and the Plebeian Games were celebrated by
the aediles M. Sextius Sabinus and Cnaeus Tremellius Flaccus, the former
for one day, the latter were repeated for three days. These two aediles were
elected praetors together with C. Livius Salinator and C. Aurelius Cotta.
Authorities are divided as to who presided over the elections, whether the
consul C. Servilius did so or whether, owing to his being detained in Etruria
by the conspiracy trials which the senate had ordered him to conduct, he
named a Dictator to preside.
30.27
In the
beginning of the following year the consuls M. Servilius and Tiberius
Claudius convened the senate in the Capitol to decide the allocation of the
provinces. As they both wanted Africa they were anxious to ballot for that
province and for Italy. Mainly, however, owing to the efforts of Q. Metellus,
nothing was decided about Africa; the consuls were instructed to arrange
with the tribunes of the plebs for a vote of the people to be taken as to
whom they wished to conduct the war in Africa. The tribes were
unanimously in favour of P. Scipio. In spite of this the senate decreed that
the two consuls should ballot, and Africa was drawn by Ti. Claudius, who
was to take across a fleet of fifty vessels -all quinqueremes -and exercise
the same powers as Scipio. Etruria fell to M. Servilius. C. Servilius who had
held that province had his command extended in case the senate should
require his presence in Rome. The praetors were distributed as follows: M.
Sextius received Gaul and P. Quintilius Varus was to hand over two legions
which he had there; C. Livius was to hold Bruttium with the two legions
which P. Sempronius had commanded there the year before; Cnaeus
Tremellius was sent to Sicily and took over the two legions from P. Villius
Tappulus, the praetor of the previous year; Villius in the capacity of
propraetor was furnished with twenty warships and 1000 men for the
protection of the Sicilian coast; M. Pomponius was to send 1500 men to
Rome in the twenty remaining ships. The City jurisdiction passed into the
hands of C. Aurelius Cotta. The other commands were unchanged. Sixteen
legions were considered sufficient this year for the defence of the dominion
of Rome. In order that all things might be undertaken and carried out with
the favour of the gods, it was decided that before the consuls took the field
they should celebrate the Games and offer the sacrifices which T. Manlius
the Dictator had vowed during the consulship of M. Claudius Marcellus and
T. Quinctius, if the republic should maintain its position unimpaired for five
years. The Games were celebrated in the Circus, the celebration lasting four
days, and the victims vowed to the several deities were duly sacrificed.
30.28
All
through this time there was a growing tension of feeling, hopes and fears
alike were becoming stronger. Men could not make up their minds whether
they had more to rejoice over in the fact that at the end of sixteen years
Hannibal had finally evacuated Italy and left the unchallenged possession of
it to Rome, or more to fear from his having landed in Africa with his military
strength unimpaired. "The seat of danger," they said, "is changed, but not the
danger itself. Quintus Fabius, who has just died, foretold how great the
struggle would be when he declared in oracular tones that Hannibal would
be a more formidable foe in his own country than he had been on alien soil.
Scipio has not to do with Syphax, whose subjects are undisciplined
barbarians and whose army was generally led by Statorius, who was little
more than a camp menial, nor with Syphax's elusive father-in-law, Hasdrubal
nor with a half-armed mob of peasants hastily collected from the fields. It is
Hannibal whom he has to meet, who was all but born in the headquarters of
his father, that bravest of generals; reared and brought up in the midst of
arms, a soldier whilst still a boy, and when hardly out of his teens in high
command. He has passed the prime of his manhood in victory after victory
and has filled Spain and Gaul and Italy from the Alps to the southern sea
with memorials of mighty deeds. The men he is leading are his
contemporaries in arms, steeled by innumerable hardships such as it is hardly
credible that men can have gone through, bespattered, times without
number, with Roman blood, laden with spoils stripped from the bodies, not
of common soldiers only, but even of commanders-in-chief. Scipio will meet
many on the field of battle who with their own hands have slain the praetors,
the commanders, the consuls of Rome, and who are now decorated with
mural and vallarian wreaths after roaming at will through the camps and
cities of Rome which they captured. All the fasces borne before Roman
magistrates today are not so many in number as those which Hannibal might
have had borne before him, taken on the field of battle when the
commander-in-chief was slain." By dwelling on such gloomy
prognostications they increased their fears and anxieties. And there was
another ground for apprehension. They had been accustomed to seeing war
going on first in one part of Italy and then in another without much hope of
its being soon brought to a close. Now, however, all thoughts were turned
on Scipio and Hannibal, they seemed as though purposely pitted against each
other for a final and decisive struggle. Even those who felt the greatest
confidence in Scipio and entertained the strongest hopes that he would be
victorious became more nervous and anxious as they realised that the fateful
hour was approaching. The Carthaginians were in a very similar mood.
When they thought of Hannibal and the greatness of the deeds he had done
they regretted that they had sued for peace, but when they reflected that they
had been twice worsted in the open field, that Syphax was a prisoner, that
they had been driven out of Spain and then out of Italy, and that all this was
the result of one man's resolute courage, and that man Scipio, they dreaded
him as though he had been destined from his birth to be their ruin.
30.29
.Hannibal had reached Hadrumetum
where he remained a few days for his men to recover from the effects of the
voyage, when breathless couriers announced that all the country round
Carthage was occupied by Roman arms. He at once hurried by forced
marches to Zama. Zama is a five days' march from Carthage. The scouts
whom he had sent forward to reconnoitre were captured by the Roman
outposts and conducted to Scipio. Scipio placed them in charge of the
military tribunes and gave orders for them to be taken round the camp where
they were to look at everything they wished to see without fear. After asking
them whether they had examined all to their satisfaction, he sent them back
with an escort to Hannibal. The report they gave was anything but pleasant
hearing for him, for as it happened Masinissa had on that very day come in
with a force of 6000 infantry and 4000 cavalry. What gave him most
uneasiness was the confidence of the enemy which he saw too clearly was
not without good grounds. So, although he had been the cause of the war,
though his arrival had upset the truce and diminished the hope of any peace
being arranged, he still thought that he would be in a better position to
obtain terms if he were to ask for peace while his strength was still unbroken
than after a defeat. Accordingly he sent a request to Scipio to grant him an
interview. Whether he did this on his own initiative or in obedience to the
orders of his government I am unable to say definitely. Valerius Antius says
that he was defeated by Scipio in the first battle with a loss of 12,000 killed
and 1700 taken prisoners, and that after this he went in company with ten
delegates to Scipio's camp. However this may be, Scipio did not refuse the
proposed interview, and by common agreement the two commanders
advanced their camps towards each other that they might meet more easily.
Scipio took up his position not far from the city of Naragarra on ground
which, in addition to other advantages, afforded a supply of water within
range of missiles from the Roman lines. Hannibal selected some rising
ground about four miles away, a safe and advantageous position, except that
water had to be obtained from a distance. A spot was selected midway
between the camps, which, to prevent any possibility of treachery, afforded a
view on all sides.
30.30
.When
their respective escorts had withdrawn to an equal distance, the two leaders
advanced to meet each other, each accompanied by an interpreter -the
greatest commanders not only of their own age but of all who are recorded
in history before their day, the peers of the most famous kings and
commanders that the world had seen. For a few moments they gazed upon
one another in silent admiration. Hannibal was the first to speak. "If," he
said, "Destiny has so willed it that I, who was the first to make war on Rome
and who have so often had the final victory almost within my grasp, should
now be the first to come to ask for peace, I congratulate myself that Fate has
appointed you, above all others, as the one from whom I am to ask it.
Amongst your many brilliant distinctions this will not be your smallest title to
fame, that Hannibal, to whom the gods have given the victory over so many
Roman generals, has yielded to you, that it has fallen to your lot to put an
end to a war which has been more memorable for your defeats than for ours.
This is indeed the irony of fortune, that after taking up arms when your
father was consul, and having him for my opponent in my first battle, it
should be his son to whom I come unarmed to ask for peace. It would have
been far better had the gods endowed our fathers with such a disposition that
you would have been contented with the sovereignty of Italy, whilst we were
contented with Africa. As it is, even for you, Sicily and Sardinia are no
adequate compensation for the loss of so many fleets, so many armies, and
so many splendid generals. But it is easier to regret the past than to repair it.
We coveted what belonged to others, consequently we had to fight for our
own possessions; not only has war assailed you in Italy and us in Africa, but
you have seen the arms and standards of an enemy almost within your gates
and on your walls while we hear in Carthage the murmur of the Roman
camp. So the thing which we detest most of all, which you would have
wished for before everything, has actually come about, the question of peace
is raised when your fortunes are in the ascendant. We who are most
concerned in securing peace are the ones to propose it, and we have full
powers to treat, whatever we do here our governments will ratify. All we
need is a temper to discuss things calmly. As far as I am concerned, coming
back to a country which I left as a boy, years and a chequered experience of
good and evil fortune have so disillusioned me that I prefer to take reason
rather than Fortune as my guide. As for you, your youth and unbroken
success will make you, I fear, impatient of peaceful counsels. It is not easy
for the man whom Fortune never deceives to reflect on the uncertainties and
accidents of life. What I was at Thrasymenus and at Cannae, that you are
today. You were hardly old enough to bear arms when you were placed in
high command, and in all your enterprises, even the most daring, Fortune has
never played you false. You avenged the deaths of your father and your
uncle, and that disaster to your house became the occasion of your winning a
glorious reputation for courage and filial piety. You recovered the lost
provinces of Spain after driving four Carthaginian armies out of the country.
Then you were elected consul, and whilst your predecessors had hardly spirit
enough to protect Italy, you crossed over to Africa, and after destroying two
armies and capturing and burning two camps within an hour, taking the
powerful monarch Syphax prisoner, and robbing his dominions and ours of
numerous cities you have at last dragged me away from Italy after I had kept
my hold upon it for sixteen years. It is quite possible that in your present
mood you should prefer victory to an equitable peace; I, too, know the
ambition which aims at what is great rather than at what is expedient; on me,
too, a fortune such as yours once shone. But if in the midst of success the
gods should also give us wisdom, we ought to reflect not only on what has
happened in the past but also upon what may happen in the future. To take
only one instance, I myself am a sufficient example of the fickleness of
fortune. Only the other day I had placed my camp between your city and the
Anio and was advancing my standards against the walls of Rome -here you
see me, bereaved of my two brothers, brave soldiers and brilliant generals as
they were, in front of the walls of my native place which is all but invested,
and begging on behalf of my city that it may be spared the fate with which I
have threatened yours. The greater a man's good fortune the less ought he to
count upon it. Success attends you and has deserted us, and this will make
peace all the more splendid to you who grant it; to us who ask for it it is a
stern necessity rather than an honourable surrender. Peace once established
is a better and safer thing than hoping for victory; that is in your hands, this
in the hands of the gods. Do not expose so many years' good fortune to the
hazard of a single hour. You think of your own strength, but think too of the
part which fortune plays and the even chances of battle. On both sides there
will be swords and men to use them, nowhere does the event less answer
expectation than in war. Victory will not add so much to the glory which you
can now win by granting peace, as defeat will take away from it. The
chances of a single hour can annihilate all the honours you have gained and
all you can hope for. If you cement a peace, P. Cornelius, you are master of
all, otherwise you will have to accept whatever fortune the gods send you.
M. Atilius Regulus on this very soil would have afforded an almost unique
instance of the success which waits on merit, had he in the hour of victory
granted peace to our fathers when they asked for it. But as he would set no
bounds to his prosperity, nor curb his elation at his good fortune, the height
to which he aspired only made his fall the more terrible.
"It is for him who grants peace, not for him who seeks it, to name
the terms, but perhaps it may not be presumptuous in us to assess our own
penalty. We consent to everything remaining yours for which we went to
war -Sicily, Sardinia, Spain and all the islands that lie between Africa and
Italy. We Carthaginians, confined within the shores of Africa, are content,
since such is the will of the gods, to see you ruling all outside our frontiers
by sea and land as your dominions. I am bound to admit that the lack of
sincerity lately shown in the request for peace and in the non-observance of
the truce justified your suspicions as to the good faith of Carthage. But,
Scipio, the loyal observance of peace depends largely upon the character of
those through whom it is sought. I hear that your senate have sometimes
even refused to grant it because the ambassadors were not of sufficient rank.
Now it is Hannibal who seeks it, and I should not ask for it if I did not
believe it to be advantageous to us, and because I believe it to be so I shall
keep it inviolate. As I was responsible for beginning the war and as I
conducted it in a way which no one found fault with until the gods were
jealous of my success, so I shall do my utmost to prevent any one from being
discontented with the peace which I shall have been the means of procuring."
30.31
To
these arguments the Roman commander made the following reply: "I was
quite aware, Hannibal, that it was the hope of your arrival that led the
Carthaginians to break the truce and cloud all prospect of peace. In fact, you
yourself admit as much, since you are eliminating from the terms formerly
proposed all that has not already been long in our power. However, as you
are anxious that your countrymen should realise what a great relief you are
bringing them, I must make it my care that they shall not have the conditions
they formerly agreed to struck out today as a reward for their perfidy. You
do not deserve to have the old proposals still open and yet you are seeking
to profit by dishonesty! Our fathers were not the aggressors in the war for
Sicily, nor were we the aggressors in Spain, but the dangers which
threatened our Mamertine allies in the one case and the destruction of
Saguntum in the other made our case a righteous one and justified our arms.
That you provoked the war in each case you yourself admit, and the gods
bear witness to the fact; they guided the former war to a just and righteous
issue, and they are doing and will do the same with this one. As for myself, I
do not forget what weak creatures we men are; I do not ignore the influence
which Fortune exercises and the countless accidents to which all our doings
are liable. Had you of your own free will evacuated Italy and embarked your
army before I sailed for Africa and then come with proposals for peace, I
admit that I should have acted in a high-handed and arbitrary spirit if I had
rejected them. But now that I have dragged you to Africa like a reluctant
and tricky defendant I am not bound to show you the slightest consideration.
So then, if in addition to the terms on which peace might have been
concluded previously, there is the further condition of an indemnity for the
attack on our transports and the ill-treatment of our envoys during the
armistice, I shall have something to lay before the councils. If you consider
this unacceptable. then prepare for war as you have been unable to endure
peace." Thus, no understanding was arrived at and the commanders rejoined
their armies. They reported that the discussion had been fruitless, that the
matter must be decided by arms, and the result left to the gods.
30.32
On
their return to their camps, the commanders-in-chief each issued an order of
the day to their troops. "They were to get their arms ready and brace up their
courage for a final and decisive struggle; if success attended them they
would be victors not for a day only but for all time; they would know before
the next day closed whether Rome or Carthage was to give laws to the
nations. For not Africa and Italy only -the whole world will be the prize of
victory. Great as is the prize, the peril in case of defeat will be as great. "For
no escape lay open to the Romans in a strange and unknown land; and
Carthage was making her last effort, if that failed, her destruction was
imminent. On the morrow they went out to battle -the two most brilliant
generals and the two strongest armies that the two most powerful nations
possessed -to crown on that day the many honours they had won, or for
ever lose them. The soldiers were filled with alternate hopes and fears as
they gazed at their own and then at the opposing lines and measured their
comparative strength with the eye rather than the mind, cheerful and
despondent in turn. The encouragement which they could not give to
themselves their generals gave them in their exhortations. The Carthaginian
reminded his men of their sixteen years' successes on Italian soil, of all the
Roman generals who had fallen and all the armies that had been destroyed,
and as he came to each soldier who had distinguished himself in any battle,
he recounted his gallant deeds. Scipio recalled the conquest of Spain and the
recent battles in Africa and showed up the enemies' confession of weakness,
since their fears compelled them to sue for peace and their innate
faithlessness prevented them from abiding by it. He turned to his own
purpose the conference with Hannibal, which being private allowed free
scope for invention. He drew an omen and declared that the gods had
vouchsafed the same auspices to them as those under which their fathers
fought at the Aegates. The end of the war and of their labours, he assured
them, had come; the spoils of Carthage were in their hands, and the return
home to their wives and children and household gods. He spoke with
uplifted head and a face so radiant that you might suppose he had already
won the victory.
30.33
Then
he drew up his men, the hastati in front, behind them the principes, the triarii
closing the rear. He did not form the cohorts in line before their respective
standards, but placed a considerable interval between the maniples in order
that there might be space for the enemy elephants to be driven through
without breaking the ranks. Laelius, who had been one of his staff-officers
and was now by special appointment of the senate acting as quaestor, was in
command of the Italian cavalry on the left wing, Masinissa and his
Numidians being posted on the right. The velites, the light infantry of those
days, were stationed at the head of the lanes between the columns of
maniples with instructions to retire when the elephants charged and shelter
themselves behind the lines of maniples, or else run to the right and left
behind the standards and so allow the monsters to rush on to meet the darts
from both sides. To make his line look more menacing Hannibal posted his
elephants in front. He had eighty altogether, a larger number, than he had
ever brought into action before. Behind them were the auxiliaries, Ligurians
and Gauls, with an admixture of Balearics and Moors. The second line was
made up of Carthaginians and Africans together with a legion of
Macedonians. A short distance behind these were posted his Italian troops in
reserve. These were mainly Bruttians who had followed him from Italy more
from the compulsion of necessity than of their own free will. Like Scipio,
Hannibal covered his flanks with his cavalry, the Carthaginians on the right,
the Numidians on the left.
Different words of encouragement were required in an army
composed of such diverse elements, where the soldiers had nothing in
common, neither language nor custom nor laws nor arms nor dress, nor even
the motive which brought them into the ranks. To the auxiliaries he held out
the attraction of the pay which they would receive, and the far greater
inducement of the booty they would secure. In the case of the Gauls he
appealed to their instinctive and peculiar hatred of the Romans. The
Ligurians, drawn from wild mountain fastnesses, were told to look upon the
fruitful plains of Italy as the rewards of victory. The Moors and Numidians
were threatened by the prospect of being under the unbridled tyranny of
Masinissa. Each nationality was swayed by its hopes or fears. The
Carthaginians had placed before their eyes, their city walls, their homes, their
fathers' sepulchres, their wives and children, the alternative of either slavery
and destruction or the empire of the world. There was no middle course,
they had either everything to hope for or everything to fear. Whilst the
commander-in-chief was thus addressing the Carthaginians, and the officers
of the various nationalities were conveying his words to their own people
and to the aliens mingled with them mostly through interpreters, the
trumpets and horns of the Romans were sounded and such a clangor arose
that the elephants, mostly those in front of the left wing, turned upon the
Moors and Numidians behind them. Masinissa had no difficulty in turning
this disorder into flight and so clearing the Carthaginian left of its cavalry. A
few of the animals, however, showed no fear and were urged forward upon
the ranks of velites, amongst whom, in spite of the many wounds they
received, they did considerable execution. The velites, to avoid being
trampled to death, sprang back to the maniples and thus allowed a path for
the elephants, from both sides of which they rained their darts on the beasts.
The leading maniples also kept up a fusillade of missiles until these animals
too were driven out of the Roman lines on to their own side and put the
Carthaginian cavalry, who were covering the right flank, to flight. When
Laelius saw the enemy's horse in confusion he at once took advantage of it.
30.34
When
the infantry lines closed, the Carthaginians were exposed on both flanks,
owing to the flight of the cavalry, and were losing both confidence and
strength. Other circumstances, too, seemingly trivial in themselves but of
considerable importance in battle, gave the Romans an advantage. Their
cheers formed one united shout and were therefore fuller and more
intimidating; those of the enemy, uttered in many languages, were only
dissonant cries. The Romans kept their foothold as they fought and pressed
the enemy by the sheer weight of their arms and bodies; on the other side
there was much more agility and nimbleness of foot than actual fighting
strength. As a consequence, the Romans made the enemy give ground in
their very first charge, then pushing them back with their shields and elbows
and moving forward on to the ground from which they had dislodged them,
they made a considerable advance as though meeting with no resistance.
When those in the rear became aware of the forward movement they too
pressed on those in front thereby considerably increasing the weight of the
thrust. This retirement on the part of the enemy's auxiliaries was not checked
by the Africans and Carthaginians who formed the second line. In fact, so far
were they from supporting them that they too fell back, fearing lest the
enemy, after overcoming the obstinate resistance of the first line. should
reach them. On this the auxiliaries suddenly broke and turned tail; some took
refuge within the second line, others, not allowed to do so, began to cut
down those who refused to admit them after refusing to support them. There
were now two battles going on, the Carthaginians had to fight with the
enemy, and at the same time with their own troops. Still, they would not
admit these maddened fugitives within their ranks, they closed up and drove
them to the wings and out beyond the fighting ground, fearing lest their fresh
and unweakened lines should be demoralised by the intrusion of panic-struck
and wounded men.
The ground where the auxiliaries had been stationed had become
blocked with such heaps of bodies and arms that it was almost more difficult
to cross it than it had been to make way through the masses of the enemy.
The hastati who formed the first line followed up the enemy, each man
advancing as best he could over the heaps of bodies and arms and the
slippery bloodstained ground until the standards and maniples were all in
confusion. Even the standards of the principes began to sway to and fro
when they saw how irregular the line in front had become. As soon as Scipio
observed this he ordered the call to be sounded for the hastati to retire, and
after withdrawing the wounded to the rear he brought up the principes and
triarii to the wings, in order that the hastati in the centre might be supported
and protected on both flanks. Thus the battle began entirely afresh, as the
Romans had at last got to their real enemies, who were a match for them in
their arms, their experience and their military reputation, and who had as
much to hope for and to fear as themselves. The Romans, however, had the
superiority in numbers and in confidence, since their cavalry had already
routed the elephants and they were fighting with the enemy's second line
after defeating his first.
30.35
Laelius and Masinissa, who had followed
up the defeated cavalry a considerable distance, now returned from the
pursuit at the right moment and attacked the enemy in the rear. This at last
decided the action. The enemy were routed, many were surrounded and
killed in action, those who dispersed in flight over the open country were
killed by the cavalry who were in possession of every part. Above 20,000 of
the Carthaginians and their allies perished on that day and almost as many
were made prisoners. 132 standards were secured and 11 elephants. The
victors lost 1500 men. Hannibal escaped in the melee with a few horsemen
and fled to Hadrumetum. Before quitting the field he had done everything
possible in the battle itself and in the preparation for it. Scipio himself
acknowledged and all experienced soldiers agreed that Hannibal had shown
singular skill in the disposition of his troops. He placed his elephants in front
so that their irregular charge and irresistible force might make it impossible
for the Romans to keep their ranks and maintain the order of their formation,
in which their strength and confidence mainly lay. Then he posted the
mercenaries in front of his Carthaginians, in order that this motley force
drawn from all nations, held together not by a spirit of loyalty but by their
pay, might not find it easy to run away. Having to sustain the first onset they
might wear down the impetuosity of the enemy, and if they did nothing else
they might blunt his sword by their wounds. Then came the Carthaginian and
African troops, the mainstay of his hopes. They were equal in all respects to
their adversaries and even had the advantage inasmuch as they would come
fresh into action against a foe weakened by wounds and fatigue. As to the
Italian troops, he had his doubts as to whether they would turn out friends or
foes and withdrew them consequently into the rearmost line. After giving
this final proof of his great abilities, Hannibal fled, as has been stated, to
Hadrumetum. From here he was summoned to Carthage, to which city he
returned thirty-six years after he had left it as a boy. He told the senate
frankly that he had lost not a battle merely but the whole war, and that their
only chance of safety lay in obtaining peace.
30.36
From
the battlefield Scipio proceeded at once to storm the enemies' camp, where
an immense quantity of plunder was secured. He then returned to his ships,
having received intelligence that P. Lentulus had arrived off Utica with 50
warships and 100 transports loaded with supplies of every kind. Laelius was
sent to carry the news of the victory to Scipio, who, thinking that the panic
in Carthage ought to be increased by threatening the city on all sides,
ordered Octavius to march the legions thither overland while he himself
sailed from Utica with his old fleet strengthened by the division which
Lentulus had brought, and steered for the harbour of Carthage. As he was
approaching it he was met by a vessel hung with bands of white wool and
branches of olive. In it there were the ten foremost men of the State, who,
on Hannibal's advice, had been sent as an embassy to sue for peace. As soon
as they were near the stern of the general's vessel they held up the suppliant
emblems, and made imploring appeals to Scipio for his pity and protection.
The only answer vouchsafed them was that they were to go to Tunis, as
Scipio was about to move his army to that place. Keeping on his course he
entered the harbour of Carthage in order to survey the situation of the city,
not so much for the purpose of acquiring information as of discouraging the
enemy. He then sailed back to Utica and recalled Octavius thither also. As
the latter was on his way to Tunis he was informed that Vermina, the son of
Syphax, was coming to the aid of the Carthaginians with a force consisting
mainly of cavalry. Octavius attacked the Numidians whilst on the march with
a portion of his infantry and the whole of his cavalry. The action took place
on December I7, and soon ended in the utter rout of the Numidians. As they
were completely surrounded by the Roman cavalry all avenues of escape
were closed; 15,000 were killed and 1200 taken prisoners, 1500 horses were
also secured and 72 standards. The prince himself escaped with a few
horsemen. The Romans then reoccupied their old position at Tunis, and here
an embassy consisting of thirty delegates had an interview with Scipio.
Though they adopted a much humbler tone than on the previous occasion, as
indeed their desperate condition demanded, they were listened to with much
less sympathy on account of their recent breach of faith. At first the council
of war, moved by a righteous indignation, were in favour of the complete
destruction of Carthage. When, however, they reflected on the greatness of
the task and the length of time which the investment of so strong and
well-fortified a city would occupy, they felt considerable hesitation. Scipio
himself too was afraid that his successor might come and claim the glory of
terminating the war, after the way had been prepared for it by another man's
toils and dangers. So there was a unanimous verdict in favour of peace being
made.
30.37
The
next day the envoys were again summoned before the council and severely
taken to task for their want of truth and honesty, and they were admonished
to lay to heart the lesson taught by their numerous defeats and to believe in
the power of the gods and the sanctity of oaths. The conditions of peace
were then stated to them. They were to be a free State, living under their
own laws; all the cities, all the territory and all the frontiers that they had
held before the war they were to continue to hold, and the Romans would on
that day cease from all further depredations. They were to restore to the
Romans all the deserters, refugees and prisoners, to deliver up their
warships, retaining only ten triremes and all their trained elephants, at the
same time undertaking not to train any more. They were not to make war
either within or beyond the frontiers of Africa without the permission of
Rome. They were to restore all his possessions to Masinissa and make a
treaty with him. Pending the return of the envoys from Rome they were to
supply corn and pay to the auxiliaries in the Roman army. They were also to
pay a war indemnity of 10,000 talents of silver, the payment to be in equal
annual instalments, extending over fifty years. One hundred hostages were to
be handed over, to be selected by Scipio between the ages of fourteen and
thirty years. Finally, he undertook to grant them an armistice if the transports
which had been seized during the previous truce were restored with all that
they contained. Otherwise there would be no armistice, nor any hopes of
peace.
When the envoys brought these terms back and laid them before the
Assembly, Gisgo came forward and protested against any proposals for
peace. The populace, alike opposed to peace and incapable of war, were
giving him a favourable hearing when Hannibal, indignant at such arguments
being urged at such a crisis, seized him and dragged him by main force off
the platform. This was an unusual sight in a free community, and the people
were loud in their disapproval. The soldier, taken aback by the free
expression of opinion on the part of his fellow-citizens, said, "I left you when
I was nine years old, and now after thirty-six years' absence I have returned.
The art of war which I have been taught from my boyhood, first as a private
soldier and then in high command, I think I am fairly well acquainted with.
The rules and laws and customs of civic life and of the forum I must learn
from you." After this apology for his inexperience, he discussed the terms of
peace and showed that they were not unreasonable and that their acceptance
was a necessity. The greatest difficulty of all concerned the transports seized
during the armistice, for nothing was to be found but the ships themselves,
and any investigation would be difficult, as those who would be charged
were the opponents of peace. It was decided that the ships should be
restored and that in any case search should be made for the crews. It was left
to Scipio to put a value on whatever else was missing and the Carthaginians
were to pay the amount in cash. According to some writers, Hannibal went
down to the coast straight from the battlefield, and going on board a ship
which was in readiness, set sail immediately for the court of King Antiochus,
and when Scipio insisted before all else upon his surrender, he was told that
Hannibal was not in Africa.
30.38
After
the return of the envoys to Scipio the quaestors received instructions to
make an inventory from the public registers of all the government property in
the transports, and all the private property was to be notified by the owners.
Twenty-five thousand pounds of silver were required to be paid down as an
equivalent for the pecuniary value, and a three months' armistice granted to
the Carthaginians. A further stipulation was made that as long as the
armistice was in force, they should not send envoys to any place but Rome,
and if any envoys came to Carthage they were not to allow them to leave
until the Roman commander had been informed of the object of their visit.
The Carthaginians envoys were accompanied to Rome by L. Veturius Philo,
M. Marcius Ralla and L. Scipio the commander-in-chief's brother. During
this time the supplies which arrived from Sicily and Sardinia made provisions
so cheap that the traders left the corn for the sailors in return for its freight.
The first news of the resumption of hostilities by Carthage created
considerable uneasiness in Rome. Tiberius Claudius was ordered to take a
fleet without loss of time to Sicily and from there to Africa; the other consul
was ordered to remain in the City until the position of affairs in Africa was
definitely known. Tib. Claudius was extremely slow in getting his fleet ready
and putting out to sea, for the senate had decided that Scipio rather than he,
though consul, should be empowered to fix the terms on which peace should
be granted. The general alarm at the tidings from Africa was increased by
rumours of various portents. At Cumae the sun's disk was seen to diminish in
size and there was a shower of stones; in the district of Veliternum the
ground subsided and immense caverns were formed in which trees were
swallowed up; at Aricia the forum and the shops round it were struck by
lightning, as were also portions of the walls of Frusino and one of the gates;
there was also a shower of stones on the Palatine. The latter portent was
expiated, according to the traditional usage, by continuous prayer and
sacrifice for nine days, the others by sacrifice of full-grown victims. In the
middle of all these troubles there was an extraordinarily heavy rainfall which
was also regarded as supernatural. The Tiber rose so high that the Circus
was flooded and arrangements were made to celebrate the Games of Apollo
outside the Colline Gate at the temple of Venus Erucina. On the actual day,
however, the sky suddenly cleared and the procession which had started for
the Colline Gate was recalled and conducted to the Circus as it was
announced that the water had subsided. The return of the solemn spectacle
to its proper place added to the public joy and also to the number of
spectators.
30.39
At last
the consul took his departure from the City. He was, however, caught in a
violent storm between the ports of Cosa and Loretum, and was in the
greatest danger, but he succeeded in making the harbour of Populonia,
where he remained at anchor till the tempest wore itself out. From there he
sailed to Elba, then on to Corsica and from there to Sardinia. Here, whilst
rounding the Montes Insani, he was caught in a much more violent storm
and off a much more dangerous coast. His fleet was scattered, many of his
vessels were dismantled and sprang leaks, some were totally wrecked. With
his fleet thus tempest-tossed and shattered he found shelter at Caralis. Whilst
he was repairing his ships here winter overtook him. His year of office
expired, and as he received no extension of command he brought his fleet
back to Rome in a private capacity. Before leaving for his province M.
Servilius named C. Servilius Dictator in order to avoid being recalled to
conduct the elections. The Dictator appointed P. Aelius Paetus Master of the
Horse. In spite of various dates being fixed for the elections the weather
prevented them from being held. Consequently, when the magistrates went
out of office on March 14 no new ones had been appointed and the republic
was without any curule magistrates. The pontifex T. Manlius Torquatus died
this year and his place was filled by C. Sulpicius Galba. The Roman Games
were celebrated three times by the curule aediles L. Licinius Lucullus and Q.
Fulvius. Some of the secretaries and messengers of the aediles were found
guilty on the evidence of witnesses of abstracting money from the aediles'
chest and Lucullus was seriously compromised in the matter. The plebeian
aediles, P. Aelius Tubero and L. Laetorius, were found to have been
irregularly appointed and resigned office. Before this happened, however,
they had celebrated the Plebeian Games and the festival of Jupiter and had
also placed in the Capitol three statues made out of the silver paid in fines.
The Dictator and the Master of the Horse were authorised by the senate to
celebrate the Games in honour of Ceres.
30.40
On the
arrival of the Roman commissioners from Africa, simultaneously with that of
the Carthaginians, the senate met at the temple of Bellona. L. Veturius Philo
reported that Carthage had made her last effort, a battle had been fought
with Hannibal and an end had at last been put to this disastrous war. This
announcement was received by the senators with huge delight, and Veturius
reported a further success though comparatively an unimportant one, namely
the defeat of Vermina, the son of Syphax. He was ordered to go to the
Assembly and make the people sharers in the good news. Amidst universal
congratulations all the temples in the City were thrown open and public
thanksgivings were ordered for three days. The envoys from Carthage and
those from Philip who had also arrived, requested an audience of the senate.
The Dictator, at the instance of the senate, informed them that the new
consuls would grant them one. The elections were then held and Cnaeus
Cornelius Lentulus and P. Aelius Paetus were made consuls. The praetors
elected were M. Junius Pennus, to whom the City jurisdiction was allotted;
M. Valerius Falto, to whom Bruttium fell; M. Fabius Buteo, who received
Sardinia, and P. Aelius Tubero, to whom the ballot gave Sicily. As to the
consuls' provinces it was agreed that nothing should be done until Philip's
envoys and those from Carthage had obtained an audience. No sooner was
one war at an end than there was the prospect of another commencing. The
consul Cnaeus Lentulus was keenly desirous of obtaining Africa as his
province; if the war should continue, he looked forward to an easy victory; if
it were coming to an end he was anxious to have the glory of terminating so
great a struggle. He gave out that he would not allow any business to be
transacted until Africa had been decreed to him as his province. His
colleague being a moderate and sensible man gave way, he saw that to
attempt to wrest Scipio's glory from him would be not only unjust but
hopeless. Two of the tribunes of the plebs -Q. Minucius Thermus and
Manlius Acilius Glabrio -declared that Cnaeus Cornelius was attempting to
do what Tiberius Claudius had failed to do, and that after the senate had
authorised the question of the supreme command in Africa to be referred to
the Assembly, the thirty-five tribes had unanimously decreed it to Scipio.
After numerous debates both in the senate and in the assembly it was finally
settled to leave the matter to the senate. It was arranged that the senators
should vote on oath, and their decision was that the consuls should come to
a mutual understanding, or failing that, should resort to the ballot, as to
which of them should have Italy and which should take command of the fleet
of fifty vessels. The one to whom the fleet was assigned was to sail to Sicily,
and if it proved impossible to make peace with Carthage, he was to proceed
to Africa. The consul was to act by sea; Scipio, retaining his full powers, was
to conduct the campaign on land. If the terms of peace were agreed upon the
tribunes of the plebs were to ask the people whether it was their will that
peace should be granted by the consul or by Scipio. And also if the
victorious army was to be brought away from Africa, they were to decide
who should bring it. Should the people resolve that peace was to be
concluded through Scipio and that he was also to bring the army back, then
the consul was not to sail for Africa. The other consul, who had Italy for his
province, was to take over two legions from the praetor M. Sextius.
30.41
Scipio
received an extension of his command and retained the armies he had in
Africa. The two legions in Bruttium which had been under C. Livius were
transferred to the praetor M. Valerius Falto and the two legions in Sicily
under Cnaeus Tremellius were to be taken over by the praetor P. Aelius. The
legion in Sardinia, commanded by the propraetor P. Lentulus, was assigned
to M. Fabius. M. Servilius, the consul of the previous year, was continued in
command of his two legions in Etruria. With regard to Spain, L. Cornelius
Lentulus and L. Manlius Acidinus had been there for some years and the
consuls were to arrange with the tribunes to ask the Assembly to decide who
should command in Spain. The general appointed was to form one legion of
Romans out of the two armies and fifteen cohorts of Latin allies, with which
to hold the province, and L. Cornelius and L. Manlius were to bring the old
soldiers home. Whichever consul received Africa as his province was to
select fifty ships out of the two fleets, i.e., the one which Cnaeus Octavius
was commanding in African waters and the one with which P. Villius was
guarding the Sicilian seaboard. P. Scipio was to keep the forty warships
which he had. Should the consul wish Cn. Octavius to continue in command
of his fleet, he would take rank as propraetor; if he gave the command to
Laelius, then Octavius was to leave for Rome and bring back the ships which
the consul did not want. Ten warships were also assigned to M. Fabius for
Sardinia. In addition to the above-mentioned troops the consuls were
ordered to raise two City legions so that there might be fourteen legions and
one hundred ships of war at the disposal of the republic for the year.
30.42
Then
the admission of the embassies from Philip and the Carthaginians was
discussed. It was decided that the Macedonians should be introduced first.
Their address dealt with various points. They began by disclaiming all
responsibility for the depredations on the friendly countries of which the
Roman envoys had complained to the king. Then they themselves brought
charges against the allies of Rome and a much more serious one against M.
Aurelius, one of the three envoys, who they said had stayed behind and after
raising a body of troops commenced hostilities against them in violation of
treaty rights, and fought several engagements with their commanders. They
ended with a demand that the Macedonians with their general Sopater who
had served as mercenaries under Hannibal and were then prisoners in chains
should be restored to them. In reply, M. Furius, who had been sent from
Macedonia by Aurelius to represent him, pointed out that Aurelius had
certainly been left behind, but it was for the purpose of preventing the allies
of Rome from being driven to secede to the king in consequence of the
injuries and depredations from which they were suffering. He had not
overstepped their frontiers; he had made it his business to see that no hordes
of plunderers crossed those frontiers with impunity. Sopater, who was one
of the purple-clad nobles who stood near the throne and was related to the
monarch, had recently been sent to Africa to assist Hannibal and Carthage
with money and also with a force of 4000 Macedonians.
On being questioned as to these matters the Macedonians gave
unsatisfactory and evasive replies, and consequently the answer they
received from the senate was anything but favourable. They were told that
their king was looking for war, and if he went on as he was doing, he would
very soon find it. He had been guilty of a twofold breach of treaty, for he had
committed wanton aggression on the allies of Rome by hostile arms and he
had also aided the enemies of Rome with men and money. Scipio was acting
rightly and legitimately in treating those taken in arms against Rome as
enemies and keeping them in chains. M. Aurelius also was acting in the
interests of the State -and the senate thanked him for it -when he afforded
armed protection to the allies of Rome since treaty rights were powerless for
their defence. With this stern reply the Macedonian envoys were dismissed.
Then the Carthaginians were called in. As soon as their age and rank were
recognised, for they were quite the foremost men in the State, the senators
remarked that now it was really a question of peace. Conspicuous amongst
them all was Hasdrubal, on whom his countrymen had bestowed the
sobriquet of "Haedus." He had always been an advocate of peace and an
opponent of the Barcine party. This gave his words additional weight when
he disavowed all responsibility for the war on behalf of his government and
fastened it on a few ambitious and grasping individuals.
His speech was discursive and eloquent. He repudiated some of the
charges, others he admitted lest unabashed denials of established facts might
lead to less consideration being shown. He warned the senators to use their
good fortune in a spirit of moderation and self-restraint. "If," he continued,
"the Carthaginians had listened to Hanno and myself and had been willing to
take advantage of their opportunity, they would have dictated the terms of
peace which now they are seeking from you. Seldom are good fortune and
good sense granted to men at the same time. What makes Rome invincible is
the fact that her people do not lose their sound judgment in the hour of
prosperity. And indeed it would be a matter for surprise were it otherwise,
for those to whom good fortune is a novelty go mad with unrestrained
delight because they are unused to it, but to you Romans the joy of victory is
a usual, I might almost say a commonplace experience. It is by clemency
towards the conquered more than by conquest itself that you have extended
your dominion." The others spoke in language more calculated to evoke
compassion. They reminded their audience of the powerful and influential
position from which Carthage had fallen. Those, they said, who lately held
almost the whole world subject to their arms had nothing now left to them
but their city walls. Confined within these they saw nothing on land or sea
which owned their sway. Even their city and their hearths and homes they
would only keep if the Roman people were willing to spare them; if not, they
lost everything. As it became evident that the senators were moved with
compassion, one of them, exasperated by the perfidy of the Carthaginians, is
said to have called out, "By what gods will you swear to observe the treaty,
since you have been false to those by whom you swore before?" "By the
same as before," Hasdrubal replied, "since they visit their wrath on those
who violate treaties."
30.43
Whilst
all were in favour of peace the consul Cnaeus Lentulus, who was in
command of the fleet, prevented the House from passing any resolution.
Thereupon, two tribunes of the plebs, Manius Acilius and Q. Minucius, at
once brought the questions before the people: Was it their will and pleasure
that the senate should pass a decree for the conclusion of peace with
Carthage? Who was to grant the peace? and Who was to bring away the
army from Africa? On the question of peace all the tribes voted in the
affirmative; they also made an order that Scipio should grant the peace and
bring the army home. In pursuance of this decision the senate decreed that P.
Scipio should, in agreement with the ten commissioners, make peace with
the people or Carthage on such terms as he thought right. On this the
Carthaginians expressed their thanks to the senators, and begged that they
might be allowed to enter the City and converse with their
fellow-countrymen who were detained as State-prisoners. These were
members of the nobility, some of them their own friends and relations, and
others there were for whom they had messages from their friends at home.
When this was arranged they made a further request that they might be
allowed to ransom any of the prisoners whom they wished. They were told
to furnish the names, and they gave in about two hundred. The senate then
passed a resolution that a commission should be appointed to take back to P.
Scipio in Africa two hundred of the prisoners whom the Carthaginians had
selected and to inform him that if peace were established he was to restore
them to the Carthaginians without ransom. When the fetials received orders
to proceed to Africa for the purpose of striking the treaty they requested the
senate to define the procedure. The senate accordingly decided upon this
formula: "The fetials shall take with them their own flints and their own
herbs; when a Roman praetor orders them to strike the treaty they shall
demand the sacred herbs from him." The herbs given to the fetials are usually
taken from the Citadel. The Carthaginian envoys were at length dismissed
and returned to Scipio. They concluded peace with him on the terms
mentioned above, and delivered up their warships, their elephants, the
deserters and refugees and 4000 prisoners including Q. Terentius Calleo, a
senator. Scipio ordered the ships to be taken out to sea and burnt. Some
authorities state that there were 500 vessels, comprising every class
propelled by oars. The sight of all those vessels suddenly bursting into flames
caused as much grief to the people as if Carthage itself were burning. The
deserters were dealt with much more severely than the fugitives; those
belonging to the Latin contingents were beheaded, the Romans were
crucified.
30.44
The
last time peace was concluded with Carthage was in the consulship of Q.
Lutatius and A. Manlius, forty years previously. Twenty-three years
afterwards the war began in the consulship of P. Cornelius and Tiberius
Sempronius. It ended in the consulship of Cnaeus Cornelius and P. Aelius
Paetus, seventeen years later. Tradition tells of a remark which Scipio is said
to have frequently made to the effect that it was owing to the jealous
ambition of Tiberius Claudius and afterwards to that of Cnaeus Cornelius
that the war did not end with the destruction of Carthage. Carthage found a
difficulty in meeting the first instalment of the war indemnity as her treasury
was exhausted. There was lamentation and weeping in the senate and in the
middle of it all Hannibal is said to have been seen smiling. Hasdrubal Haedus
rebuked him for his mirth amid the nation's tears. "If," Hannibal replied, "you
could discern my inmost thoughts as plainly as you can tell the expression of
my countenance you would easily discover that this laughter which you find
fault with does not proceed from a merry heart but from one almost
demented with misery. All the same, it is very far from being so ill-timed as
those foolish and misplaced tears of yours. The proper time to weep was
when we were deprived of our arms, when our ships were burnt, when we
were interdicted from all war beyond our frontiers. That is the wound that
will prove fatal. There is not the slightest reason for supposing that the
Romans are consulting your peace and quietness. No great State can remain
quiet; if it has no enemy abroad it finds one at home, just as excessively
strong men, whilst seemingly safe from outside mischief, fall victims to the
burden of their own strength. Of course we only feel public calamities so far
as they affect us personally, and nothing in them gives us a sharper pang than
the loss of money. When the spoils of victory were being dragged away from
Carthage when you saw yourselves left naked and defenceless amidst an
Africa in arms, nobody uttered a groan; now because you have to contribute
to the indemnity from your private fortunes you lament as loudly as though
you were present at your country's funeral. I greatly fear that you will very
soon find that it is the least of your misfortunes which you are shedding tears
over today." Such was the way in which Hannibal spoke to the
Carthaginians. Scipio summoned his troops to assembly, and in the presence
of the whole army rewarded Masinissa by adding to his ancestral realm the
town of Cirta and the other cities and districts which had belonged to the
dominion of Syphax and had passed under the rule of Rome. Cnaeus
Octavius received instructions to take the fleet to Sicily and hand it over to
the consul Cnaeus Cornelius. Scipio told the Carthaginian envoys to start for
Rome in order that the arrangements he had made in consultation with the
ten commissioners might receive the sanction of the senate and the formal
order of the people.
30.45
As
peace was now established on land and sea Scipio embarked his army and
sailed to Lilybaeum. From there he sent the greater part of his army on in the
ships, whilst he himself travelled through Italy. The country was rejoicing
quite as much over the restoration of peace as over the victory he had won,
and he made his way to Rome through multitudes who poured out from the
cities to do him honour, and crowds of peasants who blocked the roads in
the country districts. The triumphal procession in which he rode into the City
was the most brilliant that had ever been seen. The weight of silver which he
brought into the treasury amounted to 123,000 pounds. Out of the booty he
distributed forty ases to each soldier. Syphax had died shortly before at
Tibur whither he had been transferred from Alba, but his removal, if it
detracted from the interest of the spectacle, in no way dimmed the glory of
the triumphing general. His death, however, provided another spectacle, for
he received a public funeral. Polybius, an authority of considerable weight,
says that this king was led in the procession. Q. Terentius Culleo marched
behind Scipio wearing the cap of liberty, and in all his after-life honoured as
was meet the author of his freedom. As to the sobriquet of Africanus,
whether it was conferred upon him by the devotion of his soldiers or by the
popular breath, or whether as in the recent instances of Sylla the Fortunate
and Pompey the Great it originated in the flattery of his friends, I cannot say
for certain. At all events, he was the first commander-in-chief who was
ennobled by the name of the people he had conquered. Since his time men
who have won far smaller victories have in imitation of him left splendid
inscriptions on their busts and illustrious names to their families.
End of Book 30