trodden by human foot. Impressing this on | first to defend the citadel, but soon seeing every his men, he bade them follow Neptune, who place filled with the enemy, and that no hope acted as their guide, and make their way to the wall through the middle of the swamp. XLVI. On the land part, the assailants had a most laborious task. The height of the walls, was not the only obstruction that they met, for, as the enemy had the Romans below them, they could aim their blows against either of their sides as they came up; so that, while they were climbing, these were more endangered than the fronts of their bodies. But, in the other quarter, the five hundred found no difficulty either in crossing the morass, or mounting the rampart; for neither was that side strengthened by any work, being deemed sufficiently secure by the nature of the ground ' and the marsh, nor was there any party of soldiers or guard stationed at it, because all were intent on bringing succour to the place where the danger appeared. Entering the city, therefore, without opposition, they proceeded with the utmost speed to the gate, at which the whole contest was maintained; and so intent on this dispute were, not only the minds of all, but likewise the eyes and ears of the combatants, and of the people who looked on and encouraged them, that no one perceived that the enemy had entered the place, until their weapons came pouring on their backs, and they found themselves between the two forces. The garrison were so affrighted and confounded, that they were no longer capable of making a defence. The walls were seized by the Romans, who, both within and without, applied themselves to the breaking open the gate, and this being soon cut to pieces, so as to leave a clear passage, the troops marched in to the attack. By this time, great numbers had got in by scaling the walls, and these employed themselves everywhere in killing the townsmen. Those who had entered by the opening, composing a regular body, uuder their officers, and maintaining their ranks, proceeded through the heart of the city into the forum. Scipio, perceiving that the enemy fled hence by two different ways; some towards the hill, which lay eastward, and was defended by a garrison of five hundred men, others to the citadel, into which Mago himself had retired, with almost all the soldiers who had been beaten off from the walls, sent one half of his forces to storm the hill, and led himself the other half against the citadel. The hill was taken at the first attack. Mago attempted at remained, surrendered himself, the citadel, and garrison. Until the citadel was surrendered, the soldiers had continued to put the townsmen to the sword in every quarter, nor did they spare any adult who fell in their way; but then, on a signal given, they desisted from shedding blood, and, being now completely victorious, they turned themselves to the collecting of the plunder, the quantity of which, of all sorts, was immense. XLVII. The males of free condition taken prisoners amounted to ten thousand; of these, such as were citizens of New Carthage he discharged, and restored to them the city, and all their effects, which the war had not consumed. There were two thousand artisans, whom he adjudged to be the public property of the Roman people, giving them hopes of speedily regaining their liberty, provided they worked industriously in the service of the army. Of the rest of the multitude, all the younger inhabitants, and the able-bodied slaves, he sent to fill up the numbers of rowers in his fleet, which he augmented with eight ships captured here. Besides all these, were found the hostages of the Spanish states, who were treated with as much care and attention as if they had been the children of allies. The quantity of military stores taken was exceedingly great; catapultas, of the larger size, one hundred and twenty, of the smaller, two hundred and eighty-one ; ballistas, large, twenty-three, small, fifty-two; of scorpions, large and small, and of arms and missive weapons, a vast number; military standards, seventy-four. Of gold and silver also, a prodigious mass was brought in to the general: there were two hundred and seventy-six golden bowls, every one of them almost of a pound weight; of silver, wrought and coined, eighteen thousand three hundred pounds weight and of silver utensils a prodigious number. All these articles were weighed and reckoned to the quæstor Caius Flaminius; besides forty thousand pecks of wheat, and two hundred and seventy thousand of barley. One hundred and thirteen store-ships were boarded and taken in the harbour, several of them with their cargoes, consisting of corn and arms: likewise brass, iron, canvass, hemp, and other materials proper for equipping a fleet: so that, among such vast stores of every thing useful in war, Carthage itself was the least valuable acquisition. > to sit and determine in it. But the dispute was now maintained with greater violence than ever, in consequence of those men of high rank, who had acted not as advocates, but as moderators in the case, being thus excluded. Wherefore Caius Lælius, quitting the court, went up to the tribunal to Scipio, and told him, that "the proceedings of parties surpassed all bounds of temperance and moderation, insomuch that they hardly refrained from blows. But, though no violence should ensue, nevertheless such conduct afforded an ill example; as, in this case, the honour due to merit was sought by one or other through the means of fraud and falsehood. On this side stood the legionary soldiers, on that the marines, both ready to swear, by all the gods, rather what they wished than what they knew to be true; and to involve in the crime of perjury not only themselves in their own persons, but the military standards and eagles, and the sacred word of a soldier:" he added, that "he brought him this information at the desire of Publius Cornelius and Marcus Sempronius." Scipio highly approving of Lælius's conduct, summoned a general assembly, and there pronounced judgment, that "having received sufficient proof that Quintus Trebellius and Sextus Digitius gained the top of the wall at the same time, in acknowledgment of their bravery he bestowed mural crowns on both. He then bestowed gifts on the rest, in proportion to their courage and merit: above all, he honoured Caius Lælius, commander of the fleet, with every enconium of the highest kind that could have been paid to himself, and presented him, besides, with a golden crown and thirty oxen. XLVIII. Scipio, ordering Caius Lælius, as umpire: and ordered these three delegates with the marines, to guard the city, led back the legions into their camp. As the soldiers were much fatigued by having gone through, in one day, every different kind of fight; for they had engaged the enemy in the field, had undergone great labour and danger in storming the city, and, after it was taken, had fought on disadvantageous ground with those who had taken refuge in the citadel; he directed them to employ the remainder of that day in taking refreshment and rest. On the day following, having called together both the land and the naval forces, he began with returning praise and thanks to the immortal gods, who had "not only, in the space of one day, given him possession of the most opulent city in all Spain, but had previously amassed in it the greatest part of the wealth of that country, and of Africa also, so that no resources were now left to the enemy, while he and his army had a superfluity of all things." He then highly commended the courageous behaviour of the soldiers, observing, that " neither the forces sent out against them, nor the height of the walls, nor the unexplored fords of the morass, nor a fort seated on a steep hill, nor the citadel, though most strongly fortified, had deterred them from surmounting and breaking through every obstacle. Wherefore, though he owed every acknowledgment to them all, nevertheless the person who first mounted the wall was entitled to the peculiar honour of a mural crown;" and he desired that he who thought himself deserving of that present should claim it. Two claimants appeared, Quintus Trebellius, a centurion of the fourth legion, and Sextus Digitius, one of the marines; but the warmth with which they themselves supported their pretensions was far inferior to the eager zeal which each excited in his favour among the corps to which he belonged. Caius Lælius, commander of the fleet, favoured the marines, Marcus Sempronius Tuditanus the legionaries. This contention threatening at length to end in a mutiny, Scipio published notice, that he would appoint three delegates, who, after examining the merits of the case, and hearing witnesses, should determine which had made his way first into the town. Accordingly, he named Caius Lælius and Marcus Sempronius advocates for the contending parties, with Publius Cornelius Claudius, a person uninterested in the cause, XLIX. He then ordered the hostages of the Spanish states to be called. What the number of these was, I will not presume to affirm; for I find, in some writers, that they were about three hundred, in others seven hundred and twenty-five. Authors differ as much in respect of other particulars: the Carthaginian garrison, one writer says, amounted to ten thousand men; another to seven, another to no more than two thousand. In some accounts ten thousand prisoners are said to have been taken, in others above twenty-five thou sand. I should set down the scorpions, great and small, that were taken, at sixty, if I were to follow the Greek historian Silenus; Scipio answered,-"Out of regard to myself, and out of regard to the Roman discipline, I should take care that no right, any where deemed sacred, should suffer violation from us. In the present case, the virtue and merit of women of such distinction as you are, who, in the midst of misfortunes, forgot not the delicacy of character becoming the most respectable of your sex, demand from me an extraordinary degree of attention." He then gave them in charge to a person on whose strict regularity of conduct he could entirely rely, and gave him a particular charge that they should be treated with all the respect and decency due to the wives and mothers of guests. L. The soldiers afterwards brought to him, as a prisoner, a damsel of such exquisite beauty, that she attracted the eyes of all. Scipio, on making inquiries concerning her country and parents, discovered, among other particulars, that she was betrothed to a young prince of the Celtiberians, named Allucius. He therefore immediately summoned from home her parents, and affianced husband; and when the latter arrived, having, in the meantime, heard that he was most passionately enamoured of his intend if Valerius Antias, at six thousand greater, and | beauty, and several others of equal distinction, thirteen thousand smaller; so contradictory by all of whom she was revered as a parent. are the several accounts. Nay, they do not even agree as to the commanding oflicer. The greater number affirm that Caius Lælius had charge of the fleet, while there are some who assign it to Marcus Junius Silanus. Valerius Antius tells us, that it was Armes who commanded the Carthaginian garrison, and who surrendered to the Romans; other writers assert that it was Mago. They vary in the number of the ships taken, in the weight of the gold and silver, and of the money brought into the public treasury. If we are not to remain in a state of doubt, but must believe some or other of their accounts, those which hold the mean, between the highest and the lowest, are most likely to be true. Scipio, however when the hostages were called before him, first desired them not to be dispirited; for "they had come into the power of the Roman people, whose wish it always was to bind all to them by kindness, rather than by fear; and to have foreign nations united to them in good faith and amicable alliance, and not in a state of oppression and gloomy servitude." He then took an account of the prisoners, distinguishing the number belonging to the several states, to each of which he sent expresses, desiring themed bride, he addressed his discourse to him to come and receive their respective hostages: some of whom, however, as their ambassadors happened to be present, he restored on the spot, ordering the quæstor Caius Flaminius, to take care that the rest should be kindly treated. There now came forward from among the crowd of hostages, a woman far advanced in years, the wife of Mandonius, brother to Indibilis, the chieftain of the Illergetians: she threw herself at the general's feet, and with tears besought him to give the guards more strict injunctions respecting the care and treat-pleasurable pursuits adapted to my time of life, ment to be shown to the women. Scipio assuring her that they should not want any kind of accommodation, she replied, "Those are not matters about which we are much solicitous; for what accommodation can be considered as insufficient for persons in our situation? Anxiety of a very different kind rends my heart, when I consider the age of these young persons; for as to myself, I am now beyond any danger of those injuries to which our sex is liable." On each side of her stood the daughers of Indibilis, in the bloom of youth and more particularly than to the lady's parents: " A young man myself," said he, "I address myself to a young man, that there may be the less reserve in our conversation on this occasion. When your mistress, being taken by our soldiers, was brought to me, and I was told of the very great affection you have for her, which indeed her beauty made me readily believe, I considered that in my own case, if my thoughts were not totally engrossed by the affairs of the public, and I were at liberty to indulge the especially in a lawful and honourable love, I should wish that my affection for my intended bride, though warm even to a degree of extravagance, should yet be viewed with an indulgent eye; and I therefore resolved, in your case, where no tie of duty confines me, to do all in my power in favour of your passion. Your beloved, while in my care, has been treated with as respectful an attention as she could have met with, had she been in the house of your father and mother-inlaw, her own parents. She has been preserved in perfect safety, that I might be able to present her to you, her purity unspotted, a gift worthy success. The few days which he had resolved of me to bestow, and of you to receive. The to pass at Carthage he employed in exercising only return I require for a present of such value, both his land and naval forces. On the first is, that you be a friend to the Roman people; day, the legions made excursions, and evoluand that, if you believe me to be a man of tions under arms, through a space of four miles; worth, such as these nations have heretofore on the second, he ordered them to review and known my father and my uncle, you be assured scour their arms before their respective tents; that there are, in the Roman state, great num- on the third, forming opposite parties, they enbers of men like themselves; and that no na- gaged each other, in a manner representing a tion at this day on earth can be named, which regular battle, but with blunted weapons, and you ought less to choose as an enemy to you throwing the like kind of darts. On the fourth and yours, or whose friendship you ought they were allowed to rest, and, on the fifth the more ardently to desire." The youth, over- rovings commenced again. This regular sucwhelmed at once with joy and diffidence, and cession of labour and rest, they kept up as long holding Scipio's right hand invoked all the gods as they remained at Carthage. In calm weato recompense, on his behalf, such exalted good-ther, the rowers and marines pushing out to sea, ness; since his own ability was utterly disproportioned, either to his own wishes, or his benefactor's generosity. Scipio then accosted, in friendly terms, the parents and relations of the young woman, who, having brought with them a very large weight of gold to purchase her liberty, on her being restored to them without ransom, earnestly besought him to accept it from them, assuring him, that they should deem themselves as much obliged by his compliance, as by the restoration of their child in safety. Unwilling to reject such pressing solicitations, he ordered it to be laid at his feet: then, calling Allucius to him, he said, "Besides the dowry which you are to receive from your father-in-law, you must take also this marriagepresent from me," bidding him carry away the gold, and keep it to himself. Overjoyed by these honours and presents, the young man was dismissed to his home, where he filled the ears of his countrymen with the well-merited praises of Scipio. "A god-like youth," he said, had come among them; subduing all, not by the power of his arms only, but by his goodness and magnanimity." Full of such sentiments, he made a levy among his dependents, and, within a few days, returned to Scipio with one thousand four hundred chosen horsemen. LI. Scipio kept Lælius with him to assist with his advice in disposing of the prisoners, nostages, and booty; and when all these matters were properly adjusted, he gave him a quinquereme, and, ordering him to take on board Mago and fifteen senators of Old Carthage, who had been made prisoners at the same time, sent him to Rome with the news of his VOL. I.-4 G made trial in mock sea-fights, of the activity of their ships. Such was their employment on the outside of the walls, and these exercises on land and sea qualified both their minds and bodies for real action. Within, all parts of the city resounded with warlike preparations, workmen of every kind being collected together in a public arsenal. The general attended to every particular with equal care at one time he was busy in the fleet and dock-yard; at another, he headed the legions in their excursions; again, he employed his time in overseeing the works, which were carried on, with great diligence and emulation, by a multitude of workmen in the arsenals, armory, and dockyards, and great numbers of necessary articles finished every day. Having thus set on foot these preparations, repaired the breaches in the walls, and established posts for the guard of the city, he set out for Tarraco, and, on his way thither, received as he went along a great number of embassies. Some of these he answered on the road, and dismissed; others he adjourned to Tarraco, where he had appointed a general meeting of all the allies both new and old. Accordingly, this meeting was attended by almost every state on the hither side of the Iberus, and also by many from the farther Spain. The Carthaginian generals, at first, carefully suppressed the intelligence of Carthage being taken; afterwards, when that event became too notorious to be any longer concealed or dissembled, they affected to speak of it with little concern. They said that "by an unexpected attack, and the efforts of one day, one city in Spain had been surprised and taken in a manner, by stealth: that an inexpe 51 rienced youth, elated by the acquisition of a quickly be struck with the recollection of prize of but little consequence, had by his the deaths which had happened in his fa immoderate joy, imposed on it the appearance mily." Such was their language in public, of an important victory; but as soon as he while they themselves were fully sensible should hear that three generals, and three how great a diminution their strength had armies of his enemies, all flushed with vic- suffered in every particular by the loss of tory, were marching towards him, he would | Carthage. |