ance, commanded them to deliver up to him, without fraud or delay, all their arms. This they consented to, but besought him to reflect on the sad condition to which he was reducing them, at a time when Asdrubal whose quarrel against them was owing to no other cause than their perfect submission to the orders of the Romans, was advanced almost to their gates, with an army of twenty thou sand men. The answer returned them was, That the Romans would set that matter right.* This order was immediately put in execution. There arrived in the camp a long train of wagons, loaded with all the preparations of war, taken out of Carthage; two hundred thousand complete sets of armour, a numberless multitude of darts and javelins, with two thousand engines for shooting darts and stones. Then followed the deputies of Carthage, accompanied by the most venerable senators and priests, who came purposely to try to move the Romans to compassion in this critical moment, when their sentence was about to be pronounced, and their fate would be irrevocable. Censorinus the consul, for it was he who spoke all this time, rose up for a moment at their coming, and expressed some kindness and affection for them, but suddenly assuming a grave and severe countenance, "I cannot," says he," but commend the readiness with which you execute the orders of the senate. They have commanded me to tell you, that it is their absolute will and pleasure that you depart out of Carthage. which they have resolved to destroy; and that you remove into any other part of your dominions, as you shall think proper, provided it be at the distance of eight stadia§ from the sea. The instant the consul had pronounced this fulminating decree, nothing was heard among the Carthaginians but lamentable shrieks and howlings. Being now in a manner thunderstruck, they neither knew where they were, nor what they did; but rolled themselves in the dust, tearing their clothes, and unable to vent their grief any otherwise, than in broken sighs and deep groans. Being afterwards a little recovered, they lifted up their hands with the air of suppli ants, one moment towards the gods, and the next towards the Romans, imploring their mercy and justice with regard to a people who would soon be reduced to the extremity of despair. But, as both the gods and men were deaf to their fervent prayers, they soon changed them into reproaches and imprecations, bidding the Romans call to mind, that there were such beings as avenging deities, whose severe eyes were for ever open on guilt and treachery. The Romans themselves could not refrain from tears at so moving a spectacle, but their resolution was fixed. The deputies could not even prevail so far as to get the execution of this order suspended, till they should have an opportunity of presenting themselves again before the senate, to get it revoked if possible. They were forced to set out immediately, and carry the answer to Carthage. | The people waited for their return with such an impatience and terror, as words could never express. It was scarcely possible for them to break through the crowd, that flocked round them, to hear the answer, which was but too strongly painted in their faces. When they were come into the senate, and had declared the barbarous orders of the Romans, a general shriek informed the people of their too lamentable fate; and, from that instant, nothing was seen nor heard, in every part of the city, but howling and despair, madness and fury.T The reader will here give me leave to interrupt the course of the history for a moment, to reflect on the conduct of the Romans. It is to be regretted that the fragment of Polybius, where an account is given of this deputation, should end exactly in the most affecting part of this event. I should set a much higher value on one short reflection of so judicious an author, than on the long harangues which Appian ascribes to the deputies and the consul. I can never believe that so rational, judicious, and just a man as Polybius, could have ap Polyb. p. 975. Appian, p. 44-46. Four leagues, or twelve miles. 46. ↑ Appian, p. Balistæ, or Catapulte. proved the proceeding of the Romans on the present occasion. We do not here discover, in my opinion, any of the characteristics which distinguished them anciently; that greatness of soul, that rectitude, that utter abhorrence of all mean artifices, frauds, and impostures, which, as is somewhere said, formed no part of the Roman character; Minime Romanis artibus. Why did not the Romans attack the Carthaginians by open force? Why should they declare expressly in a treaty, a most solemn and sacred thing, that they allowed them the full enjoyment of their liberties and laws; and understand, at the same time, certain private conditions, which proved the entire ruin of both? Why should they conceal, under the scandalous omission of the word city in this treaty, the black design of destroying Carthage; as if, beneath the cover of such an equivocation, they might destroy it with justice? In fine, why did the Romans not make their last declaration, till after they had extorted from the Carthaginians, at different times, their hostages and arms; that is, till they had absolutely rendered them incapable of disobeying their most arbitrary commands? Is it not manifest that Carthage, notwithstanding all its defeats and losses, though it was weakened and almost exhausted, was still a terror to the Romans, and that they were persuaded they were not able to conquer it by force of arms? It is very dangerous to be possessed of so much power as may enable one to commit injustice with impunity, and with the prospect of being a gainer by it. The experience of all ages shows, that states seldom scruple to commit injustice, when they think it will conduce to their advantage. The noble character which Polybius gives of the Achæans, differs widely from what was practised here. These people, says he, far from using artifice and deceit with regard to their allies, in order to enlarge their power, did not think themselves allowed to employ them even against their enemies; considering only those victories solid and glorious, which were obtained sword in hand, by dint of courage and bravery. He owns, in the same place, that there then remained among the Romans but very faint traces of the former generosity of their ancestors; and he thinks it incumbent on him, as he declares, to make this remark, in opposition to a maxim which had grown very common in his time, among persons in the administration of governments, who imagined that honesty is inconsistent with good policy, and that it is impossible to succeed in the administration of state affairs, either in war or peace, without using fraud and deceit on some occasions.* I now return to my subject. The consuls made no great haste to march against Carthage, not suspecting they had reason to be under any apprehensions from that city, as it was now disarmed. However, the inhabitants took the opportunity of this delay, to put themselves in a posture of defence, being unanimously resolved not to quit the city. They appointed as general without the walls, Asdrubal, who was at the head of twenty thousand men, and to whom deputies were sent accordingly, to entreat him to forget, for his country's sake, the injustice which had been done him, from the dread they were under of the Romans. The command of the troops within the walls was given to another Asdrubal, grandson of Masinissa. They then applied themselves to making arms with incredible expedition. The temples, the palaces, the open marke's and squares, were all changed into so many arsenals, where men and women worked day and night. A hundred and forty shields, three hundred swords, five hundred pikes or javelins, a thousand arrows, and a great number of engines to discharge them, were made daily; and, there being a deficiency of materials to make ropes, the women cut off their hair, and abundantly supplied their wants on this occasion.† Masinissa was very much disgusted at the Romans, because, after he had extremely weakened the Carthaginians, they came and reaped the fruits of his victory, without acquainting him in any manner with their design, which cir cumstance caused some coldness between them.‡ Polyb. 1. xvii. p. 671, 672. + Appian, p.55. Strabo, 1. xvii. P. 382. + Appian, p. 5 During this interval, the consuls were advancing towards the city, in order to besiege it. As they expected nothing less than a vigorous resistance, the incredible resolution and courage of the besieged filled them with the utmost astonishment. The Carthaginians were continually making the boldest sallies, in order to repulse the besiegers, to burn their engines, and harass their foragers. Censorinus attacked the city on one side, and Manilius on the other. Scipio, afterwards surnamed Africanus, was then a tribune in the army, and distinguished himself above the rest of the officers, no less by his prudence than by his bravery. The consul, under whom he fought, committed many oversights, by refusing to follow his advice. This young officer extricated the troops from several dangers into which their imprudent leaders had plunged them. Phamæas a celebrated general of the enemy's cavalry, who continually harassed the foragers, did not dare even to keep the field when it was Scipio's turn to support them; so capable was he of directing his troops, and posting himself to advantage. So great and universal a reputation excited some envy against him in the beginning; but, as he behaved in all respects with the utmost modesty and reserve, that envy was soon changed into admiration; so that, when the senate sent deputies to the camp to inquire into the state of the siege, the whole army gave him unanimously the highest commendations; the soldiers, as well as officers, nay, the very generals, extolled the merit of young Scipio; so necessary is it for a man to soften, if I may be allowed the expres sion, the splendour of his rising glory, by a mild and modest deportment, and not to excite the jealousy of people by haughty and self-sufficient behaviour, as it naturally awakens pride in others, and makes even virtue itself odious!* About the same time Masinissa, finding his end approach, sent to desire a visit from Scipio, that he might invest him with full powers to dispose, as he should see proper, of his kingdom and estate, in behalf of his children. But, on Scipio's arrival, he found that monarch dead. Masinissa had commanded them, with his dying breath, to follow implicitly the directions of Scipio, whom he appointed to be a kind of father and guardian to them. I shall give no further account here of the family and posterity of Masinissa, because that would interrupt too much the history of Carthage.† The high esteem which Phamæas entertained for Scipio, induced him to forsake the Carthaginians, and go over to the Romans. Accordingly, he joined him with above two thousand horse, and did great service at the siege. Calpurnius Piso the consul, and L. Mancinus his lieutenant, arrived in Africa in the beginning of the spring. Nothing remarkable was transacted during this campaign. The Romans were even defeated on several occasions, and carried on the siege of Carthage but slowly. The besieged, on the contrary, had recovered their spirits. Their troops were considerably increased, they daily got new allies, and even sent an express as far as Macedonia, to the pretender Philip, who passed for the son of Perseus, and was then engaged in a war with the Romans, to exhort him to carry it on with vigour, and promising to furnish him with money and ships. This news occasioned some uneasiness at Rome. People began to doubt the success of a war which grew daily more uncertain, and was more important than had at first been imagined. They were dissatisfied with the dilatoriness of the generals, and exclaimed at their conduct, but unanimously agreed in applauding young Scipio, and extolling his rare and uncommon virtues. He had come to Rome, in order to stand candidate for the edileship. The instant he appeared in the assembly, his name, his countenance, his reputation, a general persuasion that he was designed by the gods to end the third Punic war, as the first Scipio, his grandfather by adoption, had terminated the second; these several circumstances made a very strong impression on the people, and, though it was contrary to law, and therefore opposed by the an Appian, p. 53-58. † A. M. 3857. A. Rome, 601. Strabo, l. xvii. p. 63. Andriscus. || Ibid. P. 66. T Ibid. p. 68 cient men, instead of the edileship which he sued for, disregarding for once the laws, conferred the consulship upon him,* and assigned him Africa for his province, without casting lots for the provinces as usual, and as Drusus his colleague demanded. As soon as Scipio had completed his recruits, he set out for Sicily, and arrived soon after in Utica. He came very seasonably for Mancinus, Piso's lieutenant, who had rashly fixed himself in a post where he was surrounded by the enemy, and would have been cut to pieces that very morning, had not the new consul, who at his arrival, heard of the danger he was in, re-embarked his troops in the night, and sailed with the utmost speed to his assistance.† Scipio's first care, after his arrival, was to restore discipline among the troops, which he found had been entirely neglected. There was not the least regularity, subordination, or obedience. Nothing was attended to but rapine, feasting, and diversions. He drove from the camp all useless persons, settled the quality of the provisions he would have brought in by the sutlers; and allowed of none but what were plain and fit for soldiers, studiously banishing all dainties and luxuries.‡ After he had made these regulations, which cost him but little time and trouble, because he himself first set the example, he was convinced that those under him were soldiers, and thereupon prepared to carry on the siege with vigour. Having ordered his troops to provide themselves with axes, levers and scaling-ladders, he led them, in the dead of the night, and without the least noise, to a district of the city called Megara; when, ordering them to give a sudden and general shout, he attacked it with great vigour. The enemy, who did not expect to be attacked in the night, were, at first, in the utmost terror; they however, defended themselves so courageously, that Scipio could not scale the walls. But perceiving a tower that was forsaken, and which stood without the city, very near the walls, he detached thither a party of intrepid soldiers, who, by the help of pontons,§ got from the tower on the walls, and from thence into Megara, whose gates they broke down. Scipio entered it immediately after, and drove the enemy out of that post: who, terrified at this unexpected assault, and imagining that the whole city was taken, fled into the citadel, where they were followed even by those forces that were encamped without the city, who abandoned their camp to the Romans, and thought it necessary for them to fly to a place of security. Before I proceed further, it will be proper to give some account of the situation and dimensions of Carthage, which, in the beginning of the war against the Romans, contained seven hundred thousand inhabitants. It stood at the bottom of a gulf surrounded with the sea, and in the form of a peninsula, whose neck, that is, the isthmus which joined it to the continent, was twenty-five stadia, or a league and a quarter in breadth. The peninsula was three hundred and sixty stadia, or eighteen leagues in circumference. On the west side there projected from it a long neck of land, half a stadium, or twelve fathoms broad; which advancing into the sea, divided it from a morass, and was defended on all sides with rocks and a single wall. On the south side, towards the continent where stood the citadel called Byrsa, the city was surrounded with a triple wall, thirty cubits high, exclusive of the parapets and towers, with which it was flanked all round at equal distances, each interval being fourscore fathoms. Every tower was four stories high, and the walls but two; they were arched, and in the lower part were stalls large enough to hold three hundred elephants with their fodder, &c. Over these were stables for four thousand horses, and lofts for their food. There was likewise room enough to lodge twenty thousand foot, and four thousand horse. In fine, all these were contained within the walls. The walls were weak and low in one place only; and that was a neglected angle, which began at the neck of land above-mentioned, and extended as far A. M. 3858. A. Rome, 602. † Appian, p. 69. Appian, p. 70. Appian. p. 56, 57. Strabo, l. xvii. p. 833. as the harbours, which were on the west side. Two of these communicated with each other, and had but one entrance, seventy feet broad, shut up with chains. The first was appropriated to the merchants, and had severa, distinct habitations for the seamen. The second, or inner harbour, was for the ships of war, in the midst of which stood an island, called Cothon, lined, as the harbour was, with large keys, in which were distinct receptacles* for sheltering from the weather two hundred and twenty ships; over these were magazines or store-houses, containing whatever was necessary for arming and equipping fleets. The entrance into each of these receptacles was adorned with two marble pillars of the Ionic order: so that both the harbour and the island represented on each side two magnificent galleries. In this island was the admiral's palace; and as it stood opposite to the mouth of the harbour, he could from thence discover whatever was doing at sea, though no one from thence could see what was transacting in the inner part of the harbour. The merchants, in like manner, had no prospect of the men of war, the two ports being separated by a double wall, each having its particular gate that led to the city, without passing through the other harbour. So that Carthage may be divided into three parts: the harbour, which was double, and called sometimes Cothon, from the little island of that name: the citadel, named Byrsa: the city properly so called, where the inhabitants dwelt, which lay round the citadel, and was called Megara.† At day-break, Asdrubal,§ perceiving the ignominious defeat of his troops, in order to be revenged on the Romans, and, at the same time, deprive the inhabitants of all hopes of accommodation and pardon, brought all the Roman prisoners he had taken upon the walls, in sight of the whole army. There he put them to the most exquisite torture; putting out their eyes, cutting off their noses, ears, and fingers; tearing their skin to pieces with iron rakes or harrows, and then throwing them headlong from the top of the battlements. So inhuman a treatment filled the Carthaginians with horror: he did not however spare even them, but murdered many senators who had been so brave as to oppose his tyranny. Scipio, finding himself absolute master of the Isthmus, burned the camp which the enemy had deserted, and built a new one for his troops. It was of a square form, surrounded with large and deep entrenchments, and fenced with strong pallisades. On the side which faced the Carthaginians, he built a wall twelve feet high, flanked at proper distances with towers and redoubts; and, on the middle tower, he erected a very high wooden fort, from whence could be seen whatever was doing in the city. This wall was equal to the whole breadth of the Isthmus, that is, twenty-five stadia. The enemy, who were within arrow-shot of it, employed their utmost efforts to put a stop to his work; but, as the whole army worked at it day and night without intermission, it was finished in twenty-four days. Scipio reaped a double advantage from this work; first, his forces were lodged more safely and commodiously than before: secondly, he cut off all provisions from the besieged, to whom none could be brought but by land; which distressed them exceedingly, both because the sea is frequently very tempestuous in that place, and because the Roman fleet kept a strict guard. This proved one of the chief causes of the famine which soon after raged in the city. Besides, Asdrubal distributed the corn that was brought only among the thirty thousand men who served under him, without regard to what became of the inhabitants. To distress them still more by the want of provisions, Scipio attempted to stop up the mouth of the haven by a mole, beginning at the above-mentioned neck of land, which was near the harbour.** The besieged at first looked upon this attempt as ridiculous, and insulted the workmen accordingly; but at last, *Newσoínas, Strabo. Boch. in Phal. p. 512. Appian, p. 72. It was he who at first commanded without the city, but having caused the other Asdrubal, Masinissa's grandson, to be put to death, he got the command of the troops within the walls. Appian, p. 73. Four miles and three quarters, **Appian, p. 74. |