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The deputies, on their arrival at Rome, were informed that war
had been
proclaimed, and that the army was set out. The Romans had despatched
a
courier to Carthage, with the decree of the senate; and to inform
that
city, that the Roman fleet had sailed. The deputies had therefore no
time
for deliberation, but delivered up themselves, and all they possessed,
to
the Romans. In consequence of this behaviour, they were answered,
that
since they had at last taken a right step, the senate granted them
their
liberty, the enjoyment of their laws, and all their territories and
other
possessions, whether public or private, provided that, within the space
of
thirty days, they should send, as hostages, to Lilybæum, three
hundred
young Carthaginians of the first distinction, and comply with the
orders
of the consuls. This last condition filled them with
inexpressible
anxiety: but the concern they were under would not allow them
to make the
least reply, or to demand an explanation; nor, indeed, would it
have been
to any purpose. They therefore set out for Carthage, and there gave
an
account of their embassy.
All the articles of the treaty were
extremely severe with regard to the
Carthaginians; but the silence of the
Romans, with respect to the cities
of which no notice was taken in the
concessions which that people was
willing to make, perplexed them
exceedingly.(874) But all they had to do
was to obey. After the many former
and recent losses which the
Carthaginians had sustained, they were by no
means in a condition to
resist such an enemy, since they had not been able to
oppose Masinissa.
Troops, provisions, ships, allies, in a word, every thing
was wanting, and
hope and vigour more than all the rest.
They did not
think it proper to wait till the thirty days, which had been
allowed them,
were expired, but immediately sent their hostages, in hopes
of softening the
enemy by the readiness of their obedience, though they
dared not flatter
themselves with the expectation of meeting with favour
on this occasion.
These hostages were the flower, and the only hopes, of
the noblest families
of Carthage. Never was any spectacle more moving;
nothing was now heard but
cries, nothing seen but tears, and all places
echoed with groans and
lamentations. But above all, the disconsolate
mothers, bathed in tears, tore
their dishevelled hair, beat their breasts,
and, as if grief and despair had
distracted them, they yelled in such a
manner as might have moved the most
savage breasts to compassion. But the
scene was much more mournful, when the
fatal moment of their separation
was come; when, after having accompanied
their dear children to the ship,
they bid them a long last farewell,
persuaded that they should never see
them more; bathed them with their tears;
embraced them with the utmost
fondness; clasped them eagerly in their arms;
could not be prevailed upon
to part with them, till they were forced away,
which was more grievous and
afflicting than if their hearts had been torn out
of their breasts. The
hostages being arrived in Sicily, were carried from
thence to Rome; and
the consuls told the deputies, that when they should
arrive at Utica, they
would acquaint them with the orders of the
republic.
In such a situation of affairs, nothing can be more grievous
than a state
of uncertainty, which, without descending to particulars, gives
occasion
to the mind to image to itself every misery.(875) As soon as it was
known
that the fleet was arrived at Utica, the deputies repaired to the
Roman
camp; signifying, that they were come in the name of their republic,
in
order to receive their commands, which they were ready to obey.
The
consul, after praising their good disposition and compliance,
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 thousand men. The answer returned them was, that the Romans
would
set that matter right.
This order was immediately put in
execution.(876) There arrived in the
camp a long train of waggons, 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.(877) 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 going to be pronounced, and their fate would
be
irreversible. Censorinus, the consul, for it was he who had all
along
spoken, 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 which you shall think proper, provided
it
be at the distance of eighty stadia(878) from the sea.”
The instant
the consul had pronounced this fulminating decree, nothing was
heard among
the Carthaginians but lamentable shrieks and howlings.(879)
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 by broken
sighs and deep groans. Being
afterwards a little recovered, they lifted up
their hands with the air of
suppliants one moment towards the gods, and
the next towards the Romans,
imploring their mercy and justice towards a
people, who would soon be reduced
to the extremes 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 attempt, if
possible, to
get it revoked. 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.(880) It was
scarce 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 fate; and from that
instant, nothing
was seen and heard in every part of the city, but howling
and despair,
madness and fury.
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 great pity
that the fragment of Polybius, where an
account is given of this
deputation, should end exactly in the most
interesting part of this
narrative. 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 approved the
proceedings
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 disposition; _Minimè 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 perfidious design of destroying Carthage?
as
if, beneath the cover of such an equivocation, they might destroy it
with
justice. In short, 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 to
be able to
commit injustice with impunity, and with a 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.(881) That people, says he, far
from using
artifice and deceit towards their allies, in order to enlarge
their power,
did not think themselves allowed to employ them even against
their
enemies, considering only those victories as 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 ancient generosity of their ancestors; and he thinks
it
incumbent on him (as he declares) to make this remark, in opposition to
a
maxim which was grown very common in his time among persons in
the
administration of the government, who imagined, that sincerity
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.(882) The consuls made no great haste to march
against Carthage, not
suspecting they had any thing to fear from that
city, as it was now disarmed.
The inhabitants took the opportunity of this
delay to put themselves in a
posture of defence, being all 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 the making arms with incredible expedition. The
temples, the
palaces, the open markets and squares, were all changed into so
many
arsenals, where men and women worked day and night. Every day were made
a
hundred and and forty shields, three hundred swords, five hundred pikes
or
javelins, a thousand arrows, and a great number of engines to
discharge
them; and because they wanted 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 circumstance caused some coldness between
them.(883)
During this interval, the consuls were advancing towards the
city, in
order to besiege it.(884) 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 for
ever 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,
served then as 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 having refused to follow
his advice. This young
officer extricated the troops from several dangers,
into which the
imprudence of their leaders had plunged them. A renowned
officer, Phamæas
by name, who was general of the enemy’s cavalry, and
continually harassed
the foragers, did not dare ever to keep the field, when
it was Scipio’s
turn to support them; so capable was he of keeping his troops
in good
order, and posting himself to advantage. So great and universal
a
reputation excited some envy against him at first; 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, with one voice extolled the merit of young
Scipio:
so necessary is it for a man to deaden, if I may be allowed
the
expression, the splendour of his rising glory, by a sweet and
modest
carriage; and not to excite jealousy, by haughty and
self-sufficient
behaviour, as this naturally awakens pride in others, and
makes even
virtue itself odious!
(M143) About the same time,
Masinissa, finding his end approach, sent to
desire a visit from Scipio, in
order that he might invest him with full
powers to dispose, as he should see
proper, of his kingdom and property,
in behalf of his children.(885) 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
farther account here of
the family and posterity of Masinissa, because that
would interrupt too
much the history of Carthage.
The high esteem
which Phamæas had entertained for Scipio induced him to
forsake the
Carthaginians, and go over to the Romans.(886) Accordingly, he
joined them
with above two thousand horse, and was afterwards of great
service at the
siege.
Calpurnius Piso, the consul, and L. Mancinus, his lieutenant,
arrived in
Africa in the beginning of the spring.(887) 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 counterfeit Philip,(888) who
pretended
to be 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.(889) The people began to
doubt the success of a war, which grew daily
more uncertain, and was more
important, than had at first been imagined. As
much as they were
dissatisfied with the dilatoriness of the generals, and
exclaimed against
their conduct, so much did they unanimously agree in
applauding young
Scipio, and extolling his rare and uncommon virtues. He was
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
ancient
men, instead of the edileship which(M144) he sued for, the
people,
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.(890) 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, on his arrival, heard of the danger
he was in, reembarked his troops in
the night, and sailed with the utmost
speed to his
assistance.
Scipio’s first care, after his arrival, was to revive
discipline among the
troops, which he found had been entirely neglected.(891)
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
pains, because he
himself first set the example, he was persuaded that
those under him were
soldiers, and thereupon he 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; however, they 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 and resolute soldiers, who,
by the help of pontons,(892) got from
the tower on the walls, and from
thence into Megara, the gates of which they
broke down. Scipio entered it
immediately after, and drove the enemies out of
that post; who, terrified
at this unexpected assault, and imagining that the
whole city was taken,
fled into the citadel, whither 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.(893) It
stood at the bottom of a gulf, surrounded by 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
round. 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 fenced 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 stalls but two; they were arched,
and
in the lower part were walls to hold three hundred elephants with
their
fodder, and over these were stables for four thousand horses, and
lofts
for their food. There likewise was room enough to lodge twenty
thousand
foot, and four thousand horse. All these were contained within the
walls
alone. In one place only the walls were weak and low; and that was
a
neglected angle, which began at the neck of land above-mentioned,
and
extended as far as the harbours, which were on the west side. Of
these
there were two, which communicated with each other, but had only
one
entrance, seventy feet broad, shut up with chains. The first
was
appropriated for the merchants, and had several 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 quays, in which were distinct receptacles(894) for
sheltering
from the weather two hundred and twenty ships; over these were
magazines
or storehouses, wherein was lodged whatever is 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
inward
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:(895)
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 daybreak,(896) Asdrubal(897) perceiving the
ignominious defeat of his
troops, in order that he might 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 from their body with iron rakes or harrows, and
then threw them
headlong from the top of the battlements. So inhuman a
treatment filled
the Carthaginians with horror: however, he did not spare
even them; but
murdered many senators who had ventured to oppose his
tyranny.
Scipio,(898) finding himself absolute master of the isthmus,
burnt 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
intrenchments, and
fenced with strong palisades. 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.(899) The enemy, who were within bow-shot of it, employed
their
utmost efforts to put a stop to this work; but, as the whole army
were
employed upon 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 now
be
brought but by sea; which was attended with many difficulties,
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 raged soon after in the city. Besides,
Asdrubal
distributed the corn that was brought, only among the thirty
thousand men
who served under him, caring very little what became of the rest
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.(900) The besieged, at first,
looked upon this attempt as ridiculous,
and accordingly they insulted the
workmen: but, at last, seeing them make an
astonishing progress every day,
they began to be afraid; and to take such
measures as might, if possible,
render the attempt unsuccessful. Every one,
to the women and children,
fell to work, but so privately, that all that
Scipio could learn from the
prisoners, was, that they had heard a great noise
in the harbour, but did
not know the occasion of it. At last, all things
being ready, the
Carthaginians opened, on a sudden, a new outlet on the other
side of the
haven; and appeared at sea with a numerous fleet, which they had
just then
built with the old materials found in their magazines. It is
generally
allowed, that had they attacked the Roman fleet directly, they
must
infallibly have taken it; because, as no such attempt was expected,
and
every man was elsewhere employed, the Carthaginians would have found
it
without rowers, soldiers, or officers. But the ruin of Carthage, says
the
historian, was decreed. Having therefore only offered a kind of insult
or
bravado to the Romans, they returned into the harbour.
Two days
after, they brought forward their ships, with a resolution to
fight in good
earnest, and found the enemy ready for them.(901) This
battle was to
determine the fate of both parties. The conflict was long
and obstinate, each
exerting themselves to the utmost; the one to save
their country, now reduced
to the last extremity, and the other to
complete their victory. During the
fight, the Carthaginian brigantines
running along under the large Roman
ships, broke to pieces sometimes their
sterns, and at other times their
rudders and oars; and, when briskly
attacked, retreated with surprising
swiftness, and returned immediately to
the charge. At last, after the two
armies had fought with equal success
till sunset, the Carthaginians thought
proper to retire; not that they
believed themselves overcome, but in order to
begin the fight again on the
morrow. Part of their ships, not being able to
run swiftly enough into the
harbour, because the mouth of it was too narrow,
took shelter under a very
spacious terrace, which had been thrown up against
the walls to unload
goods, on the side of which a small rampart had been
raised during this
war, to prevent the enemy from possessing themselves of
it. Here the fight
was again renewed with more vigour than ever, and lasted
till late at
night. The Carthaginians suffered very much, and the few ships
which got
off, sailed for refuge to the city. Morning being come, Scipio
attacked
the terrace, and carried it, though with great difficulty; after
which he
made a lodgement there, and fortified himself on it, and built
a
brick-wall close to those of the city, and of the same height. When it
was
finished, he commanded four thousand men to get on the top of it, and
to
discharge from it a perpetual shower of darts and arrows upon the
enemy,
which did great execution; because, as the two walls were of equal
height,
almost every dart took effect. Thus ended this
campaign.
During the winter quarters, Scipio endeavoured to overpower the
enemy’s
troops without the city,(902) who very much harassed the convoys
that
brought his provisions, and protected such as were sent to the
besieged.
For this purpose he attacked a neighbouring fort, called Nepheris,
where
they used to shelter themselves. In the last action, above
seventy
thousand of the enemy, as well soldiers as peasants, who had
been
enlisted, were cut to pieces; and the fort was carried with
great
difficulty, after sustaining a siege of two and twenty days. The
seizure
of this fort was followed by the surrender of almost all the
strong-holds
in Africa; and contributed very much to the taking of Carthage
itself,
into which, from that time, it was almost impossible to bring
any
provisions.
(M145) Early in the spring, Scipio attacked, at one
and the same time, the
harbour called Cothon, and the citadel.(903) Having
possessed himself of
the wall which surrounded this port, he threw himself
into the great
square of the city that was near it, from whence was an ascent
to the
citadel, up three streets, on each side of which were houses, from
the
tops whereof a shower of darts was discharged upon the Romans, who
were
obliged, before they could advance farther, to force the houses they
came
first to, and post themselves in them, in order to dislodge from
thence
the enemy who fought from the neighbouring houses. The combat, which
was
carried on from the tops, and in every part of the houses, continued
six
days, during which a dreadful slaughter was made. To clear the
streets,
and make way for the troops, the Romans dragged aside, with hooks,
the
bodies of such of the inhabitants as had been slain, or
precipitated
headlong from the houses, and threw them into pits, the greatest
part of
them being still alive and panting. In this toil, which lasted six
days
and as many nights, the soldiers were relieved from time to time by
fresh
ones, without which they would have been quite spent. Scipio was the
only
person who did not take a wink of sleep all this time; giving orders
in
all places, and scarce allowing himself leisure to take the
least
refreshment.
There was every reason to believe, that the siege
would last much longer,
and occasion a great effusion of blood.(904) But on
the seventh day, there
appeared a company of men in the posture and habit of
suppliants, who
desired no other conditions, than that the Romans would
please to spare
the lives of all those who should be willing to leave the
citadel: which
request was granted them, only the deserters were excepted.
Accordingly,
there came out fifty thousand men and women, who were sent into
the fields
under a strong guard. The deserters, who were about nine hundred,
finding
they would not be allowed quarter, fortified themselves in the temple
of
Æsculapius, with Asdrubal, his wife, and two children; where, though
their
number was but small, they might have held out a long time, because
the
temple stood on a very high hill, upon rocks, the ascent to which was
by
sixty steps. But at last, exhausted by hunger and watching, oppressed
with
fear, and seeing their destruction at hand, they lost all patience;
and
abandoning the lower part of the temple, they retired to the
uppermost
story, resolved not to quit it but with their lives.
In the
mean time, Asdrubal, being desirous of saving his own life, came
down
privately to Scipio, carrying an olive branch in his hand, and threw
himself
at his feet. Scipio showed him immediately to the deserters, who,
transported
with rage and fury at the sight, vented millions of
imprecations against him,
and set fire to the temple. Whilst it was
kindling, we are told, that
Asdrubal’s wife, dressing herself as
splendidly as possible, and placing
herself with her two children in sight
of Scipio, addressed him with a loud
voice: “I call not down,” says she,
“curses upon thy head, O Roman; for thou
only takest the privilege allowed
by the laws of war: but may the gods of
Carthage, and thou in concert with
them, punish, according to his deserts,
the false wretch, who has betrayed
his country, his gods, his wife, his
children!” Then directing herself to
Asdrubal, “Perfidious wretch,” says she,
“thou basest of men! this fire
will presently consume both me and my
children; but as to thee, unworthy
general of Carthage, go—adorn the gay
triumph of thy conqueror—suffer, in
the sight of all Rome, the tortures thou
so justly deservest!” She had no
sooner pronounced these words, than, seizing
her children, she cut their
throats, threw them into the flames, and
afterwards rushed into them
herself; in which she was imitated by all the
deserters.
With regard to Scipio,(905) when he saw this famous city,
which had been
so flourishing for seven hundred years, and might have been
compared to
the greatest empires, on account of the extent of its dominions
both by
sea and land; its mighty armies; its fleets, elephants, and riches;
while
the Carthaginians were even superior to other nations, by their
courage
and greatness of soul; as, notwithstanding their being deprived of
arms
and ships, they had sustained, for three whole years, all the
hardships
and calamities of a long siege; seeing, I say, this city entirely
ruined,
historians relate, that he could not refuse his tears to the unhappy
fate
of Carthage. He reflected, that cities, nations, and empires, are
liable
to revolutions no less than private men; that the like sad fate
had
befallen Troy anciently so powerful; and, in later times, the
Assyrians,
Medes, and Persians, whose dominions were once of so great an
extent; and
very recently, the Macedonians, whose empire had been so
glorious
throughout the world. Full of these mournful ideas, he repeated
the
following verses of Homer:
Ἔσσεται ἦμαρ, ὄταν ποτ᾽ ὀλώλη
Ἴλιος ἱρὴ,
Καὶ Πρίαμος, καὶ λαὸς εὐμμελίω Πριάμοιο.
_Il._ δ.
164, 165.
The day shall come, that great avenging day.
Which
Troy’s proud glories in the dust shall lay,
When Priam’s pow’rs and
Priam’s self shall fall,
And one prodigious ruin swallow
all.
POPE.
thereby denouncing the future destiny of Rome,
as he himself confessed to
Polybius, who desired Scipio to explain himself on
that occasion.
Had the truth enlightened his soul, he would have
discovered what we are
taught in the Scriptures, that “because of unrighteous
dealings, injuries,
and riches got by deceit, a kingdom is translated from
one people to
another.”(906) Carthage is destroyed, because its avarice,
perfidiousness,
and cruelty, have attained their utmost height. The like fate
will attend
Rome, when its luxury, ambition, pride, and unjust usurpations,
concealed
beneath a specious and delusive show of justice and virtue, shall
have
compelled the sovereign Lord, the disposer of empires, to give
the
universe an important lesson in its fall.
(M146) Carthage being
taken in this manner, Scipio gave the plunder of it
(the gold, silver,
statues, and other offerings which should be found in
the temples, excepted)
to his soldiers for some days.(907) He afterwards
bestowed several military
rewards on them, as well as on the officers, two
of whom had particularly
distinguished themselves, _viz._ Tib. Gracchus,
and Caius Fannius, who first
scaled the walls. After this, adorning a
small ship (an excellent sailer)
with the enemy’s spoils, he sent it to
Rome with the news of the
victory.
At the same time he invited the inhabitants of Sicily to come
and take
possession of the pictures and statues which the Carthaginians
had
plundered them of in the former wars.(908) When he restored to
the
citizens of Agrigentum, Phalaris’s famous bull,(909) he told them
that
this bull, which was, at one and the same time, a monument of the
cruelty
of their ancient kings, and of the lenity of their present
sovereigns,
ought to make them sensible which would be most advantageous for
them, to
live under the yoke of Sicilians, or the government of the
Romans.
Having exposed to sale part of the spoils of Carthage, he
commanded, on
the most severe penalties, his family not to take or even buy
any of them;
so careful was he to remove from himself, and all belonging to
him, the
least suspicion of avarice.
When the news of the taking of
Carthage was brought to Rome, the people
abandoned themselves to the most
immoderate transports of joy, as if the
public tranquillity had not been
secured till that instant.(910) They
revolved in their minds, all the
calamities which the Carthaginians had
brought upon them, in Sicily, in
Spain, and even in Italy, for sixteen
years together; during which, Hannibal
had plundered four hundred towns,
destroyed, in different engagements, three
hundred thousand men, and
reduced Rome itself to the utmost extremity. Amidst
the remembrance of
these past evils, the people in Rome would ask one
another, whether it
were really true that Carthage was in ashes. All ranks
and degrees of men
emulously strove who should show the greatest gratitude
towards the gods;
and the citizens were, for many days, employed wholly in
solemn
sacrifices, in public prayers, games, and spectacles.
After
these religious duties were ended, the senate sent ten commissioners
into
Africa, to regulate, in conjunction with Scipio, the fate and
condition of
that country for the time to come.(911) Their first care was,
to demolish
whatever was still remaining of Carthage.(912) Rome,(913)
though mistress of
almost the whole world, could not believe herself safe
as long as even the
name of Carthage was in being. So true it is, that an
inveterate hatred,
fomented by long and bloody wars, lasts even beyond the
time when all cause
of fear is removed; and does not cease, till the
object that occasions it is
no more. Orders were given, in the name of the
Romans, that it should never
be inhabited again; and dreadful imprecations
were denounced against those,
who, contrary to this prohibition, should
attempt to rebuild any parts of it,
especially those called Byrsa and
Megara. In the mean time, every one who
desired it, was admitted to see
Carthage: Scipio being well pleased, to have
people view the sad ruins of
a city which had dared to contend with Rome for
empire.(914) The
commissioners decreed farther, that those cities which,
during this war,
had joined with the enemy, should all be rased, and their
territories be
given to the Roman allies; they particularly made a grant to
the citizens
of Utica, of the whole country lying between Carthage and Hippo.
All the
rest they made tributary, and reduced it into a Roman province,
whither a
prætor was sent annually.
All matters being thus settled,
Scipio returned to Rome, where he made his
entry in triumph.(915) So
magnificent a one had never been seen before;
the whole exhibiting nothing
but statues, rare, invaluable pictures, and
other curiosities, which the
Carthaginians had, for many years, been
collecting in other countries; not to
mention the money carried into the
public treasury, which amounted to immense
sums.
Notwithstanding the great precautions which were taken to hinder
Carthage
from being ever rebuilt, in less than thirty years after, and even
in
Scipio’s lifetime, one of the Gracchi, to ingratiate himself with
the
people, undertook to found it anew, and conducted thither a
colony
consisting of six thousand citizens for that purpose.(916) The
senate,
hearing that the workmen had been terrified by many unlucky omens, at
the
time they were tracing the limits, and laying the foundations of the
new
city, would have suspended the attempt; but the tribune, not being
over
scrupulous in religious matters, carried on the work, notwithstanding
all
these bad presages, and finished it in a few days. This was the
first
Roman colony that was ever sent out of Italy.
It is probable,
that only a kind of huts were built there, since we are
told,(917) that when
Marius retired hither, in his flight to Africa, he
lived in a mean and poor
condition amid the ruins of Carthage, consoling
himself by the sight of so
astonishing a spectacle; himself serving, in
some measure, as a consolation
to that ill-fated city.
Appian relates,(918) that Julius Cæsar, after the
death of Pompey, having
crossed into Africa, saw, in a dream, an army
composed of a prodigious
number of soldiers, who, with tears in their eyes,
called him; and that,
struck with the vision, he writ down in his pocket-book
the design which
he formed on this occasion, of rebuilding Carthage and
Corinth: but that
having been murdered soon after by the conspirators,
Augustus Cæsar, his
adopted son, who found this memorandum among his papers,
rebuilt Carthage
near the spot where it stood formerly, in order that the
imprecations
which had been vented, at the time of its destruction, against
those who
should presume to rebuild it, might not fall upon him.
I
know not what foundation Appian has for this story; but we read
in
Strabo,(919) that Carthage and Corinth were rebuilt at the same time
by
Cæsar, to whom he gives the name of god, by which title, a little
before,
he had plainly intended Julius Cæsar;(920) and Plutarch,(921) in the
life
of that emperor, ascribes expressly to him the establishment of these
two
colonies; and observes, that one remarkable circumstance in these
two
cities is, that as both had been taken and destroyed at the same
time,
they likewise were at the same time rebuilt and repeopled. However
this
be, Strabo affirms, that in his time Carthage was as populous as any
city
in Africa; and it rose to be the capital of Africa, under the
succeeding
emperors. It existed for about seven hundred years after, in
splendour,
but at last was so completely destroyed by the Saracens, in the
beginning
of the seventh century, that neither its name, nor the least
footsteps of
it, are known at this time in the country.
_A Digression
on the Manners and Character of the second Scipio
Africanus._—Scipio, the
destroyer of Carthage, was son to the famous
Paulus Æmilius, who conquered
Perseus, the last king of Macedon; and
consequently grandson to that Paulus
Æmilius who lost his life in the
battle of Cannæ. He was adopted by the son
of the great Scipio Africanus,
and called Scipio Æmilianus; the names of the
two families being so
united, pursuant to the law of adoptions. He supported,
with equal lustre,
the dignity of both houses, by all the qualities that can
confer honour on
the sword and gown.(922) The whole tenour of his life, says
an historian,
whether with regard to his actions, his thoughts, or words, was
deserving
of the highest praise. He distinguished himself particularly (an
eulogium
that, at present, can seldom be applied to persons of the
military
profession) by his exquisite taste for polite literature, and all
the
sciences, as well as by the uncommon regard he showed to learned men.
It
is universally known, that he was reported to be the author of
Terence’s
comedies, the most polite and elegant writings which the Romans
could
boast. We are told of Scipio,(923) that no man could blend more
happily
repose and action, nor employ his leisure hours with greater delicacy
and
taste: thus was he divided between arms and books, between the
military
labours of the camp, and the peaceful employment of the cabinet; in
which
he either exercised his body in toils of war, or his mind in the study
of
the sciences. By this he showed, that nothing does greater honour to
a
person of distinction, of what quality or profession soever he be,
than
the adorning his mind with knowledge. Cicero, speaking of
Scipio,
says,(924) that he always had Xenophon’s works in his hands, which
are so
famous for the solid and excellent instructions they contain, both
in
regard to war and policy.
He owed this exquisite taste for polite
learning and the sciences, to the
excellent education which Paulus Æmilius
bestowed on his children.(925) He
had put them under the ablest masters in
every art; and did not spare any
expense on that occasion, though his
circumstances were very narrow: P.
Æmilius himself was present at all their
lessons, as often as the affairs
of the state would permit; becoming, by this
means, their chief preceptor.
The intimate union between Polybius and
Scipio put the finishing stroke to
the exalted qualities which, by the
superiority of his genius and
disposition, and the excellency of his
education, were already the subject
of admiration.(926) Polybius, with a
great number of Achæans, whose
fidelity the Romans suspected during the war
with Perseus, was detained in
Rome, where his merit soon caused his company
to be coveted by all persons
of the highest quality in that city. Scipio,
when scarce eighteen, devoted
himself entirely to Polybius: and considered as
the greatest felicity of
his life, the opportunity he had of being instructed
by so great a master,
whose society he preferred to all the vain and idle
amusements which are
generally so alluring to young
persons.
Polybius’s first care was to inspire Scipio with an aversion for
those
equally dangerous and ignominious pleasures, to which the Roman youth
were
so strongly addicted; the greatest part of them being already depraved
and
corrupted by the luxury and licentiousness which riches and new
conquests
had introduced in Rome. Scipio, during the first five years that
he
continued in so excellent a school, made the greatest improvement in
it;
and, despising the ridicule, as well as the pernicious examples,
of
persons of the same age with himself, he was looked upon, even at
that
time, as a model of discretion and wisdom.
From hence, the
transition was easy and natural to generosity, to a noble
disregard of
riches, and to a laudable use of them; all virtues so
requisite in persons of
illustrious birth, and which Scipio carried to the
most exalted pitch, as
appears from some instances of this kind related by
Polybius, which are
highly worthy our admiration.
Æmilia,(927) wife of the first Scipio
Africanus, and mother of him who had
adopted the Scipio mentioned here by
Polybius, had bequeathed, at her
death, a great estate to the latter. This
lady, besides the diamonds and
jewels which are worn by women of her high
rank, possessed a great number
of gold and silver vessels used in sacrifices,
together with several
splendid equipages, and a considerable number of slaves
of both sexes; the
whole suited to the opulence of the august house into
which she had
married. At her death, Scipio made over all those rich
possessions to
Papiria his mother, who, having been divorced a considerable
time before
by Paulus Æmilius, and not being in circumstances to support the
dignity
of her birth, lived in great obscurity, and never appeared in
the
assemblies or public ceremonies. But when she again frequented them with
a
magnificent train, this noble generosity of Scipio did him great
honour,
especially in the minds of the ladies, who expatiated on it in all
their
conversations, and in a city whose inhabitants, says Polybius, were
not
easily prevailed upon to part with their money.
Scipio was no less
admired on another occasion. He was bound, in
consequence of the estate that
had fallen to him by the death of his
grandmother, to pay, at three different
times, to the two daughters of
Scipio, his grandfather by adoption, half
their portions, which amounted
to 50,000 French crowns.(928) The time for the
payment of the first sum
being expired, Scipio put the whole money into the
hands of a banker.
Tiberius Gracchus, and Scipio Nasica, who had married the
two sisters,
imagining that Scipio had made a mistake, went to him, and
observed, that
the laws allowed him three years to pay this sum in, and at
three
different times. Young Scipio answered, that he knew very well what
the
laws directed on this occasion; that they might indeed be executed
in
their greatest rigour towards strangers, but that friends and
relations
ought to treat one another with a more generous simplicity; and
therefore
desired them to receive the whole sum. They were struck with
such
admiration at the generosity of their kinsman, that in their return
home,
they reproached(929) themselves for their narrow way of thinking, at
a
time when they made the greatest figure, and had the highest regard
paid
to them, of any family in Rome. This generous action, says Polybius,
was
the more admired, because no person in Rome, so far from consenting to
pay
50,000 crowns before they were due, would pay even a thousand before
the
time for payment was elapsed.
It was from the same noble spirit
that, two years after, Paulus Æmilius
his father being dead, he made over to
his brother Fabius, who was not so
wealthy as himself, the part of their
father’s estate, which was his
(Scipio’s) due, (amounting to above threescore
thousand crowns,(930)) in
order that there might not be so great a disparity
between his fortune and
that of his brother.
This Fabius being
desirous to exhibit a show of gladiators after his
father’s decease, in
honour of his memory, (as was the custom in that
age,) and not being able to
defray the expenses on this occasion, which
amounted to a very heavy sum,
Scipio made him a present of fifteen
thousand(931) crowns, in order to defray
at least half the charges of it.
The splendid presents which Scipio had
made his mother Papiria, reverted
to him, by law as well as equity, after her
demise; and his sisters,
according to the custom of those times had not the
least claim to them.
Nevertheless, Scipio thought it would have been
dishonourable in him, had
he taken them back again. He therefore made over to
his sisters whatever
he had presented to their mother, which amounted to a
very considerable
sum; and by this fresh proof of his glorious disregard of
wealth, and the
tender friendship he had for his family, acquired the
applause of the
whole city.
These different benefactions, which
amounted all together to a prodigious
sum, seem to have received a brighter
lustre from the age in which he
bestowed them, he being still very young; and
yet more from the
circumstances of the time when they were presented, as well
as the kind
and obliging carriage he assumed on those occasions.
The
incidents I have here related are so repugnant to the maxims of this
age,
that there might be reason to fear the reader would consider them
merely as
the rhetorical flourishes of an historian who was prejudiced in
favour of his
hero; if it was not well known, that the predominant
characteristic of
Polybius, by whom they are related, is a sincere love
for truth, and an utter
aversion to adulation of every kind. In the very
passage whence this relation
is extracted, he has thought it necessary for
him to be a little guarded,
where he expatiates on the virtuous actions
and rare qualities of Scipio; and
he observes, that as his writings were
to be perused by the Romans, who were
perfectly well acquainted with all
the particulars of this great man’s life,
he could not fail of being
convicted by them, should he venture to advance
any falsehood; an affront,
to which it is not probable that an author, who
has ever so little regard
for his reputation, would expose himself,
especially if no advantage was
to accrue to him from it.
We have
already observed, that Scipio had never given into the
fashionable
debaucheries and excesses to which the young people at Rome so
generally
abandoned themselves. But he was sufficiently compensated for
this
self-denial of all destructive pleasures, by the vigorous health
he
enjoyed all the rest of his life, which enabled him to taste pleasure of
a
much purer and more exalted kind, and to perform the great actions
that
reflected so much glory upon him.
Hunting, which was his darling
exercise, contributed also very much to
invigorate his constitution, and
enabled him also to endure the hardest
toils. Macedonia, whither he followed
his father, gave him an opportunity
of indulging to the utmost of his desire
his passion in this respect; for
the chase, which was the usual diversion of
the Macedonian monarchs,
having been laid aside for some years on account of
the wars, Scipio found
there an incredible quantity of game of every kind.
Paulus Æmilius,
studious of procuring his son virtuous pleasures of every
kind, in order
to divert his mind from those which reason prohibits, gave him
full
liberty to indulge himself in his favourite sport, during all the
time
that the Roman forces continued in that country, after the victory he
had
gained over Perseus. The illustrious youth employed his leisure hours
in
an exercise which suited so well his age and inclination; and was
as
successful in this innocent war against the beasts of Macedonia, as
his
father had been in that which he had carried on against the inhabitants
of
the country.
It was at Scipio’s return from Macedon, that he met
with Polybius in Rome;
and contracted the strict friendship with him, which
was afterwards so
beneficial to our young Roman, and did him almost as much
honour in
after-ages as all his conquests. We find, from history, that
Polybius
lived with the two brothers. One day, when himself and Scipio were
alone,
the latter unbosomed himself freely to him, and complained, but in
the
mildest and most gentle terms, that he, in their conversations at
table,
always directed himself to his brother Fabius, and never to him. “I
am
sensible,” says he, “that this indifference arises from your
supposing,
with all our citizens, that I am a heedless young man, and wholly
averse
to the taste which now prevails in Rome, because I do not devote
myself to
the studies of the bar, nor cultivate the graces of elocution. But
how
should I do this? I am told perpetually, that the Romans expect a
general,
and not an orator, from the house of the Scipios. I will confess to
you,
(pardon the sincerity with which I reveal my thoughts,) that your
coldness
and indifference grieve me exceedingly.” Polybius, surprised at
this
unexpected address, made Scipio the kindest answer; and assured
the
illustrious youth, that though he generally directed himself to
his
brother, yet this was not out of disrespect to him, but only
because
Fabius was the elder; not to mention (continued Polybius) that,
knowing
you possessed but one soul, I conceived that I addressed both when I
spoke
to either of you. He then assured Scipio, that he was entirely at
his
command: that with regard to the sciences, for which he discovered
the
happiest genius, he would have opportunities sufficient to improve
himself
in them, from the great number of learned Grecians who resorted daily
to
Rome; but that, as to the art of war, which was properly his
profession,
and his favourite study, he (Polybius) might be of some little
service to
him. He had no sooner spoke these words, than Scipio, grasping his
hand in
a kind of rapture: “Oh! when,” says he, “shall I see the happy day,
when,
disengaged from all other avocations, and living with me, you will be
so
much my friend, as to direct your endeavours to improve my
understanding
and regulate my affections? It is then I shall think myself
worthy of my
illustrious ancestors.” From that time Polybius, overjoyed to
see so young
a man breathe such noble sentiments, devoted himself
particularly to our
Scipio, who ever after paid him as much reverence as if
he had been his
father.
However, Scipio did not esteem Polybius only
as an excellent historian,
but valued him much more, and reaped much greater
advantages from him, as
an able warrior and a profound politician.
Accordingly, he consulted him
on every occasion, and always took his advice
even when he was at the head
of his army; concerting in private with Polybius
all the operations of the
campaign, all the movements of the forces, all
enterprises against the
enemy, and the several measures proper for rendering
them successful.
In a word, it was the common report,(932) that our
illustrious Roman did
not perform any great or good action without being
under some obligation
to Polybius; nor even commit an error, except when he
acted without
consulting him.
I request the reader to excuse this long
digression, which may be thought
foreign to my subject, as I am not writing
the Roman history. However, it
appeared to me so well adapted to the general
design I propose to myself,
in this work, _viz._ the cultivating and
improving the minds of youth,
that I could not forbear introducing it here,
though I was sensible this
is not directly its proper place. And indeed,
these examples show, how
important it is that young people should receive a
liberal and virtuous
education; and the great benefit they reap, by
frequenting and
corresponding early with persons of merit; for these were the
foundations
whereon were built the fame and glory which have rendered Scipio
immortal.
But above all, how noble a model for our age (in which the
most
inconsiderable and even trifling concerns often create feuds
and
animosities between brothers and sisters, and disturb the peace
of
families,) is the generous disinterestedness of Scipio; who, whenever
he
had an opportunity of serving his relations, thought lightly of
bestowing
the largest sums upon them! This excellent passage of Polybius had
escaped
me, by its not being inserted in the folio edition of his works.
It
belongs indeed naturally to that book, where, treating of the taste
for
solid glory, I mentioned the contempt in which the ancients held
riches,
and the excellent use they made of them. I therefore thought
myself
indispensably obliged to restore, on this occasion, to young
students,
what I could not but blame myself for omitting
elsewhere. |
|
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