4
As the taking of this town was a source of great joy to those who effected it, as well as to the general and the rest of the army, so their approach to their camp also presented a splendid spectacle, on account of the immense crowd of captives they drove before them. Scipio, having bestowed high commendations upon his brother, representing the capture of Orinx as equal in importance to the capture of Carthage by himself, led his forces back into hither Spain. He could not make an attempt on Gades, or pursue the army of Hasdrubal, now dispersed through all parts of the province, in consequence of the approach of winter. He therefore dismissed the legions into winter quarters, and sent his brother Lucius Scipio with Hanno, the enemy's general, and other distinguished prisoners, to Rome, while he retired himself to Tarraco. During the same year, the Roman fleet under Marcus Valerius Laevinus, the proconsul, sailing over from Sicily into Africa, devastated to a wide extent the fields about Utica and Carthage. They carried off plunder from the remotest borders of the Carthaginian territory around the very walls of Utica. On their return to Sicily they were met by a Carthaginian fleet of seventy ships of war, of which seventeen were taken and four sunk; the rest were dispersed and compelled to fly. The Romans, victorious both by land and sea, returned to Lilybaeum with immense booty of every kind. The ships of the enemy having thus been driven from the whole sea, large supplies of corn were conveyed to Rome.
5
In the beginning of the summer in which these events occurred, Publius Sulpicius, proconsul, and king Attalus, having passed the winter at Aegina, as before observed, united their fleets, consisting of twenty-three Roman quinqueremes and thirty-five belonging to the king, and proceeded to Lemnos. Philip also, that he might be prepared for every kind of measure, whether it should be necessary to meet the enemy on land or sea, came down to the coast of Demetrias and appointed to his army a day on which to meet him at Larissa. On the news of the king's arrival, ambassadors from his allies came to Demetrias from all sides. For the Aetolians, inspirited both by their alliance with the Romans and the approach of king Attalus, were ravaging the neighbouring states; not only the Acarnanians, Boeotians, and Euboeans were very much alarmed, but the Achaeans also were kept in a state of terror, both by the hostile proceedings of the Aetolians, and also by Machanidas, tyrant of Lacedaemon, who had encamped at a short distance from the borders of the Argives. All of these stating the dangers which threatened their possessions, both by land and sea, entreated succour from the king. Philip received accounts even from his own kingdom, that things were not in a state of tranquillity; that both Scerdilaedus and Pleuratus were in motion, and that some of the Thracians, and particularly the Maedians, would certainly make incursions on the contiguous provinces of Macedonia, should the king be occupied with a distant war. The Boeotians, indeed, and the people inhabiting the inland parts of Greece, told him that the Aetolians had obstructed by a ditch and rampart the straits of Thermopylae, where the road is very narrow and confined, in order to prevent their passing to the assistance of the allied states. So many disturbances arising on all hands were sufficient to awaken an inactive general. He dismissed the ambassadors, promising to assist them all according as opportunity and circumstances allowed. For the present, he sent to Peparethus a body of troops to garrison the city, for this was the most urgent business, as information had been received thence that Attalus, crossing over to Lemnos, was devastating all the neighbouring country. He sent Polyphantas with a small detachment to Boeotia, and also Menippus, one of his guards, with one thousand targeteers (the target is not unlike the ordinary buckler) to Chalcis. Five hundred Agrianians were added, that every part of the island might be secured. He went himself to Scotussa, and ordered the Macedonian soldiers to be removed thither from Larissa. Here he heard that the Aetolians had been summoned to an assembly at Heraclea, and that king Attalus was to come and advise with them as to the conduct of the war. Determining to interrupt this meeting by his sudden approach, he led his troops by forced marches to Heraclea, where he arrived just after the assembly had broken up. However, he destroyed the crops, which were nearly ripe, particularly those round the Aenian bay. He then marched back to Scotussa, and leaving there the main army, retired to Demetrias with the royal guards. In order to be prepared against every attempt of the enemy, he sent persons hence to Phocis, Euboea, and Peparethus, to select elevated situations, from which fires lighted upon them might be seen from a distance. He fixed a watch-tower on Tisaeum, a mountain whose summit is prodigiously high, in order that when the enemy made any attempt he might instantly receive intimation of it by means of fires lighted up at a distance. The Roman general and king Attalus then passed over from Peparethus to Nicaea, and thence sailed to Orcus, the first city of Euboea, on the left as you proceed to Chalcis and the Euripus from the bay of Demetrias. It was agreed upon between Attalus and Sulpicius, that the Romans should attack the town on the side next the sea, and the king's forces on the land side.
6
Four days after the fleet arrived, they attacked the city. That time had been employed in private conferences with Plator, whom Philip had put in command of the place. The city has two citadels, one overhanging the coasts, the other in the middle of the town, from which there is a subterraneous passage to the ocean, whose entrance next the sea is defended by a strong fortification, a tower five stories high. Here the affair commenced with a most furious contest, the tower being furnished with all kinds of weapons, and engines and machines of every kind for the purpose of the assault having been landed from the ships. While the eyes and attention of all were turned to that quarter, Plator opened one of the gates and received the Romans into the citadel next the sea, which they instantly became masters of. The inhabitants, driven thence, fled to the other citadel in the middle of the city; but there had been troops posted there to shut the gates against them; so that, being thus excluded, they were surrounded and either slain or made prisoners. Meanwhile the Macedonian garrison stood under the wall of the citadel, formed into a compact body, neither confusedly attempting a retreat, nor obstinately engaging in a contest. These men Plator, after obtaining permission from Sulpicius, put on board ships and landed them at Demetrias in Phthiotis; he himself withdrew to Attalus. Sulpicius, elated with the success at Oreum, gained with so much ease, proceeded to Chalcis with his victorious fleet, where the issue by no means answered his expectations. The sea, which is wide on both sides, being here contracted into a narrow strait, might perhaps, at first view, exhibit the appearance of two harbours facing the two entrances of the Euripus. It would be difficult to find a station more dangerous for shipping; for not only do the winds come down with great violence from the high mountains on each side, but the strait itself of the Euripus does not ebb and flow seven times a day at stated times, as is reported, but the current changing irregularly, like the wind, now this way now that, is hurried along like a torrent rolling headlong down a steep mountain, so that no quiet is given to vessels there day or night. But not only did so perilous a station receive his ships, but the town was strong and impregnable, covered on one side by the sea, and very well fortified on the other towards the land, secured by a strong garrison, and above all, by the fidelity of the praefects and principal men, which was wavering and unsettled at Oreum. Though the business had been rashly undertaken, the Roman still acted with prudence, in so far as he speedily gave up the attempt, after he had seen all the difficulties which surrounded him, that he might not waste time, and passed his fleet over from thence to Cynus in Locris, the port of the town of Opus, which is one mile distant from the sea.
7
Philip had received notice of this from Oreum, by the signal fires; but through the treachery of Plator they were raised from the watch-tower at a later period. As he was not a match for the enemy's forces at sea, it was difficult for him to approach the island; and thus, by delay, the opportunity was lost. He moved with promptness to the assistance of Chalcis as soon as he received the signal. For although Chalcis is a city of the same island, yet it is separated from the continent by so narrow a strait, that they communicate by means of a bridge, and the approach to it is easier by land than by water. Philip therefore, going from Demetrias to Scotussa, and setting out thence at the third watch, dislodged the guard, put to flight the Aetolians who kept the pass of Thermopylae, and drove the enemy in confusion to Heraclea, marching in one day to Elatia in Phocis, a distance of above sixty miles. Almost on the same day the town of Opus was taken and plundered by Attalus. Sulpicius had given it up to the king because Oreum had been plundered a few days before by the Roman soldiers, the royal soldiers not having shared the booty. The Roman fleet having retired thither, Attalus, who was not aware of Philip's approach, wasted time in levying contributions from the principal inhabitants, and so sudden was his coming, that had he not been descried by some Cretans, who happened to go farther from the town than usual in quest of forage, he might have been surprised. He fled hastily to the sea and his ships, without arms, and in the greatest disorder. Just as they were putting off from the land Philip arrived, and even from the shore created much alarm among the mariners. He returned thence to Opus, accusing both gods and men, because he had lost an opportunity of so great importance, almost snatched from his hands. He also reproached the Opuntians with the like anger, because they had, immediately on sight of the enemy, made almost a voluntary surrender, though they might have prolonged the siege till his arrival. Having settled affairs at Opus, he proceeded thence to Thronium. Attalus, too, at first retired from Oreum; but there receiving intelligence that Prusias, king of Bithynia, had invaded his kingdom, he withdrew his attention from the Romans and the Aetolian war, and passed over into Asia. Sulpicius also withdrew his fleet to Aegina, from whence he had set out in the beginning of spring. Philip took Thronium with as little difficulty as Attalus had at Opus. It was inhabited by foreigners, fugitives from Thebes in Phthiotis, who, on the capture of their own town by Philip, had fled to the protection of the Aetolians, and received from them a city as a settlement which had been laid waste and desolated in a former war by the same Philip. Having recovered Thronium, as has been a little before mentioned, he set out thence; and having taken Tritonos and Drymae, inconsiderable towns of Doris, he came thence to Elatia, where he had ordered the ambassadors of Ptolemy and the Rhodians to wait for him. While consulting there as to the best method of bringing the Aetolian war to a conclusion, (for these ambassadors attended the late council of the Romans and Aetolians at Heraclea,) intelligence is brought that Machanidas intended to attack the Elians while busied in preparing for the celebration of the Olympic games. Thinking it his duty to prevent such an attempt, he dismissed the ambassadors with a gracious answer to the effect, that he had neither caused the war, nor would he be any obstacle to the restoration of peace, if it should be possible on equitable and honourable terms; then marching quickly through Boeotia he came down from Megara, and thence to Corinth, where receiving supplies of provisions, he went to Phlius and Pheneus. And now, when he had proceeded as far as Heraea, having received intelligence that Machanidas, terrified at the news of his approach, had retreated to Lacedaemon, he betook himself to Aegium, where the Achaeans were assembled in council, expecting at the same time to meet there a Carthaginian fleet, which he had sent for, in order that he might accomplish something by sea. But the Carthaginians had left a few days before, and were gone to the Oxean islands; and thence, hearing that the Romans and Attalus had left Oreum, to the harbours of the Acarnanians, for they feared that it was intended to attack them, and that they would be overpowered while within the straits of Rhium, which is the name of the entrance of the Corinthian bay.
8
Philip was grieved and vexed when he reflected, that though he proceeded with the utmost speed on all occasions, yet he had not come up in time to accomplish any one object, and that fortune had frustrated his activity by snatching away every advantage from before his eyes. In the assembly, however, concealing his chagrin, he discoursed with elated spirits, calling gods and men to witness, that "he had never been wanting at any time or place, so as not to repair instantly wherever the enemy's arms resounded, but that it was difficult to calculate whether the war was carried on more boldly by him or more pusillanimously by the enemy. Such was the manner in which Attalus had slipped out of his hands from Opus; Sulpicius from Chalcis; and so, within these few days, Machanidas. That flight, however, was not always successful; and that that should not be esteemed a difficult war in which victory would be certain if the enemy could be brought to a regular engagement. He had already obtained one very great advantage, which was a confession on the part of the enemy themselves, that they were not a match for him; and in a short time," he said, "he would be in possession of undoubted victory; for that he would engage with him with a result no better than their expectations." The allies listened to the king with great satisfaction. He then gave up to the Achaeans Heraera and Triphylia. Aliphera he restored to the Megalopolitans, they having brought satisfactory proof that it belonged to their territories. Then having received some ships from the Achaeans, three quadriremes and three biremes, he sailed to Anticyra, whence with seven quinqueremes and more than twenty barks, which he had sent to the bay of Corinth to join the Carthaginian fleet, he proceeded to Erythrae, a town of the Aetolians near Eupalium, where he made a descent. He was not unobserved by the Aetolians; for all who were either in the fields or in the neighbouring forts of Potidania and Apollonia, fled to the woods and mountains. The cattle which they could not drive off in their haste they seized and put on board. He sent Nicias, praetor of the Achaeans, to Aegium with these and the other booty; and then going to Corinth, ordered his army to march by land through Boeotia, while he himself, sailing from Cenchreae along the coast of Attica, round the promontory of Sunium, reached Chalcis, having passed almost through the midst of the enemy's fleet. After commending in the highest terms their fidelity and bravery, as neither fear nor hope had influenced their minds, and after exhorting them to show the same fidelity in maintaining the alliance, he sailed to Oreum; and having placed such of the chief inhabitants as chose to fly, rather than surrender to the Romans, in the command of the city and the direction of affairs, he sailed over from Euboea to Demetrias, from which place he at first set out to succour his allies. After this, having laid the keels of one hundred ships of war at Cassandrea, and collected a large number of ship carpenters for the completion of that business, and as both the departure of Attalus and the seasonable assistance he had brought to his allies had tranquillized affairs in Greece, he retired into his own dominions, in order to make war upon the Dardanians.
9
Just at the close of the summer during which these operations were carried on in Greece, when Quintus Fabius, son of Maximus, ambassador from Marcus Livius the consul, brought a message to Rome to the senate, to the effect, that the consul considered that Lucius Portius with his legions formed a sufficient protection for the province, that he might himself retire thence, and that the consular army might be withdrawn, the fathers directed that not only Livius should return to the city, but also his colleague, Caius Claudius. The only difference made between them in the decree was, that they ordered the army of Marcus Livius to be led back, and the legions of Nero to remain in their province opposed to Hannibal. The consuls agreed between themselves by letter, that as they had conducted the affairs of the commonwealth with unanimity, they should arrive at the city at the same time, though they came from different quarters. He who arrived first at Praeneste was enjoined to wait there for his colleague. It so happened that they both came to Praeneste on the same day, and thence, sending a proclamation before them, directing that there should be a full attendance of the senate at the temple of Bellona, three days after, they came up to the city, when they were met by the whole body of the inhabitants. Not only did the whole body pour around them and salute them, but each person individually, desiring to touch the victorious right hands of the consuls, some congratulated them, while others thanked them because by their services the state had been preserved. In the senate, when, having made a recital of their services according to the custom observed by all generals, they had requested, that "in consideration of the brave and successful conduct of the affairs of the commonwealth, honours should be paid to the immortal gods, and they themselves enter the city in triumph;" the fathers replied, that "they most willingly decreed those things which they requested in gratitude to the gods in the first instance, and, next to them, to the consuls." A supplication in the name of both, and a triumph to both of them, having been decreed, lest after having carried on the war with entire unanimity they should have a separate triumph, they made the following agreement; that "since both the service had been performed in the province of Marcus Livius, and he was in possession of the command on the day on which the battle was fought, and further, that as the army of Livius had been withdrawn and had come to Rome, while Nero's could not be withdrawn from the province, Marcus Livius should enter the city in a four-horse chariot and followed by the soldiers; Caius Claudius on horseback without soldiers." This plan of associating the generals in the triumph increased the glory of both, but particularly of him who had yielded to his colleague in the honours he received, as much as he surpassed him in merit. The people said, that "the general on horseback had traversed the whole length of Italy in the space of six days, and had fought a pitched battle with Hasdrubal in Gaul, on the very day on which Hannibal supposed that he was occupying a camp pitched in Apulia to oppose him. That thus one consul, acting in defence of either extremity of Italy against two leaders, had opposed against one his skill, against the other his person. That the name of Nero had been sufficient to confine Hannibal within his camp, while with regard to Hasdrubal, by what, but his arrival, had he been overwhelmed and annihilated? The other consul might move along raised aloft in a chariot, drawn if he pleased by a number of horses, but that the real triumph was his who was conveyed by one horse; and that Nero, though he should go on foot, would be immortalized, whether on account of the glory he had acquired in the war, or the contempt he had shown for it in the triumph." Such continual expressions of the spectators attended Nero all the way to the Capitol. The money they brought into the treasury was three hundred thousand sesterces, with eighty thousand asses of brass. Marcus Livius distributed among the soldiers fifty-six asses each. Caius Claudius promised the same sum to his absent troops when he returned to the army. It was observed that more verses were written by the soldiery upon Caius Claudius in their jocular style, than upon their own consul; that the horsemen highly extolled Lucius Veturius and Quintus Caecilius, lieutenant-generals, and exhorted the commons to create them consuls for the ensuing year; that the consuls added their authority to the recommendation of the knights, relating in the public assembly the following day with what courage and fidelity their two lieutenant-generals in particular had served them.
10
When the time for the elections approached, and it was resolved that it should be held by a dictator, the consul Caius Claudius nominated as dictator his colleague Marcus Livius, who appointed Quintus Caecilius his master of the horse. Lucius Veturius and Quintus Caecilius were created consuls by Marcus Livius the dictator, the latter being then master of the horse. After this the election of praetors was held. The persons appointed were, Caius Servilius, Marcus Caecilius Metellus, Titus Claudius Asellus, and Quintus Mamilius Turinus, who was at that time plebeian aedile. When the elections were finished, the dictator, having abdicated his office and dismissed his army, set out for his province of Etruria, according to a decree of the senate, to make inquiry what states of the Tuscans and Umbrians had formed schemes of revolt from the Romans to Hasdrubal at the time of his approach, and what states had assisted him with auxiliaries, provisions, or succours of any kind. Such were the transactions this year at home and abroad. The Roman games were thrice repeated in full by the curule aediles, Cneius Servilius Caepio and Servius Cornelius Lentulus. In the same manner the plebeian games also were once repeated entire by the plebeian aediles, Manius Pomponius Matho and Quintus Mamilius Thurinus.
In the thirteenth year of the Punic war, when Lucius Veturius Philo and Quintus Caecilius Metellus were consuls, Bruttium was assigned to both of them, as their province, to carry on the war with Hannibal. The praetors then cast lots for their provinces: Marcus Caecilius Metellus had the city jurisdiction; Quintus Mamilius, the foreign; Caius Servilius, Sicily; Tiberius Claudius, Sardinia. The armies were distributed thus: to one of the consuls was given the army which Caius Claudius the consul of the former year, to the other that which Quintus Claudius the propraetor, had commanded, consisting of two legions each. It was decreed that Marcus Livius, proconsul, who was continued in command for the year, should take the two legions of volunteer slaves from Caius Terentius the propraetor, and that Quintus Mamilius, transferring his judicial business to his colleague, should occupy Gaul with the army which Lucius Porcius, the praetor, had commanded, with orders to lay waste the lands of those Gauls who had revolted to the Carthaginians on the approach of Hasdrubal. The protection of Sicily was assigned to Caius Servilius with the two legions which fought at Cannae, in the same manner as Caius Mamilius had held it. The old army which Aulus Hostilius had commanded was conveyed out of Sardinia, and the consuls enlisted a new legion, which Tiberius Claudius might take over with him. Quintus Claudius and Caius Hostilius Tubulus were continued in command for a year, that the former might hold Tarentum as his province, the latter, Capua. Marcus Valerius, the proconsul, to whom had been committed the protection of the sea-coast round Sicily, was ordered to deliver thirty ships to Caius Servilius, and return to the city with all the rest of the fleet.
11
In a state where the greatest anxiety prevailed, in consequence of the very critical situation in which the war stood, and where all events, prosperous or adverse, were attributed to the interposition of the gods, accounts of many prodigies were received; that the temple of Jupiter at Tarracina, and that of Mater Matuta at Satricum, had been struck by lightning. The people of Satricum were no less terrified by two snakes gliding into the temple of Jupiter by the very doors. A report was brought from Antium, that bloody ears of corn had been seen by the reapers. At Caere a pig with two heads had been littered, and a lamb yeaned which was both male and female. Intelligence was brought that two suns had been seen at Alba, and that light had suddenly appeared during night at Fregellae. An ox was reported to have spoken in the Roman territory. A copious perspiration was said to have exuded from the altar of Neptune, in the Flaminian circus; and the temples of Ceres, Safety, and Quirinus were said to have been struck by lightning. The consuls were directed to expiate these prodigies with victims of the larger sort, and to make a supplication for one day. These things were executed according to a decree of the senate. The extinction of the fire in the temple of Vesta struck more terror upon the minds of men than all the prodigies which were reported from abroad, or seen at home; and the vestal, who had the guarding of it for that night, was scourged by the command of Publius Licinius the pontiff. Although this event was not appointed by the gods as a portent, but had happened through human neglect, yet it was thought proper that it should be expiated with victims of the larger sort, and that a supplication should be made at the temple of Vesta.
Before the consuls set out for the campaign, they were cautioned by the senate to take care that the common people should be brought back into the country; for since, through the goodness of the gods, the war was removed from the city of Rome and Latium, the country might be inhabited without fear. That it was most inconsistent that greater care should be taken in cultivating Sicily than Italy. But it was a matter by no means easy for the people, the free labourers having been cut off by war, and there being a scarcity of slaves, their cattle having been carried off as booty, and the farmhouses pulled down or burnt. A large number, however, compelled by the authority of the consuls, returned into the country. The mention of this affair had been occasioned by ambassadors of Placentia and Cremona, who complained that their lands were being invaded and laid waste by the neighbouring Gauls; that a large portion of their settlers had dispersed; that their cities were thinly inhabited, and their lands devastated and deserted. Mamilius the praetor was charged with the protection of the colonies from the enemy. The consuls, in conformity with a decree of the senate, issued an edict that all who were citizens of Cremona and Placentia should return to those colonies before a certain day; after which, in the beginning of spring, they set out for the campaign. Quintus Caecilius, the consul, received the army from Caius Nero; Lucius Veturius received his from Quintus Claudius the propraetor, filling it up with new-raised soldiers, whom he had himself enlisted. The consuls marched their army into the territory of Consentia, and devastating the country on all hands, when the troops were loaded with plunder, they were thrown into such confusion by some Bruttians and Numidian spearmen, who attacked them in a narrow defile, that not only the booty but the troops were in danger. There was more of confusion, however than fighting; and sending the booty in advance, the legions themselves also escaped into a place free from danger. Proceeding thence into Lucania, the whole of that people returned, without a contest, into subjection to the Roman people.
12
No action with Hannibal took place this year; for neither did he present himself after the public and personal calamity so recently inflicted, and the Romans did not provoke him while he remained quiet, such power did they consider that single general possessed, though every thing else around him was falling into ruin. Indeed I know not whether he was not more deserving of admiration in adversity than in prosperity; inasmuch as though he carried on a war in the territory of enemies through a period of thirteen years, at so great a distance from home, with varying success, and with, an army not composed of his own countrymen, but made up of the offscouring of all nations, without communion of laws, customs, or language, different in their appearance, their dress, their arms, their religious ceremonies and observances, and I had almost said, their gods; yet he so effectually united them by some one bond, that no disturbance ever arose either among the soldiers themselves, or between them and their general, though he often wanted money to pay them, and provisions, as being in a hostile country, through want of which, in the former Punic war, many dreadful transactions had occurred between the generals and their soldiers. But after the destruction of Hasdrubal and his army, in which all hopes of victory had been treasured up; and after retiring from the possession of every other part of Italy by withdrawing into Bruttium, one corner of it; to whom does it not appear wonderful that no disturbance arose in the camp? For to other circumstances this also was added, that he had no nope of subsisting his army, except from the lands of Bruttium, which, though they were all cultivated, would be very insufficient for the maintenance of so large an army. Besides, many of the youth were drawn off from the cultivation of the fields, and engaged in the war; and a custom also prevailed among the people of that nation, grafted on a naturally depraved inclination, of carrying on a predatory kind of warfare. Nor did he receive any supplies from home, where they were anxious about the retention of Spain, as if every thing was going on prosperously in Italy. In Spain the state of affairs was in one respect similar, but in another widely different; similar in that the Carthaginians, having been defeated with the loss of their general, had been driven to the remotest coast of that country, even to the ocean; but different, because Spain, both from the nature of the country and the genius of its inhabitants, was better adapted not only than Italy, but than any other part of the world, for renewing a war. And accordingly, therefore, though this was the first of the provinces on the continent which the Romans entered, it was the last which was at length reduced, in the present age, under the conduct and auspices of Augustus Caesar. Here Hasdrubal, son of Gisgo, the greatest and most renowned general concerned in the war, next to the Barcine family, returning from Gades, and encouraged in his hopes of reviving the war by Mago, son of Hamilcar, by means of levies made throughout the Farther Spain, armed as many as fifty thousand foot and four thousand five hundred horse. With regard to his mounted force, authors are pretty much agreed, but some state that seventy thousand infantry were led to the city Silpia. Here the two Carthaginian generals sat down on open plains, with a determination not to avoid a battle.
13
When Scipio received an account of the collection of so large an army, he felt convinced that he would not be a match for so great a multitude with the Roman legions only, without making a show at least of the auxiliary troops of the barbarians; at the same time that he did not think it right that they should form so large a portion of his force as to occasion important consequences if they should change sides, which had brought ruin upon his father and his uncle. Therefore, sending forward Silanus to Colca, who was sovereign of twenty-eight towns, to receive from him the infantry and cavalry, which he promised to enlist during the winter, he himself set out from Tarraco; and collecting small bodies of auxiliaries from his allies, who lay near his road as he proceeded, he came to Castulo. To this place Silanus led the auxiliaries, consisting of three thousand infantry and five hundred horse. Thence he advanced to the city of Baecula, with his entire army of countrymen and allies, foot and horse, amounting to forty-five thousand. Mago and Masinissa attacked them with the whole body of their cavalry while forming their camp, and would have dispersed those engaged in the works, had not a party of horse, concealed by Scipio behind an eminence conveniently situated for the purpose, unexpectedly charged them when rushing on to the attack, and, ere the battle was well begun, routed all the most forward, both those who had advanced nearest the rampart, and those who were foremost in charging the very workmen. With the rest of the troops who came up with their standards, and in order of march, the contest lasted longer, and was for a considerable time doubtful. But when first the light cohorts from the outposts, and then the troops withdrawn from the works and ordered to take arms, came up, being more numerous than those which had been engaged, and fresh while they were fatigued, and now a large body of armed troops rushed from the camp to the battle, the Carthaginians and Numidians at once turned their backs. At first they moved off in troops without breaking their ranks, through fear or precipitation; but afterwards, when the Romans pressed furiously upon their rear, and they were unable to bear the violence of their attack, then at length, utterly regardless of order, they fled precipitately in every direction, as suited each man's convenience. And although, in consequence of this battle, the spirits of the Romans were considerably raised, and those of the enemy depressed, yet, for several days following, the horsemen and light-armed troops never ceased from skirmishes.
14
After having made sufficient trial of their strength in these slight engagements, Hasdrubal first led out his forces for battle, and then the Romans also advanced. But both the armies stood drawn up before their ramparts; and as neither party began the attack, and the sun was now going down, the Carthaginian first, and then the Roman, led back his troops into the camp. The same occurred for several days. The Carthaginian was always the first to lead out his troops into the field, and the first to give the signal for retiring, when they were weary with standing. Neither party sallied from their posts, nor was a weapon discharged, or a word uttered. On one side the Romans occupied the centre, on the other, the Carthaginians and Africans together; the allies occupied the wings, which were composed of Spaniards on both sides. The elephants which stood before the Carthaginian line, appeared at a distance like castles. It was now commonly talked of in both camps, that they would fight in the order in which they had stood when drawn up, and that their centres, composed of Romans and Carthaginians, who were the principals in the war, would engage with equal courage and strength. When Scipio perceived that this was firmly believed, he studiously altered all his arrangements against the day on which he intended to fight. He issued orders through the camp at evening, that the men and horses should be refreshed and fed before daylight, and that the horsemen, armed themselves, should keep their horses bridled and saddled. When it was scarcely yet daylight, he sent all his cavalry, with the light troops, against the Carthaginian outposts, and then without delay advanced himself, at the head of the heavy body of the legions, having strengthened his wings with Roman soldiers, and placed the allies in the centre, contrary to the full anticipations of his own men and of the enemy. Hasdrubal, alarmed by the shout of the cavalry, sprang out of his tent, and, perceiving a tumult before the rampart, and his own troops in a state of hurry and confusion, the standards of the legions gleaming at a distance, and the plain filled with the enemy, immediately sent out the whole body of his cavalry against the horsemen of the enemy; marching himself out of the camp, at the head of the infantry, without departing at all from the usual arrangement in forming his line. The battle between the cavalry had continued for a long time doubtful; nor could they decide it themselves, because, when repulsed, which was the case in a manner alternately, they had a safe retreat upon the line of infantry. But when the armies were not more than five hundred paces distant from each other, Scipio, sounding a retreat and opening his files, received into the midst of them the whole body of his cavalry and light-armed troops; and dividing them into two parts, placed them in reserve behind the wings. After this, when it was now time to commence the battle, he ordered the Spaniards, who formed the centre, to advance at a slow pace; he himself sent a messenger from the right wing, for that he commanded, to Silanus and Marcius to extend the wing on the left in the same manner as they should see him extend that on the right, and engage the enemy with the light-armed of the horse and foot, before the two centres could meet. The wings being thus extended, they advanced against the enemy at a rapid pace, with three cohorts of infantry, and three troops of horse, each with the addition of skirmishers, the rest following them in an oblique line. There was a depression in the centre of the line, because the battalions of the Spaniards advanced slower than the rest, and the wings had already encountered the enemy, when the veteran Carthaginians and Africans had not yet come within distance to discharge their darts; nor dared they run in different directions to the wings to assist them when fighting, lest they should expose their centre to the enemy approaching over against them. The wings were hard pressed, by a twofold attack; the cavalry, the light-armed, and the skirmishers, wheeling round, charged their flanks, while the cohorts pressed them hard in front, in order to separate the wings from the rest of the line.
15
The battle was now extremely unequal in every part, both because an irregular band of Balearians and raw Spaniards were opposed to Roman and Latin soldiers, and further, because, as the day was now getting on, Hasdrubal's troops began to grow languid, having been dispirited by the alarm in the morning, and compelled to go out hastily into the field, without refreshing themselves with food. Scipio had designedly spun out the day, in order that the battle might take place at a late hour; for it was not until the seventh hour that the battalions of infantry charged the wings. It was considerably later before the battle reached the centres, so that the heat from the meridian sun, and the fatigue of standing under arms, together with hunger and thirst, enfeebled their bodies before they engaged the enemy. Thus they stood still, supporting themselves upon their shields. In addition to their other misfortunes, the elephants too, terrified at the tumultuous kind of attack of the cavalry, the skirmishers, and the light-armed, had transferred themselves from the wings to the centre. Fatigued therefore in mind and body, they gave ground, preserving their ranks, however, just as though the army were retreating entire at the command of their general. But when the victors, perceiving that the enemy had given way, charged them on all sides with increased vehemence on that very account, so that the shock could hardly be sustained, though Hasdrubal endeavoured to stop them and hinder them from retiring, vociferating, "that there were hills on their rear, and a safe refuge if they would retreat without precipitation;" yet, fear getting the better of their sense of shame, and all those who were nearest the enemy giving way, they immediately turned their backs, and all gave themselves up to disorderly flight. The first place they halted at was the foot of the hills, where they endeavoured to recall the soldiers to their ranks, the Romans hesitating to advance their line up the opposite steep; but afterwards, when they saw them push on briskly, renewing their flight, they were driven into their camp in extreme alarm. Nor were the Romans far from the rampart; and such was their impetuosity, that they would have taken their camp had not so violent a shower of rain suddenly poured down, while, as is usually the case, the solar rays darted with the greatest intensity between the clouds surcharged with water, that the victors with difficulty returned to their camp. Some were even deterred, by superstition, from making any further attempts that day. Though night and the rain invited the Carthaginians to take necessary rest, yet, as their fears and the danger would not allow them to delay, as it was expected that the enemy would assault their camp as soon as it was light, they raised their rampart by stones collected from the neighbouring valleys around them on all sides, with the determination to defend themselves by works, since there was but little protection in their arms. But the desertion of their allies made it appear safer to fly than stay. Attanes, prince of the Turdetani, began this revolt; he deserted at the head of a numerous band of his countrymen. Then two fortified towns, together with their garrisons, were delivered up by their praefects to the Romans. And, lest the evil should spread more widely, now that the disposition to revolt from the Carthaginians had evinced itself in one instance, Hasdrubal decamped during the silence of the ensuing night.
16
The troops in the outposts having brought word, as soon as it was light, that the enemy had departed, Scipio, despatching his cavalry in advance, ordered the army to move forward; and so rapidly were they led, that had they directly followed the track of the fugitives, they would certainly have overtaken them; but they trusted to the report of their guides, that there was a shorter cut to the river Baetis, where they might attack them while crossing it. Hasdrubal, being precluded from passing the river, turned his course to the ocean; and they now advanced in disorder and in the manner of fugitives, so that the Roman legions were left considerably behind. The cavalry and light-armed, attacking sometimes their rear, and sometimes their flank, harassed and delayed them; and as they were obliged to halt, in consequence of these frequent annoyances, and engaged sometimes the cavalry, at other times the skirmishers and the auxiliary infantry, the legions came up. After this it was no longer a fight, but a butchering as of cattle, till the general himself, who was the first to run away, made his escape to the neighbouring hills with about six thousand men half armed; the rest were slain or made prisoners. The Carthaginians hastily fortified an irregular camp on the highest eminence, and from thence they defended themselves without difficulty, the enemy failing in his attempt to get at them, from the difficulty of the ascent. But a siege in a place bare and affording no means of subsistence, was hardly to be supported, even for a few days; the troops therefore deserted to the enemy. At last the general himself, having procured some ships, for the sea was not at a great distance, left his army by night and effected his escape to Gades. Scipio, having heard of the flight of the general of the enemy, left ten thousand foot and one thousand cavalry for Silanus to carry on the siege of the camp, and returned to Tarraco with the rest of the troops, after a march of seventy days, during which he took cognizance of the causes of the petty princes and states, in order that rewards might be conferred according to a just estimate of their merits. After his departure, Masinissa, having held a private conference with Silanus, passed over into Africa with a few of his countrymen, in order that he might induce his nation also to acquiesce in his new designs. The cause of this sudden change was not so evident at the time, as the proof was convincing which was afforded by his subsequent fidelity, preserved to extreme old age, that he did not on this occasion act without reasonable grounds. Mago went to Gades in the ships which had been sent back by Hasdrubal. Of the rest of the troops thus abandoned by their generals, some deserted and others betook themselves to flight, and in this manner were dispersed through the neighbouring states. There was no body of them considerable either for numbers or strength. Such were, as near as possible, the circumstances under which the Carthaginians were driven out of Spain, under the conduct and auspices of Publius Scipio, in the thirteenth year from the commencement of the war, and the fifth from the time that Publius Scipio received the province and the army. Not long after, Silanus returned to Tarraco to Scipio, with information that the war was at an end.
17
Lucius Scipio was sent to Rome to convey the news of the reduction of Spain, and with him a number of distinguished captives. While everybody else extolled this achievement as an event in the highest degree joyful and glorious, yet the author of it alone, whose valour was such that he never thought he had achieved enough, and whose search for true glory was insatiable, considered the reduction of Spain as affording but a faint idea of the hopes which his aspiring mind had conceived. He now directed his view to Africa and Great Carthage, and the glorious termination of the war, as redounding to his honour, and giving lustre to his name. Judging it therefore to be now necessary to pave the way to his object, and to conciliate the friendship of kings and nations, he resolved first to sound the disposition of Syphax, king of the Masaesylians, a nation bordering on the Moors, and lying for the most part over-against that quarter of Spain in which New Carthage is situated. The king was at the present juncture in league with the Carthaginians; and Scipio, concluding that he would not hold it as more binding and sacred than was customary with barbarians, sent Caius Laelius as envoy to him with presents. The barbarian, delighted with these, and seeing that the Roman cause was then successful in every quarter, but that the Carthaginians were unfortunate in Italy, and no longer existed in Spain, consented to accept the friendship of the Romans, but refused to give or receive a solemn ratification of it except the Roman general himself were present in person. This being the case, Laelius returned to Scipio, having received from the king merely an assurance of a safe journey. To one desirous of getting a footing in Africa, Syphax was of great importance, as he was the most powerful king in that country, had already had experience of the Carthaginians themselves in war, and the boundaries of his dominions lay very conveniently with respect to Spain, from which they are separated by a narrow strait. Scipio, therefore, considering it an object of sufficient importance to warrant his attempting it, notwithstanding the greatness of the danger which attended it, since he could not effect it otherwise, left for the protection of Spain Lucius Marcius at Tarraco, and Marcus Silanus at New Carthage, to which place he had gone on foot by long marches; and setting out himself in company with Caius Laelius, with two quinqueremes from Carthage, passed over into Africa, working the vessels with oars for the greatest part of the voyage, in consequence of the calmness of the sea, though sometimes they were assisted by a gentle breeze. It so happened, that just at that time Hasdrubal, having been driven out of Spain, had entered the harbour with seven triremes, and having cast anchor was mooring his ships. The sight of two quinqueremes, which it was the firm opinion of everybody belonged to the enemy, and might be overpowered by superior numbers before they entered the harbour, produced no other effect than a tumult and confusion among the soldiers and sailors, who endeavoured to no purpose to get their arms and ships ready; for their sails, impelled by a somewhat brisker gale from the sea, brought the quinqueremes into the harbour before the Carthaginians weighed their anchors, and no one dared make any further stir now that they were in the king's harbour. Thus Hasdrubal, who landed first, and Scipio and Laelius, who landed soon after, proceeded to the king.