18
Syphax considered it highly honourable to him, as it really was, that generals of the two most powerful people of the age should come to him on the same day to solicit peace and friendship with him. He invited them both to become his guests; and, as it was the will of fortune that they should be under one roof, and under the protection of the same household gods, he endeavoured to bring them together to a conference, in order to put an end to the difference between them; when Scipio declared, that there was no personal enmity between the Carthaginian and himself which he might do away with by a conference, and that he could not transact any business relating to the republic with an enemy without the command of the senate. But the king being earnest in his endeavours to persuade him to come to the same entertainment, lest one of his guests should appear to be excluded, he did not withhold his assent. They supped together at the king's table, and Scipio and Hasdrubal even sat at meat on the same couch, because it was the king's pleasure. So courteous was the manner of Scipio, so naturally happy and universal was his genius, that by his conversation he gained the esteem not only of Syphax, a barbarian, and unused to Roman manners, but even of a most inveterate enemy, who openly avowed, that "he appeared to him more to be admired for the qualities he displayed on a personal interview with him, than for his exploits in war, and that he had no doubt that Syphax and his kingdom were already at the disposal of the Romans, such were the abilities that man possessed for gaining the esteem of others. That it, therefore, was incumbent upon the Carthaginians not more to inquire by what means they had lost Spain, than to consider how they might retain possession of Africa. That it was not from a desire to visit foreign countries, or to roam about delightful coasts, that so great a Roman captain, leaving a recently subdued province, and his armies, had crossed over into Africa with only two ships, entering an enemy's territory, and committing himself to the untried honour of the king, but in pursuance of a hope he had conceived of subduing Africa. That it had been long the object of his anxious solicitude, and had drawn from him open expressions of his indignation, that Scipio was not carrying on war in Africa in the same way as Hannibal was in Italy." Scipio, having formed a league with Syphax, set out from Africa, and, after having been tossed about during his voyage by variable and generally tempestuous winds, made the port of New Carthage on the fourth day.
19
As Spain was undisturbed by a Carthaginian war, so it was evident that some of the states remained quiet more from fear, arising from a consciousness of demerit, than from sincere attachment. The most remarkable of them, both for their greatness and guilt, were Illiturgi and Castulo. Castulo had been in alliance with the Romans when in prosperity, but had revolted to the Carthaginians after the destruction of the Scipios and their armies. The Illiturgians, by betraying and putting to death those who fled thither after that calamity, had added villany to revolt. It would have been more deserved than expedient to have executed severe vengeance upon these people on his first arrival, while the affairs of Spain were in an uncertain state; but now, when all was tranquil, as the time for visiting them with punishment appeared to have arrived, he summoned Lucius Marcius from Tarraco, and sent him with a third of his forces to attack Castulo, and with the rest of the army he himself reached Illiturgi, after about five days' march. The gates were closed, and every arrangement and preparation made for repelling an attack; so completely had the consciousness of what they deserved produced the same effect as a declaration of war against them. From this circumstance Scipio commenced his exhortation to his soldiers: he said, that "by closing their gates the Spaniards had themselves shown what their deserts were by what they feared, and that therefore they ought to prosecute the war against them with much greater animosity than against the Carthaginians. For with the latter the contest was carried on for empire and glory almost without any exasperated feeling, while they had to punish the former for perfidy, cruelty, and villany. That the time had now arrived when they should take vengeance for the horrid massacre of their fellow soldiers, and for the treachery which was prepared for themselves, had they been carried in their flight to the same place; and by the severity of the punishment inflicted in the present instance, establish it as a law for ever, that no one should consider a Roman citizen and soldier, whatever his situation, a fit object for injurious treatment." Animated by this exhortation of their general, they distributed the scaling-ladders to men selected from each of the companies; and the army being divided into two parts, so that Laelius, as lieutenant-general, might command one, they attacked the city in two places at once; thus creating an alarm in two quarters at the same time. It was not by the exhortations of one general, nor of the several nobles who were present, that the townsmen were stimulated to a vigorous defence of the city, but by the fear which they themselves entertained; they bore in mind, and admonished each other, that the object aimed at was punishment, and not victory. That the only question for them was, where they should meet death, whether in the battle and in the field, where the indiscriminate chance of war frequently raised up the vanquished and dashed the victor to the ground; or whether, after a short interval, when the city was burnt and plundered, after suffering every horror and indignity, they should expire amid stripes and bonds before the eyes of their captive wives and children. Therefore, not only those who were of an age to bear arms, or men only, but women and children, beyond the powers of their minds and bodies, were there, supplying with weapons those who were fighting in defence of the place, and carrying stones to the walls for those who were strengthening the works; for not only was their liberty at stake, which excites the energies of the brave only, but they had before their eyes the utmost extremity of punishment, to be inflicted on all indiscriminately, and an ignominious death. Their minds were worked up to the highest pitch, both by emulation in toil and danger, and also by the mere sight of each other. Accordingly the contest was entered upon with such ardour, that the army which had subdued the whole of Spain was frequently driven back from the walls of one town, and exhibited such a want of resolution in the contest as was not very honourable to it. When Scipio perceived this, he was afraid lest, by the failure of his attempts, the courage of the enemy should be raised and his own troops be dispirited; and thinking it incumbent upon him to exert himself in person and share the danger, reproved his soldiers for their cowardice, and ordered the scaling-ladders to be brought, threatening to mount the wall himself, since the rest hesitated. He had now advanced near the walls with no small danger, when a shout was raised from all sides by the soldiers, who were alarmed at the danger their general was exposed to, and the scaling-ladders began to be reared in several places at once. Laelius too, in another quarter, pressed on vigorously. It was then that the energy of the townsmen was subdued, and those who defended the walls being beaten off, the Romans took possession of them. The citadel also was captured during the confusion on a side where it was thought impregnable.
20
Some African deserters, who were at that time among the Roman auxiliaries, while the townsmen were occupied in defending those quarters whence danger was apprehended, and the Romans were making approaches where they could gain access, observed that the most elevated part of the town, which was protected by a very high rock, was neither fortified by any work nor furnished with defenders. Being men of light make and nimble from being well exercised, they climbed up wherever they could gain access over the irregular projections of the rock, carrying with them iron spikes. If in any part they met with a cliff too steep and smooth, they fixed spikes at moderate intervals, and having thus formed a sort of steps, and those who were foremost pulling up those who followed, and those who were behind lifting up those before them, they succeeded in gaining the summit, whence they ran down with a shout into the city, which had already been taken by the Romans. Then it became manifest indeed that it was resentment and hatred which prompted the assault upon the city. No one thought of taking any alive, nor of booty, though every thing lay exposed to plunder. They butchered all indiscriminately, armed and unarmed, male and female. Their cruel resentment extended to the slaughter of infants. They then set fire to the houses, and pulled down those which could not be consumed by fire, so bent were they upon erasing even every vestige of the city, and blotting out the memory of their enemies. Scipio marched his army thence to Castulo, which was defended, not only by Spaniards who had assembled there, but also by the remains of the Carthaginian army, which had gone there from the various places to which they had been dispersed in their flight. But the news of the calamity of the Illiturgians had reached them before the arrival of Scipio; and in consequence of this, dismay and desperation had seized them; and as their cases were differently circumstanced, and each party was desirous of consulting its own safety independent of the other, at first secret jealousy, and then an open rupture, created a separation between the Carthaginians and Spaniards. Cerdubellus without disguise advised the latter to surrender. Himilco commanded the Carthaginian auxiliaries, which, together with the city, Cerdubellus delivered up to the Romans, having secretly obtained terms. This victory was attended with less cruelty; for not only was the guilt of this people less than the others, but their voluntary surrender had considerably mitigated resentment.
21
Marcius was then sent against the barbarians, to reduce under the authority and dominion of the Romans such of them as had not yet been subdued. Scipio returned to Carthage, to pay his vows to the gods, and to exhibit a gladiatorial show, which he had prepared on account of the death of his father and uncle. This exhibition of gladiators was not formed from that description of men which the lanistae are accustomed to procure, such as slaves, or those who sell their blood. All the service of the combatants was voluntary and gratuitous; for some were sent by the petty princes, to show an example of the natural courage of their people; others came forward to fight, in compliment to their general; others were induced to give and accept challenges, by a spirit of emulation and a desire of victory. Some decided by the sword disputes which they either could not or were unwilling to determine by argument, with an agreement that the matter in question should be given up to the victor. Nor was it confined to men of obscure rank, but comprehended persons of distinction and celebrity; such were Corbis and Orsua, cousins-german, who, having a dispute about the sovereignty of a city called Ibis, declared that they would contest it with the sword. Corbis was the elder of the two. The father of Orsua was the last sovereign, having succeeded to that dignity on the death of his elder brother. When Scipio was desirous of settling the dispute by argument and allaying their irritation, they both declared that they had refused that to their mutual kinsmen, and that they would appeal to no other judge, whether god or man, than Mars. The elder presuming upon his strength, the younger on the prime of youth, each wished to die in the combat rather than become the subject of the other; and every effort failing to prevent their prosecuting their mad design, they exhibited to the army a most interesting spectacle, and a proof how great mischief is occasioned among men by a thirst for power. The elder, in consequence of his experience in arms and his address, easily mastered the unscientific efforts of the younger. To this show of gladiators were added funeral games, proportioned to the means possessed, and with such magnificence as the provinces and the camp afforded.
22
Meanwhile the operations of the war were carried on with unabated activity by the lieutenant-generals. Marcius, crossing the river Baetis, which the natives call Certis, received the submission of two powerful cities without a contest. There was a city called Astapa, which had always sided with the Carthaginians; nor was it that which drew upon it the resentment of the Romans so much as the fact, that its inhabitants harboured an extraordinary animosity against them, which was not called for by the necessities of the war. Their city was not so secured by nature or art as to make their dispositions so fierce, but the natural disposition of the inhabitants, which took delight in plunder, had induced them to make excursions into the neighbouring lands belonging to the allies of the Romans, and to intercept such Roman soldiers, suttlers, and merchants as they found ranging about. They had also surrounded, by means of an ambuscade, and put to the sword on disadvantageous ground, a large company which was crossing their borders, for it had proved hardly safe to go in small parties. When the troops were marched up to assault this city, the inhabitants, conscious of their guilt, and seeing that it would be dangerous to surrender to an enemy so highly incensed, and that they could not hope to keep themselves in safety by means of their walls or their arms, resolved to execute upon themselves and those belonging to them a horrid and inhuman deed. They fixed upon a place in their forum, in which they collected the most valuable of their property, and having directed their wives and children to seat themselves upon this heap, they raised a pile of wood around it and threw on it bundles of twigs. They then ordered fifty armed youths to stand there and guard their fortunes, and the persons dearer to them than their fortunes, as long as the issue of the battle continued doubtful. If they should perceive that the battle went against them, and that it came to the point that the city must be captured, they might be assured that those whom they saw going out to engage the enemy would perish in the battle itself; but implored them by all the gods, celestial and infernal, that, mindful of their liberty, which must be terminated on that day either by an honourable death or ignominious servitude, they would leave nothing on which an exasperated enemy could wreak his fury; that they had fire and sword at their command, and it was better that friendly and faithful hands should destroy what must necessarily perish, than that enemies should insult it with haughty wantonness. To these exhortations a dreadful execration was added against any one who should be diverted from this purpose by hope or faint-heartedness. Then throwing open the gates, they rushed out at a rapid pace and with the utmost impetuosity. Nor was there any guard sufficiently strong opposed to them; for there could be nothing that was less apprehended than that they would have the courage to sally from their walls. A very few troops of horse, and the light-armed, hastily sent out of the camp for that purpose, opposed them. The battle was furious and spirited, rather than steady and regular in any degree. The horse, therefore, which had first encountered the enemy, being repulsed, created an alarm among the light-armed; and the battle would have been fought under the very rampart, had not the legions, which were their main strength, drawn out their line, though they had a very short time to form in. These too, for a short time, wavered around their standards, when the Astapans, blind with rage, rushed upon wounds and the sword with reckless daring; but afterwards the veteran soldiers, standing firm against their furious assaults, checked the violence of those that followed by the slaughter of the foremost. Soon after, the veteran troops themselves made an attempt to charge them, but seeing that not a man gave ground, and that they were inflexibly determined on dying each in his place, they extended their line, which the number of their troops enabled them to do with ease, and, surrounding their flanks, slew them all to a man while fighting in a circle.
24
But these, however, were acts committed by exasperated enemies in the heat of battle, and executed, in conformity with the laws of war, upon men armed and most fiercely resisting; there was another more horrible carnage in the city, where a harmless and defenceless crowd of women and children were butchered by their own countrymen, who threw their bodies, most of them still alive, upon the burning pile while streams of blood damped the rising flame; and lastly, wearied with the piteous slaughter of their friends, they threw themselves, arms and all, into the midst of the flames. When the carnage was now completed the victorious Romans came up, and at the first sight of so revolting a transaction they stood for some time wrapt in wonder and amazement; but afterwards, from a rapacity natural to humanity, wishing to snatch out of the fire the gold and silver which glittered amid the heap of other materials, some were caught by the flames, others scorched by the hot blasts, as the foremost were unable to retreat, in consequence of the immense crowd which pressed upon them. In this manner was Astapa destroyed by the sword and fire, without affording any booty to the soldiers. After the rest of the people in that quarter, influenced by fear, had made submission to him, Marcius led his victorious troops to Scipio, at Carthage. Just at this same time deserters arrived from Gades, who promised to betray the town and Carthaginian garrison which occupied it, together with the commander and the fleet. Mago had halted there after his flight, and having collected some ships on the ocean, had got together a considerable number of auxiliaries from the coast of Africa, on the other side the strait, and also by means of Hanno the prefect from the neighbouring parts of Spain. After pledges had been exchanged with the deserters, Marcius and Laelius were sent thither, the former with the light cohorts, the latter with seven triremes and one quinquereme, in order that they might act in concert by land and sea.
24
In consequence of Scipio's being afflicted with a severe fit of illness, which rumour represented as more serious than it really was; for every one made some addition to the account he had received, from a desire inherent in mankind of intentionally exaggerating reports, the whole province, and more especially the distant parts of it, were thrown into a state of ferment; and it was evident what a serious disturbance would have been excited had he really died, when an unfounded report created such violent commotions. Neither the allies kept their allegiance, nor the army their duty. Mandonius and Indibilis, who were not at all satisfied with what had occurred, for they had anticipated with certainty that they would have the dominion of Spain on the expulsion of the Carthaginians, called together their countrymen the Lacetani, and summoning the Celtiberian youth to arms, devastated in a hostile manner the territories of the Suessetanians and Sedetanians, allies of the Romans. Besides, a mutiny arose in the camp at Sucro. Here were eight thousand men, stationed as a guard over the nations dwelling on this side the Iberus. It was not on hearing uncertain rumours respecting the life of the general that their minds were first excited, but previously, owing to the licentiousness which naturally results from long-continued idleness, and in some degree also owing to the restraint felt in time of peace by men who had been accustomed to live freely on what they gained by plunder in an enemy's country. At first they only discoursed in private, asking what they were doing among people who were at peace with them, if there was a war in the province? if the war was terminated and the province completely subdued, why were they not conveyed back into Italy? The pay also was demanded with more insolence than was customary or consistent with military subordination, and the guards cast reproaches upon the tribunes while going round to the watches. Some too had gone out by night into the neighbouring lands, belonging to persons at peace with the Romans, to plunder; but at last they quitted their standards in the day-time and openly without furloughs. Every thing was done according to the caprice and unrestrained will of the soldiers, and nothing according to rule and military discipline, or the orders of those who were in command. The form, however, of a Roman camp was preserved solely in consequence of the hopes they entertained that the tribunes, catching the spirit of insubordination, would not be averse from taking part in the mutiny and defection, on which account they suffered them to dispense justice in their courts, went to them for the watch-word, and served in their turn on the outposts and watches; and as they had taken away the power of command, so they preserved the appearance of obedience to orders, by spontaneously executing their own. Afterwards, when they perceived that the tribunes censured and reprobated their proceedings, endeavoured to counteract them, and publicly declared that they would not take any share in their disorderly conduct, the mutiny assumed a decided character; when, after driving the tribunes from their courts, and shortly after from the camp, the command was conferred by universal consent upon Caius Albius of Cales and Caius Atrius of Umbria, common soldiers, who were the prime movers of the sedition. These men were so far from being satisfied with the ornaments used by tribunes, that they had the audacity to lay hold even of the insignia of the highest authority, the fasces and axes, without ever reflecting that their own backs and necks were in danger from those very rods and axes which they carried before them to intimidate others. Their mistaken belief of the death of Scipio had blinded their minds, and they doubted not that, in a short time, when that event should be made generally known, all Spain would blaze with war; that during this confusion money might be exacted from the allies and the neighbouring cities plundered; and that in this unsettled state of affairs, when there was nothing which any man would not dare, their own acts would be less conspicuous.
25
As they expected that other fresh accounts would follow those which they had received, not only of the death, but even of the burial, of Scipio, and yet none arrived; and as the rumour which had been so idly originated began to die away, the first author of it began to be sought out; and each backing out in order that he might appear rather to have inconsiderately credited than to have fabricated such a report, the leaders were forsaken, and began now to dread their own ensigns of authority, and to apprehend that, instead of that empty show of command which they wore, a legitimate and rightful power would be turned against them. The mutiny being thus paralysed, and credible persons bringing in accounts, first, that Scipio was alive, and, soon after, that he was even in good health, seven military tribunes were sent by Scipio himself. At the first arrival of these their minds were violently excited; but they were soon calmed by the mild and soothing language which they addressed to such of their acquaintance as they met with; for, going round first of all to the tents, and then entering the principia and the praetorium, wherever they observed circles of men conversing together, they addressed them, inquiring rather what it was that had occasioned their displeasure and sudden consternation, than taxing them with what had occurred. "That they had not received their pay at the appointed time," was generally complained; and "that although at the time of the horrid transaction of the Illiturgians, and after the destruction of two generals and two armies, the Roman cause had been defended and the province retained by their valour; the Illiturgians had received the punishment due to their offence, but there was no one found to reward them for their meritorious services." The tribunes replied, "that, considering the nature of their complaints, what they requested was just, and that they would lay it before the general; that they were happy that there was nothing of a more gloomy and irremediable character; that both Publius Scipio, by the favour of the gods, and the commonwealth, were in a situation to requite them." Scipio, who was accustomed to war but inexperienced in the storms of sedition, felt great anxiety on the occasion, lest the army should run into excess in transgressing, or himself in punishing. For the present he resolved to persist in the lenient line of conduct with which he had begun, and sending collectors round to the tributary states, to give the soldiers hopes of soon receiving their pay. Immediately after this a proclamation was issued that they should come to Carthage to receive their pay, whether they wished to do so in detached parties or all in a body. The sudden suppression of the rebellion among the Spaniards had the effect of tranquillizing the mutiny, which was by this time beginning to subside of itself; for Mandonius and Indibilis, relinquishing their attempt, had returned within their borders when intelligence was brought that Scipio was alive; nor did there now remain any person, whether countryman or foreigner, whom they could make their companion in their desperate enterprise. On examining every method, they had no alternative except that which afforded a retreat from wicked designs, which was not of the safest kind, namely, to commit themselves either to the just anger of the general, or to his clemency, of which they need not despair. For he had pardoned even enemies whom he had encountered with the sword; while they reflected that their sedition had been unaccompanied with wounds or blood, and was neither in itself of an atrocious character nor merited severe punishment. So natural is it for men to be over-eloquent in extenuating their own demerit. They felt doubtful whether they should go to demand their pay in single cohorts or in one entire body; but the opinion that they should go in a body, which they regarded as the safer mode, prevailed.
26
At the same time, when they were employed in these deliberations, a council was held on their case at Carthage; when a warm debate took place as to whether they should visit with punishment the originators only of the mutiny, who were in number not more than thirty-five, or, whether atonement should be made for this defection, (for such it was rather than a mutiny,) of so dreadful a character as a precedent, by the punishment of a greater number. The opinion recommending the more lenient course, that the punishment should fall where the guilt originated, was adopted. For the multitude a reprimand was considered sufficient. On the breaking up of the council, orders were given to the army, which was in Carthage, to prepare for an expedition against Mandonius and Indibilis, and to get ready provisions for several days, in order that they might appear to have been deliberating about this. The seven tribunes who had before gone to Sucro to quell the mutiny, having been sent out to meet the army, gave in, each of them, five names of persons principally concerned in the affair, in order that proper persons might be employed to invite them to their homes, with smiles and kind words; and that, when overpowered with wine, they might be thrown into chains. They were not far distant from Carthage when the intelligence, received from persons on the road, that the whole army was going the following day with Marcus Silanus against the Lacetanians, not only freed them from all the apprehensions which, though they did not give utterance to them, sat heavy upon their minds, but occasioned the greatest transport, because they would thus have the general alone, and in their power, instead of being themselves in his. They entered the city just at sun-set, and saw the other army making every preparation for a march. Immediately on their arrival they were greeted in terms feigned for the purpose, that their arrival was looked upon by the general as a happy and seasonable circumstance, for they had come when the other army was just on the point of setting out. After which they proceeded to refresh themselves. The authors of the mutiny, having been conveyed to their lodgings by proper persons, were apprehended by the tribunes without any disturbance, and thrown into chains. At the fourth watch the baggage belonging to the army, which, as it was pretended, was about to march, began to set out. As soon as it was light the troops marched, but were stopped at the gate, and guards were sent round to all the gates to prevent any one going out of the city. Then those who had arrived the day before, having been summoned to an assembly, ran in crowds into the forum to the tribunal of the general, with the presumptuous purpose of intimidating him by their shouts. At the same time that the general mounted the tribunal, the armed troops, which had been brought back from the gates, spread themselves around the rear of the unarmed assembly. Then all their insolence subsided; and, as they afterwards confessed, nothing terrified them so much as the unexpected vigour and hue of the general, whom they had supposed they should see in a sickly state, and his countenance, which was such as they declared that they did not remember to have ever seen it even in battle. He sat silent for a short time till he was informed that the instigators of the mutiny were brought into the forum, and that every thing was now in readiness.
27
Then, a herald having obtained silence, he thus began: "I imagined that language would never fail me in which to address my army; not that I have ever accustomed myself to speaking rather than action, but because, having been kept in a camp almost from my boyhood, I had become familiar with the dispositions of soldiers. But I am at a loss both for sentiments and expressions with which to address you, whom I know not even by what name I ought to call. Can I call you countrymen, who have revolted from your country? or soldiers, who have rejected the command and authority of your general, and violated the solemn obligation of your oath? Can I call you enemies? I recognise the persons, faces, dress, and mien of fellow countrymen; but I perceive the actions, expressions, intentions, and feelings of enemies. For what have you wished and hoped for, but what the Ilergetians and Lacetanians did. Yet they followed Mandonius and Indibilis, men of royal rank, who were the leaders of their mad project; you conferred the auspices and command upon the Umbrian, Atrius, and the Calenian, Albius. Deny, soldiers, that you were all concerned in this measure, or that you approved of it when taken. I shall willingly believe, when you disclaim it, that it was the folly and madness of a few. For the acts which have been committed are of such a nature, that, if the whole army participated in them, they could not be expiated without atonements of tremendous magnitude. Upon these points, like wounds, I touch with reluctance; but unless touched and handled, they cannot be cured. For my own part, I believed that, after the Carthaginians were expelled from Spain, there was not a place in the whole province where, or any persons to whom, my life was obnoxious; such was the manner in which I had conducted myself, not only towards my allies, but even towards my enemies. But lo, even in my own camp, so much was I deceived in my opinion, the report of my death was not only readily believed, but anxiously waited for. Not that I wish to implicate you all in this enormity; for, be assured, if I supposed that the whole of my army desired my death, I would here immediately expire before your eyes; nor could I take any pleasure in a life which was odious to my countrymen and my soldiers. But every multitude is in its nature like the ocean; which, though in itself incapable of motion, is excited by storms and winds. So, also, in yourselves there is calm and there are storms; but the cause and origin of your fury is entirely attributable to those who led you on; you have caught your madness by contagion. Nay, even this day you do not appear to me to be aware to what a pitch of phrensy you have proceeded; what a heinous crime you have dared to commit against myself, your country, your parents, your children; against the gods, the witnesses of your oath; against the auspices under which you serve; against the laws of war, the discipline of your ancestors, and the majesty of the highest authority. With regard to myself, I say nothing. You may have believed the report of my death rather inconsiderately than eagerly. Lastly, suppose me to be such a man that it could not at all be a matter of astonishment that my army should be weary of my command, yet what had your country deserved of you, which you betrayed by making common cause with Mandonius and Indibilis? What the Roman people, when, taking the command from the tribunes appointed by their suffrages, you conferred it on private men? When, not content even with having them for tribunes, you, a Roman army, conferred the fasces of your general upon men who never had a slave under their command? Albius and Atrius had their tents in your general's pavilion. With them the trumpet sounded, from them the word was taken, they sat upon the tribunal of Scipio, upon whom the lictor attended, for them the crowd was cleared away as they moved along, before them the fasces with the axes were carried. When showers of stones descend, lightnings are darted from the heavens, and animals give birth to monsters, you consider these things as prodigies. This is a prodigy which can be expiated by no victims, by no supplications, without the blood of those men who have dared to commit so great a crime.
28
"Now, though villany is never guided by reason, yet so far as it could exist in so nefarious a transaction, I would fain know what was your design. Formerly, a legion which was sent to garrison Rhegium, wickedly put to the sword the principal inhabitants and kept possession of that opulent city through a space of ten years; on account of which enormity the entire legion, consisting of four thousand men, were beheaded in the forum at Rome. But they, in the first place, did not put themselves under the direction of Atrius the Umbrian, scarcely superior to a scullion, whose name even was ominous, but of Decius Jubellius, a military tribune; nor did they unite themselves with Pyrrhus, or with the Samnites or Lucanians, the enemies of the Roman people. But you made common cause with Mandonius and Indibilis, and intended also to have united your arms with them. They intended to have held Rhegium as a lasting settlement, as the Campanians held Capua, which they took from its ancient Tuscan inhabitants; and as the Mamertines held Messana in Sicily, without any design of commencing without provocation a war upon the Roman people or their allies. Was it your purpose to hold Sucro as a place of abode? where, had I, your general, left you on my departure after the reduction of the province, you would have been justified in imploring the interference of gods and men, because you could not return to your wives and children. But suppose that you banished from your minds all recollection of these, as you did of your country and myself; I would wish to track the course of a wicked design, but not of one utterly insane. While I was alive, and the rest of the army safe, with which in one day I took Carthage, with which I routed, put to flight, and expelled from Spain four generals and four armies of the Carthaginians; did you, I say, who were only eight thousand men, all of course of less worth than Albius and Atrius, to whom you subjected yourselves, hope to wrest the province of Spain out of the hands of the Roman people? I lay no stress upon my own name, I put it out of the question. Let it be supposed that I have not been injured by you in any respect beyond the ready credence of my death. What! if I were dead, was the state to expire with me? was the empire of the Roman people to fall with me? Jupiter, most good and great, would not have permitted that the existence of the city, built under the auspices and sanction of the gods to last for ever, should terminate with that of this frail and perishable body. The Roman people have survived those many and distinguished generals who were all cut off in one war; Flaminius, Paulus, Gracchus, Posthumius Albinus, Marcus Marcellus, Titus Quinctius Crispinus, Cneius Fulvius, my kinsmen the Scipios; and will survive a thousand others who may perish, some by the sword, others by disease; and would the Roman state have been buried with my single corpse? You yourselves, here in Spain, when your two generals, my father and my uncle, fell, chose Septimus Marcius as your general to oppose the Carthaginians, exulting on account of their recent victory. And thus I speak, on the supposition that Spain would have been without a leader. Would Marcus Silanus, who was sent into the province with the same power and the same command as myself, would Lucius Scipio my brother, and Caius Laelius, lieutenant-generals, have been wanting to avenge the majesty of the empire? Could the armies, the generals themselves, their dignity or their cause, be compared with one another? And even had you got the better of all these, would you bear arms in conjunction with the Carthaginians against your country, against your countrymen? Would you wish that Africa should rule Italy, and Carthage the city of Rome? If so, for what offence on the part of your country?
29
"An unjust sentence of condemnation, and a miserable and undeserved banishment, formerly induced Coriolanus to go and fight against his country; he was restrained, however, by private duty from public parricide. What grief, what resentment instigated you? Was the delay of your pay for a few days, during the illness of your general, a reason of sufficient weight for you to declare war against your country? to revolt from the Roman people and join the Ilergetians? to leave no obligation, divine or human, unviolated? Without doubt, soldiers, you were mad; nor was the disease which seized my frame more violent than that with which your minds were affected. I shrink with horror from the relation of what men believed, what they hoped and wished. Let oblivion cover all these things if possible; if not, however it be, let them be covered in silence. I must confess my speech must have appeared to you severe and harsh, but how much more harsh, think you, must your actions be than my words! Do you think it reasonable that I should suffer all the acts which you have committed, and that you should not bear with patience even to hear them mentioned? But you shall not be reproached even with these things any further. I could wish that you might as easily forget them as I shall. Therefore, as far as relates to the general body of you, if you repent of the error you have committed, I shall have received sufficient and more than sufficient atonement for it. Albius the Calenian, and Atrius the Umbrian, with the rest of the principal movers of this impious mutiny, shall expiate with their blood the crime they have perpetrated. To yourselves, if you have returned to a sound state of mind, the sight of their punishment ought not only to be not unpleasant, but even gratifying; for there are no persons to whom the measures they have taken are more hostile and injurious than to you." He had scarcely finished speaking, when, according to the plan preconcerted, every object of terror was at once presented to their eyes and ears. The troops, which had formed a circle round the assembly, clashed their swords against their shields; the herald's voice was heard citing by name the persons who had been condemned in the council; the culprits were dragged naked into the midst of the assembly, and at the same time all the apparatus for punishment was brought forth. They were tied to the stake, scourged with rods, and decapitated; while those who were present were so benumbed with fear, that not only no expression of dissatisfaction at the severity of the punishment, but not even a groan was heard. They were then all dragged out, the place was cleared, and the men cited by name took the oath of allegiance to Scipio before the military tribunes, each receiving his full demand of pay as he answered to his name. Such was the termination and result which the insurrection of the soldiers, which began at Sucro, met with.
30
During the time of these transactions, Hanno, the lieutenant-general of Mago, having been sent from Gades to the river Baetis with a small body of Africans, by tempting the Spaniards with money, armed as many as four thousand men; but afterwards, being deprived of his camp by Lucius Marcius, and losing the principal part of his troops in the confusion occasioned by its capture, and some also in the flight, for the cavalry pursued them closely while they were dispersed, he made his escape with a few attendants. During these transactions on the river Baetis, Laelius in the mean time, sailing out of the straits into the ocean, came with his fleet before Carteia, a city situated on the coast of the ocean, where the sea begins to expand itself, after being confined in a narrow strait. He had entertained hopes of having Gades betrayed to him without a contest, persons having come unsolicited into the Roman camp to make promises to that effect, as has been before mentioned. The plot was discovered before it was ripe, and all having been apprehended, were placed by Mago in the hands of Adherbal the praetor, to be conveyed to Carthage. Adherbal, having put the conspirators on board a quinquereme, sent it in advance, because it sailed slower than a trireme, and followed himself at a moderate distance with eight triremes. The quinquereme was just entering the strait, when Laelius, who had himself also sailed out of the harbour of Carteia in a quinquereme, followed by seven triremes, bore down upon Adherbal and his triremes, feeling assured that the trireme, when once caught in the rapid strait, would not be able to return against the opposing current. The Carthaginian, alarmed by the suddenness of the affair, hesitated for some little time whether he should follow the trireme, or turn his prows against the enemy. This very delay put it out of his power to decline an action, for they were now within a weapon's cast, and the enemy were bearing down upon him on all sides. The current also had rendered it impossible to manage the ships. Nor was the action like a naval engagement, inasmuch as it was in no respect subject to the control of the will, nor afforded any opportunity for the exercise of skill or method. The nature of the strait and the tide, which solely and entirely governed the contest, carried the ships against those of their own and the enemy's party indiscriminately, though striving in a contrary direction; so that you might see one ship which was flying whirled back by an eddy and driven against the victors, and another which was engaged in pursuit, if it had fallen into an opposite current, turning itself away as if for flight. And when actually engaged, one ship while bearing down upon another with its beak directed against it, assuming an oblique position itself, received a stroke from the beak of the other; while another which lay with its side exposed to the enemy, receiving a sudden impulse, was turned round so as to present its prow. While the triremes were thus engaged in a doubtful and uncertain contest, in which every thing was governed by chance, the Roman quinquereme, whether being more manageable in consequence of its weight, or by means of more banks of oars making its way through the eddies, sunk two triremes, and swept off the oars from one side of another, while sailing by it with great violence. The rest too, had they come in its way, it would have disabled; but Adherbal, with his remaining four ships, sailed over into Africa.
31
Laelius returned victorious into Carteia; and hearing there what had occurred at Gades, that the plot had been discovered, the conspirators sent to Carthage, and that the hopes which had brought them there had been completely frustrated, he sent a message to Lucius Marcius, to the effect that, unless they wished to waste time uselessly in lying before Gades, they should return to the general; and Marcius consenting to the proposal, they both returned to Carthage a few days after. In consequence of their departure, Mago not only obtained a temporary relief from the dangers which beset him on all sides, both by sea and land, but also on hearing of the rebellion of the Ilergetians, conceived hopes of recovering Spain, and sent messengers to Carthage to the senate, who, at the same time that they represented to them in exaggerated terms both the intestine dissension in the Roman camp and the defection of their allies, might exhort them to send succours by which the empire of Spain, which had been handed down to them by their ancestors, might be regained. Mandonius and Indibilis, retiring within their borders, remained quiet for a little time, not knowing what course to take, till they knew what was determined upon respecting the mutiny; but not distrusting that if Scipio pardoned the error of his own countrymen, they also might obtain the same. But when the severe punishment inflicted came to be generally known, concluding that their offence also would be considered as demanding a similar expiation, they again summoned their countrymen to arms; and assembling the auxiliaries which had joined them before, they crossed over into the Sedetanian territory, where they had had a fixed camp at the beginning of the revolt, with twenty thousand foot and two thousand five hundred horse.
32
Scipio having without difficulty regained the affection of his soldiers, both by his punctuality in discharging the arrears of pay to all, as well the guilty as the innocent, and particularly by the looks and language of reconciliation towards all, before he quitted Carthage summoned an assembly; and after inveighing at large against the perfidy of the petty princes who were in rebellion, declared "that the feelings with which he set out to take revenge for their villany were widely different from those with which he lately corrected the error committed by his countrymen. That on the latter occasion, he had with groans and tears, as though he were cutting his own vitals, expiated either the imprudence or the guilt of eight thousand men with the heads of thirty; but now he was going to the destruction of the Ilergetians with joyful and animated feelings: for they were neither natives of the same soil, nor united with him by any bond of society. The only connexion which did subsist between them, that of honour and friendship, they had themselves severed by their wicked conduct." When he looked at the troops which composed his army, besides that he saw that they were all either of his own country, or allies and of the Latin confederacy; he was also strongly affected by the circumstance, that there was scarcely a soldier in it who was not brought out of Italy into that country either by his uncle, Cneius Scipio, who was the first of the Roman name who had come into that province, or by his father when consul, or by himself. That they were all accustomed to the name and auspices of the Scipios; that it was his wish to take them home to their country to receive a well-earned triumph; and that he hoped that they would support him when he put up for the consulship, as if the honour sought were to be shared in common by them all. With regard to the expedition which they were just going to undertake, that the man who considered it as a war must be forgetful of his own achievements. That, by Hercules, Mago, who had fled for safety with a few ships beyond the limits of the world into an island surrounded by the ocean, was a source of greater concern to him than the Ilergetians; for in it there was both a Carthaginian general and a Carthaginian army, whatever might be its numbers; while here were only robbers and leaders of robbers, who, though they possessed sufficient energy for ravaging the lands of their neighbours, burning their houses, and carrying off their cattle, yet would have none at all in a regular and pitched battle; and who would come to the encounter relying more on the swiftness with which they can fly than on their arms. "Accordingly," he said, "that he had thought it right to quell the Ilergetians before he quitted the province, not because he saw that any danger could arise from them, or that a war of greater importance could grow out of these proceedings; but in the first place, that a revolt of so heinous a character might not go unpunished, and in the next place, that not a single enemy might be said to be left in a province which had been subdued with such valour and success. He bid them, therefore, follow him, with the assistance of the gods, not so much to make war upon, for the contest was not with an enemy who was upon an equality with them, but to take vengeance on the basest of men."