The History of Rome; Books Nine to Twenty Six - Titus Livius
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41. In Spain, in the beginning of spring, Publius Scipio, having
launched his ships, and summoned the auxiliary troops of his allies to
Tarraco by an edict, ordered his fleet and transports to proceed
thence to the mouth of the Iberus. He also ordered his legions to quit
their winter quarters, and meet at the same place; and then set out
from Tarraco, with five thousand of the allies, to join the army. On
his arrival at the camp he considered it right to harangue his
soldiers, particularly the old ones who had survived such dreadful
disasters; and therefore, calling an assembly, he thus addressed them:
"Never was there a new commander before myself who could, with justice
and good reason, give thanks to his soldiers before he had availed
himself of their services. Fortune laid me under obligations to you
before I set eyes on my province or your camp; first, on account of
the respect you have shown to my father and uncle, both in their
lifetime and since their death; and secondly, because by your valour
you have recovered and preserved entire, for the Roman people, and me
their successor, the possession of the province which had been lost in
consequence of so dreadful a calamity. But since, now, by the favour
of the gods, our purpose and endeavour is not that we may remain in
Spain ourselves, but that the Carthaginians may not; and not to stand
on the bank of the Iberus, and hinder the enemy from crossing that
river, but cross it first ourselves, and carry the war to the other
side, I fear lest to some among you the enterprise should appear too
important and daring, considering your late misfortunes, which are
fresh in your recollection, and my years. There is no person from
whose mind the memory of the defeats sustained in Spain could be
obliterated with more difficulty than from mine; inasmuch as there my
father and uncle were both slain within the space of thirty days, so
that one death after another was accumulated on my family. But as the
orphanhood and desolation of my own family depresses my mind, so both
the good fortune and valour of our nation forbid me to despair of the
safety of the state. It has happened to us by a kind of fatality, that
in all important wars we have been victorious, after having been
defeated. I pass over those wars of ancient date with Porsena, the
Gauls, and Samnites. I will begin with the Punic wars. How many
fleets, generals, and armies were lost in the former war? Why should I
mention what has occurred in this present war? I have either been
myself present at all the defeats sustained, or have felt more than
any other those from which I was absent. What else are the Trebia, the
Trasimenus, and Cannae, but monuments of Roman armies and consuls
slain? Add to these the defection of Italy, of the greater part of
Sicily and Sardinia, and the last terror and panic, the Carthaginian
camp pitched between the Anio and the walls of Rome, and the
victorious Hannibal seen almost in our gates. Amid this general ruin,
the courage of the Roman people alone stood unabated and unshaken.
When every thing lay prostrate on the ground, it was this that raised
and supported the state. You, first of all, my soldiers, under the
conduct and auspices of my father, opposed Hasdrubal on his way to the
Alps and Italy, after the defeat of Cannae, who, had he formed a
junction with his brother, the Roman name would now have been extinct.
These successes formed a counterpoise to those defeats. Now, by the
favour of the gods, every thing in Italy and Sicily is going on
prosperously and successfully, every day affording matter of fresh
joy, and presenting things in a better light. In Sicily, Syracuse and
Agrigentum have been captured, the enemy entirely expelled the island,
and the province placed again under the dominion of the Romans. In
Italy, Arpi has been recovered and Capua taken. Hannibal has been
driven into the remotest corner of Bruttium, having fled thither all
the way from Rome, in the utmost confusion; and now he asks the gods
no greater boon than that he might be allowed to retire in safety, and
quit the territory of his enemy. What then, my soldiers, could be more
preposterous than that you, who here supported the tottering fortune
of the Roman people, together with my parents, (for they may be
equally associated in the honour of that epithet,) when calamities
crowded one upon another in quick succession, and even the gods
themselves, in a manner, took part with Hannibal, should now sink in
spirits when every thing is going on happily and prosperously? Even
with regard to the events which have recently occurred, I could wish
that they had passed with as little grief to me as to you. At the
present time the immortal gods who preside over the destinies of the
Roman empire, who inspired all the centuries to order the command to
be given to me, those same gods, I say, by auguries and auspices, and
even by nightly visions, portend entire success and joy. My own mind
also, which has hitherto been to me the truest prophet, presages that
Spain will be ours; that the whole Carthaginian name will in a short
time be banished from this land, and will fill both sea and land with
ignominious flight. What my mind presages spontaneously, is also
supported by sound reasoning. Their allies, annoyed by them, are by
ambassadors imploring our protection; their three generals, having
differed so far as almost to have abandoned each other, have divided
their army into three parts, which they have drawn off into regions as
remote as possible from each other. The same fortune now threatens
them which lately afflicted us; for they are both deserted by their
allies, as formerly we were by the Celtiberians, and they have divided
their forces, which occasioned the ruin of my father and uncle.
Neither will their intestine differences allow them to unite, nor will
they be able to cope with us singly. Only do you, my soldiers, favour
the name of the Scipios, favour the offspring of your generals, a
scion springing up from the trunks which have been cut down. Come
then, veterans, lead your new commander and your new army across the
Iberus, lead us across into a country which you have often traversed,
with many a deed of valour. I will soon bring it to pass that, as you
now trace in me a likeness to my father and uncle in my features,
countenance, and figure, I will so restore a copy of their genius,
honour, and courage, to you, that every man of you shall say that his
commander, Scipio, has either returned to life, or has been born
again."
42. Having animated his troops with this harangue, and leaving Marcus
Silanus with three thousand infantry and three hundred horse, for the
protection of that district, he crossed the Iberus with all the rest
of his troops, consisting of twenty-five thousand infantry and two
thousand five hundred horse. Though certain persons there endeavoured
to persuade him that, as the Carthaginian armies had retired from each
other into three such distant quarters, he should attack the nearest
of them; yet concluding that if he did so there was danger lest he
should cause them to concentrate all their forces, and he alone should
not be a match for so many, he determined for the present to make an
attack upon New Carthage, a city not only possessing great wealth of
its own, but also full of every kind of military store belonging to
the enemy; there were their arms, their money, and the hostages from
every part of Spain. It was, besides, conveniently situated, not only
for a passage into Africa, but also near a port sufficiently capacious
for a fleet of any magnitude, and, for aught I know, the only one on
the coast of Spain which is washed by our sea. No one but Caius
Laelius knew whither he was going. He was sent round with the fleet,
and ordered so to regulate the sailing of his ships, that the army
might come in view and the fleet enter the harbour at the same time.
Both the fleet and army arrived at the same time at New Carthage, on
the seventh day after leaving the Iberus. The camp was pitched over
against that part of the city which looks to the north. A rampart was
thrown up as a defence on the rear of it, for the front was secured by
the nature of the ground. Now the situation of New Carthage is as
follows: at about the middle of the coast of Spain is a bay facing for
the most part the south-west, about two thousand five hundred paces in
depth, and a little more in breadth. In the mouth of this bay is a
small island forming a barrier towards the sea, and protecting the
harbour from every wind except the south-west. From the bottom of the
bay there runs out a peninsula, which forms the eminence on which the
city is built; which is washed in the east and south by the sea, and
on the west is enclosed by a lake which extends a little way also
towards the north, of variable depth according as the sea overflows or
ebbs. An isthmus of about two hundred paces broad connects the city
with the continent, on which, though it would have been a work of so
little labour, the Roman general did not raise a rampart; whether his
object was to make a display of his confidence to the enemy from
motives of pride, or that he might have free regress when frequently
advancing to the walls of the city.
43. Having completed the other requisite works, he drew up his ships
in the harbour, that he might exhibit to the enemy the appearance of a
blockade by sea also; he then went round the fleet, and having warned
the commanders of the ships to be particularly careful in keeping the
night-watches, because an enemy, when besieged, usually tried every
effort and in every quarter at first, he returned into his camp; and
in order to explain to his soldiers the reason why he had adopted the
plan of commencing the war with the siege of a city, in preference to
any other, and also by exhortations to inspire them with hopes of
making themselves masters of it, he summoned them to an assembly, and
thus addressed them: "Soldiers, if any one among you suppose that you
have been brought here to attack a single city, that man takes a more
exact account of your present labour than of its profitable result
from it. For you will in truth attack the walls of a single city, but
in that single city you will have made yourselves masters of all
Spain. Here are the hostages of all her most distinguished kings and
states; and as soon as you shall have gained possession of these, they
will immediately deliver into your hands every thing which is now
subject to the Carthaginians. Here is the whole of the enemy's
treasure, without which they cannot carry on the war, as they are
keeping mercenary troops, and which will be most serviceable to us in
conciliating the affections of the barbarians. Here are their engines,
their arms, their tackle, and every requisite in war; which will at
once supply you, and leave the enemy destitute. Besides, we shall gain
possession of a city, not only of the greatest beauty and wealth, but
also most convenient as having an excellent harbour, by means of which
we may be supplied with every requisite for carrying on the war both
by sea and land. Great as are the advantages we shall thus gain, we
shall deprive our enemies of much greater. This is their citadel,
their granary, their treasury, their magazine, their receptacle for
every thing. Hence there is a direct passage into Africa; this is the
only station for a fleet between the Pyrenees and Gades; this gives to
Africa the command of all Spain. But as I perceive you are arrayed and
marshalled, let us pass on to the assault of New Carthage, with our
whole strength, and with undaunted courage." Upon this, they all with,
one accord cried out that it should be done; and he led them to
Carthage, and ordered that the assault should be made both by sea and
land.
44. On the other side, Mago, the Carthaginian general, perceiving that
a siege was being prepared for both by sea and land, himself also
disposed his forces thus: he placed two thousand of the townsmen to
oppose the enemy, on the side facing the Roman camp; he occupied the
citadel with five hundred soldiers, and stationed five hundred on a
rising ground, facing the east; the rest of his troops he ordered,
intent on every thing that occurred, to hasten with assistance
wherever the shout, or any sudden emergency, might call them. Then,
throwing open the gate, he sent out those he had drawn up in the
street leading to the camp of the enemy. The Romans, according to the
direction of their general, retired a little, in order that they might
be nearer to the reserved troops which were to be sent to their
assistance during the engagement. At first they stood with pretty
equal force, but afterwards the reserved troops, sent from time to
time from the camp, not only obliged the enemy to turn their backs,
but followed them up so close when flying in disorder, that had not a
retreat been sounded, they seemed as though they would have rushed
into the city together with the fugitives. The consternation in the
field was not greater than in every part of the city; many of the
outposts were abandoned in panic and flight; and the walls were
deserted, as they leaped down each in the part nearest him. Scipio,
who had gone out to an eminence called Mercury's hill, perceiving that
the walls were abandoned by their defenders in many parts, ordered all
his men to be called out of his camp and advance to take the city, and
orders them to bring the scaling-ladders. The general himself, covered
by the shields of three stout young men, (for now an immense number of
missiles of every description were let fly from the walls,) came up to
the city, cheered them on, and gave the requisite orders; and, what
was of the utmost importance in exciting the courage of his men, he
appeared among them a witness and spectator of the valour or cowardice
of each. Accordingly, they rushed forward, amidst wounds and weapons;
nor could the walls, or the armed troops which stood upon them, repel
them from eagerly mounting them. At the same time an attack was
commenced by the fleet upon that part of the city which was washed by
the sea. But here the alarm occasioned was greater than the force
which could be employed; for while they were bringing the boats to
shore, and hastily landing the ladders and the men, each man pressing
forward to gain the land the shortest way, they hindered one another
by their very haste and eagerness.
45. In the mean time, the Carthaginians had now filled the walls again
with armed men, who were supplied with a great quantity of missiles
from the immense stores which they had laid up. But neither men nor
missiles, nor any thing else, so effectually defended them as the
walls themselves, for very few of the ladders were equal to the height
of them, and all those which were longer than the rest were
proportionably weaker. Accordingly, those who were highest being
unable to mount from them, and being followed, nevertheless, by
others, they broke from the mere weight upon them. Some, though the
ladders stood, a dizziness having come over their eyes in consequence
of the height, fell to the ground. And as men and ladders were every
where tumbling down, while the boldness and alacrity of the enemy were
increased by the mere success, the signal for retreat was sounded,
which afforded hopes to the besieged, not only of present rest after
such a laborious contest, but also for the future, as it appeared
their city could not be taken by scalade and siege. To raise works
they considered would be attended with difficulty, and would give time
to their generals to bring them assistance. Scarcely had the first
tumult subsided, when Scipio ordered other fresh and unfatigued troops
to take the ladders from those who were tired and wounded and assault
the city with increased vigour. Having received intelligence that the
tide was ebbing, and having before been informed by some fishermen of
Tarraco who used to pass through the lake, sometimes in light boats,
and, when these ran aground, by wading, that it afforded an easy
passage to the wall for footmen, he led some armed men thither in
person. It was about mid-day, and besides that the water was being
drawn off naturally, in consequence of the tide receding, a brisk
north wind rising impelled the water in the lake, which was already in
motion, in the same direction as the tide, and rendered it so shallow,
that in some parts the water reached only to the navel, while in
others it scarcely rose above the knees. Scipio, referring this
discovery, which he had made by his own diligence and penetration, to
the gods and to miracle, which had turned the course of the sea,
withdrawn it from the lake, and opened ways never before trodden by
human feet to afford a passage to the Romans, ordered them to follow
Neptune as their guide, and passing through the middle of the lake,
make good their way to the walls.
46. Those who renewed the assault by land experienced great
difficulty; for they were baffled not only by the height of the walls,
but also because they exposed the Romans, as they approached them, to
the missiles of the enemy from different quarters, so that their sides
were endangered more than the fronts of their bodies. But in the other
quarter five hundred passed without difficulty through the lake, and
then mounted the wall, for neither was it defended by any
fortifications, because there they thought the city was sufficiently
protected by the nature of the place and the lake, nor were there any
outposts or guards stationed there, because all were engaged in
bringing succour to that quarter in which the danger appeared. Having
entered the city without opposition, they proceeded direct, with all
possible speed, to that gate near which the contest was concentrated;
and so intently occupied with this were not only the minds, but the
eyes and ears of all, both of those who were engaged in fighting, and
of those who were looking on and encouraging the combatants, that no
one perceived that the city had been captured in their rear till the
weapons fell upon their backs, and they had an enemy on both sides of
them. Then, the defenders having been thrown into confusion through
fear, both the walls were captured, and the gate began to be broken
open both from within and from without; and presently, the doors
having been broken to pieces by blows, in order that the way might not
be obstructed, the troops rushed in. A great number had also got over
the walls, but these employed themselves in putting the townsmen to
the sword; those which entered by the gate, forming a regular body,
with officers and in ranks, advanced through the midst of the city
into the forum. Scipio then perceiving that the enemy fled in two
different directions, some to the eminence which lay eastward, which
was occupied by a garrison of five hundred men, others to the citadel,
into which Mago himself also had fled for refuge, together with almost
all the troops which had been driven from the walls, sent part of his
forces to storm the hill, and part he led in person against the
citadel. Not only was the hill captured at the first assault, but Mago
also, after making an effort to defend it, when he saw every place
filled with the enemy, and that there was no hope, surrendered himself
and the citadel, with the garrison. Until the citadel was surrendered,
the massacre was continued in every quarter throughout the city; nor
did they spare any one they met who had arrived at puberty: but after
that, on a signal given, a stop was put to the carnage, and the
victors turned their attention to the plunder, of which there was an
immense quantity of every description.
47. Of males of free condition, as many as ten thousand were captured.
Of these he allowed to depart such as were citizens of New Carthage;
and restored to them their city, and all their property which the war
had left them. The artisans amounted to two thousand, whom he assigned
to the Roman people as their property; holding out to them a hope of
speedy emancipation, provided they should address themselves
strenuously to the service of the war. Of the rest of the mass of
inhabitants, the young men and able-bodied slaves he assigned for the
service of the fleet, to fill up the numbers of the rowers. He had
also augmented his fleet with five ships which he had captured.
Besides this multitude, there remained the Spanish hostages, to whom
as much attention was paid as if they had been children of allies. An
immense quantity of military stores was also taken; one hundred and
twenty catapultae of the larger size, two hundred and eighty-one of
the smaller; twenty-three ballistae of the larger size, fifty-two of
the smaller; an immense number of scorpions of the larger and smaller
size, and also of arms and missile weapons; and seventy-four military
standards. Of gold and silver, an immense quantity was brought to the
general; there were two hundred and seventy-six golden bowls, almost
all of them weighing a pound; of silver, wrought and coined, eighteen
thousand three hundred pounds' weight; and of silver vessels an
immense number. All these were weighed and reckoned to the quaestor,
Caius Flaminius. There were twenty thousand pecks of wheat, and two
hundred and seventy of barley. One hundred and thirteen ships of
burden were boarded and captured in the harbour, some of them with
their cargoes, consisting of corn and arms, besides brass, iron,
sails, spartum, and other naval materials, of use in equipping a
fleet; so that amid such large military stores which were captured,
Carthage itself was of the least consideration.
48. Having ordered Caius Laelius with the marines to guard the city,
Scipio led back his legions to the camp the same day in person; and as
his soldiers were tired, as they had in one day gone through every
kind of military labour; for they had engaged the enemy in the field,
and had undergone very great fatigue and danger in taking the city;
and after they had taken it had fought, and that on disadvantageous
ground, with those who had fled to the citadel, he ordered them to
attend to themselves. The next day, having assembled the land and
naval forces, he, in the first place, ascribed praise and thanks to
the immortal gods, who had not only in one day made him master of the
wealthiest city in Spain, but had previously collected in it the
riches of almost all Africa and Spain; so that while his enemy had
nothing left, he and his army had a superabundance of every thing. He
then commended in the highest terms the valour of his soldiers,
because that neither the sally of the enemy, nor the height of the
walls, nor the unexplored fords of the lake, nor the fort standing
upon a high hill, nor the citadel, though most strongly fortified, had
deterred them from surmounting and breaking through every thing.
Therefore, though all credit was due to them all, he said that the man
who first mounted the wall ought to be distinguished above the rest,
by being honoured with a mural crown; and he desired that he who
thought himself worthy of that reward would claim it. Two persons laid
claim to it, Quintus Trebellius, a centurion of the fourth legion, and
Sextus Digitius, a marine. Nor did these contest so fiercely as each
excited the zeal of his own body of men. Caius Laelius, admiral of the
fleet, patronized the marines, and Marcus Sempronius Tuditanus, the
legionary troops. As this contest began almost to assume the character
of a mutiny, Scipio having notified that he should appoint three
delegates, who, after making themselves acquainted with the case, and
examining the witnesses, might decide which had been the first to
scale the wall and enter the town, added Publius Cornelius Caudinus, a
middle party, to Laelius and Sempronius, the advocates of the two
parties, and ordered these three delegates to sit and determine the
cause. But as the contest was now carried on with increased warmth,
because those high characters, who had acted more as moderators of the
zeal of both than as advocates of any particular party, were
withdrawn, Caius Laelius, leaving the council, went up to the tribunal
of Scipio and informed him, "that the contest was proceeding without
bounds or moderation, and that they had almost come to blows. But
still, though no violence should take place, that the proceedings
formed a most hateful precedent, for that the honours due to valour
were being sought by fraud and perjury. That on one side stood the
legionary troops, on the other the marines, ready to swear by all the
gods what they wished, rather than what they knew, to be true, and to
involve in the guilt of perjury not only themselves and their own
persons, but the military standards, the eagles, and their solemn oath
of allegiance. That he laid these matters before him, in accordance
with the opinion of Publius Cornelius and Marcus Sempronius." Scipio,
after highly praising Laelius, summoned an assembly, and then
declared, "that he had ascertained satisfactorily that Quintus
Trebellius and Sextus Digitius had mounted the wall at the same time,
and that he presented them both with mural crowns in consideration of
their valour." He then gave presents to the rest, according to the
merit and valour of each. Above all he honoured Caius Laelius, the
admiral of the fleet, by the placing him upon an equality with
himself, and bestowing upon him every kind of commendation, and also
by presenting him with a golden crown and thirty oxen.