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.
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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.
49
He then ordered the Spanish hostages to be summoned. What the number of these was I feel reluctant to state, because in some authors I find that it was about three hundred, in others seven hundred and twenty-five. There is the same difference between authors with regard to the other particulars. One writes that the Punic garrison consisted of ten thousand, another of seven, a third of not more than two thousand. In some you may find that ten thousand persons were captured, in others above twenty-five thousand. I should have stated the number of scorpions captured, both of the greater and smaller size, at sixty, if I had followed the Greek author, Silenus, if Valerius Antius, of the larger at six thousand, of the smaller at thirteen, so great is the extent of falsehood. Nor are they agreed even respecting the commanders, most say that Laelius commanded the fleet, but some say Marcus Junius Silanus. Valerius Antius says, that Arines commanded the Punic garrison, and was given up to the Romans; other writers say it was Mago. They are not agreed respecting the number of the ships taken, respecting the weight of gold and silver, and of the money brought into the public treasury. If we must assent to some of their statements, the medium is nearest to the truth. However, Scipio having summoned the hostages, first bid them all keep up their spirits observing, "that they had fallen into the hands of the Roman people, who chose to bind men to them by benefits rather than by fear, and keep foreign nations attached to them by honour and friendship, rather than subject them to a gloomy servitude." Then receiving the names of the states to which they belonged, he took an account of the captives, distinguishing the number belonging to each people, and sent messengers to their homes, to desire that they would come and take back their respective friends. If ambassadors from any of the states happened to be present, he delivered their countrymen to them in person, and assigned to them the quaestor, Caius Flaminius, the charge of kindly taking care of the rest. Meanwhile, there advanced from the midst of the crowd of hostages a woman in years, the wife of Mandonius, who was the brother of Indibilis, the chieftain of the Illergetians; she threw herself weeping at the general's feet, and began to implore him to give particularly strict injunctions to their guardians with respect to the care and treatment of females. Scipio replied, that nothing certainly should be wanting; when the woman rejoined: "We do not much value such things, for what is not good enough for such a condition? A care of a different kind disquiets me, when beholding the age of these females; for I am myself no longer exposed to the danger peculiar to females." Around her stood the daughters of Indibilis, in the bloom of youth and beauty, with others of equal rank, all of whom looked up to her as a parent. Scipio then said: "Out of regard for that discipline which I myself and the Roman nation maintain, I should take care that nothing, which is any where held sacred, should be violated among us. In the present case, your virtue and your rank cause me to observe it more strictly; for not even in the midst of misfortunes have you forgotten the delicacy becoming matrons." He then delivered them over to a man of tried virtue, ordering him to treat them with no less respect and modesty than the wives and mothers of guests.