The Ancient History of the Egyptians, Carthaginians, Assyrians Part 27

In the second place, the truth of the saying of Euripides is here seen in its full extent, "That one wise head is worth a great many hands."(681) A single man here changes the whole face of affairs. On one hand, he defeats troops which were thought invincible; on the other, he revives the courage of a city and an army, whom he had found in consternation and despair.

Such, as Polybius observes, is the use which ought to be made of the study of history. For there being two ways of acquiring improvement and instruction, first by one's own experience, and secondly by that of other men; it is much more wise and useful to improve by other men's miscarriages than by our own.

I return to Regulus, that I may here finish what relates to him; Polybius, to our great disappointment, taking no further notice of that general.(682)

(M112) After being kept some years in prison, he was sent to Rome to propose an exchange of prisoners.(683) He had been obliged to take an oath, that he would return in case he proved unsuccessful. He then acquainted the senate with the subject of his voyage; and being invited by them to give his opinion freely, he answered, that he could no longer do it as a senator, having lost both this quality, and that of a Roman citizen, from the time that he had fallen into the hands of his enemies; but he did not refuse to offer his thoughts as a private person. This was a very delicate affair. Every one was touched with the misfortunes of so great a man. "He needed only," says Cicero, "to have spoken one word, and it would have restored him to his liberty, his estate, his dignity, his wife, his children, and his country;" but that word appeared to him contrary to the honour and welfare of the state. He therefore plainly declared, that an exchange of prisoners ought not to be so much as thought of: that such an example would be of fatal consequence to the republic: that citizens who had so basely surrendered their arms to the enemy, were unworthy of the least compa.s.sion, and incapable of serving their country; that with regard to himself, as he was so far advanced in years, his death ought to be considered as nothing; whereas they had in their hands several Carthaginian generals, in the flower of their age, and capable of doing their country great services for many years. It was with difficulty that the senate complied with so generous and unexampled a counsel. The ill.u.s.trious exile therefore left Rome, in order to return to Carthage, unmoved either with the deep affliction of his friends, or the tears of his wife and children, although he knew but too well the grievous torments which were prepared for him.(684) And indeed, the moment his enemies saw him returned without having obtained the exchange of prisoners, they put him to every kind of torture their barbarous cruelty could invent. They imprisoned him for a long time in a dismal dungeon, whence (after cutting off his eye-lids) they drew him at once into the sun, when its beams darted the strongest heat. They next put him into a kind of chest stuck full of nails, whose points wounding him did not allow him a moment's ease either day or night. Lastly, after having been long tormented by being kept for ever awake in this dreadful torture, his merciless enemies nailed him to a cross, their usual punishment, and left him to expire on it. Such was the end of this great man. His enemies, by depriving him of some days, perhaps years, of life, brought eternal infamy on themselves.

The blow which the Romans had received in Africa did not discourage them.(685) They made greater preparations than before, to retrieve their loss; and put to sea, the following campaign, three hundred and sixty vessels. The Carthaginians sailed out to meet them with two hundred; but were beaten in an engagement fought on the coasts of Sicily, and a hundred and fourteen of their s.h.i.+ps were taken by the Romans. The latter sailed into Africa to take in the few soldiers who had escaped the pursuit of the enemy, after the defeat of Regulus; and had defended themselves vigorously in Clupea,(686) where they had been unsuccessfully besieged.

Here again we are astonished that the Romans, after so considerable a victory, and with so large a fleet, should sail into Africa, only to bring from thence a small garrison; whereas they might have attempted the conquest of it, since Regulus, with much fewer forces, had almost completed it.

The Romans, on their return, were overtaken by a storm, which almost destroyed their whole fleet.(687) The like misfortune befell them also the following year.(688) However, they consoled themselves for this double loss, by a victory which they gained over Asdrubal, from whom they took near a hundred and forty elephants. This news being brought to Rome, filled the whole city with joy; not only because the strength of the enemy's army was considerably diminished by the loss of their elephants, but chiefly because this victory had inspired the land forces with fresh courage; who, since the defeat of Regulus, had not dared to venture upon an engagement; so great was the terror with which those formidable animals had filled the minds of all the soldiers. It was therefore judged proper to make a greater effort than ever, in order to finish, if possible, a war which had continued fourteen years. The two consuls set sail with a fleet of two hundred s.h.i.+ps, and arriving in Sicily, formed the bold design of besieging Lilybaeum. This was the strongest town which the Carthaginians possessed, and the loss of it would be attended with that of every part of the island and open to the Romans a free pa.s.sage into Africa.

The reader will suppose, that the utmost ardour was shown, both in the a.s.sault and defence of the place.(689) Imilcon was governor there, with ten thousand regular forces, exclusive of the inhabitants; and Hannibal, the son of Hamilcar, soon brought him as many more from Carthage; he having, with the most intrepid courage, forced his way through the enemy's fleet, and arrived happily in the port.

The Romans had not lost any time. Having brought forward their engines, they beat down several towers with their battering rams; and gaining ground daily, they made such progress, as gave the besieged, who now were closely pressed, some fears. The governor saw plainly that there was no other way left to save the city, but by firing the engines of the besiegers. Having therefore prepared his forces for this enterprise, he sent them out at daybreak with torches in their hands, tow, and all kind of combustible matters; and at the same time attacked all the engines. The Romans exerted their utmost efforts to repel them, and the engagement was very b.l.o.o.d.y. Every man, a.s.sailant as well as defendant, stood to his post, and chose to die rather than quit it. At last, after a long resistance and dreadful slaughter, the besieged sounded a retreat, and left the Romans in possession of their works. This conflict being over, Hannibal embarked in the night, and concealing his departure from the enemy, sailed for Drepanum, where Adherbal commanded for the Carthaginians. Drepanum was advantageously situated; having a commodious port, and lying about a hundred and twenty furlongs from Lilybaeum; and the Carthaginians had been always very desirous of preserving it.

The Romans, animated by their late success, renewed the attack with greater vigour than ever; the besieged not daring to make a second attempt to burn their machines, so much were they disheartened by the ill success of the former. But a furious wind rising suddenly, some mercenary soldiers represented to the governor, that now was the favourable opportunity for them to fire the engines of the besiegers, especially as the wind blew full against them; and they offered themselves for the enterprise. The offer was accepted, and accordingly they were furnished with every thing necessary. In a moment the fire caught all the engines; and the Romans could not possibly extinguish it, because the flames being spread instantly every where, the wind carried the sparks and smoke full in their eyes, so that they could not see where to apply relief; whereas their enemies saw clearly where to aim their strokes, and throw their fire. This accident made the Romans lose all hopes of being ever able to carry the place by force. They therefore turned the siege into a blockade; raised a strong line of contravallation round the town; and, dispersing their army in every part of the neighbourhood, resolved to effect by time, what they found themselves absolutely unable to perform any other way.

When the transactions of the siege of Lilybaeum, and the loss of part of the forces, were known at Rome, the citizens, so far from desponding at this ill news, seemed to be fired with new vigour.(690) Every man strove to be foremost in the muster roll; so that, in a very little time, an army of ten thousand men was raised, who, crossing the strait, marched by land to join the besiegers.

(M113) At the same time, P. Claudius Pulcher, the consul, formed a design of attacking Adherbal in Drepanum.(691) He thought himself sure of surprising him, because, after the loss lately sustained by the Romans at Lilybaeum, the enemy could not imagine that they would venture out again at sea. Flushed with these hopes, he sailed out with his fleet in the night, the better to conceal his design. But he had to do with an active general, whose vigilance he could not elude, and who did not even give him time to draw up his s.h.i.+ps in line of battle, but fell vigorously upon him whilst his fleet was in disorder and confusion. The Carthaginians gained a complete victory. Of the Roman fleet, only thirty vessels got off, which being in company with the consul, fled with him, and got away in the best manner they could along the coast. All the rest, amounting to fourscore and thirteen, with the men on board them, were taken by the Carthaginians; a few soldiers excepted, who had escaped from the wreck of their vessels.

This victory displayed as much the prudence and valour of Adherbal, as it reflected shame and ignominy on the Roman consul.

Junius, his colleague, was neither more prudent nor more fortunate than himself, but lost his whole fleet by his ill conduct.(692) Endeavouring to atone for his misfortune by some considerable action, he held a secret correspondence with the inhabitants of Eryx,(693) and by that means got the city surrendered to him. On the summit of the mountain stood the temple of Venus Erycina, which was certainly the most beautiful as well as the richest of all the Sicilian temples. The city stood a little below the summit of this mountain, and the only access to it was by a road very long and very rugged. Junius posted one part of his troops upon the top, and the remainder at the foot of the mountain, imagining that he now had nothing to fear; but Hamilcar, surnamed Barca, father of the famous Hannibal, found means to get into the city, which lay between the two camps of the enemy, and there fortified himself. From this advantageous post he hara.s.sed the Romans incessantly for two years. One can scarce conceive how it was possible for the Carthaginians to defend themselves, when thus attacked from both the summit and foot of the mountain; and unable to get provisions, but from a little port, which was the only one open to them. By such enterprises as these, the abilities and prudent courage of a general, are as well, or perhaps better discovered, than by the winning of a battle.

For five years, nothing memorable was performed on either side.(694) The Romans had imagined that their land forces would alone be capable of finis.h.i.+ng the siege of Lilybaeum: but as they saw it protracted beyond their expectation, they returned to their first plan, and made extraordinary efforts to fit out a new fleet. The public treasury was at a low ebb; but this want was supplied by the zeal of individuals; so ardent was the love which the Romans bore their country. Every man, according to his circ.u.mstances, contributed to the common expense; and, upon public security, advanced money, without the least scruple, for an expedition on which the glory and safety of Rome depended. One man fitted out a s.h.i.+p at his own charge; another was equipped by the contributions of two or three; so that, in a very little time, two hundred were ready for sailing. (M114) The command was given to Lutatius the consul, who immediately put to sea.

The enemy's fleet had retired into Africa: the consul therefore easily seized upon all the advantageous posts in the neighbourhood of Lilybaeum; and foreseeing that he should soon be forced to fight, he omitted no precautions to ensure success; and employed the interval in exercising his soldiers and seamen at sea.

He was soon informed that the Carthaginian fleet drew near, under the command of Hanno, who landed in a small island called Hiera, opposite to Drepanum. His design was to reach Eryx undiscovered by the Romans, in order to supply the army there; to reinforce his troops, and take Barca on board to a.s.sist him in the expected engagement. But the consul, suspecting his intention, was beforehand with him; and having a.s.sembled all his best forces, sailed for the small island aegusa,(695) which lay near the other.

He acquainted his officers with the design he had of attacking the enemy on the morrow. Accordingly, at daybreak, he prepared to engage: unfortunately the wind was favourable for the enemy, which made him hesitate whether he should give him battle. But considering that the Carthaginian fleet, when unloaded of its provisions, would become lighter and more fit for action; and, besides, would be considerably strengthened by the forces and presence of Barca he came to a resolution at once; and, notwithstanding the foul weather, made directly to the enemy. The consul had choice forces, able seamen, and excellent s.h.i.+ps, built after the model of a galley that had been lately taken from the enemy; and which was the completest in its kind that had ever been seen. The Carthaginians, on the other hand, were dest.i.tute of all these advantages. As they had been the entire masters at sea for some years, and the Romans did not once dare to face them, they held them in the highest contempt, and looked upon themselves as invincible. On the first report of the enemy being in motion, the Carthaginians had put to sea a fleet fitted out in haste, as appeared from every circ.u.mstance of it: the soldiers and seamen being all mercenaries, newly levied, without the least experience, resolution, or zeal, since it was not for their own country they were going to fight.

This soon appeared in the engagement. They could not sustain the first attack. Fifty of their vessels were sunk, and seventy taken, with their whole crews. The rest, favoured by a wind which rose very seasonably for them, made the best of their way to the little island from whence they had sailed. There were upwards of ten thousand taken prisoners. The consul sailed immediately for Lilybaeum, and joined his forces to those of the besiegers.

When the news of this defeat arrived at Carthage, it occasioned so much the greater surprise and terror, as it was less expected. The senate, however, did not lose their courage, though they saw themselves quite unable to continue the war. As the Romans were now masters of the sea, it was not possible for the Carthaginians to send either provisions, or reinforcements, to the armies in Sicily. An express was therefore immediately despatched to Barca, the general there, empowering him to act as he should think proper. Barca, so long as he had room to entertain the least hopes, had done every thing that could be expected from the most intrepid courage and the most consummate wisdom. But having now no resource left, he sent a deputation to the consul, in order to treat about a peace. "Prudence," says Polybius, "consists in knowing how to resist and yield at a seasonable juncture." Lutatius was not insensible how tired the Romans were grown of a war, which had exhausted them both of men and money; and the dreadful consequences which had attended on Regulus's inexorable and imprudent obstinacy, were fresh in his memory. He therefore complied without difficulty, and dictated the following treaty.

THERE SHALL BE PEACE BETWEEN ROME AND CARTHAGE (IN CASE THE ROMAN PEOPLE APPROVE OF IT) ON THE FOLLOWING CONDITIONS: THE CARTHAGINIANS SHALL EVACUATE ALL SICILY; SHALL NO LONGER MAKE WAR UPON HIERO, THE SYRACUSANS, OR THEIR ALLIES: THEY SHALL RESTORE TO THE ROMANS, WITHOUT RANSOM, ALL THE PRISONERS WHICH THEY HAVE TAKEN FROM THEM; AND PAY THEM, WITHIN TWENTY YEARS, TWO THOUSAND TWO HUNDRED EUBOIC TALENTS OF SILVER.(696) It is worth the reader's remarking, by the way, the simple, exact, and clear terms in which this treaty is expressed; that, in so short a compa.s.s, adjusts the interests of two powerful republics and their allies, both by sea and land.

When these conditions were brought to Rome, the people, not approving of them, sent ten commissioners to Sicily, to terminate the affair. These made no alteration as to the substance of the treaty;(697) only shortening the time appointed for the payment, reducing it to ten years: a thousand talents were added to the sum that had been stipulated, which were to be paid immediately; and the Carthaginians were required to depart out of all the islands situated between Italy and Sicily. Sardinia was not comprehended in this treaty; but they gave it up by another treaty which was made some years afterwards.

(M115) Such was the conclusion of a war, one of the longest mentioned in history, since it continued twenty-four years without intermission. The obstinacy, in disputing for empire, was equal on either side: the same resolution, the same greatness of soul, in forming as well as in executing of projects, being conspicuous on both sides. The Carthaginians had the superiority in their acquaintance with naval affairs; in their skill in the construction of their vessels; the working of them; the experience and capacity of their pilots; the knowledge of coasts, shallows, roads, and winds; and in the inexhaustible fund of wealth, which furnished all the expenses of so long and obstinate a war. The Romans had none of these advantages; but their courage, zeal for the public good, love of their country, and a n.o.ble emulation of glory, supplied all other deficiencies.

We are astonished to see a nation, so raw and inexperienced in naval affairs, not only making head against a people who were better skilled in them, and more powerful than any that had ever been before; but even gaining several victories over them at sea. No difficulties or calamities could discourage them. They certainly would not have thought of peace, in the circ.u.mstances under which the Carthaginians demanded it. One unfortunate campaign dispirits the latter; whereas the Romans are not shaken by a succession of them.

As to soldiers, there was no comparison between those of Rome and Carthage, the former being infinitely superior in point of courage. Among the generals who commanded in this war, Hamilcar, surnamed Barca, was, doubtless, the most conspicuous for his bravery and prudence.

_The Libyan War; or against the Mercenaries._(698)-The war which the Carthaginians waged against the Romans, was succeeded immediately by another,(699) which, though of much shorter continuance, was infinitely more dangerous; as it was carried on in the very heart of the republic, and attended with such cruelty and barbarity, as is scarce to be paralleled in history; I mean the war which the Carthaginians were obliged to sustain against their mercenary troops, who had served under them in Sicily, and which is commonly called the African or Libyan war.(700) It continued only three years and a half, but was a very b.l.o.o.d.y one. The occasion of it was this:

As soon as the treaty was concluded with the Romans,(701) Hamilcar, having carried to Lilybaeum the forces which were in Eryx, resigned his commission; and left to Gisgo, governor of the place, the care of transporting these forces into Africa. Gisgo, as though he had foreseen what would happen, did not s.h.i.+p them all off at once, but in small and separate parties, in order that those who came first might be paid off, and sent home, before the arrival of the rest. This conduct evinced great forecast and wisdom, but was not seconded equally at Carthage. As the republic had been exhausted by the expense of a long war, and the payment of near one hundred and thirty thousand pounds to the Romans on signing the peace, the forces were not paid off in proportion as they arrived; but it was thought proper to wait for the rest, in the hopes of obtaining from them (when they should be all together) a remission of some part of their arrears. This was the first oversight.

Here we discover the genius of a state composed of merchants, who know the full value of money, but are little acquainted with that of the services of soldiers; who bargain for blood, as though it were an article of trade, and always go to the cheapest market. In such a republic, when an exigency is once answered, the merit of services is no longer remembered.

These soldiers, most of whom came to Carthage, having been long accustomed to a licentious life, caused great disturbances in the city; to remedy which, it was proposed to their officers, to march them all to a little neighbouring town called Sicca, and there supply them with whatever was necessary for their subsistence, till the arrival of the rest of their companions; and that then they should all be paid off, and sent home. This was a second oversight.

A third was, the refusing to let them leave their baggage, their wives, and children in Carthage, as they desired; and the forcing them to remove these to Sicca; whereas, had they staid in Carthage, they would have been in a manner so many hostages.

Being all met together at Sicca, they began (having little else to do) to compute the arrears of their pay, which they made amount to much more than was really due to them. To this computation, they added the mighty promises which had been made them, at different times, as an encouragement for them to do their duty; and pretended that these likewise ought to be brought into the account. Hanno, who was then governor of Africa, and had been sent to them from the magistrates of Carthage, proposed to them to consent to some abatement of their arrears; and to content themselves with receiving a part, in consideration of the great distress to which the commonwealth was reduced, and its present unhappy circ.u.mstances. The reader will easily guess how such a proposal was received. Complaints, murmurs, seditious and insolent clamours, were every where heard. These troops being composed of different nations, who were strangers to one another's language, were incapable of hearing reason when they once mutinied. Spaniards, Gauls, Ligurians; inhabitants of the Balearic isles; Greeks, the greatest part of them slaves or deserters, and a very great number of Africans, composed these mercenary forces. Transported with rage, they immediately break up, march towards Carthage, (being upwards of twenty thousand,) and encamp at Tunis, not far from that metropolis.

The Carthaginians discovered too late their error. There was no compliance, how grovelling soever, to which they did not stoop, to soothe these exasperated soldiers: who, on their side, practised every knavish art which could be thought of, in order to extort money from them. When one point was gained, they immediately had recourse to a new artifice, on which to ground some new demand. Was their pay settled beyond the agreement made with them, they still would be reimbursed for the losses which they pretended to have sustained, either by the death of their horses, by the excessive price which, at certain times, they had paid for bread-corn; and still insisted on the recompense which had been promised them. As nothing could be fixed, the Carthaginians, with great difficulty, prevailed on them to refer themselves to the opinion of some general who had commanded in Sicily. Accordingly they pitched upon Gisgo, who had always been very acceptable to them. This general harangued them in a mild and insinuating manner; recalled to their memories the long time they had been in the Carthaginian service; the considerable sums they had received from the republic; and granted almost all their demands.

The treaty was upon the point of being concluded, when two mutineers occasioned a tumult in every part of the camp. One of those was Spendius a Capuan, who had been a slave at Rome, and had fled to the Carthaginians.

He was tall and bold. The fear he was under, of falling into the hands of his former master, by whom he was sure to be hanged, (as was the custom,) prompted him to break off the agreement. He was seconded by one Matho,(702) who had been very active in forming the conspiracy. These two represented to the Africans, that the instant after their companions should be discharged and sent home, they, being thus left alone in their own country, would fall a sacrifice to the rage of the Carthaginians, who would take vengeance upon them for the common rebellion. This was sufficient to raise them to fury. They immediately made choice of Spendius and Matho for their chiefs. No remonstrances were heard; and whoever offered to make any, was immediately put to death. They ran to Gisgo's tent, plundered it of the money designed for the payment of the forces: dragged that general himself to prison, with all his attendants; after having treated them with the utmost indignities. All the cities of Africa, to whom they had sent deputies to exhort them to recover their liberty, came over to them, Utica and Hippacra excepted, which they therefore immediately besieged.

Carthage had never been before exposed to such imminent danger. The citizens individually drew each his subsistence from the rents or revenues of their lands, and the public expenses from the tribute paid by Africa.

But all this was stopped at once; and (a much worse circ.u.mstance) was turned against them. They found themselves dest.i.tute of arms and forces, either for sea or land; of all necessary preparations either for the sustaining of a siege, or the equipping of a fleet; and, to complete their misfortunes, without any hopes of foreign a.s.sistance, either from their friends or allies.

They might, in some sense, impute to themselves the distress to which they were reduced. During the last war, they had treated the African nations with the utmost rigour, by imposing excessive tributes on them, in the exaction of which no allowance was made for poverty and extreme misery; and governors, such as Hanno, were treated with the greater respect, the more severe they had been in levying those tributes. So that no great efforts were necessary to prevail upon the Africans to engage in this rebellion. At the very first signal that was made, it broke out, and in a moment became general. The women, who had often, with the deepest affliction, seen their husbands and fathers dragged to prison for non-payment, were more exasperated than the men; and with pleasure gave up all their ornaments towards the expenses of the war; so that the chiefs of the rebels, after paying all they had promised the soldiers, found themselves still in the midst of plenty: an instructive lesson, says Polybius, to ministers, how a people should be treated; as it teaches them to look, not only to the present occasion, but to extend their views to futurity.

The Carthaginians, notwithstanding their present distress, did not despond, but made the most extraordinary efforts. The command of the army was given to Hanno. Troops were levied by land and sea; horse as well as foot. All citizens, capable of bearing arms, were mustered; mercenaries were invited from all parts; and all the s.h.i.+ps which the republic had left were refitted.

The rebels discovered no less ardour. We related before, that they had formed the siege of the two only cities which refused to join them. Their army was now increased to seventy thousand men. After detachments had been drawn from it to carry on those sieges, they pitched their camp at Tunis; and thereby held Carthage in a kind of blockade, filling it with perpetual alarms, and frequently advancing up to its very walls by day as well as by night.

Hanno had marched to the relief of Utica, and gained a considerable advantage, which, had he made a proper use of it, might have proved decisive: but entering the city, and only diverting himself there, the mercenaries, who had retreated to a neighbouring hill covered with trees, hearing how careless the enemy were, poured down upon them; found the soldiers straggling in all parts; took and plundered the camp, and seized upon all the supplies that had been brought from Carthage for the relief of the besieged. Nor was this the only error committed by Hanno; and errors, in such critical junctures, are much the most fatal. Hamilcar, surnamed Barca, was therefore appointed to succeed him. This general answered the idea which had been entertained of him; and his first success was the obliging the rebels to raise the siege of Utica. He then marched against their army which was encamped near Carthage; defeated part of it, and seized almost all their advantageous posts. These successes revived the courage of the Carthaginians.

The arrival of a young Numidian n.o.bleman, Naravasus by name, who, out of esteem for the person and merit of Barca, joined him with two thousand Numidians, was of great service to that general. Animated by this reinforcement, he fell upon the rebels, who had cooped him up in a valley; killed ten thousand of them, and took four thousand prisoners. The young Numidian distinguished himself greatly in this battle. Barca took into his troops as many of the prisoners as were desirous of being enlisted, and gave the rest free liberty to go wherever they pleased, on condition that they should never take up arms any more against the Carthaginians; otherwise, that every man of them, if taken, should be put to death. This conduct proves the wisdom of that general. He thought this a better expedient than extreme severity. And indeed where a mult.i.tude of mutineers are concerned, the greatest part of whom have been drawn in by the persuasions of the most hotheaded, or through fear of the most furious, clemency seldom fails of being successful.

Spendius, the chief of the rebels, fearing that this affected lenity of Barca might occasion a defection among his troops, thought the only expedient left him to prevent it, would be, to strike some signal blow, which would deprive them of all hopes of being ever reconciled to the enemy. With this view, after having read to them some fict.i.tious letters, by which advice was given him, of a secret design concerted betwixt some of their comrades and Gisgo for rescuing him out of prison, where he had been so long detained; he brought them to the barbarous resolution of murdering him and all the rest of the prisoners; and any man, who durst offer any milder counsel, was immediately sacrificed to their fury.

Accordingly, this unfortunate general, and seven hundred prisoners who were confined with him, were brought out to the front of the camp, where Gisgo fell the first sacrifice, and afterwards all the rest. Their hands were cut off, their thighs broken, and their bodies, still breathing, were thrown into a hole. The Carthaginians sent a herald to demand their remains, in order to pay them the last sad office, but were refused; and the herald was further told, that whoever presumed to come upon the like errand, should meet with Gisgo's fate. And, indeed, the rebels immediately came to the unanimous resolution, of treating all such Carthaginians as should fall into their hands in the same barbarous manner; and decreed farther, that if any of their allies were taken, they should, after their hands were cut off, be sent back to Carthage. This b.l.o.o.d.y resolution was but too punctually executed.

The Carthaginians were now just beginning to breathe, as it were, and recover their spirits, when a number of unlucky accidents plunged them again into fresh dangers. A division arose among their generals; and the provisions, of which they were in extreme necessity, coming to them by sea, were all cast away in a storm. But the misfortune which they most keenly felt, was, the sudden defection of the two only cities which till then had preserved their allegiance, and in all times adhered inviolably to the commonwealth. These were Utica and Hippacra. These cities, without the least reason, or even so much as a pretence, went over at once to the rebels; and, transported with the like rage and fury, murdered the governor, with the garrison sent to their relief; and carried their inhumanity so far, as to refuse their dead bodies to the Carthaginians, who demanded them back in order for burial.

The rebels, animated by so much success, laid siege to Carthage, but were obliged immediately to raise it. They nevertheless continued the war.

Having drawn together, into one body, all their own troops and those of the allies, (making upwards of fifty thousand men in all,) they watched the motions of Hamilcar's army, but carefully kept their own on the hills; and avoided coming down into the plains, because the enemy would there have had too great an advantage over them, on account of their elephants and cavalry. Hamilcar, more skilful in the art of war than they, never exposed himself to any of their attacks; but taking advantage of their oversights, often dispossessed them of their posts, if their soldiers straggled but ever so little; and hara.s.sed them a thousand ways. Such of them as fell into his hands, were thrown to wild beasts. At last, he surprised them at a time when they least expected it, and shut them up in a post which was so situated, that it was impossible for them to get out of it. Not daring to venture a battle, and being unable to get off, they began to fortify their camp, and surrounded it with ditches and intrenchments. But an enemy among themselves, and which was much more formidable, had reduced them to the greatest extremity: this was hunger, which was so raging, that they at last ate one another; Divine Providence, says Polybius, thus revenging upon themselves the barbarous cruelty they had exercised on others. They now had no resource left; and knew but too well the punishments which would be inflicted on them, in case they should fall alive into the hands of the enemy. After such b.l.o.o.d.y scenes as had been acted by them, they did not so much as think of peace, or of coming to an accommodation. They had sent to their forces encamped at Tunis for a.s.sistance, but with no success. In the mean time the famine increased daily. They had first eaten their prisoners, then their slaves; and now their fellow-citizens only were left. Their chiefs, now no longer able to resist the complaints and cries of the mult.i.tude, who threatened to ma.s.sacre them if they did not surrender, went themselves to Hamilcar, after having obtained a safe conduct from him. The conditions of the treaty were, that the Carthaginians should select any ten of the rebels, to treat them as they should think fit, and that the rest should be dismissed with only one suit of clothes for each. When the treaty was signed, the chiefs themselves were arrested and detained by the Carthaginians, who plainly showed, on this occasion, that they did not pride themselves upon their good faith and sincerity. The rebels, hearing that their chiefs were seized, and knowing nothing of the convention, suspected that they were betrayed, and thereupon immediately took up arms.

But Hamilcar, having surrounded them, brought forward his elephants; and either trod them all under foot, or cut them to pieces, they being upwards of forty thousand.

The consequence of this victory was, the reduction of almost all the cities of Africa, which immediately returned to their allegiance.

Hamilcar, without loss of time, marched against Tunis, which, ever since the beginning of the war, had been the asylum of the rebels, and their place of arms. He invested it on one side, whilst Hannibal, who was joined in the command with him, besieged it on the other. Then advancing near the walls, and ordering crosses to be set up, he hung Spendius on one of them, and his companions who had been seized with him on the rest, where they all expired. Matho, the other chief, who commanded in the city, saw plainly by this what he himself might expect; and for that reason was much more attentive to his own defence. Perceiving that Hannibal, as being confident of success, was very negligent in all his motions, he made a sally, attacked his quarters, killed many of his men, took several prisoners, among whom was Hannibal himself, and plundered his camp. Then taking Spendius from the cross, he put Hannibal in his place, after having made him suffer inexpressible torments; and sacrificed round the body of Spendius thirty citizens of the first quality in Carthage, as so many victims of his vengeance. One would conclude, that there had been a mutual emulation betwixt the contending parties, which of them should outdo the other in acts of the most barbarous cruelty.

Barca being at that time at a distance, it was long before the news of his colleague's misfortune reached him; and besides, the road lying betwixt the two camps being impa.s.sable, it was impossible for him to advance hastily to his a.s.sistance. This disastrous accident caused a great consternation in Carthage. The reader may have observed, in the course of this war, a continual vicissitude of prosperity and adversity, of security and fear, of joy and grief; so various and inconstant were the events on either side.

In Carthage it was thought advisable to make one bold effort. Accordingly, all the youth capable of bearing arms were pressed into the service. Hanno was sent to join Hamilcar; and thirty senators were deputed to conjure those generals, in the name of the republic, to forget past quarrels, and sacrifice their resentments to their country's welfare. This was immediately complied with; they mutually embraced, and were reconciled sincerely to one another.

From this time, the Carthaginians were successful in all things; and Matho, who in every attempt after this came off with disadvantage, at last thought himself obliged to hazard a battle; and this was just what the Carthaginians wanted. The leaders on both sides animated their troops, as going to fight a battle which would for ever decide their fate. An engagement ensued. Victory was not long in suspense; for the rebels every where giving ground, the Africans were almost all slain, and the rest surrendered. Matho was taken alive and carried to Carthage. All Africa returned immediately to its allegiance, except the two perfidious cities which had lately revolted; however, they were soon forced to surrender at discretion.

And now the victorious army returned to Carthage, and was there received with shouts of joy, and the congratulations of the whole city. Matho and his soldiers, after having adorned the public triumph, were led to execution; and finished, by a painful and ignominious death, a life that had been polluted with the blackest treasons and unparalleled barbarities.

Such was the conclusion of the war against the mercenaries, after having lasted three years and four months. It furnished, says Polybius, an ever-memorable lesson to all nations, not to employ in their armies a greater number of mercenaries than citizens; nor to rely, for the defence of their state, on a body of men who are not attached to it either by interest or affection.

I have hitherto purposely deferred taking notice of such transactions in Sardinia, as pa.s.sed at the time I have been speaking of, and which were, in some measure, dependent on, and resulting from, the war waged in Africa against the mercenaries. They exhibit the same violent methods to promote rebellion; the same excesses of cruelty; as if the wind had carried the same spirit of discord and fury from Africa into Sardinia.

When the news was brought there of what Spendius and Matho were doing in Africa, the mercenaries in that island also shook off the yoke, in imitation of these incendiaries. They began by the murder of Bostar their general, and of all the Carthaginians under him. A successor was sent; but all the forces which he carried with him went over to the rebels; hung the general on a cross; and, throughout the whole island, put all the Carthaginians to the sword, after having made them suffer inexpressible torments. They then besieged all the cities one after another, and soon got possession of the whole country. But feuds arising between them and the natives, the mercenaries were driven entirely out of the island, and took refuge in Italy. Thus the Carthaginians lost Sardinia, an island of great importance to them, on account of its extent, its fertility, and the great number of its inhabitants.