Part 31 (1/2)

I shall not undertake to describe the order of the battle, nor the valour of the forces on both sides. The reader will naturally suppose, that two such experienced generals did not forget any circ.u.mstance which could contribute to the victory. The Carthaginians, after a very obstinate fight, were obliged to fly, leaving twenty thousand men on the field of battle, and the like number of prisoners were taken by the Romans.

Hannibal escaped in the tumult, and entering Carthage, owned that he was irrecoverably overthrown, and that the citizens had no other choice left than to accept of peace on any conditions. Scipio bestowed great eulogiums on Hannibal, chiefly with regard to his ability in taking advantages, his manner of drawing up his army, and giving out his orders in the engagement; and he affirmed, that Hannibal had this day surpa.s.sed himself, although the success had not answered his valour and conduct.

With regard to himself, he well knew how to make a proper advantage of the victory, and the consternation with which he had filled the enemy. He commanded one of his lieutenants to march his land army to Carthage, whilst himself prepared to conduct the fleet thither.

He was not far from the city, when he met a vessel covered with streamers and olive-branches, bringing ten of the most considerable persons of the state, as amba.s.sadors to implore his clemency. However, he dismissed them without making any answer, and bade them come to him at Tunis, where he should halt. The deputies of Carthage, thirty in number, came to him at the place appointed, and sued for peace in the most submissive terms. He then called a council there, the majority of which were for rasing Carthage, and treating the inhabitants with the utmost severity. But the consideration of the time which must necessarily be employed before so strongly fortified a city could be taken; and Scipio's fear lest a successor might be appointed him whilst he should be employed in the siege, made him incline to clemency.

_A Peace concluded between the Carthaginians and the __ Romans. The End of the Second Punic War._(_806_)-The conditions of the peace dictated by Scipio to the Carthaginians were, ”That the Carthaginians should continue free, and preserve their laws, their territories, and the cities they possessed in Africa before the war-That they should deliver up to the Romans all deserters, slaves, and prisoners belonging to them; all their s.h.i.+ps, except ten triremes; all the elephants which they then had, and that they should not train up any more for war-That they should not make war out of Africa, nor even in that country, without first obtaining leave for that purpose from the Roman people-Should restore to Masinissa every thing of which they had dispossessed either him or his ancestors-Should furnish money and corn to the Roman auxiliaries, till their amba.s.sadors should be returned from Rome-Should pay to the Romans ten thousand Euboic talents(807) of silver in fifty annual payments; and give a hundred hostages, who should be nominated by Scipio. And in order that they might have time to send to Rome, he agreed to grant them a truce, upon condition that they should restore the s.h.i.+ps taken during the former, without which they were not to expect either a truce or peace.”

When the deputies were returned to Carthage, they laid before the senate the conditions dictated by Scipio. But they appeared so intolerable to Gisgo, that rising up, he made a speech, in order to dissuade his citizens from accepting a peace on such shameful terms. Hannibal, provoked at the calmness with which such an orator was heard, took Gis...o...b.. the arm, and dragged him from his seat. A behaviour so outrageous, and so remote from the manners of a free city like Carthage, raised an universal murmur.

Hannibal himself was vexed when he reflected on what he had done, and immediately made an apology for it. ”As I left,” says he, ”your city at nine years of age, and did not return to it till after thirty-six years'

absence, I had full leisure to learn the arts of war, and flatter myself that I have made some improvement in them. As for your laws and customs, it is no wonder I am ignorant of them, and I therefore desire you to instruct me in them.” He then expatiated on the indispensable necessity they were under of concluding a peace. He added, that they ought to thank the G.o.ds for having prompted the Romans to grant them a peace even on these conditions. He pointed out to them the great importance of their uniting in opinion; and of not giving an opportunity, by their divisions, for the people to take an affair of this nature under their cognizance.

The whole city came over to his opinion; and accordingly the peace was accepted. The senate made Scipio satisfaction with regard to the s.h.i.+ps reclaimed by him; and, after obtaining a truce for three months, they sent amba.s.sadors to Rome.

These Carthaginians, who were all venerable for their years and dignity, were admitted immediately to an audience. Asdrubal, surnamed Hdus, who was still an irreconcileable enemy to Hannibal and his faction, spoke first; and after having excused, to the best of his power, the people of Carthage, by imputing the rupture to the ambition of some particular persons, he added, that had the Carthaginians listened to his counsels and those of Hanno, they would have been able to grant the Romans the peace for which they now were obliged to sue. ”But,”(808) continued he, ”wisdom and prosperity are very rarely found together. The Romans are invincible, because they never suffer themselves to be blinded by good fortune. And it would be surprising should they act otherwise. Success dazzles those only to whom it is new and unusual; whereas the Romans are so much accustomed to conquer, that they are almost insensible to the charms of victory; and it may be said to their glory, that they have extended their empire, in some measure, more by the humanity they have shown to the conquered, than by the conquest itself.” The other amba.s.sadors spoke with a more plaintive tone of voice, and represented the calamitous state to which Carthage was going to be reduced, and the grandeur and power from which it was fallen.

The senate and people being equally inclined to peace, sent full power to Scipio to conclude it; left the conditions to that general, and permitted him to march back his army, after the treaty should be concluded.

The amba.s.sadors desired leave to enter the city, to redeem some of their prisoners, and they found about two hundred whom they desired to ransom.

But the senate sent them to Scipio, with orders that they should be restored without any pecuniary consideration, in case a peace should be concluded.

The Carthaginians, on the return of their amba.s.sadors, concluded a peace with Scipio, on the terms he himself had prescribed. They then delivered up to him more than five hundred s.h.i.+ps, all which he burnt in sight of Carthage; a lamentable spectacle to the inhabitants of that ill-fated city! He struck off the heads of the allies of the Latin name, and hanged all the Roman citizens who were surrendered up to him, as deserters.

When the time for the payment of the first tribute imposed by the treaty was expired, as the funds of the government were exhausted by this long and expensive war; the difficulty of levying so great a sum, threw the senate into deep affliction, and many could not refrain even from tears.

Hannibal on this occasion is said to have laughed; and when he was reproached by Asdrubal Hdus, for thus insulting his country in the affliction which he had brought upon it, ”Were it possible,” says Hannibal, ”for my heart to be seen, and that as clearly as my countenance; you would then find that this laughter which offends so much, flows not from an intemperate joy, but from a mind almost distracted with the public calamities. But is this laughter more unseasonable than your unbecoming tears? Then, then, ought you to have wept, when your arms were ingloriously taken from you, your s.h.i.+ps burnt, and you were forbidden to engage in any foreign wars. This was the mortal blow which laid us prostrate.-We are sensible of the public calamity, so far only as we have a personal concern in it; and the loss of our money gives us the most pungent sorrow. Hence it was, that when our city was made the spoil of the victor; when it was left disarmed and defenceless amidst so many powerful nations of Africa, who had at that time taken the field, not a groan, not a sigh was heard. But now, when you are called on to contribute individually to the tax imposed upon the state, you bewail and lament as if all were lost. Alas! I only wish that the subject of this day's grief does not soon appear to you the least of your misfortunes.”

Scipio, after all things were concluded, embarked, in order to return to Italy. He arrived at Rome, through crowds of people, whom curiosity had drawn together to behold his march. The most magnificent triumph that Rome had ever seen was decreed him, and the surname of Africa.n.u.s was bestowed upon this great man; an honour till then unknown, no person before him having a.s.sumed the name of a vanquished nation. Such was the conclusion of the second Punic war, after having lasted seventeen years.

(M133) _A short Reflection on the Government of Carthage in the time of the Second Punic War._-I shall conclude the particulars which relate to the second Punic war, with a reflection of Polybius,(809) which will show the difference between the two commonwealths of Rome and Carthage. It may be affirmed, in some measure, that at the beginning of the second Punic war, and in Hannibal's time, Carthage was in its decline. The flower of its youth, and its sprightly vigour were already diminished. It had begun to fall from its exalted pitch of power, and was inclining towards its ruin; whereas Rome was then, as it were, in its bloom and prime of life, and swiftly advancing to the conquest of the universe. The reason of the declension of the one, and the rise of the other, is deduced, by Polybius, from the different form of government established in these commonwealths, at the time we are now speaking of. At Carthage, the common people had seized upon the sovereign authority with regard to public affairs, and the advice of their ancient men or magistrates was no longer listened to; all affairs were transacted by intrigue and cabal. To take no notice of the artifices which the faction adverse to Hannibal employed, during the whole time of his command, to perplex him; the single instance of burning the Roman vessels during a truce, a perfidious action to which the common people compelled the senate to lend their name and a.s.sistance, is a proof of Polybius's a.s.sertion. On the contrary, at this very time, the Romans paid the highest regard to their senate, that is, to a body composed of the greatest sages; and their old men were listened to and revered as oracles. It is well known that the Roman people were exceedingly jealous of their authority, and especially in whatever related to the election of magistrates. A century of young men, who by lot were to give the first vote, which generally directed all the rest, had nominated two consuls.(810) On the bare remonstrance of Fabius,(811) who represented to the people, that in a tempest, like that with which Rome was then struggling, the ablest pilots ought to be chosen to steer the vessel of the state, the century returned to their suffrages, and nominated other consuls. Polybius infers, that a people, thus guided by the prudence of old men, could not fail of prevailing over a state which was governed wholly by the giddy mult.i.tude. And indeed, the Romans, under the guidance of the wise counsels of their senate, gained at last the superiority with regard to the war considered in general, though they were defeated in several particular engagements; and established their power and grandeur on the ruin of their rivals.

_The interval between the Second and Third Punic War._-This interval, though considerable enough with regard to its duration, since it took up above fifty years, is very little remarkable as to the events which relate to Carthage. They may be reduced to two heads; of which the one relates to the person of Hannibal, and the other to some particular differences between the Carthaginians and Masinissa king of the Numidians. We shall treat both separately, but at no great length.

SECT. I. CONTINUATION OF THE HISTORY OF HANNIBAL.-When the second Punic war was ended, by the treaty of peace concluded with Scipio, Hannibal, as he himself observed in the Carthaginian senate, was forty-five years of age. What we have farther to say of this great man, includes the s.p.a.ce of twenty-five years.

_Hannibal undertakes and completes the Reformation of the Courts of Justice, and the Treasury of Carthage._-After the conclusion of the peace, Hannibal, at least at first, was greatly respected at Carthage, where he filled the first employments of the state with honour and applause. He headed the Carthaginian forces in some wars against the Africans:(812) but the Romans, to whom the very name of Hannibal gave uneasiness, not being able to see him in arms without displeasure, made complaints on that account, and accordingly he was recalled to Carthage.

On his return he was appointed praetor, which seems to have been a very considerable employment, and to have conferred great authority. Carthage is therefore going to be, with regard to him, a new theatre, as it were, on which he will display virtues and qualities of a quite different nature from those we have hitherto admired in him, and which will finish the picture of this ill.u.s.trious man.

Eagerly desirous of restoring the affairs of his afflicted country to their former happy condition, he was persuaded, that the two most powerful methods to make a state flourish, were, an exact and equal distribution of justice to all its subjects in general, and a scrupulous fidelity in the management of the public finances. The former, by preserving an equality among the citizens, and making them enjoy such a delightful, undisturbed liberty under the protection of the laws, as fully secures their honour, their lives, and properties; unites the individuals of the commonwealth more closely together, and attaches them more firmly to the state, to which they owe the preservation of all that is most dear and valuable to them. The latter, by a faithful administration of the public revenues, supplies punctually the several wants and necessities of the state; keeps in reserve a never failing resource for sudden emergencies, and prevents the people from being burthened with new taxes, which are rendered necessary by extravagant profusion, and which chiefly contribute to make men harbour an aversion for the government.

Hannibal saw, with great concern, the irregularities which had crept equally into the administration of justice, and the management of the finances. Upon his being nominated praetor, as his love for regularity and order made him uneasy at every deviation from it, and prompted him to use his utmost endeavours to restore it; he had the courage to attempt the reformation of this double abuse, which drew after it a numberless mult.i.tude of others, without dreading, either the animosity of the old faction that opposed him, or the new enmity which his zeal for the republic must necessarily draw upon him.

The judges exercised the most flagrant extortion with impunity.(813) They were so many petty tyrants, who disposed, in an arbitrary manner, of the lives and fortunes of the citizens; without there being the least possibility of putting a stop to their injustice, because they held their commissions for life, and mutually supported one another. Hannibal, as praetor, summoned before his tribunal an officer belonging to the bench of judges, who openly abused his power. Livy tells us that he was a questor.

This officer, who was of the opposite faction to Hannibal, and had already a.s.sumed all the pride and haughtiness of the judges, among whom he was to be admitted at the expiration of his present office, insolently refused to obey the summons. Hannibal was not of a disposition to suffer an affront of this nature tamely. Accordingly, he caused him to be seized by a lictor, and brought him before an a.s.sembly of the people. There, not satisfied with directing his resentment against this single officer, he impeached the whole bench of judges; whose insupportable and tyrannical pride was not restrained, either by the fear of the laws, or a reverence for the magistrates. And, as Hannibal perceived that he was heard with pleasure, and that the lowest and most inconsiderable of the people discovered, on this occasion, that they were no longer able to bear the insolent pride of these judges, who seemed to have a design upon their liberties; he proposed a law, (which accordingly pa.s.sed,) by which it was enacted, that new judges should be chosen annually; with a clause, that none should continue in office beyond that term. This law, at the same time that it acquired him the friends.h.i.+p and esteem of the people, drew upon him, proportionably, the hatred of the greatest part of the grandees and n.o.bility.

He attempted another reformation, which created him new enemies, but gained him great honour.(814) The public revenues were either squandered away by the negligence of those who had the management of them, or were plundered by the chief men of the city and the magistrates; so that, money being wanting to pay the annual tribute due to the Romans, the Carthaginians were going to levy it upon the people in general. Hannibal, entering into a large detail of the public revenues, ordered an exact estimate of them to be laid before him; inquired in what manner they had been applied; the employments and ordinary expenses of the state; and having discovered, by this inquiry, that the public funds had been in a great measure embezzled by the fraud of the officers who had the management of them, he declared and promised, in a full a.s.sembly of the people, that, without laying any new taxes upon private men, the republic should hereafter be enabled to pay the tribute to the Romans; and he was as good as his word. The farmers of the revenues, whose plunder and rapine he had publicly detected, having accustomed themselves. .h.i.therto to fatten upon the spoils of their country, exclaimed(815) vehemently against these regulations, as if their own property had been forced out of their hands, and not the sums they had plundered from the public.

_The Retreat and Death of Hannibal._(_816_)-This double reformation of abuses raised great clamours against Hannibal. His enemies were writing incessantly to the chief men, or their friends, at Rome, to inform them, that he was carrying on a secret intelligence with Antiochus king of Syria; that he frequently received couriers from him; and that this prince had privately despatched agents to Hannibal, to concert with him the measures for carrying on the war he was meditating: that as some animals are so extremely fierce, that it is impossible ever to tame them; in like manner this man was of so turbulent and implacable a spirit, that he could not brook ease, and therefore would, sooner or later, break out again.

These informations were listened to at Rome; and as the transactions of the preceding war had been begun and carried on almost solely by Hannibal, they appeared more probable. However, Scipio strongly opposed the violent measures which the senate were going to take on their receiving this intelligence, by representing it as derogatory to the dignity of the Roman people, to countenance the hatred and accusations of Hannibal's enemies; to support, with their authority, their unjust pa.s.sions; and obstinately to persecute him even in the very heart of his country; as though the Romans had not humbled him sufficiently, in driving him out of the field, and forcing him to lay down his arms.