CHAPTER XVII.

THE DESTRUCTION OF CARTHAGE (B.C. 149).

CARTHAGE had quickly recovered, through its flourishing trade, from the stunning blow it had received from Rome. This excited the envy, and at the same time the anxiety, of the Romans. An aged senator, named Cato, was especially urgent against the great enemies of his country, and his voice had much weight, even in that corrupt age, for he was the great advocate and example of the simple upright character and primitive virtues of the early Romans, and was always loud in his condemnation of the corruption of the age.

On one occasion he was engaged in picturing to the senate the danger with which Rome was threatened by the resuscitation of Carthage, and at the end of his speech he let fall some figs from his toga. While all were admiring the size and beauty of the fruit, Cato exclaimed: "Learn that these figs have been plucked a few days since at Carthage! So small is the interval separating us from our most deadly enemy." After that day Cato never entered the senate without concluding his speeches, on whatsoever topic they might be, with the words, “Moreover, I am of opinion that Carthage ought to be destroyed." At length he pressed on his motion that a war of extermination should be waged against the rival city. The King of Numidia, allied to the Romans, had repeatedly injured the Carthaginians and taken land from them, and on the latter complaining, they had always been referred to the Romans, who would not listen to their complaints. At length they took the matter into their own hands, without consulting the Romans, and although they were beaten the Romans declared this to be a violation of the treaty, and sent an army into Africa.

On this the Carthaginians promised complete subservience, and as a pledge of their sincerity, they sent as hostages to Rome three hundred of their most distinguished youth. The consul praised them for their ready acquiescence, but required them to give up all their arms and ammunition. The unfortunate people of Carthage acceded even to this condition; they brought to the consul 200,000 complete sets of armour, 2000 balistic machines, and a countless number of spears and arrows, and they delivered up their entire fleet, which was immediately burnt before their eyes. But now the consul called upon them to fulfil the last condition,

which was, to destroy Carthage and to settle fifteen miles from the

sea.

At this demand the deceived and disarmed people were driven to despair; they prepared themselves to defend their ancient, dearly-loved city to the last drop of their blood. All,-young and old, men and women,-laboured hard to provide new means of defence. All the temples and public buildings were converted into workshops; arms were made of gold, silver, and all kinds of metal. The women cut off their hair to weave cords for bows with it; the houses were taken to pieces to furnish wood for ships and missiles. Thus roused, the Carthaginians succeeded in beating off the attacks of the Romans for three years, and even in inflicting considerable injury upon them by land and

sea.

At length the Romans turned their eyes in the midst of their suspense and annoyance, to a young man whose name had already excited the liveliest hopes, and who had already given the most brilliant proof of his ability as a general. This was Publius Scipio Emilianus, the son of Æmilius Paulus, who had reduced Perseus to subjection, and by adoption, grandson of the conqueror of Zama, by whose name he was called, according to Roman custom. Although he had not yet reached the age required by law, the people elected him consul and sent him to Africa with considerable reinforcements.

His first care on his arrival was to restore the discipline of the army, which was shaken. Thereupon he seized the isthmus uniting Carthage to the mainland, and constructed a wall extending across the isthmus, and two ditches; thus cutting off the city from all supplies on the land side. Then he endeavoured to block up the harbour by a broad embankment. But the Carthaginians, with unexampled exertions, opened up a new issue to the sea, by cutting through the isthmus on another side, and they built at the same time sixty new vessels. With these they might have been able to fall upon the Romans through the new outlet, and to burn their whole fleet; but they wasted the favourable opportunity, and when they made their attack they were beaten back with considerable loss.

As Scipio had meanwhile reduced the other Carthaginian cities from which the capital derived its supplies, the misery and distress increased in Carthage every day. At length the Romans conquered an island lying in the middle of the harbour, and containing the magazines of the Carthaginian navy. From this point they penetrated into the city itself after a sanguinary fight, and

occupied the forum, or market-place. But even in this extremity the Carthaginians were resolved to sell their lives dearly, and fought in all the streets with the courage of despair.

From the forum three streets led to the citadel, flanked by houses six storeys high. When the Romans attacked the citadel, they received showers of stones and missiles from the roofs and windows. Accordingly the assailants stormed the houses, and passed from house to house by the roofs. In this manner a double contest was carried on, above on the roofs, and below on the pavement. In the midst of the combatants, the living and the dead were cast down from above, while a dreadful din and lamentation filled the air. At length, when the Romans had penetrated to the citadel, the streets were set on fire. The conflagration spread thence to other parts of the immense city, and a vast number of inhabitants, mostly old men, women, and children, lost their lives from the falling beams. For six days and nights the soldiers worked incessantly to clear away the rubbish, in order to open a way for the entrance of the army into the citadel. At length, on the seventh day, some Carthaginians came with olive branches down from the citadel to Scipio, who, from an eminence, had viewed and conducted the operations, without taking any rest or sleep. They promised to surrender the citadel, and begged that their lives might be spared. Scipio granted their request, but he excepted the Roman deserters; and now 50,000 men, women, and children marched out of the citadel through a narrow hole in the wall. But the nine hundred Roman deserters went with Hasdrubal, leader of the Carthaginians, his wife and his two boys, into a temple, difficult of access, and situated at the summit of the citadel, so that, though few in numbers, they could make a desperate defence there. But when exhausted by hunger and exertions, they saw their destruction before their eyes, they set fire to the temple, and burnt themselves in it.

Hasdrubal alone had descended secretly to the Romans, with an olive branch in his hand. His wife cursed him aloud, pronouncing him a traitor and coward, and threw herself with her children into the flames. When the splendid temple fell in ruins, this was the signal for the annihilation of the city. It was ignited on all sides, after its most precious things had been sent to Rome, the rest having been plundered by the soldiers.

For seventeen days Carthage burned, and after this, by command of the senate, the site of the ruined city was levelled and devoted to be an everlasting wilderness. Only a small part of

its 700,000 inhabitants were saved, the rest having perished during the siege.

When Scipio beheld, sinking in ashes, a city that had flourished three hundred years, that had rivalled the mightiest empires in power and wealth, and surpassed them all in its industry and spirit of adventure, he shed tears of sadness and fell into a deep reverie about the destiny of nations and of cities. With a far

seeing eye he uttered prophetic words bearing on the future of Rome, taken from Homer's immortal lines on the Fall of Troy : "Once will come the day when holy Ilium shall fall, Priam him-self and the people of the king, wielding the lance."

CHAPTER XVIII.

THE GRACCHI (B.C. 133—121).

WHILE the Roman state rose continually higher, by successful> wars, in splendour and power, corruption gained ground in the same proportion and to a lamentable extent. The fruits of those victories were in the hands of a few rich and distinguished citizens, who alone engrossed the greater part of the power, dignities, and offices, and at the same time occupied the greater part of the conquered lands. While the men of position were thus revelling in luxury, surrounded by countless slaves, the mass of the people lingered on in the greatest poverty. But as the poor citizens had the right to give their votes at the election of the magistrates, this destructive habit arose of their giving their votes to those who offered most to them. By this system of bribery the common people became utterly venal; no one would work, and all had no other taste but that for low pleasures, among which the chief was that of the gladiatorial shows. Of these we must now offer a brief description.

There were in Rome several long oval buildings, standing without roof and with the floor, or arena, strewed with sand, around which the spectators were seated on tiers of seats, rising in regular gradation like steps. These buildings were called. amphitheatres, and were destined for scenes of real sanguinary contests of various kinds. There were several that contained above 100,000 men, and yet they used to be filled to the very last place. Magnificent in their ruins are the great amphitheatres (Coliseum) at Rome and Verona, devoted to these barbarous and degrading spectacles.

Another favourite resort was the circus, originally and chiefly destined for chariot races, though later on Naumachiæ, or destructive sea-fights, were carried on there, when they were filled with water. The combatants, or gladiators, were supported at the cost of the state. These were slaves of great strength of body and skill in arms, who either fought with each other for life or death, or engaged with lions, tigers, panthers, and other wild beasts. Multitudes met their death in this way, and yet the people were so delighted with these frightful spectacles that, for the richer class, there was no more certain mode of winning the favour of the citizens than to give exhibitions of this kind at their own expense.

Attempts had been made at an earlier date to improve the condition of the poorer citizens, by assigning to them lands belonging to the state for a small payment (Agrarian Laws). But by degrees the people had been robbed of these lands by the more distinguished families. Hereupon a man of high spirit, courage, and excellence, Tiberius Gracchus, conceived the noble design of working with all his energy to ameliorate the wretched condition of his poorer fellow-citizens.

He was a scion of one of the noblest families, and was related to the first people. His mother, a daughter of the elder Scipio, one of the high-minded matrons of Roman history, Cornelia, had educated him with every care and affection, and awakened the noblest principles and views in his mind. After he had distinguished himself by his bravery in the army of his brother-inlaw, the younger Scipio, he was elected tribune of the people, and proceeded to demand that, in conformity with the ancient laws, no citizen should possess more than five hundred acres of state land, but that the rest should be divided among the poor citizens. The richer and more distinguished class opposed this motion in the most vehement manner.

When the voting had taken place, they tore away violently the urns in which the votes were given, and occasioned great disorders; at length, however, the motion of Gracchus was made law in the comitia, and he, as well as his brother and fatherin-law, were commissioned to carry it into effect.

About this time there died in Asia, a king Attalus of Pergamus, who had appointed the Roman people the heir of his kingdom and his treasure. Gracchus proposed that the money which this king had bequeathed should be now distributed among the poorer citizens who had to receive land, in order that they might procure agricultural implements. This irritated the