extent of its dominions both by sea and land; its mighty armies; its fleets, elephants, and riches; while the Carthaginians were even superior to other nations, by their courage and greatness of soul; as notwithstanding their being deprived of arms and ships, they had sustained, for three whole years, all the hardships and calamities of a long siege; seeing, I say, this city entirely ruined, historians relate, that he could not refuse his tears to the unhappy fate of Carthage. He reflected, that cities, nations, and empires, are liable to revolutions no less than private men; that the like sad fate had befallen Troy, anciently so powerful; and, in later times, the Assyrians, Medes, and Persians, whose dominions were once of so great an extent; and lastly, the Macedonians, whose empire had been so glorious throughout the world. Full of these mournful ideas, he repeated the following verses of Homer: Ἔσσεται ἦμαρ, ὅταν ποτ' ὀλώλη Ιλιο ἱρὴ, Il. . 164, 165. "The day shall come, that great avenging day. POPE. thereby denouncing the future destiny of Rome, as he himself confessed to Polybius, who desired Scipio to explain himself on that occasion. 66 Had the truth enlightened his soul, he would have discovered what we are taught in the Scriptures, that a "because "of unrighteous dealings, injuries, and riches got by deceit, a kingdom is translated from one people to another." Carthage is destroyed, because its avarice, perfidiousness, and cruelty have attained their utmost height. The like fate will attend Rome, when its luxury, ambition, pride, and unjust usurpations, concealed beneath a specious and delusive show of justice and virtue, shall have compelled the sovereign Lord, the disposer of empires, to give the universe an important lesson in its fall. Carthage being taken in this manner, Scipio gave the plunder of it, (the gold, silver statues, and other offerings which should be found in the temples excepted) to his soldiers for some days. He afterwards bestowed several military rewards on them, as well as on the officers, two of whom had particularly distinguished themselves, viz. Tib. Gracchus, and Caius Fannius, who first scaled the walls. a Ecclus. x 8. A M. 3859. A. Carth. 701. A, Rom. 603. Ant. J. C, 145. Appian. p. 83. After this, adorning a small ship (an excellent sailer) with the enemy's spoils, he sent it to Rome with the news of the victory. At the same time he invited the inhabitants of Sicily to come and take possession of the pictures and statues which the Carthaginians had plundered them of in the former wars. When he restored to the citizens of Agrigentum, Phalaris's famous bull, he told them that this bull, which was, at one and the same time, a monument of the cruelty of their ancient kings, and of the lenity of their present sovereigns, ought to make them sensible, which would be most advantageous for them, to live under the yoke of Sicilians, or the government of the Romans. Having exposed to sale part of the spoils of Carthage, he commanded, on the most severe penalties, his family not to take or even buy any of them; so careful was he to remove from himself, and all belonging to him, the least suspicion of avarice. When the news of the taking of Carthage was brought to Rome, the people abandoned themselves to the most immoderate transports of joy, as if the public tranquillity had not been secured till that instant. They revolved in their minds, all the calamities which the Carthaginians had brought upon them, in Sicily, in Spain, and even in Italy, for sixteen years together; during which, Hannibal had plundered 400 towns, destroyed in different engagements 300,000 men, and reduced Rome itself to the utmost extremity. Amidst the remembrance of these past evils, the people in Rome would ask one another, whether it were really true that Carthage was in ashes. All ranks and degrees of men emulously strove who should show the greatest gratitude towards the gods; and the citizens were for many days, employed wholly in solemn sacrifices, in public prayers, games, and spectacles. d After these religious duties were ended, the senate sent ten commissioners into Africa, to regulate, in conjunction with Scipio, the fate and condition of that country, in times to come. Their first care was, to demolish whatever was still remaining of Carthage. Rome, though mistress of al a Ibid. Quem taurum Scipio cum redderet Agrigentinis, dixisse dicitur, æquum esse illos cogitare utrum esset Siculis utilius, suisne servire, an populo R obtemperare, cum idem monumentum et domestice crudelitatis, et nostræ mansuetu dinis haberent. Cicer. Ver. vi. n. 73. c Appian. p 83. d Appian. p. 84. e We may guess at the dimensions of this famous city, by what Florus says, viz. that it was seventeen days on fire, before it could be all consumed. Quan ta urbs deleta sit, ut de cæteris taceam, vel ignium mora probari potest: Quippe per continuos decem et septem dies vix potuit incendium extingui. Lib. ii. c. 15. f Neque se Roma, jam terrarum orbe superato, securam speravit fore. si nomen usquam maneret Carthaginis. Adeo odium certaminibus ortum, ultra metum durat, et ne in victis quidem deponitur, neque ante invisum esse desinit, quam esse desiit Yel, Patera. 1. i. c. 12. most the whole world, could not believe herself safe as long as even the name of Carthage was in being. So true it is, that an inveterate hatred, fomented by long and bloody wars, lasts even beyond the time when all cause of fear is removed; and does not cease, till the object that occasions it is no more. Orders were given, in the name of the Romans, that it should never be inhabited again; and dreadful imprecations were denounced against those, who, contrary to this prohibition, should attempt to rebuild any parts of it, especially those called Byrsa and Megara. In the meantime, every one who desired it, was admitted to see Carthage: Scipio being well pleased, to have people view the sad ruins of a city which had dared to contend with Rome for empire. The commissioners decreed further, that those cities, which, during this war, had joined with the enemy, should all be rased, and their territories be given to the Roman allies; they particularly made a grant to the citizens of Utica, of the whole country lying between Carthage and Hippo. All the rest they made tributary, and reduced it into a Roman province, whither a prætor was sent annually. All matters being thus settled, Scipio returned to Rome, where he made his entry in triumph. So magnificent a one had never been seen before; the whole exhibiting nothing but statues, rare, invaluable pictures, and other curiosities, which the Carthaginians had, for many years, been collecting in other countries; not to mention the money carried into the public treasury, which amounted to immense sums. Notwithstanding the great precautions which were taken, to hinder Carthage from being ever rebuilt, in less than thirty years after, and even in Scipio's lifetime, one of the Gracchi, to ingratiate himself with the people, undertook to found it anew, and conducted thither a colony consisting of six thousand citizens for that purpose. The senate, hearing that the workmen had been terrified by many unlucky omens, at the time they were tracing the limits, and laying the foundations of the new city, would have suspended the attempt; but the tribune, not being over scrupulous in religious matters, carried on the work, notwithstanding all these bad presages, and finished it in a few days. This was the first Roman colony that ever was sent out of Italy. It is probable, that only a kind of huts were built there, since we are told, that when Marius retired hither, in his flight to Africa, he lived in a mean and poor condition amid a Ut ipse locus eorum, qui cum hac urbe de imperio certarunt, vestigia calamitatis ostenderet. Cic Agrar. ii. n. 50. 6 App. 81. c Id p. 85. Plut. in vit. Gracch. p. 839. Marium cursum in Africam direxit, inopemque vitam in tugurio ruinarum Carthaginensium toleravit: cum Marius aspiciens Carthaginem, illa intuens Marium alter, alteri possent esse solatio. Vel. Patere. 1. c. 19, the ruins of Carthage, consoling himself by the sight of so astonishing a spectacle; himself serving, in some measure, as a consolation to that ill-fated city. a Appian relates, that Julius Cæsar, after the death of Pompey, having crossed into Africa, saw, in a dream, an army composed of a prodigious number of soldiers, who, with tears in their eyes, called him; and that, struck with the vision, he writ down in his pocket-book the design which he formed on this occasion, of rebuilding Carthage and Corinth; but that having been murdered soon after by the conspirators, Augustus Cæsar, his adopted son, who found this memorandum among his papers, rebuilt Carthage near the spot where it stood formerly, in order that the imprecations which had been vented, at the time of its destruction, against those who should presume to rebuild it, might not fall upon him. I know not what foundation Appian has for this story; but we read in Strabo, that Carthage and Corinth were rebuilt at the same time by Cæsar, to whom he gives the name of god, by which title, a little before c, he had plainly intended Julius Cæsar; and Plutarch d, in the life of that emperor, ascribes expressly to him the establishment of these two colonies; and observes, that one remarkable circumstance in these two cities is, that as both had been taken and destroyed at the same time, they likewise were at the same time rebuilt and repeopled. However this be, Strabo affirms, that, in his time, Carthage was as populous as any city in Africa; and it rose to be the capital of Africa, under the succeeding emperors. It existed, for about 700 years after, in splendour, but at last was so completely destroyed by the Saracens, in the beginning of the seventh century, that neither its name, nor the least footsteps of it are known, at this time, in the country. A DIGRESSION ON THE MANNERS AND CHARACTER OF THE SECOND SCIPIO AFRICANUS. Scipio, the destroyer of Carthage, was son to the famous Paulus Æmilius, who conquered Perseus, the last king of Macedon; and consequently grandson to that Paulus, who lost his life in the battle of Cannæ. He was adopted by the son of the great Scipio Africanus, and called Scipio Emilianus; the names of the two families being so united, pursuant to the law of adoptions. e He supported, with equal lustre, a Appian 85. b Strabo, I. xvii. p. 833. c Ibid. 1. xvii. p. 831. d Page 733. e Scipio Emilianus, vir avitis P. Africani paternisque L. Pauli virtutibus simillimus, omnibus belli ac togæ dotibus, ingeniique ac studiorum eminentissi mus seculi sui, qui nihil in vita nisi laudandum aut fecit aut dixit aut sensit Vel. Paterc. 1. i, c. 124 the dignity of both houses, being possessed of all the qualities that can confer honour on the sword and gown. The whole tenor of his life, says an historian, whether with regard to his actions, his thoughts, or words, was deserving of the highest praise. He distinguished himself particularly (a circumstance seldom found at that time in persons of the military profession) by his exquisite taste for polite literature, and all the sciences, as well as by the uncommon regard he showed to learned men. It is universally known, that he was reported to be the author of Terence's comedies, the most polite and elegant writings which the Romans could boast. We are told of Scipio, that no man could blend more happily repose and action, nor employ his leisure hours with greater delicacy and taste: thus was he divided between arms and books, between the military labours of the camp, and the peaceful employment of the cabinet; in which he either exercised his body in toils of war, or his mind in the study of the sciences. By this he showed, that nothing does greater honour to a person of distinction, of what quality or profession soever he be, than the adorning his mind with knowledge. Cicero, speaking of Scipio, says, that he always had Xenophon's works in his hands, which are so famous for the solid and excellent instructions they contain both in regard to war and policy. He owed this exquisite taste for polite learning and the sciences, to the excellent education which Paulus Æmilius bestowed on his children. He had put them under the ablest masters in every art; and did not spare any cost on that occasion, though his circumstances were very narrow: P. Æmilius himself was present at all their lessons, as often as the affairs of the state would permit; becoming, by this means, their chief preceptor. d'The strict union between Polybius and Scipio put the finishing stroke to the exalted qualities which, by the superiority of his genius and disposition, and the excellency of his education, were already the subject of admiration. Polybius, with a great number of Achaians, whose fidelity the Romans suspected during the war with Perseus, was detained in Rome, where his merit soon caused his company to be coveted by all persons of the highest quality in that city. Scipio, when scarce eighteen, devoted himself entirely to Polybius; and considered, as the greatest felicity of his life, a Neque enim quisquam hoc Scipione elegantius intervalla negotiorum otio dispunxit: semperque aut belli aut pacis serviit artibus, semper inter arma ac studia versatus, aut corpus periculis, aut animum disciplinis exereuit. Ibid. Africanus semper Socraticum Xenophontem in manibus habebat. Fuse Quæst. 1. ii. n. 62. c Plut. in vit. Emil. Paul. p. 250. c. 13. d Excerpt. e Polyb. p. 147-16 |