Lords of the World: A story of the fall of Carthage and Corinth

by Alfred John Church

  CHAPTER XII.

  SCIPIO SETS TO WORK.

  Cleanor, though he had no proofs of Hasdrubal's complicity in the crimejust committed, could not rid himself of the suspicion that he had hadsomething to do with it. No one profited by it more; he had been presentwhen the deed was done, and had not spoken a word or lifted a finger tohinder it. Such a suspicion was enough in itself to make any post whichbrought him into close contact with the general distasteful to theyoung man. And Hasdrubal's personal habits were revolting to his taste.The man was given over to gluttony. He had a sufficiently clearintelligence and some military skill, but the enormous meals in which heindulged produced a condition of torpor which disabled him during agreat part of the day.

  Cleanor, therefore, was not a little pleased when, through the goodoffices of Gisco, he was attached to the staff of one of Hasdrubal'slieutenants, Himilco by name. Himilco had charge of a portion of thewall looking towards the sea, about four stadia in length. Cleanor hadthe duty, which he shared with another officer, of seeing that thesentinels were properly vigilant during the night. Each was responsiblefor two of the four watches, their practice being for one to take thefirst and fourth, the other the second and third.

  At this time the chief interest of the siege was centred at this point,where it seemed not improbable that the Romans would have to suffer avery serious check. The second-in-command of the besieging force, whohad a special charge of the fleet, an officer of more enterprise thanjudgment, had seen, as he thought, a chance of greatly distinguishinghimself. Having taken advantage of a long spell of settled weather tostand-in more closely than usual to the shore, he had observed, orrather, it had been pointed out to him by a sharp-sighted youngofficer, a portion of the ramparts which appeared to be insufficientlyguarded. The wall here ran along the top of a precipice, so steep andinaccessible that it might almost seem unnecessary to supplement by artthe provision of nature. Such spots, however, while they seem to be thestrongest, are often in fact the weakest part of a fortification.[33] Afortunate chance put Mancinus--this was the Roman admiral's name--inpossession of the fact that the cliffs were not by any means sodifficult of access as they seemed. One of the fishermen who plied theirtrade along the coast had come on board the admiral's ship with a cargoof fish for sale. He was asked whether there was any way of scaling thecliffs, and replied that there was, and promised, in consideration of acouple of gold pieces, to act as guide. Mancinus accordingly, havingwaited for a dull night, landed a force of about a thousand men. Theguide fulfilled his promise and showed them the path, which, thanks tothe negligence of the besieged, they found entirely unguarded.

  For a time everything went well. The sentinels had come to regard thisbeat as one which might be neglected without risk. When they chanced tobe told off to this duty they were accustomed to sleep as unconcernedlyas if they had been in their beds at home. About fifty or sixty of theassailants had mounted the walls by help of scaling-ladders when thealarm was given. The besieged had organized a flying detachment of fivehundred men, whose business it was to be ready for any emergency, and tohurry at once to any spot where they might be wanted.

  This force now came up at full speed, and the few who had mounted thewall were promptly dislodged. This done, the officer in command orderedthe nearest gate to be opened, and sallied out at the head of his men.But he had not expected to find so formidable a force opposed to him.His division was completely overmatched, and was driven back within thewalls, the Romans making their way through the gate--which there hadbeen no time to shut--along with the retreating enemy.

  Both sides were now reinforced, the Carthaginians by fresh detachmentsfrom the garrison, the Romans by Mancinus himself with anothercontingent from the fleet. The result of the fighting, which wascontinued throughout the night, was that the Romans retired from withinthe walls, but occupied a fairly strong position outside.

  In earlier days, when the idea that Carthaginian territory could besuccessfully invaded had not occurred to anyone, a wealthy merchant ofthe city had built himself a mansion on a space of level ground betweenthe wall and the cliff. The mansion was surrounded with spacious gardensand orchards, and these again were protected from trespassers by a deepditch and a wall of unusual height. Here Mancinus intrenched himself. Hestill cherished the hope that he might make good his footing, and usethe position as a starting-point for successful operations against thecity. What a splendid achievement it would be if he could falsify whathad come to be a commonly accepted belief, if it was to turn out that aMancinus, not a Scipio, was the conqueror of Carthage! And indeed he wasso far right that he always had the credit of having been the first toeffect a lodgment within the boundaries of Carthage itself.[34]

  For the present, however, his position was precarious. He had no stockof provisions with him, except that the men had been ordered to carryrations for three days. Supplies could, of course, be obtained from theships, but only so long as the weather continued fine. A week of strongwind from the sea would reduce him to absolute starvation. Of waterthere was already a scarcity. The builder of the mansion had provided anample supply for a large household, but there was nothing like enoughfor between two and three thousand men. And, apart from the difficultiesabout food and drink, the position was not one which could bepermanently held. The wall round the mansion, for instance, was not amilitary fortification. It was meant to keep out trespassers, not toresist battering-rams.

  This, then, was the state of affairs when Cleanor took up his command.Two days had passed since Mancinus had occupied the position outside thewalls, and he was already in distress. The contingency for which he hadmade no provision had occurred. The wind was blowing strongly from thesea, and the captains of the fleet had thought it prudent to stand offfrom the shore. The Carthaginians were perfectly well aware of thecondition of affairs. They had intercepted a messenger carrying anurgent appeal for help to head-quarters, and knew that, unless there wasa change of weather, the Romans must be reduced to extremities. Theirpolicy was, of course, to sit still and wait. There was, indeed, a goodchance that if the battering-rams were vigorously applied to the walls,a breach might be made, and an assault successfully made. But anassault, whatever the result, would cost many lives. And of all men noone is more bound to be economical of life than he who commands thegarrison of a besieged town; and this for the simple reason that hecannot hope to get recruits. In the course of two or three days more theRomans would have to capitulate, or fight at a terrible disadvantage.Scipio, it was true, was now daily expected, and, if he arrived in time,would be sure to make a vigorous effort to save his countrymen. But thathe should arrive in time seemed almost impossible.

  But the Carthaginians did not know Scipio. Cleanor himself--who, as hasbeen seen, had had opportunities of estimating the remarkable qualitiesof the man--was taken by surprise, such were the energy and thepromptitude with which the Roman acted. With that remarkable foresightwhich he did not scruple himself to attribute to divine prompting, andwhich we may anyhow describe as genius, he had made special preparationfor such a contingency as had actually occurred. He had selected the tenswiftest ships out of the fleet which accompanied him from Italy, andhad put on board them a picked force of five hundred men. With thissquadron he had outstripped the slower sailers by not less thanforty-eight hours, an invaluable saving of time as it turned out.

  He reached Utica, which was about twenty-seven miles west of Carthage,at sunset on the day on which Mancinus had sent his appeal for help. Twoof the three messengers who had been despatched on this errand had beencaptured, but one had contrived to elude the Carthaginian watchmen, andhad reached Utica at midnight. Scipio did not lose a moment. His own menwere ready for instant action, but they were scarcely numerous enoughfor the work which they might have to do.

  He found abundance of help in Utica. At an earlier period of the war hehad spent seven months in this town in command of a detachment quarteredthere. The influence of his extraordinary personality had made itselffelt in Utica as it did everywh
ere else. Old and young in the city weredevoted to him. What we should now call a battalion of volunteers hadbeen raised, of which he had consented to be the honorary tribune. Lateas it was, he sent a herald through the streets with notice that thisforce was to muster immediately at the harbour. In the course of littlemore than an hour the battalion had assembled at the place indicated fora _rendezvous_ in full strength, not a single member, except somehalf-dozen incapacitated by sickness, being absent. A requisition alsowas made for lads and elderly men, and of these there was such a throngthat the task for which they were wanted, carrying provisions andstores on board the squadron, might have been done five times over. Allworked with such a will that before sunrise everything was actuallyready, and the squadron was able to make a start.

  Scipio's arrival had been observed at Carthage, the harbour of Uticabeing distinctly visible, notwithstanding the distance, through theclear atmosphere of the north African coast. He had himself taken painsto assure its being known, for he was not above utilizing to the utmostthe impression made, as he was well aware, by his name. He had no soonerreached Utica than he ordered that some seamen, who were among theCarthaginian prisoners, should be set free, supplied with a fast-sailingpinnace, and commissioned to deliver at Carthage the message, "_Scipiois come_".

  That he would hasten to the relief of Mancinus everyone in Carthageknew, and orders were issued accordingly that the position of thatgeneral should be attacked as soon as possible after dawn. This wasprompt, but it was not prompt enough.

  The night, indeed, was not lost. Battering-rams were brought to bearupon the wall surrounding the mansion, and several breaches were made,ready for the storming parties to enter as soon as it was light. Beforemorning, indeed, the wall was so shattered that it became practicallyindefensible, and Mancinus abandoned the idea of holding it against theassailants. He formed his men into a square, with the heavy-armed, whonumbered about five hundred, outside, and the light troops, who had noprotection beyond a steel cap and small target, within.

  Himilco, who personally directed the attack, ordered a charge on acorner of the square, where the lines had been made up with Numidianauxiliaries. He hoped to find them less sturdy in resistance than theregular legionaries, who were all Italians. Cleanor, who was having hisfirst experience of serious fighting, was in the front rank of thecharge, and had the satisfaction of seeing the Roman line waver. But itwavered without breaking.

  The Numidians were under the command of a deputy centurion, a Picenianmountaineer of huge stature and herculean strength. Springing to thefront he killed a heavily-armed Carthaginian outright with one thrust ofhis pike. Then he struck Cleanor full in the breast. The finely-wroughtcuirass of steel, a gift from the old king, withstood the blow, but thewearer was hurled backward with irresistible force and came to theground with a shock which partially stunned him. When Himilco ordered aretreat he had to be supported by his companions.

  But though the charge had been repulsed, the position of the Romanforce was full of peril. The heavily-armed men in the front ranks wereno protection to their less fully equipped comrades against theincessant showers of missiles which the archers, javelin-throwers, andslingers rained upon the helpless men inside the square. Their ownarmour was not always proof against them, still less against the stoneswhich the catapults, now put in position on the city walls, dischargedinto their ranks. The whole body continued to edge away out of range ofthe walls, heedless of the fact that every step brought them nearer tothe cliffs.

  A catastrophe was imminent when Scipio's squadron came in sight. Thedecks were crowded, every available man putting himself as much inevidence as possible. This was Scipio's command, given in order tocreate an impression of greater numbers than he really possessed. Theeffect on the contending forces was instantaneous and great. TheCarthaginian leaders felt themselves to be in the presence of aformidable antagonist, and stood on the defensive. The forces ofMancinus recovered the confidence which they had lost. Scipio's arrivalwas soon followed by the appearance of Mancinus' own ships. For it wasone of the many instances of the extraordinary good fortune which seemedto attend on Scipio throughout his career, that no sooner had heappeared on the scene than the weather changed. The wind veered round,and now blew with moderate strength from the shore. It was still acouple of hours from noon when the whole force under Mancinus hadre-embarked.

  "We must never lose a moment," said Gisco to our hero, when they weretalking over the events of the day, "if we are to keep up with thiswonderful man. As to being beforehand with him that seems impossible.Who would have thought that, after coming all the way from Italy, hewould have started again almost without giving himself time to sup! Thisis a very different thing from Piso's way of doing business."

  FOOTNOTES:

  33: The reader will remember the capture of Quebec by Wolfe's daring plan of scaling the Heights of Abraham.

  34: Mancinus was elected one of the consuls for the year 145 B.C. There is a curious story, that after the conclusion of the war he exhibited in the Forum of Rome maps and plans of Carthage, showing where the various attacks had been made, and that he was never weary of explaining to the people the operations of the siege. This conduct, the story continues, made him so popular that he offered himself as a candidate for the consulship, and was successful. This story looks somewhat strange as it stands. The consulship was a very great honour, and, what is more, a serious responsibility. It would hardly have been bestowed on the giver of a popular and entertaining exhibition. But there may have been a general feeling that Mancinus had really done good service in the siege--had shown the way, so to speak, for the capture of the city.