less disposed they were to renew such dreadful struggles, and yet, when they did renew them they engaged in them with redoubled energy of determination and fresh intensity of hate. Thus the wars followed each other at greater intervals, but the conflicts, when they came, though shorter in duration, were more and more
desperate and merciless in character.
Animosities and dissensions.
We have said that, after the close of the second Punic war, there was a sort of peace for about fifty years. Of course, during this time, one generation after another of public men arose, both in Rome and Carthage, each successive group,
on both sides, inheriting the suppressed animosity and hatred which had been cherished by their predecessors. Of course, as long as Hannibal had lived, and had continued his plots and schemes in Syria, he was the means of keeping up a
continual irritation among the people of Rome against the Carthaginian name. It
is true that the government at Carthage disavowed his acts, and professed to be
wholly opposed to his designs; but then it was, of course, very well known at Rome that this was only because they thought he was not able to execute them.
They had no confidence whatever in Carthaginian faith or honesty, and, of course, there could be no real harmony or stable peace.
Numidia.
Numidian horsemen.
There arose gradually, also, another source of dissension. By referring to the
map, the reader will perceive that there lies, to the westward of Carthage, a country called Numidia. This country was a hundred miles or more in breadth, and extended back several hundred miles into the interior. It was a very rich and fertile region, and contained many powerful and wealthy cities. The inhabitants
were warlike, too, and were particularly celebrated for their cavalry. The ancient historians say that they used to ride their horses into the field without saddles, and often without bridles, guiding and controlling them by their voices, and keeping their seats securely by the exercise of great personal strength and consummate skill. These Numidian horsemen are often alluded to in the
narratives of Hannibal's campaigns, and, in fact, in all the military histories of the times.
Masinissa.
Among the kings who reigned in Numidia was one who had taken sides with the
Romans in the second Punic war. His name was Masinissa. He became involved
in some struggle for power with a neighboring monarch named Syphax, and while he, that is, Masinissa, had allied himself to the Romans, Syphax had joined the Carthaginians, each chieftain hoping, by this means, to gain assistance from his allies in conquering the other. Masinissa's patrons proved to be the strongest,
and at the end of the second Punic war, when the conditions of peace were made, Masinissa's dominions were enlarged, and the undisturbed possession of them confirmed to him, the Carthaginians being bound by express stipulations not to
molest him in any way.
Parties at Rome and Carthage.
Their differences.
In commonwealths like those of Rome and Carthage, there will always be two great parties struggling against each other for the possession of power. Each wishes to avail itself of every opportunity to oppose and thwart the other, and they consequently almost always take different sides in all the great questions of public policy that arise. There were two such parties at Rome, and they disagreed in respect to the course which should be pursued in regard to Carthage, one being generally in favor of peace, the other perpetually calling for war. In the same manner there was at Carthage a similar dissension, the one side in the
contest being desirous to propitiate the Romans and avoid collisions with them,
while the other party were very restless and uneasy under the pressure of the Roman power upon them, and were endeavoring continually to foment feelings
of hostility against their ancient enemies, as if they wished that war should break out again. The latter party were not strong enough to bring the Carthaginian state into an open rupture with Rome itself, but they succeeded at last in getting their government involved in a dispute with Masinissa, and in leading out an army to
give him battle.
Masinissa prepares for war.
Fifty years had passed away, as has already been remarked, since the close of Hannibal's war. During this time, Scipio—that is, the Scipio who conquered Hannibal—had disappeared from the stage. Masinissa himself was very far advanced in life, being over eighty years of age. He, however, still retained the strength and energy which had characterized him in his prime. He drew together
an immense army, and mounting, like his soldiers, bare-back upon his horse, he
rode from rank to rank, gave the necessary commands, and matured the
arrangements for battle.
Hasdrubal.
Carthage declares war.
The name of the Carthaginian general on this occasion was Hasdrubal. This was
a very common name at Carthage, especially among the friends and family of Hannibal. The bearer of it, in this case, may possibly have received it from his parents in commemoration of the brother of Hannibal, who lost his head in descending into Italy from the Alps, inasmuch as during the fifty years of peace which had elapsed, there was ample time for a child born after that event to grow up to full maturity. At any rate, the new Hasdrubal inherited the inveterate hatred to Rome which characterized his namesake, and he and his party had contrived
to gain a temporary ascendency in Carthage, and they availed themselves of their brief possession of power to renew, indirectly at least, the contest with Rome.
They sent the rival leaders into banishment, raised an army, and Hasdrubal himself taking the command of it, they went forth in great force to encounter Masinissa.
Parallel between Hannibal and Hasdrubal.
