Kitap 30
16
Laelius was sent in charge of Syphax and the other prisoners to Rome, and envoys from Masinissa accompanied him. Scipio returned to his camp at Tyneta and completed the fortifications which he had commenced. The rejoicing of the Carthaginians over the temporary success of their naval attack was short-lived and evanescent, for when they heard of the capture of Syphax, on whom they had rested their hopes almost more than on Hasdrubal and his army, they completely lost heart. The war party could no longer gain a hearing and the senate sent the "Thirty Seniors" to Scipio to sue for peace. This body was the most august council in their state and controlled to a very large extent even the senate itself. When they reached the headquarters tent in the Roman camp, they made a profound obeisance and prostrated themselves-a practice, I believe, which they brought with them from their original home. Their language corresponded to their abject posture. They made no excuse for themselves, but threw the responsibility for the war on Hannibal and his supporters. They craved pardon for a city which had been twice ruined by the recklessness of its citizens and could only be preserved in safety by the good-will of its enemy. What Rome sought, they pleaded, was the homage and submission of the vanquished, not their annihilation. They professed themselves ready to execute any commands which he chose to give. Scipio replied that he had come to Africa in the hope-a hope which his successes had confirmed-of taking back to Rome a complete victory, and not merely proposals for peace. Still, though victory was almost within his grasp, he would not refuse to grant terms of peace, that all nations might know that Rome was actuated by the spirit of justice, whether she was undertaking a war or putting an end to one.
