The people of Corinth , in particular, had no idea of accept ing the Romans as rulers, and persisted in making war upon Spar'ta, although the Romans sent envoys to protest against their so doing. The foolish Co - rin'thi- ans hooted and yelled and insulted the envoys in every way , finally driving them from the assembly . One of the leaders made a violent speech , saying that he wished to be a friend of the Romans , but had no taste for them as masters. . It is little wonder that the Roman legions were sent swiftly to Corinth . Then the Corinthians learned what it was to resist Rome and insult her messengers, for the citizens were either killed or sold as slaves , shiploads of statues and paintings were sent to Rome , and enough to load many more ships were destroyed by the soldiers . Then the city was torn down and burned .
The Romans were growing more powerful every day . They were making new conquests , but they did not forget to keep close watch of the old ones . About the time when Corinth began to be rebellious , Mas-i-nis'sa, king of Nu-mid'i-a , attacked Carthage , and Carthage appealed to Rome for help . The Romans sent envoys , but Masinissa was an ally of Rome, and they decided everything in his favor . One of these envoys was Marcus Por'ci-us Ca'to . He was a brilliant commander and he had first been made consul , then censor. He was much troubled because so many of the Romans were giving up the plain , simple ways of their fathers and were beginning to like luxury and to avoid work . Cato cultivated his land with his own hands ; he never wore costly garments ; and even when he was consul , he drank the same wine as his slaves . He declared once that he could not live with a man
whose palate was more sensitive than his heart . When he became censor , the people who liked luxury trembled ; and they soon found that they had good reason , for Cato had a list made of the carriages, jewelry , rich clothing, and expen sive furniture of each household and its real cost . Then he counted the value as ten times as much and taxed it heavily on that valuation .
This was the man who was sent to Carthage. His eyes were wide open to see all that there was to be seen ; and when he returned to Rome , he reported to the senate , Car thage is not so humble as you imagine. It is a wealthy city ; it is well supplied with arms and stores and whatever is needed in warfare, and it is full of men able to bear arms . They are not a weaker , but a more skillful enemy to us than they were. Then he let fall from the folds of his toga some figs that he had brought from Africa, and cried , Remember that the country in which these grew is only three days ' sail from Rome. After this , whenever he made a speech in the senate , no matter what the subject was, he always ended by saying, And my opinion is that Carthage must be de stroyed . Another senator , who did not agree with Cato , always ended his speeches in mimicry of him with , And my opinion is that Carthage must be left standing."
a
It was not long before the Romans sided with the censor . Naturally , when Masinissa attacked the Carthaginians a second time , they did not call upon Rome , who had failed to defend them and had stood by their enemy, but did their best to defend themselves . They did not succeed , and now they were terrified at the thought of how Rome might punish
them for breaking the treaty . They sent envoys to Rome to try to excuse themselves and make their peace with her . Rome demanded three hundred boys of the chief families as hostages . These were sent . Then Rome said , Give up all your arms. Two hundred thousand suits of armor and great quantities of weapons were surrendered . Tear down your city and make a new settlement ten miles from the ocean , was Rome's next command . The Carthaginian en voys begged for mercy , but Rome rarely showed mercy . The Car thaginians in de spair determined to fight to the death . They worked night and day to make shields and weapons and engines of war ; and even the women worked with them at the fortifications , and cut off their long hair to make bowstrings . When the Romans came to carry out their cruel decree , they found it no easy thing to do . For nearly three years their siege of the city went on . Then Publius Scipio Æm-i-li-a'nus was put in command . He made a line of fortifications across
( Preparing for the Romans)
the isthmus which connects the site of Carthage with the main land , and thus shut off the land supplies from the city . He built a wall across the mouth of the harbor , but the Cartha ginians dug a canal and brought out their galleys . He built another wall , he stormed the town and scaled the walls ; and even then the starving people resisted so desperately that the Romans had to fight on roofs, on planks and beams, even in rooms. Not until the city was fully in the hands of the Romans , would the fifty thousand Carthaginians surrender who remained alive . . These were sold as slaves . The Ro mans took for the state the im mense quantity of gold and silver that remained even then . The sol diers seized whatever they chose of all that was left . Then the town was burned , its site was ploughed up , and it was solemnly declared that a curse would rest upon him
( In the Lateran Museum at Rome) who tried to rebuild the city. So it was that Carthage was destroyed , and its territories be came a Roman province under the name of Africa with Utica as the chief city .
Scipio had a splendid triumph on his return to Rome . Some years later he was sent to Spain , for Nu-man'ti-a had
