Running the Blockade
Himilco, the general in command at
Lilybaeum, now
saw that both divisions of his troops were in
high spirits and eager for service,—the original
garrison owing to the presence of the reinforcement, the newly arrived because they had as yet had no experience of the hardships of the situation. He wished to take
advantage of the excited feelings of both parties, before they
cooled, in order to organise an attempt to set fire to the works of
the besiegers. He therefore summoned the whole army to a
meeting, and dwelt upon the themes suitable to the occasion
at somewhat greater length than usual. He raised their zeal
to an enthusiastic height by the magnitude of his promises for
individual acts of courage, and by declaring the favours and
rewards which awaited them as an army at the hands of the
Carthaginians. His speech was received with lively marks of
satisfaction; and the men with loud shouts bade him delay no
more, but lead them into the field. For the present, however,
he contented himself with thanking them and expressing his
delight at their excellent spirit, and bidding them go early to
rest and obey their officers, dismissed them. But shortly
afterwards he summoned the officers; assigned to them severally
the posts best calculated for the success of the undertaking;
communicated to them the watchword and the exact moment
the movement was to be made; and issued orders to the commanders to be at the posts assigned with their men at the
morning watch. His orders were punctually obeyed: and at
daybreak he led out his forces and made attempts upon the
siege-works at several points. But the Romans had not been
blind to what was coming, and were neither idle nor unprepared.
Wherever help was required it was promptly rendered;
and at every point they made a stout resistance to the enemy.
Before long there was fighting all along the line, and an
obstinate struggle round the entire circuit of the wall; for the
sallying party were not less than twenty thousand strong, and
their opponents more numerous still. The contest was all
the hotter from the fact that the men were not fighting in
their regular ranks, but indiscriminately, and as their own
judgment directed; the result of which was that a spirit of
personal emulation arose among the combatants, because,
though the numbers engaged were so great, there was a series
of single combats between man and man, or company and
company. However, it was at the siege-works themselves that
the shouting was loudest and the throng of combatants the
densest. At these troops had been massed deliberately for
attack and defence. The assailants strove their utmost to
dislodge the defenders, the defenders exerted all their courage
to hold their ground and not yield an inch to the assailants,—
and with such emulation and fury on both sides, that they
ended by falling at their posts rather than yield. But there
were others mingled with these, carrying torchwood and tow
and fire, who made a simultaneous attack upon the batteringrams at every point: hurling these fiery missiles against them
with such audacity, that the Romans were reduced to the last
extremity of danger, being quite unable to overpower the
attack of the enemy.
But the general of the Carthaginians,
seeing that he was losing large numbers in the
engagement, without being able to gain the
object of the sortie, which was to take the siege-works, ordered
his trumpeters to sound a recall. So the Romans, after
coming within an ace of losing all their siege-gear, finally kept
possession of the works, and were able to maintain them all
without dispute.