Scipio Fears a Carthaginian Attack on the Fleet
Upon this decision being come to, those who were to
sail to Italy went straight from the council chamber to the sea,
while the Navarch went to prepare the ships. The rest began
to take measures for securing the city, and remained in constant consultation on the measures necessary for the purpose.
Meanwhile Scipio's camp was getting gorged with booty;
for he found no one to resist him, and everybody yielded to
his attacks. He therefore determined to despatch the greater
part of the booty to his original camp; while he advanced with
his army in light marching order to seize the entrenchment
near Tunes, and pitched his camp within the view of the inhabitants of Carthage, thinking that this would do more than
anything else to strike terror into their hearts and lower their
courage.
The Carthaginians had in a few days manned and provisioned their ships, and were engaged in getting under
sail and carrying out their plan of operations, when Scipio
arrived at Tunes, and, the garrison flying at his approach,
occupied the town, which is about a hundred stades from Carthage, of remarkable strength both natural and artificial, and
visible from nearly every point of Carthage.
Just as the Romans pitched their camp there, the Carthaginians were putting out to sea
on board their
Scipio recalled to Utica by the fear of an attack upon his fleet. |
ships to sail to Utica. Seeing the enemy thus
putting out, and fearing some misfortune to his
own fleet, Scipio was rendered exceedingly
anxious, because no one there was prepared for such an attack,
or had anything in readiness to meet the danger. He therefore broke up his camp and marched back in haste to support
his men. There he found his decked ships thoroughly well
fitted out for raising siege-engines and applying them to walls,
and generally for all purposes of an assault upon a town, but
not in the least in the trim for a sea-fight; while the enemy's
fleet had been under process of rigging for this purpose the
whole winter. He therefore gave up all idea of putting to sea
to meet the enemy and accepting battle there; but anchoring
his decked ships side by side he moored the transports round
them, three or four deep; and then, taking down the masts and
yard-arms, he lashed the vessels together firmly by means of
these, keeping a space between each sufficient to enable the
light craft to sail in and out. . . .