previous next

.Hannibal had reached Hadrumetum where he remained a few days for his men to recover from the effects of the voyage, when breathless couriers announced that all the country round Carthage was occupied by Roman arms. He at once hurried by forced marches to Zama. Zama is a five days' march from Carthage. [2] The scouts whom he had sent forward to reconnoitre were captured by the Roman outposts and conducted to Scipio. Scipio placed them in charge of the military tribunes and gave orders for them to be taken round the camp where they were to look at everything they wished to see without fear. [3] After asking them whether they had examined all to their satisfaction, he sent them back with an escort to Hannibal. [4] The report they gave was anything but pleasant hearing for him, for as it happened Masinissa had on that very day come in with a force of 6000 infantry and 4000 cavalry. What gave him most uneasiness was the confidence of the enemy which he saw too clearly was not without good grounds. [5] So, although he had been the cause of the war, though his arrival had upset the truce and diminished the hope of any peace being arranged, he still thought that he would be in a better position to obtain terms if he were to ask for peace while his strength was still unbroken than after a defeat. Accordingly he sent a request to Scipio to grant him an interview. [6] Whether he did this on his own initiative or in obedience to the orders of his government I am unable to say definitely. [7] Valerius Antius says that he was defeated by Scipio in the first battle with a loss of 12,000 killed and 1700 taken prisoners, and that after this he went in company with ten delegates to Scipio's camp. [8] However this may be, Scipio did not refuse the proposed interview, and by common agreement the two commanders advanced their camps towards each other that they might meet more easily. [9] Scipio took up his position not far from the city of Naragarra on ground which, in addition to other advantages, afforded a supply of water within range of missiles from the Roman lines. [10] Hannibal selected some rising ground about four miles away, a safe and advantageous position, except that water had to be obtained from a distance. A spot was selected midway between the camps, which, to prevent any possibility of treachery, afforded a view on all sides.

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.

An XML version of this text is available for download, with the additional restriction that you offer Perseus any modifications you make. Perseus provides credit for all accepted changes, storing new additions in a versioning system.

load focus Summary (English, Frank Gardener Moore, Professor Emeritus in Columbia University, 1949)
load focus Summary (Latin, W. Weissenborn, H. J. Müller, 1884)
load focus Summary (Latin, Frank Gardener Moore, Professor Emeritus in Columbia University, 1949)
load focus Latin (W. Weissenborn, H. J. Müller, 1884)
load focus English (Frank Gardener Moore, Professor Emeritus in Columbia University, 1949)
load focus Latin (Robert Seymour Conway, Stephen Keymer Johnson, 1935)
load focus English (Cyrus Evans, 1850)
load focus Latin (Frank Gardener Moore, Professor Emeritus in Columbia University, 1949)
hide References (29 total)
  • Commentary references to this page (5):
    • Titus Livius (Livy), Ab urbe condita libri, erklärt von M. Weissenborn, books 31-32, commentary, 31.40
    • Titus Livius (Livy), Ab urbe condita libri, erklärt von M. Weissenborn, books 33-34, commentary, 33.48
    • Titus Livius (Livy), Ab urbe condita libri, erklärt von M. Weissenborn, books 33-34, commentary, 34.61
    • Titus Livius (Livy), Ab urbe condita libri, erklärt von M. Weissenborn, books 35-38, commentary, 38.20
    • Titus Livius (Livy), Ab urbe condita libri, erklärt von M. Weissenborn, books 43-44, commentary, 43.10
  • Cross-references to this page (15):
    • Titus Livius (Livy), Ab urbe condita, Index, Naraggara
    • Titus Livius (Livy), Ab urbe condita, Index, Punicum
    • Titus Livius (Livy), Ab urbe condita, Index, Speculator
    • Titus Livius (Livy), Ab urbe condita, Index, Valerius Antias
    • Titus Livius (Livy), Ab urbe condita, Index, Zama
    • Titus Livius (Livy), Ab urbe condita, Index, Comitia
    • Titus Livius (Livy), Ab urbe condita, Index, P. Cornelius P. F. Scipio
    • Titus Livius (Livy), Ab urbe condita, Index, Hadrumetum
    • Titus Livius (Livy), Ab urbe condita, Index, Hannibal
    • Allen and Greenough's New Latin Grammar for Schools and Colleges, CONSTRUCTION OF CASES
    • Harper's, Naragăra
    • Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854), HADRUME´TUM
    • Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854), NARAGGERA
    • Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854), ZAMA
    • Smith's Bio, Masinissa
  • Cross-references in notes to this page (1):
  • Cross-references in general dictionaries to this page (8):
hide Display Preferences
Greek Display:
Arabic Display:
View by Default:
Browse Bar: