Fall of Carthage
THE FALL OF CARTHAGE
A TRAGEDY
DRAMATIS PERSONAE
ROMANS
M. MANILIUS Consuls.
L. MARCIUS
M. PORCIUS CATO, a Senator.
Two other Senators.
P. Scipio, officer to Manilius, afterwards General of the Roman Army.
CLAUDIUS, aide-de-camp to Manilius, and afterwards to Scipio.
LICINIUS, a Centurion.
A messenger.
CARTHAGINIANS
BIMILCO Suffetes, or Chief Magistrates of Carthage.
HAMILCAR
HANNO, a Councillor.
Another Councillor.
ISHBAAL, a Priest.
HASDRUBAL, the Numidian.
MAHARBAL, METHUBAL, MICAH, citizens of Carthage.
Three other Citizens.
An Ambassador to Rome.
Messengers.
The mother of Maharbal. A mother and child.
Roman Senators, Soldiers, and three Ambassadors.
Carthaginian Senators, Citizens, and Ambassadors.
SCENE: Rome; the Roman Camp at Utica; Carthage.
TIME : Acts I and II, 149 B.C. Act III, 146 B.C.
ACT 1
ROME : THE CAPITOL
149 B.C.
MANILIUS, MARCIUS, CATO, and SENATORS
MANILIUS
FIRST to high Jove and strong Quirinus prayer
For their continued favour, and to guide
Our counsels to the strengthening of Rome;
Then to the Great Twin Brethren in their shrines,
That as in fight they still have holpen us,
And smitten down our enemies at our feet,
So now their wisdom may direct our words.—
Now, Conscript Fathers, know, our ancient foes,
The traitorous Poeni, ten full lustres back,
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We spared in victory, but bade them stay
At peace, nor take without our full consent
The sword of war. And then we gave reward
To Masinissa for his services
And faith to Rome, a throne and added realm ;
And bound to us by gifts and gratitude
In firm alliance he has kept his faith.
And now we hear that Carthage, rising up,
Has smitten him, and fought with him in war.
Then since they break by this their solemn pact,
Sworn us by all the gods, he calls our aid
To punish them and draw our swords for right,
Justice and punishment and friendship. Yet
Has come an embassy from Punic shores,
Whom we must hear and answer.
MARCIUS
Let them come,
For we must hear their plea.
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MANILIUS
For mercy be it,
For sure no reason can support their act,
Nor justice aid their treachery. Bring them in.
[The Embassy is brought in.]
1ST AMBASSADOR
Hail to the state of Rome !
MANILIUS
Hail ! speak your word,
And wherefore ye are here.
1ST AMBASSADOR
Fathers of Rome,
You know our cause; you say we have conspired
To break the treaty that we made with you.
And we confess we brake it: hear our word.
A band of Masinissa's men attacked
Our land, and tried to ravage what was ours;
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Whom we repelled, nor fought we further then
Than what we must to save and keep our own.
Would ye that we should yield our country up,
Our villages, our farms and fields, our men,
Our wives, our children—yea, our city's self,
Our Byrsa, our most sacred citadel,
The temples of our gods, the holy spot
That Dido founded, where the gods themselves
Bade her to build a city and to dwell?
You bade us sheathe the sword; quiet we lived,
Till your ally, your friend, assailed our peace,
And forced us fight or perish; and your arm
Did not protect us then ; you should have helped
Whom you had bound, but you forsook our cause,
And for a greater right we broke the right.
Our warfare hurt you not; but this above
All other rights is right, to save our land
From foreign ravage. Therefore, Senators,
It is to right and justice we appeal.
240
MANILIUS
Say mercy rather. Spin not words with us
In fine Greek phrases. Can ye in aught deny
You broke the treaty that your fathers made?
And shall not we defend our heritage
Of power and peace? And is to break a pact
A deed of right and justice? Think on this,
And beg for mercy.
1ST AMBASSADOR
We were first attacked,
Ere we sought war's bloody arbitrament.
MANILIUS
Your fathers and yourselves were traitors still ;
And look ye to 't, lest war's destruction force
What sacred oaths and solemn compact's faith
Sworn by the gods, can never bind you to.
241
MARCIUS
Go hence, we pray, the while we may debate
And take our wisest counsel on your case.
1ST AMBASSADOR
Then first we must adjure you by the gods
That you do no injustice to our case,
Honouring the letter of the pact we swore
Before the rightful justice of the cause
That forced us to take arms against our foes;
Nor give your own advantage greater weight
Than justice, which the gods in heaven love,
And punish who despise. Be this our plea,
That had we kept our strictest faith with you,
We had betrayed our city and ourselves,
Our honour and the temples of our gods.
MANILIUS
Go hence: you ask for justice: Rome is just.
[Exeunt Ambassadors.]
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Thou wisest of the Senate, father of Rome,
Most honoured for thy virtue and thy faith,
Speak, noble Cato, what we should decide,
And give thy serious vote for peace or war.
CATO
Ye conscript Fathers, hearken to my words :
Five years and fourscore have I lived, nor yet
My thoughts have ever failed to honour Rome,
And serve her both in counsel and in fight.
And I have seen when Roman valour bowed
To Punic cunning at the fatal lake
Of bloody Trasimene. Ye ancient men
Remember, and ye younger men have heard
Your fathers tell the direful tale, how once
The anxious Romans from Rome's very wall
Beheld the soldiers of the Punic chief
Exulting in their pride, and boasting loud
To sell your homes, and fire the fanes divine
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Wherein ye worship to the blessed gods.
Recall that woefullest, most terrible day
When trembling messengers embraced the knees
Of Jove, and scarce could tell their sorry news
For fear and weeping, how in one dark day
Our youth had perished on the deadly banks
Of Aufidus at Cannae; but the gods
Turned from us the event. Yet fourteen years
Wasting the sacred soil of Italy
With fire and sword, the cursed Hannibal [A murmur.]
Remained and threatened Rome, and all but won
Our hearths and crushed our honour and our hopes.
Can ye forget our shame, our perilous state,
Ere by the heaven-sent wisdom of delay
Maximus wrought deliverance for our lives,
Our hearths, and altars ? Can ye e'er forget
The ravaged villages of Italy,
Her wasted cornfields and her men enslaved?
And shall so dark a tale be told of Rome,
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And shall one add, Yet has she not revenged
Her shaming, re-triumphing o'er the power
That well-nigh matched her? And shall we be safe,
Who let her still increase her wealth in trade,
Growing more rich to hire more alien hordes
To serve for pelf her standards? Now the gods
Have bidden us smite her, smite her and not spare;
Our gods demand it for their ruined shrines,
Justice demands it for the wrong they do
To Masinissa; and our safety cries
For Carthage' downfall. Men and sons of Rome,
Ye Consuls and ye Fathers, hear my words :
Hear ye my vote : Carthage must be destroyed.
[Applause.]
1ST SENATOR
It is well said.
ALL
Well said !
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MARCIUS
Fathers of Rome,
The noble Cato speaks our general thought.
When once we drove back Hannibal, and came
To Carthage' very walls, we humbled her.
But Rome was merciful: we let her live,
And lo ! again outshoots her serpent-tongue
To strike who spared her. Good to spare a foe;
But very worst and blackest treachery,
Sparing a foe, to peril Roman hearths.
And now the gods would use us as a sword
To smite the impious city; hold we back
And we shall suffer that destruction
Which once the gods held back from us. Spare now,
And Rome is fallen; so we may not spare.
2ND SENATOR
Ye conscript Fathers, let me not oppose
My feeble words to what our Consuls speak,
And noble Cato teaches : hear me yet.
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For if 'tis true that they who plead to us
Were first provoked in war, unstained their faith,
In honour's laws and universal right.
And thus to seize a word, and for a phrase
To root a nation out from under heaven,
'Twere impious, monstrous. Nay, examine first
If this their plea be true, ere we unsheathe
Remorseless swords to smite. I too have lived
Through many years, and served as best I might
The gods of Rome; and still a stripling youth
I fought upon the soil of Italy
Against the Punic hordes and Hannibal,
And followed still the star of Maximus.
But now to raze down Carthage for a word,
A fault imagined, and a crime unscann'd,
Were gross injustice, cruelty most vile,
Which needs the gods must punish. Let us now
Examine what they say in their defence,
And so, if war is made, it shall be made
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Not lightly, and not lightly be appeased
Our anger, waked by wisdom not by wrath.
[Cries of disapproval.]
MANILIUS
He speaketh ill, and babbles foolishly,
An old man past his wisdom. Romans, hear:
Our purpose is unmoved, though coward hearts
Blench at it. "Spare" is not the word of heaven;
But "raze it, raze it even to the ground ! "
Ye know how Romulus destroyed his foes,
How noble Brutus slew the Latin hordes
That came against us, led by Tarquin's son.
And ye love Rome, I know, and dare for Rome,
Though traitors love us not and cowards fail.
Smite down the Poeni; so, with blood of men
Unholy and with fire of perjured towns,
And not with words and mealy-mouthed regrets
For righteous deeds, shall the stern-judging gods
Be satisfied.—Bring in the embassy.
[Re-enter Ambassadors.]
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[To the Ambassadors.]
Know ye, that Rome is just, and justly spares
The good, and justly punishes the ill.
You have forsworn yourselves before the gods,
Stained your own altars, and insulted ours,
You swore to live in peace; you strove in war,
Ay, strove against our friend. No weak excuse
Nor vain denial can assist your cause.
Nor can we suffer freedom to a state
That swears in weakness what it scouts in strength.
And therefore Rome demands from you a toll,
Three hundred hostages of noble birth,
That ye may keep the oath ye will not keep
Save under threatenings. There ye shall return
And wait our will, what next we may decide.
1ST AMBASSADOR
These words are hard, Sir Consul; give us terms
That leave but honour, and we will obey.
249
MANILIUS
I have said our terms.
1ST AMBASSADOR
Or else denounce you war?
MANILIUS
War to destruction.
1ST AMBASSADOR
Listen once again;
But search our plea, you will be satisfied,
That we are innocent
MANILIUS
Peace, I say ! no more.
Obey our terms, or arm yourselves and fight.
1ST AMBASSADOR
So be it, Consul ! 0 ye noble Romans,
That smite the weak unguilty ! Judge our cause
Ye mighty gods, and grant us good success
250
Because our cause is just !--Ye hounds of Rome,
Seek ye by arrogance to possess the earth,
By fell injustice and by cruelty?
But we in whom the spirit of Hannibal,
[an angry murmur]
Who tamed you, still is strong, shall fight till falls
Our citadel about us, and our dead,
Heaped round us, save us from your whistling darts,
With ghastly grim protection; yea, while life
Remains to one among us, we shall fight.
No further words ! Our trust is in the gods.
MANILIUS
Our swords shall answer your revilings.—Go,
Lead them away, ...
[exeunt Ambassadors, escorted]
...and now we must prepare
For imminent war; nay, rather, are prepared.
I will to Lilybaeum, even today;
The legions are gone thither, and our power
Is ready.
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CATO
Carthage is already doomed ;
Romans, I am old, and weak with many years,
And ye shall see what now I shall not see,
The might of Rome established as a rock
That none may shake. For this long years I toil,
And now I see the fruit of all my work.
MARCIUS
The Romans thank you, Cato. After-years,
Enjoying safety and prosperity,
Shall say, 'Twas Cato that established Rome,
And high in glory and unmoved in power,
Honour your name the nearest to the gods.
MANILIUS
But now, be war our watchword ! War to death !
Romans, be constant, as your fathers were.
Your fathers suffered, and the harvesting
Is yours; you reap their pains. But ere we go
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To battle and to conquest, pray the gods
That they may aid us now as hitherto.
[All the Senate rise.]
To thee, 0 glorious Jove Capitoline,
In whose high temple stands our conclave now,
To thee is justly first our prayer addressed.
0 aid us and protect us with thy power!
And next, to thee, Quirinus, who dost shield
With heavenly might the city of thy name ;
And mighty Mars, and Janus' deity,
We supplicate, and the Twin Brethren, dear
To their loved city; and to all the gods
We pray for help in this our righteous cause.—
Be firm, ye Romans, and be confident,
Neglect not to perform due sacrifice,
And praise the gods' just favour, and be glad;
The hour of final triumph is at hand.
[Exeunt.]
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ACT II
SCENE I. UTICA: THE ROMAN CAMP
MANILIUS' TENT
MANILIUS in his Tent. Enter SCIPIO
SCIPIO
Hail, noble Consul !
MANILIUS
Hast thou then returned
With yielding or defiance to our terms?
SCIPIO
My lord, you bade me order them to give
All arms and weapons up which they possessed.
They answered, that their lives are in our hand,
They long for peace and friendship, that their power
Can never cope with ours, our clemency
Is their sole hope. And saying thus, they gave
Into my hand a store of catapults,
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Two thousand full; and armour of defence,
And swords and spears and knives, arrows and darts,
An hundred thousand. And all these I bring
Behind me with the escort that you sent,
Under an old and tried centurion,
A man of greatest worth.
MANILIUS
That is well done,
And now they needs must trust our clemency,
Thy merit shall not be forgotten. Now,
Go thou again and tell our further will
To helpless Carthage.
SCIPIO
Yet, my lord, I pray
MANILIUS
What is it?
SCIPIO
If your wisdom will admit,
Press not too hard, who cannot hurt us now.
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Their goods, their altars, all that can be moved,
And go, with wives and children, and may build
Another city; where, it matters not,
Save that they must not build beside the sea,
But ten full miles must separate their town
From the sea-coast.
SCIPIO
These are hard terms, my lord.
MANILIUS
But needful. Go and take three men of age
And wisdom with thee, and declare these words
To treacherous Carthage. Tell them, less than this
Is their destruction.
SCIPIO
I will, my lord. [Exit.]
MANILIUS
Claudius !
[Enter Claudius.]
257
MANILIUS
Thou knowest not,—[enter Licinius] What is 't?
LICINIUS
My lord, I bring
The arms of Carthage, yielded up to thee
At thy command.
MANILIUS
'Tis well, go store them up,
And set a guard on them.
LICINIUS
I will, my lord. [Exit Licinius.]
MANILIUS
Nay, Carthage must be crushed; now is the time.
Thy youth shows pity, not discretion,
But hear our pleasure : go to Carthage now
And tell them, Rome demands they must depart
From out their present city ; that must be
Destroyed and laid in ruins. They may take
258
CLAUDIUS
But defenceless now,
Can they refuse us aught?
MANILIUS
It will be seen.
SCENE II.
COUNCIL HOUSE AT CARTHAGE
BIMILCO, HAMILCAR, HANNO, ISHBAAL, COUNCIL
BIMILCO
Thus are we helpless now before our foes;
Our swords, a mighty store of catapults,
Our spears, our armour, all are given up.
And now we wait their will.
HANNO
Grant they but peace,
And we are satisfied.
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CLAUDIUS
My lord !
MANILIUS
The hour now hastens on
Of Roman triumph. I have sent the terms
That we decided, to the Punic state,
By Scipio. He is young, too pitiful,
But able and discreet. He loves the Greek
Studies, that I detest; but ne'er the less,
He will do good to Rome.
CLAUDIUS
I think it.
MANILIUS
Now,
The last assault must be prepared, unless
They yield in this; I scarce dare deem they will,
A stubborn people.
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HAMILCAR
We must obey.
[Enter an Attendant.]
ATTENDANT
My lord, the Roman embassy returns,
Demanding audience.
BIMILCO
Bring the Romans in.
[Attendant goes and brings in Scipio and the embassy.]
What will ye further?
SCIPIO
This, Manilius
Our Consul bade me say to you: Remove
Your goods, your altars, wives, and sons, and slaves,
Destroy this Carthage, raze it to the ground,
And burn with fire: and build yourselves instead
An inland city, parted from the coast
Ten miles at least.
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BIMILCO
By all the gods infernal,
We will not grant you this.
SCIPIO
Those are the words
That I was bidden speak you.
HANNO
Be not rash,
Bimilco, nor provoke a power too great
For our withstanding.
BIMILCO
Send them hence away.
[Scipio and the embassy are taken off.]
HANNO
Is this a time to rush with foolish cries
To war for honour with a mighty power
That longs for nought but our destruction?
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Can we oppose to Rome our puny might,
Feeble and shrunken, since the giving-up
Of all our arms to Rome? Let us make peace
On any terms, while yet we may, lest worse
Than shamed honour fall; lest burning flames
Lick the tall temples of our captured town,
Yea, lest this very citadel be cast
To fiery ruin, and our lives be given
To foemen's mercy, our children to the sword,
Our wives to slavery. And should ye war
The people will not help you, but, a race
Unwarlike, yield your lives for theirs to Rome,
Lest they should perish in the day of fight,
For no concern of theirs. And wherefore thus
Do ye seek power? The wealth of many lands
Flowed in to us ; so may it flow again
If ye pursue in happy peace your trade,
Not striving with the ambitious might of Rome,
That longs for Empire. Let us answer them
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With words complaisant and obedient,
And hold our wealth and serve in peace our gods.
BIMILCO
Nay, shame upon you! 'Tis not only fame
That hangs upon our swords, but very life.
Our wealth, our power, the very roots of the state,
Are struck to death if we should dwell in land
Far from the sea that brings us wealth and life.
Come forth before the people, Hamilcar,
And tell them where they stand, 'twixt life and death,
Exhorting them to hold their constant hearts
Against the Roman, and in this dread pass
To fight with all the valour of their sires,
Weak as we be.
HAMILCAR
May the gods stir their hearts
To thought of mighty deeds !
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HANNO
I will go forth
And warn them, lest this senseless fury bring
Death and destruction on them !
BIMILCO
Stay thou here.
HAMILCAR
Stay here. [Holding him.]
HANNO
I must go forth.
HAMILCAR
Be ruled.
BIMILCO
Obey.
HANNO
Ye must be kept from this mad thing. [Breaks out.]
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BIMILCO
Come out,
And may the gods luckily speed our words !
[Exeunt Bimilco and Hamilcar.]
ISHBAAL
Amen !
1ST COUNCILLOR
He is mad, to spite the powers of Rome,
And thus defy them ; for they long our fall,
And now he has given them cause. The weaker's part
Is to obey the stronger, till prepared
He can stand forth as strong.
ISHBAAL
Necessity
Speaks with the loudest voice of all the gods;
The voice of policy is swallowed up,
And cowardice hides her head. The mate-fellows
Of Need are Courage and firm Resolution,
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For stern Necessity loves the stern and strong
And crushes Weakness in her steely grasp.
Ruin is ours, and death, if we should fail
In war's stern combat; but should we avoid
The battle, ruin is ours, and death. No way
Remains but desperately to draw the sword,
And trust the righteous gods.
[Shouting outside.]
—What is that shout?
[Still shouting.]
Is 't Hanno they acclaim, or is 't the words
Of stout Bimilco?
[Cries outside of " War!" "Death to the Romans!"]
Ah! the gods be praised!
They hail Bimilco, and their angry cries
Are curses on the Romans !
1ST COUNCILLOR
Woe the day !
ISHBAAL
For shame ! Wouldst thou betray thine altars, slave,
To Roman malice, striking ne'er a blow?
[Re-enter Bimilco and Hamilcar.]
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BIMILCO
The people are aroused, and shout for war.
ISHBAAL
The gods be thanked! ...
[A murmur of dissent from some of the Council.]
... Ye mis-begotten hounds,
Ye bastard Africans ! Can ye sit there,
The rulers of a people who acclaim
A righteous war, deliverance to our hearths,
Our shrines and altars, can ye sit and say,
"This shall not be"? Awake and be ashamed.
Arise, be strong, be brave ! Can ye forget?
The Romans aye have plagued us; now the gods
Have once again flung war between us two,
And now for life or death. Have ye forgot
How mighty Hannibal across the Alps
Swept like a god, and shook the walls of Rome
With terror of his name? Can ye forget
That famous day of splendid Trasimene,
Where many thousand Romans fell beneath
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Our Punic swords, or perished in the lake;
Or that most glorious day when Hannibal
At Cannae clipt the Roman legions in,
Circling them round, and so we slew and slew
Till weary of the slaughter, and the stream
For many days ran red with Roman blood?
And Victory smiled upon us, till the hour
When ye, ungrateful dogs, rejected him,
And bade him flee in exile through the earth,
And then the gods deserted you in wrath,
And since that time you bear your punishment.
But come, arise; the gods are now appeased,
And offer you again the fruits of war,
Honour, and power, and wealth, which you must seize
In hazardous sweat of war. Be strong, and fight,
And all the gods shall bless you with success.
HAMILCAR
Alas, how stand your forces? Unequipt,
Ill-trained in war, unfurnished now with arms.
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BIMILCO
But all the city rages; let us seize
The moment of their ardour, and enrol
Their numbers in our ranks.
HAMILCAR ,
Untrained, unwise
In warlike matters, can we dare oppose
The Roman legions with a mob like these?
BIMILCO
The gods be with us ! What we can, we will.
And may we compensate our lack of arms
And skill, by triple ardour in our cause.
HAMILCAR
All troops from Spain, methinks, should be recalled
For nearer duties.
BIMILCO
If our fleet can dare
The seas against the ships of Rome, we will.
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[To an Attendant.] Call hither the Numidian Hasdrubal
And bid him come with speed. ...
[Exit Attendant. Enter 1st Messenger.]
...Thy news?
1ST MESSENGER
My lord,
Hanno is torn in pieces of the mob.
They cry for war, for blood of Roman foes,
And blood of Punic traitors, who (they say)
Desired to let this city rot in peace.
BIMILCO
'Tis good...
[Exit 1st Messenger.]
...The gods be thanked, the people now
Are roused at last. Be Hanno's traitor blood
A sacrifice to heaven !
[Enter Hasdrubal.]
HASDRUBAL
The gods be with you !
270
BIMILCO
Thou knowest our state, good Hasdrubal; to thee
(For well we know thee strong, and firm, and wise,
In old experience of thy loyalty)
We give supreme command in Carthage here.
Stay you within, and make your best defence
By strengthening the walls, and blocking up
All ways assailable; and trebly strong
Make strong the Citadel. ...
[Enter 2nd Messenger.]
...What is thy news?
2ND MESSENGER
My lord, Himilco from without sends in
To offer you the utmost services
Of his Numidian horsemen, to defend
The city from the Roman.
BIMILCO
Heaven be thanked !
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[Enter 3rd Messenger.]
3RD MESSENGER
My lord, bold Hasdrubal, surnamed the Stout,
Has stoutly acted for our city's good,
And ta'en command of all our troops and men
Outside the city. All the land, moreover,
Joins us, and all our towns save Utica,
Where lies Manilius, join their cause with ours.
ISHBAAL
Then let us praise the favour of the gods,
And jointly supplicate their mighty power.
When I have prayed, and sacrificed to them,
(And let the people see the sacrifice,)
I will be with you, and what skill I have
Is yours and is the city's. First of all,
I charge you all to take a mighty oath
By all the gods of Carthage, and the soul
Of Hannibal, asking pardon for your faults;
And swear to stand by Carthage to the end,
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If need, to death and devastating doom;
That never will ye falter in the task
Your gods, your city, set you, but defend
Your liberties, your honour, and your fame,
Your wives and children, and your holy shrines,
Amid the very flames, if so it be;
And should the gods deliver us from death, '
And crown our brows with laurell'd victory,
And glad with Roman blood and Roman spoil
Our waiting eyes, that then the finest gifts
Of gold, and silver, wine and costly silks,
And yearling heifers, and the cursed arms
Of Romans, and the standards that we take,
With high thanksgiving ye will give to them,
Borne to their temples in triumphant pomp.
And may the gods defend us! Swear ye now.
BIMILCO, HAMILCAR
We swear.
HASDRUBAL
And I.
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ALL THE COUNCIL
And all of us.
ISHBAAL
Well sworn;
Go forth to fight in open field, or stay
Here to protect the city, as they bid
Who rule us; and the everlasting gods
Defend us all and give us victory!
[Exeunt.]
[As they go out, shouts are heard of the people acclaiming them, and crying "War!" "Victory!" "Freedom!"]
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SCENE III. UTICA: THE ROMAN CAMP
MANILIUS' TENT
MANILIUS and CLAUDIUS
MANILIUS
These, then, our plans, if Carthage now refuse
Our terms; and thus we gain such victory
As ne'er was won since Zama's glorious field;
And I shall lead in triumph thorough Rome,
Ev'n to the temple of all-highest Jove,
Our Punic captives, on the day we see
Our ancient enemies crumbled into dust.
And if they yield, we win a victory
Bloodless, without expense of Roman lives.
CLAUDIUS
'Twere well, my lord.
[Enter Scipio.]
275
MANILIUS
Ha, Scipio ! What reply,
What yielding, or defiance, dost thou bring?
SCIPIO
Defiance, sir. Roughly they cast us out,
No sooner than I spake thy words to them,
Swearing by all their gods of heaven and hell,
That they would fight till never a man remained
To say, "I am of Carthage."
MANILIUS
Now at length
They are given into our hands, and Punic spoils
Shall grace my chariot-wheels, and deck the shrines
Of Roman gods by Roman altar-fires.
Set on the advance.
CLAUDIUS
My lord, a messenger
Came now from Rome with news and with commands
Sent from the Senate.
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MANILIUS
We will hear him first,
And after, move on Carthage.
[Enter Messenger.]
Hail ! what news?
MESSENGER (delivering a packet).
These orders from the Senate. All in Rome
Is quiet, for the people hail the war.
But now we mourn for Cato.
MANILIUS
Cato dead?
MESSENGER
Ay, sir. The news had come that you had reached
The shores of Africa, and now prepared
The final blow. Thereat, with many words
He addressed the Senate, prophesying doom
On impious Carthage, now at length arrived,
277
So long deferred. "Carthage must be destroyed,"
He cried; and going out, he mounted up
The Rostra, thence he spake again, a crowd
Of all the Romans gathering, till they thronged
The Forum; scarcely was there room to breathe,
So dense the crowd that listened to his words.
And what he had spoken in the Capitol
He there repeated, and our loud applause
Re-echoed through the city. At the last,
Crying again, "Carthage must be destroyed,"
He left them, going home; and falling there
Sick of a sudden fever, in two days
He died, and at the end he thanked the gods
That he had lived so long, to see at last
False Carthage' imminent doom and overthrow,
Then cried again, "Carthage must be destroyed,
That Rome may flourish; Fortune prosper Rome ! "
And cursing Carthage, so he turned and died.
278
MANILIUS
When shall we see another man like him,
A man of age and ripe experience,
Whose many years and long unnumbered toils
Were all spent still in service of his Rome?
Wise, patient, honest, firm and constant, stern
In the ancient Roman virtue, hating pomp
And luxury of food and spiced wines,
And that base love of Grecian statuettes,
Carved trinkets, and un-Roman books, which thou,
Scipio, too much affectest. Is he dead,
That shield and great exemplar of our life
When Rome was greatest?
SCIPIO
Ay, he was a man,
A Roman, tried and true.
MANILIUS
Well, come we then,
And here perform what most he longed to see.
279
Move we on Carthage for immediate war.
See to the preparations. ...
[Exeunt Claudius and Scipio] [to the Messenger]
... Wait thou here
Within our camp, until I send thee back
With first report of war to Rome. Go hence,
And bid them give thee meat and bread and wine;
And rest, till I have further need of thee.
[Exit Messenger. After him Manilius.]
280
ACT III
SCENE I. THE ROMAN CAMP
146 B.C.
Enter ScIPIO and CLAUDIUS
SCIPIO
Thus, we complete our preparation
For the last attack. This morn the Punic fleet
Sailed forth, and in the open sea they met
Our Roman ships: a battle thus ensued,
In which the Punic vessels were destroyed
By fire, or sank, or yielded to our crews.
And now the harbour also is enclosed
From which they sailed, nor any ship can come
And that way bring them food or arms or aid.
Nor less our cause has prospered on the land:
From day to day the space of their defence
281
Grows smaller; though they build new walls across
Within the old defences (as they say
Worked the Plataeans 'gainst the Spartan hosts),
Yet by device and valour, daily still
We pierce their bulwarks; still, as hope grows less,
They wax the fiercer. Would to all the gods
That they would yield them; so should I have power
To spare them somewhat; if they fight to the end,
To the end I must destroy them, and erase
Their name and city from the face of earth.
And yet they proved a worthy foe of Rome,
When Hannibal was mighty, ere he fell
Before my father's sword. You know the tale
How Hannibal, defeated and exiled,
Met in his wanderings with my father once,
Who asked him, who the greatest captain was,
That time had brought to light, he answered, first
The Conqueror of Persia, who subdued
From Greece to India; then, the Grecian king
282
Who warred with Rome; and third, he named himself.
"And had you conquered me? " my father asked.
"Then above Alexander's self," he said,
"I should have placed my name." So foes should meet
In peace, their warfare done; and so, they say,
Achilles welcomed Priam, when he came
To beg for Hector's body, and received if
His enemy with honour. Nay, but now,
If these will fight, despairing, to the last,
Helpless and hopeless, then, no mercy shown,
We must subdue them.
CLAUDIUS
And you will, my lord,
For Rome was wise in nominating you
To Consulship, beneath a Consul's age,
A heaven-born general; and your soldiers love
And follow you, as ne'er Manilius
Obtained their favour.
283
SCIPIO
Pray, no more of this.
My office is a burden and a trust,
A task, and not a boast. And even now,
So stubborn is their fury, that methinks,
'Tis not tomorrow or next moon will see
The final end. I wonder at their skill
In hard defence; bereft of every aid
Of warfare, by Manilius' act, they yet
Have strengthened all the city's every part
Against assault, and Roman discipline
And Roman valour have been sorely tried
To win their conquest. Much remains to do.
CLAUDIUS
But 'twill be done, sir.
SCIPIO
Ay, in time; but yet
We must endure much, scheme and vigil much,
Ere final victory smile upon our arms.
284
[Enter Licinius.]
Well, good Licinius?
LICINIUS
Sir, there is arrived
A message from the Senate.
SCIPIO
Let me see (takes the packet).
How speak the men, Licinius?
LICINIUS
Very well,
They speak of victory, sir, and Punic spoil,
And laugh about the fight with eager jest.
They boast of taking home to please their wives And little children, helmets full of gold,
And Carthaginian silks and rich brocade,
"Though food and wine we shall not find inside,"
They say, and laugh. "Carthage must be destroyed,"
They cry, "but not her trophies." Good my lord,
285
They love you and they ever drink to you.
"Our noble lord and general, Scipio,
Scipio of Africa," they hail your name.
SCIPIO
Good. See them merry; merry men are still
The better fighters. Promise them the spoil
We take of gold and silk and warlike arms.
[Exit Licinius.]
Well, this dispatch. ...
(Reads it.)
... Ha! so the Senate say,
Three years we have warred with Carthage; 'tis enough,
Manilius failed to conquer: and his place
I fill, and by my honour and desire
For honour, I "must conquer speedily."
These blockhead greybeards ! Let them come and see
Our enemies' brave defence, or send at least
More men, that I may "conquer speedily."
They need report of action, or I fall
Dishonoured; and the mob clamour for news
Of victory and spoil and triumph. Ha!
286
When did a Senate listen to a mob
And win a conquest? What do Roman crowds
Know of a general's task? They cry for news?
They think a victory is easily won!
The gods confound them ! Curse their stinking breath,
They waste on judging, ignorant, those that know,
The Senate and their rulers. Give them power,
And they would capture Carthage in a day !
I know them, and I know their demagogues, ,
A race of madmen leading the unwise,
Self-perjured, seeking only to abuse
The wisest of the city. See how once
They rose when Fabius played with Hannibal,
Delaying still his action; and they cried,
"Give us a general and a man who fights!"
Yet Fabius by delaying saved the state.
Their shallow wits demand a spectacle,
Not solid wisdom; and a state so ruled
Reels headlong down to ruin.
287
CLAUDIUS
Ay, my lord;
Keep but the rabble under, you may live;
But let them rule—and heaven be your help !
But that the Senate should have listened thus
To shoutings in the Forum !
scum
It is strange.
But let us try what may be done to give
A comfortable message to the mob,
That they may shout, and gloat on Punic blood,
Who spent no blood or sweat in royal fight,
But only breath on the Rostra, in our war.
The general here obeys the Senate there.
We will attempt a speedy victory.
[Exeunt.]
288
SCENE II.
THE CENTRAL SQUARE OF CARTHAGE.
THE COUNCIL HOUSE BEHIND. AN ALTAR STANDS BEFORE IT
A crowd of old men, women, children, wounded men, etc.
Enter a MESSENGER
MESSENGER
Weep ! weep ! we are lost ! Our fleet, our ships, are gone
To uttermost destruction in the sea.
1ST CITIZEN
Alack, how happened it?
MESSENGER
This morn they sailed—
I saw them go—to venture forth to Spain
For those our soldiers quartered there, to bring
Them hither to our help, and fetch beside
289
A store of grain, to feed us, famished now
For lack of bread and meat and ruddy wine.
No sooner had they reached the open sea,
Than Romans fell upon them, and with hooks
They grappled them—accursed be his name
Who made those hooks !—and fighting as on land
Upon our Punic seas, they boarded us
And burnt or sank or captured all our crews.
ALL
Heaven help us now !
MESSENGER
But worse is yet to come.
The Romans block our harbour, and no power
Is ours to stop them. Therefore from abroad
We are now cut off, from Spain, from Palestine,
From Greece, Sardinia, even Sicily,
Where yet a few abide who serve our gods;
And therefore now no men nor corn nor wine
290
an come to reinforce our failing strength.
must go tell our rulers all this news; )
leaven give them wisdom and our city might !
it into the Council House. A great wail arises.
[Enter Maharbal, wounded, supported by Methubal.]
MAHARBAL
What next, ye gods, what next? The gates are smashed,
'he Romans pouring through. I stood with those
Who held the gate; my body I opposed
Where wood and steel had failed. I got this gash
From a Roman sword; my helmet, thank the gods,
Vas stout, or I had fallen. Now they assault
'he inner wall we built; and hardly there
an we resist them. 0 ye gods, what next?
am faint, and scarcely stand; would yet I might
Oppose them, falling gladly might I slay
Half-dozen Romans first.
291
METHUBAL
Be of good cheer;
I hear the shouting from the inner wall,
And ours the louder.
A MOTHER
Woe ! my son! my son !
He is fallen ! Woe upon us !
HER CHILD
Give me, mother,
A sword, and I will fight them. I will kill
The Romans, and revenge my brother's death.
THE MOTHER
You are too young and weak, my child. Woe ! woe !
2ND CITIZEN [Rushing in.]
Fly ! all is lost ! Fly ! Fly ! They break the wall,
They pour upon us. A thousand Punic dead
Are there before the barriers! Fly for safety,
Fly for your lives !
292
MAHARBAL
Good people, I am weak,
Wounded and fainting; yet I say, Be calm,
We are not conquered yet. But bind me up,
Give me some wine, and let me rest awhile,
And I shall go again where 'mid the darts
Our countrymen are fighting, and the swords
Of cruel Romans.
2ND CITIZEN
Pardon; I was distraught.
MAHARBAL
Be firm; resist them even to the death. .,
[He is taken off.]
3RD CITIZEN
What shall we do? Where are our rulers now?
A WOUNDED SOLDIER
I saw Bimilco lead in the thickest fight
And fall amid a thousand Roman foes,
293
Of whom, before he fell, he sent to death
Twenty before him.
3RD CITIZEN
Thus are we bereft
Of both Suffetes. Stoutly Hamilcar
Led us in battle; stoutly there he fell.
A GENERAL CRY
Woe ! woe ! we are doomed !
[Enter from Council House Hasdrubal, Ishbaal, and several Senators.]
HASDRUBAL
Good people, wail not thus,
But trust the gods, your rulers, and the men
Who even now oppose their lives below
In thickest battle. All this morn I fought
Myself with them, withstanding at the gate
The fiercest Roman valour. Thence I came
To counsel for the wisest policy
In this most troublous hour. The shadow of death
294
Hangs over us and Carthage; now 'tis meet 1
The more, we stoutly face it, and avert,
If yet we may, the menace that it brings.
ISHBAAL
Trust in the gods, nor yield you to complaints,
Trust your own valour and your constancy,
Resolving that whatever yet may hap,
Yea, though destruction wrap you round in flame,
Ye will resist; the terribler your foe,
The higher yet your spirit and your mind,
To master it; for he who welcomes fate,
However it may come, has vanquished fate.
Be strong, ye Carthaginians, yea, be strong;
Fear not; for conquering fear, ye conquer all.
[Standing before the altar.]
And now we offer incense to the gods,
And pray them, take, as 'twere a sacrifice
Offered hereon, the blood of those who died,
And die, to save our city. 0 ye gods,
295
Lord Baal, whom we worship still by fire,
Come down and save us. Mighty are our arms,
If thou empower them, strong our puny swords
(Though few and brittle), if thou strengthen us.
Thou lovest prayer, thou lovest valorous strength;
May both be ours; and may we worship thee
As thou desirest, then, with might new-strength'd,
Go forth to battle for thy land and ours;
Guide thou the issue to our victory;
For in thy hands it lies, our life or death.
[To the people.]
Go hence, ye women, weep, if ye must weep,
At home; or fight, if fight with arms ye can,
Ye old men, pray and ponder; ye have known
Full many a year of life; let now your wisdom
Be given to Carthage. All who can, go forth,
Come to the wall, and fight while life be left,
Nor spare your bodies. Forth ! Come forth and fight !
ALL
Death to the Romans! Death!
296
ISHBAAL
Come after me,
And I will lead you.
ALL
Death to the Romans ! Death !
[Ishbaal and Hasdrubal lead out the men; and some of the old
men, women, and even children, follow them. The remainder
disperse; the Councillors who are too old to fight, retiring
into the Council House, after first praying round the altars.
Cries are heard of the fighters.]
297
SCENE III.
THE BYRSA. TEMPLE BEHIND ON TOP OF THE HILL
Cries and sounds of fighting from time to time throughout the scene. Men, women, and children building up the walls, and preparing for the final defence. Hasdrubal and Ishbaal directing them.
ISHBAAL
Build ye, yea, build; work ye for those who fight !
Mourn we no longer now, nor weep at all
For those who die, or ev'n our city's doom.
The time for tears is past, even the time
For prayer is over now. Raise up your walls
As altars to the gods, and let your blows
Be nobler tribute to the Punic blood
Shed so today in rivers for the price
Of Punic freedom and our city's life.
298
Instead of curses, let the clash of arms
Resound to heaven against our ruthless foes.
Pile up the bastions, fortify the walls;
Tear down the houses for their stones, and build.
Ay, let the very statues of the gods
Be taken from their temples, and oppose
Their stone to Roman steel in our defence.
Build, build! [Methubal rushes in, wounded in the head.]
METHUBAL
The gods defend us !
HASDRUBAL
What's the news?
METHUBAL
Still fighting at the gates, in conflict stern
And undecided; still the scales of war
Hang even. Bind me up, and I will go
Still to the combat.
299
MAHARBAL'S MOTHER
Hast thou seen my son,
My son Maharbal, whom thou broughtest in
Yesterday wounded; but he went again
This morning forth?
METHUBAL
Weak yet, again he fought
Thick in the hottest battle, slaying still
The enemy in his fury, holding back
The Roman onset, and the tide of men
Up-surging to our walls.
MOTHER
Is he yet safe?
METHUBAL
Our foes recoiled before him, but his wound
O'ercame him, vanquishing whom they could not;
He sudden reel'd with weakness, and they came
And slew him lying 'mid our thinning ranks.
300
MOTHER
Woe ! woe ! alas, my son !
METHUBAL
Be comforted.
[Methubal is bound up by some of the women, and given drink.]
ISHBAAL
Weep not for him, but weep for Carthage now
And for thyself, or rather, not at all,
But toil and suffer; he is gone away
In time, and sleeps a blessed sleep, while we
Bear still the battle, live to bear the doom.
Work on.
METHUBAL
I am strong again; give me my sword,
And I will take my shield. The gods be with you,
And succour me!
[Exit to the battle.]
301
ISHBAAL
Take up these fallen stones,
And place them in the road, and block the way
Before the Romans.
HASDRUBAL
0 ye mighty gods,
Can ye not see the right? and shall our foes,
These robbers of our land, fair freedom's thieves,
Be victors now while still you reign above?
ISHBAAL
Our strength be in ourselves; the gods' command
Is, Work, and fight, and die; be strong, endure.
He that endures has conquered; be ye strong.
[Enter Micah, wounded.]
MICAH
Most horrible of sights that I have seen !
Our men are cut asunder, and they lie,
Limbless and torn, a living agony,
302
A living death; the ground is deep in blood,
The wall is piled with corpses; now, upon
This loosened hell, they add the plague of fire.
We fight in flames, and charred bodies lie,
Black ashes, and yet still in human form;
Their head was this, and these their shoulders once;
Here beat their mighty heart; a shape of man,
Now burnt-out fuel. 0 ye mighty gods !
Spare us this suffering !
HASDRUBAL
How goes the fight?
MICAH
With desperate valour; inch by inch we strive,
And inch by inch are pressed, a solid mass
Of battling soldiers, backwards.
HASDRUBAL
Back?
303
MICAH
Ay so.
We fight with picks and axes, and with bars,
No sword is in our hands; they press us back,
Nor long ere they will have the wall, and rush
In fury hither. I am faint with wounds;
Defend the city. [Faints.]
HASDRUBAL
Build ye up the walls;
Prepare our last defence. 0 citadel
Of Carthage !
SHOUTING OUTSIDE
Romans, on !
[A man rushes in wildly.]
THE MAN
We are lost ! we are lost !
Woe to the city ! They are through at last,
Their only obstacle our heaps of dead
They stumble over. Yield you !
304
ISHBAAL t
Gods of death!
[Strikes him down.]
Who cries surrender?
ALL
Fight ! To the death ! To death !
MICAH
The gods save Carthage ! [Dies.]
HASDRUBAL
Lo ! they come, they come !
[Enter Licinius and the Roman army, pressing back the Carthaginians, men, old men, women, and children, fighting desperately with picks, bars, etc., hands and teeth. Among them Methubal. They reach the last defences. Licinius speaks.]
LICINIUS
O, Carthaginians, hold your hands, and hear
Our noble Scipio's word. Ye may go hence
n peace, and save your lives, and build yourselves
305
Another city inland. You have fought
With desperate courage, and for your defence
He honours you, and grants you thus your lives,
And safety and a city. Yield you now,
Go hence in peace, and thank his clemency,
Ere yet the final terrors of our war
Break on your heads. Give not yourselves to death,
Yield.
ISHBAAL
Yield ! What word is this to Punic men?
Though heaven itself should topple on our heads,
We battle unafraid. Our lives to death
We have already given. Shall we fear
To die, who know our life already past?
Or can we live, when Carthage' ruins fall
About us?
ALL
Fight! to death!
306
LICINIUS
You noble foes,
Be not. thus foolish. Live to look again
Upon the sun, and breathe the air of heaven.
ISHBAAL 4
Our sun is quenched with Carthage' fall; our air
Is fouled with Carthage' ashes. Fight yet on,
We are your prey, perchance; yet ere our doom
Is all fulfilled, a thousand Romans yet
Shall curse us, falling in our final strife.
Set on !
LICINIUS
Upon your heads be then your death.
[The fight is renewed. The wall is a formidable obstacle, stoutly and desperately defended.]
HASDRUBAL
On yet, ye Carthaginians !
[Another desperate attack, in which Methubal falls.]
307
METHUBAL
Fight ye on, Fight on !
[Dies. Great slaughter on both sides. Hasdrubal and Ishbaal are throughout foremost. Hasdrubal is wounded, but still fights.]
HASDRUBAL
Slay on, slay till yourselves are slain !
Death to the Roman robbers!
[He falls, overcome by his wounds and the pressure of the Romans.]
Oh! I am slain !
[The Carthaginians, dismayed, lose ground. Ishbaal rallies them. At length they are pressed back, and retire, the few that are left, towards the temple at the top. Enter Scipio and Claudius.]
CLAUDIUS
My lord, the victory is ours. They fall
Beneath our Roman swords like autumn corn
Before the sickle.
308
SCIPIO
Yet our Roman dead
.re told by hundreds. Mourning must not be
Too much commingled with our triumph's joy.
Come, fight we here.
[He flings himself into the fight, Claudius following, leading the Romans against a weak part of the defences. The Carthaginians are driven back further.]
On, Romans, on !
ISHBAAL
Hold yet,
Stand firm, ye Carthaginians. Fling yourselves,
gain against them, be your swords your gods,
tour hope be in your valour and your strength.
Living or dead, be worthy of your race !
[He rallies them, but at last they are compelled to retire to the temple. Here they can hold on against the Romans, who are directed by Scipio who now, with Claudius, watches and commands from the rear.]
309
SCIPIO
In, on the left ! They weaken !
[Another rush, partially successful. Licinius totters out of the
mêlée, badly wounded.]
How with you,
Licinius?
LICINIUS
Killed, sir. Their defence is strong;
But we shall have it, though a thousand dead
Lie round about it first. [Dies.]
SCIPIO
So many brave
Dead in the onset ! So abrupt a slope
Is hard against such fierce and desperate men.
[The Romans are forced to give way again a little on the left.]
Gods, how they fight ! Would yet that they would yield,
That I might spare them.
310
CLAUDIUS
Good my lord, your triumph,
Your honour so were gone. The Senate says,
Destroy them quickly. You cannot spare them now.
SCIPIO
Go bid them fire the temple.
[They set fire to the base of the temple. The flames shoot up. A cry from the defenders.]
ISHBAAL
Stand you firm,
And die like Carthaginians ! Shame your foes.
SCIPIo (alone)
Alack, the terrible ruin ! See the flames
That lick the walls of Carthage' citadel,
Ascending now to the top,—insatiate wrath,
Inevitable doom !—till all is wrapt
In the red circle of their hot embrace,
And none can live in that devouring blaze !
311
"The day shall be, when holy Troy shall fall"
How speaks great Homer? Ah, my Rome? My Rome
Nay, mayst thou flourish yet, and ever wax
Stronger in power, and nobler in thy fame !
CLAUDIUS [returning to Scipio]
My lord, we have won the day. The fire has touched
The topmost turrets of their last defence.
scIPIO
Well done, my Romans ! Never shall your deeds
Be now forgotten: men shall speak with awe
Of Rome's great conquest while the world shall last.
Hear ye our further will. This city's might
Shall ne'er again oppose us. When the flames
Have done their work, and flickered out at last
Amid a heap of ashes, once the heart
Of mighty energies, raze down and break
Each stone yet standing, till ye cannot know
A city once was here, nor where her walls
312
Parted the country from her streets and ways.
And sow the place with salt, that none may come
And reap, where Carthage stood, the fruits of earth,
But be the site for evermore accursed;
Not any wanderer here shall pitch his tent,
Nor any shepherd drive his flocks to graze,
In this bleak barren spot where Carthage stood.
But where they lived in pleasant palaces
Shall serpents live, and reptiles in their filth;
Where music sounded in their feasts by night,
The nightly owl shall screech; and all the land
Shall be a waste and howling wilderness
For ever, nor shall any dwell herein
For evermore. So speaks our Senate's word,
Sworn changelessly by all the gods of Rome.
[All this while the temple has been burning, while those within have stood silent. Now it is ready to fall. Suddenly, amid the hush following Scipio's curse, Ishbaal's voice is heard.]
313
ISHBAAL
Hail, Roman!
[The Romans shrink back, affrighted.]
ALL THE ROMANS
Hark !
scIPIO
What deathly voice is this?
ISHBAAL
All hail, you noble Romans ! Be ye proud
To know your prowess and your valiant might
Have slain the fairest city of the world,
Cunningly first despoiled of all our strength,
Because we trusted you, and thought on peace,
While you, with peaceful promise on your lips,
Hid malice in your heart, and dealt us death.
Now we are gone, and Rome at last supreme,
Yet have I seen a vision in the flames,
That turns to shame your boasted victory,
And leaves us yet, amid the loss of all,
314
Our honour standing. You have vanquished us;
But we, ay, we can die. You boast yourselves
In triumph and in fame, while we, amid
The ruin of our temples and our homes,
Thus grandly perish. Who is conqueror?
[The temple falls, overwhelming Ishbaal and the Carthaginians.
The Romans recoil; Scipio hides his face in his robe.]
FINIS
Finished, Jan. 4th, 1918.
315
CAMBRIDGE :
PRINTED BY
J. B. PEACE, M.A.,
AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS
