s
believed to be a favorite of the gods. Ever since he had risen to
manhood, he went every morning into the Capitol, where he spent some
hours in solitude and meditation. Hence all he did was considered by
the people to be the result of his intercourse with the gods. Scipio
himself partook in this opinion, and cherished it; and the
extraordinary success of all his enterprises must have strengthened
his belief.

Toward the end of the summer, in B.C. 210, or, as Livy says, at the
beginning of spring, Scipio set out for Spain with an army of 11,000
men, landed at the mouth of the Iberus, and undertook the command of
the whole Roman forces in Spain. He was accompanied by his friend,
Laelius. His first object was to gain possession of New Carthage, where
the Carthaginians kept their Spanish hostages. Laelius made the attack
with the fleet from the seaside, while Scipio conducted the operations
on land. The town soon fell into the hands of the Romans, and the
generosity with which Scipio treated the Spanish hostages gained over
a great number of Spaniards. The hostages of those tribes who declared
themselves allies of the Romans were sent home without ransom. It is
also related that a very beautiful maiden having fallen to his special
lot in the division of the booty, Scipio finding her sad, inquired the
cause, and learning that she was betrothed to a neighboring chief,
sent for the lover, and personally restored the maid in all honor to
his arms. A short time after the conquest of this place Scipio went to
Tarraco, where he received embassies from various Spanish tribes, who
offered to become the allies of the Romans or to recognize their
supremacy.

Scipio is said not to have set out against Hasdrubal until the year
following, but it can scarcely be conceived why the Carthaginians
should have been so long inactive, and it is a probable supposition
that the battle with Hasdrubal, which Livy and Polybius assign to the
year B.C. 209, was fought very soon after the taking of New Carthage.
In this battle Scipio gained a great victory; 8,000 Carthaginians were
slain, and 22,000, with their camp, fell into the hands of the victor.
Many of the Spaniards now wished to proclaim Scipio their king, but he
refused the honor.

Hasdrubal fled with the remainder of his army toward the Tagus and the
Pyrenees. Scipio did not follow him, partly because he thought his
enemy too much weakened to be dangerous, and partly because he feared
l