ity burned for seventeen
days. The destruction was complete. A part of her territory was given to
Numidia. The rest was made a Roman province, and called AFRICA.

The year 149 saw the death of two men who had been Carthage's most
bitter enemies, but who were not allowed to see her downfall,--MASINISSA
and CATO, the one aged ninety, the other eighty-five.

Masinissa's (239-149) hostility dates from the time he failed to get the
promised hand of Hasdrubal's daughter, Sophonisba, who was given to
his rival, Syphax. After the battle of Zama, most of the possessions of
Syphax fell to Masinissa, and among them this same Sophonisba, whom he
married. Scipio, however, fearing her influence over him, demanded
her as a Roman captive, whereupon she took poison. Masinissa was a
courageous prince, but a convenient tool for the Romans.

CATO THE ELDER (_Major_), (234-149,) whose long public career was a
constant struggle with the enemies of the state abroad, and with the
fashions of his countrymen at home, was a type of the _old_ Roman
character, with a stern sense of duty that forbade his neglecting the
interests of state, farm, or household. In 184, in his capacity as
Censor, he acted with extreme rigor. He zealously asserted old-fashioned
principles, and opposed the growing tendency to luxury. All innovations
were in his eyes little less than crimes. He was the author of several
works, one of which, a treatise on agriculture, has been preserved.

Cicero's "Cato Major" represents him in his eighty-fourth year
discoursing about old age with Africanus the younger, and Laelius, a
friend of the latter.

CHAPTER XX. ROME AND SPAIN.-THE NUMANTINE AND SERVILE WARS. (206-132.)

Africanus the elder left Spain in 206. After a provincial government
of nine years (206-197), the country was divided into two provinces,
separated by the IBERUS (Ebro), and each province was assigned to a
praetor. It was some time, however, before Spain was really brought into
a state of complete peace and order. The mountains and forests were a
formidable obstacle to the Roman legions, and favored guerilla warfare,
which makes conquest slow and laborious.

The most warlike of the Spanish tribes was the CELTIBERI, who
occupied the interior of the peninsula. They were always uncertain and
intractable, continually breaking out into revolt. In 195, Cato the
elder put down a rebellion led by them. He established more firmly the
Roman power east of the Ibe