ly, and according to the wishes of the senate; and that,
whatever other acts of kindness they had done to them, were in
conformity with the wishes of the senate. That they gave them
permission to deposit their present in the Capitol." Orders were then
given to furnish the ambassadors with apartments and entertainment,
and that not less than ten thousand _asses_ should be given to each as
a present. After this, the rest of the embassies were introduced and
heard. On the request of the Saguntines that they might go and take
a view of Italy as far as they could with safety, they were furnished
with guides, and letters were sent to the several towns, requiring
them to entertain the Spaniards kindly. The senate then took into
consideration the state of public affairs, the levying troops, and the
provinces.

40. It being generally reported that Africa, as a new province, was
destined for Publius Scipio without casting lots; and he himself, not
content with any moderate share of glory, asserting that he had been
declared consul, not only for prosecuting, but for finishing the war;
that that object could not be accomplished by any other means than
by his transporting an army into Africa; and himself openly declaring
that he would do it through the people if the senate opposed him; the
design by no means pleased the principal senators; and when the rest,
either through fear or a wish to ingratiate themselves with him, only
murmured, Quintus Fabius Maximus, being asked his opinion, thus spoke:
"I know, conscript fathers, that by many of you the question which is
this day agitated is considered as already determined; and that the
man who shall deliver his sentiments on the subject of making Africa a
province, as a new proposal, will speak to little purpose. But, in the
first place, I cannot see how it can be considered as determined,
that Africa shall be the province of the consul, that brave and active
officer, when neither the senate have voted nor the people ordered
that it should be constituted a province this year. In the next
place, if it is determined, I think the consul is to blame, who,
by pretending to consult the senate on a question already decided,
insults that body, and not the senator only who delivers his
sentiments in his place on the subject of deliberation. Now I am well
aware, that by disapproving of this excessive eagerness to pass over
into Africa, I subject myself to two imputations: one grounded on the
cau