g it, because their population does not furnish
sailors in sufficient numbers to man and navigate it. It was
probably, in part, on this account that Scipio decided not to take
the Carthaginian ships away, and perhaps he also wanted to show to
Carthage and to the world that his object in taking possession of
the national property of his foes was not to enrich his own country
by plunder, but only to deprive ambitious soldiers of the power
to compromise any longer the peace and happiness of mankind by
expeditions for conquest and power. However this may be, Scipio
determined to destroy the Carthaginian fleet, and not to convey
it away.

On a given day, therefore, he ordered all the galleys to be got
together in the bay opposite to the city of Carthage, and to be
burned. There were five hundred of them, so that they constituted a
large fleet, and covered a large expanse of the water. A vast
concourse of people assembled upon the shores to witness the grand
conflagration. The emotion which such a spectacle was of itself
calculated to excite was greatly heightened by the deep but stifled
feelings of resentment and hate which agitated every Carthaginian
breast. The Romans, too, as they gazed upon the scene from their
encampment on the shore, were agitated as well, though with different
emotions. Their faces beamed with an expression of exultation and
triumph as they saw the vast masses of flame and columns of smoke
ascending from the sea, proclaiming the total and irretrievable ruin
of Carthaginian pride and power.

Having thus fully accomplished his work, Scipio set sail for Rome. All
Italy had been filled with the fame of his exploits in thus
destroying the ascendency of Hannibal. The city of Rome had now
nothing more to fear from its great enemy. He was shut up, disarmed,
and helpless, in his own native state, and the terror which his
presence in Italy had inspired had passed forever away. The whole
population of Rome, remembering the awful scenes of consternation and
terror which the city had so often endured, regarded Scipio as a great
deliverer. They were eager to receive and welcome him on his arrival.
When the time came and he approached the city, vast throngs went out
to meet him. The authorities formed civic processions to welcome him.
They brought crowns, and garlands, and flowers, and hailed his
approach with loud and prolonged acclamations of triumph and joy. They
gave him the name of Africanus, in honor of his