encounter should take place the
following day at sunrise, in the plain of Rhades.

The Mercenaries wished to know whether he had said anything more, and
the Libyan added:

"As I remained in his presence, he asked me what I was waiting for.
'To be killed!' I replied. Then he rejoined: 'No! begone! that will be
to-morrow with the rest.'"

This generosity astonished the Barbarians; some were terrified by it,
and Matho regretted that the emissary had not been killed.

He had still remaining three thousand Africans, twelve hundred
Greeks, fifteen hundred Campanians, two hundred Iberians, four hundred
Etruscans, five hundred Samnites, forty Gauls, and a troop of Naffurs,
nomad bandits met with in the date region--in all seven thousand two
hundred and nineteen soldiers, but not one complete syntagmata. They
had stopped up the holes in their cuirasses with the shoulder-blades of
quadrupeds, and replaced their brass cothurni with worn sandals. Their
garments were weighted with copper or steel plates; their coats of
mail hung in tatters about them, and scars appeared like purple threads
through the hair on their arms and faces.

The wraiths of their dead companions came back to their souls and
increased their energy; they felt, in a confused way, that they were the
ministers of a god diffused in the hearts of the oppressed, and were the
pontiffs, so to speak, of universal vengeance! Then they were enraged
with grief at what was extravagant injustice, and above all by the sight
of Carthage on the horizon. They swore an oath to fight for one another
until death.

The beasts of burden were killed, and as much as possible was eaten so
as to gain strength; afterwards they slept. Some prayed, turning towards
different constellations.

The Carthaginians arrived first in the plain. They rubbed the edges of
their shields with oil to make the arrows glide off them easily; the
foot-soldiers who wore long hair took the precaution of cutting it on
the forehead; and Hamilcar ordered all bowls to be inverted from the
fifth hour, knowing that it is disadvantageous to fight with the stomach
too full. His army amounted to fourteen thousand men, or about double
the number of the Barbarians. Nevertheless, he had never felt such
anxiety; if he succumbed it would mean the annihilation of the Republic,
and he would perish on the cross; if, on the contrary, he triumphed, he
would reach Italy by way of the Pyrenees, the Gauls, and the Alps, and