ssins of
their country. They soon found that they could accomplish nothing and
had to face the repeated command either to execute the order or to
cast the die of war. Many of the people then remained there on the
Roman side, tacitly admitting their success: the remainder withdrew,
and after killing some of their rulers for not having chosen war in
the first place and after murdering such Romans as were discovered
within the fortification they turned their attention to war. Under
these circumstances they liberated all the slaves, restored the
exiles, chose Hasdrubal once more as leader, and made ready arms,
engines, and triremes. With war at their doors and the danger of
slavery confronting them they prepared in the briefest possible time
everything that they needed. They spared nothing, but melted down the
statues for the sake of the bronze in them and used the hair of their
women for ropes. The consuls at first, thinking them unarmed, expected
to overcome them speedily and merely prepared ladders, with which they
expected to scale the wall at once. As the assault showed their
enemies to be armed and they saw that they possessed means for a
siege, the Romans, before approaching close to the city again, devoted
themselves to the manufacture of engines. The construction of these
machines was fraught with danger, since Hasdrubal set ambuscades for
those who were gathering the wood and annoyed them considerably, but
in time they were able to assail the town. Now Manilius in his assault
from the land side could not injure the Carthaginians at all, but
Marcius, while delivering an attack from marshy ground on the side
where the sea was, managed to shake down a part of the wall, though he
could not get inside. The Carthaginians repulsed those who attempted
to force their way in, and at night issued through the ruins to slay
numerous men and burn up a very large number of engines. Hasdrubal and
the cavalry, however, did not allow them to scatter over any
considerable territory and Masinissa lent them no aid. He had not been
invited at the opening of the war, and, though he had promised
Hasdrubal that he would fight now, they gave him no opportunity of
doing so.

IX, 27.--The consuls in view of the outcome of their attempts and
because their fleet had been damaged by its stay in the lake raised
the siege. Marcius endeavored to achieve some advantage by sea or at
least to injure the coast districts, but not accomplishing anythin