and
utterly defeated with great loss; 15,000 men were killed in battle, and
5000 men, with 18 elephants, were taken. The Carthaginian troops retired
within the walls of the capital, and Regulus now overran the country
without opposition. Many towns fell into the power of the Romans, and
among others Tunis, which was at the distance of only 20 miles from
Carthage. The Numidians took the opportunity of recovering their
independence, and their roving bands completed the devastation of the
country. The Carthaginians, in despair, sent a herald to Regulus to
solicit peace; but the Roman general, intoxicated with success, would
only grant it on such intolerable terms that the Carthaginians resolved
to continue the war and hold out to the last. In the midst of their
distress and alarm, succor came to them from an unexpected quarter.
Among the Greek mercenaries who had lately arrived at Carthage was a
Lacedaemonian of the name of Xanthippus. He pointed out to the
Carthaginians that their defeats were owing to the incompetency of their
generals, and not to the superiority of the Roman arms; and he inspired
such confidence in the government, that he was forthwith placed at the
head of their troops. Relying on his 4000 cavalry and 100 elephants,
Xanthippus boldly marched into the open country to meet the enemy,
though his forces were very inferior in number to the Romans. Regulus
readily accepted battle thus offered; but it ended in his total
overthrow. Thirty thousand Romans were slain; scarcely 2000 escaped to
Clupea, and Regulus himself, with 500 more, was taken prisoner. This was
in the year B.C. 255.

Another disaster awaited the Romans in this year. Their fleet, which had
been sent to Africa to carry off the remains of the army of Regulus, had
not only succeeded in their object, but had gained a victory over the
Carthaginian fleet. They were returning home when they were overtaken
off Camarina, in Sicily, by a fearful storm. Nearly the entire fleet was
destroyed, and the coast was strewed for miles with wrecks and corpses.

The Romans, with undiminished energy, immediately set to work to build a
new fleet, and in less than three months 220 ships were ready for sea.
But the same fate awaited them. In B.C. 253 the Consuls had ravaged the
coasts of Africa, but, on their return, were again surprised by a
fearful storm off Cape Palinurus. A hundred and fifty ships were
wrecked. This blow, coming so soon after the other, damped th