of destruction and
butchery went on for six days. The fate of this once magnificent city
moved Scipio to tears; and, anticipating that a similar catastrophe
might one day befall Rome, he is said to have repeated the lines of the
Iliad over the flames of Carthage: "The day shall come when sacred Troy
shall perish, and Priam and his people shall be slain."

Scipio returned to Rome in the same year, and celebrated a splendid
triumph on account of his victory. The surname of Africanus, which he
had inherited by adoption, had now been acquired by his own exploits.

A portion of the dominions of Carthage was assigned to Utica. The
remainder was formed into a Roman province under the name of Africa.
Carthage itself was leveled to the ground, and a curse pronounced upon
any who should rebuild the city. C. Gracchus, however, only twenty-four
years afterward, attempted to found a new city upon the ancient site
under the name of Junonia; but evil prodigies at its foundation, and the
subsequent death of Gracchus, interrupted this design. The project was
revived by Julius Caesar, and was carried into effect by Augustus; and
Roman Carthage, built at a short distance from the former city, became
the capital of Africa, and one of the most flourishing cities in the
ancient world. In the fifth century it was taken by Genseric, and made
the capital of the Vandal kingdom in Africa. It was retaken by
Belisarius, but was finally captured and destroyed by the Arabs in A.D.
647. Its site is now desolate, marked only by a few ruins.

[Footnote 57: This story must appear to strange to those who know not
that it was a custom for Roman Senators, when called upon for their
vote, to express--no matter what the question--any opinion which they
deemed of great importance to the welfare of the state.]

[Illustration: Personification of the River Tiber.]

CHAPTER XX.

SPANISH WARS, B.C. 153-133. FIRST SERVILE WAR, B.C. 134-132.

The generous policy of Tib. Sempronius Gracchus in B.C. 179[58] had
secured for Spain a long period of tranquillity. But in B.C. 153, the
inhabitants of Segeda having commenced rebuilding the walls of their
town, which was forbidden by one of the articles in the treaty of
Gracchus, a new war broke out, which lasted for many years. The
Celtiberians in general espoused the cause of Segeda, and the Consul Q.
Fabius Nobilior made an unsuccessful campaign against them. His
successor, the Consul M. Claudius Marcellus, g