pened ways never before trodden by
human feet to afford a passage to the Romans, ordered them to follow
Neptune as their guide, and passing through the middle of the lake,
make good their way to the walls.

46. Those who renewed the assault by land experienced great
difficulty; for they were baffled not only by the height of the walls,
but also because they exposed the Romans, as they approached them, to
the missiles of the enemy from different quarters, so that their sides
were endangered more than the fronts of their bodies. But in the other
quarter five hundred passed without difficulty through the lake, and
then mounted the wall, for neither was it defended by any
fortifications, because there they thought the city was sufficiently
protected by the nature of the place and the lake, nor were there any
outposts or guards stationed there, because all were engaged in
bringing succour to that quarter in which the danger appeared. Having
entered the city without opposition, they proceeded direct, with all
possible speed, to that gate near which the contest was concentrated;
and so intently occupied with this were not only the minds, but the
eyes and ears of all, both of those who were engaged in fighting, and
of those who were looking on and encouraging the combatants, that no
one perceived that the city had been captured in their rear till the
weapons fell upon their backs, and they had an enemy on both sides of
them. Then, the defenders having been thrown into confusion through
fear, both the walls were captured, and the gate began to be broken
open both from within and from without; and presently, the doors
having been broken to pieces by blows, in order that the way might not
be obstructed, the troops rushed in. A great number had also got over
the walls, but these employed themselves in putting the townsmen to
the sword; those which entered by the gate, forming a regular body,
with officers and in ranks, advanced through the midst of the city
into the forum. Scipio then perceiving that the enemy fled in two
different directions, some to the eminence which lay eastward, which
was occupied by a garrison of five hundred men, others to the citadel,
into which Mago himself also had fled for refuge, together with almost
all the troops which had been driven from the walls, sent part of his
forces to storm the hill, and part he led in person against the
citadel. Not only was the hill captured at the first assault, but Mago