ast conquests of half a century were
wrested away by the same violence, bloodshed, and misery with which
they had been acquired.

We have described the exploits of Hannibal, in making these conquests,
in detail, while those of Scipio, in wresting them away, have been
passed over very briefly, as this is intended as a history of
Hannibal, and not of Scipio. Still Scipio's conquests were made by
slow degrees, and they consumed a long period of time. He was but
about eighteen years of age at the battle of Cannae, soon after which
his campaigns began, and he was thirty when he was made consul, just
before his going into Africa. He was thus fifteen or eighteen years in
taking down the vast superstructure of power which Hannibal had
raised, working in regions away from Hannibal and Carthage during all
this time, as if leaving the great general and the great city for the
last. He was, however, so successful in what he did, that when, at
length, he advanced to the attack of Carthage, every thing else was
gone. The Carthaginian power had become a mere hollow shell, empty and
vain, which required only one great final blow to effect its absolute
demolition. In fact, so far spent and gone were all the Carthaginian
resources, that the great city had to summon the great general to its
aid the moment it was threatened, and Scipio destroyed them both
together.

And yet Scipio did not proceed so far as literally and actually to
destroy them. He spared Hannibal's life, and he allowed the city to
stand; but the terms and conditions of peace which he exacted were
such as to put an absolute and perpetual end to Carthaginian dominion.
By these conditions, the Carthaginian state was allowed to continue
free and independent, and even to retain the government of such
territories in _Africa_ as they possessed before the war; but all
their foreign possessions were taken away; and even in respect to
Africa, their jurisdiction was limited and curtailed by very hard
restrictions. Their whole navy was to be given to the Romans except
ten small ships of three banks of oars, which Scipio thought the
government would need for the purposes of civil administration. These
they were allowed to retain. Scipio did not say what he should do with
the remainder of the fleet: it was to be unconditionally surrendered
to him. Their elephants of war were also to be all given up, and they
were to be bound not to train any more. They were not to appear at all
as a