serve her from captivity, but, to
prevent her falling into the hands of the Romans, determined to marry
her himself. Their nuptials were accordingly celebrated without delay;
but Scipio, fearful of the influence which she might exercise over his
ally, sternly upbraided him with his weakness, and insisted on the
immediate surrender of the princess. Unable to resist this command,
Masinissa spared her the humiliation of captivity by sending her a bowl
of poison, which she drank without hesitation, and thus put an end to
her own life.

These repeated disasters so alarmed the Carthaginians that they resolved
to recall Hannibal and Mago. Hannibal quitted Italy in B.C. 203, to the
great joy of the Romans. For more than 15 years had he carried on the
war in that country, laying it waste from one extremity to another; and
during all this period his superiority in the field had been
uncontested. The Romans calculated that in these 15 years their losses
in the field alone had amounted to not less than 300,000 men; a
statement which will hardly appear exaggerated when we consider the
continued combats in which they were engaged by their ever-watchful foe.

As soon as Hannibal landed in Africa the hopes of the Carthaginians
revived, and they looked forward to a favorable termination of the war.
Hannibal, however, formed a truer estimate of the real state of affairs;
he saw that the loss of a battle would be the ruin of Carthage, and he
was therefore anxious to conclude a peace before it was too late.
Scipio, who was eager to have the glory of bringing the war to a close,
and who feared lest his enemies in the Senate might appoint him a
successor, was equally desirous of a peace. The terms, however, which
the Roman general proposed seemed intolerable to the Carthaginians; and
as Hannibal, at a personal interview with Scipio, could not obtain any
abatement of the hard conditions, he was forced, against his will, to
continue the war. Into the details of the campaign, which are related
very differently, our limits will not permit us to enter. The decisive
battle was at length fought on the 19th of October, B.C. 202, on the
Bagradas, not far from the city of Zama; and Hannibal, according to the
express testimony of his antagonist, displayed on this occasion all the
qualities of a consummate general. But he was now particularly deficient
in that formidable cavalry which had so often decided the victory in his
favor; his elephants, of whi