124 HOME RULE OF CARTHAGE. 



win the golden crown." Laughing and jesting they 

 rubbed their limbs with oil, and took out of their 

 cases the bright helmets and the polished shields 

 which they used only on the battle-day. As they 

 stood ready to advance upon the foe, the general 

 would address them in a vigorous speech : he would 

 tell them that the greatest honour which could 

 befall a Roman was to die for his country on the 

 field, and that glorious was the sorrow, enviable the 

 woe of the matron who gave a husband or a son to 

 Rome. Then, the trumpets pealed ; and the sol- 

 diers charged, first firing a volley of javelins, and 

 then coming to close quarters with the cold steel. 

 The chief fault of the Roman military system at that 

 time was in the arrangement of the chief command. 

 There were two commanders-in-chief, possessing equal 

 powers, and it sometimes happened that they were 

 both present on the same spot, that they commanded 

 on alternate days, and that their tactics differed. They 

 were appointed only for the year, and when the term 

 drew near its end, a consul would often fight a battle 

 at a disadvantage, or negotiate a premature peace, 

 that he might prevent his successor from reaping 

 the fruits of his twelve months' toil. The Cartha- 

 ginian generals had thereby an advantage ; but 

 they also were liable to be recalled when too suc- 

 cessful by the jealous and distrustful Government at 

 home. 



The finances of Carthage were much greater than 

 those of Rome, but her method of making war was 

 more costly and a great deal of money was stolen and 

 wasted by the men in power. In Carthage the 

 highest offices of state were openly bought from a 

 greedy and dangerous populace just as in Pompey's time 



