THE HOUSE OF BAAL. 131 



been ; of making her a match for Rome. He an- 

 nounced to the senate that he intended to take the 

 army to Tangiers to reduce a native tribe which had 

 caused some trouble in the neighbourhood. He 

 quickly made all the arrangements for the march. 

 A few vessels had been prepared for the expedition to 

 Sardinia. These were commanded by his brother; 

 and he ordered that these should be sailed along the 

 coast side by side with the army as it marched. It 

 might have appeared strange to some persons that he 

 should require ships to make war against a tribe of 

 Moors on land. But there was no fear of his enemies 

 suspecting his design. It was so strange and wild, 

 that when it had been actually accomplished, they 

 could scarcely believe that it was real. 



The night before he marched he went to the Great 

 Temple to offer the sacrifice of propitiation and 

 entreaty. He took with him his son, a boy nine 

 years of age. When the libations and other rites 

 were ended, and the victim lay divided on the altar, 

 he ordered the attendants to withdraw ; he remained 

 alone with his son. 



The temple of Baal was a magnificent building, 

 supported by enormous columns, covered with gold, 

 or formed of a glass-like substance, which began to 

 glitter and sparkle in a curious manner as the night 

 came on. Around the temple walls were idols re- 

 presenting the Phoenician gods ; prominent amongst 

 them was the hideous statue of Moloch, with its 

 downward sloping hands, and the fiery furnace at its 

 feet. There also might be seen beautiful Greek 

 statues, trophies of the Sicilian wars, especially the 

 Diana which the Carthaginians had taken from Se- 

 gesta, which was afterwards restored to that city by the 



