Titus Livius (Livy), The History of Rome, Book 42
Evan T. Sage, Ph.D. and Alfred C. Schlesinger, Ph.D., Ed.

23. Carthaginian ambassadors were at Rome at that time, and also Gulussa, the son of Masinissa. Between these, great disputes arose before the senate. [2] The Carthaginians complained that, besides the land about which envoys from Rome had previously been sent¹ to review the situation on the ground, more than seventy towns and forts in Carthaginian territory had been siezed by force of arms during the past two years by Masinissa; this was a simple matter for him, since he was wholly reckless. [3] The Carthaginians, enmeshed in the treaty, had kept quiet, said the envoys, for they were forbidden to campaign beyond their own boundaries;² [4] for, even though they knew that if they were to drive out the Numidians, they would be fighting within their boundaries, they were discouraged by that quite definite article of the treaty by which they were expressly forbidden to wage war against allies of the Roman people.³ [5] But now the Carthaginians could no longer endure Masinissa's arrogance, cruelty and greed. They, the envoys, had been sent to beg the senate to grant one of the following three requests: either that the Romans should impartially draw the line between the possessions of their royal ally and those of the Carthaginian people; [6] or that they should permit the Carthaginians to protect themselves by a [p. 357]righteous and proper war against unjust invasion; or,⁴ as a last resort, if favouritism outweighed truth with the Romans, that they should decide once and for all what gift of the possessions of others they wished to be given to Masinissa; the Romans would surely be more moderate in their giving, and the Carthaginians would know what they had given; [7] for the Numidian himself would set no limit except in accordance with his own pleasure. [8] If they were granted none of these requests, and some fault had been incurred by them since the peace granted them by Publius Scipio, let the Romans rather inflict punishment upon them. [9] They preferred a safe slavery under Roman masters to a freedom exposed to the injustices of Masinissa; lastly, it was better for them to perish once than to drag out their existence at the whim of a most bitter torturer. [10] With this speech they prostrated themselves in tears, and as they couched on the ground won as much ill-feeling against the king as pity for themselves.