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On hearing this Masinissa blushed furiously and even shed tears. He said that he would comply with the general's wishes, and begged him to take into consideration, as far as he could, the pledge he had rashly given, for he had promised that he would not let her pass into any one's power. [2] Then he left the headquarters tent and retired to his own in a state of distraction. [3] Dismissing all his attendants he remained there some time, giving vent to continual sighs and groans which were quite audible to those outside. [4] At last with a deep groan he called one of his slaves in whom he placed complete confidence and who had in his keeping the poison which kings usually have in reserve against the vicissitudes of Fortune. After mixing it in a cup he told him to take it to Sophonisba, and at the same time tell her that Masinissa would have gladly fulfilled the first promise that he made to his wife, but as those who have the power were depriving him of the right to [5??] do so, he was fulfilling the second-that she should not fall into the hands of the Romans alive. [6] The thought of her father, her country, and the two kings who had wedded her would decide her how to act. When the servant came with the poison and the message to Sophonisba, she said, "I accept this wedding gift, no unwelcome one if my husband can do nothing more for his wife. [7] But tell him that I should have died more happily had not my marriage bed stood so near my grave." The high spirit of these words was sustained by the fearless way in which, without the slightest sign of trepidation, she drank the potion. [8] When the news reached Scipio he was afraid that the young man, wild with grief, would [9??] take some still more desperate step, so he at once sent for him, and tried to console him. [10] at the same time gently censuring him for having atoned for one act of madness by committing another and making the affair more tragic than it need have been. [11] The next day, with the view of diverting his thoughts, Scipio mounted the tribunal and ordered the assembly to be sounded. Addressing Masinissa as king and eulogising him in the highest possible terms, he presented him with a golden crown, curule chair, an ivory sceptre and also with a purple-bordered toga and a tunic embroidered with palms. [12] He enhanced the value of these gifts by informing him that the Romans considered no honour more splendid than that of a triumph, and that no more magnificent insignia were borne by triumphing generals than those which the Roman people deemed Masinissa, alone of all foreigners, worthy to possess. Laelius was the next to be commended, he was presented with a golden crown. [13] Other soldiers received rewards according to their services. The honours which had had been conferred on the king went far to assuage his grief, and he was encouraged [14??] to hope for the speedy possession of the whole of Numidia now that Syphax was out of the way.
Livy. History of Rome. English Translation by. Rev. Canon Roberts. New York, New York. E. P. Dutton and Co. 1912. 1. Livy. History of Rome. English Translation. Rev. Canon Roberts. New York, New York. E. P. Dutton and Co. 1912. 2.
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