Tanti esse exercitum quanti imperatorem vere proditum est. Sic redacto in disciplinam milite a Scipione commissa acies, quodque nemo visurum se umquam speraverat, factum ut fugientes Numantinos quisquam videret. Dedere etiam se volebant, {5} si toleranda viris imperarentur. Cum fossa atque lorica quattuorque castris circumdatos fames premeret, a duce orantes proelium, ut tamquam viros occideret, ubi non impetrabant, placuit eruptio. Sic conserta manu plurimi occisi, et cum urgueret {10} fames, novissime consilium fugae sedit; sed hoc quoque ruptis equorum cingulis uxores ademere, summo scelere per amorem. Itaque deplorato exitu in ultimam rabiem furoremque conversi, postremo Rhoecogene duce se suos patriam ferro veneno {15} subiecto igne undique peregerunt. Macte fortissimam et meo iudicio beatissimam in ipsis malis civitatem! Asseruit cum fide socios, populum orbis terrarum viribus fultum sua manu aetate tam longa sustinuit. Novissime maximo duce oppressa civitas nullum de {20} se gaudium hosti reliquit. Unus enim vir Numantinus non fuit qui in catenis duceretur; praeda, ut de pauperrimis, nulla: arma ipsa cremaverunt. Triumphus fuit tantum de nomine. FLORUS, II. xviii. 11-17 (sel.). +Context.+ In 143 B.C. the Celtiberians (of Middle Spain), encouraged by the successes of the Lusitanians, took up arms once more. Their most important town was Numantia, situated near the sources of the R. Durius (Douro), strongly fortified by nature and by art. Consul after consul failed to take it, until in 134 B.C. Scipio Africanus Minor, the conqueror of Carthage, was sent out to Spain to reduce the stubborn city. [Linenotes: 2-3. +Sic redacto ... a Scipione.+ ‘Scipio’s first task, when he arrived in Spain, was to accustom the army which he found there, once more to Roman discipline. Luxury and indulgence were rife, and cowardice--the most unroman of all vices--had begun to creep in.’ --Ihne. 7. +lorica+ = _a breastwork_, serving as _a screen_. Usu. = _a cuirass_. 11. +sedit+ = _was decided on_, lit. _settled_. 16. +Macte+ = _a blessing on_ or _hail to thee_. +Mactus+ prob. from √μακ, e.g. in μάκ-αρ = _blessed_, but cf. _mag-nus_. 18. +Asseruit+ = _it protected_. +assero+ (_ad + sero_) = lit. _join-to_.] +Destruction of Numantia.+ Scipio, of his own accord, razed the town to the ground, and received the added surname of +Numantinus+. +Roman Province in Spain.+ C52 _Rome the Invincible._