The people, in their rage at being thus cheated of their victim, dragged Hasdrubal’s body into the street and placed his head in triumph on the top of a pole. King Syphax was followed to Numidia by Masinissa and a detachment of Roman soldiers. The king again faced his enemies, but once more he was defeated, and being captured he was taken to the Roman camp. Masinissa now recovered his own dominions, as well as part of the kingdom that had belonged to Syphax. From this time the African prince grew more and more powerful. Led by him, the Numidians now fought for the Romans, so that Carthage found herself left alone to fight against two powerful enemies. CHAPTER LXX HANNIBAL LEAVES ITALY Carthage might now have despaired, had not Hannibal been alive. His name, she knew well, could still inspire the Roman legions with terror, his presence would, she believed, ensure their defeat. So messengers were sent to Italy to bid him hasten to Carthage. The great general left Italy sorrowfully, for the hopes with which he had entered her had not been fulfilled. In spite of all the great victories he had won, Italy had slipped from his grasp. Perhaps it was true, as Maharbal had said, ‘Hannibal knows how to win victories, but not how to use them.’ But if Hannibal left the country reluctantly, the people rejoiced at his departure. They could never feel secure while he was in their land. His name, indeed, still made the Romans tremble. Before the great general left, he ordered bronze tablets to be made, and on these he ordered to be engraved the battles he had fought in Italy, as well as a full account of the war. These records were written both in the Greek and the Punic language. A famous historian, who was a boy when Hannibal was fighting in Italy, saw these tablets when he grew to be a man, and so he was able to write a true account of the second Punic war. But all the history that Polybius wrote was not carefully preserved. So that after the battle of Cannæ we have no records save those given to us by Roman historians. And what they, in their pride, wrote, was not, many people think, the same as Hannibal recorded on his bronze tablets. After the capture of King Syphax, a short truce had been arranged between the two powers, while an embassy went from Carthage to Rome to try to obtain peace. But the truce was broken by the Carthaginians, and for this the Romans made them suffer heavily. Some ships, laden with provisions for the Roman army, were on their way from Sardinia to join Scipio’s fleet, when a storm blew them on to an island in the Bay of Carthage. The Carthaginians seized some of the ships, being unable to resist the temptation to get food, of which they had had but little for some time. Scipio was indignant at this breach of the truce, and he at once sent to Carthage to demand that the booty should be restored.