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Soon after this, Hasdrubal's army, worn out with hunger and misery in their camp, compelled him to surrender on Masinissa's own terms. The men were allowed to go free, but most of them perished on the way to Carthage.
All Hasdrubal's plans and arrangements were detailed in them very fully, so that Nero perceived that, if he were at once to proceed to the northward with a strong force, he could render his colleague such aid as, with the knowledge of Hasdrubal's plans, which he had obtained from the letters, would probably enable them to defeat him; whereas, if he were to leave Livius in ignorance and alone, he feared that Hasdrubal would be successful in breaking his way through, and in ultimately effecting his junction with Hannibal.
This seasonable reinforcement, which again assured the shaken grip on Hasdrubal's line of march, came by sea, a way which, though most rapid and easy, was closed to the Carthaginians by the Roman navy.
The battle was now extremely unequal in every part, both because an irregular band of Balearians and raw Spaniards were opposed to Roman and Latin soldiers, and further, because, as the day was now getting on, Hasdrubal's troops began to grow languid, having been dispirited by the alarm in the morning, and compelled to go out hastily into the field, without refreshing themselves with food.
But being afterwards made consul and sent to oppose Hannibal, he took the course mentioned above, which was in itself so hazardous that all Rome was filled with doubt and anxiety until tidings came of Hasdrubal's defeat.
Hasdrubal's determination, however, to resist the Romans to the last, soon after this gave way, and he determined to surrender. He is accused of the most atrocious treachery in attempting thus to save himself, after excluding his wife and children from all possibility of escaping destruction.
The people retreat to the citadel. The city fired. Hasdrubal's wife. Hasdrubal surrenders. The citadel fired. Resentment and despair of Hasdrubal's wife. Carthage destroyed. Its present condition. War and commerce. Antagonistic principles. Hannibal's greatness as a military hero.
Those messengers traversed the greater part of Italy in safety, but, when close to the object of their mission, were captured by a Roman detachment; and Hasdrubal's letter, detailing his whole plan of the campaign, was laid, not in his brother's hands, but in those of the commander of the Roman armies of the South. Nero saw at once the full importance of the crisis.
The two armies met on the banks of the river Metaurus. The Carthaginians were defeated with terrible slaughter, and the Romans felt that the calamity of Cannæ was avenged. Hasdrubal's head was sent to his brother, who exclaimed at the sight: "I recognize the doom of Carthage!"
The military and police suppressed this movement without difficulty; but it was a significant token of what might happen in those districts, if once the Latin strongholds ceased to inspire terror. Hasdrubal's Approach
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