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The four years that he served in that country, and his subsequent services in Africa, qualified him to meet Hannibal, whose junior he was by thirteen years. That he was Hannibal's superior, because he defeated him at Zama, with the aid of Masinissa, no more follows than that Wellington was Napoleon's superior, because, with the aid of Blücher, he defeated him at Waterloo.
He was greatly excited by the scene and he speaks particularly of the appearance of the veteran Masinissa, then eighty-four years old, who rode all day from rank to rank, on a wild and impetuous charger, without a saddle, to give his orders to his men, and to encourage and animate them by his voice and his example.
That they should restore to the Romans all deserters and fugitives, giving up all their ships-of-war except ten triremes, with such tamed elephants as they had, and that they should not tame any more. That they should not carry on war in or out of Africa without the permission of the Roman people. That they should make restitution to Masinissa, and form a league with him.
Having passed over, he sent forward three chiefs of the Numidians, to fix a time and place for the conference desiring that two might be detained by Scipio as hostages. The third being sent back to conduct Masinissa to the place to which he was directed to bring him, they came to the conference with a few attendants.
The destruction of Carthage had, as a matter of fact, aggravated the danger; for the first use which Masinissa of Numidia made of the vast power with which Rome had entrusted him, was an attempt to civilise his people by turning them into cultivators; and the virgin soil of the great country which stretched from the new boundaries of Carthage to the confines of the Moors, was soon reckoned amongst the competing elements which the Roman agriculturist had to fear.
And those captives were exchanged, one for the other. Now Syphax, being well aware that Masinissa would war against him no less than against the Carthaginians and fearing that he might find himself bereft of allies if they suffered any harm through his desertion of their cause, renounced his pretended friendship for the Romans and attached himself openly to the Carthaginians.
They received information that at Carthage there was deposited a large quantity of timber, and of other naval stores: on learning this, Cato, their inveterate enemy, who had been sent into Africa, to mediate between them and Masinissa, with whom they were at war, went to Carthage himself, where he examined every thing with a malicious eye.
His army was cut off, and he sought terms of peace, which were haughtily rejected, and he then gave hostages for keeping the peace, and agreed to pay five thousand talents within fifty years, and acknowledge Masinissa’s usurpation. The Romans, instead of settling the difficulties, instigated secretly Masinissa.
"I remember when he was an apprentice," relates Chetwood, "we play'd in several private plays; when we were preparing to act 'Sophonisba, or Hannibal's Overthrow, after I had wrote out my part of Massiva I carried him the book of the play to study the part of King Masinissa.
Scipio rewarded his officers and horsemen according to the service they had respectively rendered, but he presented Masinissa above all the rest with distinguished gifts.
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