He reckoned
upon incorporating the best of them with his own troops and of thus
instigating defections. But hatred swept away all circumspection.
The two thousand Barbarians were tied to the stelae of the tombs in
the Mappalian quarter; and traders, scullions, embroiderers, and even
women,--the widows of the dead with their children--all who would,
came to kill them with arrows. They aimed slowly at them, the better to
prolong their torture, lowering the weapon and then raising it in turn;
and the multitude pressed forward howling. Paralytics had themselves
brought thither in hand-barrows; many took the precaution of bringing
their food, and remained on the spot until the evening; others passed
the night there. Tents had been set up in which drinking went on. Many
gained large sums by hiring out bows.
Then all these crucified corpses were left upright, looking like so many
red statues on the tombs, and the excitement even spread to the people
of Malqua, who were the descendants of the aboriginal families, and were
usually indifferent to the affairs of their country. Out of gratitude
for the pleasure it had been giving them they now interested themselves
in its fortunes, and felt that they were Carthaginians, and the Ancients
thought it a clever thing to have thus blended the entire people in a
single act of vengeance.
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