But time and money were lacking for the hire of other Mercenaries. As to
a levy of soldiers in the town, how were they to be equipped? Hamilcar
had taken all the arms! and then who was to command them? The best
captains were down yonder with him! Meanwhile, some men despatched by
the Suffet arrived in the streets with shouts. The Great Council were
roused by them, and contrived to make them disappear.
It was an unnecessary precaution; every one accused Barca of having
behaved with slackness. He ought to have annihilated the Mercenaries
after his victory. Why had he ravaged the tribes? The sacrifices
already imposed had been heavy enough! and the patricians deplored their
contributions of fourteen shekels, and the Syssitia their two hundred
and twenty-three thousand gold kikars; those who had given nothing
lamented like the rest. The populace was jealous of the New
Carthaginians, to whom he had promised full rights of citizenship;
and even the Ligurians, who had fought with such intrepidity, were
confounded with the Barbarians and cursed like them; their race became
a crime, the proof of complicity. The traders on the threshold of their
shops, the workmen passing plumb-line in hand, the vendors of pickle
rinsing their baskets, the attendants in the vapour baths and the
retailers of hot drinks all discussed the operations of the campaign.
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