Sinews taken from bulls' necks, or else stags' hamstrings, were commonly
employed for the twists of the catapults. However, neither stags nor
bulls were in existence in Carthage. Hamilcar asked the Ancients for
the hair of their wives; all sacrificed it, but the quantity was not
sufficient. In the buildings of the Syssitia there were twelve hundred
marriageable slaves destined for prostitution in Greece and Italy, and
their hair, having been rendered elastic by the use of unguents, was
wonderfully well adapted for engines of war. But the subsequent loss
would be too great. Accordingly it was decided that a choice should
be made of the finest heads of hair among the wives of the plebeians.
Careless of their country's needs, they shrieked in despair when the
servants of the Hundred came with scissors to lay hands upon them.
The Barbarians were animated with increased fury. They could be seen in
the distance taking fat from the dead to grease their machines, while
others pulled out the nails and stitched them end to end to make
cuirasses. They devised a plan of putting into the catapults vessels
filled with serpents which had been brought by the Negroes; the clay
pots broke on the flag-stones, the serpents ran about, seemed to
multiply, and, so numerous were they, to issue naturally from the walls.
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