This time, however, the Republic itself was at stake. But as every
profit must be purchased by some loss, and as every transaction was
regulated according to the needs of the weaker and the demands of the
stronger, there was no pain great enough for the god, since he delighted
in such as was of the most horrible description, and all were now at his
mercy. He must accordingly be fully gratified. Precedents showed that
in this way the scourge would be made to disappear. Moreover, it was
believed that an immolation by fire would purify Carthage. The ferocity
of the people was predisposed towards it. The choice, too, must fall
exclusively upon the families of the great.
The Ancients assembled. The sitting was a long one. Hanno had come to
it. As he was now unable to sit he remained lying down near the door,
half hidden among the fringes of the lofty tapestry; and when the
pontiff of Moloch asked them whether they would consent to surrender
their children, his voice suddenly broke forth from the shadow like the
roaring of a genius in the depths of a cavern. He regretted, he said,
that he had none of his own blood to give; and he gazed at Hamilcar,
who faced him at the other end of the hall. The Suffet was so much
disconcerted by this look that it made him lower his eyes.
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