[Here, Scipio Africanus makes a successful night raid on the two allied camps of the Carthaginian faction towards the end of the Second Punic War. First he attacks Syphax and his Numidians in one camp, and then Hasdrubal’s Carthaginian camp less than a mile away. Both of the allied camps had built housing made of sticks and reeds, and were closely packed together, so Scipio placed troops at all the exits of the camp and set fire. The attack crushed their forces, who were mostly burned to death or died screaming when they ran out of the camp. It was a slaughter.]
The case of Syphax and the other commanders was very similar. The two generals contrived to make their escape with a small body of cavalry; but of all the rest, thousands upon thousands of men, horses and mules perished miserably and piteously in the flames, while others of their comrades died a disgraceful and dishonourable death at the hands of the enemy as they strove to escape the fury of the fire, for they were cut down naked and defenceless, not only without their arms but without even their clothes to cover them.
The whole place was filled with wails of dismay, confused shouting and cries of terror which mingled in an unspeakable din, while above all this rose the roar of the raging fire and of flames which overcame all resistance. It was the combination and the unexpectedness of these elements which made them so frightful, for indeed any one of them alone would have been enough to strike terror into the human heart. Indeed it is impossible for any man alive to give a true picture of this appalling scene, no matter how much he might exaggerate, so much did it exceed in horror any event that has hitherto been recorded.
Source:
Polybius, et al. “Affairs in Africa.” The Rise of the Roman Empire. Penguin, 2003. 457. Print.
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