to involve in the guilt of perjury not only themselves and their own persons, but the military standards, the eagles, and their solemn oath of allegiance.  That he laid these matters before him, in accordance with the opinion of Publius Cornelius and Marcus Sempronius.”  Scipio, after highly praising Laelius, summoned an assembly, and then declared, “that he had ascertained satisfactorily that Quintus Trebellius and Sextus Digitius had mounted the wall at the same time, and that he presented them both with mural crowns in consideration of their valour.”  He then gave presents to the rest, according to the merit and valour of each.  Above all he honoured Caius Laelius, the admiral of the fleet, by the placing him upon an equality with himself, and bestowing upon him every kind of commendation, and also by presenting him with a golden crown and thirty oxen.

49.  He then ordered the Spanish hostages to be summoned.  What the number of these was I feel reluctant to state, because in some authors I find that it was about three hundred, in others seven hundred and twenty-five.  There is the same difference between authors with regard to the other particulars.  One writes that the Punic garrison consisted of ten thousand, another of seven, a third of not more than two thousand.  In some you may find that ten thousand persons were captured, in others above twenty-five thousand.  I should have stated the number of scorpions captured, both of the greater and smaller size, at sixty, if I had followed the Greek author, Silenus, if Valerius Antius, of the larger at six thousand, of the smaller at thirteen, so great is the extent of falsehood.  Nor are they agreed even respecting the commanders, most say that Laelius commanded the fleet, but some say Marcus Junius Silanus.  Valerius Antius says, that Arines commanded the Punic garrison, and was given up to the Romans; other writers say it was Mago.  They are not agreed respecting the number of the ships taken, respecting the weight of gold and silver, and of the money brought into the public treasury.  If we must assent to some of their statements, the medium is nearest to the truth.  However, Scipio having summoned the hostages, first bid them all keep up their spirits observing, “that they had fallen into the hands of the Roman people, who chose to bind men to them by benefits rather than by fear, and keep foreign nations attached to them by honour and friendship, rather than subject them to a gloomy servitude.”  Then receiving the names of the states to which they belonged, he took an account of the captives, distinguishing the number belonging to each people, and sent messengers to their homes, to desire that they would come and take back their respective friends.  If ambassadors from any of the states happened to be present, he delivered their countrymen to them in person, and assigned to them the quaestor, Caius Flaminius, the charge of kindly taking care of the rest.  Meanwhile, there advanced from the midst of the crowd of hostages