at by the Romans; and that, though they had granted peace to the Carthaginians, their war against him, individually, remained irreconcilable.  He therefore determined to give way to fortune and the times; and having already made every preparation for flight, he showed himself that day in the forum, in order to guard against suspicion; and, as soon as it grew dark, went in his common dress to one of the gates, with his two attendants, who knew nothing of his intention.

[Footnote 1:  Subscribere actioni is to join the prosecutor as an assistant; and the prosecutors were obliged calumniam jurare, to swear that they did not carry on the prosecution through malice, or a vexatious design.  Scipio, therefore, means to reprobate the interference of the Roman state, which could bring it into the situation of a common prosecutor in a court of justice.]

48.  Finding horses in readiness at a spot where he had ordered, he traversed by night a district which the Africans denominated Byzacium, and arrived, in the morning of the following day, at a castle of his own between Acholla and Thapsus.  There a ship, ready fitted out and furnished with rowers, took him on board.  In this manner did Hannibal leave Africa, lamenting the misfortunes of his country oftener than his own.  He sailed over, the same day, to the island of Cercina, where he found in the port a number of merchant ships, belonging to the Phoenicians, with their cargoes; and on landing was surrounded by a concourse of people, who came to pay their respects to him; on which he gave orders that, in answer to any inquiries, it should be said that he had been sent as ambassador to Tyre.  Fearing, however, lest some of these ships might sail in the night to Thapsus or Adrumetum, and carry information of his having been seen at Cercina, he ordered a sacrifice to be prepared, and the masters of the ships, with the merchants, to be invited to the entertainment, and that the sails and yards should be collected out of the ships to form a shade on shore for the company at supper, as it happened to be the middle of summer.  The feast of the day was as sumptuous, and well attended, as the time and circumstances allowed; and the entertainment was prolonged, with plenty of wine, until late in the night.  As soon as Hannibal saw an opportunity of escaping the notice of those who were in the harbour, he set sail.  The rest were fast asleep, nor was it early, next day, when they arose from their sleep, full of the illness of intoxication; and then, when it was too late, they set about replacing the sails in the ships, and fitting up the rigging, which employed several hours.  At Carthage, those who were accustomed to visit Hannibal met in a crowd, at the porch of his house; and when it was publicly known that he was not to be found, the whole multitude assembled in the forum, eager to gain intelligence of the man who was considered as the first in the state.  Some surmised that he had fled, as the case was; others, that he had been put to death through the treachery of the Romans; and there was visible in the expression of their countenances, that variety which might naturally be expected in a state divided into factions, whereof each supported a different interest.  At length intelligence was brought, that he had been seen at Cercina.