advantageous, and defensible by those who held it; and it was strengthened still more by Cato.  For he brought abundance of corn into the city, and he strengthened the walls by raising towers, and making strong ditches and palisado-work in front of the city.  To the people of Utica who were able to bear arms he assigned the palisado-work as their quarter, and made them give up their arms to him; but he kept the rest in the city, and took great care that they should not be wronged and should suffer no harm from the Romans.  He also sent out a great quantity of arms, supplies and grain to those in camp, and altogether he made the city the storehouse for the war.  But the advice which he gave Pompeius before, and gave Scipio then, not to fight with a man of a warlike turn and great ability, but to take advantage of time which wastes all the vigour wherein the strength of tyranny lies, Scipio through self-will despised; and on one occasion he wrote to Cato upbraiding him with cowardice, in that he was not content to sit down within a city and walls, but would not even let others boldly use their own judgment as opportunity offered.  To this Cato replied, that he was ready to take the legionary soldiers and horsemen whom he had brought into Libya, and carry them over to Italy, and so make Caesar change his place and to turn him from them to himself.  And when Scipio mocked at this also, it was clear that Cato was much annoyed that he had declined the command, for he saw that Scipio would neither conduct the war well, nor, if he should succeed contrary to expectation, would he behave with moderation to the citizens in his victory.  Accordingly Cato formed the opinion and mentioned it to some of his friends, that he had no good hopes of the war on account of the inexperience and confidence of the commanders, but if there should be any good fortune, and Caesar should be worsted, he would not stay in Rome, and would fly from the harshness and cruelty of Scipio, who was even then uttering dreadful and extravagant threats against many.  But it turned out worse than he expected; and late in the evening there arrived a messenger from the camp who had been three days on the road, with the news that a great battle had been fought at Thapsus[750] in which their affairs were entirely ruined, that Caesar was in possession of the camps, Scipio and Juba had escaped with a few men, and the rest of the army was destroyed.

LIX.  On the arrival of this intelligence, the city, as was natural on the receipt of such news by night and in time of war, nearly lost its reason, and hardly contained itself within the walls; but Cato coming forward, whenever he met with any one running about and calling out, laid hold of him, and cheering him took away the excessive fright and confusion of his alarm, by saying that matters perchance were not so bad as they had been reported, but were magnified by rumour; and so he stayed the tumult.  At daybreak he made proclamation that the three hundred, whom