# 32. What Means some have adopted to prevent a Peace

There were two Roman colonies, Circei and Velitrae, which had rebelled against the Roman people in the hope that the Latins might support them. When the Latins were beaten and this hope disappeared, many citizens urged that envoys should be sent to Rome to plead their cause with the senate. This advice was strenuously opposed by those responsible for the rebellion, since they feared that all the blame would fall on their heads. To remove any discussion of peace, they incited the masses to take up arms and to cross the Roman frontiers. And it is, indeed, true that, should anyone want to remove from the mind of a people or a prince all idea of coming to terms, there is no more certain or more reliable way than to get them to commit a grave outrage of this kind against the party with which you do not want them to come to terms; for in all such cases the fear of the punishment which the offender will think his fault merits, will keep him away from the other.

After the first war the Carthaginians had with the Romans, the troops which had been employed by the Carthaginians during the war in Sicily and Sardinia, went to Africa when peace had been declared. Where, being dissatisfied with their pay, they induced the troops to revolt against the Carthaginians: appointed two of themselves as commanders, Matho and Spendius; seized a considerable number of Carthaginian towns, and sacked many of them. The Carthaginians, desiring at first to try other expedients in preference to war, sent to them one of their citizens, Hasdrubal, as ambassador, for they thought he would have some influence with them since formerly he had been their general. When the latter arrived, Spendius and Matho determined to deprive all the soldiers of any hope of ever coming to terms with the Carthaginians that thus they might be forced to fight. So they persuaded them that the best thing to do was to kill Hasdrubal together with all the Carthaginian citizens who were with them as their prisoners. In consequence they not only killed them, but first inflicted on them all manner of tortures; and to this outrage added an edict to the effect that all Carthaginians would be killed in the same way, should they happen to take them. This edict and the enforcement of it made that army cruel and steadfast in its opposition to the Carthaginians.