Fabius stood with Scipio and Polybius again on the tower. He could feel the tension in the air, the edginess as they knew the time for action was approaching fast. Polybius pointed along the foreshore to the west, where the Roman fleet stood just out of bowshot range form the walls. “The wind is still coming from the south. Ennius is worried that it will blow the flames back over our own ships. You must give the order before the wind picks up more’.
‘That’s exactly why I don’t like him messing with fire,’ scipio grumbled. ‘I’ve been telling him that for twenty years.I wish he’d stick to catapults and battering rams.’ Fabius looked down at the Carthaginian defences juts inside the city from the edge of the harbour. Out of sight to eh south beyond the great wall that protected the city from the catapults, Ennius’ cohort had spent several weeks building a battering ram. It took more than a thousand men …show more content…
Twenty minutes later, Fabius stood beside Scipio in front of the first maniple of the first legion, their swords drawn. They had crashed through the breach made by the ram. Fabius slightly ahead, and had run up the the street towards the hill, expecting opposition behind every street block. But there had been none, and they had quickly realised that Hasdrubal and his depleted force of mercenaries and Carthaginian troops must have retreated to a defensible position close to the centre of the city, to the place that Fabius and Scipio had seen three years before near the old quarter of houses. The two men had reached that place now, and stood aside while the legionaries streamed into the open area where they
‘That’s exactly why I don’t like him messing with fire,’ scipio grumbled. ‘I’ve been telling him that for twenty years.I wish he’d stick to catapults and battering rams.’ Fabius looked down at the Carthaginian defences juts inside the city from the edge of the harbour. Out of sight to eh south beyond the great wall that protected the city from the catapults, Ennius’ cohort had spent several weeks building a battering ram. It took more than a thousand men …show more content…
Twenty minutes later, Fabius stood beside Scipio in front of the first maniple of the first legion, their swords drawn. They had crashed through the breach made by the ram. Fabius slightly ahead, and had run up the the street towards the hill, expecting opposition behind every street block. But there had been none, and they had quickly realised that Hasdrubal and his depleted force of mercenaries and Carthaginian troops must have retreated to a defensible position close to the centre of the city, to the place that Fabius and Scipio had seen three years before near the old quarter of houses. The two men had reached that place now, and stood aside while the legionaries streamed into the open area where they