Excerpt from Hannibals War by Livy. After Scipio captures New Carthage in Hispania. As this was going on an elderly woman emerged from the midst of the crowd of hostages. She was the wife of Mandonius, who was the brother of Indibilis, chieftain of the Ilergetes. She threw herself in tears at the commanders feet, and proceeded to beg him to give stricter injunctions to the guards about caring for, and dealing with, the female hostages. When Scipio replied that the women would certainly go short of nothing, the woman replied: what you are talking about matters little to us-for how important, in a plight like this, is not having enough? It is another worry that torments me as I consider the tender years of these ladies, for personally I am now out of danger of such assault as is made on a woman. Surrounding the woman were the daughters of Indibilis, at the peak of their youth and beauty, and other women of similar high birth all of whom respected her like a mother. Thanks to my own discipline, Scipio replied, I would in any case guard against the desecration of anything in our keeping that is considered sacred. But the courage and dignity of you ladies now make me even more scrupulous in this; even in misfortune you have not forgotten the respect due to a lady. He then put the women in the care of a man of proven integrity, and instructed him to look after them with as much consideration and respect as if they were the wives and mothers of guests.
Posted on: Tue, 25 Nov 2014 08:55:41 +0000
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