Senate refused to allow Scipio to levy troops. Only the soldiers already serving in Sicily were put under his command.
But Scipio was not easily thwarted by difficulties. The Senate could not refuse to let him enrol volunteers. And no sooner was it known that the Consul wished for soldiers, than many flocked to his standard. For to fight under so brave and gallant a captain as Scipio was an adventure all good soldiers welcomed.
A year was spent in Sicily, where Scipio trained his volunteers. In the spring of 204 B.C. his ambition was fulfilled, for he set sail for Africa.
In his fleet the Consul had four hundred transports and forty warships, while his army was said by some to consist of twelve thousand five hundred men, by others, to reach any number within thirty-five thousand.
The fleet had assembled at the seaport town of Lilybæum, and the citizens were full of interest and excitement at the novel sight.
A great crowd gathered in the harbour in the early morning of the day fixed for the departure of the fleet. Then as a herald commanded silence, a sudden hush fell upon the people while the Consul offered a solemn prayer to all the gods and goddesses of Rome, beseeching them to grant him 'protection, victory, spoils, and a happy . . . return, after inflicting on the Carthaginian people all those evils with which they had threatened the Commonwealth of Rome.'
When the prayer ended, trumpets sounded, and the fleet sailed away amid the cheers of the onlookers.
The Carthaginians knew that Scipio was sailing to their country with an army, yet they sent no fleet to stay his course. Unhindered by the enemy, undelayed by any storm, Scipio landed on the coast of Africa at the Fair Promontory, close to the port of Utica.
