Act 6 Scene 4

New Carthage, Hispania.Hasdrubal’s head quarters, inside a room.Enter Hasdrubal and an old man.

Hasdrubal: A great calamitous battle rages without; like a ceaseless tempest, a never ending nightmare it is! The control o’th’ships are lost and good men fight to their end; to see the dawn of fancy shattered before their eyes, to see the bud nipped when ‘twas time for it to bloom and blossom.

Old man: Aye, methinks ‘tis the designs of nature that it should happen-

Hasdrubal: Aye but ‘tis true that some of those designs bear earthly origins!

Old Man: Three score and seventeen years have I seen, and yes I doth agree, that most dire events have roots inside the bosom of mother earth; whose seeds are planted by naive souls, which grow up to devour the very hands that didst give them life!

Hasdrubal: Old father, doth thou sayst that Hannibal's dreams are shattered? That his and that of free Carthage’s days are numbered?

Old Man: Aye, so before I fall to Roman butchery I must flee, may be I shallst be spared the Roman blade!

[Exit the Old Man

Hasdrubal: So he spoke, and so he spoke that “old man far from here”, whilst I must sulk and fight on, for ‘tis my brunt to bear! But hark-

Thunder cracks outside, and rain begins to pour.

Aye, the wraths of the Gods are clear! Old father thou art excused I shallst bear thee no ill will. Hush silly mind hush; beguile me not away from these important tasks, stray me not asunder, for I must live tell see how we didst fight ‘gainst lightning and thunder!

Enter Scipio the Younger, sword in hand ready to do battle ‘gainst Hasdrubal 

Scipio the Younger: For Rome, I, the son of Publius Scipio, as commander of Rome’s legions and leader of battle, am here to finish the conquest of Hispania for Rome!!

Hasdrubal: Do that thou shallst only over my corpse!

Hasdrubal unsheathes his sword and they start to fight. The fight is fierce and sword and shield make noises as they meet in battle. Scipio the younger proves to be the better swordsman and soon lands the death blow on Hasdrubal.

Scipio the Younger: The end of thy rule is come!

Hasdrubal: Soon I shallst wither away but lo and behold what doth I see before me? I see the fading autumn sun between the hillocks and the descent of a cool autumn eve! The look of this land is forlorn, for this invader; like the unseasonal rains didst wash away the last vestiges of our sway...But the fight elsewhere shallst continue for as long as Hannibal still draws breath, there shallst be a thousand Hasdrubals who shallst rise and fall to oppose Rome, as did I right here right now![Dies]

Scipio the Younger: So heroic thou fallst Hasdrubal that even Rome shallst take note! But for now Hispania is ours, and soon Carthage will be too!

[Exit