Tom Holland

Cato bends down, he holds it up, and he invites his fellow senators to admire it.

It's very plump.

It's very beautiful.

It's clearly still very fresh.

And Cato then reveals that this fig had come from Carthage, as he points out, a mere three-day sail from Rome.

And his message is twofold.

Firstly, Carthage is back as a great power.

But secondly, suppose a third Punic war were to be launched, a war of annihilation against Carthage.

then all those lands in North Africa, currently ruled by Carthage, would become Rome's.

I mean, Dominic, you say it must be boring for his listeners.

I don't think so at all.

His speeches are not necessarily about Carthage.

But he always makes this comment.

And so you're listening to it and you're kind of waiting for it.

How's he going to get Carthage in again?

He'll just mention it willy-nilly.

But it is a kind of drumbeat, isn't it?

And if there's one thing the Romans love, it's a drumbeat of war.

So I think he is essentially kind of provoking a war fever.

And this kind of statement that he's making at the end of every speech, what is more, I think that Carthage must be destroyed.