7 THE HISTORY OF ROME. BY THOMAS KEIGHTLEY, AUTHOR OF "the HISTORY OF GREECE," &C. TO WHICH IS ADDED; A CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE OF CONTEMPORARY HISTORY BY JOSHUA TOULMIN SMITH, AUTHOR OF " COMPARATIVE VIEW OF ANCIENT HISTOBT, AWD EXPLANATION OF CHRONOLOGICAL ERAS." Vvy4^^,,^e-^^y NEW-YORK: LEAVITT, TROW AND COMPANY 191 BROADWAY. 1848. « Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1840^ By Hilliard, Gray, and Company, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Massachusetts. '^'^W'\ PREFACE 17 Encouraged by the success of my History of Greece, I now present to the public, and particularly to those who are engaged in the task of education, that of Rome simi- larly executed. The inadequacy of Goldsmith's and other compilations to convey correct historical knowledge is now generally felt and acknowledged, and works of a higher order are required for education. Most readers are aware that in consequence of the labors of Niebuhr (a man of whom I never can either think or speak but with admiration and respect) the history of the early centuries of Rome has assumed an entirely new char- acter. These new views should be known, and I have therefore introduced them ; but as every one may not be disposed to acquiesce in them, I have, though convinced of their general soundness, kept them distinct from the common narrative, which I have given in all the fulness that my limits would allow ; and teachers will use their discretion with respect to the chapters which contain them. In the Second Part of this work I have followed this writer's nar- rative, as it would have been presumption in me to do otherwise. The study of Niebuhr's own work I however most strongly recommend to every one ; and I can answer with confidence for the correctness and fidelity of the trans- lation of it by MM. Hare and Thirlwall. It may startle some readers to find so much of the early Roman history treated -as fabulous, and Rome's first two kings presented as the mere creations of imagination. Their surprise I can assure them arises entirely from ignorance of mythology as a science ; for were they well acquainted with its principles, it would probably be of another kind, and they would wonder how such palpable fictions ever came to pass for realities. I have labored, and I hope with success, to raise mythology from the contempt in which it has long lain IV PREFACE. in this country, and I look forward to its enjoying the full share of consideration which it deserves. As 1 find that my other works have already made their way into some highly respectable ladies' schools, and know- ing to what ridicule, though unjustly, the wrong accentua- tion of classic names exposes people, I have followed the Greeks in circumflexing the penultimate syllables when long otherwise than by position or the union of consonants. The apex which 1 have employed is constantly used in marking the long vowels in Oriental words, and it is more agreeable to the eye than an accent, or the mark of long quantity. Thus Cethegus and Perperna have both the accent on the penultimate syllable, while in Catulus, Han- nibal, and others, it is on the antepenultimate. I take this opportunity of informing the heads of schools, that if life and health are spared me 1 propose writing a volume of Roman Antiquities as a companion to the present work. I shall feel most grateful to those who will point out to me any defects or omissions they may discover in my works, and 1 now return my thanks to those who liave dune so in my Greece, and assure them that their suggestions will be attended to in the next edition. I would finally request that my History of Greece should be always read before that of Rome ; for as I regard these works as one whole, it is frequently referred to in the following pages. T. K. London, Dec. 15th, 1835. In this Second edition a few corrections and improve- ments have been made. I am happy to be able to add that the First volume of mv History of Ens-land, containing the history from the earnest tnnes to me end of the House of Tudor, is in the press, and will be published before mid- summer. The Second and concluding volume will follow it with all convenient speed. London, April, 1837. CONTENTS. PART I. THE REGAL PERIOD. CHAPTER 1. PAGE* Description of Italy. ■ — Ancient Inhabitants of Italy. — The Pelaseians. — The Oscans. — The Latins. — The Umbrians. — The SabelHans. — The Etruscans. — The Li^urians. — The Italian Greeks. — Italian Religion. — Political Constitution 1 CHAPTER II. JEneas emd the Trojans. — Alba. — Numitor and Amulius. — Romulus and Remus. — Building- of Rome. — Reign of Romulus. — Roman Con- stitution. — Numa Pompilius. — Tullus Hostilius. — Ancus Marcius. ... 8 CHAPTER III. L. Tarquinius Priscus. — Servius Tullius. -^L. Tarquinius Superbus. — Tale of Lucretia. — Abolition of Royalty. — Conspiracy at Rome. — Death of Brutus. — War with Porsenna. — Battle of the Regillus 20 CHAPTER IV. The Regal Period of Rome, according to the views of Niebuhr 37 CHAPTER V. The Origin ajid Progress of the Roman Constitution according to Nie- buhr 46 PART II. THE REPUBLIC — CONQUEST OF ITALY. CHAPTER I. Begmninp^ of the Republic. — The Dictatorship. — Roman Law of Debt. Distress caused by the Law of Debt. — Secession to the Sacred Mount. ▼1 CONTENTS. PAGE, — The Tribunate. — Latin Constitution. — Treaty with the Latins. — War with the Volsciaus. — Treaty with the Hernicans 57 CHAPTER 11. The public Leind. — Agrarian Law of Spurius Cassius. — The Consulate. — Volscian Wars. — Veientine War. — The Fabii at the Cremera. — Sieffc of Rome. — Murder of tlie Tribune Genucius. — Rogation of Volero Pud- lihus. — Defeat of the Roman Army. — Death of Appius Claudius 68 CHAPTER HL Volscian War. — Legend of Coriolanus. — The Terentilian Law. — Sei- zure of the Capitol by the Exiles. — Dictatorship of Cincinnatus. — The first Decemvirate. — I'he second Decemvirate. — Siciiiius Dentatus. — Fate of Virginia. — Abolition of the Decemvirate 81 CHAPTER IV. Victories of Valerius and Horatius. — Canuleikn Law. — Censorship and military Tribunate. — Feud at Ardea. — Sp- Meelius. — iEquian and Volscian War. — Capture of Fidenw. — Volscian War.^Murder of Postumius by his own Soldiers. — Veientine War. — Capture of Veii. — Siege of Falerii. — Exile of Camillus 99 CHAPTER V. The Gauls. — Their Invasion of Italy. — Siege of Clusium. — Battle ofthe Alia. — Taking of Rome. — Rebuilding of the City. — Distress of the People. — M. Manlius. — The Licinian Rogations. — Pestilence at Rome — M. Curtius. — Hernican War. — Combat of Manlius and a Gaul. — Gallic and Tuscan Wars. — Combat of Valerius and a Gaul. — Reduc- tion of the Rate of Interest 113 CHAPTER VL First Samnite War. — Mutiny in the Roman Army. — Peace with the Sam- nites. — Latin War. — Manlius put to Death by his Father. — Battle of Vesuvius, and Self-devotion of Decius. — Reduction of Latium. — Pub- lilian Laws. — Second Samnite War. — Severity of the Dictator Papirius. — Surrender at the Caudine Forks. — Capture of Sora. — Tuscan War. — Passage of the Ciminian Wood. — Samnite and Tuscan Wars. — Peace with the Samnites 131 • CHAPTER VTI. Third*Samnite and Etruscan Wars. — Battle of Senlinum, and Self-de- votion of Decius. — Battle of Aquilonia. — Reduction of the Samnites. •—■ Hortensian Law. — Worship of ^Esculapius introduced. — Lucanian War. — Roman Embassy insulted at Tarentum. — Gallic and Etruscan War 151 CHAPTER VIII. Arrival of Pyrrhus in Italy. — Battle on the Siris. — Cineas at Rome. — Approach of Pyrrhus to Rome. — Battle of Asculum. — Pyrrhus /n Sici- CONTENTS. Vll PAGE. ly. — Battle of Beneventum. — Departure of Pyrrhus. — Italian Allies. — Censorship of Ap. Claudius. — Change in the Constitution. — The Roman Legion. — Roman Literature 161 PART III. THE REPUBLIC — CONQUEST OF CARTHAGE AND MACEDONIA. CHAPTER L Carthage. — First Punic War. — Siege of Agrigentum. , — Roman Fleet. — NavHJ Victory of Duilius. — Invasion of Afrif a. — Defeat and Capture of Regulus. — Losses of the Romans at Sea. — Battle at Panormus. — Death of Regulus. — Defeat of Claudius. — Victory at the .^gatian Isles. — Peace with Carthage. — Effects of the TjV^ar 174 CHAPTER IL Civil War at Carthage. — Illyrian War. — Gallic Wars 190 CHAPTER III. Conquests of the Carthaginians in Spain. — Taking of Saguntum. — March of Hannibal for Italy. — Hannibal's Passage of the Alps. — Bat- tle of the Ticinus. — Battle of the Trebia. — Battle of the Trasimene Lake. — Hannibal and Fabius Cunctator. — Battle of Cannse.— Prog- ress of Hannibal 194 CHAPTER IV. Hannibal in Campania. — Defeat of Postumius. — Affairs of Spain. — Treaty between Hannibal and King Philip. — Hannibal repulsed at Nola. — Success of Hanno m Bruttium. — Affairs of Sardinia, — of Spain, — of Sicily. — Elections at Rome. -— Defeat of Hanno. — Siege of Syracuse. — Affairs of Spain and Africa. — Taking of Tarentum. — Successes of Hannibal 212 CHAPTER V. Taking of Syracuse. — Defeat and Death of the Scipios. -— Hannibal's March to Rome. — Surrender of Capua. — Scipio in Spain. — Taking of New Carthage. — Affairs in Italy. — Retaking of Tarentum.— Defeat of Hasdrubal in Spain. — Death of Marcellus. — March of Has- drubal. — His Defeat on the Metaurus • 225 Vlll ^ CONTENTS. CHAPTER VL PAGB. Successes of Scipio in Spain. — Mutiny in his Araiy. — Carthaginians ex- pelled from Spain. — Scipio's Return to Rome. — His Preparations for invading Africa. — Invasion of Africa. — Horrible Destruction of a Punic Army. — Defeat of the Carthaginians. — Attack on the Roman Fleet. — Death of Sophonisba. — Return of Hannibal. — Interview^ of Hannibal and Scipio. — Battle of Zama. — End of the War 237 CHAPTER VII. Macedonian War. — Flight of Hannibal from Carthage. — Antiochus in Greece. — Invasion of Asia and Defeat of Antiochus. — Death of Han- ni.bal. — Last Days of Scipio. — Characters of Hannibal and Scipio. — War with Perseus of Macedonia. — Conquest of Macedonia. —Triumph of Emilias Paulus 253 CHAPTER VIII. AflTairs of Carthage. — Third Punic War. — Description of Carthage. — 111 Success of the Romans. — Scipio made Consul. — He saves Man- cinus. — Restores Discipline in the Army. — Attack on Carthage. — At- tempt to close the Harbor. — Capture and Destruction of Carthage. — Reduction of Macedonia and Greece to Provinces 264 CHAPTER IX. Affairs of Spain. — War with the Lusitanians. — Treacher}^ of LucuTms. — Viriathian War. — Murder of Viriathus. — Numantlne War. — Capture of Numantia. — Servile War in Sicily. — Foreign Relations of Rome. — Government of the Provinces. — The Publicans. — Roman Superstition. Roman Literature 275 PART IV. THE REPUBLIC — CONQUEST OF THE EAST, AND DOWNFALL OF THE CONSTITUTION. CHAPTER I. State of Things at Rome. — Tiberius Gracchus : — his Tribunate and Laws : — his Death. — Death of Scipio Africanus. — Cains Gracchus: — his Tribunates and Laws : — his Death. — The Gracchi and their Measures. — Insolence and Cruelty of the Oligarchs. — Conquests in Asia and Gaul 290 CONTENTS. CHAPTER IL PAGE. The Jugurthine War. — Defeat and Death of Adherbal. — Bestia In Africa. — Jug-urtha at Rome.— • Delieat of Aulus. — JVIelellus in Africa. — At- tack oil Zama. — Negotiations with Jugiiriha. — Taking of 'I'heila.— Caius Marius. — Taking of Capsa. — Taking of the Castle on the Alulu- cha. — Sulla and Boccnus. — Delivery up of Jugurtha. — Mis Knd. — Cimbric War. — Victory at Aquse iScxtiae. — Victory at Vercellae. — Insurrection of the Slaves in Sicily 309 CHAPTER m. State of Rome. — Tribunate of Saturninus. — His Sedition and Death. — Return of Metellus. — Tribunate and Death of Drusus. — Social or Marsic War. — Murder of the Praetor by the Usurers. — Sedition of Marius and Sulpicius. — Sulla at Rome. — Fliglit of Marius 324 CHAPTER IV. State of Asia. — First Mithridatic War. — Sulla in Greece. — Victories of Chseronea and Orchomenus. — Peace with Mithridates. — Flaccus and Fimbria. — Sedition of Cinna. — Return of Marius. — Cruelties of Marius and Cinna. — Deaih and Character of Marius. — Return of Sulla. — His Victories. — Proscriptions of Sulla. — His Dictatorship and Laws. — He lays down his Office, and retires. — His Death and Funeral. — His Character 337 CHAPTER V. Sedition of Lepidus. — Sertorian War in Spain. — Death of Sertorius and end of the War. — Spartacian or Gladiatorial War. —s Defeat and Death of Spartacus. — Consulate of Pompeius and Crassus. — Piratic War. — Reduction of Crete 353 CHAPTER VL Second Mithridatic War. — Third Mithridatic War. — Victories of Lucul- lus. — His Justice to the Provincials. — War with Tigranes. — Defeat of Tigranes. — Taking of Tigranocerta. — Invasion of Annenia. — Defeat of a Roman Army. — Intrigues of Lucullus' Enemies at Rome. — Man- ilian Law. — Pompeius in Asia. — Defeat of Mithridates. — Pompeius in Armenia : — in Albania and Iberia: — in Syria and the Holy Land. — Death of Mithridates. — Return and Triumph of Pompeius 362 CHAPTER VIL Catilina's Conspiracy. — Arrest and Execution of the Conspirators. — Defeat and Death of Catilina. — Honors given to Cicero. — Factious Attempts at Rome. — Clodius violates the Mysteries of the Bona Dea. — His Trial.. 375 CHAPTER VIII. Pompeius and Lucullus. — C. Julius Caesar. — M. Licinius Crassus. —M. Porcius Cato. — M. TuUius Cicero. — Pompeius at Rome. — Consiilate h : CONTENTS. FAGB<. of Caesar. — Exile of Cicero. — Robbery of the King of Cyprus. — Recall of Cicero. — His Conduct afler his Return • • • 384 CHAPTER IX. Second Consulate of Pompeius and Crassus. — Parthian War of Crassus. — His Defeat and Death. — Anarchy at Rome. — Death of CJodius. — Pompeius sole Consul. — Trial and Exile of Milo. — Gallic Wars of Csesar 399 CHAPTER X. Commencement of the Civil War. — Csesar at Rome. — Csesar's War in Spain. — Surrender of Massilia. — Ceesar's civil Regulations. — Military Events in Epirus .-... 415 CHAPTER XI. Battle of Pharsalia. — Flight and Death of Pompeius. — His Character. — Csesar's Alexandrian War. — The Pontic War. ^- Affairs of Rome. — Mutiny of Csesar's Legions. — African War. — Death of Cato. — His Character. — Csesar's Triumphs. — Reformation of the Calendar. — Sec- ond Spanish War. — Battle of Munda. — Honors bestowed on Csesar. — Conspiracy against him. — His Death. — His Character 428 CHAPTER XII. Affairs at Rome after Csesar's Death. — His Funeral. — Conduct of Anto- nius. — Octavius at Rome. — Quarrel between him and Antonius. — Mu- tmensian War. • — Caesar made Consul. — The Triumvirate and Proscrip- tion. — Death of Cicero. — His Character. — Acts of the Triumvirs. — War with Brutus and Cassius. — Battle of Philippi. — Death of Brutus and Cassius. — Antonius and Cleopatra. — Csesar's Distribution of Lands. — Perusian War. — Return of Antonius to Italy. — War with Sex. Pompeius. — Parthian War. — Rupture between Csesar and Antonius. — Battle of Actium. — Last Efforts of Antonius. — Death of Antonius and Cleopatra. — Sole Dominion of Csesar. — Conclusion 446 Chronological Table of Contemporary History 478 PRELIMINARY NOTICES. Roman Chronology. The taking of the City by the Gauls is the event which was used to connect the Grecian and Roman chronology, from which 360 years were reckoned back to the foundation of Rome. By some that event was placed in 01. 98, 1, B. C. 388 ; by others in Ol. 98, 2, B. C. 387. Fabius, taking the former without a necessary correction of four years, placed the building of Rome in Ol. 8, 1, B. C. 747 ; Cato, from the same date with the correction, in Ol. 7, 1, B. C. 751 ; Polybius and Nepos, taking the latter date with the correction, in 01. 7, 2, B. C. 750; while Varro placed it in Ol. 6, 3, B.C. 753. The eras in use are the Catonian, Varronian, and that of the Capitoline Marbles, (as they are called,) which is a mean between those two; the date of the commencement of our era being 752 Cat., 753 Cap. Mar., 754 Varr. The Catonian is that used in the following pages, and the year B. C. may always be obtained by subducting any given date from 752. Roman Money. The lowest Roman coin, the As, was originally a pound weight of brass, (eak of them in their decline. The religion of the two original portions of the Italian population was, as far as we can conjecture, of a simple, rural character. It does not seem to have known the hor- rors of human sacrifice; and though polytheistic, it related no tales of the amours of its gods, and no Italian princes 8 HISTORY OF ROME. boasted an affinity with the deities whom "the people wor- shipped. Partly from this, partly from other causes, the tone of morals was at all times higher in Italy, especially among the Sabellian tribes, than in Greece. A remarkable feature of the old Italian religion was the immense number of its deities;* every act of life had its presiding power; a man was ever under the eye, as it were, of a superior being : the true doctrine of the omnipresence of the one God was thus, we may say, resolved into the separate presence of a multi- tude, the moral effect, though far inferior, was, we may hope, similar. Finally, the ancient Italians are perhaps not to be esteemed idolaters, as images of the gods were unknown among them till they became acquainted with Grecian art. The prevailing political form of ancient Italy was that of aristocratic republics united in federations. The hereditary monarchy of the heroic age of Greece was unknown, and the pure democracy of its historic period never developed itself in Italy. Political numbers are to be found here as in Greece and elsewhere ; four, for example, was the Sabellian number; thirty, or rather perhaps three subdivided by ten, that of Latium.t This principle extended even to the Tus- cans, whose number, as we have seen, was twelve. CHAPTER II.| iENEAS AND THE TROJANS. ALBA. NUMITOR AND AMULIUS. ^ ROMULUS AND REMUS. BUILDING OF ROME. REIGN OF ROMULUS. ROMAN CONSTITUTION. NUMA POMPILIUS. TULLUS HOSTILIUS. ANGUS BIARCIUS. On the left bank of the river Tiber, at a moderate distance from the sea, lies a cluster of hills,§ which were the destined * When, therefore, Varro spoke of 30,000 gods, he must have meant the Italian, not the Grecian system; for the Olympian deities, even including the Nymphs, never extended to any such number. t The thirty Latin and thirty Alban towns, the thirty patrician curies in three tribes, and the thirty plebeian tribes at Rome. t The principal authorities for this Part are Dionysius and Liyy j and Plutarch's lives of Romulus, Numa, and Poplicola. § They were seven in number, lying in the following order : the ^NEAS AND THE TROJANS. . 9 seat of the city whose dominion gradually extended until it embraced the greater portion of the then known world ; and whose language, laws, and institutions gave origin to those of a large portion of modern Europe. The origin and early history of this mighty city have been transmitted to us by its most ancient annalists in the following form.* When the wide-famed Troy, after having held out for ten years against the Achaean arms, was verging toward its fall, yEneas, a hero whom the goddess Venus (Aphrodite) had borne to a Trojan prince named Anchises, resolved to abandon the devoted town. Led by the god Mercurius, (Hermes,) and accompanied by his father, family, and friends, he left Troy the very night it was taken, and retired to Mount Ida, where he remained till the town was sacked and burnt, and the Achaeans had departed. The god, con- tinuing his care, built for them a ship, in which they em- barked : an oracle (some said that of Dodona) directed them to sail on westwards, till they came to where hunger would oblige them to eat their tables, and told them that a four- footed animal would there guide them to the site of their future abode. The morning-star shone before them, day and night, to guide their course, and it never ceased to be visible till they reached the coast of Latium in Italy.t They landed there on a barren, sandy shore; and as they were taking their first meal, they chanced to use their flat cakes for platters; and when, at the conclusion of their repast, they began to consume their cakes also, JEneas' young son cried out that they were eating their tables. Struck with the fulfilment of a part of the oracle, the Trojans, by order of their chief, brought the images of their gods on shore ; an altar was erected, and a pregnant white sow led to it as a victim. Suddenly the sow broke loose, and ran into the country. /Eneas, with a few companions, followed her till Tarpeian or Capitoline, the Palatine, and the Aventine along the river ; the Quirinal, Viminal, Esquiline, and Caelian, behind the Tar- peian and Palatine. The hill named the Janiculan was on the oppo- site side of the Tiber. * " I insist," says Niebuhr, '' in behalf of my Romans, on the right of taking the poetical features wherever they are to be found, when they have dropped out of the common narrative." The circumstances in the following narrative, differing from those in Livy and Virgil, will be found in Dionysius, Cato, (in Servius on the iEneis,) and Ovid, and other poets. t Varro in Servius on ^n. ii. 801. 10 ' HISTORY OF ROME. Tshe reached an eminence about three miles from the sea, where, exhausted by fatigue, she laid her down. This then, JEneas saw, was the site designated by the oracle ; but his heart sank when he viewed the ungenial nature of the sur- rounding soil, and the adjacent coast without a haven. He lay that night on the spot in the open air; and as he pon- dered, a voice from a neighboring wood came to his ear, directing him to build there without delay; broad lands, it was added, awaited himself, and wide dominion his de- scendants, who, within as many years as the sow should farrow young ones, would build a larger and a fairer town. In the morning he found that the sow had farrowed thirty white young ones, which with herself he offered in sacrifice to the gods. He led his people thither, and commenced the building of a town.* The country in which the Trojans Vv'ere now settling was governed by a prince named Latinus, who, on hearing that strangers were raising a town, came to oppose them. He was, however, induced to allow them to proceed, and he granted them seven hundred jugers of land around it.t The harmony which prevailed between them and the natives was, however, soon disturbed by the Trojans' wounding a favorite stag V of King Latinus'. This monarch took up arms; he was joined by Turnus, the Rutulian prince of Ardea; but victory was with the strangers ; Latinus' capital, Laurentum, was taken, and himself slain in the storming of the citadel. | His only daughter Lavinia became the prize of the victor, who made her his wife, and named his town from her La- vinium.<^ Turnus now applied for aid to Mezentius, king of Caere in Etruria. The Tuscan demanded, as the price of his as- sistance, half the produce of the vintage of Latium in the next year, and the Rutulians readily agreed to his terms. * According to CatO; (Serv. on iEn. i. 6. vii. 158,) the town first built by jEneas and Anchises (who also reached Italy) was not on the future site of Lavinium, and it was named Troja. In Latin, troja is a soic, hence probably the legend ; alha (white) refers to Alba ; the thirty young, to the Latin political number. t Supposing that, according to the Roman custom hereafter to be noticed, this was 7 jugers a man, the Trojans, according to this tradi- tion, were but 100 in number. X Cato in Servius on I^n. ix. 745. § The reader will observe how this differs from the narrative in Virgil. We may take it as a rule, that the rudest and most revolting form of a legend is its most ancient one. NUMITOR AND AMULIUS. 11 Their united arms encountered those of the Latins, led by ^neas, on the banks of the Numicius ; Turnus fell, but the Trojans were defeated. JEneas plunged into the stream, and never more was seen, and after-ages worshipped him on its banks as Jupiter Indiges. The Tuscans then beleaguered Lavinium ; but lulus, the son of JEneas, having vowed the half-produce of the vineyards claimed by Mezentius to Ju- piter, led forth his troops to battle. The favor of the god was with the pious youth, and Mezentius fell by his hand. After thirty years, lulus left the low sandy coast, and led his people to a mountain twelve miles inland, on the side ofwhich he built a town, named Alba Longa, [Long white,) from its appearance, as it stretched in one long street along the precipitous margin of a lake. During three hundred years, his successors (named the Silvii) reigned at Alba, the lords of the surrounding country ; but tradition spake not of their deeds. Procas, one of these kings, when dying, left two sons, named Numitor and Amulius. The former, who was the elder, being of a meek, peaceful temper, his ambitious brother wrested from him the sceptre of the Silvii, leaving him only his paternal demesnes, on which he allowed him to live in quiet ; but fearing the spirit of Numitor's son, he caused him to be murdered as he was out a-hunting ; and he placed his daughter Silvia, his only remaining child, among the Vestal virgins, who were bound to celibacy. The race of Aphrodite and Anchises seemed destined to become extinct, for Amulius was childless, when a god interposed to pre- serve it and give it additional lustre. One day when Silvia was gone into the sacred grove of Mars to draw water for the use of the temple, a wolf suddenly appeared before her; the terrified maiden fled for refuge into a cavern ; the god descended and embraced her. When retiring, he assured her that she would be the mother of an illustrious progeny. Silvia told not her secret ; and at the due time the pains of labor seized her in the very temple of Vesta. The image of the virgin goddess placed its hands before its eyes to avoid the unhallowed sight, and the perpetual flame on the altar drew back amidst the embers.* She brought forth two male children, whom the ruthless tyrant ordered to be cast, with their mother, into the River Tiber. Silvia here became the spouse of the god of the stream, and immortal. The care of Mars was extended to his progeny ; the bole or * Ovid, Fasti, iii. 45—48. 12 HISTORY OF ROME. ark in which the babes were placed floated along the river, which had overflowed its banks, till it reached the woody hills on its side,* at the foot of one of which, the Palatine, and close to the Ruminal fig-tree, it ov«erturned on the soft mud. A she-wolf, the sacred beast of Mars, which came to slake her thirst, heard the whimpering of the babes ; she took and conveyed them to her den on the hill, licked their bodies with her tongue, and suckled them at her dugs. Under her care they throve ; and when they required more solid food it was brought them by a woodpecker, (picus,) an animal sacred, like the wolf, to their sire ; and other birds of augury hovered round the cave to keep off" noxious in- sects. At length, this wonderful sight was beheld by Faus- tulus, the keeper of the royal flocks : he approached the cave; the she-wolf retired, her task being done ; and he took home the babes and committed them to the care of his wife, Acca Larentia, by whom they were carefully reared along with her own twelve sons in their cottage on the Palatine. When the two brothers, who were named Romulus and Remus, grew up, they were distinguished among the shep- herd lads for their strength and courage, which they dis- played against the wild beasts and the robbers, and the neigh- boring swains. Their chief disputes were with the herds- men of Numitor, who fed their cattle on the adjacent Aven- tine, and whom they frequently defeated ; but at length Remus was made a prisoner by stratagem, and dragged away as a robber to Alba. The king gave him up for punishment to Numitor, who, struck with the noble ap- pearance of the youth, inquired of him who and what he was. On hearing the story of his infancy, he began to suspect that he might be his grandson; but he confined his thoughts to his own bosom. Meantime, Faustulus had re> vealed to Romulus his suspicions of his royal birth, and the youth resolved to release his brother and restore his grand- sire to his rights. By his directions his comrades entered Alba at different parts, and there uniting under him, fell on and slew the tyrant, and then placed Numitor on the throne of his ancestors. The two brothers, regardless of the succession to the throne of Alba, resolved to found a town for themselves on the hills where they had passed the happy days of child- hood. Their old rustic comrades joined them in their pro- * Conon, Narr. 48. BUILDING OF ROME. 13 ject, and they were preparing to build, when a dispute arose between them, whether it should be on the Palatine and named Roma, or on the Aventine and called Remoria.* It was agreed to learn the will of heaven by augury. Each at midnight took his station on his favorite hill, marked out the celestial temple, and sat expecting the birds of omen. Day came and passed ; night followed ; toward dawn, the second day, Remus beheld six vultures flymg from north to south; the tidings came to Romulus at sunrise, and just then twelve vultures flew past. A contest arose ; though right was on the side of Remus, Romulus asserted that the double number announced the will of the gods, and his party proved the stronger. The Palatine was therefore to be the site of the future city. Romulus yoked a bullock and a heifer to the plough, whose share was copper, and drove it round the hill to form the pomcRrium, or boundary line. On this line they began to make a ditch and rampart. Remus in scorn leaped over the rising wall, and Romulus enraged slew him with a blow, exclaiming, " Thus perish whoever will leap over my walls ! " t Grief, however, soon succeeded, and he was not comforted till the shade of Remus appeared to their foster- parents, and announced his forgiveness on condition of a festival, to be named from him, being instituted for the souls of the departed.! A throne was also placed for him by Romulus beside his own, with the sceptre and other tokens of royalty.^ As a means of augmenting the population of his new town, Romulus readily admitted any one who chose to re- pair to it ; he also marked out a spot on the side of the Tarpeian hill as an asylum to receive insolvent debtors, criminals, and runaway slaves. The population thus rap- idly increased, but from its nature it contained few women, and therefore the state was menaced with a brief duration. To obviate this evil, Romulus sent to the neighboring towns, proposing to them treaties of amity and intermar- riage; but his overtures were every where received with aversion and contempt. He then had recourse to artifice ; * Another account says at a place four miles further down the river. Ennius makes Romulus take his augury on the Aventine. t Those who would soften the legend said he was slain by a man named Celer. X The Lemuria, Ovid, Fasti, v. 461 — 480. § Servius on Mn. i. 276. 2 14 , ' HISTORY OF ROME. he proclaimed games to be celebrated at Rome on the fes- tival of the Consualia, to which he invited all his neigh- bors. The Latins and Sabines came without suspicion, bringing their wives and daughters; but in the midst of the festivities, the Roman youth rushed on them with drawn swords, and carried off a number of their maidens. The parents fled, calling on the gods to avenge the perfidious breach of faith, and the neighboring Latin towns of Cae- nina, Crustumerium, and AntemnjB, joined by Titus Tatius, king of the Sabines, prepared to take up arms. But the Latins, impatient of the delay of the Sabines, and acting without concert among themselves, singly attacked and were overcome by the Romans. At length, Tatius led his troops against Rome. The Saturnian or Tarpeian hill, op- posite the town, was fortifieds and had a garrison; but Tar- peia, the daughter of the governor, having gone down to draw water, met the Sabines, and dazzled by the gold bracelets which they wore, agreed to open a gate for them if they would give her what they bore on their left arms. She kept her promise ; but the Sabines cast their shields from their left arms on her as they entered, and the traitress expired beneath their weight. The hill thus became the possession of the Sabines. Next day the armies encountered in the valley between the two hills. The advantage w^as on the side of the Sa- bines, and the Romans were flying, Vv^^hen Romulus cried aloud to Jupiter, vowing him a temple under the name of Stator, [Stayer,) if he would stay their flight. The Romans turned ; victory was inclining to them, when suddenly the Sabine women came forth with garments rent and dishev- elled locks, and rushing between the two armies, implored their fathers and their husbands to cease from the impious conflict. Both sides dropped their arms and stood in silence ; the leaders then advanced to conference, a treaty of amity and union was made, and Romulus and Tatius became joint sovereigns of the united nation, the Romans taking the name of Q,uirites from the Sabine town of Cures. As a mark of honor to the Sabine women, Romulus named from them the thirty curies into which he divided his people. Some years after, when Laurentine ambassadors came to Rome, they were ill treated by some of Tatius' kinsmen; and as he refused satisfaction, he was fallen on and slain at a national sacrifice in Lavinium. Romulus henceforth reigned alone ; he governed his people with justice and ROMAN CONSTITUTION. 15 moderation, and carried on successful wars in Latiurn and Etruria. At length, when he had reigned thirty-seven years, the term assigned by the gods to his abode on earth being arrived, as he was one day reviewing his people at the place named the Goat's Marsh, [Palus Caprcs,) a sudden storm came on ; the people fled for shelter ; and, amid the tempest of thunder, lightning, wind, and rain, Mars descended in his flaming car, and bore his son ofl* to the abode of the gods.* When the light returned, the people vainly sought for their monarch ; they bewailed him as their father, as him who had brought them into the realms of day;t and they were not consoled till a senator, named Proculus Julius, came forwards, and averred that as he was returning by moonlight from Alba to Rome, Romulus had appeared to him arrayed in glory, and charged him to tell his people to cease to lament him, to cultivate warlike exercises, and to worship him as a god under the name of Q,uirinus. As the founder of the state, Romulus had necessarily been its lawgiver. The chief features of his legislation were as follows : — He divided the whole people into three Tribes, ( Tribus,) named Ramnes, Titienses, and Luceres, each of which con- tained ten Curies, {Curice,) and each cury consisted of a decad of Houses, (Gentes.) The tribe was governed and represented by its Tribune, {Tribunus,) the cury by its Cu- rion, {Curio,) the house by its Decurion, {Decurio.) The territory of the state, with the exception of what was set apart for religion and the public domain, was divided into' thirty equal portions, one for each cury. Romulus again divided the whole people into two orders. The first was composed of the persons most distinguished for merit, birth, and property; these were called Patres, {Fathers,) and their descendants Patricians, as a mark of reverence, or as they resembled fathers in their care. The other order was named the Plebes or Plebs, [People ;)\ they were placed under the care of the patricians, whence they were also called Clients, {Clientes, i. e. Hearers., or Oheyers.) § All the offices of the state were in the hands of the patricians : the plebeians served in war, and paid taxes in return for the protection * Horace, Carm. iii. 3. 15. Ovid, Fasti, ii. 496. Dionys. ii. 56. t Ennias in Cic. de Rep. i, 41. X Plebes is probably akin to the Greek nXfJ-d-og. § These relations, and their true nature, will be explained in Chap- ter V". 16 HISTORY OF ROME. they received. A hundred of the elders of the patres formed a Senate, {Senatus,) to deliberate with the king in affairs of state. Three hundred young men, selected from the curies, and named Celeres, guarded his person ; and twelve Lictors {Lictores) * or sergeants, bearing axes in bundles of rods, [fasces,) attended to execute his commands. Romulus also gave dignity to his royal authority by splendor of attire and imperial ensigns. After the assumption of Romulus, Rome remained an entire year without a king; the senators, under the title of Interreges, (Between-kings,) governing in rotation. At length the people becoming impatient, they proceeded to elect a king. It was agreed that the Romans should choose from among the Sabines; and the choice fell on Numa Pompilius of Cures, who had married the daughter of Ta- tius, and had been the pupil of the Grecian sage Pythagoras. He was brought to Rome, and as Romulus had learned the will of the gods by augury when founding the city, this pious prince would not ascend the throne without obtaining their consent in the same manner. Led by the augur, he mounted the Saturnian hill, and sat on a stone facing the south. The augur sat on his left, his head veiled, and holding the lituusf in his right hand; then marking out the celestial temple, he transferred the lituus to his left hand, and laying his right on the head of Numa, prayed to Jupiter to send the signs he wished within the designated limits. The signs appeared, and Numa came down, being declared king. The new monarch set forthwith about regulating the state. He divided among the citizens the lands which Rom- ulus had conquered, and founded the worship of Terminus, the god of boundaries. He then proceeded to legislate for religion, in which he acted under the direction of the Ca- mena| Egeria, who espoused him, and led him into the grove which her divine sisters frequented. Numa appointed the Pontiffs to preside over the public religion ; the Augurs, to learn the will of heaven ; the Flamens, to minister in the temples of the great gods of Rome ; the Vestal Virgins, to guard the sacred fire ; and the Salii, to adore the gods with hymns, to which they danced in arms. He also built the temple of Janus, which was to be open in time of war. * That is, Ligatores, (Binders,) from their office of binding criminals, t A staff with a crooked head, like a bishop's crosier, t The Camence answer to the Grecian Muses. TULLUS HOSTILIUS. 17 closed when Rome was at peace. At a time when the anger of heaven was manifested by terrific lightning, Numa, in- structed by the rural gods Picus and Faunus, whom he had caught by pouring wine into the fount whence they drank, caused by conjurations Jupiter to descend on the Aventine to tell him how his lightnings might be averted. The god, thence named JElicius, also sent from heaven the Ancile* as a pledge of empire. Thirty-nine years did Numa reign in tranquillity, and then the favorite of the gods fell asleep in death, full of years and of honors. After an interreign of a short time, the royal dignity was conferred on Tullus Hostilius, a Roman, and more allied in character to Romulus than to Numa. He sought and soon found an occasion for war. The Roman and the Alban country folk had mutually plundered each other ; envoys were sent from both towns to demand satisfaction ; but the Albans, beguiled by the hospitality of the Roman king, re- mained idle at Rome, while the Romans had made their de- mand, and been refused. As, by the maxims of Italian law, the Romans were now the injured party, war was formally declared. Preparations were made on both sides, and at length the Alban army came and encamped within five miles of Rome, where the deep ditch, named the Cluilian, (from the name of their King Cluilius,) long informed posterity of the site of their camp. Here Cluilius died, and Mettius FufFetius was chosen dictator. Meantime Kino- Tullus had entered the Alban territory, and Mettius found it necessary to quit his entrenched camp, and advance to engage him. The two armies met, and were drawn out in array of battle, when the Alban chief demanded a conference. The leaders on both sides advanced to the middle, and Mettius then showing how the Tuscans, their common enemies, would take advantage of their mutual losses, and destroy them both, proposed to decide the national quarrel by a combat of champions to be chosen on each side. The Roman monarch assented, though he would have preferred the shock of two numerous hosts. There were in each army three twin-brothers, whose mothers were sisters; the Romans were named the Horatii, the Albans the Curiatii.t To these the fates of their respec- * The sacred shield borne by the Salii ; lest it should be stolen, Numa had several others made like it. See Ovid, Fasti, iii. 259-:-3y2. t According to some, the Horatii were the Albans. The Horatian gens at Rome belonged to the Luceres. 2* c 18 HISTORY OF ROME. tive countries were committed. The treaty was made in due form, and that state, whose champions were vanquished, was to submit to the rule of the other. The brothers ad- vanced on each side ; both armies sat down in their ranks to view the important combat ; the signal was given, the champions drew their swords, and engaged hand to hand ; dread and expectation bound the spectators in silence. At length, two of the Romans were seen to fall dead, the third was unhurt; the Albans were all wounded. A shout of triumph rose in the Alban army ; hope fled from the Ro- mans. The surviving Horatius, unable to cope with his three adversaries, though enfeebled, feigned a flight. They pursued, but, owing to their weakness, at different intervals. Soon he turned, and slew the first. The Albans vainly called to his brothers to aid ; they fell each in turn by the sword of the Roman, and Alba submitted to Rome. When the dead on both sides had been buried, the two armies separated. Horatius, bearing the spoils of the slain Curiatii, walked at the head of the Romans. At the Ca- pene gate, when about to enter the city, he was met by his sister, who had been betrothed to one of the Curiatii, and recoo-nizins her lover's surcoat, which she had v/oven with her own hands, she let fall her hair, and bewailed his fate. The victor, enraged, drew his sword and struck it into her bosom, crying, " Such be the fate of her who be- wails an enemy of Rome ! " Horror seized on all at the atro- cious deed: the murderer was taken for trial before the king; but Tullus shrank from the office, and the affair was committed to the ordinary judges in such cases, (the Duum- virs,) by whom he was sentenced to be scourged, and to be hung with a rope from the fatal tree with his head cov- ered. The lictor approached, and was placing the halter on him, when, at the suggestion of the king, he appealed to the people. His father pleaded for him with tears ; the people were moved, and let him go free. Purgative sacri- fices were performed, and he was made to walk with covered head under a beam placed across the way. The treaty, thus sealed with kindred blood, did not remain long unbroken. The Albans, weary of subjection, sent se- cretly to excite the people of Fidenee to war against Rome, promising to go over to them in the battle. The Fide- nates, joined by their allies^ the Veientines of Etruria, de- clared war, and Tullus, having summoned an Alban army to his standard, crossed the Anio, and took his post at its TULLUS HOSTILIUS. 19 confluence with the Tiber. The Romans were opposed to the Veientines, the Albans to the Fidenates. Mettius, cow- ardly as treacherous, would neither stay nor go over to the enemy. He gradually drew off to the hills, and there dis- posed his troops. The Romans, finding their flank thus left exposed, sent to inform the king, but Tullus telling them that the Albans were acting by his order, desired them to fall on. The Fidenates, hearing these orders, and deeming that Mettius was a traitor to them, turned and fled. Tullus then broucrht all his forces acrainst the Etrurians, and drove them with great slaughter into the river. The Albans came down, and their general congratulated the king on his victory. Tullus received him kindly, and directed that the two armies should encamp together, and a lustral sacri- fice be prepared for the morrow. Next morning he called a general assembly ; the Albans, with affected zeal, came first, and stood unarmed around the king, by whose direc- tions they were encompassed by the Romans in arms. Tul- lus then spoke, reproaching Mettius with his treachery, and declaring his intention of destroying Alba, and removing the inhabitants to Rome. Resistance was hopeless ; Met- tius was seized, and to suit his punishment to his crime, two chariots were brought, to which his limbs were tied, and one driven toward Rome, the other toward Fidenas, and the traitor's body thus torn asunder. Meantime the horsemen had been sent to Alba to remove the people to Rome ; the infantry followed, in order to demolish the town. The people, yielding to necessity, quitted with tears the homes of their infancy and the tombs of their fathers ; all the buildings, both public and private, were destroyed ; the temples of the gods alone were left standing. At Rome the Albans were favorably received, and their nobles ad- mitted among the patricians. The Caelian hill was added to the city for their abode, and the king himself dwelt on it among them. The warlike king next engaged in hostilities with the Sabines, on the pretext of their having seized some Roman traders at the fair held at the temple of Feronia. The Sa- bines hired mercenary troops in Etruria, but victory was on the side of Rome in a battle fought at the Evil Wood, (Silva Malitiosa.) Tullus was now at peace with mankind, but a shower of stones on the Alban Mount announced the dis- pleasure of heaven. At the mandate of a celestial voice heard on the mount, a nine-day festival was instituted, and 20 HISTORY OF ROME. the prodigy ceased ; but soon after a pestilence came on, and Tullus, broken in mind and body, gave himself up to superstition. Having read in the books of Numa of the sacrifices to Jupiter Elicius, he resolved to perform them ; but erring in the rites, he offended the god, and the light- nings descended and destroyed himself and his house. Tul- lus had reigned thirty-two years. The next king, Ancus Marcius, was of the Sabine line, being the son of Numa's daughter. His character vv^as a mean between those of his grandsire and Romulus. Like the former, he applied himself to the revival of religion; and he had the ceremonial law transcribed and hung up in public. But the Latins, despising his pacific occupations, soon pro^ voked him to war, where he showed a spirit not unworthy of the founder of Rome. He took the towns of Politorium, Tellena, and Ficana, and having given the Latin army a total defeat under the walls of Medullia, he removed the people of this and the other towns to Rome, where he as- signed them the Aventine for their abode. Ancus also won from the Veientines some of the land beyond the Tiber, where he fortified the Janiculan hill, and united it to the city by a wooden bridge, [Pons Sublicius.) To secure Rome on the land side he dug a deep ditch (Fossa Quiritiiim) before the open space between the Cselian and Palatine hills. He extended his dominion on both sides of the river to the sea, where he built the port of Ostia at the mouth of the Tiber. After a useful and a prosperous reign of twenty-four years, King Ancus died in peace. CHAPTER HL L TARQUINIUS PRISCUS. SERVIUS TULLIUS. L. TARQUINIUS SUPERBUS. TALE OF LUCRETIA. ABOLITION OF ROYAL- TY. CONSPIRACY AT ROME. DEATH OF BRUTUS. WAR WITH PORSENNA. BATTLE OF THE REGILLUS. Hitherto the kino;s had been Romans and Sabines alter- nately ; the sceptre now passes into the hands of a stranger. When Cypselus overthrew the oligarchy of the Bacchiads L. TARQUINIUS PRISCUS. 21 at Corinth,* a member of this family, named Demaratus, resolved to emigrate. He fixed on Tarquinii, in Etraria, for his abode, as, being an extensive merchant, he had formed many connections in that city ; and he came thither accom- panied by the sculptors, Euchir, [Good-hand,) and Eugram- mus, [Oood-drmoer,) and the painter Cleophantus, [Deed- displai/e7',)f whose arts and that of writing he communicated to the Etruscans. He married a woman of the country, who bore him two sons, named Aruns and Lucurao. The former died a little before him, leaving his wife pregnant; but DemaratLis, unaware of this fact, bequeathed the whole of his wealth to Lucumo, and the new-born babe, who was there- fore named Egerius, {Lacker,) was left entirely dependent on his uncle. Lucumo espoused an Etruscan lady named Tanaquil, and finding, on account of his foreign origin, all the avenues to honor and power closed against him, he listened to the suggestions of his wife, and resolved to emigrate to Rome, where there was no jealous aristocratic caste to contend with. He therefore quitted Tarquinii, and set out for that city. As, he and Tanaquil were sitting in their chariot, taking their first view of Rome from the top of the Janiculan, an eagle came flying, and gently descending took off his bonnet, and with a loud noise bore it into the air; then returning placed it again on his head. Tanaquil, as a Tuscan skilled in augury, joyfully received the omen, and congratulated her husband on the fortune it portended. Elate with hope, they crossed the Sublician bridge and entered Rome, where Lucumo assumed the name of Lucius Tarquinius Priscns, and, by his polished manners and his liberality, soon won the affections of the people. He became, ere long, known to the king, Ancus, who employed him in both public and private affairs of importance, and when dying appointed him guardian to his sons. But Tarquinius now deemed himself sufficiently strong in the favor of the people to aspire to the vacant throne. Having sent the young Marcii out a-hunting, so that they should be away at the time of the election, he offered him- self as a candidate : the people unanimously chose him king, and the senate confirmed their choice. To gratify his friends, he forthwith added one hundred members to the senate, and then to augment his fame engaged in war with the Latins, * See History of Greece, p. 68. t Pliny, xxxv. 5. 22 HISTORY OF ROME. from whom he took the town of Apiolae ; and with the plunder, whose amount exceeded what might have been expected, he gave the people a spectacle of horse-racing and boxing superior to any they had yet seen. A war with the Sabines soon followed, and, before the Romans were aware of it, the Sabine army had crossed the Anio. The battle that ensued was bloody, but undecisive ; and Tarquinius, finding that his deficiency in cavalry had alone prevented the victory, prepared to add three new tribes, to be named from himself and his friends, to the tribes or equestrian cen- turies of Romulus. But the augur Attus Navius forbade to change without auspices what had been instituted v*^ith them. The king, annoyed, to put him to shame desired him to augur, if what he was then thinking on could be done. Attus, having observed the heavens, replied in the affirmative. " Then," cried the king, triumphantly, " I was thinking that you should cut a whetstone through with a razor." Attus took the razor and stone, and cut it through ; the king gave up his project, but he doubled the amount of the old centu- ries without interfering with the original names. The Sabines meantime remaining on the hither side of the Anio, Tarquinius had a large heap of timber which lay on the banks of the stream set fire to and cast into it, and it floated along and burned the wooden bridge behind them ; he then attacked and routed them with great slaughter, and their arras being carried along the stream into the Ti- ber gave the first tidings of the victory at Rome. Tar- quinius passed the Anio and received the submission of the town of Collatia, over which he set his nephew Egerius. He afterwards made war on the Latins, and reduced several of their towns. We are also told that all Etruria was foiiced to submit to his supremacy. Tarquinius, at peace and abounding in wealth, now de- voted his thoughts to the improvement of the city. As the valleys between the hills were mostly under water from the overflowing of the Tiber, he embanked that river, and built huge sewers to drain the swamps and pools it had formed. The ground thus gained between the Tarpeian and the Palatine hills he laid out as a place for markets and the meetings of the people; the space between the Palatine and the Aventine was made a, race-course, and named the Circus Maximus. Tarquinius also commenced building a wall of hewn stone around the city, and he levelled and enlarged by extensive substructions the area of one of the summits SERVIUS TULLIUS. 23 of the Saturnian hill for a temple which he had vowed to Jupiter. The king had reigned thirty-eight years in glory, when his life was terminated by assassins hired by the sons of his predecessor. The occasion was as follows. When the Latin town of Corniculum was taken, one of the captives, named Ocrisia, was placed in the service of the queen. As she was one day, according to usage, placing cakes on the hearth to the household gods, an apparition of the fire-god ap- peared over the fire. She told the king and queen, and Tan- aquil had her instantly arrayed as a bride and shut up alone in the apartment. She became pregnant by the god, and in due season brought forth a son, who was named Servius Tullius. One time, the child fell asleep during the heat of the day in the porch of the palace, and suddenly, to the sur- prise of the beholders, his head was seen enveloped in flames, which played innocuously, and departed when he awoke. Tanaquil, who saw in this the favor of his divine sire, had him brought up with the greatest care. When he attained to manhood, he displayed the utmost valor in the field ; the king bestowed on him the hand of his daughter, and intrusted him with the exercise of the royal authority, and it was expected that he would appoint him his successor. The sons of Ancus had hitherto borne patiently their exclu- sion from the throne, expecting to obtain it on the death of Tarquinius, who was now eighty years old ; seeing, how- ever, the favor shown to Servius, they resolved to wait no longer, but to kill the king and seize the throne. They therefore engaged two ferocious peasants to accomplish the deed, and these ruffians proceeding to" the palace pretended to quarrel ; the noise they made attracted the attention of the royal servants, and as they mutually appealed to the king for justice, they were led before him. Here, as Tar- quinius was listening to the one, the other gave him a deadly wound with an axe on the head. The murderers fled, but were pursued and taken. The dying monarch was brought into the palace, which Tanaquil ordered to be shut ; and then telling Servius that now was his time to secure the succes- sion, went up to a window, whence she addressed the people, telling them that the king's wound was not fatal, that he would soon recover, and that meantime Servius was to ex- ercise the functions of royalty. The gate was then opened, and Servius issued forth with the royal insignia. He took his seat, and administered justice, in some cases at once, in 24 HISTORY OF ROME. Others he feigned that he would consult the king. After some days the death of Tarquinius was made known, and without an interreign the royal dignity was conferred on Servius. The Marcii, having gained nothing but infamy by their crime, retired in despair to the town of Suessa Pometia. The reign of Servius was, like that of Numa, one of peace, and only distinguished by internal legislation. Like Numa, too, he was favored with the love of a deity. The goddess Fortuna loved him and used to visit him in secret; and when, one time at a later period, the temple which he had raised to her was burnt, the flames, mindful of his origin, spared the wooden statue of the king which stood in it. Servius, the poor man's friend, paid out of his royal treas- ure the debts of such as were reduced to poverty ; he re- deemed those whose labor was pledged for debt, and he assigned the people portions out of the conquered lands. He also divided all the people into classes, regulated by property, so that each person should contribute to the sup- port and defence of the state in proportion to the stake he had in it.* This able prince, moreover, brought about a federal union with the thirty Latin towns in which the su- premacy was accorded to Rome; and, as was usual in such cases, a common temple was built to Diana (the moon-god- dess) on the Aventine. The Sabines also joined in the worship at this temple. Among the cattle of a Sabine husbandman was an ox of prodigious size, and the sooth- sayers declared that the supreme power would be with that people, by one of whom this ox was sacrificed to Diana of the Aventine. The Sabine drove his beast to the temple on a proper day, and was preparing to sacrifice, when the Roman priest, who had heard the response, cried out, " What, with unwashed hands ! The Tiber runs down below there." The Sabine, anxious to perform the sacrifice duly, went down to the river, and the crafty Roman offered up his beast while he was away. The huge horns were nailed up in the ves- tibule, where they remained the- wonder of succeeding ages. Warned by the fate of his predecessor, Servius endeav- ored to disarm the resentment of those who might fancy they had a claim to the throne. The late monarch had left two sons,t Lucius and Aruns, and Servius gave these youths * This constitution will be developed in Chapter. V. i Those who saw the difficulty in the poetic narrative said grand sons. SERVIUS TULLIUS. ^ his two daughters in marriage. But the youths were differ- ent in temper, one being mild and gentle, the other proud and violent ; the king's daughters likewise were of opposite dispositions, and chance or the king's will had joined those whose tempers differed. The haughty Tullia soon despised her gentle mate Aruns, and placed her love on the haughty Lucius. An adulterous intercourse succeeded, which was speedily followed by the sudden deaths of those who stood in the way of their legal union, to which a reluctant con- sent was extorted from the king^ now far advanced in years. Urged on by his unprincipled wife, Tarquinius now openly aspired to the kingdom. A large portion of the Patricians, offended at the wise and beneficent laws of the king, readily entered into a conspiracy against him, and Tarquinius, in reliance on their support, at length ventured one day to enter the market surrounded by armed men, and placing himself on the royal seat in the senate-house, ordered the herald to call the senate to King Tarquinius. The senators came, some through fear, others already prepared for the event ; and he addressed them, setting forth his claims to the throne. Just then Servius arrived, and demanded why he had dared to take his seat ; the rebel made an insolent re- ply ; a shout was set up by their respective partisans. Tar- quinius, seeing that he must now dare the utmost or fail, seized the aged king by the waist and flung him down the stone steps. He then returned into the senate-house ; the king, whose adherents had fled, rose sorely bruised, and slowly moved toward home ; but at the foot of the Esquiline (on which he resided) he was overtaken and slain by those sent after him by the usurper. Tullia, regardless of female decorum, drove in her chariot to the senate-house, called her husband out, and was the first to salute him king. He prayed her to return home ; as she drove, she came to where the corpse of her father was lying ; the mules started, the driver paused in horror and looked his mistress in the face. " Why do you stop? " cried she. '* See you not the body of your father ? " replied the man ; she flung the footstool at his head, he lashed on the mules, and the wheels passed over the monarch's body, whose blood spirted over the garments of the parricide. Ever after the street was named the Wicked, (Vicus Scele- ratiis.) When, some time afterw^ards, Tullia ventured to enter the temple of Fortune, the statue of her father was 3 D 26 HISTORY OF ROME. seen to place its hands before its eyes, and cry, " Hide my face ! that I may not behold my impious daughter." * Thus, after a reign of forty-four years, perished this best of kings, and with him all just and moderate government at Home. L. Tarquinius, named the Proud, {Superbus,) resolved to rule by terror the empire he had acquired by crime. He deprived the people of all the privileges conferred on them by Servius ; he put to death or banished such of the sena- tors as he feared or disliked, and like the Greek tyrants, surrounded himself with a body-guard of mercenaries. He rarely called together the diminished senate. To strengthen himself by external alliances, he gave one of his daughters in marriage to Octavius Mamilius of Tusculum, the leading man among the Latins. As the head of the Latin nation, Tarquinius sum^moned a congress to the grove of Ferentina (the usual place of meeting) to deliberate on matters of common weal. The deputies met at dawn, and waited all the day in vain for the appearance of the Roman monarch. Turnus Herdonius of Aricia, one of them, then loudly inveighed against the in- solence and pride which this conduct denoted, and advised them to separate and return to their homes. In the evening, however, Tarquinius arrived, and excused his delay under the pretext of his having had to make up a quarrel between a father and a son. Turnus treated this as a flimsy excuse, and the council was put off till the next day. During the night Tarquinius, who was resolved to destroy Turnus, had his slave bribed to convey a great number of swords secretly into his lodging, and a little before day he summoned a meeting of the deputies. His delay the preceding day he declared had been most providential, for he had since dis- covered that Turnus had planned to kill both him and them, and thus become the ruler of Latium. He had, he under- stood, collected arms for that purpose, and he now prayed them to come and try if the intelligence was true. Their knowledge of Turnus' character induced them to give credit to the charge ; they awoke him from his sleep, the house was searched, the arms were found, Turnus was laid in chains and brought before the council ; the swords were produced, he was condemned untried, taken to the fount of Ferentina, cast in, a hurdle placed over him laden with stones, and ** Ovid, Fasti, vi. 6]3. JL. TAR(iUlNlUS SUPERBUS. 27 thus drowned. The league with Latium was then solemnly renewed, and Tarquinius declared head of the confederacy, which was also joined by the Hernicans ; and a common festival, to be annually held at the temple of Jupiter Latiaris on the Alban Mount, was instituted. The arras of the confederates were soon turned against their neiorhbors, and Suessa Pometia, a flourishinor town of the Volscians, was the first object of attack. The town was taken by storm, the inhabitants sold, the tithe of the booty reserved for building the temple of Jupiter, and the remainder distributed among the soldiers. The city of Gabii, which lay about twelve miles from Rome, relying on the strength of its walls, would not be included in the treaty of federation with Rome. It gave an asylum to the Roman exiles, and for some years the Romans and Gabines carried on a harassing warfare, wasting and plundering each other's lands. At length, treachery effected what force could not achieve. Sextus, the youngest son of the tyrant, in concert with his father, fled to Gabii to seek a refuge, as he alleged, from his father's cruelty, which menaced his life. The simple Gabines believed the lying tale ; they pitied and received him. Soon they admitted him to their councils ; at his impulsion they renewed the war, which had languished ; Sextus got a command ; fortune every where favored him ; he was at length made general ; the soldiers adored the chief who always led them to victory, and his authority in Gabii finally equalled that of Tarquinius at Rome. He now sent a trusty messenger to his father to ask him how he should act. Tarquinius received the mes- senger in his garden, and as he walked up and down he struck off the heads of the poppies with his staff, but made no reply. The messenger returned and told of the strange behavior of the king, but Sextus knew what it meant ; he accused some of the leading men to the people, others he caused to be assassinated, others he drove into exile; in fine, he deprived the Gabines of all their men of talent and wealth, and then delivered up the city, void of defence, to his father. Tarquinius now turned all his thoughts to the completion of the temple on the Saturnian hill. As. since the time of Tatius, it had been covered with the altars and chapels of various deities, it was requisite to obtain the consent of each for their removal by augury. All, save Terminus and Youth, readily gave it, whence it was inferred that Rome would 28 ' HISTORY OF ROME. flourish in perpetual youth, and her boundaries never re- cede. The fresh-bleeding head [caput) of a man was alsc found as they were digging the foundation ; whence the tem- ple, and from it the hill, was named the Capitolium,* and it was announced that Rome would be the head of Italy. Artists came from Etruria, task-work was imposed on the people, and at length the united fanes of Jupiter, Juno and Minerva, crowned the summit of the Capitolium. One day a strange woman appeared before the king with nine books, which she offered to sell for 300 pieces of gold. Tarquinius declined the purchase : she went away, burned three of them, came back and demanded the same price for the remainder. She was laughed at ; she burned three more, and still her price was the same. The king, suspecting some mystery, consulted the augurs, who blamed him for not having purchased the whole, and advised him to hesitate no longer. He paid the money, the woman delivered the books and vanished. These books, which contained Sib- ylline oracles,t were placed in a stone chest in an under- ground cell in the temple of the Capitoline Jupiter, under the custody of two men of noble birth, and were directed to be consulted in emergencies of the state. But prodigies sent by Heaven soon came to disturb the tyrant's repose. While a sacrifice was being offered one day in the palace, a serpent came out of the altar, put out the fire and seized the flesh that was on it.| Tarquinius, appalled at such an event, sent his two eldest sons, Titus and Aruns, to Greece to consult the Delphic oracle, then so renowned. The royal youths were accompanied by their cousin L. Junius, surnamed Brutus, [Fool;) for when the tyrant put the elder brother of the Junii to death for his wealth, Lucius, to save his life, had counterfeited folly ; eat- ing, in proof of it, wild figs and honey. § The Pythia, on hearing the prodigy, replied that the king would fall when a dog spake with a human voice. || * The Saturnian or Tarpeian hill had, on the end furthest from the river, two summits separated by a hollow. The one was the Arx or citadel; the other, being enlarged by suhstnictions or walls built round it and filled up within, so as to give an area of 800 feet in compass, was the site of the temple. t That is, of tlie prophetic women, named Sibyls by the Greeks. The Sibylline books of the Romans were in Greek. t Ov. Fasti, ii. 711. § Macrobius, Sat. ii. 16. \\ Zonaras, ii. 11. TALE OF LUCRETIA. 29 The Tarquinii then asked which of them should reign at Rome. ** He who first kisses his mother," was the response. They agreed to keep this a secret from Sextus, and to de- cide by lot between themselves. But Brutus, who had offered to the god his staff of cornel-wood, which he had secretly filled with gold emblematic of himself, divined the meaning of the oracle ; as they came down the hill he pretended to stumble and fall,, and as he lay he kissed the earth, the common mother of all. In the palace garden stood a stately plane-tree in which two eagles had built their nest. One day,, in the absence of the parent birds, vultures came, threw the eaglets out of the nest, and drove off the old birds on their return. The king also dreamed that two rams were brought to him at the altar, he chose the finer for sacrifice, the other then cast him down with its horns, and the sun turned back from east to west.* In vain was the tyrant warned to be- ware of the man who seemed stupid as a sheep ; fate would tread its path. Tarquinius had laid siege to Ardea, a city of the Rutu- lians built on a steep, insulated hill. As from its situation it could only be reduced by blockade, the Roman army lay in patient inactivity at its foot. The king's sons diverted their leisure by mutual banquets, at one of which, given by Sextus, they and their cousin Collatinus, son of Egerius of Collatia, fell into a dispute respecting the virtues of their wives. Collatinus, who warmly maintained the superiority of his Lucretia, proposed that they should mount their horses and go and take their wives by surprise. Warm with wine, the youths assented ; they rode to Rome, which they reached at nightfall, and found the royal ladies revelling at a ban- quet ; they thence sped to Collatia, and, though it was late in the night, Lucretia sat spinning among her maidens. The prize was yielded at once to her, and with cheerfulness and modesty she received and entertained her husband and his cousins. • Unhappy Lucretia ! thy simple modesty caused thy ruin. Sextus, inflamed by the sight of such virtue and beauty united, conceived an adulterous passion, and a few days afterwards he came, attended by a single slave, to Collatia. Lucretia entertained him as her husband's kinsman, and a chamber was assigned him for the night. He retired ; and * Attius in Cic. de Div. /. 22. 30 HISTORY OF ROME. when all was still he rose, took his drawn sword, and sought the chamber of his hostess. He awoke her, told his love, prayed, besought, then menaced to slay her, and with her his slave, and to declare that he had caught and slain her in the base act of servile adultery. The dread of posthumous disgrace prevailed where that of death could not, and she yielded to his wishes. In the morning Sextus, elate with conquest, returned to the camp. Lucretia rose from the scene of her disgrace, and sent trusty messengers to Ardea and to Rome to summon her husband and her father Lucre- tius. X^e latter came, and with him P. Valerius ; Colla- tinus was accompanied by L. Junius Brutus, whom he met by chance on the way. They found her sitting mournful in her chamber ; she told the direful tale, she implored them to avenge her, she declared her resolve to die. They sought to console her, urging that she was stainless in thought, and therefore free from guilt ; but she drew a concealed knife, and, ere they were aware, she had buried it in her heart. The husband and father gave a loud cry of grief; but Brutus, bursting forth from the cloud of folly which had hitherto enveloped him, drew the reeking weapon from her heart and swore on it eternal enmity to Tarquinius and his race. He handed the knife to the others, and all, amazed at the change, took the same oath. Grief gave place to rage ; the body of Lucretia was brought out into the market ; Brutus, pointing to her wound, excited the spectators to vengeance ; the youth ranged themselves at his side, and leaving a sufficient number to guard the town he hastened at their head to Rome. By virtue of his office as Tribune of the Celeres, he called an assembly of the people ; he told his own story ; he told the more af- flicting tale of Lucretia's fate ; he dwelt on the crimes, the cruelty, and the oppression of the tyrant. The multitude took fire ; they declared royalty abolished, and Tarquinius and his family exiles. Leaving Lucretius to take charge of the city, Brutus then hastened with a select bodf of men to the camp at Ardea. Tarquinius meantime, hearing of what had occurred, was on his way to Rome ; Brutus avoided meeting him, and was received with acclamations by the troops ; the tyrant finding the gates of Rome closed against him, retired with his family to Caere. Sextus went to Gabii, which he esteemed his own ; but he was there slain by the relations of some of those whom he had caused to be put to death. CONSPIRACY AT ROME. S'% Thus after a duration of twenty-five years, ended the reign of L. Tarquinius, the last king of Rome, in the 244th year from the building of the city. The anniversary of it, under the name of King's-flight {Regifugiu??i,) was till remote times celebrated on the 24th of February in each year. A truce was made with Ardea, and the army led back to Rome. An assembly was then held, the city was purified by sacrifices, and the people all swore upon the victims never to readmit the Tarquinii, or to endure a king in Rome. Two annual magistrates, under the name of Consuls, were placed at the head of the state, and the just laws of Servius were restored. Brutus and Collatinus were appointed to be the first consuls. Tarquinius, meantime, had not resigned all hopes of recov- ering his power. The exiles of his party were numerous ; many in the city were in his favor, and if he could obtain the aid of some powerful state, he yet might enter Rome a conqueror. He therefore applied to the Tarquinians, as his family had originally come from their city. They re- ceived him favorably, and ambassadors were sent to Rome to demand his restoration, or at least the property there belonging to himself and his friends. The senate would not listen to the former proposal ; but they agreed to give up the movable property. The ambassadors tarried at Rome under the pretext of collecting the property and getting vehicles for its conveyance, but in reality to organize a plot in favor of the tyrant. They had brought letters to that effect from the exiles to their friends and relatives ; and a great number of the young nobility, who could ill bear the authority of law and the power given to the people, and who regretted the license of the days of the tyrant, readily entered into a conspiracy to restore him. Among these were the two Aquilii, the nephews of Collatinus, and the Vitellii, the nephews of Brutus, whose own two sons, Titus and Tiberius, were induced to engage in the foul conspiracy to undo the glorious work of their father. The ambassadors required from them letters to the tyrant sealed with their signets. They met for this purpose at the house of the Aquilii under pretext of a sacrifice. After the solemn banquet they ordered the slaves to retire, and then with closed doors composed and wrote the letters. But one of the slaves, named Vindicius, suspecting what they were about, remained outside and through a slit in the 32 HISTORY OF ROME. door beheld all their proceedings. He sped away and gave information, and all the conspirators were seized in the fact. Early in the morning the consuls took their seats of jus- tice in public ; the conspirators were led before them ; Bru- tus, in right of his paternal authority, condemned his sons to death ; the lictors stripped and scourged them according to usage, the consul's features remained unmoved, and he calmly saw the axe descend and deprive his offspring of life. No mercy could be expected for the others; all bled in turn. Liberty, a gift from the treasury, and citizenship were the reward of the loyal slave. The rights of nations were respected in the ambassadors ; but the property of the tyrant was given flp to piilage to the people. A large field which he possessed outside of the city, by the Tiber, was consecrated to the god Mars. There was on it at this time a ripe prop of spelt : religion forbidding it to be used for food, it was cut and cast into the Tiber. As the river was then low, the corn stopped on the shallows, and from the addition of other floating matter it gradually formed an island before the city. The jealousy of the people now extended to the whole Tarquinian house, and even Collatinus had to yield to the remonstrances of his colleague and quit Rome. He re~ tired with all his property to Lavinium, where he ended his days. Valerius was chosen consul in his stead, and a decree was passed declaring the whole Tarquinian house exiles. Tarquinius, convinced that his return could only be ef- fected by force, addressed himself to the Veientines, whom by large promises he induced to arm in his cause. Their troops, united with those of the Tarquinians and the Roman exiles, entered the Roman territory on the Tuscan side of the Tiber ; the Romans advanced to meet them, Valerius commanding the foot, Brutus the horse. The enemy's horse was led by Tarquinius' son Aruns, who, recognizing the consul, spurred his horse against him. Brutus did not decline the combat ; rage stimulated both ; they thought not of defence ; the spear of each pierced his rival's shield and body, and both fell dead to the earth. A general engage- ment, first of the horse, then of the foot, ensued ; the Veien- tines, used to defeat, turned and fled ; the Tarquinians routed those opposed to them. Night ended the conflict ; neither side owned itself vanquished ; but at the dead hour of night DEATH OF BRUTUS. 33 the voice of the wood-god Silvanus was heard to cry from the adjacent forest of Arsia that the Tuscans were beaten, as one more had fallen on their side. At dawn no enemy was to be seen ; the Romans counted the slain, and found 11,300 Tuscans, 11,299 Romans on the field. Valerius collected the spoil and returned in triumph to Rome. Next day the obsequies of Brutus were performed ; the matrons of Rome mourned a year, as for a parent, for the avenger of violated chastity. In after-times his statute of bronze, bearing a drawn sword, stood on the Capitol in the midst of those of the seven kings.* Valerius delayed the election of a successor to Brutus ; he was moreover building himself a house of stone on the sum- mit of the Velia,t above the Forum, and a suspicion arose that he was aiming at the kingly power. When he heard of this, he stopped the building ; the people then gave him a piece of ground at the foot of the hill to build on,*and the privilege of having his doors to open back into the street. The honor of precedence at the public games was accorded to him and his posterity, as also was that of burying their dead within the walls. These honors were the reward of the public spirit of Valerius. His object in delaying the election had been that he should not be impeded by a col- league in the good measures he proposed. He convoked the curies, f before whom he lowered his fasces in acknowl- edgment that the consular power proceeded from them, § and proposed a law, outlawing any person who should usurp the regal power. He assembled the centuries, \\ and had the right of appeal from the consuls,^ which the patricians had to their peers in the curies, extended to the plebeians in their tribes, and, as an evidence of this right, directed that no axes should be borne in the fasces within the city. He then held the consular election ; Sp. Lucretius was chosen, * Plutarch, Brutus 1. See also Dion Cassius, xliii. 45. Ovid, Fasti, vi. 624. t The Velia was a ridge running from the Palatine to the Esquiline. X " Vocato ad concilium populo" Liv. ii. 7. For the meaning of populus, see below, Ch. v. § Hence he was named Poplicola, i. e. Publicus. " The right un- derstanding of the word populus dissipates the fancy that Poplicola was the designation of a demagogue like Pericles, who courted the favor of the multitude." ' Niebuhr, i. p. 521. jl Cicero de Rep. ii. 31. 11 The right of appeal for both only extended to a mile from the city ; the unlimited imperium began there. E 3# HISTORY OF ROME. but he dying shortly after, M. Horatius was elected. As the temple of Jupiter was now finished, the lot was to decide which consul should dedicate it : fortune favored Horatius Valerius went to war against the Veientines, but his kinsmen, vexed that such an honor should fall to Horatius, sought to impede the ceremony. He had laid hold of the door-post, according to usage, and was pronouncing the prayer, when one came crying, " Thy son is dead, thou canst not dedicate it;" one word of lamentation had broken the ceremony. " Let the corpse be brought forth," replied he calmly, and concluded the prayer and the dedication. The banished tyrant now applied to Lars Porsenna, lord of Clusium, the most powerful prince of Etruria. The Tuscan, fired at the idea of extending his sway beyond the Tiber, set his troops in motion. He suddenly appeared at the Janiculan ; those who guarded it fled over the Sublician bridge into the city ; the Tuscans pursued; they reached the bridge ; but Horatius Codes, who had the charge of guard- ing it, and two other heroes, Sp. Larcius and T. Herminius, there met and withstood them. At the command of Hora- tius those behind broke down the bridge ; he forced his two brave mates to retire, the Tuscans raised a shout and sent a shower of darts, which he received on his shield ; they rushed on to force the passage, a loud crash and a shout behind told that the bridge was broken; Horatius, calling on Father Tiber to receive his soldier, plunged into the stream, armed as he was ; in vain the Tuscans showered their darts ; he reached the further side in safety. Though suffering at the time from famine, the citizens gave him each a portion of his corn, and the republic afterwards bestowed on him as much land as he could plough round in a day, and erected his statute in the Comitium. Porsenna encamped along the Tiber ; the famine pressed heavily at Rome : then a noble youth, named C. Mucins, conceived the thought of delivering his country. He went to the senate, and craved permission to pass over to the Tuscan camp. Leave was granted ; he concealed a dagger beneath his garments, and crossed the Tiber. He entered a crowd collected around the king, who was issuing pay to his troops ; at the side of Porsenna, habited nearly as the king, sat his secretary busily engaged. Mucins, fearing to inquire which was Porsenna, struck his weapon into the secretary, whom he took for the king. He turned, and tried to force his way through the throng ; but he was seized WAR WITH PORSENNA. %5 and dragged before Porsenna's judgment-seat. He told his name and country boldly, adding, that many noble youths were prepared to act as he had done. Porsenna, terrified, threatened to burn him alive if he did not make an ample confession. There was a fire on an altar close by ; Mucius thrust his right hand into it, and held it there with an un- moved countenance. The king in amaze leaped from his seat, had hiai removed from the altar, and gave him his life and liberty. Mucius then told him that he was one of three hundred youths who had sworn his death ; the lot had first fallen on him, but that each would take his turn. He re- turned to Rome, and he was afterwards rewarded by a grant of land, similar to that of Horatius Codes, He and his posterity bore the name of Scoevola, {^Left-handed,) to com- memorate his daring deed. Ambassadors from Porsenna came soon after to propose a peace. The interests of Tarquinius were neglected by his ally, who only required that the Romans should give the Veientines back their lands. These terms were accepted, and ten patrician youths, and as many maidens, were sent as hostages into the Tuscan camp. But Clcelia, one of the maidens, urged her companions to attempt escape ; and she and they, eluding their guards, plunged into the Tiber and swam across. Porsenna sent to demand their restoration : the senate sent them back, and the admiring monarch gave Clcelia leave to select such of the hostages of the other sex as she wished, and presented her with a horse anci trappings; and the Romans afterwards raised an equestrian statue in her honor. When Porsenna was departing, he presented the Romans with his well-stored camp on the Janiculan. The senate in return sent him an ivory throne, a sceptre and crown of gold, and a triumphal robe, such as their kings were wont to wear. Some time after Porsenna sent his son Aruns with an army against Aricia, one of the chief towns of *Latiura. The Aricines were aided by the other Latins and by the Greeks of Cumse in Campania : the Tuscans were defeated, and their general slain. The fugitives met with such kind treatment at Rome, that many of them remained there, and built the Tuscan Street, ( Vicus Tuscus ;) and Porsenna, not to be outdone in generosity, gave back the hostages and the lands beyond the Tiber, Tarquinius had finally taken refilge with his son-in-law at Tusculum, and he at length succeeded in inducing the Latin 36 HISTORY OF ROME. federation to arm in his cause. As the two nations had long been closely connected, a year's truce was agreed on to ar- range all private affairs ; and permission was given to the women of each people, who had married into the other, to return to their friends. All the Roman women came to Rome, and but two of the Latins departed from it. The shores of the Lake Regillus, in the lands of Tuscu- lum, witnessed the last effort in the cause of the Tarquinii. The Romans were commanded by the dictator, A. Postu- mius, and the master of the horse,* T. ^butius ; the Latins were led by Octavius Mamilius. King Tarquinius, regard- less of his advanced age, headed the Roman exiles; and as soon as he beheld the dictator, he spurred his horse against him, but a wound in the side from the spear of Postumius forced him to retire. On the other wing, JEbutius ran against Mamilius ; the former had an arm broken ; the Latin was struck in the breast, but, uninjured by the blow, he brought up the corps of exiles, and the Romans began to give way. M. Valerius, the brother of Popjicola, ran at the younger Tarquinius; the prince drew back, Valerius rushed among the exiles, and fell pierced by a spear ; the two sons of Poplicola perished in the attempt to recover his body. The dictator now falls on the exiles, and routs them ; Ma- milius brings troops to their aid ; he is met and slain by T. Herminius, who himself receives a mortal wound as he is stripping the body of the slain. The dictator flies to the horse, and implores them to dismount and restore the battle; they obey ; fired by their example, the foot charge once more ; the Latins turn and fly ; the Roman horse remount and pursue, and the Latin camp is taken. During the battle, the dictator vowed a temple to Castor and Pollux. Two youths of great size were seen mounted on white horses in the van of the fight, and ere the pursuit was over, they appeared at Rame, covered with blood and dirt, washed themselves and their arms at the fount of Juturna, by the temple of Vesta, and having announced the victory, dis- appeared. After-ages beheld on a basaltic rock, by the Lake Regillus, the print of a horse's hoof t Tarquinius fled to Cumae, whose tyrant Aristodemus gave him a friendly reception. He died in that town, and with him expired all hopes of reestablishing royalty at Rome. * These offices will be explained in the sequel. t Cicero de Nat. Deor. iii. 5. THE REGAL PERIOD OF ROME. %t| CHAPTER IV. THE REGAL PERIOD OF ROME, ACCORDING TO THE VIEWS OP NIEBUHR. Such are the earlier events of the history of Rome, as they were sung in the poetic Annals of Ennius, and related by Fabius Pictor, the father of Roman history. That they are mythic and seraimythic must be at once discerned by every one who is acquainted with the character of early home-sprung history ; but we are not thereby entitled to view them with contempt, and fling them away as useless. They have been closely interwoven into the institutions and literature of the state, and therefore must be known, and it is only by means of them that the real history can be divined; nor should the delight which they afford the imagination, and the exercise which they furnish for the powers of the mind in general be ^overlooked. We therefore make no apology for having lingered among them. Nearly a century ago, this character of the early Roman history was discerned by Beaufort, who, however, carried his scepticism somewhat too far. The fullest and most satisfac- tory examination of it was reserved for our own days; and the learning, the labors, and the sagacity of Niebuhr have altered the whole face of the early Roman story. We will now briefly' give his views of the portion of the history above narrated.* The war of Troy is so completely mythic, that we cannot with safety regard any portion of it as strictly historical. The voyage of ^Eneas to Latium is therefore entitled to little more credit than the tale of his divine birth ; yet, in the opinion of Niebuhr, it is no Grecian invention, but a domestic Roman tradition. It is, he thinks, indebted for its origin to the circumstance of the original population of both .Troy and Latium being Pelasgian. As the religion of the whole of this race was the same, and the sacred isle of Samothrace a place of common pilgrimage, those who met there, such, for example, as the Lavinians of Latium and the Gergethians of Mount Ida, may have easily accounted * In the text of this and the next chapter we confine ourselves to Niebuhr's views. Our own remarks and those of others will be placed in the notes. 4 3# HISTORY OF ROME. for iheir similarity of faith and institutions, by supposing the more distant ones to be colonies from Asia ; and the destruction of Troy and dispersion of its inhabitants offered a ready derivation of the colonies. It was, then, no diffi- cult matter to make an ignorant people, like the early Romans, believe in an origin thus calculated to do them honor. The succession of Alban kings * from Iiilus to Numitor is a pure fiction, intended to fill up the space which the Greek chronology gave between the fall of Troy and the building of Rome. Alba stood at the head of thirty towns, [Populi Albenses,) and was in union with the confederation of the thirty Latin towns. She had the supremacy, and all shared in the flesh of a victim, annually slain on the Alban mount. Lavinium was founded by settlers sent from the thirty Alban and thirty Latin towns, (ten from each,) and, like the Panionion, it was so named as being the seat of congress of the Latins, who were also called La- vines.t The Siculans, Tyrrhenians, Aborigines, or however the early Pelasgian inhabitants of Latium may have been named, dwelt in villages on eminences which might be easily de- fended. Thus beyond the Tiber there was Vaticum, or Vatica,! and another, whose name is unknown, stood on the summit of the Janiculan. On the Palatine was a town named Roma, and on the Caelian another, which we have reason to think was named Lucer or Lucerum ; and further down the river § probably another called Remuria ; while on the duirinal and Tarpeian above Roma, being separated by a swamp and marsh from the Palatine, was another town named Quirium. This last belonged to the Sabines, who had extended themselves thus far along the Tiber. Roma was probably one of the towns that acknowledged the su- premacy of Alba, and warfare of course was frequent be- tween it and duirium, and the former would appear to * The names of these kings in Livy are, Silviiis, iEncas, Latinus, Alba, Atys, Capys, Capetiis, Tiberinus, Agrippa, Romulus, Aven- tinus, Procas, Numitor, and Amulius. The lists in Dionysius and Ovid (Met. xiv. 609 : Fasti, iv. 41) differ slightly from this. t Turnus, Latinus, and Lavinia are nothing but personifications of Tyrrhenians, Latins, and Lavines. t For there vi'as an ager Vaticanus, and, as numerous examples show, this infers a town. § Not on the Aventine, for then Roma could have had nq territorv THE REGAL PERIOD OF ROME. 39 have at length become subject to the latter. The tale of the rape of the Sabine maidens,* and the consequent war, may represent how at one time there had been no right of intermarriage (connubium) between the two towns, and how the subject one, by force of arms, raised itself to an equality in civil rights, and even acquired the preponderance. When the two were united, they built the double Janus on the road leading from the Q,.uirinal to the Palatine, with a door facing each. It was open in time of war for mutual suc- cor, shut in time of peace to prevent quarrels, or in proof of the towns beincr distinct, thouo;h united. For some time each town had its own king, senate, and popular assembly, and they used to meet on occasions of common interest on the Comitium, in the valley between the two towns. At length, as the two peoples coalesced more and more, and the danger from Etruria or Alba became more pressing, they agreed to have but one senate, one assembly, and one king, to be chosen alternately by one people out of the other. On all solemn occasions the two combined peoples were now styled Populus Romdnus et Quii'ites.f In early antiquity, almost every state was divided into tribes, resulting from conquest or from difference of origin. We might therefore expect to find this the case in the present instance ; and accordingly we learn that the Ro- mans formed a tribe named Ramnes, and the Sabines one named Titienses. But we meet a third, the Luceres, whose oriorin it is much more difficult to ascertain. Another form of the name, however, Lucertes, leads to the supposition of their being the inhabitants of a town named Lucer or Lu- cerum, which is to be soCight on the Caslian, which be- longed to Roma in the time of Romulus, that is, before its union with Q,uirium ; for it was here that Tullus Hostilius placed the Albans, and a branch of the Roman people is * In the more ancient form of the legend there are but thirty maidens, who are, therefore, nothing but personifications of the names of the Curies. t Or, after the old Roman manner, Populus Romanus Quirites, which was afterwards corrupted to Populus Romanus Quiritium: see above, p. 4. The fixedness of the Roman character showed itself even in the retention of old names and forms ; a name was never let go out of use so long as an object to apply it to could be found. Thus, when the distinction between the two original component parts of the Roman people had ceased, the term Quirites v/as retained, and applied to the Plebs ! 40 HISTORY OF ROME. assigned to Tullus, as the Ramnes and Titienses are to Romu- lus and Numa, and the Plebs to Ancus, and none remains for him but the Luceres. These were of Latin origin, and were subject to the Romans. They long continued inferior to the other two, and were not admitted to the deliberations on the Comitium. The whole legend of Romulus and Remus is purely my- thic. When Rome became a state of some importance, its people naturally looked back and so'ught to trace its origin. It is probable that at this time they had some knowledge of Grecian literature ; and as the Greeks had adopted the practice of deriving the names in their topography from those of supposed kings and princes, the Romans inferred that their city must have been founded by a Romus or Rom- ulus.*" If, as is above hinted, there was a town named Remuria in the neighborhood, whose people were of the same race as themselves, and had been sometimes at peace, sometimes at war with them, and had finally been overcome, they might have inferred that Remus, its founder, had been the twin-brother of Romulus, and was slain by him in a fit of anger. The notion of their city having been founded by twins would o-ather strenMh from the circumstance of their state having all along developed itself in a double form. That the legend grew up on the spot is proved by the wolf's den, the Ruminal fig-tree, and the other local circumstances. Gradually, as is always the case, the story received various additions, and the legends of other countries were perhaps transferred to it, and it thus assumed the form in which it has been transmitted to us.t * One acquainted with mythology will not be easily led to believe that, in remote antiquity, countries and towns were named from per- sons. The Greek logographers gave vogue to this notion, of which no trace appears in Homer or Hesiod ; but the first town really named after a man was Philippi, after Philip of Macedonia. (See History of Greece, p. 381.) t The tale of the exposure of the twins, and their preservation, re- minds us at once of the legend of Cyrus, and of those of Asclepios, Paris, and others in Grecian mythology. It more closely resembles the Iberian legend of Habis, (Justin, xliv.) which last is extremely similar to that of Orson in the romance. It is remarkable that many names in the early Roman legends seem to be of Greek origin. Thus we have Evander, (Good-man,) Cacus, [Bad,) Amulius, {Cunnings aiiivlog,) Numitor and Nnma, {Lawful, ruuoc.) It does not, how ever, hence follow that the legendary history of Rome was the inven tion of the Greeks ; the Romans themselves may have had a fondness, even in the early ages, for using Greek names. THE REGAL, PERIOD OF ROME. 41 Numa, like Romulus, is an ideal personage, the symbol of the early religious institutions of the state. As these were chiefly Sabine, he was made to be of that nation, but in the original legend he must have been a native of Q,ui- rium, not of Cures. The purely mythic portion of Roman story terminates with Numa. The dawn of reality begins to glimmer with the reign of Tullus Hostilius. That Alba was destroyed, and that a portion of its population migrated to Rome, are historic facts ; but the probability is, that the Romans and Latins in conjunction took Alba and divided its territory and people ; for it was the Italian law of nations that the lands of the vanquished became the property of the con- queror, and we find the territory about Alba belonging to the Latins, not to the Romans. Or Alba may have been destroyed by the Latins alone, and its people have sought refuge at Rome. The reign of Ancus offers none of the features of poetry ; the events which it contains are all historical, though they may not all belong to that time. With Tarquinius Priscus the poetic history reappears. The Corinthian, and even the Etruscan, origin of this prince is apparently mere fiction ; while his surname of Priscus, Caia Caecilia the name of his wife in an old legend, and the fact of there being a Tarquinian house at Rome, testify strongly for his Alban, that is, Latin origin. For, as has been shown above,* the Priscans were a people united with the Latins, like the duirites with the Romans ; and as the names Auruncus, Siculus, and others, affixed to those of per- sons in the early ages of Rome, denote from what people they sprang, that of Priscus could only have been attached to a person of Priscan origin. t Moreover as the Servilii, with whom Priscus was a surname, were one of the Alban houses on the Ceelian, and therefore belonged to the Lu- ceres, it seems to follow that the Tarquinii also belonged to this tribe, and of this sufficient proofs appear. Caia CsBcilia's name, for instance, refers us to Praeneste, said to have been built by Caeculus the Eponymus, or heroic founder of her house. If, moreover, Tarquinius was of Alban * See p. 4. t To us it appears more probable that Priscus and Superhus were first used in after- times, and after the former had gotten the significa- tion o? old, to distinguish the Tarquinii. If Priscus was a cognomen^ at would have adhered to the family. 4 * ■' p 42 HISTORY OF ROME. extraction, the worship of the Greek gods at the Roman games, said to have been introduced by him, and so inex- plicable on the theory of his being an Etruscan, becomes easy of solution ; for the Albans, though mixed with Pris- cans, were mainly Tyrrhenians, and the religion of Rome had been hitherto chiefly Sabine. The poetic legend of Servius Tullius is utterly at variance with the following passage in a speech of the Emperor Claudius, who was well acquainted with Etruscan litera- ture.* " According to our annals," says he, " Servius Tul- lius was the son of the captive Ocrisia ; if we follow the Tuscans, he was the faithful follower of Cseles Vivenna, and shared in all his fortunes. At last, being overpowered through a variety of disasters, he quitted Etruria with the remains of the army that had served under Cseles, went to Rome, and occupied the Cgelian hill, calling it so after his former commander. He exchanged his Tuscan name Mas- tarna for a Roman one, obtained the kingly power, and wielded it to the great good of the state." Still the truth of this statement is not to be at once acquiesced in. Clau- dius was a man of no judgment; Etruscan annals contin- ued to be written down at least to the time of Sulla, when Etruria lost her independence; each annalist, without having any new sources of knowledge, expanded and en- larged the accounts of his predecessors ; there may have been an old tale of a chief named Mastarna retiring to and settling at Rome, and some annalist may have chosen to assert that he was Servius Tullius. It moreover does not follow that this account gained general credence even in Etruria. It is to be remarked, that among the Luceres there was a house of the Tullii, which would seem to m^ke Servius, like Tarquinius, one of them. t " The legends of Tarquinius and Servius, however," says Niebuhr, " clearly imply that there was a time when Rome received Tuscan institutions from a prince of Etruria, and was the great and splendid capital of a powerful Etruscan * It was on two brazen tables, found at Lyons in the 16th century. t There is something very strange in a leader of mercenary troops, like the Charidemuses of Greece, the Sforzas and Braccios of modern Italy, being the author of a wise and beneficent system of legislation, such as that of Servius Tullius. Is there any other instance of the total rejection of a foreign, and the assumption of a Roman name, in the early ages ? The change of Attus Clausus to Appius Claudius, even if real, is of quite a different kind. THE REGAL PERIOD OF ROME. 43 State." Perhaps Veii, or one of the adjoining Tuscan states, conquered Rome; perhaps Cseles or Mastarna, or some other Tuscan leader, got the government into his hands ; * possibly it may have been the transient dominion of Por- senna, presently to be noticed,! The tragic fate of Servius and the crimes of Tullia are, perhaps, purely imaginary events; this much, however, is' certain that the noble system of legislation which bears his name was rendered abortive by a counter-revolution ; wheth- er it was attended with bloodshed and atrocities or not, is a matter of little importance. The whole poetic tale of th§ last Tarquinius is full of inconsistencies and contradictions. Thus Brutus, we are told, was of the same age with the king's sons, and was re- garded as an idiot. We may therefore suppose him not to have been more than five-and-twenty at the time of the rev- olution, yet he had grown-up sons at that time, and though a natural, was invested with one of the highest of- fices in the state, the tribunate of the Celeres, and could therefore convene assemblies and exercise sacerdotal func- tions ! His name probably gave occasion to the tale of his idiotcy, which tale knew nothing of his office, and the an- nalists, as usual, heedlessly combined the two accounts. The narrative of the taking of Gabii is evidently made up from two stories in Herodotus,! and is quite irrecon- * Sforza, from a leader of mercenaries, became duke of Milan by marrying the daughter of the last of the Visconti. t Niebuhr is certainly perplexed about the Tuscan dominion at Rome, especially as he rejects the Tuscan origin of the Tarquinii. Mailer (i. 118 — 123) thinks that at a time when the city of Tarquinii had extended her supremacy over all Etruria, she also ruled over Rome and a part of Latium. Hence he explains the walls, sewers, Capitoline temple, built on the Tuscan scale of magnitude, and the Grecian games, &c., for Tarquinii was intimately connected with Corinth. Mastarna, at the head of an army from Volsinii, the enemy of Tarquinii, conquered Rome, and gave it a new constitution ; but hi^ government was overthrown by the Tarquinians, and finally Lars Por- senna of Clusium put an end to the dominion of Tarquinii, conquering Rome among other places belonging to her. This writer, therefore, supposes the Tuscan dominion at Rome to have lasted a century. After all, we may ask, is there any absolute necessity for supposing it at all ? t That of Zopyrus, (iii. 154,) and the counsel given to Periander by Thrasybulus, (v. 92.) A Spanish abbot gave the same counsel to Ramirez king of Arragon, (Mariana, x. 16,) and Pope John VIII. gave it to Charles the Bald, of France, and Theodoric, count of Holland. (Scriverius Batavia Vetus.) The pope and abbot had no doubt read Livy. 44 HISTORY OF ROME. cilable with the fact of the treaty with that town which ex- isted even in the time of Augustus, written on a bull's-hide stretched on a shield. In like manner, the war with Ardea must be a baseless fiction ; for, as will appear, it was at the lime of the expulsion a Latin town subject to Rome. The tale of Lucretia may or may not be a fiction ; but the oath of the four Romans is plainly symbolical of the union between the three Patrician tribes and the Plebs against the tyran. ; Lucretius being a Ramnes, Valerius a Titiensis, CoUatinus a Lucer, and Brutus a Plebeian.* The consulate of CoUatinus, a Tarquinius, looks like a compromise with the powerful house to which he belonged, allowing that one of them, to be chosen by the people, should share in the supreme power : but the whole house was banished shortly afterwards.! Of the war with Porsenna, not a single incident can be regarded as a portion of real history, Porsenna himself, was a mythic hero of Etruria, probably belonging to the ante- historic times, possibly connected in the Roman tradition with the war in which Rome fell before the Tuscan arms. For Rome actually had to surrender to a Tuscan power, to give back all the lands beyond the Tiber, and her citizens were prohibited the use of iron except for agricultural pur- poses.t But when the Tuscans were defeated before Aricia, the Romans rose and recovered their independence, but not the ced"ed lands. Then it may have been that property be- longing to the Tuscan lord in the city was sold by auction, which may have given rise to the symbolic custom of selling the goods of King Porsenna. The battle of the Regillus is thoroughly Homeric, with its single combats of heroes, and gods sharing openly in it. It closes the Lai/ of the Tarquins;^ the whole generation who had been warring with each other since the crime of Sextus 11 perish in it; " the manes of Lucretia are appeased, and the men of the heroic age depart out of the world, be- * The Junii were always a plebeian house. Niebuhr (iii. 41, Ger- man) would seem to have regarded Brutus as tRe tribune of the ple- beian knights. t The story of the slave Vindicius is a fiction, to give a historical origin to the custom of emancipating slaves by tbe Vindicta. X Tacitus, Hist. iii. 72. Pliny, H. N. xxxiv. 39. § So Niebuhr names it after the Kihelungen Lied. i. e. Lay of the Nibelungs, a celebrated German po^sm. II According to one account Sextus was killed in this battle. THE JROxMAN CONSTITUTION. 45 fore injustice begins to domineer, and gives birth to insur- rection in the state which they had delivered." CHAPTER V. THE ORIGIN AND PROGRESS OF THE ROMAN CONSTITUTION ACCORDING TO NIEBUHR. In the preceding chapter w^e have given a sketch of Niebuhr's views of the history of Rome in the regal period. We now proceed to give some of his ideas on the origin and development of the constitution during the same time. No institution in ancient times was more general than that of the division of a people into tribes.* These were either genealogical or local ; the former were the more an- cient kind, and mostly arose from a difference of origin ante- cedent to their political union. These tribes were divided into a certain number of Houses, [Gentes,) each of which again was composed of a greater or lesser number of Fami- lies, {FamilicB.) The territory of the state was divided among the tribes, and thus the genealogic tribes must have been local ones also at the time of their formation : but this local position was not their bond of union. To apply this principle to Rome. When Roma and Q,ui- rium united, their inhabitants, under the name of Ramnes and Titienses, formed two tribes, equal in all respects, save that the former had the precedence in rank ; the third tribe (for there must have been three)t was the Luceres, who, as previously subordinate to the Romans, were not yet placed on an equality with the former two. This inferiority of the Luceres is proved by the circumstance of the original number of the Vestals, the Pontiffs, the Flamens, and the Augurs * For both Sparta and Athens see History of Greece, Part I. c. v. and vii. t The word trihus, equivalent to the Greek phyle, evidently comes from tres, and, like the Attic rc^nrvg, indicated the original number of the tribes of Rome. In like manner century orio-inally indicated 100 {centum) houses or individuals. They both became in the course of time mere terms of division, and we read of 20, 21, 30, 35 tribes, and centuries of even 30 persons. 46 HISTORY OF ROME. being four, two for each of the superior tribes, and by other similar divisions in the state. Hence the members of the first two tribes were called those of the Greater Houses, (Majorum Gentium,) — those of the latter, of the Lesser Houses, (Minorum Gentium.)^ Each tribe was divided into ten Curies, (CuricB,) and each Cury contained ten Houses, (Gentes.) Each tribe was pre- sided over by its Tribune ( Trihunus) who was its leader in the field, its priest and magistrate at home. Each Cury had in like manner its Curion, {Curio,) whose title in the field was Centurion, as he commanded a hundred {centum) men in the original Roman army. The members of a house, though bearing the same name, are not to be regarded as kinsmen. t Their union was solely a political one ; it was kept up by common sacred rites, at stated times and places, to the expense of which all its members contributed. The Gentiles (i. e. the mem- bers of the house or gens) were bound to aid one another in paying fines, ransoms, etc. ; and if a man died without kin and intestate, his property went to his Gentiles. These members of the houses of the three tribes formed the burghers or original citizens of Rome. Their common names seems to have been Celeres : \ they were also called Patres, Patroni and Patricians, from the following cause. The states of antiquity were extremely jealous of their civic rights, and slow to communicate them to strangers; there moreover was not in them that equal law for the cit- izen and the stranger, to which loe are accustomed. When therefore for the sake of trade, or from some other cause, a man wished to settle in a town which was at amity or in a federal relation with his native place, he was obliged to choose some citizen of his new abode as his legal protector and guardian. In Greece a sojourner of this kind was named a Metcec, at Rome he was called a Client ; the me- tcec relation however might be dissolved at will, that of clientship descended to the posterity of the first client. The relative term to client was patron, with which Pater * The equestrian centuries of Tarquinius, or the Conscripti of Brutus, were thought by some to be the Lesser Houses. t Thus the Lentuli and the Scipiones were both of the house of the Cornehi, but they were never regarded as kinsmen. + Celer seems to be akin to the Greek yJXfjc, a race-horse or riding- horse. The Roman Celeres or Patricians answered to the Inmig or iTcrto^orai of the Greeks. THE ROMAN CONSTITUTION. 4^ (Father) and Patricius (homo) may be regarded as synony- mous, and denoting the paternal care which a Roman burgher exercised over his children, servants, and clients. If the client did not exercise a trade, keep a shop, or so forth, the patron usually granted him on his estate, two jugers of arable land, with space to build a cottage on, which he held as tenant at will. The patron was bound to relieve his client when in distress, to expound to him the law, both civil and religious, and to appear for him in courts of justice.* The client on his side was to be obedient to his patron, to aid him in paying fines to the state, and in bear- ing public burdens, to contribute to ransom him if made a prisoner, and to help to make up the marriage-portion of his daughters. Altogether this relation has a striking similar- ity to that of lord and vassal in the feudal times, which in all probability was derived from it. The Patricians or burghers formed the general assembly or Populus.f They met on the place called the Comitium, and they voted by curies, whence the assembly was named Comitia Curidta. The votes taken in the curies were those of the houses, not of individuals. No state in antiquity was without its senate ; that of Rome was composed of representatives, one for each of the houses, and consequently contained at first 100, then 200, and finally 300 members. It was divided into decuries; corresponding to the number of the curies, and therefore gradually increasing in number from ten to tuirty. The Raranes had the superiority in the senate also; ten persons, one from each of their decuries, were named the Ten First {Decern primi) of the senate. On the death of a king, these ten formed a board, each member of which enjoyed for five "* Hence lawyers still call those who employ them their clients. t The folio wing passages of Livy prove that the populus was distinct from the plebs. " A plebe, consensu joopuli, consulibus negotium mandatur," iv. 51. " Non populi sed plebis magistratum," ii. 56. " PraBtor is qui populo plebique jus dabit suqimum," xxv. 12. In Cicero's Epistles we meet the following superscriptions, (Ad Divers, x. 8 : ) PlANCUS imp. cons. DES. S. D. COSS. PR. TRIE. PLEB. SEN. POP. PL. Q,. R., and (Id. x. 35) Lepidus imp. iter. pont. max. s. d. senat. POP. PL. Q. r. Fabius and Dion Cassius, as appears from Diodorus and Zonaras, used drjuog for populus, nXijdog i'or plebs. See Niebuhr, i. 417, and ii. 1G8, note. "We think that these passages are quite deinon- strative on the subject. It is impossible to explain them on the thieory of the populus being the whole, the plebs a part of the people. See also Cic. Muren. 1. Verres, v. 14. Ad. Divers, viii. 8. Dion. lii. 20., liii. 21., Iv. 34. 48 HISTORY OF ROME^ days, as Interrex, {Betiveen-king ,) the royal power and dig- nity. If at the end of fifty days no king was elected, the rotation of Interrexes commenced anew. When the King (Rex) was to be elected, the senate agreed among themselves on the person whom the Interrex should propose to the curies. If they accepted him, the sanction of the gods was sought by augury, and the signs being fa- vorable, the new king had himself to propose a law for investing him with the fall regal power {imperimn) to the curies who might then if they pleased annul their former decision.* It was probably thought, that in a matter of such importance it v/as prudent to deliberate twice, or, like the Athenian magistrates, the Roman king may have had to undergo a Dokimasy,t or scrutiny. The regal office at Rome very much resembled that of the heroic ages in Greece, but it differed from it in being elective, not hereditary. The king had the absolute com- mand of the army ; he offered the sacrifices for the nation ; he convoked the senate and people, and laid laws before them ; he could punish by fines and corporal penalties, but an appeal from his sentence lay for the citizens (that is, the patricians,) to the assembly of the curies ; his power over sojourners and others not belonging to the houses was un- limited. The king moreover sat every ninth day, and ad- ministered justice himself or assigned a judge. He could dispose of the booty and the land acquired in war, and a large portion of the conquered territory belonged to the crown, which was cultivated by the king's clients, and yielded him a large revenue. Such was the constitution of Rome in the period desig- nated by the first three kings. With Ancus the state re- ceived a new element, the Plebes, or Plebs. In every state regulated on the principle of houses, there naturally grows up a Demos, Plebs, or commonalty, the members of which are free, under the protection of the law, may acquire real property, make by-laws for themselves, but though bound to serve in war, are excluded from the government.| This commonalty is composed of various elements, and in some cases, as at Athens, it acquired * Cicero de Rep. ii. 13, J 7, 18,20, 21. For tlie general principle of a double election of mogistrates see Cicero, Rullus ii. 11. t History of Greece, p. 65. f Compare the Pericecians of Laconia and the Demos of Attica before the time of Solon. THE ROMAN CONSTITUTION. 49 such a preponderance of strength as to draw all political power to itself, and thus convert the state into a democracy. But destiny favored Rome in this respect ; for though her Plebs was the most respectable commonalty that ever ex- isted, the Populus always had sufficient strength to balance it, and thus the development of the constitution was grad- ual and beneficent.* The Roman Plebs was thus formed. In the period which we have just described, there was probably at Rome some kind of a commonalty, consisting of emancipated clients and of persons who had not entered into the client-relation, but it was of no account. When, however, on the destruc- tion of Alba, a division of conquests and a new arrangement of territory took place between the Romans and the Latins, the Plebs, which had been already augmented by the inhabi- tants of those Latin towns which had been conquered before that time, now received a great accession to its body. King Ancus assigned the Aventine for the abode of such of the Latins as chose to remove to Rome, and it became the site of the plebeian city.t The greater part of the Plebs, how- ever, who were mostly land-owners, staid on their lands away from Rome. It was, moreover, the Italian law of nations, that when a town was taken or surrendered, its teiiritory fell to the conqueror : the Roman kings had always reassigned a part of it to the old possessors, and the Plebs therefore contained all the people, gentle and simple, of such Latin towns as fell to Rome : many of its members might consequently vie with the patricians in nobleness of descent, and equalled them in wealth ; though the jealousy of these last would not allow them to intermarry with them, and most legal relations were to the disadvantage of the plebeians. The Romulian constitution, which we have been descri- bing, received its complete development by the calling up of the Luceres into the senate, but the time when this oc- curred is uncertain. The great change of this constitution commenced with Tarquinius Priscus in the following man- ner. It is the nature of an exclusive aristocracy to diminish with great rapidity, and eventually to die away, if it refuses * The real cause of this difference was probably that the Romans were an agricultural, the Athenians a trading people. t The Aventine was not included within the walls of Servius TuUiua : the plans of Rome which so represent it are Yi'rong. 5 G 50 HISTORY OF ROME. to replace the houses which become extinct. Such appears to have been the case with that of Rome at this time ; the curies did not on an average contain more than five houses apiece. Tarquinius therefore proposed to form three new tribes of houses out of his own retainers and the plebeians, and to name them from himself and his friends. As this would be making six instead of three tribes, and thus be al- tering the form of the constitution, the augur Navius w^as put forward to oppose it, and even Heaven, as we have seen, called to aid. It would appear that a compromise was ef- fected between the king and the patricians, as he in reality did what he proposed, for he doubled the number of the houses, but left that of the tribes untouched ; each tribe therefore now consisted of two parts or centuries. The Plebs, meantime, advanced daily in numbers, wealth, and power by the various accessions which it received. The legislator whom we name Servius Tullius saw the advantage of giving it more organization than it had yet obtained, and he accordingly divided it into local tribes. The number of these tribes was thirty, answering to that of the patrician curies and of the Latin towns ; four of them were civic or in the city, the remaining twenty-six were rural ; of these, ten lay beyond the Tiber in Etruria. These tribes being local, each had its separate regioji, which bore the same name with itself. Each tribe had its tribuife, who was its captain in war, its chief magistrate in peace ; he apportioned the tax {tributum^') which the tribe had to pay among the tribesmen, (tribules,) regulated their con- tingent in the army, and inspected the condition of every family. The plebeian tribes when met in assembly elected their tribunes and other magistrates, made laws for their own regulation, imposed rates for common objects, etc. Rome now consisted of two united but distinct peoples, governed by one prince, with a common public interest, but yet without even the right of intermarriage. These were the Populus or burghers, and the Plebs or commonalty ; equally free, but with the advantage in point of honor on the side of the former.! But the legislator saw danger in * Tributiim comes from tribus, not the reverse. t The assemblies (comitia) of the Populus were held on the Comi- tium, those of the Plebs in the Forum ; the Rostra, a long stage from which the magistrates spoke in public, separated these two places, which lay on the same level, and which were, in common use, in- cluded under the name Forum. THE ROMAN CONSTITUTIQN. 51 this separation, and he sought to obviate it by an institution in which both should be comprised, and by which birth and wealth should have their due and full influence in the state. This he proposed to effect by arranging the whole popula- tion in Classes, subdivided into Centuries. The form in which we must conceive the people in this arrangement is that of an Army, [Exercitus,) as it was called, composed of cavalry, infantry, artillery, and its baggage-train, anid it met on the Campus Martins without the city. The three original tribes or centuries of Romulus, with the three of Tarquinius, contained all the patricians without distinction of property : they were named the Six Suffrages, (Sex Suffi'agia.) To these Servius added twelve centuries of plebeian notables, or men of superior wealth, a kind of plebeian nobility, whose honors descended to their posterity ; these centuries were open ; any plebeian might be raised to them. The eighteen centuries, under the name of Knights, or Horsemen, [Equites,) formed the cavalry of the Roman army. If any member of them was so reduced in circum- stances as not to be able to purchase a war-horse for himself, and a slave and horse to attend and follow him to the field, the state assigned him a '«um of 10,000 asses for that pur- pose, and for their maintenance an annual rent-charge of 2000 asses on the estates of single women and orphans, who were thus made to contribute to the defence of the state which gave them protection. If a knight was degraded, as sometimes occurred, his horse was sold to reimburse the state, and his pension was assigned to another. After the eighteen equestrian Centuries came the infan- try, composed entirely of plebeians, arranged in five Classes in the order of their property, and armed in the same pro- portion, as the following table will show : Class Property. I. 100,000 asses and upwards. II. 75,000 asses and upwards. III. IV. V. 50,000 asses and upwards. 2.5,000 asses and upwards. 12,500 asses and upwards. Centuries. Arms. 'Helmet. Shield. 40 of old, 40 of young men = 80 <| greSesl* Sword. Spear. 'Helmet. Shield. 10 of old, 10 of young men = 20 '^^ dividing by 40, their 20 X 12 = 240 ( common measure, 30 X 24 = 720 35 So that of thirty-five citizens, six were in the first class, and had more influence in the state than the remaining twenty- * For 80, 20, 20, 20, 30, (the numbers of the centuries,) are to each other as 1, 1, 4, ^, f. 5* 54 HISTORY OF ROME. nine ; the number of citizens in the second class was a thira of those in the first; that of the third a half, and so on. If then, as there is reason to suppose, the first class contained 6000 citizens, the whole five contained 35,000 — the number of plebeians (exclusive of the knights) possessing property above 12,500 asses. As we have above observed, the Centuries, when assem- bled on the Field of Mars, formed an army ; the eighteen equestrian centuries were the cavalry; the Classes the in- fantry ; the Proletarians the baggage train ; there were also the artillerists (fahri) and the musicians. The first class usually sent forty centuries of thirty men each, (one from each tribe,) or 1200 men, to the field ; the second and third together gave the same number, as did also the fourth and fifth ; making a total of one hundred and twenty centuries, or 3600 men, consisting of three divisions of 1200 men each, one of hoplites or men in full armor, one of men in half ar- mor, and one of light troops. This body, named a Legion,* was drawn up in phalanx after the manner of the Greeks, each century composed of the first two divisions being drawn up three in front and ten deep, the men of the first class forming the first five ranks ; whence we see why the quantity of armor was diminished as the classes descended, those who stood behind being covered by the bodies and armor of those in front. The light troops, forming what was called a caterva, stood apart from the phalanx. The Accensi stood apart from both ; it was their duty to take the arms and places of the killed or wounded, and as in such cases the man immediately behind stepped into the gap, and he was succeeded by the man behind him, the places of the Accensi were always in the rear, where they acted merely mechanically in giving weight and consistency to the mass. In this system, therefore, men had to encounter danger in exact proportion to the stake they had in the state, and to the political advantages which they enjoyed ; for the knights also purchased their precedence by being exposed to greater danger, as they were badly equipped, and riding without stirrups were easily unhorsed and disarmed, and were ex- posed to the missiles of the enemy's light troops. * From lego, to select. We are not to suppose that one legion formed the whole army. This was only the rule by which the legions were raised. THE ROMAN CONSTITUTION. SS Another part of this legislation was the establishment of a regular system of taxation by the Census. Every citizen was bound to give an honest return of the number of his family, and of his taxable property. A registry of births was kept in the temple of Lucina, one of deaths in that of Libitina ; the country people were registered at the festival of the Paganalia. All changes of abode and transfers of property were to be notified to the proper magistrate. The tribute was paid by the Plebs ; it was so much a thousand on the property given in at the census, varying according to the exigencies of the state, but unfair, inasmuch as debts were not deducted from the capital, so that a man paid in proportion to his nominal, not his actual property. This property consisted of lands, houses, slaves, cattle, money, and every other object of what was called Quiritary prop- erty, or res mancipii. None but Assiduans were thus taxed ; the Proletarians were exempt from taxes. Sojourners and others, who were not in the Classes or Centuries, paid, under the name of JErarians, such arbitrary sums as the state imposed for licenses to 'carry on trades, etc. The patricians paid, like the plebeians, for their property of the same kind with theirs, and they yielded the state a tithe of the prod- uce of the public lands, which they held exclusively as tenants. Though Servius thus gave form and consistency to the revenue, we are not to suppose that most if not all of these taxes did not exist before his time ; there were these and port-duties and other charges, from which and the mcmubicB, or spoils of war, the kings derived a large revenue, as is proved by the great works which they executed. These works were the Capitoline temple, with its huge substruc- tions, the sewers and the city wall. Of the first we have already spoken : the Cloaca Maxima, or great sewer, which still exists, is composed of three vaults within one another, all formed of hewn blocks of the stone named peperino, each 7i Roman palms long, and A^ thick, put together without cement ; the innermost vault is a semicircle eighteen palms in vvidth and as many in height. Other sewers carried the waters of other parts of the city into the Cloaca Maxima, which opens into the river by a gate-like arch in a quay ; which quay, being of the same style of architecture, is evi- dently coeval with it. The wall of Servius, from the Col- line to the Esquiline gate, a distance of nearly a mile, was the third great work of the kings. This consisted of a 56 HISTORY OF ROME. mound of clay, (for there is no stone here,) 50 feet wide and 60 high, faced with a skirting of flag-stones, and flanked with towers. It was formed of the clay raised from a moat or ditch in front of it, 100 feet wide and 30 deep. A similar waii extended from the Colline gate to the western steeps of the Quirinal hill. These works plainly prove, that Rome under her later kings was the capital of a powerful state. The greatness of Rome in her regal period is further shown by a com- mercial treaty with Carthage, made in the first year of the Repiblic* In this treaty Rome stipulates for herself and her subject towns Ardea, Laurentum, Aricia, Antium, Circeii, and Terracina ; and she also extends her protecting power to the Latins, who dwelt to the south of this last-named place. This dominion, as we shall presently see, she lost in con- sequence of her revolution ; and nearly two centuries elapsed before she was able to regain it. * Polybius, iii. 22, 26. The consuls named in it are Brutus and Horatius. • THE HISTORY OF ROME PART II.* THE REPUBLIC — CONQUEST OF ITALY. CHAPTER 1. BEGINNING OF THE REPUBLIC. THE DICTATORSHIP. RO- MAN LAW OP DEBT. DISTRESS CAUSED BY THE LAW OP DEBT. SECESSION TO THE SACRED MOUNT. THE TRI- BUNATE. LATIN CONSTITUTION. TREATY WITH THE LATINS. WAR WITH THE VOLSCIANS. TREATY WITH THE HERNICANS. , In the preceding Part we have carried the history down beyond the point at which the Regal Period properly speak- ing terminates ; but we wished to give the poetic narrative complete and separate from that which may claim to be re- garded as an approximation to the truth. We must now therefore go back to the origin of the Republic. Be the acts recorded of the last Roman king true or false, there can be little doubt that he was a tyrant in the bad sense of the word, and as bad as the worst of those in Greece and her colonies at that period. The patricians who aided him to usurp the throne, in order that they might deprive the plebeians of the rights and liberties se- cured to them by the constitution of Servius, soon felt that * Livy, Dionysius, (to the year 312,) and the epitomators Zonaras, Orosius, Eutropius, Florus, and Aurelius Victor, are the consecutive authorities for this Part. There are also Plutarch's lives of Poplicola, CorioUnus, Camillus, and Pyrrhus. H 58 HISTORY OF ROME. they liad only procured for themselves a harsh and cruel master, and they gladly joined with the plebeians to expel him, (A. U. 244.) A return was made to the constitution of Servius. In agreement with the commentaries of that prince, two annual magistrates, at first named Prsetors, afterwards Consuls,* possessed of all the regal authority, saving only the sacerdotal functions, were placed at the head of the state;- and there is reason to think that at first they were chosen one from each of the orders. t The right of appealing to their peers, (the curies,) which the patricians had always enjoyed, was extended by the Valerian law to the plebeians, who were now empowered to appeal to their tribes. The royal demesne lands were also distributed in small freeholds among a portion of the more needy plebeians. The senate, which had been greatly reduced by the cruelty of the tyrant, was completed to the original number of three hundred out of the plebeian equestrian centuries. These new members were named Conscripts, [Conscripti,) to distinguish them from the Patres, or patrician senators.^ The loss of the lands beyond the Tiber, in consequence of the Tuscan conquest of Rome, greatly crippled the state. Advantage was taken of this by the Volscians and Sabines ; but if we credit the annals, the arms of Rome met with uni- form success against them. On occasion of a war with the latter people, (250,)^ a man of rank among them, named Attus Clausus, being menaced with impeachment for having opposed the war, resolved to go over to the Romans. Quit- ting Regillus, where he abode, he came with his gentiles and clients, to the number of five thousand, to Rome, where he took the name of Appius Claudius, and was admitted into the body of the patricians ; land beyond the Anio was assigned to his followers, and they formed a tribe named * Liv. iii. 55, Dion, liii. 13. Zonaras, viu 19. Prcctor^ i. e. PrcB- itor, which the Greeks always rendered orQaTtjyog, evidently referred primarily to military command. Consul means merely colleague, for, as in exul^ prcesul, the syllable sul denotes one icho is. The derivation from consulo cannot be received. .[The authority of Q,uintilian must certainly be considered as superior to that of Mr. Keightley on this point. He distinctly says, (Inst. Orat. I. 6,) " Sit enim Consul a consu- lendo, vel a judicando ; nam et hoc consulcre veteres appellaverunt, unde adhuc remanet illud, — Rogat, honi consular, id est, bonum judices." J. T. S.] t For, as observed above, Brutus was a plebeian. t Patres Conscripti is therefore Patres et Conscripti. (Liv. ii. 1.) See above, p. 4, note. BEGINNING OF THE REPUBLIC. 5*^ the Claudian.* The house of the Claudii is eminent in Roman story ; it produced many an able, hardly a great, and not a single noble-minded man. Indomitable pride and opposition to the rights of the people were its characteristic quaJities.t In the year 253 a new magistracy, named the Dictator- ship, was instituted. The name, and perhaps the office, is said to have been borrowed from the Latins. | The dictator was invested with the full regal authority for the space of six months ; he was nominated by the consul or interrex on the direction of the senate, and he received the imperium from the curies. He was preceded by twenty-four lictors with axes in the fasces, as no appeal lay from his sentence. The dictator always nominated an officer, named the Mas- ter of the Horse, {3Iagister Equiturn,) who was to him what the tribune of the Celeres had been to the kings.§ T, Lar- cius is said to have been the first dictator. The dictatorship was ostensively instituted against the public enemy, but the oppression of the plebeians was its real object. It was a part of the plan which the patricians had now formed for depriving them of all their rights and advantages, and reducing them to the condition of the Etrus- can serfs, and thus, though its authors thought not so, of depriving Rome of all chance of ever becoming great. The plebeians had been already justled out of the consulate : it was proposed to elude by the dictatorship the right of ap- peal given by the Valerian law, and reestablish the unlim- ited authority of the chief magistrate even within the city and the mile round it ; and finally, by a rigorous en- forcement of the law of debt, to reduce them to actual slavery. At Rome, as in the ancient world in general, the law of * Niebulir thinks that as by the peace which the consul Sp. Cassius concluded (252) with the Sabines, (Dionys. v. 49,) a portion of territory was ceded to Rome, it was thus that the Claudian gens and tribe were formed in lieu of the Tarquinian, which had been broken up. The tribes were but twenty till the year 259, when the Crustumine was formed. t That is, the patricians ; the plebeian family of the Marcelli were of a far better character. X That the Latins had dictators is quite certain. It is not equally so that they gave them such power as is here spoken of. The Romans probably borrowed only the name to avoid that of rex. § " Dictatoribus Magistri Equiturn injungebantur : sic quomodo Regi- bzis Tribuni Celerum." — Pomponius Dig. lib. i. tit. ii. 1, quoted by the learned translators of Niebuhr's Hist. orRorae, i. 515. ©y HISTORY OF ROME. « debt was extremely severe. It was to this effect; a per* son wishing to borrow money entered into a nexum, or be- came wc3;m.5, when, in the presence of witnesses, under the form of a sale, he pledged himself and all belonging to him for payment of a sum of money which he then received. If this money was not repaid at the appointed time, the debtor was brought before the praetor, who assigned [addice- hat) him as a slave to his creditor, whence he was termed addictus. Such of the debtor's children and grandchildren as were still under his authority shared his fate, and were led off in bonds with him to the creditor's work-house. The rate of interest was unlimited by law ; loans were usually made for the year of ten months,* at the end of which period if the principal was not repaid, the interest was frequently added to it, {versura,) and the principal was often thus gradually raised to several times its original amount, and a debt accumulated which could never be discharged. The creditors were generally the patricians either in their own names or as the patrons of their clients, in whose hands were all branches of trade, banking included : the debtors were the plebeians, who were solely devoted to agriculture. For after the abolition of royalty the patricians, having gotten the government into their own hands, ceased to pay the tithes off the public lands which they held ; and all the booty acquired in war was reduced in publicum, that is, brought into the chest of the populus ; they had also the money paid for protections, licenses, etc., by the clients, and consequently were rich. On the other hand the tribute was rigorously exacted from the plebeians, whose little farms lying frequently at a distance from Rome, were ex- posed to the ravages of the enemy, their houses were burnt, their cattle carried off, their farming implements destroyed. Add to this that the loss of the lands beyond the Tiber had reduced many families to absolute beggary, and further, that the patricians actually excluded them from all share in the public pastures. We may thus see how the bulk of the plebeians may have been deeply in debt and driven to a state of despair by the rigour of their creditors. In such a state of things a spark will kindle a conflagra- tion. When (259) Appius Claudius and P. gervilius were * Besides the ordinary lunar year of twelve months, the Romans used, for particular purposes, the cyclic year of ten months, borrowed from the Tuscans. ROMAN liAW OF DEBT. 61 consuls, an old man, covered with filth and rags, with squalid hair and beard, pale and emaciated, rushed one day into the Forum and implored the aid of the people, showing the scars of wounds received in eight-and-twenty battles. Several, recognizing in him one who had been a brave cap- tain, eagerly inquired the cause of his present wretched appearance. He said that while he was serving in the Sabine war his house and farm-yard had been plundered and burnt by the enemy ; the tributes had nevertheless been exacted of him ; he had been obliged to borrow money ; principal and accumulated interest had eaten up all his prop- erty ; the sentence of the law had given himself and his two sons as slaves to his creditor. He then stripped his back and showed the marks of recent stripes. A general uproar arose ; all, both in and out of debt, {nexi and soluti,) assembled and clamored for some legal relief. With dif- ficulty a sufficient number of senators (such was their ter- ror) could be brought together. Appius proposed to employ force, Servilius was for milder courses. Just then news arrived that the Volscians were in arms ; the people exulted, telling the patricians to go fight their own battles, and re- fused to give their names for the legions. The senate then empowered Servilius to treat with them. He issued an edict proclaiming that no one who was in slavery for debt should be prevented from serving if he chose, and that as long as a man was under arms no one should touch his property or keep his children in bondage. All the pledged (next) who were present then gave their names, the bound (addicti) hastened on all sides from their dungeons, and a large army took the field under the consul. The Volscians were defeated, their town of Suessa Pometia taken, and the plunder given up to the army. An Auruncan army which came to the aid of the Volscians was routed a few days after near Aricia. Servilius led home his victorious army full of hopes ; but these hopes were bitterly deceived, when the iron-hearted Appius ordered the debtor-slaves back to their prisons and assigned the pledged to the creditors. But the people stood on their defence, and repelled th-e officers and those who went to aid them, at the same time calling on Servilius to perform his promises. The consul, by attempting to steer a middle course, lost favor with both parties, and the year passed away without any thing being done. The next year, (260,) when the consuls, A. Virginius and 6 62 HISTORY OF ROME. T. Vetusius, attempted to levy an army, the people refused to give their names. They now also held nocturnal meet- ings in their own quarters on the Aventine and Esquiline, to concert measures of resistance, and even went so far as to demand a total abolition of debts. A portion of the pa- tricians were willing to purchase peace even on these terms ; others thought it might suffice to restore their liberty and property to those who had served the year before : Appius averred that wantonness, not poverty, was the disease of the people, and that a dictator, from whom there was no appeal, would soon cure them. It was resolved, therefore, to try the effect of the dictatorship, and the more violent party would have risked the very existence of the state by placing Appius himself in the office; but the milder and more pru- dent succeeded in appointing M. Valerius, in whom they knevt^ the people would confide. The dictator issued an edict similar to that of Servilius ; the people, in reliance on his name and power, readily gave their names ; ten legions* were raised, four for the dicta- tor, three for each consul. Valerius marched against the Sabines, one consul against the ^Equians, the other against the Volscians. Victory was every where with the Romans. Valerius, on his return, lost no time in bringing the affair of the pledged before the senate, and finding he could get no measure of relief passed, he laid down his office. The people, satisfied that he had kept his faith, received him with acclamations, and attended him in token of honor from the Forum to his house. The dictator's army had been disbanded, but either one or both of the consular armies was still under arms. The plebeians who formed it, seeing no chance of legal relief, made L. Sicinius Bellutus their leader, crossed the Anio, and encamped on an adjacent eminence in the Crustumine dis- trict ; the consuls and the patricians who were among them were dismissed without injury. The plebeians of the city meantime occupied the Aventine, and there was every pros- pect of affairs coming to civil war and bloodshed. For we must bear in mind that the patricians, the original populus of Rome, must have been still a numerous body ; they were of a martial character, like every body of the kind, and their numerous clients stood faithfully by them on all occa- sions; they were also the government, and had the means * This is incredible ; at the Alia the Romans had but four legions. ROMAN LAW OF DEBT. 63 of negotiating foreign aid. Moreover, the hills of Rome were all fortresses, like the Capitol, their sides being made steep and abrupt, and any attempt to carry the Palatine or the duirinal, for instance, might have cost much blood. Both sides were aware that the issue of the conflict might be doubtful, and that the ^quians and Volscians or the Etruscans might take advantage of it to ruin Rome. A mutual wish for accommodation, therefore, prevailed ; and the patricians, having strengthened themselves by an alli- ance with the Latins, deputed the First Ten of the senate to the plebeian camp to treat of peace. One of these, named Agrippa Menenius, is said to have addressed on this occa- sion the following apologue to the people : — " In those times when all was not at unity, as now, in man, but every member had its own plans and its own lan- guage, the other members became quite indignant that they should all toil and labor for the belly, while it remained at its ease in the midst of them doing nothing but enjoying itself They therefore agreed among themselves that the hands should not convey any food to the mouth, nor the mouth receive it, nor the teeth chew it. But while they thus thought to starve the belly out, they found themselves and the whole body reduced to the most deplorable state of feebleness, and they then saw that the belly is by no means useless, that it gives as well as receives nourishment, dis- tributing to all parts of the body the means of life and health." Having propounded this fable, the meaning of which was obvious,* Menenius and his colleagues proceeded to treat, and a peace was made and sworn to by the two orders. By this treaty all outstanding debts were cancelled, and all who were in slavery for debt were set at liberty ; but the plebs neither regained the consulate nor any other honors ; for the senate, with the usual wisdom of an aristocracy, contrived to separate the interests of the lower order of plebeians from those of their gentry, by making individual sacrifices in the remission of debts, while they retained the solid advantages of place and power for their order. They * By the belly must be understood the moneyed men, not the government ; this would have been the head. T. Q,uinctius Flami- ninus seeing Philopoemon, the Achaean general, with plenty ofhoplites and horsemen, but without money, said (alluding to his make,) " Phil- opoemon has legs and arms, but no belly." (Plut. Apoph. Reg, et Imp., Opera, vol. viii. p. 144, ed. Hutten.) 64 HISTORY OF ROME. also managed to have no alteration made in the law of debt. The plebeians, having offered sacrifice to Jupiter on the mount where they had encamped, which thence was named the Sacred Mount, [Blons Sacer,) returned to their former dwellings. But the real gain of the plebeians, and as it proved, of the patricians also, was the making the tribunate an invio- lable magistracy. Hitherto it was with danger to them- selves, that the tribunes of the plebs had attempted to give the protection secured to the people by the Valerian law ; now, in the solemn compact between the orders, it was de- clared that any one who killed or injured a tribune should be accursed, {sacer, i. e. outlawed,) and any one might slay him with impunity, and his property was forfeit to the temple of Ceres. The house of the tribune stood open night and day, that the injured might repair to it for suc- cor. The number of tribunes in the new-modelled trib- unate, and who were elected on the Sacred Mount, was two, C. Licinius and L. Albinius ; to these, three more, among whom was Sicinius, were afterwards added, and there thus was one for each of the Classes. It is remark- able, as an instance of the efforts made by the patricians to keep up their power, that the election of the tribunes re- quired the confirmation of the curies. The tribunes were purely a plebeian magistracy, the rep- resentatives of their order, and its protectors against the supreme power. They could not act as judges, or impose penalties on offending patricians ; they could only bring them before the court of the commonalty. And here it must be remarked, as a peculiarity of the national law of ancient Italy, that a people who had been injured, either collectively or in the person of one of its members, had the right of trying the offender, whom his countrymen, if there was a treaty with them, were bound to give up for the pur- pose. For it was expected that sworn judges would be more likely to acquit him, if innocent, than his gentiles, tribesmen, etc. to condemn him if guilty.* Another plebeian office, said to have been instituted (more probably modified) at this time, was the ^dileship. The sediles acted as judges under the tribunes, and they * How much more consonant to justice our own practice of trying by a mixed jury of natives and foreigners ! Yet perhaps it would not have answered in those times. THE TRIBUNATE. 65 kept the archives of the plebs in the temple of Ceres, which was under their care. The time of the consular election having come on during the secession, the populus had appointed Sp. Cassius Viscel- linus and Postumius Cominius, who had already been con- suls, and a treaty was forthwith concluded with the Latins, the existence of which enabled the patricians to make such advantageous terms with the plebeians. A sketch of the Latin constitution may here be useful. We have more than once had occasion to notice the pred- ilection of the ancients for political numbers. That of the Latins, the Albans, and the Romans was thirty, or rather three tens ; and therefore, as Rome had her thirty curies and tribes, so Latium consisted of a union of thirty towns. Each of these towns had its senate of one hundred members, divided into ten decuries, the decurion or foreman of each of which was deputed to the general senate of the nation, which assembled at the grove and fount of Ferentina, and thus, like that of Rome, contained three hundred members. The union among the Latin towns, though less close than that among the Roman tribes, was much more intimate than the Greek federations in general, and they always acted as one state, with a common interest. Each city had its dictator, one of whom always was dictator over the whole nation, and its head in war and in the performance of the great national religious rites. The treaty, now made on terms of perfect equality be- tween the two nations, shows how Rome had fallen from her power under her kings. It was to this effect : " There shall be peace between the Romans and Latins as long as heaven and earth shall keep their place ; and they shall neither war themselves against each other, nor instigate others to do so, nor grant a safe passage to the enemies ; and they shall aid one another, when attacked, with all their might; they shall share equally between them the spoils and booty gained in common wars ; private suits shall be decided within ten days, in the place where the engagement was made ; nothing may be added to or taken from this treaty without the consent of the Romans and all the Latins.* Among the spoils of war mentioned in this treaty was the territory won from conquered states, which was usually ^ Dionys. vi. 95. 6* I 66 HISTORY OF ROME. added to the public land, and the Latins had a demesne of this kind as well as the Romans. The Latins also had their equal share in the colonies which were planted. Thes^ Roman, or rather Italian, colonies were of a totally different nature from those of the Greeks ; * they were garrisons placed in a conquered town to keep it in subjection. To these colonists, who were usually three hundred in number, a third of the lands of the conquered people was assigned, and the government was placed in their hands, they, be- ing to the original inhabitants, who retained the rest of their lands, what the populus at Rome was to the com- monalty. The Volscians, after the defeat they had sustained in the year 260, remained quiet for some time. Their elective king Attus Tullius, however, deeming that advantage might be taken of the divisions at Rome, which would prevent effectual aid being given to the Latins, resolved, if possible, to rekindle the war, and he used the following occasion for that purpose. In the year 263 the Great Games at Rome were cele- brated anew. For, some time before, when they were com- mencing, and the procession of the images of the gods was about to go round the Circus to hallow it, a slave, whom his master had condemned to death, was driven through it and scourged. No attention was paid to this circumstance, and the games went on; but soon after the city was visited by a pestilence, and many monstrous births occurred. The soothsayers could point out no remedy. At length Jupiter appeared in a dream to a countryman, named T. Latinius, and directed him to go tell the consuls that the praeluder {prcBsultor) had been displeasing to him. Fearing to be laughed at by the magistrates, Latinius did not venture to go near them. A few days after his son died suddenly, and the vision again appeared, menacing him with a greater evil if he did not go to the consuls. The simple man still hesitated,' and he lost the use of his limbs. He then revealed the matter to his kinsmen and friends, and they all agreed that he should be carried as he was, in his bed, to the con- suls in the Forum. By their direction he was brought into the senate-house, and there he told the wonderful tale ; and scarcely had he completed it, when lo ! another miracle * See History of Greece, Part I. chap. iv. WAR WITH THE VOLSCIANS. 67 took place ; vigor returned all at once to his limbs, and he left the senate-house on his feet. The games were now renewed with greater splendor than ever. The neighboring peoples, as usual, resorted to them ; for in Italy, as in Greece and Asia, all solemn festi- vals were seasons of sacred peace.* Among those who came were numbers of Volscians. Attus Tullius went secretly to the consuls, and, reminding them of the unsteady nature of his countrymen, expressed his fears lest, imboldened by their numbers, they should disturb the sanctity of the feast by some deed of violence. The senate in alarm had proc- lamation made for all the Volscians to quit Rome by sun- set. They departed in deep indignation: at the spring of Ferentina they were met by Tullius, who had gone on be- fore : he exao-gerated the insult which had been offered them in the face of so many Italian peoples, and they re- tired to their several towns breathing vengeance. The Volscians were joined by their kindred nation the iSquians, who were at that time more powerful than they. The Roman and Latin colonists were driven out of Circeii, and their place taken by Volscians. The country thence to Antium (of which place the Volscians also made themselves masters) was conquered. The combined armies entered the Roman territory, (266 ;) but here a quarrel relative to the supreme command broke out between them, and they turned their arms against each other. In the year 268 the consul Sp. Cassius concluded a league with the Hernicans similar to that with the Latins. As the political number of the Sabellians, to whom the Her- nicans belonged, was four, and they were to receive a third of conquests and booty, it follows that four t Hernicans could only receive as much as three Romans or Latins. This * Hence the Israelites are assured (Exodus xxxiv. 24) that no man should " desire their land " when they went up to their three great fes- tivals. t The cohorts of the Hernicans contained 400 men, (Liv. vii. 7,) those of the Samnites the same number, (Id. x. 40;) the Samnite legion had 4000 men, (Id. viii. 23 ; x. 38 ; xxii. 24.) The Marsian confederacy (see above, p. 5) consisted of four states, so also the Samnite ; and that the Hernicans were so divided, may be inferred from the 1000 colonists sent to Antium by the three allied nations, (Liv. iii. 5,) that is, 400 Hernicans, one hundred for each canton ; 300 Romans for the three tribes of houses ; 300 Latins for the three decuries of their towns. 6B HISTORY OF ROME. close union among the three states was caused by their common apprehensions from the Ausonian peoples, who were now at the height of their power. CHAPTER II. THE PUBLIC LAND. AGRARIAN LAW OF SPURIUS CASSIU3. THE CONSULATE. VOLSCIAN WARS. VEIENTINE WAR. THE FABII AT THE CREMERA. SIEGE OF ROME. MURDER OF THE TRIBUNE GENUCIUS. ROGATION OF PUBLILIUS VOLERO. DEFEAT OF THE ROMAN ARMY. DEATH OF APPIUS CLAUDIUS. The year 268 is also memorable in the annals of Rome as that of the agrarian law of Sp. Cassius Viscellinus, the demand for the execution of which proved for so many years a source of bitterness and anger between the two orders. To understand this matter aright, we must view the origin and nature of the Roman public land. The small territory about the Palatine belonging to the city of Romulus was, as there is reason to suppose, equally divided among the ten curies of the Ramnes. The house- holders, of whom there were one hundred in each cury, had each a garden of two jugers, (one of arable, one of planta- tion land,) which was termed a heredium, and one hundred of these heredia, or two hundred jugers, formed the century or district of the cury. But these ten centuries did not compose the whole of the land ; a part was assigned for the service of the gods and for the royal demesnes, and an- other portion remained as common or public land.* This last was all grass-land, and every citizen had a right to feed his cattle on it, paying so much a head grazing-money to the state. We may suppose the two communities which formed the remaining tribes of regal Rome to have had their lands similarly divided, if not originally, at least subsequently, for it was the rule in ancient Italy, as all over the East, and even among ourselves,f that all landed property proceeded * See above, p. 15. t Blackstone, Book iL ch. 7. THE PUBLIC LAND. 69 from the sovereign ; and therefore whenever any community received the Roman franchise, it made a formal surrender of its lands to the state, and then received them back from it. Hence we hear of assignments of land by the early kings to the three tribes and to the plebs ; for the Latin commu- nities, which in the time of King Ancus began to form this last body, of course surrendered and received again their lands in the usual manner. The original property * of the three patrician tribes there- fore consisted of the six thousand jugers which formed their heredia, of their original common land, and of all that had been acquired previous to the formation of the plebs ; this was their property, and could not be affected by any law. But when the plebs was increased, and, as the infantry of the legion, was a chief agent in the acquisition of territory, it was manifest that they had a right to a share in what was won. Servius therefore enacted, that after every conquest a portion of the arable land which had been gained should be assigned in property to such plebeians as required it, in lots or farms of seven jugers apiece, and they were also to have the use of the public pastures in common with the patricians on the same conditions. The remainder of the arable land was the property of the state ; the use or enjoy ment of it under the name of possession (subject to resump- tion at any time) was given to the patricians exclusively ; for this they were bound to pay the state annually a tithe or tenth of the produce of the corn-lands and two tenths of that of vine-yards and olive-yards.t These possessions were transmitted by inheritance, and transferred by sale, as it was only in extreme cases that the state exercised its power of resumption ; and though the plebeians could not originally occupy the public land, they might buy the use of portions of it from the patrician occupants. To gain the commonalty, at the time of the expulsion of Tarquinius, the patricians decreed an assignment of seven jugers apiece to the plebeians out of the royal demesnes. But as soon as the cause of the tyrant had become hope- less, and they had monopolized the supreme power, they turned out of the public land those of the plebeians who had acquired the use of it in the way above described; and, * The property of the patricians all lay within the circuit of five miles round the city, t Appian, B, C. i. 7. 70 HISTORY OF ROME. what was still more iniquitous, they ceased to pay the tithes off the lands which they themselves possessed ; so that the tribute of the plebeians had to defray the expenses of wars, etc., while the booty acquired was usually sold, and the produce diverted to the public chest of the patricians, [in 'publicum.) Hence, as we have seen, came the distress of the plebeians and the secession. It was to prevent the recurrence of this state of things that that excellent citizen and truly great man Sp. Cassius, who in his first consulship had overcome the Sabines, in his second formed the treaty with the Latins, and in his third that with the Hernicans, in this third also brought forward an agrarian law, directing, that of the land acquired since the time of King Servius, a part should be assigned to the plebeians, the portion of the populus be set out, and tithe paid as formerly off all the occupied land. This law was passed by the senate and the curies, but the execution of it was committed to the consuls of the following year, and the ten oldest consulars * of the greater houses, — men the most apt to make it a dead letter, as they actually did. At the expiration of his office Cassius was accused of treason before the curies, by the qusstors Caeso Fabius and L. Valerius, and was condemned to death and executed more mqjorum, that is, scourged and beheaded ; his house was razed, and its site left desolate, t but his law remained, and, as we shall see, avenged him on his murderers. It is a remarkable circumstance, (but one which seems to be clearly ascertained,) that the Ramnes and Titienses among the patricians seem to have aimed at excluding the Lu ceres as well as the plebeians from the government ; for from the institution of the consulate to the year 253, M. Horatius is the only consul of the third tribe. In this year, however, they recovered their right, and when we call to mind that Sp. Cassius was consul the preceding year, we may feel inclined to regard that eminent man as the author of the change. The consul of the greater houses was named the Consul Major, and he took precedence of his colleague. This inferiority of the Luceres was marked on all occasions. * That is, those who had been consuls. The proper term here would be prcEtorians. See above, p. 58. t The common account of his being condemned by the people (the Plebs) is quite erroneous. He had committed no offence against them ; the people who tried and condemned him was, as Livy says, the Populus. THE CONSULATE. 71 In the senate none of them but the consulars were author- ized to speak. The consulars of the greater houses were called on first to give their opinions, then those of the lesser houses, next the senators of the greater houses, and finally those of the lesser silently voted.* The year 269, that of the execution of Sp. Cassius, was also that of an attempt on the part of the major houses again to monopolize the consulate. During seven successive years, (269 — 275,) we find one of the consuls always a Fabius; a thing which can hardly have been the result of chance. It is therefore probable, that in reliance on their allies, the Latins and Hernicans, the elder houses thought they might venture on extending their power ; and as the house of the Fabii was by far the strongest among them, they agreed to let them have for their cooperation one seat in the consu- late in perpetuity. t As by one of the Valerian laws the cen- turies had the right of choice among the patrician candi- dates, which choice was then to be confirmed by the senate and curies, and as this course would never suit their present design, and they moreover feared the election of some one who might be disposed to avenge the murder of Sp. Cassius, the senate and curies in 269 boldly nominated Caeso Fabius and L. ^milius to the consulate, and then convened the centuries to confirm the election ; but these refused to con- sent to the abolition of their rights, and quitted the field without voting. It was fortunate for the commonalty that the grasping ambition of the patricians sought to exclude the lesser houses, the larger portion of their own body, from the * Cicero de Rep. ii. 20. JNiebuhr (ii. 112 — 114) has, we think, made this quite clear. It is this writer's opinion, that the mino- res and juniores Patrum of Livy are in reality the lesser houses, and not the younger patricians. (See his History -of Rome, vol. ii. note 668, and the places there referred to.) It is certainly very re- markable that the distinction of via j ores and junio7-es " apTpears very frequently down till about the year 310, and never after; though the contest between the patricians and plebeians lasted more than a century longer ; the young men were, no doubt, just like those of earlier times ; and the chronicles became more and more copious." When in future we use the phrase lesser houses, it is the juniores Patrum; and those who reject Niebuhr's theory may substitute young patri- cians for it. t A similar agreement would seem to have been made with the Valerii at the beginning of the republic, as (omitting, as Livy does, the consuls of 248) there was one of them in the consulate in each of the first five years. The Valerii and Fabii were both Titienses. See also p. 44, 7S HISTORY OF ROME. consulate, and thus forced them to make common cause with the plebs, which gave these last time to discover their own strength, and to put it forth. Though the patricians had passed the agrarian law, nothing was further from their thoughts than to let it be executed, and they sought to keep up a continued state of war ; for while the legions were in the field the Forum was empty, and the tribunes had no auditors. The consul, Q.. Fabius, therefore (269) led an army against the Volscians and JEquians ; but he withheld the plunder from his victorious troops, and had it sold, and the produce brought into the patrician chest. Next year (270) the consul, L. /Emilius, fought with indifferent success against the Volscians. The following year, (271,) when the consul, M. Fabius, went to enrol troops for the war, the tribune, C. Maenius, forbade the levies unless the agrarian law was executed. But the consuls went to the mile from the city, at the temple of Mars, where the tribunician power ended, and erected their tribunal ; they then summoned all who were bound to serve, and they seized the property and burned and plundered the farms of such as did not appear. These forced levies were led by the consul L. Valerius against the Volscians ; but the soldiers, though they fought with courage, would not gain a victory and booty for the consul and the patricians, whom they hated, and Valerius returned without fame. It would appear that the greater houses had now become aware of the danger of division in their order, and that they effected a permanent union with the lesser houses ; for we find the senate in 271 appointing Appius Claudius,* with one of the Fabii, to the consulate. But the tribunes and the plebs were to a man against Claudius ; the tribunes would not suffer the curies, the consuls would not allow the tribes, to assemble for the elections, and the year expired without any consuls being created. In the beginning of the next year (272) A. Sempronius Atratinus, the warden of the city, (Custos Urhis), as interrex, assembled the centuries, who elected C. Julius, a member of the lesser houses, as the colleague of Q,. Fabius, who was perhaps also their choice. A war with the Veientines commenced this year, but no event of importance occurred. The year 272 was marked by a formal compromise be- tween the patricians and the commonalty, securing to the * The Claudii, though of Sabine origin, were among the Luceres. ' VEIENTINE WAU. 7$ centuries the choice of one of the consuls, and leaving the appointment of the other with the senate and the curies, whose nominee was now the Consul Major* The patri- cians made Geeso Fabius consul for the ensuing year, (273,) and the centuries gave him Sp. Furius for his colleague. The tribune, Sp. Licinius, attempted to stop the levies on account of the agrarian law, but the patricians had adopted the prudent expedient of procuring, by means of their cli- ents in the classes, and by their own influence, the election of tribunes favorable to their order, and Licinius was op- posed by his own colleagues. Two armies were levied : one was sent under Furius against the iEquians, the other under Fabius against the Veientines. The former army, under the consul of their choice, fought cheerfully ; and their gen- eral, in return, divided the booty among them. The case was widely different with the army of Fabius. They engaged the Veientines and put them to flight, but they would not pursue or attack their camp; and in the middle of the night they broke up, and abandoning their own camp to the enemy, set out for Rome. The consuls of the next year (274) were M. Fabius and Cn. Manlius ; the former, of course, the nominee of the houses. But the Fabii had now seen the folly of attempting to govern the state on oligarchic principles, and they were become sincerely anxious to conciliate the commonalty. The tribune, Ti. Pontificius, vainly attempted to oppose the levies, on account of the agrarian law ; his four colleagues were unanimous against him ; the armies were raised, and led by the two consuls into the Veientine territory ; but, warned by the example of the preceding year, the consuls, fearing to engage the enemy, kept their men close in their camp. The Veientines, who had been largely reenforced by volunteers from all parts of Etruria, seeing the inactivity of the Romans, and aware of the cause, increased in confi- dence ; they rode up to the ramparts of their camp, daring them to come forth, and upbraiding them with their cow- ardice. The Romans were filled with indignation ; they sent their centurions to the consuls, entreating to be led to battle : the consuls, secretly well pleased, affected to hesi- tate, and declaring that the proper time was not yet arrived, forbade any one on pain of death to leave the camp. This * He was first the consul of the Ramnes,then of the greater houses. See p. 70. 7 J 74 HISTORY OF ROME. served, as they had expected, but to augment the ardor of the soldiers; the Etruscans grew more and more audacious; the patience of the Romans could hold out no longer ; they pressed to the consuls from all parts of the camp, demand- ing the battle. " Swear, then," cried M. Fabius, " that ye will not return but as conquerors." The centurion, M. Flavoleius, took the oath first, the rest followed him ; they seized their arms, issued from the camp, and soon stood displayed in array of battle. The Etruscans had hardly time to form when the Romans fell on them sword in hand. The Fabii were foremost in the attack. Q,uintus, the consul of the year 272, received a mortal wound ; his brother, the con- sul, rushed forward, calling on his men to remember their oath; a third brother, C^so, followed; the soldiers man- fully obeyed the call, and drove back the troops opposed to them. Manlius was also victorious on the other wing ; but as he was pressing on the yielding foe he received a wound, which obliged him to retire. His men, thinking him slain, fell back ; but the other consul, coming with some horse, and crying out that his colleague was alive, restored the battle. Meantime a part of the Tuscan troops had fallen on the Roman camp ; those left to guard it, unable to re- sist them, fell back to the prcBtorium, and made a stand there, sending to inform the consuls of their danger. Man- lius hastened to the camp, and placing guards at all the gates fell on the invaders, who, driven to desperation, formed into a close body and rushed on the consul. Manlius re- ceived a mortal wound ; those around him were dispersed ; a gate was then prudently opened, at which the Tuscans gladly hurried out, but they fell in with the troops of the victorious consul, and were most of them cut to pieces. The victory was complete ; the honor of a triumph was decreed to Fabius, but he declined it on account of the death of his brother and his colleague ; he distributed the wounded soldiers among the patricians, (his own gens taking the larger number,) by whom they were tended with the greatest care. So perfect was the reconciliation now between the Fabii and the plebs, that at the next election (275) Caeso, the accuser of Sp. Cassius, was the choice of the centuries, the patricians nominating T. Virginius. Without waiting for it to be urged by the tribunes, Caeso Fabius called on the senate to put the agrarian law into execution ; but he and his house were reviled ns traitors and apostates from THE FABII AT THE CREMERA. 75 their former principles, and his proposals treated with scorn. The plebeians, gratified by his conduct, cheerfully took the field under him against the JEquians, and having invaded and ravaged their territory, hastened to the relief of the other consul, who had been defeated and was surrounded by the Veientines. The Fabian house, finding that there was no chance of inducing their order to act with justice towards the plebs, and that they were themselves become objects of aversion to their former friends, resolved to abandon Rome, and to form a separate settlement, where they might still be of service to their country. The place they fixed on was the banks of the Cremera, a stream in the Veientine territory. Led by the consul Caeso, to the number of three hundred and six, accompanied by their wives and children, and fol- lowed by a train of clients and friends, said to have amount- ed to four thousand, they issued on the ides of February through the Carmental gate,* attended by the prayers of the people ; and coming to the Cremera raised their fortress, whence they scoured without ceasing the whole Veientine territory, destroying the lands and carrying oflT the cattle. After some months the Veientines assembled a large army to assail the fortress of the Cremera ; but L. ^milius, one of the new consuls, (276,) led his troops against them, and gave them a defeat which was followed by a truce for a cyclic year. On the expiration of the truce the Fabii resumed hostilities. The Veientines, unable to cope with them in the field, had recourse to stratagem. They laid an ambush in the hills round a small plain, toward which they caused herds of cattle to be driven in view of the fortress. The Fabii instantly sallied forth, and while they were dispersed in pursuit of the oxen, the Tuscans came down on them from the woody hills, where they lay concealed, and surrounded them. The Fabii fought with desperation, and finally, breaking through the enemies, retired to the summit of 'a hill : but here they were again environed, and every one of them slain. Their fortress, deprived of its defenders, was taken and dismantled. Another account said that the Fabii had set out unarmed for Rome to perform the annual sacrifices of their gens on the Q,uirinal, The Veientines collected a large army, and lay in ambush on the way ; the Fabii, who were proceeding * In after times it was considered unlucky to go out at this gate. f 76 HISTORY OF ROME. carelessly as in time of peace, were assailed on all sides by showers of missiles from their cowardly foes, and all fell with many wounds.* The 18th duinctilis (July) of the year 277 was the day of the fall of the Fabii, about two years and seven months from the time of their leaving Rome. That they were sac- rificed by the oligarchy at home is highly probable, for the consul T. Menenius was encamped but four miles off, and he made no effort whatever to aid them. His treachery or inaction, however, did not avail him ; the Tuscan army came and attacked and defeated him, and if they had not delayed to plunder the camp, they might have destroyed the whole Roman army. The fugitives filled the city with conster- nation, the fort on the Janiculan was abandoned, the Sub- lician bridge broken down, and word sent to the consul C. Horatius, who was out against the Volscians, to hasten to the defence of the city. The Etruscans, meantime, had encamped on the Janicu- I'an, whence they frequently passed over the river and rav- aged the country. The peasantry fled with their cattle into the city for safety, and famine now began to be felt. As was the usual practice in such cases, the cattle were driven, out under a guard, into the fields on the side of the city away from the river ; erelong the Etruscans crossed the Tiber, in the hope of being able to carry them oif ; but they fell into an ambush near the temple of Hope about a mile from the city, and received a severe check. Soon after their whole army crossed over in the night on rafts, and attacked the camp of the consul Servilius before the Colline gate, but they met with another repulse. The famine, however, was so urgent (for no supplies could be brought in) that it was of absolute necessity that something decisive should be done. Accordingly the two consular armies passed the river at different points; that of Ser- vilius assailed the Janiculan, but was repulsed, and would have been driven into the river, but that Virginius came up and fell on the flank and rear of the Tuscans; the other army then turned, and the enemy was finally defeated, and forced to abandon the Janiculan. A truce for ten months " The whole gens it is said perished, except a child that was left at Rome. But as this Fabius was consul ten years after, he must have been a man at the time. From his subsequent history it would appear that he had adhered to the old politics of the family, and on that ac- count did not share in the miffration. MURDER OF THE TRIBUNE GENUCIUS. If was then concluded. At its expiration (279) the consul P. Valerius defeated the Veientines and a Sabine army un- der the walls of Veil. The following year (280) a truce for forty years was concluded ; and it was probably at this time that the lands beyond the Tiber were restored to the Romans, and not by the romantic generosity of Porsenna. We must now take a view of the internal state of Rome durinof this time. As soon as the Veientines had retired in 278, the tribunes impeached T. Menenius for suifering the Fabii to be de- stroyed. As they merely wanted to have him declared guilty, they laid the penalty at only 2000 asses ; the curies condemned him, and grief and indignation at this desertion of him by his own order broke his heart, and he died. Servilius was next impeached for having caused the loss of so many lives by his attack on the Janiculan ; he defended himself with spirit, and, as was just, was acquitted. In the year after the peace (281) the tribune Cn. Genucius summoned the consuls of the preceding year, L. Furius and C. Manlius, to answer before the plebs for not having carried the agrarian law into effect. The tribune offered sacrifice before the people in the Forum, calling down curses on his head if he did not proceed ; the accused saw that the danger of their being outlawed, at the least, was imminent ; they had recourse to the lesser houses, now the most violent against the com- monalty, and it was decided at a secret meeting to do a deed which should strike terror into the hearts of the ple- beians. Early in the morning of the day fixed for the trial, the people were all assembled in the Forum, waiting for the appearance of Genucius. As he delayed, they began to suspect that he had been terrified into an abandonment of the prosecution ; but presently his friends, who had gone according to custom to attend him to the Forum, arrived and told that he had been found dead in -his bed, though without any marks of violence. His body was brought forth ; the tribunes and the people were filled with terror, and fled from the spot ; the patricians, exulting in their suc- cess, boasted openly of their deed ; and with the hope of being able to carry their plans into effect, the consuls or- dered a levy, that they might get the most offensive of their adversaries into their hands and put them to death. The tribunes feared to interfere, and had the consuls refrained from insult they might have succeeded. <^ * 78 HISTORY OF ROME. Volero Publilius Philo, who had served as a first centurion, was called out as a common soldier. As no charge could be made against him, he refused to serve in an inferior station. The lictors were sent to seize him ; he appealed to the trib- unes ; the consuls ordered the lictors to strip and scourge him. Volero, a powerful man, flung them from him, and rushed among the people, calling on them to aid him. The lictors were beaten, their fasces broken, the consuls fled into the senate-house; the people, however, used their victory with moderation, and quiet was restored in part through the prudence of the senators of the greater houses. The next year (282) Volero was chosen one of the trib- unes ; and instead of avenging his private quarrel by im- peaching the consuls, he devoted his energies to the pro- curing of permanent advantages for his order. He brought in a bill to give the appointment of the tribunes to the tribes instead of the centuries, where the patricians exercised so much influence by means of their clients. As two of his colleagues supported him, and a majority was decisive at this time in the college of the tribunes, the patricians found themselves obliged to have recourse to other means of stop- ping the measure. A tribunician rogation resembled a bill in the British par- liament in this, that if not carried through all" its stages in the limited period, (in the latter case the session, in the former a single day,) it had to be commenced anew. The magistrates and senators had moreover the power of oppo- sing any motion of the tribunes which concerned the whole republic ; and thus, without any factious design, a debate might be prolonged to sunset. But the patricians had an- other mode of impeding the proceedings of the tribunes. They and their clients used to spread themselves over the Forum ; and when it was necessary that the ground should be cleared, and the plebeians left alone to vote in their tribes, and they were therefore requested to withdraw, (that is, to walk over to their Comitium, on the other side of the Rostra,) they would refuse ; this would cause a tumult, and so all proceedings would be stopped for the day. The military expeditions formed another impediment; for the clients, who were not required to serve, outnumbered the plebeians who remained at home. By means of this kind the bill of Publilios was defeated time after time till the end of his year. But the people re- ROGATION OF PUBLILIUS VOLERO. 79 elected him, (283,) and gave him for a colleague C. Laetorms, a man of great energy and intrepidity. The patricians on their side raised the ferocious Ap. Claudius to the consulate ; the choice of the centuries was T. duinctius, a member of the greater houses, and a man of just and moderate senti- ments. The tribunes required that both the tribunes and the aediles should be chosen by the tribes ; they further proposed a resolution declaring that the plebs, in their tribes, were entitled to deliberate on matters affecting the whole state. This the patricians resolved to oppose to the utmost; the trib- unes on their side were as determined ; and on the eve of the important day Lastorius thus concluded his address to the people. " Since I am not so ready at speaking as at acting, be here to-morrow, Romans, and I will either die in your sight or carry the law.' In the morning the tribunes entered the Forum ; the consuls were also present ; the patricians mingled with the plebeians, to prevent the passing of the law. Lsetorius directed all to withdraw but those who were to vote : the patricians took no notice ; he ordered the officers (viatores) to seize some of them ; Appius, in an insulting manner, denied his right to do so ; the intrepid tribune in a rage sent his officer to arrest the consul ; Appius ordered a lictor to seize Lsetorius : the plebs hastened to the de- fence of the tribune, the patricians to that of the consul. Blood would have been shed but for the efforts of the con- sulars, who forced Appius away to the senate-house, and of Quinctius, who appeased the people ; they however went up and occupied the Capitol in arms. There can be no doubt that the plebs passed the resolu- tion before sunset. The senate, despite of the fury of Appius and his party, yielded to the suggestiorrs of the more mod- erate and prudent, and silently adopted it as a law ; though the more far-sighted saw that more was yielded by it than had been done at the Sacred Mount. Measures might now ori- ginate in the assembly of the tribes, where (not as in that of the centuries) there was freedom of debate ; these were to be followed by a decree of the senate, and then ratified by the curies. It may appear strange that the patricians (a part of whom had so lately been able to lord it over the rest of their own body, as well as the plebs) should be now so feeble. But their allies, the Latins and Hernicans, were at this time too hard pressed themselves to be able to give them any aid ; and 80 HISTORY OF ROME. the preponderance which the lesser houses had acquired, had naturally excited jealousy in the older ones, and thus inclined them to the plebs. And doubtless there must have been among the patricians many men of liberal and elevated minds, who wished to see justice done ; there were others also con- nected by marriage with plebeian families. It being necessary to send armies against the Volscians and ^quians in defence of their allies, the tribunes did not oppose the levies, though an opportunity would be thereby afforded to Appius of exercising his fury and revenge. He led therefore an army against the Volscians, while Quinc- tius advanced against the ^Equians. It was a contest between Appius and his troops ; he sought to drive them to despair by invectives and by intolerable commands ; they resolved to show him that he could not bend them to his will. His orders were neglected, curses awaited him every time he appeared ; and when at length he led his troops out to battle, they made no resistance to the foe, but turned and fled. The Volscians pursued them, slaughtering the rearmost, to their camp, which however they did not venture to attack. The consul called his troops to an assembly; the soldiers fearing to go unarmed, as was the custom, refused to attend. His officers besought Appius, and he gave way, and issued orders for a retreat next day. At dawn the trumpet sounded ; the Volscians, aroused by the sound, came forth and fell on the retiring army ; a general panic seized the Romans, they flung away their arms and standards, and fled in confusion. On the Roman territory the consul held his court ; want of arms, and the consciousness of having acted wrong, en- feebled the soldiers, and the patricians and the allies were at hand to assail them if they mutinied. At the command of Appius, every centurion who had left his place, and every tenth common soldier, was seized, scourged, and be- headed. The following year (284) Jhe tribunes impeached Appius Claudius for his opposition to the interests of the people, his having laid violent hands on a tribune, and having caused loss and disgrace to his army. Appius disdained to use any of the usual modes of obtaining favor; he would not put on a mean dress, or personally supplicate those \yho were to try him ; his language breathed, as ever, haughtiness and de- fiance ; the people quailed before him ; the tribunes put off* the day of trial. But ere the day arrived, the haughty Ap- pius was no more ; his own hand had terminated his exist- VOLSCIAN WAR. Si ence. The deed, which the Roman religion condemned, was concealed ; his body was, according to custom, brought forth for interment : his son claimed to have the usual funeral oration pronounced over it ; the tribunes attempted opposition, but the people would not carry their enmity be- yond the tomb, and listened calmly to his praises, now that he had ceased from troublinor. CHAPTER III. VOLSCIAN WAR. LEGEND OF CORIOLANUS. THE TERENTIL- IAN LAW. SEIZURE OF THE CAPITOL BY THE EXILES. DICTATORSHIP OF CINCINNATUS. THE FIRST DECEMVI- RATE. THE SECOND DECEMVIRATE. SICINIUS DENTATUS. FATE OF VIRGINIA. ABOLITION OF THE DECEMVIRATE. The Volscians, the ^quians, and the Sabines were now the constant opponents of the Romans, the Latins, and the Hernicans. In 284 nothing of importance occurred ; but the next year, while the disputes were warm at Rome on account of the agrarian laws, the flight of the peasantry and the smoke of the burning farm-houses announced the approach of a Volscian army. Troops were hastily levied, the enemy retired, but was overtaken and routed near An- tium, and the neighboring seaport of Ceno came .over to the Romans. The Sabines, v»/ho had meantime entered the Roman territory, were attacked and driven off with loss by the consular armies on their return. The next year (286) the Sabines extended their ravages over the Anio, and to the very Colline gate; but the consul d. Servilius obliged them to retire, and wasted their terri- tory in return. The other consul, T. duinctius, had march- ed against the Volscians of Antium. After an indecisive battle, the Volscians, being joined by an JEquian army, sur- rounded the Roman camp in the night to prevent a retreat. The consul, having calmed the apprehensions of his men, set the trumpeters and horn-blowers on horseback out before the rampart, ordering them to sound all through the night. The enemy, expecting a sally, remained under arms while the Romans took their rest. At dawn the consul led out his K 82 HISTORY OF ROME. army ; the Volscians, exhausted with watching, retired after a feeble resistance to the summit of a rugged hill; the Romans, heedless of the missiles which were showered down on them, won their way up to the top, and the Volscians fled down the other side. The Volscian colonists at Antium then agreed to evacuate the town, and their place was taken by one thousand colonists from the three allied peoples.* For some years (286 — 290) there was a cessation of hos- tilities between the Romans and the Volscians ; but the ^quians were still in arms, the expelled colonists of An- tium and their exiled partisans fighting with the utmost zeal under their banners. In 289 the ^^Equians advanced as far as Mount Algidus,t where they pitched their camp. The consul Cluinctius came and encamped opposite them; but they made a sudden irruption into the Roman territory ; the country folk, who expected no such event, had not time to convey their property to the city, or to the strong pagi,^ and the invaders carried oif a large booty. The next year (290) the Volscians of Eretrae joined the JEquians. At the urgent desire of the Hernicans, the con- sul Sp. Furius was sent with an army to their defence; but he was unable to oppose the superior forces of the enemy, and was even so closely cooped up by them in his camp, that it was only through the Hernicans that his situation could be made known at Rome. T. Cluinctius was sent with an army to his relief; but Furius had meantime been himself wounded, and his brother with one thousand of the best men slain in a sally. Q,uinctius relieved the army of Furius, but the other consul Postumius had been unable to prevent the enemy from ravaging the lands of Rome; the peasantry fled with their cattle into the city ; the heat of the summer, joined with the want of pasture, caused a murrain among the cattle, which was followed by a dreadful pestilence among the people. The Volscians and JEquians came and encamped within three miles of Rome on the road to Gabii ; the country round, filled with ruins and the unburied dead, oifered nothing to plunder ; fear of the pestilence, or of the resistance the people might still make, withheld them from * See above, p. 67, note. t A thickly wooded range of hills lying between Tusculum and Ve- litrae. t A pagus was a place on an eminence surrounded by a wall or ditch and rampart for the people to retreat to on such occasions as the present. ^ LEGEND OF CORIOLANUS. 83 attacking the city. They broke up at length, and proceeded to ravage all parts of Latium. The spreading of the pestilence probably caused a cessation- of hostilities after this, which was followed by a truce ; and in 295 the Romans, to dissolve the league which they found too strong for them, concluded a separate peace with the Volscians, giving up Antium and other towns, and entering into a municipal relation * with them. An advantage derived by Rome from this war, dis- astrous as it was, was the utter ruin and breaking-up of the Latin union, several of whose towns were obliged to place themselves in a state of dependence under her. It is in this war that the celebrated legend of Coriolanus, which has been thrown back to the year 263, probably finds its true place. Cn. Marcius, a gallant patrician youth, said the legend, was serving in the army which P. Cominius led in 261 against the Volscians of Antium. The Volscians were de- feated, the towns of Longula and Polusca taken, and siege laid to Corioli. During a vigorous assault of the town, the Volscian army came from Antium, and fell on the Romans ; the besieged at the same time made a sally, but they were driven back by a party headed by Marcius, who, entering the town pellmell with them, set fire to the buildings next the wall ; the Volscians, seeing the smoke and flames, thought that the town was taken, and retired. Corioli was thus taken, and Marcius derived from it the name of Corio- lanus. This and other exploits made him the darling of his order ; but the plebs dreaded him, and refused him the consulate. The next year Rome was visited by a grievous famine. Corn was sought in all quarters, even as far as Sicily, whence (263) there came a large supply, part purchased, part the gift of a Greek prince of the island. It was proposed in the senate to distribute the gift-corn gratis among the peo- ple, and to sell the remainder at a low price ; but Marcius said that now was the time to make them abolish the odious tribunate, and advised not to give them the corn on any other terms. When the people heard what he had proposed, they became furious, and would have torn him to pieces, but that the tribunes summoned him to appear before the assembly of the tribes. He treated their menaces with * The municipium answered to the isopolity of the Greeks ; it con- ferred all civic rights but those of voting in the assemblies or holding office. 84 HISTORY OF ROME. contempt, and abated nought of his haughtiness ; but the other patricians supplicated for him. His condemnation however was certain ; so he quitted Rome, and went into exile * to Antiurn, where he became the guest of Attius Tullius. He offered the Volscians his services against his country ; they in return gave him the highest civil rights ; and when Tullius had rekindled the war as above related, t Marcius was appointed to be his colleague. Success every where attended the arms of the exile. He took the colony of Circeii ; Satricum, Longula, Polusca, and Corioli submitted ; Lavinium, Corbio, Vitellia, Trebia, La- vici and Pedum opened their gates ; he pitched his camp at the Cluilian Ditch, five miles from Ilome,f whence he ravaged the lands of the plebeians, sparing those of his own order. Fear and consternation reigned in the city, and resistance was not thought of; the senate, the curies, and the plebs united in a decree restoring Marcius to his civic rights. Five consulars bore it to him ; but he insisted that all the territory taken from the Volscians should be restored, the colonies recalled, and the Volscian people received into a municipal relation. He gave them thirty days to consider, and led off his troops for that time. When they were ended, the Ten First of the senate waited on him; he gave them three days more, driving them from his camp with threats. Next day the flamens, the augurs, and the other ministers of religion came in their sacred robes to try to move him, but they too sued in vain. And now the third day was come, and were its sun to go down on his wrath, he was to lead his troops against the defenceless city. But again Rome owed her safety to her women. A procession of her noblest matrons, headed by the exile's venerable mother Veturia and his wife Volumnia leading her two young chil- dren, was seen to approach the Volscian camp. They en- tered and came to his tent ; the tears of his wife and the other matrons, the threatened curse of his aged parent, bent * Banishment was unknown to the Roman law during the Republic. An exul, that is, one loho is out, (see above, p. 58,) a fuoruscito, was a person who left his native city to reside in one with which it had a municipal relation. Hhe jus exulandi might be used by any accused person up to the moment of the very last tribe voting his condemna- tion. He was then no longer a Roman citizen, and the interdiction of fire and water prevented his return. f See p. 67. t The patrician lands lay within side of it. See above, p. 69, 7wte, LEGEND OF CORIOLANUS. 85 his haughty soul. He burst into tears : " Mother, " cried he, *' thou hast chosen between Rome and thy son ; me thou wilt never see more : may they requite thee ! " He embraced his wife and children, and dismissed them, and next morn- ing he led off his army. He lived among the Volscians to a great age, and often was heard to say that exile was most grievous to an old man ; * when he died, the Roman matrons mourned a year as they had done for Brutus and Poplicola ; and his praises, as those of a pious and upright man, were handed down to posterity. We have called this tale a legend, and said that it is in its wrong place. The following are a few of the reasons for our so doing. There was no famine at Rome in 262 ; there was no prince, that is, tyrant, in Sicily at that time; the tribunes had not the power here ascribed to them till after the year 280; the practice of naming persons from conquests they had made began with Scipio Africanus. t On the other hand, there was a famine in 278, at which time Hiero was reigning at Syracuse ; and soon after there was a violent dissension between the orders, when the proposal ascribed to Cn. Marcius may have been made, and the plebs were then strong enough to punish any one who attempted to do away with any of the fundamental laws of the state. Finally, the conquests ascribed to Coriolanus are mostly the cessions made to the Volscians at the peace of 295. Yet the story of Coriolanus is no mere fable. It is probable that he was at the head of a body of Roman exiles,! serving in the Volscian army in hopes of reentering Rome as victors, and that he demanded their recall as well as his own. But as these would have reclaimed their property and have sought vengeance of their enemies, nothing could have been more dreaded by all parties than their return. If then Coriolanus, to save his country from this affliction, consented never to see it more, and return to exile when he might have entered Rome as a conqueror, he was every way worthy of the fame he "acquired, and his name should ever be held in honorable remembrance as that of a true patriot. * Fabius in Liv. ii. 40. Some said he was assassinated by the Volscians ; others, (Cicero, Brutus 10,) that he put an end to himself like Themistocles. t Liv. XXX. 45. X The (fvyaSsq of the Greeks (see History of Greece, Vdciill. passim) the fuorusciti of the republics of middle age Italy. The above is only Niebuhr's hypothesis, but it is so extremely probable that it is difficult not to embrace it. — 86 HISTORY OF ROME. We now return to the internal history. The pestilence of 291 had committed dreadful ravages ; it had carried off the two consuls, three of the tribunes and a fourth of the senate, and, as is always the case, had produced great dis- soluteness of manners. The patricians, as being a close body, suffered more loss of political strength than the ple- beians ; many of their houses seem to have died off, whose clientry mostly joined the plebs. Internal and external calam- ities combined to make men aware of the defects of the exist- ing institutions, and to induce them to favor a constitutional reform. In the year 292 the tribune C. Terentilius Arsa took the opportunity of the absence of the consuls and the legions to propose a bill of reform, of which the object was three- fold; to unite the two orders, and place them on a footing of equality; to substitute a limited magistracy for the con- sulate ; to frame a code of laws for all classes of Romans without distinction. This bill was passed by the plebs on the return of the consul Lucretius, but it was rejected by the senate and the curies. The next year (293) the Terentilian law was brought forward by the whole college of the tribunes. The consuls to impede them commenced a levy ; the tribunes resisted it; the patricians and their clients on their side prevented by their usual manoeuvres* the voting of the tribes. They were headed in these attempts by Caeso Quinctius, a young man of great bodily size and strength, equally distinguished by valor and eloquence, and they frequently beat the ple- beians and drove them off the Forum. At length A. Vir- ginius, one of the tribunes, impeached Cseso under the Icilian law. The patricians now awoke from their dream and saw their danger, the leading men among them de- scended to the humblest entreaties to save their champion, but all was in vain. To augment the odium against him, M. Volscius Fictor, a former tribune, came forward and de- clared that in the time of the plague as he and his brother, a man in years, and but just recovering from it, were pass- ing through the Subura they met a party of riotous youths headed by Caeso, who picked a quarrel with them ; his broth- er was knocked down by Cseso, and he died shortly after of the blow; he had himself applied to no purpose for justice to the consuls of the year. This tale roused the people to fury, and it was with difficulty that the tribunes could save the accused frbm them. Caeso, who had given ten sureties, * See above, p. 78, SEIZURE OF THE CAPITOL BY THE EXILES. 87 (each bound in 3000 asses,) seeing his condemnation certain, retired secretly that very night into Etruria, and his sureties had to pay the money to the temple of Ceres.* The elder houses began now to think that resistance was useless, and they were anxious for an accommodation : not so the juniors ; they were more imbittered than ever, but they adopted a new system of tactics. On court days they and their clients occupied the Forum and impeded the meas- ures of the tribunes in the usual way, taking care that no one should make himself conspicuous ; on other days they vied with each other in kindness and courtesy toward the individual plebeians. The tribunes, however, saw or affected to see a conspiracy against themselves and their order, and in the next year (294) a report was spread that Ceeso had been in the city, and that a plan was laid for murdering them and the leading plebeians, and bringing back the re- public to what it had been before the secession. While the minds of the people were thus kept in a state of uncertainty, cries of To Arms ! and The enemies are in the city ! were heard one night, raised by persons who were flying for their lives down from the Capitol to the Forum, and averring that the citadel was seized by a body of men who were putting to death all who would not join them. Terror prevailed all through the night, and guards were placed on the Aventine and Esquiline, and the streets leading to them. The morning revealed the truth. A body of exiles and runaway slaves with the clients of Appius Herdonius, a powerful Sabine who had placed himself at their head, had come down the river by night in boats, and entering the city by the Carmental gate, (which, from a religious motive, was never closed,) had mounted to the Capitol, that was at hand, and made themselves masters of it. At ^awn Herdonius called aloud on the slaves, but in vain, to rise for their liberty ; the consuls, on their side, having secured the gates and walls against an attack from without, w^hich they ap- prehended, wished to assail the Capitol at once, and began to administer the military oath. But the tribunes, who maintained that the whole was only a device of the patri- cians, and that those on the Capitol were nothing but their friends and clients, opposed the levy, saying that now was * " The money," says Livy, '•' was cruelly exacted from his father." If so, it must have been by the sureties ; but this is a mere fiction to account for the narrow circumstances in which we shall find Cincin- , n^tus. 88 HISTORY OF ROME. the time to pass the bill, while the plebs were under arms and that then those above would go off as quietly as they came. In this confusion the consul P. Valerius saved his country ; he implored the people to consider the danger if their enemies were to learn that the Capitol was occupied, and he pledged himself that when the danger was over no hinderance should be given to the voting of the assembly, and that if the bill was passed it should be made law. The word of a Valerius sufficed ; the plebeians took the oath, but the day was far spent, and the assault had to be deferred to the morrow. In the morning, being joined by the Tusculans, whom their dictator L. Mamilius had brought to their aid, they began to ascend. The outlaws fought with desperation, but they were driven back; a part of them defended the temple, and the consul Valerius, who led the attack, was slain in forcing the vestibule. At length all were killed or taken. Herdonius, and most probably Caeso Cluinctius,* was among the slain; all the prisoners were executed. The plebs assessed themselves to defray the ex- penses of a solemn funeral for the patriotic consul. The tribunes now called on C. Claudius, the remaining consul, to perform the promise of his deceased colleague ; but he refused to act by him.self, and the senate and curies made L. Q,uinctius Cincinnatus, the father of Caeso, consul, who breathing vengeance against the plebeians, resolved to take advantage of the military oath they had taken to Va- lerius, and leading them away from Rome force them to pass what laws the senate pleased. He ordered them to re- pair in arms to the lake Regillus, whither the augurs were sent to consecrate a field for the comitia.. But the courage of the patricians again failed them; the measure was aban- doned, on condition of the law not being agitated that year ; they tried also,, but to no purpose, to prevent the reelection of the tribunes, and they were obliged to give up an attempt at making Cincinnatus consul for the ensuing ^ear. The following year (295) was that of the peace with the Volscians. The ^quians were still in arms, and in 296 the consul Minucius was defeated by them and besieged in his camp on Mount Algidus. An army sent from Rome relieved him ; but as he had lost the battle through his own fault, he was obliged to resign the command to Q,. Fabius. This event was transmitted in the poetic legendary form, * Two years after (Livy iii. 25) he is spoken of in a manner which shows that he was not living. DICJATORSHIP OF CINCINNATUS. 89 and being associated with a celebrated name, it has come down to us in the following manner. The .c^quians, who had been parties to the peace of the preceding year, now broke out, and led by Gracchus Cloelius ravaged the lands of Latium. They encamped with their booty on Mount Algidus, whither Roman ambassadors came to complain of this breach of faith. The ^quian general insolently desired them to make their complaint to the oak beneath whose capacious shade he was seated. The Ro- mans took the oak and the gods to witness of the justice of their cause, and departed. The consul Minucius led his army to the Algidus; but fortune favored the misdoers, and he was shut up by them, with a rampart raised round his camp. Five horsemen who escaped ere the enemy's lines were completed, brought the tidings to Rome ; it was resolved to create a dictator; the choice fell on L. duinctius Cincin- natus, who was living on a small farm of four jugers in the Vatican land beyond the Tiber. The officer (viator) sent to inform him of his appointrfient * found him guiding his plough with nothing on but an apron, t it being summer time ; he bade him clothe himself to hear the message of the senate and the Fathers. Cincinatus called to his wife Racilia to fetch him his toga out of the cottage. When he was dressed, the officer saluted him as dictator ; a boat lay ready to convey him across the river ; at the other side he was received by his three sons and several of his friends and kinsmen and a number of the patricians, and was conducted by them to his house. Before dawn next morning he entered the Forum, and having appointed L. Tarquitius, a man brave but poor, to be master of the horse, he ordered all the shops to be closed, all business to be suspended,! and every one able to serve to appear by sunset without the city, with food dressed for five days, and with twelve palisades. While those who were to march were cutting their pales and preparing their arms, those who were to remain dressed the victuals for them. At night-fall, all being ready, the dictator set forth at their head, and at midnight they had reached the Algidus, where they halted near the camp of the enemy. The dictator, havmg ridden forward to take a view of it, directed his officers to make the men lay down their baggage, and with their arms * Pliny, H. N. xviii. 4. / t Nadus ara, sere nudns, Virg. Geor. i. 299. I This was called a Jiistitium. ft* T 90^ HISTORY OF ROME. and palisades alone to resume their order of march, and having surrounded the enemy to raise a loud shout and begin to cast up a ditch and rampart. His orders were obeyed ; the shout pealed over the camp of the yEquians to that of the Romans, filling those with terror, these with joy and hope. The besieged burst forth from their camp, and fought with the JEquians till the dawn. Meantime the dictator's army had completed their works, and the JEquians, thus shut in, and now assailed from within and without, sued for mercy. The terms granted were the surrender of Cloelius and the principal officers, and of their town of Corbio with all the property in it; the rest, having passed under the yoke, might then depart unarmed. Clcslius and his officers were then laid in chains; an opening was made in the Roman line ; two spears upright and one across (the jugum, or yoke) were set up in it, under which the yEquian soldiers, with nothing on but their tunics, marched out, their camp and all in it remaining in the hands of the victors. The spoil was divided among the liberating army ; the liberated called the dictator their patron, and gave him a golden crown of a pound in weight. He entered the city in triumph ; tables were spread with provisions before all the doors as the soldiers passed, and joy and festivity every where prevailed. The dictator at the end of sixteen days laid down his office, and declining all the gifts that were offered him returned to his farm. Pity that so pleasing a legend will not pass the ordeal of criticism ! Five palisades being counted a heavy load for a soldier used to duty, how could men called out on a sudden levy carry * twelve ? and how could they march thus laden twenty miles from sunset to midnight ? Each soldier, to use so many, must have had a fathom of ground to intrench, and would the ^quians make no effort to break through so thin a line ? The manner in which Cincinatus learned his ele- vation to the dictatorship is also told of his consulate, and twenty years after Cloelius is taken just in the same way near Ardea ; the giving up of Corbia is a pure invention of the annalists; and finally, the ^quians were not included in the peace of 295, and so could not have been guilty of perjury. But the dictatorship of Cincinatus appears in reality to have had a much less noble origin. In 295 the quaestors, A. Cornelius and Q,. Servilius, accused M. Volscius before the curies,* for having by perjury caused the ruin of one of their * See above, p. 62. DICTATORSHIP OF CINCINNATUS. ^ PI order ; the tribunes, however, prevented the patricians from going on with the trial, and nothing could be done in that year. Next year the tribunician power had to give way before that of the dictator, and Cincinnatus had the satisfac- tion of seeincr the accuser of his son driven into exile. He then laid down his office, and retired to his farm. Under the mild and equitable form of government which we enjoy, it is difficult for us to conceive the bitter, ruthless spirit which animated the oligarchies and democracies of antiquity. On the present occasion, the patricians scrupled at no means of offence ; they not only impeded the assemblies of the plebeians, but they caused the most active and daring of them to be assassinated.* But all would not avail ; the same trib- unes were reelected every year, and in 297 their number was increased to ten, two from each of the classes; and the next year the senate and curies were obliged to confirm a law, proposed by the tribune Icilius, for assigning the whole of the Aventine to the plebeians. At length, (300,) the patricians gave way on the subject of the Terentilian law, and agreed to a revision of the laws ; and three senators were sent to Athens, then flourishing under Pericles, to gain a knowledge of its laws and constitution. In the year 301 Rome was again visited by the pestilence, and one of the consuls, his successor, four tribunes, an au- gur, one of the three great flamens, many senators, half the freemen, and all the slaves are said to have died of it. It fell with equal fury on the Volscians, .^quians, Sabines, and other peoples of Italy, t At length (302) the plague ceased, and the envoys having returned from Greece, a board of ten patricians, one half to be elected by the centuries, (the plebeians having given up their original demand of a share in it,|) was appointed to draw up and enact a general code of laws. As in cases of this kind in antiquity the lawgivers were intrusted with all the powers of the state, § the consulate and the other magis- tracies were all merged in the decemvirate, and the decem- virs were thus invested with nearly absolute power. Being * Dion Exc. de sent. 22., and Zonoras, vii. 17. t It was probably connected with the plague at Athens, which broke out some years after, and with the earthquakes and volcanic eruptions which prevailed at this time. t Terentilius had required that of the ten commissioners to be ap- pointed, five should be plebeians. § As in the case of Solon and the Thirty at Athens. See History of Greece. 92 HISTORY OF ROME. in effect a decury of interrexes, they exercised the supr»«tne power by turns : he who held it was named Gustos Urhis ; he was attended by the twelve lictors, and presided over the senate and the whole republic ; his colleagues acted as judges, each being attended by a beadle, [Accensus.) It was not the desire of the Romans to have an entirely new constitution ; a selection was to be made out of their existing laws and usages, with such improvements as might be derived from those of other nations. The decemvirs ap- plied themselves sedulously to their task, and having drawn up a code in ten laws or tables, they made them public, in order to receive such suggestions as might be offered for their improvement. After some time they laid the amended code before the senate, and, on their approval, before the centuries, whose assent was solemnly ratified by the (furies. The laws were then cut on tables of brass, and hung up in the Comi- tium. By this celebrated code the two orders were placed on an equality, as far as was possible at the time. The patricians, with their clients and the serarians, were admitted into the plebeian tribes, and all thus united in one civic body, in which the patricians were to form a numerous nobility. The supreme power was to be annually confided, not to con- suls, but to a board of ten civil and military officers, one half of whom were to be plebeians. Among the patricians the old distinction of greater and lesser houses seems to have been done away with, for we find soon after the votes taken in the senate without any certain order. * The law of debt enacted or retained was rigorous in the extreme. In case of a nexnm, the creditor could arrest his debtor after thirty days, and if he did not discharge his debt or give security, he might take him home and put him in irons, which at the most were to weigh fifteen pounds ; if he could not supply himself with food, his creditor was to allow him a pound of corn a day. If after sixty days no arrangement had been made, the debtor was brought before the praetor on three successive market-days, and the amount of his debt proclaimed, and if no one came forward to pay or secure it, the creditor was authorized to kill him or sell him beyond the Tiber. If there were several creditors, they might divide his body among them, and no one could be punished for cutting off more or less than his exact share, t * Dionys. xi. 16. See above, p. 70. t Gellius XX. 1. Si plus viinusve secuerunt se fraude esto. This THE FIRST DECEMVIRATE. 93 When the tune for creating the new magistrates came, the patricians, doubtless with a design of enfeebling, if not overthrowing, the new constitution, sought to have L. Cin- cinnatus, T. Q,uinctius, and C. Claudius elected. But Ap- pius Claudius the decemvir, who, from the moment the re- form was resolved on, had courted the people, and had now completely won their confidence, was determined to retain the power he had acquired. His colleagues, to impede him, chose him to preside at the election, thinking he would not have the hardihood to put himself in nomination. But they were deceived; he did so, and was elected with four patrician and five plebeian colleagues. On the ides of May, (304,) the day they were to enter on their office, the decemvirs, to the amazement of the people, came forth, each preceded by twelve lictors with the axes in their fasces. Appius, by his force of character, gained a commanding influence in the college : the government was despotic, but during this year not unjust; no assemblies were held ; the senate had little or nothing to do, and most of the senators retired to their farms ; externally, there was peace. Toward the end of the year the decemvirs pro- mulgated two new tables of laws, making the whole num- ber twelve, and these, under the name of the Twelve Tables, became the source and foundation of the future Roman law. The decemvirs, like most men when possessed of uncontrolled power, soon began to abuse it. They at first oppressed both orders alike, but they speedily tyrannized almost exclusively over the plebs, now divested of the pro- tection of the tribunate. In this they were supported by the patrician youth, who were eager to gratify their feelings of hatred against the people. In the second year of the decemvirate (305) the JEquians and Sabines renewed hostilities ; the former encamped as usual on the Algidus, the latter at Eretum, The decemvirs convened the senate to give orders for the levies ; when it met, L. Valerius and M. Horatius, the grandsons of the liberators, boldly but to no purpose inveighed against their tyranny. The senate did as they required ; the plebeians having nowhere to appeal to, gave their names though with reluctance, and two armies were formed and led by proves that it could not have been a sectio bonorum, as some humane critics suppose. Shy lock would have fbund no diffijulty here. The real object of the law was to conquer the avarice and the stubborn obstinacy of the Roman character. 94 HISTORY OF ROME. the military decemvirs against the enemies. But each army let itself be beaten ; the one on Algidus even abandoned its camp and sought refuge at Tusculum, the other fled by night from near Eretum and encamped on an eminence be- tween Fidenge and Crustumeria. In this army there was a distinguished veteran named L. Sicinius Dentatus, formerly a tribune of the people. It is said * that he had fought in one hundred and twenty battles, had forty-five scars in front, had gained spears, horse-trap- pings, and other rewards of valor without number, and had attended the triumphs of nine generals under whom he had served. This man awaked in the army the remembrance of the adjacent Sacred Mount, where, forty-five years before the people had gained their charter, and chid them for not imitating their gallant fathers. The generals, being resolved to put him out of the way, sent him with a party to choose a spot for encampment, giving orders to those under him, who were their own creatures, to fall on and slay him. These executed their mandate ; in a lonely spot they assailed the veteran hero, who, placing his back against a rock, perished not unavenged, for fifteen were slain and double the num- ber wounded by his hand. The rest fled back to the camp, crying out how they had fallen into an ambush of the enemy, who had slain their leader and several of their comrades. A party was sent to bury the slain ; but they could perceive no traces of an enemy ; the body of Sicinius lay unspoiled in his armor ; all the slain were Romans, and were turned toward him, and consequently must have fallen by his hand ; that he perished by the treachery of the decemvirs therefore was evident. The soldiers were incensed, but a splendid military funeral given to Sicinius by the generals pacified them in some measure. But a more atrocious deed was done in the city. Appius Claudius, as he sat in the Forum to administer justice, was in the habit of seeing a lovely and modest plebeian maiden go daily, attended by her nurse, to one of the schools which were held about' it, to learn the art of writing. She was named Virginia, and was the daughter of L. Virginius, one of the noblest plebeians, and betrothed to L. Icilius, who had been tribune. The decemvir cast an eye of lust on the innocent maiden ; he vainly tried the effect of promises and bribes : difficulty only augmented his passion, and he scrupled at no means to gratify it. He therefore directed * Pliny, H. N. vii. 28. FATE OF VIRGINIA. 95 M. Claudius, one of his clients, to claim her as his slave : his orders were obeyed ; and as Virginia was crossing the Forum on her way to the school, Claudius laid hold on her as his property. At the loud cries of her nurse a crowd collected to oppose him ; Claudius coolly said he needed not force, as his claim was a legal one. All went before the tribunal of Appius, who was sitting in the Comitium. The plaintiff, as had been agreed on, averred that she was the offspring of one of his female slaves, who had given her to the childless wife of Virginius, and he now claimed her as his slave. The friends of Virginia prayed that as her father was absent on the affairs of the state, being a centurion in the army on the Algidus, a delay of two days might be given, and that meantime, by the decemvir's own law, security should be taken for her appearance. Appius, pretending that his law did not apply to the present case, decided that she should be delivered up to the claimant, on his giving security to produce her when required. A cry of horror was raised at this iniquitous sentence, and P. Numitorius and L. Icilius, the uncle and the lover of the maiden, came forward and spoke with such firmness, and the people seemed so deter- mined, that Appius gave way and deferred the decision of the matter till the following day, leaving Virginia meantime in the hands of her friends. It was the design of the tyrant to send off to his colleagues in the camp, directing them to confine Virginius, and to surround himself next day with a strong body of his parti- sans and their clients, and carry his point by violence if needful. To conceal his share in the present transaction, he sat some time longer in court ; and Icilius, and his friends, who having seen through his design had secretly directed two active young men to mount and ride off with all speed to the camp, purposely wore away the time in arranging the securities. Their messengers therefore ar- rived long before the one sent by Appius ; and Virginius, pretending the death of a relative, obtained leave of absence and came to Rome. At daybreak the Forum was full of people ; Virginius and his daughter in the garb of woe came among them imploring their aid : Icilius also addressed them : the women who were with them wept in silence. Appius came forth attended by an armed train and took his seat : the plaintiff, as instruct- ed, gently reproached him with not having done him justice the day before. Appius, without listening to him or Vir- 96 HISTORY OF ROME. ginius, gave sentence that Virginia should be consigned to the claimant till a judge should decide the matter. This horrible decree filled all with silent amazement. M. Clau- dius advanced to lay hold on the maiden ; the vv^omen and their friends repelled him. Virginius menaced the de- cemvir : Appius declared that he knew there was a con- spiracy to resist the government, but that he would put it down by force ; then, " Go, lictor ! " he thundered forth, " dis- perse the crowd, and make way for the master to take his slave." The people fell back ; Virginius, seeing no hope, apologized for his vehemence, and craved permission to take his daughter and her nurse aside and examine them about the matter. Leave was granted ,-• he drew them near a butcher's stall, and snatching up a knife plunged it into his daughter's bosom. Then waving the reeking blade, " With this blood," he cried, " Appius, I devote thee and thy head." The tyrant called out to seize him : but, bran- dishing the knife, he reached the gate, no one daring to stop him, and proceeded to the camp, followed by a number of the people. Icilius and Numitorius harangued the people over the corpse of the hapless maiden ; Valerius and Horatius joined in the call to freedom ; the lictors were repelled, and their fasces broken. Appius vainly called on the patricians to stand by him ; then in terror for his life he covered his head, and fled into an adjacent house. His obsequious colleague Sp. Oppius, seeing that force would not avail, convened the senate, but it came to no decision. Some zealous patricians were however sent to the camp to try and keep the army in its duty. But vain were the hopes of the oligarchs ; the soldiers, at the call of Virginius, plucked up their standards, marched for Rome, and posted themselves on the Aventine. The senate sent three deputies, charging them with rebellion, and offering pardon to all but the ringleaders on their return to their duty. They were told to send Valerius and Horatius if they desired an answer. These, on being required to go, insisted that the decemvirs should previously abdicate ; this the patricians, still relying on their strength, refused to al- low. Meantime M. Duilius, a former tribune, convinced the people that as long as they staid in Rome the patricians v^^ould never believe they were in earnest ; but that if, like their fathers, they retired to the Sacred Mount, they would soon bring them to reason. Instantly the army was in mo- ABOLITION OF THE DECEMVIRATE. 91 tion ; leaving a sufficient number to guard the Aventine, they marched unmolested across the city, out by the Colline gate, and, followed by numbers of men, women, and children from the Esquiline and other parts, they encamped on the Sacred Mount. Here they were joined by the other army, who had revolted at the call of Icilius and Numitorius. They acknowledged twenty tribunes, one for each tribe, as their magistrates, at the head of whom were M. Oppius and Sex- tus Manlius. The patricians seeing themselves left nearly alone in the city, found that they must yield. Valerius and Horatius came from them to the camp, to learn the demands of the plebeians. Icilius as spokesman required that the tribunate and the right of appeal should be restored ; that no one should be accounted criminal for having urged the people to the se- cession ; that the decemvirs should be given up to be burnt alive. The deputies replied, that the two first conditions were so reasonable that they should have proposed them them- selves ; they prayed them to recede from the last demand. All was then left to their own discretion ; and on their re- turn, the senate passed a decree, that the decemvirs should abdicate and consuls be chosen, the chief pontiff preside at the election of the tribunes, and none be molested for their share in the secession. The plebs then returned, ascended the capitol in arms, * and thence proceeded to the Aventine. The Pontiff presiding, the people chose their tribunes, among whom were, as they well merited, Virginius, Icilius, Numitorius, and Duilius. On the motion of Duilius, the plebs then ordered that the interrex should hold the elec- tion of patrician consuls,! with the right of appeal ; and the centuries when assembled bestowed the consulate on L. Valerius and M. Horatius. These popular consuls forth- with passed laws for the security of the plebs, the senate and curies giving a reluctant consent. The first was that a measure passed by the tribes should be of equal force with one passed by the centuries, and if confirmed by the patri- cians, should be the law of the land; the second menaced with outlawry whoever procured the election of a magis- strate without appeal ; the third enacted the penalty of out- lavvry and confiscation of property against any one who * Cicero for Cornel. 1. 24 ; probably to worship the gods. For a somewhat similar act at Athens, see History of Greece, p. 303, 2d edit. t It was on this occasion the word consul was first employed. (Zona ra^. vii. 19,) The office now was only provisional. 9 M yy HISTORY OF ROME. injured the tribunes, the sediles, the judges, or the plebeian decemvirs. The legislation was terminated by a bill of the tribune Duilius denouncing death by fire against any one who should leave the people without tribunes, or create a magistrate without appeal. Vengeance for Virginia was now to be exacted. Virginius summoned Appius and his client Claudius before the tri- bunal of the tribes. Instead of seeking safety in exile, the haughty decemvir appeared in the Forum surrounded by a band of patrician youths. Virginius ordered him to be seized and laid in chains ; the officer approached : Appius claimed the protection of the tribunes ; no one stirred ; he appealed to the people : the officer dragged him away to prison. His uncle, C. Claudius, who having vainly sought to induce him and his colleagues to lay down their office in the hands of the senate, had retired to his paternal abode atRegillus, came to Rome, and with his gentiles and clients all in mourning went about the Forum supplicating for his release. Virginius, on the other hand, called on the people to remember his and their wrongs. The prayers of the Claudii were of no avail. Appius died in prison, probably by his own hand, before the, day of trial came. Numitorius then impeached the plebeian decemvir Sp. Op- pius for not having given protection to Virginia. A veteran who had served in seven-and-twenty campaigns came for ward and exhibited the marks of a scourging inflicted on him by Oppius without a cause. He too was sent to prison where he died also by his own hand. The other decemvirs were suffered to go into exile, but their property was confis- cated. M. Claudius was tried and found guilty ; but Vir- ginius remitting the capital punishment, he was allowed to go into exile to Tibur. " The manes of Virginia, more happy in her death than in her life, having roamed through so many houses exacting vengeance, rested at length when no guilty person remained." To calm the alarms of the patricians, Duilius now declared prosecution to be at an end, and that no one should be molested for his acts during the decemvirate. VICTORIES OF VALERIUS AND HORATIUS. 99 CHAPTER IV. VICTORIES OF VALERIUS AND HORATIUS. CANULEIAN LAW. CENSORSHIP AND MILITARY TRIBUNATE. FEUD AT AR- DEA. SP. MELIUS. ^QUIAN AND VOLSCIAN WAR. CAP- TURE OF FIDEN^. VOLSCIAN WAR. MURDER OF POSTUMI- US BY HIS OWN SOLDIERS. VEIENTINE WAR. CAPTURE OF VEIL SIEGE OF FALERII. EXILE OF CAMILLUS. When all was settled in the city (305) the consuls raised their levies for the JEquian and Sabine campaigns. The young men gave their names readily, the veterans came for- ward as volunteers. Valerius marched to Mount Algidus ; and after a series of manoeuvres to raise the confidence of his men, he fell on and defeated the ^Equians, and took their camp. Similar good fortune attended Horatius, who had gone against the Sabines ; and the two armies returned to Rome at the same time. The consuls, as was the usage, summoned the senate to the temple of Mars without the Capene gate, to give an account of their campaign and de- mand a triumph. The senate, alleging that they were there under the control of the soldiery, adjourned to the temple of Apollo, where they refused them the honor, as being trai- tors to their order. The plebs hearing of this indignity, on the motion of Icilius overstepped their legal powers, and voted them a triumph; and thus the patricians by their ma- lignant folly lost one of their privileges. The victory of Horatius over the Sabines is memorable for having put an end to the wars of this people with Rome. For a century and a half amity prevailed between the two states, grounded probably on treaties, of which no memorial remains. The cause which inclined the Sabines to peace appears to have been the emigration of their warlike youth, who went to join their kindred tribes of Samnium, who were now beginning to appear as conquerors in Campania. Four years now passed away without any event of much importance. In 310, nine of the tribunes concurred in bringing in a bill for electing one of the consuls from each order ; and C. Canuleius, the other tribune, one for granting the connuhium, that is, leo-alizina: marriage between the two orders. Both these propositions gave great offence to the patricians ; the usual expedient of foreign war and levies v/as recurred to, but in vain : the tribunes were resolute 100 HISTORY OF ROME. At length the patricians agreed to pass the Canuleian law. For their good sense must have shown the more prudent, that the patricians as the smaller body were the real suf- ferers by the prohibition ; and in fact these mixed marriages had all along prevailed,* and the families arising from them, and therefore belonging to the plebeians, were the most violent enemies of the patricians. From the debate on this subject we learn that the tribunes were now admitted into the senate-house, but without the right of voting. Their seat was on benches before the open door.t The other bill was altered, so as to allow of the consuls being taken from the two orders without distinction. Though this was a concession to the patricians, it did not content them. Scenes of violent altercation took place : the heads of the senate held secret deliberations, in which C. Claudius is said to have actually proposed the murder of the tribunes ; but even to the two Q,uinctii this seemed too violent a course, and it was resolved to come to an ac- commodation with them. By this compact the constitution assumed a new form ; the decemvirate was resolved into its three component parts, which were separated from each other — the censorship, the queestorship, and the military tribunate with consular author- ity, — of which the former two were reserved for the patri- cians, the one to be conferred by the curies, the other by the centuries ; the tribunate was open to both orders, and came in place of the consulate. The business of the censors, who were two in number and were elected every five years, was to manage the revenues of the state, and to keep a registry of the citizens according to their ranks and orders. They let the tolls and customs and other taxes, and they enrolled members in the senate, the equestrian order, and the tribes, or excluded such as were unworthy. The power of the censors v/as therefore very considerable. By the power which the censorship gave them of packing, as we may term it, the centuries, the patricians were in gen- eral able to keep the military tribunate in their own order ; nevertheless at the first election, L, Atilius Lonaus, one of three chosen, was a plebeian. On account of this it was pre- tended that the election had been irregular, and they were oblicred to resio-n before the end of three months. It is not * Plence so many patrician and plebeian families of the same name, 1 Valerius Maximus, ii. 9, 7. FEUD AT AllDEA. 101 unlikely that they may have refused to resign, for T. Q,uinc- tius was created dictator, who, having held a consular elec- tion, laid down his office on the thirteenth day. In the year 309, the people of Ardea and Aricia, who had been long disputing about the lands of Corioli, which had been lying waste since the time of its ruin by the Volscians, agreed to submit their differences to the decision of the Romans. The curies {concilium populi *) adjudged that the disputed lands belonged to neither of them, but had devolved to the Roman people. We know not how this decision was received, but in 311 an alliance was made between the Ro- man patricians and the corresponding party, or the old Rutu- lian houses, at Ardea, who were on ill terms with their plebs, with whom they came to open war the following year. The occasion was this : a beautiful plebeian maiden was wooed by one of her own order, and also by a member of the houses ; her guardians, for she had no father, were in favor of the former; her mother, urged by female vanity, of the latter. The affair at length came before the magistrates, who, though the right to dispose of their ward plainly lay with the guard- ians, decided in favor of the patrician. The guardians car- ried the maiden by force from her mother's ; the patricians took up arms ; a violent fray arose, and the plebs was driven out of the town : they encamped on an adjoining hill, whence they ravaged the lands of their enemies; the artisans came out of the town and joined them, and Cloelius, an ^quiari general, led a body of troops to their aid. The houses called on their Roman allies, and the consul, M. Geganius, came and circumvallated the ^quian army that was investing the town. The yEquians had to surrender their general, and to pass under the yoke.f To strengthen the Rutulian houses, colonists were sent thither from Rome. All was now quiet at Rome, till in 315 a dreadful famine, in consequence of the failure of the crops, came on. L. Minucius, who was created prefect of the corn market, made every exertion to purchase corn, but could only obtain some small supplies from Etruria : all persons were obliged to deliver up what corn they had beyond a month's consump- tion ; the allowance of the slaves was diminished ; the corn dealers were prosecuted as regraters and engrossers. Still * So it is expressly called by Livy, ii. 71. It could not have been the plebs, who had nothing to do with the public land. \ See above, p. 90. 9* 102 HISTORY OF ROME. the famine was so sore that numbers of the plebeians threw themselves into the Tiber. In this universal distress, Sp. Mselius, a wealthy plebeian knight, made extensive purchases of corn in Etruria, which he sold at low prices, or distributed gratis to the poor of his order. This gained him great favor ; the patricians became suspicious of him ; and Minucius, it is said, accused him to the consuls of the next year (316) of designs against the government: the senate sat a whole day in secret delibera- tion; the Capitol and other strong posts were garrisoned; and L. duinctius Cincinnatus, now eighty years of age, was created dictator. Next morning the dictator entered the Forum with an armed train, and set up his tribunal. At his command, C. Servilius Ahala, the master of the horse, went to summon before him Mselius, who was present. Mselius hesitated : the officers advanced to seize him ; he snatched up a butcher's knife to defend himself, and ran back into the crowd. Ahala, sword in hand, and followed by a band of armed patrician youths, rushed after him ; the people gave way, and he ran Mselius through the body. The murder, for such it undoubtedly was, was applauded by the venerable dictator.* The house of Maslius was pulled down, and its site left desolate, (the Jiiquimelium :) and posterity, following the traditions of the duinctian and Servilian houses, had no doubt of his guilt, or of the public virtue of Ahila. Their contemporaries, however, thought differently. When the terror of the dictatorship was removed, three tribunes de- manded vengeance for the death of Maelius ; an insurrection broke out, Ahala had to go into exile, and the patricians were obliged to allow the election of military tribunes, to appease the people. The year 317 was distinguished by the revolt of FidensB. This town, which lay five miles up the Tiber, beyond the Anio, had received a colony about sixty years before : a part of the colonists were now expelled, a part probably shared in the revolt. An alliance was formed with the Veientines and Faliscans, and their united forces appeared more than once before the Colline gate. Dictators were appointed against them, and in 320 the dictator A. Servilius Priscus * Plutarch (Brutus, 1) gives a novel view of the act of Ahdia. He is with him another Brutus. VOLSCIAN WAR. 103 * conquered the town. The ringleaders were beheaded, but no further penalty was inflicted on the people. In 322 the pestilence again spread its ravages at Rome : and in 3*24 the truce with the ^quians being expired, they and a part of the Volscians raised two armies of select troops, bound by oath to conquer or die, and encamped on the Algi- dus. In this emergency the senate resolved to create a dicta- tor ; the consuls, however, refused to proclaim him, and the senate having appealed to the tribunes, they forced the con- suls by a menace of imprisonment to submit. The person appointed was A. Postumius Tubertus. The dictator, aware Of the magnitude of the danger, called out all the forces of the state. Four armies were formed ; one, the city legions, was left at Rome under the consul C. Julius ; the reserve, under the master of the horse, L. Julius, lay without the walls. The dictator and the consul T. duinc- tius marched with the remainder to the Algid us, where they were joined by the Latins and Hernicans. They encamped within a mile of the enemy, the consul on the road to Lanu- vium, the dictator on that to Tuscuium. Skirmishes took place daily, in one of which the dictator's son having left the post assigned him to engage the enemy, was on his return victorious, put to death by his inexorable sire for his breach of orders. At length the enemy made a combined attack by night on the consul's camp ; but meantime that of the ^quians was stormed by some cohorts sent against it by the dictator, who himself came by a circuitous route into the rear of those who were assailing the consul's- camp. The troops of the dictator and the consul attacked them simul- taneously ; at break of day the exhausted foe gave way ; a brave man named Vettius Messius placing himself at their head, they broke through and made their way to the Volscian camp, which still was safe ; but they were soon followed and surrounded there also : the camp was stormed, quarter was given to those who threw down their arms, but all were sold except the senators. The dictator having triumphed laid down his office. The following year a truce for eight years was made with the yEquians. Among the Volscians there was a peace and a war party, and the former seems to have been the stronger, as during these eight years all was quiet on this side. In 327, a conspiracy being discovered at Fidenae, the heads of it were relegated to Ostia ; more colonists were sent to Fidense, and the lands of those who had been executed or had fallen in war were given to them. This year also was 104 HISTORY OF ROME. one of pestilence The next year (328) war was formally declared against Veii, on which occasion a further progress was made in the constitution, as the tribunes succeeded in having the question brought before the centuries, instead of being decided by the senate alone. One good result of this was that the levies were never again obstructed. Consular tribunes being elected for 329, they led their forces against Veii, but from their want of concord they gave the enemy an opportunity of falling on and routing them. Mamercus ^milius was immediately made dictator, and he named A. Cornelius Cossus, one of tlie tribunes, his master of the horse. The Veientines, elate with their success, sent to invite volunteers from all parts of Etruria, and they tried to induce the Fidenates to revolt once more. Envoys were despatched from Rome to warn them of their duty ; but the envoys were detained in custody, and the revolt resolved on. Lars Tolumnius, the Veientine king, led his army over the Tiber, and encamped before Fidense. He was playing at dice when the Fidenates sent to inquire what should be done with the Roman envoys. Without interrupting his game, he cried, " Put them to death ! " His mandate was executed ; the col- onists were butchered at the same time, and all hopes of pardon thus cut off. The Roman army soon appeared to exact ven- geance ; the skilful dispositions of the dictator and the valor of his troops gained a complete victory. Lars Tolumnius fell by the hand of the n^aster of the horse, who dedicated his spolia opima, the first since the days of Romulus, in the temple of Jupiter Feretrius. Fidenae was taken, its inhabit- ants massacred or sold for slaves, and it dwindled into utter insignificance. A truce with Veii for twenty, and with the ^quians for three (cyclic) years was the only etent of the year 330. In 33] , as territory had been gained in the late wars, the trib- unes demanded that assignments out of it should be made to the plebeians, and the tithe be levied off what was possessed by the patricians for the payment of the troops. Li 332 the Volscians took up arms, being convinced from the growing power of Rome that they must either make a bold and decisive effort, or part with their independence. Their troops were numerous and well disciplined. The con- sul, C. Sempronius Atratinus, who commanded the Roman army, evinced neither skill nor energy : the soldiers had no confidence either in him or themselves. In the battle they were giving vi^ay, when Sex. Tempanius, a plebeian knight VOLSCIAN WAR. 105 calling on the horsemen to dismount and follow him, and raising his spear as a standard, advanced against the foe, who, at the command of their leader, gave way and let them through, and then closed to cut them oif from the Roman army. The consul seeing his cavalry thus isolated redoubled his efforts. Tempanius, having vainly essayed to break through again, retired to an eminence, where a part of the Vol- scians surrounded him. Night ended the conflict : each army, thinking itself conquered, abandoned its camp and wounded, and retired to the mountains. In the morning Tempanius and his comrades, finding the two camps deserted, returned to Rome, where their appearance caused great joy, as the whole' army was supposed to be lost. The tribunes were loud in their accusation of the consul, bute Tempanius spok^ in his favor ; and when next year (333) he and three of his brother officers were elected tribunes, and one of their colleagues impeached Sempronius before the people, they protected him, and induced the prosecutor to forego the charge. • During the next seventeen years (334 — 351) the internal disputes respecting the public land continued, and the pa- tricians, by their old tactics of gaining a majority of the trib- unes to their side, prevented any thing being done. But the plebeians were slowly and surely gaining strength. In 334 the consuls proposed that the number of the quaestors of the treasury, which had been two, should be doubled ; the trib- unes insisted that the new places should belong to the ple- beians, and it was agreed that they should be chosen promis- cuously out of both orders. This, as in the case of the con- sular tribunate, was no immediate gain to the plebeians, but they trusted to the sure operation of time. Henceforth a quaestor attended every army to superintend the sale of the booty, the produce of which was either divided among the soldiers or brought into the yErarium, the common treasury of the state, not, as heretofore, into the Publicum of the pa- tricians. The wars with the ^Equians and Volscians were con- tinued also throughout this period ; but the power of these peoples was greatly crippled by the conquests which the Samnites were now making on their southern frontier. In 337 the iEquians and the Lavicans entered and ravaged the lands ofTusculum, and then encamped on the Algidus. An army was sent against them, which sustained a defeat. Q,. Servilius Prrscus was then created dictator : he routed the enemies, took their camp, stormed the town of Lavici, and N 106 HISTORY OF ROME. then laid down his office on the eighth day. In 340 the for- merly Latin, now JSquian, town of Boise was taken, on which occasion the Roman soldiers committed a crime unknown to their history for centuries after. The consular tribune M. Postumius, who commanded, had promised them the plunder of the town, but when it was taken he broke his word. He had also been summoned by his colleagues to Rome, where the tribunes were clamoring for a division of the conquered land ; and when the tribune Sextius spoke of the rights of the soldiers, "Woe to mine," said he, " if they do not keep quiet ! " These words soon made their way to the camp, and still further exasperated the men. A tumult broke out when the quaestor was selling the booty, in which he was struck by a stone. Postumius sat in judgment on this offence, and ordered the most severe pun- ishments. The men became enraged, and losing all respect stoned their general to death. This event was advantageous to the oligarchs, as the plebeians had to allow of the election of consuls for the next year, (342,) and to permit them to institute an inquiry into the death of Postumius. It was con- ducted with great moderation : the condemned terminated their lives by their own hands. In 347 the Antiates, seeing the danger which menaced their kindred, engaged in the war. A combined army en- camped before the walls of Antium, where it was attacked and totally defeated by a Roman army, led by the dictator P. Cornelius. The campaign of 349 was more important ; three Roman armies took the field : one, led by the consu- lar tribune L. Valerius, approached Antium ; his colleague P. Cornelius advanced with another against Ecetra ; while N. Fabius with the third laid siege to Tarracina, which lay on the side of a steep hill over the Pomptine marshes. A part of the army having gotten to the summit of the hill over the town, it was forced to surrender : the plunder was divided among the three armies, and a colony sent to the town. A war, the last, with Veii succeeded. At the expiration of the truce the Romans demanded satisfaction for the crime ofTolumnius; the Veientines, who feared war, applied for aid to the other peoples of Etruria, and various congresses were held at the temple of Voltumna to consider the matter. Aid, however, was refused, perhaps through jealousy, more probably in consequence of the pressure of a foe soon to appear on the north of the Apennines; it may also have been VEIENTINE WAR. 107 thought that the strength of its walls would enable Veil to resist any attack made on it by the Romans. The city of Veii, which lay twelve miles from Rome, was encompassed by strong walls four miles in circuit. The Tuscans, who possessed it, ruled over a population of sub- jects and serfs much like the Spartans in Greece ; their own numbers were small, they could not rely on their subjects, and it was only the aid of volunteers from other parts of Etruria that enabled them at any time to wage war with advantage against the Romans. The Romans, on their side, saw that though they might ravage the lands of Veii, yet so long as the town remained unconquered, retaliation would be easy ; whereas could it be conquered, the advance of the power of Rome might be rapid and permanent. This, however, could only be effected by keeping a force constantly in the field ; but to do this it would be necessary to recur to the old practice of giving the troops pay, for v/hich purpose the tithe must be paid honestly off the domain-land. This the senate, rising above the paltry, narrow considerations which used to influence it, resolved should be done, and pay be given to the infantry as well as the cavalry ; and as mutual concessions were usually made betv/een the orders, the people seem to have agreed that the veto of one tribune — not that of the majority, as heretofore, in the college — should suffice to stop the proceedings of the tribunes, the patricians reckoning that they would be able, in most cases, to gain over one of them. War, therefore, against Veii was declared in the year 349. The campaigns of the years 350 and 351 seem to have been little more than plundering excursions into the Vei- entine territory ; forts (castella) like that on the Cremera were raised and garrisoned to prevent the cultivation of the lands and the passage of supplies to Veii. In the third year (352) siege was laid to the town, a mound advanced against its walls, and the gallery under which the battering rams were to play had nearly reached the wall, when the besieged made a sally, drove off the besiegers, burned the gallery and the sides of the mound, which they then levelled. The news of this reverse only stimulated the Romans to greater exertions: the knights to whom no horses could oe assigned offered to serve with their own ; a like zeal was manifested by the classes, and the campaign of 353 was opened by the appearance of a gallant army under the consular tribunes L. Virginius and M'. Sergius before Veii. 108 HISTORY OF ROME. The Veieiitines on their side were aided by their neighbors the Capenates and Faliscans, who now saw that the danger was a common one. The Roman generals, who were at enmity with each other, had separate camps ; that of Sergius, which was the smaller, was suddenly attacked by the allies, while the Veientines made a sally from the town ; the pride of Sergius would not let him send for assistance to the other camp ; while Vir- ginias, pretending to believe that if his colleague wanted aid he would apply for it, kept his troops under arms, but would not stir. At length the camp of Sergius was forced : a few fled to the other camp, himself and the greater number to Rome. The other camp had then to be abandoned ; and the whole of the tribunes were obliged to lay down their office on account of the misconduct of Virginius and Sergius. Among those chosen to succeed them was M. Furius Ca- millus, afterwards so famous, whose name now appears for the first time. A large force was brought into the field, with which Camillus and one of his colleagues ravaged the lands of the Capenates and Faliscans up to the walls of their cities. The internal history of this year (354) was remarkable for a bold attempt of the oligarchs to get two of themselves chosen into the college of the tribunes of the people.* They were, however, utterly foiled; the college was firm and unan- imous : a heavy fine was imposed on Sergius and Virginius for their ill conduct, and an agrarian law was passed, which put an end to the frauds by which the payment of the tithe had been eluded. The next year (355) the patricians were forced to allow one plebeian among the military tribunes, and the following year (356) all but the prefect of the city were plebeians. A severe winter was succeeded by a pestilential summer ; still the armies took the field, and formed, as in 354, a double camp before Veii. The Faliscans and Capenates repeated the manoeuvre which had succeeded in that year ; but the Roman generals were at perfect amity, and they met with a complete defeat. The territories of Capena and Falerii were ravaged again the next year, and in 358 the Tarquinians, who had taken arms and made an incursion into the Roman territory, were waylaid on their return and routed with great loss. In 359, the last year of the war, tKe tribunes being * For the patricians were now in the tribes. It, however, continued to be the rule that none but a plebeian could be a tribune. CAPTURE OF VEIL 109 all plebeians, two of them, L. Titinius and Cn. Genucius, in- vaded the lands of Capena and Falerii ; but conducting them- selves incautiously, they met with a defeat. Genucius fell in the action, Titinius broke through the enemy and got off, the troops before Veii were hardly restrained from flight, and Rome was filled with alarm. Camillus was now raised to the dictatorship ; he exerted himself to restore confidence and discipline to the troops : the contingents of the Latins and Hernicans arrived, the dictator took the field, and hav- ing given the Faliscans and Capenates a complete defeat at Nepete, he sat down before Veii with a numerous army. So far the narrative of the Veientine war is historical ; in what is to come a poetic tale, of the same kind with those we have already noticed, has usurped the place of the sim- ple narrative of the annals. Various portents announced the fall of Veii. Among others the waters of the Alban lake rose in the midst of the dog-days, without a fall of rain or any other natural cause, to such a height as to overflow and deluge the surrounding country. Fearing deceit from the Etruscan augurs, the senate sent a solemn embassy to consult the Pythian oracle. The news reached the camp before Veii, and as there was then a truce, and those on both sides who were previously acquainted were in the habit of conversing together, it also came to the knowledge of the Veientines. Impelled by des- tiny a soothsayer mocked the efforts of the Romans, telling them that the sacred books declared they should never take Veil. A Roman centurion some days after, pretending that a prodigy had fallen out in his house which he was anxious to expiate, invited the aruspex to meet him in the plain between the town and the Roman camp. Seduced by the prospect of the proffered reward he came out; the centurion drew him near the Roman lines, and then suddenly, being young and vigorous, dragged the feeble old man into the camp. He was instantly transferred to Rome; by menaces the senate forced him to tell the truth, and he declared that the books of fate announced that, so long as the lake kept overflowing, Veii could not be taken, and that, if its waters reached the sea, Rome would perish. The envoys arrived soon after from Delphi with a similar reply, the god prom- ising the conquest of Veii if they spread the waters over the fields, and demanding a tithe of the spoil. Forthwith a tunnel was commenced in the side of the mountain to draw off the water of the lake and distribute it over the ad- 10 110 HISTORY OF ROME. jacent fields.* It advanced rapidly : the Veientines, seeing their impending fate, sent an embassy to sue for favor; mercy was unrelentingly refused : the chief of the embassy then warned the Romans to beware, for the same oracles foretold that the fall of Veii would be followed by the cap- ture of Rome by the Gauls. He warned in vain, no mercy was to be obtained. Meantime the work by which Veii was to be taken went on : the Romans appeared to be waiting the slow effects of a blockade ; but their army was divided into six bands, each of which wrought for six hours, by turns, at a mine, which was to lead into the temple of Juno on the citadel. When it was completed, Camillus sent to inquire of the senate what should be done with the spoil. Ap. Claudius advised to sell it, and reserve the proceeds for the pay of the army on future occasions : P. Licinius, a plebeian military trib- une, insisted that it should be divided not merely among the troops before Veii, but among all the citizens, as all had made sacrifices. It was so decreed ; and on proclamation being made, old and young flocked to the camp. When the vi^aters of the Alban lake were dispersed over the fields and the mine completed, Camillus, having made a vow to celebrate great games to the gods, and dedicate a temple to Mother Matuta, and also promised high honors to Queen Juno, the patron goddess of Veii, and a tenth of the spoil to the Pythian Apollo, entered the mine at the head of his co- horts. At the same moment the horns sounded for the as- sault ; scaling-ladders were advanced. The citizens hastened to man their walls; their king was sacrificing in the temple of Juno ; the aruspex, when he saw the victim, cried _ out that those who offered it to the goddess w^ould be the vic- tors. The Romans, who were beneath, hearing this, burst forth; Camillus seized and offered the flesh; his men rushed down from the citadel and opened the gates to those with- out; and thus Veii, like Troy, was taken by stratagem, after a ten years' siege. t The spoil was immense, and no part of it, except the price of those who had been made prisoners before orders * The tunnel vi^as actually made at this time, though we are not to suppose it had any thing to do with the fate of Veii. It is 6000 feet long, 3i wide, and high enough for a man to walk in it, wrought through the lava, which is as hard as iron. t The mine is as evident a fiction as the Trojan horse. In all ancient history there is no authentic account of a town taken in this way. CAPTURE OF VEIL 111 were given to spare the unarmed, and who therefore were sold, was brought into the treasury. It is related that as Camillus looked from the citadel down on the magnificent city he had won, he called to mind the envy with which the gods were believed to regard human prosperity, and prayed that it might fall as lightly as possible on himself^ and the Roman people; as he turned round to worship, he stumbled and fell, and he fondly deemed this to have ap- peased the envy of the Immortals. He dared then to enter Rome in triumph, in a car drawn by white horses, like that of Jupiter and Sol, (Sun,) a thing never witnessed before or after ; and the wrath of Heaven fell erelong on himself and the city. The statue of Q,ueen Juno was now to be removed to Rome, according to the dictator's vow ; but as only a priest of a certain house could touch it, the Romans were filled with awe. ^t length a body of chosen knights, having pu- rified themselves and put on white robes, entered the tem- ple. The goddess being asked if she was willing to go to Rome, her assenting voice was distinctly heard, and the statue of its own accord moved with those who conveyed it out. ^ The tithe was to be sent to the god at Delphi ; but the spoil was mostly consumed and spent ; the pontiffs de- clared that the state was only accountable for what had been received by the quaestors, and for the land and buildings at Veii, and that therefore the sin of those who kept back their share of it would lie at their own door. Conscience made all refund; but much ill will accrued to Camillus for his not having reminded them in time of his vow. It was resolved to make a golden bowl (crater) to the value of the tenth, but there was not sufficient gold in the treasury; the matrons then came forward, and proffered to lend the state their ornaments and jewels of gold : their offer was graciously accepted, and in return the privilege of going through the city in chariots was granted them, — an honor hitherto confined to the principal magistrates. The bowl was made, and a trireme and three envoys despatched with it to Delphi. But the ship was captured and carried into Lipara by some cruisers, who took it for a pirate. Timo- sitheiis however, the chief magistrate of the place, released it, and sent it with a convoy to Greece, for which the Ro- mans granted him the right oi proxeny to the state. The bowl was deposited in the treasury of the Massalians, J 12 HISTORY OF ROME. whence, not many years after, it was taken and melted down by Onomarchus the Phocian.* The year after the capture of Veil, (360,) the Capenates were compelled to sue for peace ; and a colony of three thousand plebeian veterans were sent to the ^quian ^.country, the patricians hoping to be able to keep the rich Veientine lands to themselves. But the tribunes insisted that the lands and houses there should be assigned to the two orders alike. As this, by dividing the Roman people into two parts, would be the destruction of the unity of the state, the patricians opposed it most warmly : by gaining over two of the tribunes they staved it off for two years ; and in 362, when the tribunes were unanimous, and the two who had opposed before had been heavily fined, the senators, by addressing themselves to their plebeian tribesmen, and showing the evil of the measure, got it rejected by a ma- jority of eleven out of the twenty-one tribes. *Next day a vote of the senate assigned a lot of seven jugers of Veientine land to every free person who needed it. In 361, Camillus, being one of the military tribunes, en- tered the Faliscan territory. The Faliscans had encamped in a strong position about a mile from the town ; but he drove them from it, and then advancing, sat down before Falerii. While he was beleageuring this town, the following event is said to have occurred. It was the custom at Falerii, as in Greece, to place the boys of different families under one master, (7iavdayb)ydg,^ who always accompanied them at their sports and exercises. The master of the boys of several of the noblest families, continuing to take them outside of the town to exercise as before the siege, led them one day into the Roman camp, and taking them to Camillus declared that he thereby put Falerii into his hands. The generous Roman, disgusted with such treachery, ordered his hands to be tied behind his back, and giving rods to the boys, made them whip him into the town. Overcome by such magnanimity, the Falis- cans surrendered, and the Roman senate was satisfied with their giving a year's pay to the soldiers. The year 364 saw Rome at war with two more states of Etruria, Vulsinii, and Salpinum ; but their resistance was brief, eight thousand Vulsinians laying down their arms al- * Diodor. xiv. 93. Appian, Ital. Fragm. 8. See History of Greece, Part III. chap. i. For proxeny, see same, p. 48, note, 2d edit. THE GAULS. 113 most without fighting, and the Salpinates not daring to leave their walls to defend their lands. A truce for twenty years was made with the Vulsinians, on their giving a year's pay for the Roman troops. But this year was rendered still more notable by the impeachment of Camillas by the tribune li. Apuleius, for having secreted a part of the plunder of Veii. The evidence appears to have been clear against him, (two brazen doors from Veii, it is said, were found in his house,) and the people were exasperated. When he applied to his clients in the tribes to get him off, they replied that they could not acquit him, but that, as in duty bound, they would contribute to pay whatever iine might be imposed on him. Finding his case hopeless, he resolved to go into exile. When outside of the gate of the city, he turned round, and regarding the Capitol, lifted up his hands, and prayed to the gods that Rome might soon have cause to regret him. A fine of 15,000 asses was laid on him by the people. CHAPTER V. THE GAULS. THEIR INVASION OF ITALY. SIEGE OF CLU- SIUM. BATTLE OF THE ALIA. ^^TAKING OF ROME. REBUILDING OF THE CITY. DISTRESS OF THE PEOPLE. ■ M. MANLIUS. THE LICINIAN ROGATIONS. PESTILENCE AT ROME. M. CURTIUS. HERNICAN WAR. COMBAT OF MANLIUS AND A GAUL. GALLIC AND TUSCAN WARS. COMBAT OF VALERIUS AND A GAUL. REDUCTION OF THE RATE OF INTEREST. The ruthless prayer of Camillus was accomplished ; am- bassadors arrived soon after from Clusium in Etruria, pray- ing for aid against a savage people come from the confines of the earth, and named the Gauls. The people named Celts or Gauls were the original in- habitants of Europe west of the Rhine, where they were spread over France, the British Isles, and a great part, if not all, of Spain. They w-ere in a state of barbarism, far exceeding any that could ever have prevailed in Greece or Italy, having hardly any tillage or trade, and living on the milk and flesh of their cattle. In manners they were tur- 10* o 114 HISTORY OF ROME. bulent and brutal, easily excited, but deficient in energy and perseverance. Toward the time of the last V.eientine war, want, or the pressure of a superior power, (perhaps that of the Iberians in the south,) seems to have obliged several of their tribes to migrate. One portion pushed along the val- ley of the Danube; another crossed the Alps, and came down on northern Etruria, whose chief town, Melpura, they are said to have taken on the same day that Veii fell, and they rapidly made themselves masters of the whole plain of the Po. They then crossed the Apennines, and laid siege to the city of Clusium in Etruria, (364.) We are told that it was a Clusine who had invited them into Italy. A citizen of Clusium, named Aruns, had been the guardian of a Lucumo, who, when he grew up, seduced, or was seduced by, his guardian's wife. Aruns, having vainly sought justice from the magistrates, resolved to be revenged on them as well as on his injurer. He loaded mules with skins of wine and oil, and with rush-mats filled with dried figs, and crossing the Alps came to the Gauls, to whom such delicacies were unknown. He told them that they might easily win the land that produced them; and forthwith the whole people arose, with wives and children, and marched for Clusium.* When the Clusines called on the Romans for aid, the senate sent three of the Fabii, sons of M. Ambustus, the chief pontiff, to desire the Gauls not to molest the allies of Rome. The reply was, that they wanted land, and the Clusines must divide theirs with them. The Fabii enraged went into the town, and then forgetting their character of envoys, and that no Roman could bear arms against, any people till war had been declared and he had taken the military oath,t they joined the Clusines in a sally ; and Q,. Fabius, having slain a Gallic chief, was recognized as he was stripping him. Forthwith Brennus, the Gallic king, ordered a retreat to be sounded ; and selecting the hugest of his warriors, sent them to Rome, to demand the sur- render of the Fabii. The fetials urged the senate to free the republic from guilt: most of the senators acknowledged their duty, but they could not endure the idea of giving up men of such noble birth to the vengeance of a savage foe. They referred the matter to the people, who instantly cre- * It is scarcely necessary to mention that this is a mere legend t Cicero, Offic. i. 11. BATTLE OF THE ALIA. 115 ated the offenders consular tribunes, and then told the en- voys that nothing could be done to them till the expiration of their office, at which time, if their anger continued, they might come and seek justice. Brennus, when he received this reply, gave the word " For Rome! " The Gallic horse and foot overspread the plains ; they touched not the prop- erty of the husbandman ; they passed by the towns and vil- lages as if they were friends; they crossed the Tiber, and reached the Alia,* a little stream that enters it about eleven miles from Rome. They would have found Rome unprepared, says the le- gend, t but that one night a plebeian named M. CaBdicius, as he was going down the Via Nova at the foot of the Pala- tine, heard a voice more than human calling him by name ; he turned, but could see no one ; he was then desired by the voice to go in the morning to the magistrates, and tell them that the Gauls were coming. On these tidings, the men of military age were called out and led against the foes, whom they met at the Alia. According to the real narrative,| when the Romans heard of the march of the Gauls, they summoned the troops of their allies, and arming all that could carry arms-, took a position near Veii ; but on learning that the enemy were making for the city by forced marches, they repassed the river, and advancing, met them at the Alia, (July 16.) The Gauls were 70,000 men strong; the Roman army of 40,000 was divided into two wings or horns, {cornua,) the left of 24,000 men rested on the Tiber, the right of 15,000 occu- pied some broken ground ; the Alia was between them and the enemy. Brennus fell on the right wing, which was chiefly formed of proletarians and serarians, and speedily routed it ; the left then, seeing itself greatly outflanked, was seized with a panic, broke, and made for the river : the Gauls assailed them on every side ; many were slain, many drowned; the survivors, mostly without arms, fled to Veii. The right wing, when broken, had fled through the hills to * Virgil, for the sake of his verse, spelled it Allia; the true word is Alia. Servius on iEn. vii. 717. t Zonaras, vii. 23, from Dion Cassius. Livy and the other vv^riters place this legend much earlier. + The true account of the battle and the taking of Rome is given by Diodorus (xiv. 113 — 117) from Fabius. Livy and Plutarch follow the legend of Camillus. 116 HISTORY OF HOME. Rome, carrying the news of the defeat ; ere nightfall the Gallic horse appeared on the Field of Mars, and before the Colline gate; but no attempt was made on the city; and that night and the succeeding day and night were devoted to plundering, rioting, drunkenness, and sleep. Meantime the Romans, aware of the impossibility of de- fending the city, resolved to collect all the provisions in it on the Capitol and citadel, which would contain about one thousand men, and there to make a stand. The rest of the people quitted Rome as best they could, to seek shelter in the neighboring towns, taking with them such articles as they could carry. A part of the sacred things was buried ; the Flamen Q,uirinalis, and the Vestal Virgins crossed the Sublician bridge on foot, with the remainder, on their way to Ceere. As they ascended the Janiculan, they were ob- served by L. Albinius, a plebeian, who was driving his wife and children in a cart; and he made them instantly get down, and give way to the holy virgins, whom he conveyed in safety to Caere. About eighty aged patricians, who were priests, or had borne curule offices, would not survive that Rome which had been the scene of all their glory : having solemnly devoted themselves, under the chief pontiff, for the republic and the destruction of her foes, they sat calmly awaiting death in their robes of state, on their ivory seats in the Forum. On the second day the Gauls burst open the Colline gate, and entered the city. A death-like stillness prevailed; they reached the Forum ; on the Capitol above they beheld armed men ; beneath in the Comitium the aged senators, like beings of another world : they were awe-struck, and paused. At length one put forth his hand, and stroked the venera- ble beard of M. Papiriiis ; the indignant old man raised his ivory sceptre, and smote him on the head ; the barbarian drew his sword, and slew him, and all the others shared his fate. The Gauls spread over the city in quest of plun- der, fires broke out in various quarters, and erelong the city was a heap of ashes, no houses remaining but a few on the Palatine reserved for the chiefs. The Gauls, having made divers fruitless attempts to force their way up the clivus of the Capitol, resolved to trust to famine for its reduction. But provisions soon began to run short; the dog-days and the sickly month of September came on, and they died in heaps. A part of them had TAKING OF ROME. 117 marched away for Apulia; the rest ravaged Latium far and wide.* Meantime some people of Etruria (probably the Tarquin- ians) ungenerously took advantage of the distress of the Romans to ravage the Veientine territory, where the Roman husbandmen had taken refuge with what property they had been able to save. But the Romans at Veii, putting M. Ca3- dicius at their head, fell on them in the night, and routed them ; and having thus gotten a good deal of arms, of which they were so much in want, they began to prepare to act against the Gauls. A daring youth named Pontius Comin- ius swam one night on corks down the river, and eluding the Gauls clambered up the side of the Capitol,t and having given the requisite information to the garrison, returned by the way he came. Sut the Gauls soon took notice of a bush which had given way as Cominius grasped it; they also observed that the grass was trodden down in various places ; | the rock v/as therefore not inaccessible, and it was resolved to scale it. At midnight, a party came in dead silence to the spot, and began to ascend. Slowly and cautiously they clomb up ; no noise was made, the Romans were buried in sleep, their sentinels were negligent, even the dogs were not aroused. The foremost Gaul had reached the summit, when some geese, which as sacred to Juno had been spared in the famine, being startled, began to flutter and scream. The noise awoke M. Manlius, a consular, whose house stood on the hill ; he ran out, pushed down the Gaul, whose fall caused that of those behind, and the whole project was baf- fled. The negligent captain of the guard was flung down the rock with his hands tied behind his back ; and every man on the citadel gave Manlius half a pound of corn, and a quarter of a flask of wine as a reward. Still famine pressed ; the blockade had now lasted six months, and the garrison had begun to eat even the soles * Among the wonders of this period is the following. While the Gauls surrounded the Capitol, the time of the annual sacrifice of the F-ahmn gens on the Quirinal arrived. C. Fabius Dorso, who was on the Capitol, th©n girded himself with the Gabine cincture, took the requisite things in his hands, went down the clivus, ascended the Quirinal, performed the sacred rites, and returned, the Gauls, moved either by awe or by religion, offering him no opposition. t Under the modern Ara Cell, (Nieb. ii. 544,) that is, at the part of the hill farthest from the river, and by theCarmental Gate,(Plut. Camill.25.) X Plutarch, ut supra, 26. lis HISTORY OF ROME. of their shoes and the leather of their shields : the Gauls, on their side, found their army melting away, and tidings came that the Venetians had invaded their territory ; they therefore agreed to receive one thousand pounds of gold, and depart. At the weighing of the gold Brennus had false weights brought ; and when Q-. Sulpicius complained of the injustice, he flung his sword into the scale, crying, " Woe to the vanquished ! " ( Vcd victis!) The Gauls then departed and recrossed the Apennines with their wealth.* (365.) It is thus that history relates the transaction; the legend of Camillus tells a different tale. Camillus, an exile at Ardea, had, it says, at the head of the Ardeates, given the Gauls a check ; the Romans at Veii passed an ordinance of the plebs, restoring him to his civil rights, and making hira dictator ; to obtain the confirmation of the senate and cu- ries, Cominius ascended the Capitol. Camillus, at the head of his legions, entered the Forum just as the gold v/as being weighed ; he ordered it to be taken away : the Gauls pleaded the treaty ; he replied that it was not valid, being made without the knowledge of the dictator. Each side grasped their arms ; a battle was fought on the ruins of Rome : the Gauls were defeated, and a second victory on the Gabine road annihilated their army. Camillus entered Rome in triumph, leading Brennus captive, whom he ordered to be put to death, replying Vcs victis ! to his- remonstrances. But to return to history. Nothing could exceed the miserable condition of the Ro- mans after the departure of the Gauls ; their city was one heap of ruins, their property was nearly all lost or destroyed, their former allies and subjects were ill disposed toward them.t We are told in a legend, that the people of Ficu- lea, Fidense, and some of the adjacent towns, came in arms against Rome; and so great was the panic they caused, that a popular solemnity! ^^^P^ ^P ^^^® memory of it to a late age. They demanded a number of matrons and maidens of good families as the price of peace. The Romans were in the utmost perplexity, when a female slave, nam.ed Phi- lotis or Tutula, proposed a plan to avert disgrace from the ladies of Rome. She and several of her companions were * Polybius, ii. 22. Suetonius, Tiberius, 3. t Compare the account of the return of the Jews to their city, given in the Book of Ezra. t Fopulifugia, or JYoncB Caprotincz. Plut. Rom. 29. Camill 33. Macrob. Sat. i. 11. DISTRESS OF THE PEOPLE. 119 clad in ihQ prcBtcxta, and amid the tears of their pretended relatives delivered to the Latins. The slaves encourao-ed their new lords to drink copiously ; they fell into a deep sleep, and Tutula, mounting a tree, raised a lighted torch toward Rome. The Romans fell on and massacred their slumbering foes, and Tutula and her companions were re- , warded with their freedom. Another tradition* told, that at this period the scarcity of food was such that the men past sixty were thrown into the river as being useless. One- old man was concealed by his son, through whom he gave such useful counsel to the state that the practice was ended. The people shrank from the prospect of rebuilding their ruined city, and it was vehemently urged that they should remove to Veii. Against this project, which would have probably quenched the glory of Rome forever, the patri- cians exerted themselves to the utmost, appealing to every feeling of patriotism and religion. A word of omen, casual or designed, was decisive. While the senate was debating, a centurion was heard to cry in the Comitium as he was leading his men over it, "Halt 1 we had best stop here." The senate allowed every one to take bricks wherever he found them, and to hew stone and wood where he liked. Veii was demolished for building materials ; and within the year Rome rose in an unsightly irregular form from her ruins. As a means of increasing the population, the civic fran- chise was given (366) to the people of such Veientine, Faliscan, and Capenate towns as had come over to the Ro- mans during the Veientine war ; and two years after (368) four new tribes (which raised the whole number to twenty- five) were formed out of them. The wars for some years offer little to interest. The Etruscans are said to have failed in attempts to take Sutrium and Nepete ; the Volscians of Antium and Ecetras went once more to war with Rome, now enfeebled; Hernican and Latin mercenaries fought on their side, but the valor of the Roman legions was still triumphant. The Preenestines also measured their strength with Rome, but the banks of the Alia witnessed their defeat. (375.) The internal history of this period is of far more im- portance. It was indeed a time of distress, augmented by the cruelty and harshness of the ruling order. In order * Festus, s. V. Sexagenaries. 120 HISTORY OF ROME. to build their houses, procure farming implements, and other necessary things, the plebeians had to borrow money to a considerable extent. The rate of interest being now raised at Rome, the money lenders (^argentarii) flocked thither, and under the patronage of the patricians, for which . they had to pay high, they lent to the people at a most usurious rate ; interest speedily multiplied the principal ; there were also outstanding debts to the patricians themselves ; the severe law of debt, which the Twelve Tables had left in force, but which, owing to the prosperity of the following years, had rarely been acted on, was again in operation, and freeborn Romans were reduced to bondage at home, or sold out of their country. To augment the distress of the people, the government (urged most probably by superstition) laid on a tribute to raise double the amount of the thousand pounds of gold given to the Gauls, to replace it in the tem- ples whence it had been taken. In this state of things M. Manlius, the savior of the Capitol, came forward as the patron of the distressed. In birth and in valor, and every other ennobling quality, he yielded to no man of his time, and he ill brooked to see himself kept in the background, while his rival Camillus was year after year invested with the highest offices in the state. This feeling of jealousy may have influenced his subsequent conduct; but Manlius was a man of generous mind, and when one day (370) he saw a brave centurion, his fellow-soldier, led over the Forum in chains by the usurer to whom he had been adjudged, [addictus,) his pity was excited, and he paid his debt on the spot. Once in the career of generosity, Manlius could not stop ; he sold an estate beyond the Tiber, the most valuable part of his property, and saved nearly four hundred citizens from bond- age by lending them money without interest. His house on the citadel now became the resort of all classes of plebeians ; and he is said to have hinted in his discourses with them, that the patricians had embezzled the money raised to replace the votive oflerings, and that they should be made to refund and liquidate with it the debts of the poor. The proceedings of Manlius seemed so danger- ous to the senate, that, by their direction, the dictator A. Corrielius Cossus had him arrested and thrown into prison. Numbers of the plebeians now changed their raiment, and let their hair and beard grow neglected, as mourners; day and night they lingered about the prison-door ; and the M. MANLIUS. 121 senate, either alarmed or having no real charge against him, set him at liberty. It is likely that the injustice of the senate may have ex- acerbated Manlius ; at all events he was now become a dangerous citizen, and two of the tribunes impeached him before the centuries for aiming at the kingdom. His own order, hi§ friends and kinsmen, and even his two brothers, deserted him in his need ; a thing unheard of, for even for the decemvir all the Claudian house had chancred their rai- ment. On the Field of Mars he produced all whom he had preserved from bondage for debt, and those whose lives he had saved in battle ; he displayed the arms of thirty foes whom he had slain, and forty rewards of valor conferred on him by different generals ; he bared his breast, covered with scars, and looking up to the Capitol implored the gods, whose fanes he had saved, to stand by him in his need. This appeal to gods and men was irresistible, and he was ac- quitted by the centuries. But his enemy Camillus was dic- tator, and he was arraigned before the curies, {concilium po- puli,) assembled in the Pcetilian grove, before the Nomentan gate, who readily condemned him to death, Manlius was either already in insurrection, or he resolved not to fall a passive victim. He and his partisans occupied the Capitol ; treachery was then employed against him ; a slave came, feigning to be a deputy from his brethren ; and as Manlius was walking on the edge of the precipice in confer- ence with him, he gave him a sudden push, and tumbled him down the rock.* The house of Manlius was razed; a decree was passed that no patrician should ever dwell on the Capitol ; and the Manlian gens made a by-law that none of them should ever bear the name of Marcus. The people mourned him ; and the pestilence with which Rome was shortly afterwards afflicted was regarded as a punishment sent by the gods to avenge the death of the preserver of their temples. Meantime the misery of the plebeians went on increasing; day after day debtors were dragged away from the praetor's tribunal to the private dungeons of the patricians ; the whole plebeian order lost spirit ; and the greedy, short-sighted patri- cians were on the point of reducing Rome to a feeble, con- temptible oligarchy, when two men appeared, who, by their * Dion, fragm. xxxi. Zonaras, vii. 24. In this manner Odysseus, one of the Greek chiefs in the late war. was killed at Athens. 11 P 123 HISTORY OF ROME. wisdom and firmness, changed the fate of Rome, and with it that of the world. These were the tribunes C. Liciniifs Stolo and L. Sextius Lateranus. In th*year 378 they proposed the three following roga- tions. 1. Instead of consular tribunes, there shall in future be consuls, one of whom shall of necessity be a plebeian, 2. No one shall possess more than five hundred jugers of arable or plantation land in the domain, {ager publicus,) nor feed more than one hundred head of large and five hun- dred of small cattle on the public pasture. Every possessor must pay the state annually the tenth bushel off his corn- land, the fifth of the produce of his plantation-land, and so much a head grazing-money for his cattle. , He shall also employ freemen as laborers in proportion to his land. 3. The interest already paid on debts shall be deducted from the principal, and the residue be paid in three equal annual instalments. There is no reason to suppose that the authors of these measures, which were to infuse new life and energy into the state, were influenced by any but the best motives ; but patrician malignity, and that ignoble spirit which loves to as- sign a paltry motive for even the most glorious actions, in- vented the following tale. M. Fabius Ambustus had two daughters, one of whom was married to Ser. Sulpicius, a patrician and consular tribune for the year 378; the other to C. Licinius Stolo, a wealthy plebeian. One day, while the younger Fabia was visiting her sister, Sulpicius returned from the Forum, and the lictor, as was usual, smote the door with his rod that it might be opened. The visitor, unused to such ceremony in her modest plebeian abode, started, and her sister smiled in pity of her ignorance. She said nothing, but the matter sank deep in her mind ; her father, observing her defected, in- quired the cause ; and having drawn it from her, assured her that she should be on an equality with her sister ; and he, Licinius, and Sextius forthwith began to concert measures for effecting what he proposed.* The struggle lasted five years.t The patricians had not * Fabius had been a consular tribune within the last four years. How then could his daughter be ignorant of the pomp of the ofRce ? Moreover, there was nothing to prevent Licinius from being one him- self, as the office was open to plebeians. t Livy makes it last ten years, and the city in consequence be in a THE LICINIAN ROGATIONS. 123 now, as heretofore, the Latins, Hernicans, and Volscians to call to their aid ; neither had they large bodies of clients at their devotion. They therefore sought to gain the other trib- unes, by representing the mischievous nature of the bills : and they succeeded so well, that eight of the college forbade them to be read. Licinius and Sextius retaliated by impeding the election of consular tribunes. They were themselves re- elected year after year, and they never permitted the election of consular tribunes, unless when the state was in danger from its foreign enemies. In 381, the opposition in the col- lege was reduced to five, and these wavering : the next year (382) the tribunes were unanimous, and the only resource of the oligarchs lay in the dictatorship. Camillus was appoint- ed : and when the tribes were beginning to vote, he entered the Forum, and commanded them to disperse. The tribunes calmly proposed a fine of 500,000 asses on him if he should act as dictator. Camillus saw that the magic power of the dictatorial name was gone, and he laid down his office. The senate appointed P. Manlius to succeed ; and he named C. Licinius, a plebeian, master of the horse. It was agreed to augment the number of the keepers of the Sibylline books to ten, one half to be plebeians ; and, the dictator not impeding the people, with their wonted short-sightedness and ingrati- tude were beginning to vote the two last rogations, which con- cerned themselves most nearly ; but Licinius, telling them they must eat if they would drink,* incorporated the three bills in one, and would have all or none. In 383 (388) the bills passed the tribes ; but Camillus was again made dictator against the people. The tribunes sent their officers to arrest him ; he saw the inutility of further resistance, and the senate and curies gave their assent to the law. L. Sextius, being ap- pointed plebeian consul, a last eifort was made by the curies, who refused to confirm him. The people lost all patience, state of complete anarchy, without any supreme magistrates, for five years, — a condition of things wliich is utterly impossible. The cause of this is, that the capture of Rome b}^ the Gauls, which really occur- red in Ol. 99, 3, was supposed to have happened in Ol. 98, 1, the date which the Greek chronologers gave for the descent of the Gauls into Italy ; and to reconcile the Roman Fasti with this, it was necessary to suppose that five years had passed without magistrates ; and it was assumed that this must have been during the disputes on the Licinian rogations. Another year was put m on another occasion, so that the dates henceforth are five, from 439, six years in advance ; the death of Caesar, therefore, was in 702, not 708 ; the birth of Christ in 746, not 752. See Niebuhr, ii. 553 — 567. Dion, fragm. xxxiii. ^.^»^ ,., 124 HISTORY OF ROME. seized their arms, and retired to the Aventine.* The ven- erable Camillus, weary of civil discord, became the mediator of peace, and vowed a temple to Concord. The people consented that the city-praetorship should be confined to the houses, as a curule dignity coordinate with the consulate.t The office of curule sediles, to be filled in alternate years by two patricians and two plebeians, was instituted; and one day for the plebeians, as being now an integrant part of the nation, was added to the three of the Great Games. The centuries, to reward the illustrious Camillus, elected his son M. Furius the first city-preetor. The passing of the Licinian laws may be regarded as the termination of the struggle which had been going on for nearly a century and a half between the orders. In the whole course of history there is perhaps nothing to be found, more deserving of admiration than the conduct of the ple- beians throughout the entire contest ; no violence, no mur- ders, no illegal acts on their part are to be discerned, though the annals whence we derive our knowledge of it were drawn up and kept by the opposite party. One is naturally led to inquire into the causes of this moderation ; and they will perhaps be found to be as follows. In the first place, that steadiness and spirit of obedience to law and authority, which seems to have belonged to the Roman character while the nation continued pure and unmixed ; next, the fact that the plebeians were, at this time, composed of small landed pro- prietors, living frugally and industriously on their little farms, and visiting the city only on market-days. But the chief cause was, that they acted under the guidance of their nat- ural leaders, their nobility and gentry, and not of brawling demagogues; for the Licinii, the Icilii, the Junii, and others were, in birth and wealth, the fellows of theduinctii and the Manlii, who excluded them from the high offices in the state. It was, in fact, a part of the fortune of Rome, that she never was afflicted with the scourge of the selfish, low-born, lying, arrogant demagogues, the curse of the Grecian republics. When she was doomed to have her demagogues also, they were beasts of prey of a higher order, of her noblest and most ancient patrician houses, the Cornelii, the Julii, the Claudii, who, disdaining to fawn on and flatter the electors whom * Ovid, Fasti, i. 643. t The curule magistrates were so named as being allowed to go to the senate-house in a chariot, {currus ;) their movable seat {sella cu- rulis) was taken out, and carried in after them. Gellius, iii. 18 THE L.ICINIAN ROGATIONS. 125 they despised, purchased their venal votes, or terrified them, and carried their measures by the swords of armed bandits. But these unhappy times are yet far off; two centuries of glory are to come before we arrive at them. To return to our narrative. , In the two following years, (390, 391,) Rome was severely afflicted by a pestilence, which carried off numbers of all orders : among them was the venerable M. Furius Camillus, the second founder, as hewas styled, of the city, a man who though his deeds have been magnified by fiction, must have been really one of the greatest that even Rome ever saw. As a means of appeasing the divine wrath, a lectisternium* was made for the third time, and stage-plays were celebrated, the actors being fetched from Etruria. The Tiber also rose at this time and inundated the city. It had been an old custom at Rome, that, on the Ides of September, the chief magistrate should drive a nail into the right side of the temple of Jupiter on the Capitol. The rea- son of this practice was, that a regular account might be kept of the years. It had, however, been for some time intermit- ted ; but it being given out (392) that a plague had once ceased when a dictator drove the nail, the senate seized the opportunity of making an attempt to get rid of the late laws, and L. Manlius Iraperiosus was named dictator. Having driven the nail, he commenced a levy against the Herni- cans; but the tribunes forced him to desist and abdicate; and the next year (393) the tribune, M. Pomponius, im- peached him for his harshness and cruelty in the levy. One charge on which the tribune dwelt was his keeping his son, merely for a defect in his speech, at work in the country, among his slaves. The young man, when he heard of this charge against his parent, armed himself with a knife, and coming early one morning into the city, went* straight to the tribune's house. On telling his name he was admitted ; at his desire all were ordered to withdraw, the tribune nat- urally thinking he was come to give him some important information. Manlius then drawing his knife, menaced him with instant death if he did not swear to drop the prosecution. The terrified tribune swore; the charge against Manlius was not proceeded in ; and the people, to show their admiration of his filial piety, elected the young man one of-the legion- ary tribunes for the year. * That is, exposing the images of the gods in public. 11* 126 HISTORY OF ROME. The following romantic act is also placed in this year. A great chasm opened in the middle of the Forum ; to fill it up was found to be impossible ; the soothsayers announced that it would only close when it contained what Rome pos- sessed of jnost value, and that then the duration of the state would be perpetual. While all were in doubt and perplexity, a gallant youth, named M. Curtius, demanded if Rome had any thing more precious than arms and valor. He then mounted his horse, fully caparisoned, and while all gazed in silence, regarding now the Capitol and the temples of the gods, now the chasm, he solemnly devoted himself for the weal of Rome; then giving his horse the spurs, he plunged into the gulf and disappeared ; the people poured in fruits and other offerings, and the yawning chasm at length closed.* A war, the cause of which is not assigned, being now de- clared against the Hernicans, the plebeian consul L. Genucius invaded their territory. But he let himself be surprised, his soldiers fled, and he himself was slain. The victorious Her- nicans advanced to assail the camp : but the soldiers, en- couraged and headed by the legate C. Sulpicius, made a sal- ly and drove them oft At Rome the news of the defeat and death of the consul gave the utmost joy to the patricians. " This comes," they cried, "of polluting the auspices: men miofht be insulted and trifled with, not so the immortal gods." Ap. Claudius was forthwith created dictator, and having levied an army he went and joined that under Sul- picius. The Hernicans on their side strained every nerve ; all of the military age were summoned to the field ; eight co- horts, of four hundred men each, of chosen youths, with double pay and a promise of future immunity from service if victorious, stood in the front of their line. TJie courage, skill, and discipline of the two now adverse peoples were equal. The battle was long and obstinate : the Roman knights had to dismount and fight in the front. The conflict end- ed only with the night ; a dubious victory remained with the Romans, who had lost one fourth of their men and several of their knights. Next day the Hernicans abandoned their * The legend was evidently invented to give an origin to the Lacus Curtius, as a part of the Forum was named. The historian Piso, who sought to rationahze all the legends of the old history, said that it was so named from Mettus Curtius, a Sabine, who in the war between Romulus and Tatius, plunged with his horse into the lake which then occupied that place. GALLIC AND TUSCAN WARS. ' 127 camp ; the Romans were too much exhausted to pursue, but the colonists of Signia fell on and routed them. The follow- ing year (394) the Romans ravaged their lands with impuni- ty, and took their town of Ferentinum. As the legions were returning, the Tiburtines closed their gates against them, which gave occasion to a war with this people. The Gauls, owing most probably to the influx of new hordes from home, had for many years spread their ravages to the very utmost point of Italy. Latium suffered with the rest ; and a Gallic army is said to have appeared at this time on the Anio. T. Q,uinctiusPennus, the dictator, led an army against them. While they stood opposite each other, a Gaul of gigantic stature advanced on the bridge, and challenged any Roman to engage him. T. Manlius (he who had saved his father) then went to the dictator and craved permission to meet the boastful foe. Leave was freely granted ; his com- rades armed him and led him against the huge Gaul, who put out his tongue in derision of the pigmy champion. In the combat the Gaul made huge cuts with his heavy broadsword ; the Roman, running in, threw up the bottom of the foeman's great shield with his own, and, getting inside of it, stabbed him again and again in the belly, till he fell like a mountain. He took nothing from him save his golden collar, (torquis,) whence he derived the nameof Torquatus.* The Gauls, dis- mayed at the fall of their champion, broke up in the night and retired to Tiber. The following year (395) the Gauls again appeared, and, united with the Tiburtines, committed great ravages in La- tium ; they even advanced to the walls of Rome, where Q,. Servilius Ahala was made dictator, and a battle was fought before the Colline gate. The loss on both sides was consid- erable, but the Gauls were driven off, and as they approached Tibur they were attacked by the consul C. Pcetelius and the victory completed. Two years after (397) the Gauls came again into Latium and encamped at Pedum. The common danger caused a re- newal of the ancient alliance between Rome and Latium, and a combined army, under the dictator C. Sulpicius, took the field. The dictator, loth to risk a battle when the enemy might be overcome more surely by delay, encamped in a strong position, which the Gauls did not venture to attack ; * The legend, which reminds one of David and Goliath, was ap- parently invented to account for the name. The tale how our own C(Eur ,de Lion " robbed the lion of his heart," is a more modern instance of this Dractice. 128 HISTORY OF ROME. but his own soldiers grew impatient, and demanded to be led to battle. Sulpicius, fearing he might not be able to restrain them, complied ; but the event justified his caution ; the le- gions were driven back, and but for the efforts of despair which they made at the call of the dictator, and a stratagem which he had devised, they would have sustained a defeat. He had the night before sent off all the horse-boys, armed and mounted on mules, into the woods on the hills over his camp, and directed them when he made a signal to show themselves and advance toward that of the enemy. He now made the signal ; the Gauls, fearing to be cut off from their camp, fell back ; the Romans pressed on them, and they broke and made for the woods, where great numbers of them were slain. The gold found in their camp was walled up in the Capitol, and the dictator triumphed as he deserved. But while the arms of Rome were thus fortunate under the dictator, they sustained a disgrace under the consul C. Fabius in Etruria ; for the Tarquinians, with vvhom there now was war, gave him a defeat ; and, having taken three hun- dred and seven Roman soldiers, they offered them as victims* to their gods. The Roman territory to the south was also ravaged by the Volscians of Velitrae and Privernum ; but the next year (398) the Privernates were defeated under their own walls by the consul C. Marcius. This year was rendered memorable by the condemnation of C. Licinius for the transgression of his own law. He was fined 10,000 asses for having one thousand jugers of the pub- lic land, one half being held in the name of his son whom he had emancipated for the purpose of eluding the law. By a rogation of the tribunes M. Duilius and L. Mgenius, the rate of interest was reduced to ten per cent., [fcenus unciarium ;) an attempt was made also by the patricians to have laws passed away from the city, by the soldiers when under the military oath. The consul Cn. Manlius held in the camp at Sutrium an assembly of the tribes, and passed a law, impo- sing an ad valorem duty of five per cent, on the emancipation of slaves. The law was a good one; the senate readily gave it their sanction ; but the tribunes saw their ulterior ob- ject, and made it capital to hold such assemblies in future. In 899 the consul M. Fabius engaged a combined army of the Tarquinians and Faliscans. The Tuscan Lucumones, we are told, rushed out in front of their line, shaking serpents and waving lighted torches. This novel apparition at first daunted the Romans ; but they soon shook off the terrors of superstition, routed their foes, and took their camp^ It GALLIC AND TUSCAN WARS. 129 would however appear that the victory was in reality on the side of the Tuscans, for they soon after entered the Salinse, and it was found necessary to appoint a dictator. The ple- beian consul M. Popillius Lcsnas named the plebeian C. Mar- cius Rutilus, who made another plebeian, C. Plautius, master of the horse. The patricians refused the dictator all the means of forming an army, but the people gave him every thing he required ; he defeated the enemy, took eight thou- sand prisoners, and triumphed without the consefit of the patricians. As the alliance had been renewed with the Latins and Hernicans, the oligarchs resolved to make a bold effort to get rid of the Licinian law ; and for five successive years, by means of interrexes and dictators, the consuls were, in spite of the tribunes, both patricians. During this period nothing of note occurred except a defeat of the Tarquinians in 401 ; on which occasion three hundred and fifty-eight of the prin- cipal men among the captives were brought to Rome and put to death in the Forum, in retaliation of their barbarity in the year 397. The Caerites also, being accused of shar- ing in the war, only escaped the vengeance of Rome by the surrender of one half of their domain. They were then granted a truce for one hundred years. At length the patricians were obliged to give way, and (403) C. Marcius Rutilus, the plebeian, became the colleague ^of a Valerius in the consulate. It might be expected from the names of the consuls that something would be done to relieve the distress of the peo- ple. Accordingly, five commissioners, (quinqueviri mensarii,) two patricians and three plebeians, were appointed for the liquidation of debts. Money was advanced out of the treasu- ry to those who could give good security ; if any one preferred making his property over to his creditors, it was valued and transferred to them. As many objects thus changed hands, a new census was required, and in spite of all the efforts of the patricians, who had recovered the whole consulate this year, (404,) C. Marcius Rutilus was chosen the first plebeian censor. In the year 405 the Gauls poured once more into Latium. The consul M. Popillius Lsenas, a plebeian, marched against them, and took a position on a strong eminence. The Tri- arians commenced fortifying a camp ; the rest of the cohorts were drawn out ; the Gauls charged up-hill ; the consul re- ceived a slight wound and had to retire ; this damped the spirit of his men, but he soon returned and restored the battle ; Q 130 HISTORY OF ROME. the Gauls were driven down into the plain, and they aban- doned their camp and fled to the Alban mountains, whence they spread their ravages over the country during the follow- ing winter. The plebeian consul triumphed ; but L. Furius Camillus, being made dictator for the elections, had the audacity to nominate himself and another patrician for the ensuing year, (406,) and the people were obliged to acquiesce. A large army, composed of Latins and Romans, was formed, which the consul Camillus led into the Pomptine district, where the Gauls now were. While the two armies lay opposite each other, a huge Gallic chief advanced and challenged any Roman to engao-e him in sino-le combat. M. Valerius, a mil- itary tribune, a young man of three-and-twenty years, accept- ed the challenge. Just as the combat began, a raven {corvus) came and perched on the Roman's head, and during the fight he continually assailed with his beak and claws the face and eyes of the foeman, whom therefore Valerius easily slew; the raven then rose, and flying to the east was soon out of sight. When the victor went to strip the slain, the nearest Gauls advanced to prevent him ; this brought on a general action ; the Gauls were worsted and retired, and they never again appeared in Latium. Valerius, who was henceforth named Corvus,* was rewarded by the consul with ten oxen and a golden crown, and when T. Manlius Torquatus was made dictator for the elections, he named him c6nsul with the plebeian M. Popillius Lsenas. In the consulate of T. Manlius Torquatus and C. Plautius, (408,) a further effort was made to relieve the debtors. In- terest was reduced to five per cent., (fcBnus semiunciarium^ and debts were to be paid in four equal instalments, one down, and the remainder in one, two, and three years. It is not unHkely that one of the various reductions of the weight of the as took place at this time. In the year 404 a truce for forty years had been made with the Faliscans and the Tarquinians ; the ancient league, as we have seen, had been renewed with the Latins and Her- nicans ; all was quiet on the side of the Volscians, when Rome had to enter the lists with a foe more formidable than any she had yet encountered. * The legend, like that of Torqu&tus, was invented to account for the name. The cognomen \v3iS not new } we find in the Fasti for 363 an Aquilius and a Fulvius Corvus. FIRST SAMNITE WAR. 131 CHAPTER VI. FIRST SAMNITE WAR. MUTINY IN THE ROMAN ARMY. PEACE WITH THE SAMNITES. LATIN WAR. MANLIUS PUT TO DEATH BY HIS FATHER. BATTLE OF VESUVIUS, AND SELF-DEVOTION OF DECIUS. REDUCTION OF LATIUM. PUBLILIAN LAWS. SECOND SAMNITE WAR. SEVERITY OP THE DICTATOR PAPIRIUS. SURRENDER AT THE CAUDINE FORKS. CAPTURE OF SORA. TUSCAN WAR. PASSAGE OF THE CIMINIAN WOOD. SAMNITE AND TUSCAN WARS. PEACE WITH THE SAMNITES. In the year 332 a body of the Samnites had descended from their mountains into the rich plains of Campania. By a composition they became the populus or ruling order in the city of Vulturnum, (henceforth named Capua,) a city equal in size to Rome orVeii, and at all times noted for its luxury and its relaxing effects on the minds of those who abode in it. The Samnites of the city and plain gradually changed their man- ners, and became estranged from their rugged mountain brethren. In 412 these last, urged by their adventurous spirit or the pressure of population, came down on the country be- tween the Vulturnus and the Liris, inhabited by the Sidi- cinians and other Ausonian peoples. The Sidicinians applied to the Campanians for aid, and the militia' of Capua took the field against the Samnites ; but the hardy mountaineers easily routed them before the walls of Teanum, and then transferring the war to Campania, came and encamped on Mount Tifata, which overhangs Capua. The plundering of their lands, the burning of their houses and homesteads, drew the Campanians again to the field ; but again they were defeated, and were now shut up in their town. Finding their own strength insufficient they looked abroad for aid, and none appearing so well able to afford it as the triple fed- eration south of the Tiber, their envoys appeared at Rome. A treaty of alliance was readily formed with them ; and as there had been since 401 an alliance between the Romans and Samnites, envoys weres ent to inform them of this new treaty, and to require them to abstain from hostilities against the allies of the federation. The Samnites looked on this as a breach of treaty, and in the presence of the Roman en- voys orders were given to lead the troops into Campania. 133 HISTORY OF ROME. War against the Samnites was therefore declared at Rome, and the consuls ordered to take the field. The consul M. Valerius Corvus led his legions into Cam- pania, where, probably in consequence of some reverses of which we are not informed, he encamped on the side of Mount Gaurus over Cumse. The Samnite army came full of confidence ; the consul led out his troops, and a battle commenced, highly important in the history of the world, as the prelude of those which were to decide whether the em pire of Italy and of the world was reserved for Rome or for Samnium. The two armies were equal in courage, and similarly armed and arrayed ; that of the Samnites consisted entirely of in- fantry, and the horse, which the consul sent first into action, could make no impression on its firm ranks. He then or- dered the horse to fall aside to the wings, and led on the le- gions in person. The fight was most obstinate : each seemed resolved to die rather than yield : at length a desperate effort of despair on the part of the Romans drove the Sam- nites back; they wavered, broke, and fled to their intrenched camp, which they abandoned in the night and fell back to Suessula. They declared to those who asked why they had fled, that the eyes of the Romans seemed to be on fire, and their gestures those of madmen, so that they could not stand before them. The other consul, A. Cornelius Cossus, having been direct- ed to invade Samnium, led his army to Saticula, the nearest Samnite t5wn to Capua. The Apennines in this part run, in parallel ranges, enclosing fertile valleys, from north to south, and the road to Beneventum passes over them. The consul, advancing carelessly, had crossed the first range, and his line of march had reached the valley, when on looking back they saw the wooded heights behind them occupied by a Samnite army : to advance was dangerous, retreat seemed impossible. In this perplexity a tribune named P. Decius proposed to occupy with the Principes and Hastates of one legion (that is, 1600 men) a height over the way along which the Samnites were coming. The consul gave permis- sion ; Decius seized the height, which he maintained against all the efforts of the enemy till the favorable moment was lost, and the consul had led back his army and gained, the ridge. When night came, the Samnites encamped about the hill and went to sleep ; in the second watch Decius led down his men in silence, and they took their way through the midst of FIRST SAMNITE WAR. 133 the slumbering foes. They had gotten half through, when one of the Romans in stepping over the Samnites struck against a shield ; the noise awoke those at hand ; the alarm spread ; the Romans then raised a shout, fell on all they met, and got off without loss. They reached their own camp while it was yet night, but they halted outside of it till the day was come. At dawn, when their presence was announced, all poured forth to greet them, and Decius was led in tri- umph through the camp to the consul, who began to extol his deeds ; but Decius interrupted him, saying that now was the time to take the enemy by surprise. The army was led out, and the scattered Samnites were fallen on and routed with great slaughter. After the victory the consul gave De- cius a golden crown and a hundred oxen, one of which was white with gilded horns; this Decius offered in sacrifice to Father Mars, the rest he gave to his comrades in peril, and each soldier presented them with a pound of corn and a pint (sextarius) of wine, while the consul, giving them each an ox and two garments, assured them of a double allowance of corn in future. The army further wove the obsidional crown of grass and placed it on the brows of Decius, and a similar - crown was bestowed on him by his own men. Such were the generous arts by which Rome fostered the heroic spirit in her sons ! Meantime the Samnites at Suessula had been largely rein- forced, and they spread their ravages over Campania. The two consular armies being united under Valerius, came and encamped hard by them, and as Valerius had left all the bag- gage and camp-followers behind, the Roman army occupied a much smaller camp than was usual to their numbers. De- ceived by the size of their camp the Samnites clamored to storm it, but the caution of their leaders withheld them. Necessity soon compelled them to scour the country in quest of provisions, and emboldened by the consul's inactivity they went to greater and greater distances. This was what Vale- rius waited for ; he suddenly assailed and took their camp, which was but slightly guarded ; then leaving two legions to keep it, he divided the rest of the army, and falling on the scat- ' tered Samnites, cut them every where to pieces. The shields of the slain and fugitives amounted, we are told, to 40,000, the captured standards to 170. Both consuls triumphed. While the Roman arms were thus engaged in Campania, the Latins invaded the territory of the Pelignians, the kins- men and allies of the Samnites. 12 134 HISTORY OF ROME. No military events are recorded of the year 413, but a strange tale of an insurrection of the Roman army has been handed down. The tale runs thus : The Roman soldiers who in 412 had been left to winter in Capua, corrupted by the luxury which they there witnessed and enjoyed, formed the nefarious plan of massacring the inhabitants, and seizing the town. Their projects had not ripened when C. Marcius Rutilus, the consul for 413, came to take the command. He first, to keep them quiet, gave out that the troops were to be quartered in Capua the following winter also ; then noting the ringleaders, he sent them home under various pretexts, and gave furloughs to any that asked for them : his colleague, Q.. Servilius Ahala, took care to detain all who came to Rome. The stratagem succeeded for some time ; at length the soldiers perceived that none of their comrades came back ; a cohort that was going home on furlough halted at Lautulas,* a narrow pass between the sea and the mountains east of Tarracina ; here it was joined by all who were going home singly on leave, and the whqle number soon equalled that of an army. They broke up, and marching for Rome encamped under Alba Longa. Feeling their want of a leader, and learning that T. duinctius, a distinguished patrician, who being lame of one leg from a wound had retired from the city, was living on his farm in the Tusculan, they sent a party by night, who seized him in his bed, and gave him the option of his death or becoming their commander ; he came to the camp, was saluted as general, and desired to lead them to Rome. Eight miles from the city they were met by an army led by the dictator M. Valerius Corvus. Each side shud- dered at the thought of civil war, and readily agreed to a conference. The mutineers consented to intrust their cause to the dictator, whose name was a sufficient security. He rode back to the city, and at his desire the senate and curies decreed that none should be punished for, or even reproached with, their share in the mutiny, that no soldier's name should be struck out of the roll without his own consent, that no one who had been a tribune should be made a centurion, and that the pay of the knights (as they had refused to join in the mutiny) should be reduced. And thus this formidable mutiny commenced in crime, and ended in — nothing! Another and a far more probable account says that the * There were probably warm springs here ; whence the name, like ThermopylsB, which it resembles in situation. (Hist, of Greece, p. 110,) LATIN WAR. 135 insurrection broke out in the city, where the plebeians took arms, and having seized C. Manlius in the night, and forced hini to be their leader, went out and encamped four miles from the city, where, as it would seem, they were joined by the army from Campania. The consuls raised an army and advanced against them ; but when the two armies met, that of the consuls saluted the insurgents, and the soldiers em- braced one another. The consuls then advised the senate to comply with the desires of the people, and peace was ef- fected. The still existing weight of debt seems to have been the cause of this secession also, and a cancel of debts to have been a condition of the peace. Lending on interest at all is said to have been prohibited at this time by a plebiscitu?n, or decree of the tribes ; and others were passed forbidding any one to hold the same office till after an interval of ten years, or to hold two offices at the same time. It was also decreed that both the consuls might be plebeians. The name of the tribune L. Genucius being mentioned, it is probable that he was the author of the new laws. The following year (414) peace was made with the Samnites, on the light condition of their giving a year's pay, and three months' provisions to the Roman army ; and they were allowed to make war on the Sidicinians. This moder- ation on the side of the Romans might cause surprise, were it not that we know they now apprehended a conflict with a powerful people. The Sidicinians and Campanians, on being thus aban- doned, put themselves under the protection of the Latins, with whom the Volscians also formed an alliance. The Hernicans adhered to the Romans, and the Samnites also became their allies. War between Rome and Latium now seemed inevitable, and T. Manlius Torquatus, and P. Decius Mus * were made consuls for 415 with a view to it. But the Latins would first try the path of peace and accommodation ; and at the call, it is said, of the Roman senate, their two praetors, and ten principal senators, repaired to Rome. Au- dience was given them on the Capitol, and nothing could be more reasonable than their demands. Though the Latins were now the more numerous people of the two, they only required a union of perfect equality, — one of the consuls and one half the senate to be Latins, while Rome should be * This was the Decius who had saved the army in the campaign of 412. 136 HISTORY OF ROME. the seat of government, and Romans the name of the united nation. But the senate exclaimed against the unheard-of extravagance of these demands, the gods vt^ere invoked as witnesses of this scandalous breach of faith, and the consul Manlius vow^ed that if they consented to be thus dictated to, he would come girt with his sword into the senate-house, and slay the first Latin he saw there. Tradition said that when the gods were appealed to, and the Latin praetor Annius spoke with contempt of the Roman Jupiter, loud claps of thunder and a sudden storm of wind and rain told the anger of the deity, and as Annius went off full of rage, he tumbled down the flight of steps and lay lifeless at the bottom. It was with difficulty that the magistrates saved the other envoys from the fury of the people. War was forthwith declared, and the consular armies were levied. As the Latin legions were now in Campania, the Romans instead of entering Latium took a circuit through the coun- try of the Sabines, Marsians, and Pelignians, and being joined by the Samnites, and probably the Hernicans, came and encamped before the Latins near Capua. Here a dream presented itself to the consuls: the form of a man, of size more than human, appeared to each, and announced that the general on one side, the army on the other, was due to the Manes and Mother Earth ; of whichever people the general should devote himself and the adverse legions, theirs would be the victory. The victims when slain portending the same, the consuls announced, in presence of their officers, that he of them whose forces first began to yield would devote him- self for Rome. To restore strict discipline and to prevent any treachery, the consul forbade, under pain of death, any single combats with the enemy. One day the son of the consul Manlius chanced with his troop of horse to come near to where the Tusculan horse was stationed, whose commander, Geminus Metius, knowing young Manlius, challenged him to a single combat. Shame and indignation overpowered the sense of duty in the mind of the Roman; they ran against each other, and the Tusculan fell ; the victor, bearing the bloody spoils, returned to the camp and came with them to his father. The consul said nothing, but forthwith called an assembly of the army; then, reproaching his son with his breach of discipline, he ordered the lictor to lay hold of him and bind him to the stake. The assembly stood mute with horror ; but, when the axe fell, and the blocd of the gallant youth SELF-DEVOTION OF DECIUS. 137 gushed forth, bitter lamentation, mingled with curses on the ruthless sire, arose. They took up the body of the slain, and buried it, without the camp, covered with th^ spoils he had won ; and when, after the war, Manlius entered Rome in triumph, the young men would not go forth to receive him, and throughout life he was to them an object of hatred and aversion. The war between Rome and Latium was little less than civil ; the soldiers and officers had for years served together in the same companies, and they were all acquainted. They now stood in battle array, opposite each other, at the foot of Mount Vesuvius, the Samnites and Hernicans being opposed to the Oscan allies of the Latins, Both the consuls sacrificed before the battle ; the entrails of the victim offered by Decius portended misfortune, but hearing that the signs boded well to Manlius, " 'Tis well," said he, " if my colleague has good signs." In the battle, the left wing, led by Decius, was giving way ; the consul saw that his hour was come ; he called aloud for M. Valerius, the Pontifex Maxiraus, and standing on a naked weapon, clad in his consular robe, his head veiled, and his hand on his chin, he repeated after the pontiff the form of devotion.* He then sent the lictors to announce to Manlius what he had done, and girding his gown tightly round him,t and mounting his horse, he rushed into the midst of the enemies. He seemed a destructive spirit sent from heaven ; wherever he came he carried dismay and death ; at length he fell, covered with wounds. The ardor of the Roman soldiers revived, and the skill of Manlius secured the victory. When the front ranks {Antesignani) of both armies were wearied, he ordered th6 Accensi to advance ; the Latins then sent forward their Triarians ; and when these were wearied, the consul ordered the Roman Triarians to rise and advance. The Latins having no fresh troops to oppose to them were speedily defeated, and so great was the slaughter that * The form of devotion was as follows : " Janus, Jupiter, Father Mars, Quirinus, Bellona, Lares, ye nine gods, (JVovensiles,) ye Indigites, ye gods who have power over us and our enemies, ye gods of the dead, you I pray, worship, implore that ye will give strength and victory to the Roman people and the Quirites, and that ye will send terror, fear, and death to the enemies of the Roman people and the Quirites. As I have spoken so do I devote myself for the republic, the army, legions and auxiliaries of the Roman people and Quirites, and with me the legions and auxiliaries of the enemy to the gods of the dead and to Mother Earth.". t The Gabine cincture. 12* R 138 HISTORY OF ROME. but one fourth of their army escaped. Next day the body of the consul Decius was found amidst heaps of slain, and magnificently interred. The Latins fled to the town of Vescia, and, by the advice of their praetor Numisius, a general levy was made in Latium, with which, in reliance on the reduced state of the Roman army, he ventured to give the consul battle at Trifanum^ between Sinuessa and Minturnse, on the other side of the Liris, The rout of the Latins was so complete, tliat few of the towns thought of resistance when the consul entered Latium. The Latin public land, two thirds of that of Priver- num, and the Falernian district of Campania, were seized for the Roman people, and assignments of 2f jugers on this side, 3^ on the other side of the Liris, were made to the poor plebeians, who murmured greatly at the large quantity that was reserved as domain. As the Campanian knights (1600 in number) had remained faithful to Rome, to compensate them for the loss of the Falernian land, they were given the Roman municipium, and each assigned a rent-charge of 350 denars a year on the state of Capua. The Latin and Volscian towns continued singly to resist, and the conquest was not completed till the year 417. Pru- dence and some moderatioji were requisite on the part of Rome, in order not to have rebellious subjects in the Latins. Citizenship therefore, in different degrees, was conferred upon them ; but they were forbidden to hold national diets, and commerce and intermarriage between the people of their different towns were prohibited. The principal families of Velitrse were forced to go and live beyond the Tiber, and their lands w^ere given to Roman colonists. Their ships of war were taken from the Antiates, who were forbidden to pos- sess any in future. Some of them were brought to Rome; the beaks {rostra) were cut off others, and the pulpit {sug- gestum) in the Forum adorned with them, whence it was named the Rostra. The municipium, such as the Latins had formerly had it, was given to the people of Capua, Cumse, Suessula, Fundi, and Formige. The Latin contingents in war were henceforth to serve under their own officers, apart from the legions. While the Roman dominion was thus extended without, wise and patriotic men of both orders saw the necessity of mternal concord, and of abolishing antiquated and now mis- chievous claims and pretensions. In 416, therefore, the patrician consul Tib. iEmilius named his plebeian colleague SECOND SABfNITE WAR. 139 Q. Publilius dictator, who then brought forward the followino- laws to complete the constitution. 1. The patricians should give a previous consent to any law that was to be brouo-ht before the centuries. For as such a law must previously have passed the senate, and the centuries could make no alteration in it, and more wisdom was not likely to be found in the curies than in the senate and centuries united, their opposition could hardly have any ground but prejudice and spite. 2. The Plebiscita should be binding on all Quirites. The object of this law was the same, for as the people now occupied the place of the former Populus, and every measure was approved of and prepared in the senate, the leaving the power of rejecting it with the patricians was needless, and might be mischievous. 3. One of the censors should of necessity be a plebeian. The curies were induced, we know not how, to give their assent to these laws. Internal discord was now at an end, and the golden age of Roman heroism and virtue began. The affairs for the ten succeeding years are of comparative unimportance. The Romans and Samnites both knew that another war was inevitable, and they made the necessary preparations for it. In 428 the people of the Greek town of Paloeopolis, being in alliance with the Samnites, began to exercise hostilities against the Roman colonists in Campania. As they refused to give satisfaction, the consul Q,. Publilius Philo was sent against them, while his colleague, L. Cornelius Lentulus, watched the motions of the Samnites. Publilius encamped between Palgeopolis and its kindred town of Neaf)- olis, and on his sending word home that there was a large body of Samnite and Nolan troops in them, envoys were sent to Samnium to complain of this breach of treaty. The Sam- nites replied that those wer^ volunteers, over whom the state had no control; that they had not, as the Romans had alleged, excited the people of Fundi and Formiae to revolt, while the Romans had sent a colony to FregellaB, in a district which of right was theirs; that, in fine, there was no use in arguing or complaining when the plain between Capua and Suessula offered a space on which they might decide whose should be the empire of Italy. The Roman fetial then veiled his head, and with hands raised to heaven prayed the gods to prosper the arms and counsels of Rome if Tight was on her side ; if not, to blast and confound them. Right certainly was not on the side of Rome, for she had first violated the treaty ; but war was not to be averted, and it was now to begin. 140 . HISTORY" OF ROME. A Roman army entered Samnium on the Volscian side, ravaged the country, and took some towns. Publilius' year having expired, his command was continued to him under the new title of Proconsul ; and soon a party in Neapolis, vreary of the insolence of the foreign soldiers, began to plot a surrender. While Nymphius, one of the leading men, in- duced the Samnites to go out of the town, to embark in the ships in the port, and make a descent on the coast of Latium, Charilaus, another of the party, closed the gate after them, and admitted the Romans at another. The Samnites instant- ly dispersed and fled home ; the Nolans retired from the town unmolested. A chief ally of the Samnites were the people of the Greek city of Tarentum ; on the other hand, their kinsmen, the Apulians and Lucanians, were in alliance with Rome. But in this year (429) a revolution, of the nature of which we are uninformed, took place in Lucania, the consequence of which was the subjection of the country to Samnium. A similar fate menaced the Apulians, if not aided ; but to reach Apulia it was necessary to pass through the Vestine country, the people of which (one of the Marsian confederacy) re- fused a passage. It was apprehended at Rome, that if the Vestinians were attacked, the other three states, who were now neutral, would take arms, and throw their weight into the Samnite scale, and their valor was well known ; but, on the other hand, the importance of Apulia, in a military point of view, was too great to allow it to be lost. The consul D. Junius Brutus accordingly led his army into the Vestine country : a hard-fought victory, and the capture of two of their towns, reduced the Vestinians to submission, and the other members of the league remained at peace. The other consul, L. Camillus^ fell sick as he was about to invade Samnium, and L. Papirius Cursor was made dicta- tor ; but as there was said to have been some error in the auspices, he was obliged to return to Rome to renew them. As he was departing he strictly charged Q,. Fabius, the master of the horse, whom he left in command, not to risk an action on any account during his absence. But, heedless of his orders, Fabius seized the first occasion of engaging the enemy, over whom he gained a complete victory. As soon as the dictator learned what had occurred, he hastened to the camp, breathing fury. Fabius, warned of his approach, besought the soldiers to protect him. Papirius came, ascend- ed his tribunal, summoned the master of the horse before SEVERITY OF THE DICTATOR PAPIRIUS. 141 him, and demanded why he had disobeyed orders, and thus weakened the military discipline. His defence but irritated his judge the more ; the lictors approached and began to strip him for death ; he broke from them, and sought refuge among the Triarians : confusion arose : those nearest the tribunal prayed, the more remote menaced the dictator : the legates came round him, entreating him to defer his judg- ment till the next day ; he would not hear them. Night at length ended the contest. During the night Fabius fled to Rome, and by his father's advice made his complaint of the dictator to the assembled senate; but while he was speaking, Papirius, who had fol- lowed him from the camp with the utmost rapidity, entered, and ordered his lictors to seize him. The senate implored; but he was inexorable : the elder Fabius then appealed to the people, before whom he enlarged on the cruelty of the dictator. Every heart beat in unison with that of the time- honored father ; but when Papirius showed the rigorous necessity of upholding military discipline, by which the state was maintained, all were silent, from conviction. At length the people and their tribunes united with Fabius and the senate in supplication, and the dictator, deeming his authority sufficiently vindicated, granted life to his master of the horse. Papirius, when he returned to his army, gave the Samnites a decisive defeat ; and having divided the spoil among his soldiers to regain their favor, and granted a truce for a year to the enemy, on condition of their giving each soldier a garment and a year's pay, he returned to Rome and tri- umphed. The events of the next year (431) are dubious; but in 432 the camp of the dictator, A. Cornelius Arvina, who had entered Samnium vt^ithout sufficient caution, was surprised by a superior force of the enemy. The day closed before an attack could be made, and in the night the dictator, leaving a number of fires burning in the camp, led away his legions in silence. But the enemy were on the alert, and their cavalry hung on the retiring army, to slacken its pace. With daybreak the Samnite infantry came up, and the dic- tator, finding further retreat impossible, drew his forces up in order of battle. A desperate conflict commenced ; during five hours neither side gave way an inch; the Samnite horse, seeing the baggage of the Ramans but slightly guarded, made for it, and began to plunder ; while thus engaged, they 142 HISTORY or ROME. were fallen on and cut to pieces by the Roman horse, v/ho then turned and assailed the now unprotected rear of the Samnite infantry. The dictator urged his legions to new exertions ; the Samnites wavered, broke, and fled ; their gen- eral and thousands fell, and thousands were made captives. Meantime, on the side of Apulia an equally glorious vic- tory was gained by the consul Q,. Fabius ; and the spirit of the Samnites being now quite broken, they were anxious for peace on almost any terms. As it is usual with a peo- ple, when measures to which they have given their full and eager consent have failed, to throw the entire blame on their leaders, so now the Samnites cast all their misfortunes on Papius Brutulus, one of their principal men, and resolved to deliver him up to the Romans as the cause of the war. The noble Samnite saved himself from disgrace by a vol- untary death ; his lifeless corpse was carried to Rome ; the Roman prisoners, of whom there was a large number, were released, and gold sent to ransom the Samnites. The ut- most readiness to yield to all reasonable terms was evinced ; but nothing would content the haughty senate but the su- premacy,* and sooner than thus resign their national inde- pendence the Samnites resolved to dare and endure the uttermost. In the spring (433) the Roman legions, led by the con- suls T. Veturius and Sp. Postumius, encamped at Callatia in Campania, with the intention of directing their entire force against Middle Samnium. The Samnite general, C. Pontius, spread a false report that Nuceria, in Apulia, was hard pressed by a Samnite army, and on the point of sur- render, and the consuls resolved to attempt its relief with- out delay. They entered the Samnite country, and advanced heedlessly and incautiously. In the vicinity of the town of Caudium they reached the Caudine Forks, as a pass was named consisting of a narrow valley between two wooded mountains; a hollow way led into it at one end, and a nar- row path over a mountain, which closed it up, led out of it at the other end. Into these toils the consuls conducted their army ;" they saw nothing to alarm them till the head of the column came to the further end, and found the pas- sage stopped with rocks and trunks of trees, and on looking round beheld the hills occupied by soldiery. To advance * Answering to the hegemony of the Greeks. See Hist, of Greece passim. SURRENDER AT THE CAUDINE FORKS. 143 or to retreat was now equally impossible; they threw up entrenchments in the valley, and remained there, the Sam- nites not attackins: them, in reliance on the aid of famine.* At length, when their food was spent and hunger began to be felt, they sent deputies to learn the will of the Samnite leaders. It is said that Pontius, on this occasion, sent for his father to advise him : this venerable old man, who, in high repute for wisdom, dwelt at Caudium, was conveyed to the camp in a wain, and his advice was either to let the Romans go free and uninjured, or totally to destroy the army. Pontius preferred a middle course, and the old man retired shedding tears at the misery he saw thence to come on his country. The terms accorded by Pontius were the restoration of the ancient alliance between Rome and Sam- nium ; the withdrawal of Roman colonies from places be- longing to the Samnites ; and the giving back all places to which they had a right. The arms and baggage of the •vanquished army were, as a matter of course, to be given up to the conquerors. H©w rarely has Rome ever granted a vanquished enemy terms so mild as these ! Yet the Roman historians had the audacity to talk of the insolence of the victorious Samnites ; and the Roman senate and people had the baseness, meanness, injustice, and barbarity to put to an ignominious death the noble Pontius twenty-seven years after ! These terms were sworn to by the consuls and their prin- cipal officers, and six hundred knights given as hostages till they should have been ratified by the senate and people. A passage wide enough for one person to pass was made in the paling with which the Samnites had inclosed them,t and one of the pales laid across it, and through this door the consuls, followed by their officers and men, each in a single garment, came forth. Pontius gave beasts of burden to convey the sick and wounded, and provisions enough to take the army to Rome. They reached Capua before nightfall ; but shame, or doubt of the reception they might meet with, kept them from en- tering. Next morning all the people came out to meet and console them. Refreshments and aid of every kind were given them, and they thence pursued their way to Rome. * There is good reason to suppose that the Romans made a desperate effort to extricate themselves, and were driven back with great ^laugh- ter. (Appian, Samn. iv. 6. Cicero de Off. iii. 30.) t Appian, Samn. iv. 6. Gellius, xvii. 21. 144 HISTORY OF ROME. * When the news of their calamity had first reached Rome, a total cessation of business {justitium) had taken place, and a general levy, either to attempt their relief or to de- fend the city, had been made, and all orders of people went into mourning.* In this state of things the disgraced army reached the gates. It there dispersed ; those who lived in the country went avi^ay; those who dwelt in the city slunk with night to their houses. The consuls, having named a dictator for the consular elections, laid down their office. The senate having met to consider of the peace, the con- sul Publilius called on Sp. Postumius to give his opinion. He rose with downcast looks, and advised that himself and all who had sworn to the treaty should be delivered up to the Samnites, as having deceived them, by making a treaty without the consent of the Roman people, and a fresh army be levied, and the war renewed ; and though there was hardly a senator who had not a son or some other relative among the hostages, it was resolved to do as he advised. Postumius and his companions were .taken bound to Cau- dium ; the fetial led them before the tribunal of Pontius, and made the surrender of them in the solemn form. Pos- tumius, as he concluded, struck his knee against the fetial's thigh, and drove him off, crying, " I am now a Samnite, thou an ambassador: I thus violate the law of nations ; ye may justly now resume the war." Pontius replied with dignity : he treated this act of re- ligiout. hypocrisy as a childish manoeuvre; he told the Ro- mans that if they wished to renounce the treaty with any show of justice, they should place their legions as they were when it was made ; but their present conduct he said was base and unworthy, and he would not accept such a surrender as this, or let them thus hope to avert the anger of the gods. He then ordered Postumius and the other Romans to be unbound and dismissed. Tiie war therefore was renewed, and the Romans, re- turning to their original plan of carrying it on simulta- neously in Apulia and on the western frontier of Samnium, sent the consul L. Papirius to lay siege to Nuceria, which was now in the hands of the Samnites, while his colleague Publilius led his army into Samnium. Papirius sat down before Nuceria ; but a Samnite army came and encamped at hand, and rendered his communication with Arpi, whence * Appian, Samn. iv. '3^. SAMNITE WAR. 145 he drew his supplies, so difficult, that it was only by the knights going and fetching corn in little bags on their horses that any food could be had in the camp. The arrival of Publilius with the other army relieved them ; and after a vain attempt of the Tarentines to mediate a peace, the Ro- mans attacked and stormed the Samnite camp with great slaughter, which, though they were unable to retain it, had tlie etfect of making the Samnite army retire, and leave Nuceria to its fate. Its garrison of seven thousand men then capitulated, on condition of a free passage, without arms or baa^ffaofe.* The two following years (436, 437) were years of truce, in consequence of exhaustion on both sides ; and during the truce the Romans so extended and consolidated their do- minion in Apulia that no attempt was ever after made to shake it off. In 438 the war was resumed, and the Ro- mans laid siege to Saticula, an Oscan town not far from Capua and in alliance with the Samnites. Meantime the Samnites had taken the colonial town of Plistica ; and the Volscians of Sora, having slain their Roman garrison, re- volted to them. They then made an attack on the Roman army before Saticula, but were defeated with great loss, and the town immediately surrendered. The Roman armies then entered and ravaged Samnium, and the seat of war was transferred to Apulia. While the consular armies were thus distant, the Samnites made a general levy, and came and took a position at Lautulse, in order to cut off the com- munication between Rome and Campania. The dictator, d. Fabius, instantly levied an army, and hastened to give them battle. The Romans were utterly defeated, and fled from the field; the master of the horse, Q.. Aulius, unable to outlive the disgrace of flight, maintained his ground, and fell fighting bravely. Revolt spread far and wide among the Roman subjects in the vicinity ; the danger was great and imminent, but the fortune of Rome prevailed, and the menacing storm dispersed. In 440 the Samnites sustained a great defeat near a town named Cinna, whose site is unknown. The Campanians, who were in the act of revoltinor at this time, submitted on the appearance of the dictator, C. Msenms, and the most guilty withdrew themselves from punishment by a voluntary * As it appears from Diodorus (xv. 72) that Nuceria was not taken till 439, Niebuhr regards this as a fiction of the Romans, anxious to efface as soon as possible the disgrace at Caudium. 13 s 146 HISTORY OF ROME. death. The Ausonian towns, Ausona, Minturnse, and Ve- scia, were taken by treachery and stratagem, and their pop- ulation massacred or enslaved, as a fearful lesson to the subjects of Rome against wavering in their allegiance. The united armies of the consuls, M. Poetelius and C. Sulpicius, entered Samnium on the side of Caudium ; but while they were advancing timidly and cautiously through the formidable region, they learned that the Samnite army was wasting the plain of Campania. They led back their forces, and erelong the two armies encountered. The tactics of the Romans were new on this occasion ; the left wing, under Poetelius, was made dense and deep, while the right was expanded more than usual. Pcetelius, adding the reserve to his wing, made a steady charge with the whole mass : the Samnites gave way ; their horse came to their aid; but Sulpicius coming up with his body of horse, and charging them with the whole Roman cavalry, put them to the rout. He then hastened to his own wing, which now was yielding; the timely reinforcement turned the beam, and the Samnites were routed on all sides with great slaughter. The following year (441) was marked by the capture of Nola and some other towns, and by the founding of colo- nies to secure the dominion which had been acquired. In 442 Sora was taken in the following manner. A deserter came to the consuls, and offered to lead some Roman sol- diers by a secret path up to the Arx, or citadel, which was a precipitous eminence over the town. His offer was ac- cepted ; the legions were withdrawn to a dista.nce of six miles from the town ; some cohorts were concealed in a wood at hand, and ten men accompanied the Soran traitor.'^ They clambered in the night up through the stones apd bushes, and at length reached the area of the Arx. Their guide, showing them the narrow steep path that led thence down to the town, desired them to guard it while he went down and gave the alarm. He then ran through the town crying that the enemy was on the Arx ; and when the truth of his report was ascertained, the people prepared to fly from the town ; but in the confusion, the Roman cohorts broke in and commenced a massacre. At daybreak the consuls came ; they granted their lives to the surviving in- habitants, with the exception of two hundred and twenty- five, who, as the authors of the revolt, were brought bound to Rome, and sconrsred and beheaded in the Forum. TUSCAN WAR. 147 The tide of war had turned so decidedly against the Samnites, that one or two campaigns more of the whole force of Rome would have sufficed for their subjugation. But just now a new enemy was about to appear, who was likely to give ample employment to the Roman arms for some time. The Etruscans, who, probably owing to their contests with and fears of the Gauls, had for many years abstained from war with the Romans, now, either moved by the instances of the Samnites or aware of the danger of suffering Rome to grow too powerful, began (442) to make such hostile manifestations that great alarm prevailed at Rome. Various circumstances, however, kept off the war for nearly two years longer. In 443 all the peoples of Etruria, except the Arretines, having sent their troops, a Tuscan army prepared to lay siege to the frontier town of Sutrium. The consul Q,. ^mil- ius came to cover it, and the two armies met before it. At daybreak of the second day, the Tuscans drew out in order of battle; the consul, having made his men take their breakfast, led them out also. The two armies stood opposite each other, each hesitating to begin, till after noon ; the Tuscans then fell on : night terminated a bloody and inde- cisive action; each retired to their camp, and neither felt themselves strong enough to renew the conflict next day. The next year (444) a Tuscan army laid siege to Su- trium, aud the consul Q,. Fabius hastened from Rome to its relief. As his troops were far inferior to the Etruscans in number, he led them cautiously along the hills. The enemy drew out his forces in the plain to give him battle ; but the consul, fearing to descend, formed his array on the hill side in a part covered with loose stones. Relying on their numbers the Tuscans charged up-hill; the Romans hurled stones and missile weapons on them, and then char- ging, with the advantage of the ground, drove them back, and the horse getting between them and their camp forced them to take refuge in the adjacent Ciminian wood. Their camp became the prize of the victors. Like so many others in the early Roman history, this battle has probably been given a magnitude and an impor- tance which does not belong to it, and the truth would seem to be that the-gonsul only repulsed the advanced guard of the enemy, and not feeling himself strong enough to engage their main army, resolved to create a diversion by invading their country. 148 HISTORY OF ROME, North of Sutrium, (Sutri,) near the modern Viterbo, ex- tends a range of high ground, which at that time formed the boundary between Roman and independent Etruria. It was covered with natural wood, and was thence named the Ciminian Wood. Over this barrier Fabius resolved to lead his troops. He sent to inform the senate of his plan, that measures might be taken for the defence of the country during his absence. Meantime he sent one of his brothers, who spoke the Tuscan language, in disguise to penetrate to the Umbrians, and to form alliances with any of them that were hostile to the Etruscans. The only people, however, whom he found so disposed were the Caraertines, who agreed to join the Romans if they penetrated to their country. The senate, daunted at the boldness of Fabius' plan, sent five legates and two tribunes of the people to forbid him to enter the wood, perhaps to arrest him if he should hesitate to obey. But they came too late : in the first watch of the night Fabius sent forward his baggage, the infantry fol- lowed ; he himself a little before sunrise led his horse up to the enemy's camp, as it were to reconnoitre. In the evening he returned to his own camp, and then set out and came up with his infantry before night. At daybreak they reached the summit of the mountain, and beheld the smiling plains of Etruria stretched out before them. They hastened to seize the offered prey : the Etruscan nobles assembled their vassals to oppose them, bnt they could offer no effectual re- sistance to the disciplined troops of Rome. The Roman army spread their ravages as far as Perusia, where they en- countered and totally defeated a combined army of Etrus- cans and Umbrians ; and Perusia, Cortona, and Arretium, three of the leading cities of Etruria, sent forthwith to sue for peace, which was granted for a term of thirty years. As the Romans were returning to the relief of Sutrium they encountered at the lake of Vadimo, between Perusia and Falerii, another Etruscan army, of select troops.* The two armies engaged hand to hand at once ; the first ranks fought till they were exhausted; the reserve then advanced, and the victory was only decided by the Roman knights dis- mounting and taking their place in the front of the line. While Fabius was conductingr the war in Etruria, his * They were bound by a sok^mn oath (lege sncrata) to fight to their uttermost. These were probably tlie troops of the western towns. SAMNITE AND TUSCAN WARS. 149 colleague C. Marcius had entered Satimium and taken Allifa3 and some other strongholds. The Samnites collected their forces and gave him battle ; and the Romans were de- feated, several of their officers slain, the consul himself w^ounded, and their communication with Rome cut off. When the news reached Rome, the senate at once resolved to create a dictator, and to send him off to the relief of Mar- cius with the reserve which had been levied on account of the Etruscan war. Their hopes lay in L. Papirius Cursor; but the dictator could only be named by the consul ; there was no way of reaching Marcius, and Fabius had not yet forgiven the man who had thirsted after hiS blood. The resolve of the senate was borne to Fabius by consulars; they urged him to sacrifice his private feelings to the good of his country : he heard them in silence, his eyes fixed on the ground, and they retired in uncertainty. In the stillness of the night he arose, and, as was the usage, named L. Papirius dictator, and in the morning he ao-ain listened in silence to the thanks and praises of the deputies. The dictator immedi- ately set forth and relieved the army of Marcius, but, impet- uous as he was, he contented himself for some time with merely observing the enemy. At length the time arrived for a decisive action. The Samnite army was divided into two corps, the one clad in purple, the other in white linen tunics, the former having their brazen shields adorned with gold, the latter with sil- ver : the shields were broad above, narrow below. Each soldier wore a crested helmet, a large sponge to protect his breast, and a greave on his left leg. In the battle the Ro- man dictator led the right wing against the gold-shielded, the master of the horse, C. Junius, the left against the sil- ver-shielded Samnites. Junius made the first impression on the enemy; the dictator urged his men to emulation, and the Roman horse by a charge on both flanks completed the victory. The Samnites fled to their camp, but were unable to retain it, and ere night it was sacked and burnt. The golden shields adorned the dictator's triumph, and they were then given to the money-dealers to ornament their shops in the Forum. Q,. Fabius was continued in the consulate for 445, and P. Decius given to him as his colleague ; the former had the Samnite, the latter the Etruscan war. Fabius routed the Marsians and Pelignians, who had now joined against Rome, and he then led his legions into Umbria, whose peo- 13* 150 HISTORY OF ROME. pie had taken arms, and with little difficulty reduced them to submission. Decius meantime had forced the Etruscans to sue for peace, and a year's truce was granted them on their giving «ach soldier two tunics, and a year's pay for the army. In the remaining years of the war, the exhausted powers of the Samnites could offer but a feeble resistance to the legions of Rome. On the occasion of a defeat which they sustained in 446, the proconsul Q,. Fabius adopted the novel course of dismissing the Samnite prisoners, and sell- ing for slaves those of their allies. Among these there were several Hernicans, whom he sent to Rome; the senate having instituted an inquiry into the conduct of the Her- nican people in this affair, those who had urged them to give aid to the Samnites now engaged them to take arms openly. All the Hernican peoples but three shared in the war ; but they made a stand little worthy of their old re- nown ; one short campaign sufficed for their reduction, and they were placed (447) on nearly the same footing as the Latins had been thirty years before. The Samnites at length (449) sued for peace, and ob- tained it on the condition they had so often spurned, that of acknowledging Rome's supremacy, in other words, of yield- ing up their independence ; but peace on any terms was now necessary, that they might recruit their strength for future efforts. The Romans then turned their arms against the ^quians, who had joined the Hernicans in aiding the Samnites, and in fifty days the consuls reduced and de- stroyed forty-one of their Cyclopian-walled towns. The Marsian League sought and obtained peace from Rome. THIRD SAMNITE AND ETRUSCAN WARS. 151 CHAPTER VII. THIRD SAMNITE AND ETRUSCAN WARS. BATTLE OF SENTI- NUM, AND SELF-DEVOTION OF DECIUS. BATTLE OF AQUI- LONIA. REDUCTION OF THE SAMNITES. HORTENSIAN LAW. WORSHIP OF ^SCULAPIUS INTRODUCED. LUCA- NIAN WAR. ROMAN EMBASSY INSULTED AT TARENTUM. GALLIC AND ETRUSCAN WAR. Four years (450 — 454) passed away in tolerable tranquil- lity. In 454 Lucanian envoys appeared at Rome, praying for aid against the Samnites, who had entered their country in arms, given them various defeats, and taken several of their towns. The Romans, in right of their supremacy, sent orders to the Samnites to withdraw their troops from Lucania : the Samnites' pride was roused at being thus re- minded of their subjection ; they ordered the fetials off their territory, and war was at once declared against them by the Romans. As the Etruscans were now also in arms, the consul L. Cornelius Scipio went against them, while his colleague Cn. Fulvius invaded Samnium. Scipio engaged a numerous Etruscan army near Vola- terrae. Night ended a hard-fought battle, leaving it un- decided. The morn however revealed that the advantage was on the side of the Romans, as the enemy had aban- doned their camp during the night. Having placed his baggage and stores at Falerii, Scipio spread his ravages over the country, burning the villages and hamlets; and no army appeared to oppose him. Fulvius meantime carried on the war with credit in Samnium. Near Bovianum he defeated a Samnite army, and took that town and another named Aufidena. The rumor of the great preparations which the Samnites and the Etruscans were said to be making caused the peo- ple to elect Q,. Fabius to the consulate, against his will ; and at his own request they joined with him P. Decius. As the Etruscans remained quiet, both the consuls invaded Samnium, (455,) Fabius entering from Sora, Decius from Sidicinum. The Samnites gave Fabius battle near Tifer- num : their infantry stood firm against that of the Romans ; the charge of the Roman cavalry had as little effect. At length, when the reserve had come to the front, and the 152 ^ HISTOKY OF ROME. contest was most obstinate, the legate Scipio, whom the consul had sent away during the action with the Hastates of the first legion, appeared on the neighboring hills. Both armies took them for the legions of Decius ; the Samnites' courage fell, that of the Romans rose, and evening closed on their victory. Decius had meantime defeated the Apu- lians at Maleventum, During five months both armies ravaged Samniura with impunity ; the traces of five-and- forty camps of Decius, of eighty-six of Fabius, bore witness to the sufferings of the ill-fated country. The next year (456) the Samnites put into execution a daring plan which they had formed in the preceding war, namely, sending an army, to be paid and supported out of their own funds, into Etruria, leaving Samnium meantime at the mercy of the enemy. The Samnite army, under Gellius Egnatius, on arriving there, was joined by the troops of most of the Tuscan states ; the Umbrians also shared in the war, and it was proposed to take Gallic mer- cenaries into pay. The consul Ap. Claudius entered Etru- ria with his two legions and twelve thousand of the allies, but he did not feel himself strong enough to give the con- federates battle. The consul Volumnius, probably by com- mand of the senate, led his army to join him ; but Appius gave him so ungracious a reception that he was preparing to retire, when the officers of the other army implored him not to abandon them for their general's fault. Volumnius then agreed to remain and fight : a victory was speedily gained over the Etruscans and Samnites, whose general Egnatius was unfortunately absent ; 7300 were slain, 2120 taken, and their camp was stormed and plundered. As Volumnius was returning by rapid marches to Sam- nium, he learned that the Samnites had taken advantage of his absence to make a descent on Campania, where they had collected an immense booty. He forthwith directed his course thither : at Cales he heard that they were en- camped on the Voltnrnus, with the intention of carrying their prey into Samnium to secure it. He came and en- camped near them, but out of view; and when the Samnites had before day sent forward their captives and booty under an escort, and were getting out of their camp to follow them, they were suddenly fallen on by the Romans : the camp was stormed with great slaughter ; the captives, hear- ing the tumult, unbound themselves, and fell on their escort : THIRD SAMNITE AND ETRUSCAN WARS. 153 the Samnites were routed on all sides; 6000 were slain. 2500 were taken, 7400 captives, with all their property, were recovered. The union of the Samnites, Etruscans, Umbrians, and Gauls, which had now been formed, caused the greatest apprehension at Rome, and the people insisted on electing Q,. Fabius consul, to which he would only consent on con- dition of his approved mate in arms P. Decius being given him for colleague. His wish was complied with. The four legions of the former year were kept on foot and com- pleted, two new ones raised, and two armies of reserve formed. The number of troops furnished by the allies was considerable : among them were one thousand Campanian horse, for as the Gauls were strong in this arm, it was ne- cessary to augment its force. During the winter Fabius set out, with four thousand foot and six hundred horse, to take the command in Etruria. As he drew nigh to the camp of Ap. Claudius he met a party sent out for firewood ; he ordered them to go back and use the palisades of their camp for the purpose. This gave con- fidence to the soldiers, and to keep up their spirits, he never let them remain stationary, but moved about from place to place. In the spring (457) he returned to Rome to ar- rancre the campaign, leaving the command in Etruria w^ith L. Scipio. The consuls led their main force to join the troops left with Scipio; one army of reserve under Fulvius was sta- tioned in the Faliscan, another in the Vatican district. But the Gauls, pouring in by the pass of Camerinum, had annihilated a Roman legion left to defend it; their numerous cavalry spread over Umbria and got between Scipio and Rome ; and as they rode up to the consular army, the heads of the slain Romans, which they carried on spears and hung at their horses' breasts, made the Ro- mans believe that Scipio's whole army had been destroyed. A junction hov/ever was formed with him, and L. Volum- nius, who commanded in Samnium, was directed to lead his legions to reinforce those of the consuls. The three united armies then crossed the Apennines, and took a po- sition in the Sentine country to menace the possessions of the Senonian Gauls ; and the two armies of reserve ad- vanced in proportion, the one to Clusiura, the other to the Faliscan country. The confederates came and en- camped before the Romans; but they avoided an action, T 154 HISTORY OF ROME. probably waiting for reinforcements. The consuls, learning by deserters that the plan of the enemy was for the Gauls and Sanmites to give them battle, and the Etruscans and Umbrians to fall on their camp during the action, sent orders to Fulvius to ravage Etruria: this called a large part of the Etruscans home, and the consuls endeavored to bring on an engagement during their absence. For two entire days they vainly sought to draw the confederates to the field ; on the third their challenge was accepted. Fabius commanded on the right, opposed to the Samnites and the remaining Etruscans and Umbrians ; Decius led the left wing against the Gauls. Ere the fight began, a wolf chased a hind from the mountains down between the two armies ; the hind sought refuge among the Gauls, by whom she was killed ; the wolf ran among the Romans, who made way for him to pass ; and this appearance of the favorite of Mars was regarded as an omen of victory. In the hope of tiring the Samnites, Fabius made his men act rather on the defensive, and he refrained from bringing his reserve into action. Decius, on the other hand, know- ing how impetuous the first attack of the Gauls always was, resolved not to await it; he charged with both foot and horse, and twice drove back the numerous Gallic cavalry ; but when his horse charged a third time, the Gauls sent forward their war-chariots, which spread confusion and dis- may among them; they fled back among their infantry ; the victorious Gauls followed hard upon them. The battle, and with it possibly the hopes of Rome, was on the point of being lost, when Decius, who had resolved, if defeat im- pended, to devote himself like his father at Vesuvius, de- sired the pontiff M. Livius, whom he had kept near him for the purpose, to repeat the form of devotion ; then add- ing to it these words, *' I drive before me dismay and flight, slaughter and blood, the anger of the powers above and below ; with funereal terrors I touch the arms, weapons, and ensigns of the foe ; the same place shall be that of my end and of the Gauls and Samnites," he spurred his horse, rushed into the thick of the enemies, and fell covered with wounds. The pontiff, to whom Decius had given his lictors, encouraged the Romans; a part of Fabius' reserve came to their support : the Gauls stood in a dense mass covered with their shields; the Romans, collecting the pila that lay on the ground hurled them on them ; but the Gauls stood unmoved, till Fabius, who by bringing forward BATTLE OF AqUILONIA. 155 his reserve and causing his horse to fall on their flank, had driven the Samnites to their camp, sent five hundred Cam- panian horse, followed by the Principes of the third legion, to attack them in the rear ; they then broke and fled. Fabius again assailed the Samnites under their rampart ; their gen- eral, Gellius Egnatius, fell, and the camp was taken. The confederates lost 25,000 men slain and 8000 taken ; 7000 was the loss in the wing led by Decius, 1200 in that of Fabius. This was one of the most important victories ever achieved by the arms of Rome. The following year the war was continued in Etruria and Samnium, and a bloody battle was fought at Nuceria. The next year (459) the consuls, L. Papirius Cursor and Sp. Carvilius, took the field against a Samnite army, which all the aids of superstition had been employed to render formidable. All the fighting men of Samnium were ordered to appear at the town of Aquilonia. A . tabernacle, two hundred feet square and covered with linen, was erected in the midst of the camp. Within it a venerable man named Ovius Pac- tius offered sacrifice after an ancient ritual contained in an old linen book. The Imperator or general then ordered the nobles to be called in separately : each as he entered beheld through the gloom of the tabernacle an altar in the centre, about which lay the bodies of the victims, and around which stood centurions with drawn swords. He was required to swear, imprecating curses on himself, his family, and his race, if he did not in the battle go whithersoever the Impe- rator ordered him, if he fled, or did not slay any one whom he saw flying. Some of the first summoned, refusing to swear, were slain, and their bodies lying among those of the victims served as a warning to others. The Impe- rator selected ten of those who had thus sworn, each of whom was directed to choose a man till the number of sixteen thousand was completed, which was named, from the tabernacle, the Linen Legion. Crested helmets and su- perior arms were given them for distinction. The rest of the army, upwards of 20,000 men, was little inferior in any respect to the Linen Legion. The Roman armies entered Samnium ; and while Papir- ius advanced to Aquilonia, Carvilius sat down before a fortress named Cominium, about twenty miles from that place. The ardor for battle is said to have been shared to such an extent by all in the Roman army, that the Pul- 156 HISTORY OF ROME. larius, or keeper of the sacred chickens, made a false report of favorable signs. The truth was told to the consul as he was going into battle ; but he said the signs reported to him were good, and only ordered the Pullarii to be placed in the front rank ; and when the guilty one fell by the chance blow of a.pilum, he cried, that the gods were present, the guilty was punished. A raven croaked aloud as he spoke ; he ordered the trumpets to sound and the war-cry to be raised. The Samnites had sent off twenty cohorts to the relief of Cominium ; their spirits were depressed, but they kept their ground, till a great cloud of dust, as if raised by an army, was seen on one side. For the consul had sent off before the action Sp. Nautius, with the mules and their drivers, and some cohorts of the allies, with directions to ad- vance during the engagement, raising all the dust they could. Nautius now came in view, the horseboys having boughs in their hands, which they dragged along the ground ; and the arms and banners appearing through the dust, made both Romans and Samnites think that an army was ap- proaching. The consul then gave the sign for the horse to charge; the Samnites broke and fled, some to Aquilonia, some to Bovianum. The number of their slain is said to have been 30,340, and 3870 men and 97 banners were captured. Aquilonia and Cominium were both taken on the same day. The consuls remained in Samnium, ravaging the country, till the falling of the snow obliged them to leave it for the winter.* In the next campaign, (460,) the Samnite general C. Pon- tius gave the Roman consul d. Fabius Gurges, son of the great Fabius, a complete defeat. A strong party in the senate, the enemies of the Fabian house, were for depriving the consul of his command; but the people yielded to the prayers of his father, who implored them to spare him this disgrace in his old age; and he himself went into Samnium as legate to his son. At a place whose name is unknown, the battle which decided the fate of Samnium was fought. Fabius gained the victory by his usual tactics, of keeping his reserve for the proper time. The Samnites had twenty thousand slain and four thousand taken, among whom was their great Imperator C. Pontius. In the triumph of Fabius * Livy's first Decad ends here. We have only an epitome of the next, which contained the history to the year 534. We are now for some years left to the guidance of the epitoraators, and the fragments of Appian and Dion. WORSHIP OF iESCULAPIUS INTRODUCED. 157 Gurges, his renowned father humbly followed his car on horseback ; and C. Pontius was led in bonds, and then, to Rome's disgrace, beheaded. Q,, Fabius Maximus, one of the greatest men that Rome ever produced, died it is prob- able shortly afterwards.* The Samnite war, which had lasted with little intermis- sion for nine-and-forty years, was now terminated by a peace, of the terms of which we are not informed. The Sabines, who, after a cessation of one hundred and fifty years, fool- ishly took up arms against Rome, were easily reduced by the consul M'. Curius Dentatus, and a large quantity of their land was taken from them. Much larger assignments than the usual seven jugers might now be made, but Curius deemed it unwise to pass that limit ; and when the people murmured, he replied, that he was a pernicious citizen whom the land which sufficed to support him did not satisfy. He refused for himself five hundred jugers and a house at Tifata which the senate offered him, and contented himself with a farm of seven jugers in the Sabine country. The length of the Samnite war, its consequent great ex- pense, the destruction of property in the invaded districts, the neglect of agriculture on account of the incessant mil- itary service, and other causes which will easily suggest themselves, caused considerable distress at Rome, and it even came to a secession. The people posted themselves on the Janiculan; but the dictator, Q,. Hortensius, induced them to submit, either by an abolition or a considerable reduction of the amount of their debts. This is the last secession we read of in Roman history. On this occasion the Hortensian law, which made the plebiscits binding on the whole nation, was passed; a meas- ure probably caused by the obstinacy and caprice of the patricians, but pregnant with evil, from which however the good fortune of Rome long preserved her. It was as if with us a measure which had passed the Commons were to be- come at once the law of the land.t Among the events of this period, the introduction of the worship of JEsculapius deserves to be noticed. In the year * The reason of his surname Maximus vrill be given in the next chapter. t Niebuhr says that the language of the law must have been ut quod tributim plebes jussisset populum teneret. He thinks (Hist, of Rome ii. 366) that the Hortensian law did away with the veto of the senate, as the Publilian did with that of the curies. 14 158 HISTORY OF ROME. 459 an epidemic prevailed at Rome, and the Sibylline books being consulted, it was directed to fetch ^Esculapius to Rome. A trireme with ten deputies was sent to Epidaurus for that purpose. The legend relates, that the senate of that place agreed that the Romans should take whatever the god should give them ; and that as they prayed at the temple, a huge snake came out of the sanctuary, went on to the town five miles off, through the streets, to the harbor, thence on board the Roman trireme, and into the cabin of Q,. Ogulnius. The envoys, having been instructed in the worship of the god, departed, and a prosperous wind brought them to Antium. Here they took shelter from a storm ; the snake swam ashore, and remained twined round a palm- tree at the temple of Apollo while they staid. When they reached Rome he left the ship again, and swimming to the island, disappeared in the spot where the temple of the god was afterwards built.* Rome now rested from war for some years. At length (468) the Tarentines, who had been the chief agents in exciting the Samnite war, succeeded in inducing the Etruscans, Umbrians, and Gauls in the north, and the Lu- canians, Bruttians, and Samnites in the south, to take arms simultaneously against her. The commencement was the hostility exercised by the Lucanians against the people of the Greek town of Thurii, who, despairing of aid from any other quarter, applied to the Romans ; and a Roman army came and relieved the town. In 470, a Roman army under C. Fabricius came to the relief of Thurii, which was again invested by a united army of Lucanians and Bruttians. The spirits of the Romans sank as they viewed their own inferiority of force : when lo ! a youth of gigantic stature, wearing a double-crested helm, like those on the statues of Mars, was seen to seize a scaling-ladder, and mount the rampart of the enemies' camp. The courage of the Romans rose, that of the foes declined, and a signal victory crowned the arms of Rome. When next day the consul sought that valiant youth, to bestow on him the suitable meed, he was nowhere to be found. Fabricius then directed a thanksgiving to Father Mars (as it must have been he) to be held throughout the army.t * The simple truth probably is, that the Romans obtained one of the tame sacred snakes that were kept at the temple of iEsculapius : the details are of course legendary. t Val. Max. i. 8. 6. This, says Niebuhr, is the last poetic legend in ROMAN EMBASSY INSULTED. 159 Many other victories succeeded; and no Roman general had as yet acquired so much booty as Fabricius did in this campaign. When the Roman army retired, a garrison was left for the defence of Thurii. As it was only by sea that a com- munication could be conveniently kept up with it, a squadron of ten triremes, under the duumvir L. Valerius, was now in these waters. Some years before, it had been an article in a treaty with the Tarentines, that no Roman ship of war should sail north of the Lacinian cape ; but as they had taken no notice of it now, and there was as yet no open hostility between them and the Romans, Valerius entered the harbor of Tarentum. The people unluckily happened at that moment to be assembled in the theatre, which com- manded a view of the sea ; a demagogue named Philocharis, a man of the vilest character, pointing to the Roman ships, reminded them of the treaty; the infuriated populace rushed on shipboard, attacked and sunk four, and took one of the Roman vessels. The duumvir was among those who per- ished. The Tarentines then sent a force against Thurii, where they plundered the town and banished the principal citizens : the Roman garrison was dismissed unmolested. The Romans, as they had an Etruscan war on their hands, were anxious to accommodate matters amicably in the south. Their demands therefore v/ere very moderate ; they only re- quired the release of those taken in the trireme ; the restora- tion of the Thurians, and restitution of their property; and* the surrender of the authors of the outrage. Audience was given to the envoys in the theatre. When they entered, the people laughed at the sight of their purple-bordered prtB- textcB, and the faults, of language committed by L. Postu- raius, the chief of the embassy, redoubled their merriment. As the envoys were leaving the theatre, a drunken buffoon came and befouled the robe of Posturaius in the most abom- inable manner : the peals of laughter were redoubled ; but Postumius, holding up his robe, cried out, "Ay, laugh, laugh while ye may ; ye will weep long enough when ye have to wash this out in blood." He displayed at Rome his unwashed garment; and the senate, after anxious de- liberation, declared war against Tarentum. (471.) The the Roman history. He is mistaken ; the Tyndarids appeared in 584, mounted on their white horses, to one - — ■ defeat of Perseus. Cic. de N. D. ii. 2. 160 HISTORY OF ROME. consul L. -iEmilius Barbula was ordered to lead his army thither, to offer anew the former terms, and if they were refused to carry on the war with vigor. The Tarentines, however, would listen to no terms; they resorted to their usual system of seeking aid from the mother-country, and sent an embassy to invite over Pyrrhus, the renowned king of Epirus. Meantime Emilias laid waste their coun- try, took several strong places, and defeated them in the field. We will now turn our view northwards. In 469 a com- bined army of Etruscans and Senonian Gauls having laid siege to Arretium, the prfetor L. Metellus hastened to its re- lief; but his army was totally defeated, thirteen thousand men being slain, and nearly all the remainder made prison- ers. When an embassy was sent to the Gauls to complain of breach of treaty, and to redeem the prisoners, the Gallic prince Britomaris, to avenge his father, who had fallen at Arretium, caused the fetials to be murdered. The consul P. Cornelius Dolabella instantly marched through the Sa- bine and Picentian country into that of the Senones, whom he defeated when they met him in the field : he then wasted the lands, burned their open villages, put all the men to death, and reduced the women and children to slavery. Britomaris, who was taken alive, was reserved to grace the consul's triumph. The Boians, who dwelt between the Senones and the Po, "Vere filled with rage and apprehension at the fate of their brethren, and assembling all their forces they entered Etruria, where being joined by the Etruscans and the remnant of the Senones, they pressed on for Rome ; but at the lake Vadimo the consular armies met, and nearly an- nihilated their whole army ; the Senones, it is said, in the frenzy of despair put an end to themselves when they saw the battle lost. The Gauls appeared again the next year (470) in Etruria; but a signal defeat near Populonia forced them to sue for peace, which, on account of the war in the south, the Romans readily granted. The war with the Etruscans continued till 472, when, in consequence of that with Pyrrhus, the Romans concluded a peace with them on most favorable terms. This peace terminated the conflict, which had now lasted for thirty years, and converted Etruria into Rome's steadiest and most faithful ally. ARRIVAL OF PYRRHUS IN ITALY. 161 CHAPTER VIII. ARRIVAL OP PYRRHUS IN ITALY. BATTLE ON THE SIRIS. CINEAS AT ROME. APPROACH OF PYRRHUS TO ROME. BATTLE OF ASCULUM. PYRRHUS IN SICILY. BATTLE OF BENEVENTUM. DEPARTURE OF PYRRHUS. ITALIAN AL- LIES. CENSORSHIP OF AP. CLAUDIUS. — CHANGE IN THE CONSTITUTION. THE ROMAN LEGION. ROMAN LITERA- TURE. Pyrrhus, the ablest and most ambitious prince of his time, lent a willing ear to the invitation of the Italian Greeks which held out to him such a prospect of extensive dominion.* He sent his minister, the orator Cineas,t back with some of the envoys, to assure the Tarentines of aid ; and shortly after- wards Milo, one of his generals, landed with 3000 men to garrison the town. Having assembled an army of 20,000 foot, 3000 horse, 2000 archers, 500 slingers, and twenty elephants, the king himself set sail (472) for Italy; but a storm came on and dispersed his fleet ; several ships were sunk or cast away ; and Pyrrhus, who had escaped with dif- ficulty, reached Tarentum with but a small force. He did not seek to exercise any authority till the rest of his troops were arrived ; but as soon as he found himself sufficiently strong, he began to employ the dictatorial power with which he had been invested. The Tarentines had thought they would have nothing to do but pay money, while the king's troops were fighting ; but Pyrrhus let them know that they also must share in the toils and dangers of war. He set guards at the gates to prevent them from running out of the town, as they were doing; he shut up the theatre, forbade all public meals and banquets, ordered the young men to practise military exercises in their gymnasia, and sent, under various * For the war with Pyrrhus see the epitomators and Plut., Pyrrhus. t Cineas was a Thessalian by birth, an able, eloquent, and noble- minded man, well worthy of the friendship of the greatest prince of the age, to whom he was as a good genius. It is said that he h-ad been a hearer of Demosthenes ; but that can hardly have been, as the great Athenian had now been dead forty-one years. Cineas' style of oratory was also totally different from his. 14 * - u 162 HISTORY OF ROME. pretexts, the principal men over to Epirus, that they might serve as hostages in case of any conspiracy against his au- thority. The consul P. Valerius Lsevinus having led his army into Lucania, Pyrrhus, who had not yet been joined by his allies, vs^rote to him, offering to arbitrate between the Romans and the Tarentines, which last he said he could compel to give satisfaction. LsBvinus replied that the king must first atone for having entered Italy ; that words were needless, as Fa- ther Mars must decide betv/een them. He had a spy who was taken, led through his army and then dismissed, with di- rections to tell Pyrrhus to come himself and see. Laevinus was encamped on the south bank of the river Si- ris, in the plain between Heraclea and Pandosia. Pyrrhus came and occupied the opposite bank. As he viewed the Roman camp, he observed to one of his friends that the bar- barians (the Greeks so named all people but themselves) showed nothing of the barbarian in their tactics. His object was to prevent their passing the river; but the Roman caval- ry crossed it higher up, and falling on the rear of the Epi- rotes who guarded the passage, enabled the infantry to get over. Pyrrhus sent his Thessalian horse against that of the Romans, who, though of an inferior quality, stood their ground. He then led on his phalanx : Megacles, who wore the royal helm and mantle, was slain ; both sides thought Pyrrhus had fallen, and the Epirotes had fled but that the king made himself known. Seven times the phalanx and the legion advanced and receded ; the consul thought to decide the battle by a charge of horse on the rear ; but the elephants were now brought into action, and at the sight of these un- known animals horse and man were filled with terror ; the Thessalian horse charged and scattered them ; they drew the infantry with them in ike'ir flight over the river, and none perhaps would have escaped, were it not that a wounded ele- phant turned his rage against his own side. The remnant of the Roman army fled to Venusia : their loss had been 7000 slain, and about 2000 taken. On the side of the vic- tors 4000 had fallen. When Pyrrhus, on the following day, viewed the field of battle, he cried, " With such soldiers the world were mine, and were I their general the Romans would have it ! " To those who congratulated him on his success he replied, " One such victory more, and I go back to Epirus." He ordered the bodies of the Romans to be CINEAS AT ROME. 163 burned and buried like those of his own men. He proposed to the prisoners to enter his service,* and on their refusal freed them from fetters. The whole south of Italy now joined Pyrrhus ; but this prince, who disliked long wars, and had had experience of Roman valor, preferred an honorable peace, which he thought might now be obtained, to a prolonged contest. He de- spatched his friend Cineas to Rome, to propose a peace, on condition of the independence of the Italian Greeks being acknowledged, and all that had been taken from the Samnites, Lucanians, Bruttians, and Apulians being restored. Peace being made on these terms, the Roman prisoners, among whom were six hundred knights, would be released without ransom. The eloquence and the winning manners of Cineas, though his gifts were refused, had a great effect on the minds of many ; the relatives of the prisoners were anxious on their account ; the Etruscan war was not yet ended. The prof- fered terms seemed likely to be accepted, when Ap. Claudius, who, on account of the blindness with which he was afflicted, had long abstained from public affairs, had himself carried in a litter to the senate-house. His sons and sons-in-law came out to receive him, and lead him in, and his indignant elo- quence banished all thoughts of peace from the minds of his auditors, and Cineas was ordered to quit Rome. On his return to his master he told him that Rome was a temple, the senate an assembly of kings. While he was yet there, two legions had been raised to reinforce Laevinus, and volunteers had crowded with the utmost eagerness to be- enrolled. Laevinus, who was now in Campania, was there joined by these legions, and he baffled the attempts of Pyrrhus on Capua and Neapolis, The king, as he could not bring him to ac- tion, resolved to push on for Rome, and form a junction with the Etruscans. Instead of taking the Appian or lower road, on which there were several strong towns, he moved by the Latin road over the hills. He took Fregellse, entered the Hernican country, where the people declared for him, pushed on to Prasneste,t and advanced five miles beyond it, to * The Grecian mercenaries at this time constantly changed sides afler a defeat. The same was the case in Italy in the middle ages, and in Germany in the thirty years' vrar. t He had a view of Rome from the citadel of this town. (Florus, i. 18.) 164 HISTORY OF ROME. within eighteen miles of Rome ; but here his course ended. Peace had just been made with the Etruscans, and the army employed against them was now in Rome. Lsevinus dis- turbed the communications in his rear : to take Rome by storm or blockade was hopeless. Heedless of the prayers of the Praenestines and Hernicans, he resolved to retrace his steps. On reaching Campania he found Lsevinus at the head of six legions: "What!" cried he, "am I fighting with the hydra ? " He drew up his troops, who raised the war-cry, and clashed their arms. The Romans replied in such cheerful tones that he did not deem it prudent to attack them, and he dismissed his allies and went to Tarentum for the winter. At Tarentum Pyrrhus was waited on by three Roman ambassadors, G. Fabricius, Q,. ^milius Papus, and P. Cor- nelius Dolabella, all consulars, to treat of the ransom or exchange of the numerous prisoners who were now in his hands,* He rejected their offers ; but he gave the prisoners permission to go with them to Rome to keep the Saturnalia, on their promise to return if the senate did not make peace ; and, as all their efforts proved vain, they returned every one into captivity. In the spring (473) Pyrrhus opened the campaign in Apu- lia. He was besieging Venusia when he heard that the con- suls P. Sulpicius and P. Decius were advancing to its relief; he therefore raised the siege, and prepared to give them battle at a place named Asculum, on the edge of the moun- tains. As the ground here was against Pyrrhus, the advan- tage was on the side of the Romans in the first engagement; but he manoeuvred so as to draw them down into the plain, where by a sudden attack of the elephants and light troops on their flank, while they were exhausting themselves by fruitless efforts against the solid phalanx, he put them to flight. As their camp was at hand, their loss was but 6000 men; that of the king was 3505. " One such victory more, * On this occasion, we are told (Plut., Pyrrhus, 20) that the king, having learned the poverty of Fabricius from Cineas, tried to induce him to accept a present of gold. The Roman declined ; and next day, as he and Pyrrhus were conversing, a curtain behind them suddenly drew up, and an elephant, which had been placed there by the king's orders, stretched his trunk out over them, and gave a loud roar, Fa- bricius, who had never seen one of these huge animals, only stepped aside, and said with a smile to the king, '^ Your gold did not move me yesterday, nor your beast to-day," PYRRHUS IN SICILY. 165 and I am undone," cried Pyrrhus, who returned to Taren- tum without making any attempt on the Roman camp. The situation of Pyrrhus was now rather precarious: he had lost the flower of his troops ; he could not reckon on his Italian allies, who had even plundered his camp during the last action ; the Gauls had invaded Macedonia and menaced all Greece, and he could not draw any troops from Epirus ; while the Romans had concluded an alliance with the Cartha- ginians, and a Punic fleet of one hundred and thirty triremes was now off" the coast of Italy. On the other hand, strong inducements were held out to him to pass over into Sicily, and deliver it from the yoke of the Carthaginians. The Romans, on their side, owing to the heavy burden of taxation consequent on the war, were extremely desirous of peace. Just at this time, (474,) we are told,* Pyrrhus' physician sent secretly to the consuls C. Fabricius and Q,. ^Emilius, offering for a reward to poison his master. The consuls, abhorring the treason, gave information of it to the king. Pyrrhu^ immediately despatched Cineas to Rome with his thanks to the senate ; he gave gifts and clothes to all his prisoners, and sent them home with him. Cineas was also the bearer of rich presents to the principal persons of both sexes at Rome. These presents were, however, all rejected ; the friendship of the Romans was to be had without gifts, it was replied, if Pyrrhus quitted Italy. The prisoners of his allies, however, were released in exchange, and a truce concluded. Pyrrhus was now at liberty to accept the invitation of the Siciliotes. He left Italy, where he had spent two years and four months ; and, passing over to Sicily, remained there three years, and made himself master of nearly the whole island. During his absence the Roman arms, under Fabri- cius and other leaders, were directed with success against his Italian allies. At length, finding fortune becoming adverse to him in Sicily, and being urged by the prayers of the Ta- rentines and his other allies, he returned to Italy (477) with an army of 20,000 foot and 3000 horse, a portion of which he sent into Lucania against the consul Lentulus, while, with the remainder, he advanced to engage the other consul, M'. Curius Dentatus, who was encamped near Beneventum in Samnium. Curius occupied a strong position on a height, intending * There is great contradiction in the various accounts of this trans- action, Niebuhr says that it was a mere fiction to open communica- tions, and was so understood by all parties. 166 HISTORY OF ROME. to await the arrival of his colleague. It was the intention of Pyrrhus to attack him at daybreak with some elephants and picked troops. A dream, it is said, which he had as he slumbered in the beginning of the night, terrified him, and he wished to give up the project ; but his officers urging on him the impolicy of allowing the two Roman armies to join, he sent forward the troops. To reach the heights behind the Roman camp, they had to go a round through dense woods, guided by torch light. They lost their way, their torches burned out, and it was broad day when they reached their destination. Being wearied with their march, they were easily put to flight. The consul then came down into the plain to engage the main army ; the Romans were victo- rious on one wing, but the other was driven back to the camp by the phalanx and the elephants. Here a shower of arrows, bearing burning wax and tar, was hurled on the beasts, which growing furious carried confusion into the ranks of the phalanx. The rout was now complete, and Pyrrhus' camp was taken. The king soon after (478) quitted Italy with but 6000 foot and 500 horse, and two years later he lost his life in an attempt on the city of Argos.* In the course of the succeeding nine years the Roman dominion was established over the south and east of Italy, but few of the particulars have been transmitted to us. The Italian states stood in different relations to Rome. In general they held all their lands in full property, paying no land-tax ; but in a number of cases a portion of their territory had been converted into Roman public land, and assigned to colonists or occupied in the usual manner. They were governed by their own laws and magistrates ; but they had to supply troops, in rated proportions, when Rome was at war, and arm and pay, and perhaps feed them. They were named Allies,t (>S^ocz«,) as distinct from the Latins, {No- men Laiinum,\) who stood on a somewhat different footing. The infantry of the Latins and Allies in a Roman army usually equalled that of the legions in number ; the cavalry * History of Greece, p. 439. t It seems probable that the term Allies applied only to the Sabellian peoples and those of Southern Italy, and that it did not include the Tuscans, Umbrians, or Italian Greeks ; perhaps not even the Brut- tians, as being half-Greeks. None, therefore, but genuine Italians could serve in the Roman armies. X The proper expression was soc'ii et (or ac) nomen Latinum, as in Sallust and other accurate writers ; the socii nominis Latini of Livy is quite incorrect. CENSORSHIP OF AP. CLAUDIUS. ]67 was thrice as numerous. Their contingents were always commanded by their own officers. During the period at the end of which we are now arrived, considerable alterations were made in the political and mili- tary systems of the Romans. These we will now proceed to explain. In the year 442, Ap. Claudius, afterwards named the Blind, (CiBcus,) from the misfortune which befel him, was made censor with C. Plautius. He distinguished his censorship by commencing the celebrated Appian Road, which was gradually extended from Rome to Capua, and thence across the peninsula to Brundisium, a distance of three hundred and sixty miles, paved the whole way with square blocks of stone, and justly named the Queen of Roads. He likewise made the first aqueduct, the Aqua Appia, at Rome; the water being conveyed under ground from some springs near the Praenestine road, about eight miles from the city. But the changes which Appius attempted to make in the constitution are of more importance in a political point of view. When selecting the senate, in virtue of his office, he omitted his enemies, and put in their place the sons of freed- raen ; but all united against this innovation, and the consuls of the next year called the original members of the senate •Appius, being thus foiled, took another and a more perni- cious course : he distributed the freedmen throughout all the tribes, and thus in effect put the elections entirely into their hands. To understand this, we must observe that the serari- ans, among whom the Libertini or freedmen were included, were a very numerous and even wealthy body ; for all the arts and trades at Rome were exercised by them, the plebeians being restricted to agriculture. They were divided into a numlDer of guilds, of which that of the Scribae, or notaries, was the raost important, as nearly all the public and private legal writing at Rome, of which there was a great quantity, was exercised by them. The notaries were now directed by Cn. Flavins, one of the ablest men of his time, who acted in concert with Ap. Claudius. When we reflect then that the_ plebeians were continually reduced by service in war, from which the serarians were exempt, and that they also unwill- 168 HISTORY OF ROME. ingly left their farms to come to attend elections at Rome, we may easily see how the aerarians of a rural tribe, who were numerous and always on the spot, could determine its vote. As a proof, Cn. Flavius himself was in 449 made curule sedile, and, to annoy the genuinie Romans still more, his colleague was Q.. Anicius of Praeneste, therefore a mere municeps, and one who had actually been in arms against Rome a few years before.* On this occasion the senators laid aside their gold rings, the knights their silver horse- trappings, in token of mourning, and it was unanimously resolved to change the law of election. It is by no means unlikely that Appius, who was at all times a strenuous opposer of the claims of the plebeiail nobility, acted on this occasion as the agent of the small knot of patrician oligarchs who wished to exclude the rival nobles from places of honor and dignity. Oligarchs thus situated usually seek to make allies of the inferior people ; and Appius and his friends may have regarded the debase- ment of the plebeian tribes, by mixing freedmen through them, as the surest means to attain their ends ; for neither they nor their descendants could presume, it was supposed, to aspire to the consulate, and their enmity to the plebeian order might be reckoned on with some confidence, for keep- ing them from conferring it on the plebeian nobility. Cn. Flavius had gained his popularity by two acts of real* benefit to the people. The dies fasti, or days on which courts sat and justice was administered, were at this time divided in a very perplexing way through the year, and peo- ple could only learn them from the mouth of the pontiffs. Flavius made a calendar, in which the nature of each day was marked, and hung it up publicly in the Forum, thus con- ferring an important boon on the whole people. He further made and published a collection of all the legal forms in civil actions. It is said that it was at the impulse of Appius that he made the Fasti public. f In 449, Q,. Fabius and P. Decius were created censors, in order to obviate the evil caused by Appius. They separated the whole of the market-faction, [Uirha forensis,) as the serarians were called, from the rural tribes, and placed them in the four city-tribes ; and the measure was considered of such importance, that Fabius derived the name of Maximus (Most great) from it. We will endeavor to show in what * Pliny, H. N. xxxiii. 6. t Pliny, vt supra. CHANGE IN THE CONSTITUTION. 169 its importance consisted, and that it was only part of a great change in the constitution.* In consequence of the change in the value of money, of the extension of the franchise to such a number of people by the formation of new tribes, of the necessity of increasing the number of those liable to serve in the legions, and from other causes, the Servian constitution of the Classes was no longer adapted to the Roman people. It was therefore abandoned, and in its place a new one, founded on the tribes, was substituted. f The tribes were divided each into two cen- turies, one of old and one of young men : the Six Suffrages remained ; all who had a million of asses and upwards of property, were placed in the twelve plebeian equestrian centuries ; all who had property between that sum and 4000 asses had votes in the tribes. The centuries, with the exception of the Suffrages, were divided into two Classes^ the first containing the rural tribes and plebeian knights, the second the city-tribes ; the centuries of the former were termed Primo Vocdtce, those of the latter Postremo Vocdtce. Those of the rural tribes decided by lot which should vote first; and the successful one was named the Prserogative, as being Jii-st ashed by the presiding magistrate ; its vote gen- erally decided the others. The order of voting was, the first class, the Suffrages, the second class.| The whole number of centuries at this time, when there were thirty-one tribes, was eighty, i. e. six patrician and twelve plebeian equestrian, fifty-four rural, and eight city centuries. § The new-modelled comitia of the tribes differed from the original one in four points ; viz. the separation of the ple- beian knights, and the participation of the patricians; the * In what follows we give a hypothesis of Niebuhr's; for the proofs and development we must refer to his own work, vol. iii. 374 — 409. (German.) t That the Servian constitution was abandoned longbefore the end of the republic, is proved by the following passages: Liv. i. 43; xxiv. 7 and 9 ; xxvi. 22 ; xxvii. 6. Cic. Rullus, ii. 2. Plancius, 20. X Cic. Phil. ii. 33. § The four city-tribes were the Suburane, Esquihne, Colline, and Palatine ; the fifteen original rural ones were the _^milian, Camilian, Cluentian, Cornelian, Fabian, Galerian, Horatian, Lemonian, Mene- nian. Papirian, Puninian, Romilian, Sergian,Veturian, Voltinian. The Claudian was added in 250 ; the Crustumine m 259 ; the Stellatme, Tromentine, Sabatine, and Arniensian in 368; the Pomptine and Publilian in 397 ; the Mscian and Scaptian in 421 ; the Ufentine and Falerine in 435 ; the Terentine and Aniensian in 453, and the Velme and Quirine about 514 ; thus making 35 in all. 15 V 170 HISTORY OF ROME. division into centuries of old and young men ; the exclusion of the Proletarians : the employment of the auspices. We may see that it retained as much of the Servian constitution as was possible ; that it was a nearer approach to democracy is not to be denied, but this was unavoidable ; yet there was not actually universal suffrage, as in the Greek democracies; and as, except on some very particular occasions, it could be only the people of property in the rural tribes that were at Rome when the comitia were held, the elections and the passing of laws must have lain almost entirely with them. The wisdom of Fabius is proved by the length of time that the system continued to work well. Its corruption pro- ceeded from causes which he could not have foreseen or obviated. The changes in the military system during this period were also considerable. They were to the follov^^ing effect. The unwieldy, helpless nature of the phalanx had at some time, perhaps in the Gallic war, become apparent, and it was converted into a more active form. At the time of the Latin war we find the legion thus constituted.* It consisted of five cohorts or battalions, the Hastats, Principes, Triarians, Rorarians, and Accensi ; the first two were named Antesig- nani and Antepilani, because they were stationed before the standards [signa) and the Triarians, who were also named Pilani from their weapon, the pilum.f The Antesignani consisted each of fifteen maniples or thirty centuries; and in the plan, which supposed thirty tribes, each century con- tained thirty men with the centurion ; and the cohort there- fore 900 men and 30 officers. As every thing in the Roman institutions was regular and uniform, we must suppose the remaining cohorts to be of equal strength; and this gives a total of 4500 common men for the legion ; of which 2400 (viz. 600 Hastats, 900 Principes, and 900 Triarians) were troops of the line; 1200 (viz. 300 Hastats and 900 Rorarians) light troops ; | the 900 Accensi were merely a depot-battalion that followed the legion. Two legions thus composed formed a consular army. The Hastats derived their name from the spears [JiastcB) * Livy, viii. 8. t The piluvi was a weapon composed of a handle of wood three cubits long, and an iron head of the same length, one half of which projected beyond the wood. t Niebuhr gives these numbers 2200 and 1100 ; but in this case 300 Hastats remain unaccounted for. THE ROMAN LEGION. 171 which they bore ; the Principes were so called as being of the first class;* the Triarians as being formed out of the first three classes,! for the Romans in the period of this legion, still served according to the classes ; the Rorarians, or Sprinklers, from their task of showering {rordre) their missiles in the beginning of the action.^ The 40 centuries of the first class gave 30 for the Principes, 10 for the Tri- arians ; the second and third class gave each 10 for the Triarians, their remaining 20 being the Hastats of the line. Of the forty centuries of the last two classes, 10 were light Hastats, and 30 Rorarians. The maniples of the three cohorts of troops of the line were drawn up in quincunx, thus : nnnnnnnnn nnnnnnnnn nnnnnnnnn with lanes or intervals between them. Each maniple as consisting of two centuries, had two centurions to command it, and a standard-bearer. The maniples of the Hastats contained 40 shielded men, that is, men of the second and third class,^ 20 armed only with spear and dart, that is, of the fourth class ; the Principes bore spears and long cut-and-thrust swords; the Triarians pila; the Rorarians slings, as being of the fifth class. When in battle array, the light troops were in front, and began the action ; they then retired through the lanes : the Hastats succeeded, and when they were wearied, they fell back through the Prin- cipes, who then came into action ; and if the enemy still resisted, the Triarians, who had hitherto been sitting under their standards, rose, the Principes and Hastats retired through the intervals of their maniples, which then closed ; and the Triarians, having hurled their ^zYa on the wearied foe, fell on them sword in hand. About the middle of the fifth century the legion under- went a further modification, and became such as it was when opposed to Hannibal, and as it is described by Polyb- * " Scutati omnes, insignibus maxime armis." (Livy.) This shows that they were men of property. t Not from their position, for then their name would have been Ter- tiarians. i " Ideo quod ante rorat quam pluit." Varro L. vi. p. 92. Bip. ed. § See the system, p. 51. 172 HISTORY OF ROME. ius.* Fabius Maximus and Decius were probably the au- thors of this change also. As the class system was no longer suited to the levies, they were now made from the tribes, from each of which four centuries, or 120 men, were selected for each legion ; so that when the tribes were thirty-five, the legion contained 4200 common men. These were all armed by the state, and classified according to their age; the youngest being the light troops, or Velites, who began the battle ; the next in age the Hastats, and so on, the Triarians being the oldest mer^ The Hastats and Principes carried pila and swords, the Triarians were armed with spears. Of the 4200 men of the legion, 1200, or twenty maniples, were Has- tats ; the same number Principes ; one half of it, or 600, Triarians ; the remaining 1200 Velites. The cavalry of each legion consisted of 300 men divided into ten troops, (turmcB,) each of 30 men, and commanded by three decurions. Its station in action was on the wings. Each legion had six tribunes, each maniple two centurions and two ensigns : legates [legdii) or lieutenants, commanded the legions under the general. The array of battle still continued to be in quincunx. As the century continued to be drawn up three in front and ^en deep, a question arises how it was to act ; and it can only have been in the following manner. The century also was drawn up in quincunx, TV" TT thus forming ten lines, each man being allotted a space of three feet every way. When those in the first line had thrown their pila, they fell back, and the second line step- ped forward and took their place, and on so till the whole ten lines had engaged ; and if there was a supply of pila, the same course may have been gone through over again ; the same was the case when they came to employ their swords. What the literature of Rome was at this period we have not the means of ascertaining. Brief, dry chronicles of pub- lic events were kept ; the funeral orations made over men * Polybius, vi. 10— 2C. xviii. 13—15. ROMAN LITERATURE. 173 of rank were preserved by their families; a moral poem of App. Claudius the Blind, and his speech against peace with Pyrrhus, were extant in Cicero's days. Cato and Varro* say that it was the custom of the Romans to sing at their ban- quets old songs containing the praises of the illustrious men of former times. It is the opinion of Niebuhrt that the poems from which he supposes the history of the kings and of the early days of the republic to have been framed, were the production of plebeian poets, and composed after the time of the capture of the city by the Gauls ; the middle of the fifth century, which was the golden age of Roman art, he thinks may also have been that of Roman poetry. The measure in which the Romans composed their poems, and which is named Saturnian Verse, continued to be used to the middle of the seventh century of the city ; but we have very few specimens of it remaining, and its nature is but imperfectly understood. * The former in Cicero, Tusc. Qusest. iv. 2. Brutus, 19 ; the latter in Nonius, s. V. Assa voce. From the passage of the Brutus " qucc rnultis scEculis ante suam (Catonis) CBtatevi,'' it would seem to follow that the custom had gone out of use long before Cato's time ; yet Dionysius (i. 79) plainly speaks of Ballads of Romulus and Remus as being still eung in his time ; and Horace (Carm. iv. 15, 25 — 32) seems to speak of the practice of singing the praises of the renowned of ancient days atJ still continuing. , t History of Rome, i. p. 257 15* THE HISTORY OF ROME. PART III. % THE REPUBLIC — CONQUEST OF CAR- THAGE AND MACEDONIA. CHAPTER I. CARTHAGE. ^ FIRST PUNIC WAR. SIEGE OF AGRIGENTUM. ROMAN FLEET. NAVAL VICTORY OF DUILIUS. INVASION OF AFRICA. DEFEAT AND CAPTURE OF REGULUS. LOSSES OF THE ROMANS AT SEA. BATTLE AT PANORMUS. DEATH OF REGULUS. DEFEAT OF CLAUDIUS. VICTORY AT THE ^GATIAN ISLES. PEACE WITH CARTHAGE. EFFECTS OF THE WAR. The present portion of our history will be chiefly oc- cupied by the wars between Rome and Carthage ; we will therefore commence it by a brief sketch of the political con- stitution and history of the latter state. Carthage was a colony of the Phceniciaiis f founded on the north coast of Africa, about a century before the build- ing of Rome. The colony was led, it is said, by Elissa, or Dido, the sister of the king of Tyre : a spot of land under payment of tribute, was obtained from the original inhabit- * The authorities for this Part are so various that we must mention them at each chapter. Livy (partly in epitome) and the epitomators are the only consecutive ones. The first Punic war is related in detail by Polybius, i. 1 — 64. . t The Greeks called the Tyrians and Sidonians oivi;«£?, on account of their red or purple garments ; hence the Latin Pani and punicus. CARTHAGE. 175 ants of the country, and a town built,* which rapidly in- creased in size and wealth. The people first freed them- selves from the tribute, then reduced the adjoining tribes, and gradually extended their dominion over the coast of Africa from the confines of Cyrene to the Atlantic. The Balearic isles and Sardinia also owned the dominion of Car- thage, and she early had settlements on the north coast of Sicily. The constitution of Carthage obtained the praise of Aris- totle. It was, like those of the most flourishing commercial states of antiquity, a mixture of aristocracy and democracy^ with a preponderance of the former, which was composed of the families of greatest wealth and influence, from whom the persons were chosen who were to fill the chief offices in the state, and who all served without salary. The senate was formed out of the principal families, and its members had their seats for life. It was presided over by the Sujfetes,i magistrates' who are compared to the Roman consuls and the Spartan kings. If the suffetes and senate disagreed, the matter was brought before the people, whose decision was conclusive, on which occasion any one who pleased might speak and give his opinion. The suffetes frequently went out in the command of the armies, but the office of general was distinct from theirs. There was a magistracy of one hundred judges, to whom the generals had to give an ac- count of their conduct in war ; and nowhere does the Punic character appear in a more odious light than in the cruel punishments inflicted on those whose only fault had been their ill fortune; nothing was more common than to crucify a defeated general. These Hundred, who resembled the Spartan Ephors, became like them in course of time the tyrants of the state, and helped to cause its ruin. The troops of Carthage were chiefly mercenaries hired in Africa, Spain, Gaul, and Italy. The Carthaginians were remarkably precious of the blood of their own citizens, * The fort or citadel of the town was naturally named Betzura, (fort,) of which the Greeks made Byrsa, (^vQOa,) and as this signified an ox-hide, they invented the tale of Dido's deceiving the Africans by asking for as much land as an ox-hide would cover, and when they gave it, cutting the hide into thongs. This story has gone the round of the world. "Hassan Sabah, the chief of the Assassins, thus got the fort of Alamut in Persia, the Enghsh (the Persians say) Calcutta, Hen- gist and Horsa their settlement in the Isle of Thanet, and one of the colonies in New England its land from the Indians. t The Hebrew Shofetim . or Judges. 176 HISTORY OF ROME. while they lavished that of their mercenaries with reckless prodigality. The first attempt made by the Carthaginians to extend their dominion in Sicily was at the time of Xerxes' invasion of Greece, when they sustained a most decisive defeat at Himera from Gelo of Syracuse. They refrained from any farther efforts till the people of Segesta, (Egesta), who had called the Athenians into Sicily, applied, on their defeat, to Carthage for aid against Selinus. The aid was granted ; and this was the occasion of a succession of wars for more than a century between the Carthaginians and the Sicilian Greeks, in which the former acquired the dominion over the greater part of the island. We are now to see them in conflict with the mistress of Italy. The war between these two powerful rivals commenced in a manner little creditable to .Rome ; the following was the occasion. After the death of Agathocles of Syracuse, the Campanian mercenaries who had been in his pay were dismissed. They left Syracuse as if they were returning home, but instead of doing so they treacherously seized the town ~ of Messana ; they partly killed, partly expelled the men, and divided the women, children, and property among themselves. The name v/hich they assumed was Mamer- tines ;*■ they conquered several places in the island, their numbers rapidly increased, and when their countrymen had imitated their treachery in the opposite town of Rhegium,t a strict alliance was formed between the two freebooting communities. But when the Romans had destroyed their Italian allies, and they had themselves sustained a complete defeat from Hiero of Syracuse, they saw the necessitj of foreign aid if they would escape destruction. A part of them applied to Anno, the Punic admiral, and put the citadel into his hands; another party sent off to Rome, offering possession of the town, and imploring aid on the score of consanguinity. (488.) The Roman Senate was greatly perplexed how to act. " From Mamers, or Mars, the god of war. t In the first year of the war with Pyrrhus, the eighth legion, consist- ing of Campanians, had been placed in garrison at Rhegium. Under the pretext of a conspiracy among the inhabitants, they massacred the men, and reduced the women and children to slavery, and casting off their allegiance acted as an independent state. In 482, however, the consul C. Genucius stormed the town, and he led the 300 who remain- ed alive of the legion to Rome, where they were scourged and be- headed, at the rate of fifty a day. FIRST PUNIC WAR. 177 It was of the utmost importance to prevent the Carthagin- ians from becoming masters of Messana ; but, on the other hand, Rome's policy had hitherto been in the main upright and honorable, and with what face could they who had just punished so severely their own legion for an act of treachery, come forward as the protectors of those who had set them the example? They long pondered, and could come to no conclusion; the consuls then brought the matter before the people, who, beguiled by the prospect of booty held out, and the apparent ease of the enterprise, and heedless of national honor, voted the required aid.*" The charge of relieving Messana was committed to the consul App. Claudius ; and one of his legates proceeding with some troops and ships to Rhegium, after one ineffec- tual attempt succeeded in crossing the strait and getting into the town. Hanno was invited to a conference, at which he was treacherously seized, and only released on condition of his giving up the citadel, an act of weakness for which he was crucified on his return to Carthage. But another Hanno now came with a large fleet, and landed an army, which, in conjunction with the troops of Hiero, king of Syracuse, (with whom an alliance was made,) besieged the city on the land side, while the fleet lay at Pelorus. The consul arrived shortly after, and taking advantage of the night landed his leo;ions close to the camp of the Syracusans. He drew them up unobserved, and in the morning totally defeated the troops of the king, who fled to his capital; whither, after having defeated the Punic army also, Appius followed him, and sitting down before it laid waste the lands. The two consuls of the following year (489) landed in Sicily, where sixty-seven towns, subject to Hiero or the Carthaginians, placed themselves under the dominion of Rome. They approached Syracuse, and Hiero, in com- pliance with the wishes of his people, made proposals of peace, which was granted on his paying 200 talents, re- leasing all the Roman prisoners, and becoming the ally of Rome. The Carthaginians made no efforts to impede the progress of the Roman arms in Sicily ; but they were ac- * '* This vote is an eternal disgrace to Rome, and a sign that even then the constitution was beginning to incline too much to the demo- cratic side ; although in the interior of the state no disadvantage to the republic thence arose for a long time to come." Niebuhr, iii. 660 (German.) w 178 HISTORY OF ROME. tively engaged in making preparations for a vigorous cam- paign. They hired troops in Liguria, Gaul, and Spain, which, joined with their African troops and the light Nu- midian cavalry, they sent over to Sicily (490) under Han- nibal the son of Gisco, while another army was collected in Sardinia for the invasion of Italy. Hannibal made Agrigentum his head-quarters. Leaving the defence of Italy to the praetor, the two consuls, L. Pos- tumius and Q,. Mamilius, passed over to Sicily, and came and encamped within a mile of Agrigentum. Having re- pelled an attack of the enemy, they formed two separate camps, united by a double ditch and a line of posts; their magazines were in the town of Erbessus, which lay at no great distance in their rear. They remained thus for five months, when, at the urgent desire of Hannibal, whose troops were beginning to suffer from hunger, Hanno was sent to Sicily with a force of 50,000 foot, 6000 horse, and sixty elephants. He advanced to Heraclea, and took the town of Erbessus : the Romans were now reduced to great straits for provisions ; an epidemic also broke out among them, and the consuls were thinking of giving over the siege ; but Hiero, whose all was at stake, made every effort to sup- ply them, and they resolved to persevere. Hanno now en- camped within little more than a mile of them, and the two armies remained for two months opposite each other. At length, urged by repeated signals and messages from Hannibal, describing the distress in the town, Hanno re- solved to hazard an engagement ; the Romans, who were suffering nearly as much, eagerly accepted it, and after a hard-fought battle victory remained with them. Hanno fled to Heraclea, leaving his camp in the hands of the victors, thirty of his elephants were killed, three wounded, and eleven taken. During the battle Hannibal made a fruitless attack on the Roman lines ; but he soon after took advan- tage of the darkness of the winter nights to break through them, and get off with what remained of his army. The Romans then stormed the town, and sold such of the in- habitants as survived into slavery. Several of the towns of the interior now came over to the Romans, but those on the coast stood too much in awe of the Punic fleet to follow their example : the coast of Italy also suffered from its. descents, and the senate saw that they must meet the Carthacrinians on their own element if thev would end the contest with advantage. Bat the Punic NAVAL VICTORY OF DUILIUS. 179 ships of war were quinqueremes , and as the Romans and their Greek subjects had never had larger ships than tri- remes, their carpenters could not build the former kind without a model. At length (492) a Carthaginian ship of war, having gone ashore on the coast of Bruttium, fell into their hands, and with this for a model, in the space of sixty days from the time the timber was cut, they built a fleet of one hundred and thirty ships. Meantime stages had been erected, on which the destined rowers were taught their art. When the fleet was ready, the consul Cn. Cornelius Scipio sailed over to Messana with seventeen ships, and the rest followed along the coast as fast as they could get to sea. While he remained at Messana envoys came, inviting him to take possession of the LiparEean isles, and he inconsiderately sailed over to them : the Punic admiral Hannibal, who was at Panormus, hearing he was there, sent twenty ships after him, which closed him up in the port during the night. The Romans in terror left their ships and fled to the land, and the consul was obliged to surrender, Hannibal now conceived such a contempt for the Romans as sailors that he thought he might easily destroy their whole navy. He therefore sailed along the coast of Italy with fifty ships to reconnoitre ; but happening, as he doubled a cape, to fall in with their fleet in order of battle, he lost the greater part of his ships, and escaped with diflficulty with the remainder. The Romans were well aware of their own inferiority as seamea, and they knew that their only chance of success was by bringing a sea to resemble a land fight. For this purpose they devised the following plan. In the fore part of each ship they set up a mast, twenty-four feet high and nine inches in diameter, with a pulley-wheel at the top of it ; to this mast was fastened a ladder thirty-six feet long and four broad, covered with boards nailed across it, and having on each side a bulwark as high as a man's knee ; at the end of it was a strong piece of iron with a sharp spike and a ring on it, through which a rope ran to the mast, and over the wheel, by which it could be raised or lowered. This Corvus or raven, as the machine was called, was to be let fall on the enemy's ship, which the spike would then hold fast, and the soldiers holding their shields over the bulwarks, to protect them, could board along it. The other consul, C. Duilius, took the command of the fleet, and hearing that the Carthaginians were plundering the lands of Mylse, he sailed to engage them. As soon as 180 HISTORY OF ROME. they saw him, they came out with one hundred and thirty ships, as to a certain victory, not even condescending to form in line of battle. At the sight of the ravens they paused a little, but they soon came on and attacked the foremost ships. The ravens were then let fall ; the Roman soldiers boarded along them : the Africans could ill with- stand them, and they took thirty ships, among which was that of Hannibal, the admiral, a septireme which had be- longed to king Pyrrhus. The rest of the Punic fleet ma- ncEUvred, hoping to be able to attack to advantage ; but they either could not get near the Roman ships, or if they did, were caught by the ravens. They at last fled, with the loss of fourteen ships sunk, three thousand men slain, and seven thousand captured. The joy of the Romans at this their first naval victory was evinced by the permanent honor assigned to Duilius; he was permitted for the rest of his life to have a torch carried before him and be preceded by a flute-player when returning home from supper. After this victory the Romans divided their forces, and the consul L. Scipio sailed (493) with a fleet to make an attack on Sardinia, where he destroyed a Punic fleet and made a great number of captives. Meantime the Carthaginians were recovering their power in Sicily ; but the consul of the next year, (494,) A. Atilius Calatinus, restored the Roman pre- ponderance there. The towns of Mytistratum, Enna, Ca^ marma, and others, which had gone over to the Carthagin- ians, were taken, and their inhabitants massacred. The following year (495) little was done on land ; the Carthaginians had, however, reestablished their sway over one half of the island. A naval victory gained by the con- sul C. Atilius Regulus ofl" the port of Tyndaris inspirited the Romans to make a bold attempt to terminate the war by an invasion of Africa. They therefore (496) collected 330 ships, each carrying 300 seamen, which sailing round Pelorus and Pachynus, took 40,000 soldiers on board on the coast of Sicily. The Carthaginians had assembled at Lily- bfEum a fleet of 350 ships, carrying 150,000 men to oppose them. It was the greatest military effort that the ancient world ever saw.* The Roman fleet was divided into four squadrons; the * The plan of invading Africa during a war with the Carthaginians had been successfully put in practice by Agathocles about fifty years before this time. (01. 117, 3.) See Diodor. xx. 3, et seq. It was this that doubtless suggested the idea to the Romans. INVASION OF AFRICA. 181 first two were commanded by the consuls M. Atilius Reg- ulus and L. Manilas in person. The two admiral-ships sailed side by side ; each was followed by his squadron, in a single line, each ship keeping farther out to sea than the one before it, so that the two lines formed an acute angle ; and the triangle was completed by the third squadron sail- ing abreast, and having the horse-transports in tow; the fourth squadron closed the figure, being in a single line, and extending on each side beyond the base. The Panic admirals, Hanno and Hamilcar, likewise divided their fleet into four squadrons, which failed parallel, Hanno com- manding the right, Hamilcar the left wing. The two central squadrons, by a feigned flight, drew the ^rst two Roman ones after them, and thus broke the triangle; the Punic left wing then attacked the third squadron, while the ricrht winor sailed round and fell on the fourth. As the Punic ships which had fled now turned round and fought, there was a threefold engagement. At length the first two Roman squadrons, having beaten those to which they were opposed, came to the aid of the third and fourth, and the Carthaginians were forced to retire, with the loss of thirty ships sunk and sixty-four taken ; that of the Romans was twenty-four ships. The consuls returned to Sicily to repair the ships they had taken, and to complete the crews of the whole fleet. They then made sail for Africa ; and as the Punic fleet was too weak to oppose them, they landed safely on the east side of the Hermai'c cape, (Cape Bon,) whence advancing southwards they took the town of Clupea, which was de- serted at their approach, and made it their place of arms. The country thence to Carthage was like a garden, full of cattle, corn, vines, and every natural production, and St added all over with the elegant country-seats of the citi- zens of Carthage. The whole of this lovely region was speedily pillaged and destroyed, and thousands of captives were dragged to Clupea, the»Carthaginians not venturing out to the defence of their property. It was the usage of the Romans for at least one consular army to return to Rome for the winter and be discharged, and they would not depart from it on the present occasion. To the messenger therefore whom the consuls sent home for instructions, it was replied, that Manlius should return with his army and the greater part of the fleet, while Regulus should remain in Africa. It is said that Regulus earnestly 16 182 HlSTORr OF ROME. applied for leave to return, as his little plebeian farm was going to ruin for want of his presence; but that the govern- ment undertook to bear the expense of its cultivation, and to support his family while he was away in the service of the state. He therefore remained, with 15,000 foot, 500 horse, and 40 ships. The Carthaginians having recalled Hamilcar from Sicily, he brought with him 5000 foot and 500 horse ; and being joined in command with Hasdrubal and Bostar, he advanced to oppose Regulus, who was now (497) besieging a town named Adis, close by the lake of Tunis.* Instead of keep- ing to the plain, where their elephants and cavalry could act to advantage, the Punic generals took their post on the hills, and were in consequence defeated, with the loss of 17,000 men killed, and 5000 men and 18 elephants taken. Regulus now conquered Tunis : seventy-four other towns submitted to him ; he ravaged the country at his will ; the Numidians revolted ; the country people all fled into Carthage, where famine began to be felt. Regulus, fearing that his successor would come out and have the glory of taking Carthage, sent to propose a peace. Some of the principal men came to his camp to treat, but he offered only the most humiliating terms. He required that Carthage should acknowledge the supremacy of Rome, pay a yearly tribute, retain but one ship of war, give up all claim on Sicily and Sardinia, release the Roman prisoners, and redeem her own. The Punic envoys retired without deign- ing a reply. But the haughtiness of the Roman proconsul was to meet its due chastisement. The Carthaginians had sent to Greece to hire troops, which now arrived ;. and among them was a Spartan named Xanthippus, an officer of some distinction. When Xanthippus viewed the condition of the Punic army and saw its force, he told his friends, that it was not the Romans but their own generals that had been the cause of the preceding defeats. Th^ government on learning his * On the banks of the Bagrada, said the legend, (Plin. H. N. viii. 14. Zonaras viii. 13. Silius Pun. vi. 140,) abode a serpent of the enormous length of 120 feet ; and when the soldiers came hither for water, he killed or drove them off. It was found necessary to employ the bal- lists and other artillery against him, as against a town, and at length he was slain. His skin and jaw-bones were brought to Rome, where they remained in one of the temples till the time of the Numantine war. We must recollect that the first Punic war was the subject of Ncevius' poem. DEFEAT OF THE ROMANS. 183 sentiments conceived so high an opinion of his talents, that it was resolved to give him the command of the army ; and he speedily infused confidence into the minds of the soldiery, who readily observed his superiority over their former com- manders. In reliance on 100 elephants and a body of 6000 horse he ventured to offer battle to the Romans,, although he had but 14,000 foot, and theirs now amounted to upwards of 32,000 men. He placed the mercenaries on the right, the Punic troops on the left ; the elephants were ranged one deep in front of the line, the cavalry and light troops were on the flanks. The Romans put their light troops in advance against the elephants, and drew up the legionaries much deeper than usual ; the horse were on the flanks. The left wing of the Romans easily defeated the mercenaries opposed to them, and drove them to their camp ; but the Punic horse routed that of the Romans, and then fell on the rear of the right wing, against the front of which the elephants were urged on; and when the Roman soldiers had with great loss forced their way through them, they had to encounter the dense Carthaginian phalanx. Assailed thus on all sides, they at length gave way and fled ; the battle being in the plain they were exposed to the elephants and horse, and all , were slain but five hundred men, who with the proconsul were made prisoners. The left wing, (about 2000 men,) which had pursued the mercenaries, made their escape to Clupea. Xanthippus, having thus saved Carthage, prudently went home soon after to avoid the envy and jealousy which / as a stranger he was sure to excite. ¥/e are told * (but surely we cannot believe it) that the Carthaginians rewarded him richly, and sent some triremes to convey him and the other LacedsBmonians home, but gave secret orders to the captains to drown them all on the way, which orders were obeyed ! The Carthaginians laid siege to Clupea, but the Romans defended it gallantly. When intelligence of the defeat reached Rome, it was resolved to send a fleet without delay to bring off the survivors, and the consuls M. iEmilius Pau- lus and Ser. Fulvius Nobilior put to sea with three hundred and fifty ships. The Punic fleet engaged them off the Her- mai'c cape, and was defeated with the loss of 104 ships sunk, 30 taken, and 30,000 men^lain or drowned. The Romans then landed, and having defeated the Punic army obliged them to raise the siege ; but seeing that the country was so * Zonoras, viii. 13. Appian, Punica, 3. Silius, Pun. vi. 680. 184 HISTORY OF ROME. exhausted that no supplies could be had, they prepared to reembark and depart. It was now after the summer solstice, a stormy and peril- ous season in the Mediterranean. The pilots earnestly advised to avoid the south coast of Sicily, and rather to sail along the north coast. But as this was chiefly in the hands of the Carthaginians, the consuls would not attend to the advice of their pilots. They set sail, and got safely across; but on the coast of Camarina the fleet was assailed by so furious a tempest that but eighty ships escaped. The whole coast thence to Pachynus was covered with wrecks, and with the bodies of drowned men. Hiero acted on this occasion as a faithful ally, supplying the survivors with food and rai- ment and with all necessaries. The remaining ships then sailed for Messana. The courage of the Carthaginians rose when they heard of this misfortune ; they got ready two hundred ships, and sent Hasdrubal with his army and one hundred and forty ele- phants over to Sicily. The Roman senate, nothing dismayed by the loss of their fleet, gave orders to build a new one ; and in three months they had one of two hundred and twenty ships afloat; with which the consuls Cn. Cornelius Scipio and A. Atilius Calatinus (498) sailed to Messana, whence, being joined by the ships there, they went and laid siege to Panormus. The new town being taken by storm, the old town capitulated; those who could pay a ransom of two pounds of silver were allowed to depart, leaving their property behind ; those who could not pay that sum were sold for slaves ; of the former there were 10,000, of the latter 13,000. Tyndaris, Soloeis, and some other towns on that coast, then submitted. The consuls of the next year, (499,) Cn. Servilius and C. Sempronius, sailed over, and made various descents on the coast of Africa. But their ignorance of the ebb and flood in the little Syrtis was near causing the loss of the whole fleet ; the ships went aground on the shoals, and it was only by throwing all the burdens overboard that they were got off. They then sailed round Lilybaeum to Panormus, and thence boldly stretched across for the coast of Italy; but off Cape Palinurus they encountered a fearful storm, in which they lost upwards of one hundred an,d fifty ships. The senate and people, quite cast down by this last calamity, resolved to send no more fleets to sea, bat to keep only sixty ships to convoy transports and guard the coast of Italy. DEATH OF REGULUS. 185 Nothing of importance marks the next two years ; but in 502, Hasdrubal, encouraged by the want of spirit shown of late by the Romans, led his army from Lilybasum toward Panormus. The Roman proconsul L. Caecilius Metellus, who was lying there with an army to protect the harvest, fell back to the town. He set his light troops, well supplied with missiles, outside of the ditch, with orders if hard-pressed to retire behind it and continue the contest ; and directed the workmen of the town to carry out missiles for them, and lay them under the wall. He kept the main body of his troops within the town, and sent constant reenforcements to tiiose without. When the Punic host came near, the drivers urged on the elephants against the light troops, whom they drove behind the ditch ; but as they still pressed on, showers of missiles from the walls and from those at the ditch, killed, wounded, and drove furious the elephants; and Metellus, taking advantage of the confusion thus caused, led out his troops and fell on the flank of the enemy. The defeat was decisive ; some were slain, others drowned in attempting to swim to a Punic fleet that was at hand ; the whole loss was twenty thousand men ; one hundred and four elephants were taken, and all the rest killed. After this defeat the Cartha- ginians abandoned Selinus, whose inhabitants they removed to Lilyba3um, which place and Drepana alone remained in their lands. An embassy to propose a peace, or at least an exchange of prisoners, was now despatched to Rome, and Regulus, who had been five years a captive, accompanied it, on his promise to return if it proved unsuccessful. The tale of his heroism, as transmitted to us by the Roman writers, is one of the most famed in Roman story. Unhappily, like so many others, it passes the limits of truth. Regulus, we are told, refused, as being the slave of the Carthaginians, to enter Rome: with their ' consent he at- tended the debates of the senate, whom he urged on no account to think of peace, or even of an exchange of pris- oners ; and, lest regard for him should sway them, he affirmed that a slow poison had been given him, and he must shortly die. The senate voted as he wished ; and, rejecting the embraces of his friends and relatives, as being now dis- honored, he returned to his prison. The Carthaginians, in their rage at his conduct, resolved to give him the most cruel death ; they cut off his eyelids, and exposed him to the rays of the sun, enclosed in a cask or chest set full of sharp 16* X 186 HISTORY OF ROME. spikes, where pain and want of food and sleep terminated his existence.* Regulus, there can be no doubt, died at Carthage, but probably of a natural death. The senate had put the Punic generals Bostar and Hamilcar into the hands of his family as hostages for his safety ; and, when his wife heard of his death, she attributed it to neglect and want of care, and in revenge treated her prisoners with such cruelty that Bostar died, and Hamilcar would have shared his fate, but that the matter came to the ears of the government. The young Atilii only escaped capital punishment by throwing all the blame on their mother ; the body of Bostar was burnt and the ashes sent home to Carthage, and Hamilcar was released from his dungeon. f After their victory at Panormus the Romans proceeded with an array of forty thousand men and a fleet of two hun- dred ships to lay siege to the strong town of Lilybaeum. But it was gallantly defended by its governor Himiloo, and resisted all the efforts of the Romans, aided by the artillery with which the Syracusans supplied them, during the re- mainder of the war. In fact, the remaining nine years of the war (502 — 511) were years of almost constant misfortune and disgrace to the Romans; and had the Carthaginian system been the same as theirs, and the same obstinate perseverance been mani- fested, the final advantage would probably have been on the side of Carthage. In the beginning of the war the Roman generals, for instance, had had a decided superiority ; now the case was reversed, and Himilco, Hannibal, and above all Hamilcar Barcas (^Lightning \) far excelled those opposed to them. We will pass over the details of the events of these years, only noticing the following, as it relates to the internal his- * Cicero against Piso, 19. OfF. iii. 27. Fin. v. 27. Gellius, vii. 24. Horace, Carm. iii. 5,41. Appian, Pun. 4. According- to Silius (ii. 343) Regulus was crucified. Zonaras, (viii. 15,) following perhaps Dion, gives the common account, but speaks dubiously, {cog ?/ 9"/."^; liysi.) Perhaps all this testimony is more than outweighed by the significant silence of Poly bins, who narrates the war in detail. t Diodorus, xxiv. 1. Zonaras as above. If this story be true, the preceding one can hardly be so. t From the Punic or Hebrew word Barak. Hence perhaps Barak, the lieutenant of Deborah, (Judges, ch. iv.) had his name ; the Scipios were called fulmina belli. Yilderim (Lightning) was a surname of the celebrated Turkish sultan Bayazid. DEFEAT OF CLAUDIUS. * 187 tory of Rome. In the year 503 the consul P. Claudius Pulcher sailed with a fleet and army to Sicily, and leaving Lilybaeum he went with one hundred and twenty-three ships to make an attempt on Drepanum. He hoped to surprise it by sailing in the night, but it was daybreak when he arrived, and Adherbal, who was there, had time to get his fleet out to give him battle. The puUarii told the consul that the sacred chickens would not eat ; " if they will not eat," said he, "they must drink ;" and he ordered them to be flung into the sea.* A battle thus entered into in contempt of the religious feelings of the people could not well be prosperous ; the Roman fleet was totally defeated ; ninety-three ships with all their crews were taken by the enemy ; the consul fled with only thirty. Claudius on coming to Rome was ordered to name a dictator ; with the usual insolence of his family he nominated his client M. Claudius Glicia, the son of a freed- man. The senate in indignation deprived the unworthy dictator of his office, and appointed A. Atilius Calatinus, afterwards named Serranus, [Sower,) because he was found by those, who came to inform him of his elevation, solving the corn with his own hand in his little plebeian farm.t Claudius was prosecuted for violation of the majesty of the people, and he did not long survive the disgrace, dying probably by his own hand, like so many of his family. The Romans were so disheartened by this last defeat that for five years they remained without a navy. At length, seeing that unless they could prevent supplies from being sent to Hamilcar from home, there would be no end to the war, they resolved once more to build a fleet. But the treasury was exhausted ; public spirit however, as at times in Greece, impelled the wealthy citizens to come forward, and each giving according to his means, a fleet of two hun- dred ships, built after an excellent model, was got ready, with which the consul C. Lutatius Catulus and the praetor P. Valerius proceeded to Sicily early in the spring of the year 511. Lutatius, finding that the Punic fleet was gone home, blockaded both Lilybseum and Drepanum by sea; and he pressed on the siege of this last place with great vigor, hoping to take it before the fleet could return. Mean- time, aware that he would have to fight at sea, he had his "" Cicero de Nat. Deor. ii. 3 ; de Div. i..l6. ii. 8. Liv. Epit. 19. + Pliny, H. N. xviii. 4. Val. Max. iv. 6, 4. 188 HISTORY OF ROME. crews daily put through their exercise. When it was known at Carthage that a Roman fleet was again on the coast of Sicily, the ships of war were all got ready for sea, and laden with corn and all things requisite for the army of Ha- milcar, who was besieging the town of Eryx; and the ad- miral, Hanno, was directed to sail thither without delay, and, having landed the stores, to take on board some of the best troops, and Hamilcar with them, and then to force the enemy to an engagement, Hanno accordingly sailed to the isles named Agates,* off Cape Lilyb^um, and there landed. Lutatius, on learning that the Punic fleet was at sea, and judging of its object, took some of the best troops on board, intending to give battle in the morning. During the night the wind changed; it blew strong, and favorable to the enemy, and the sea grew somewhat rough. Th© consul was in doubt how to act; but reflecting that if he gave batt?le now he should only have to fight Hanno, and that too with his ships heavily laden, whereas if he waited for fine weather he should have to engage a fleet in fighting order with picked troops, and above all with the formidable Hamilcar on board, he resolved to hesitate no longer. He advanced in line of battle ; the heavy ships and raw levies of the Carthaginians could ill resist the expedite quinque- remes and seasoned troops of the Romans, and the issue of the contest was not long dubious : fifty Punic ships were sunk, seventy taken ; the number of the prisoners amounted to ten thousand. This defeat quite broke the spirit of the Carthaginians, Having vented their rage as usual on their unfortunate admiral by crucifying him, they gave full powers to Ha- milcar to treat of peace with the Roman consul, who, aware of the exhausted condition of Rome, gladly hearkened to the overtures of the Punic general, and peace was concluded on the following terms, subject to the approbation of the Roman people. The Carthaginians were to evacuate all Sicily, and not to make war on Hiero or his allies; they were to release all the Roman prisoners without ransom; and to pay the Romans the sum of 2200 Euboic talents in the course of twenty years. The people, thinking these terms too favorable to Carthage, sent out ten commission- ers to Sicily, and by these the sum to be paid was increased * Liv. Epit. 19. Polybius speaks of but one isle, and names it ^g6sa. PEACE WITH CARTHAGE. 189 a thousand talents, and the terms reduced to ten years, and the Carthaginians were obliged to evacuate the islands be- tween Italy and Sicily, and forbidden to send any ship of war off' the coast of the territory of Rome or her allies, or to enlist troops in Italy. Thus, after a duration of twenty-four years, terminated the first war between Rome and Carthage. The efforts and the sacrifices made by the former state were greater than at any period of her history. The Roman population was reduced by half a million in the contest; the Italian allies must have diminished in proportion : seven hundred ships of war were lost ; the enormous property taxes which they had to pay oppressed the people beyond measure ; large portions of the domain were sold, and this, with the sale of small properties in land, caused by distress, gave origin to the great inequality of property which afterwards proved so pernicious to the state. On the side of Carthage, the war was little less injurious. It is true she did not, like Rome, lavish the blood of her own citizens, but she ' had to pay her mercenaries high, and for this purpose to increase the taxes of her subjects, and thereby augment their discontent ; all the imposts were doubled, and the land-tax was raised to one half of the produce.* The peace left Rome mistress of Sicily ; and so exhausted was the island by the war, that the purchase seemed hardly worth the cost. The occasion of the war was evidently unjust on the side of Rome ; and it would appear that her wiser policy had been to confine herself to Italy ; but in n-eality the choice was not in her power, for Carthage was now extending her dominion over the West, and the contest for empire or existence must have come sooner or later. We must also bear in mind, that the empire of the world had been destined by Providence for Rome. Sicily being the first country acquired out of Italy, it was the first example of a Roman province.^ A governor was sent to it annually ; all war was prohibited among its people ; excise, land-tax, and other taxes were paid to Rome; but no public lands were retained there, and no assignments made to Roman citizens. Hiero continued to the end of a long life to rule his little * Carthage lost 500 ships in the war. t Provincla Niebuhr regards as equivalent with proventus, and paral- lel to vectio-al. 190 HISTORY OF ROME. realm of Syracuse as the favored ally of Rome : and his wisdom, justice, and beneficence caused the Syracusans to enjoy more real happiness than they had done at any period of their history.* CHAPTER Il.f CIVIL WAR AT CARTHAGE. ILLYRIAN WAR. GALLIC WARS Scarcely had the Carthaginians concluded the war with Rome when they were engaged in another which menaced their very existence. The mercenaries who had served in Sicily, enraged at their pay and the rewards which Hamil- car had promised them being withheld, turned their arms against the state. They laid siege to Carthage, Hippo, and Utica. Most of the subjects, exacerbated by the enormous imposts which had been laid on them, joined them, and they defeated the only army that Carthage could assemble. At length the conduct of the war was committed to Hamilcar, and by his able measures he succeeded in annihilating the revolters. The war, one of the most sanguinary and fero- cious ever known, lasted three years and four months. It gave the world an example of the danger of having the army of a state entirely composed of mercenaries. During this war the Romans acted with honor : they set the Punic prisoners who were in Italy at liberty ; they allowed provisions to be sent to Carthage, but not to the quarters of the rebels; and when the troops in Sardinia, who had also revolted, applied to them for aid they refused it. They could not, however, persist in this honorable course : on a second application from these troops, who were hard pressed by the native Sards, they sent a force thither ; and when the Carthaginians were preparing to assert their do- minion over the island, they were menaced with a war with Rome. They were therefore obliged to give up all claim to Sardinia, and even to pay an additional sum of 1200 * We here lose the invaluable guidance of Niebuhr, whose work terminates at this point. t Polybius, i. 65 to the end, ii. 1 — 35. ILLYRIAN WAR. 191 talents, as compensation for injuries they were alleged to have done the Roman merchant shipping. This flagrant injustice on the part of the Romans rankled in the mind of the Carthaginians, and it is assigned as the chief cause of the second Punic war, which inflicted so much misery on Italy. For several years now the Romans were engaged in re- ducing the barbarous natives of Sardinia and Corsica, and in extending their dominion northwards in Italy. It was also at this time that they first began to turn their views over the Adriatic, and regard the state of Greece. The fol- lowinor was the first occasion. C3 The Illyrians had for a long time been united under one head, and had exercised robbery and piracy on a large scale by sea and by land. Their last king, Agron,* dying from intemperance caused by his joy at his subjects having taken and plundered the wealthy town of Phcenice in Epirus, his widow Teuta assumed the government as guardian to her infant son. Piracy was now carried to a greater extent than ever, and continual complaints came to the Roman sen- ate from their subjects on the east coast of Italy. C. and L. Coruncanius were therefore sent (522) as ambassadors to Teuta : she treated them with great haughtiness, and the younger of the envoys told her that, with the help of God, the Romans would make her amend the royal authority in Illyria. They departed ; and the queen, offended at his free- dom of speech, sent some persons after him who murdered him. This breach of the law of nations was followed by a declaration of war by the Romans. The following spring (523) the consul Cn. Fulvius sailed from Rome with two hundred ships, while his colleague L. Postumius led a land army of 20,000 foot. and 2000 horse to Brundisium. Fulvius directed his course to the isle of Corcyra, of which the Illyrians were now masters ; buj Demetrius of Pharus,t who commanded there, having in- curred the wrath of Teuta, had sent, offering to put it into the hands of the Romans. He kept his word, and the Cor- cyraeans gladly submitted to the Roman dominion. Fulvius then passed over to Apollonia, where he was joined by Postumius. This city also put itself under the protection of R-orae, and Epidamnus or Dyrrachium, whither they next ^ Agron was great-grandson of Bardylis, who fell in battle against Philip of Macedonia. (History of Greece, Part III. c. 1.) t This was an island on the coast of Illyria. 192 HISTORY OF ROME. proceeded, did the same. The consuls then entered Illyria, where several tribes revolted from Teuta ; and, leaving Demetrius to rule over them, Fulvius returned to Rome, while Postumius wintered at Epidamnus. In the spring (524) Teuta obtained peace, on condition of paying tribute, giving up all claim to the greater part of Illyria, and enga- ging not to sail from her port of Lissus with more than two barks, and these unarmed.* Postumius sent to inform the JEtolian and Achaean leagues of this peace. Embassies were soon after despatched to Athens and Corinth, and a this last place the Romans were allowed to join in the Isth mi an games. In the year 514 a war had commenced with the Boian Gauls, supported by some of their kindred tribes and by the Ligurians. It was continued through the following year, with advantage on the side of the Romans. In 516 a large body of Transalpine Gauls came to the aid of the Boians; but at Ariminura they fell out among themselves, killed their kings, and slaughtered one another. The survivors returned home, and the Boians and Ligurians were glad to obtain peace. The following year the temple of Janus at Rome, which was to be closed in time of peace, was shut, for the first time, it is said, since the reign of Numa. Four years after this peace (520) the tribune C. Flaminius brought in a bill to assign the Picentine district, which had been occupied by the Senonian Gauls, and which they still held as tenants to the state. The Boians and other neigh- boring tribes saw in this a plan of the Romans to deprive them all gradually of their lands, and they determined on resistance. The Boians and Isumbrians sent to invite the GoBsatans, who dwelt on the Rhone, to come and share in a war in which great plunder was expected. The invitation was readily accepted; and in the eighth year after the divis- ion of the Picentine land, (527,) the Gsesatans crossed the Alps and descended into the plain of the Po, where they were joined by all the Gallic tribes except the Venetians and the Cenomanians, whom the Romans had gained over to their side. With a host of 50,000 foot and 20,000 horse and chariots they then crossed the Apennines and entered Etruria. " Th(^ Romans afterwards (533) made war on Demetrius for breach of this treaty, and he had to seek refuge with Phihp II. of Macedonia, in whose service he spent the remainder of his hfe. GALLIC WARS.' 193 The terror caused at Rome by this irruption of the Gauls w as great. All Italy shared in it, and prepared to resist the invaders. The number of men actually under arms on this occasion was 150,000 foot and 6000 horse, and the total amount of the fighting men of Rome and her allies (the Greeks and Etruscans not included) was 700,000 foot and 70,000 horse. One of the consuls, C. Atilius, was at this time in Sar- dinia ; his colleague, L. ^milius, had encamped at Ari- minum ; one of the prsetors commanded an army in Etruria. The Gauls had reached Clusium, in their way to Rome, when they learned that the praetor's army was in their rear. They returned, and by a stratagem gave this army a defeat : six thousand Romans were slain ; the rest retired to a hill, where they defended themselves. The consul JEmilius, who had entered Etruria, now came up ; and the Gauls, in order to secure the immense booty which they had acquired, by the advice of one of their kings declined an action, resolving to return home along the coast, and then to reenter Etruria, light and unencumbered. JEmilius, being joined by the re- mainder of the praetor's army, followed their march, in order to harass them as much as possible. Meantime Atilius had landed his army at Pisa, and was marching for Rome. His advanced guard met that of the Gauls, and defeated it. A general action soon commenced, the Gauls being attacked in front and rear : they fought with skill and desperation ; but their swords and shields were inferior to those of the Romans, and they were utterly defeated, with the loss of 40,000 slain and 10,000 taken ; that of the Romans is not known. Atilius fell in the action. JGmilius, having made a brief inroad into the Boian country, returned to Rome and triumphed. The consuls of the succeeding year (528) reduced the Boians to submission. Heavy rains and an epidemic in their army checked all further operations. Their successors, P. Furius and C. Flaminius, (the author of the war,) carried the war beyond the Po, and ravaged the lands of the Isumbrians, who having assembled a. force of fifty thousand men pre- pared to give them battle. The Roman consuls, who were devoid of al military skill, fearing to trust their Gallic allies, placed them on the south side of the Po, the bridges over which they broke down, and drew up their troops so close to its ed^^e as to leave no space for the requisite movements, K> that their onlv hi^pes of safety lay in victory. Fortunately l'7 Y 194 • HISTORY OF ROME. for the Roman army the tribunes possessed the skill the consuls wanted. Knowing that the long Gallic broadswords 6ent after the first blow, and must be laid under the foot and straightened to be again of use, they gave pila to their front ranks, and directed them, when the Gauls had bent their swords on these, to fall on sword in hand. These tactics succeeded completely ; the straight, short thrust- swords of the Romans did certain execution, and their vic- tory was decisive. After this defeat the Gauls sent an embassy to Rome suing for peace ; but the new consuls, M. Claudius Mar- cellus and Cn. Cornelius Scipio, (530,) fearing to lose an occasion of distinguishing themselves, prevented its being granted. The Isumbrians hired thirty-three thousand Geesatans ; but all their efforts were unavailing ; they were everywhere defeated, their chief towns Acerrse and Medio- lanum (Milan) were taken, and shortly afterwards the colo- nies of Mutina, (Modena,) Cremona, and Placentia founded, to keep them in obedience. Marcellus at his triumph bore on a trophy the arms of the Gallic king Viridomarus, whom he had slain with his own hand, and suspended them, as the third Spolia opima* to Jupiter Feretrius, on the Capitol. The Roman dominion now extended over the whole of Italy, Sicily, Sardinia, Corsica, Illyria, and Corcyra, and the towns of the coast of Epirus. CHAPTER m.t CONQUESTS OF THE CARTHAGINIANS IN SPAIN. TAKING OP SAGUNTUM. MARCH OF HANNIBAL FOR ITALY. HANNI- BAl's passage of the alps. BATTLE OF THE TICINUS. BATTLE OF THE TREBIA. BATTLE OF THE TRASIMENE LAKE. HANNIBAL AND FABIUS CUNCTATOR. BATTLE OF CANN^. PROGRESS OF HANNIBAL. While the Romans were thus extending their dominion in Cisalpine Gaul, the Carthaginians were equally active in * Plut. Marcellus, 7. The other two are the fictitious ones of Romu- lus, the real of Cossus. See above, p. 104. t For the second Punic war we have the third decad of Livj, who CONQUESTS OF THE CARTHAGINIANS IN SPAIN. 195 forming an empire in Spain. The loss of Sicily and Sar- dinia, and the heavy sum of money exacted from them by the Romans, had increased their enmity to them ; and Ha- milcar, conscious of his great talents, and that by the fault of others he had been obliged to give up his hopes of re- covering Sicily, and filled with hatred to the Roman name, burned to possess the means of waging war with them once more. The possession of Spain he saw would give abun- dance of men and money, and the divided state of the nations and tribes who held it would make the acquisition of do- minion easy. As soon, therefore, as the civil war was ended, and the Numidians who had shared in it were reduced, he embarked his army, (514,) and landed at Gades, (Cadiz.) He was attended by his son-in-law Hasdrubal and his son Han- nibal, then a child of nine years of age. As he was offering sacrifice previous to embarkation, he made those who were present withdraw a little ; then leading his son up to the altar, he asked him if he would go with him; and on his giving a cheerful assent, he made him lay his hand on the flesh of the victim, and swear eternal enmity to Rome. During nine years Hamilcar carried on a successful war in Spain. He reduced the modern Andalusia and Estra- madura, and penetrated into Portugal and Leon. Hamilcar fell (523) in an engagement with the people of the country. The army chose Hasdrubal to succeed him, and the Cartha- ginian senate confirmed their choice, and sent him addir tional troops. Hasdrubal, by his talents, his mildness, jus- tice, and good policy, won the affections of the Spaniards, and extended the dominion of Carthage to the river Iberus, (Ebro;) and he founded on the coast the city of New Car- thage (Carthagena) for the capital, which soon nearly rival- led Carthage itself in extent and wealth. This able general perished by the hand of an assassin in the eighth year of his command, (531,) and the army, as before, assuming the right of appointment, set Hannibal, the son of Hamilcar, who had been second in command to Hasdrubal, in his place, and their choice was confirmed by the government. Hannibal, who was now twenty-five years of age, felt that the time for executing his father's projects against Rome was at hand. He proposed to march a veteran army into Italy, and lie hoped that one or more decisive victories there followed Polybius ; also this last writer's own narrative to the battle of Cannae consecutively; and, for the conclusion, Appian's Punica and Hannibalian War; Plutarch's lives of Marcellus and Fabius Maximus. 196 HISTORY OF ROME. would induce the Samnites and other Italian peoples to rise and assert their independence. In order to extend the Punic dominion still further in Spain, to enrich his troops, and to give them confidence in themselves and their general, he led them into the country of the Olcades, on the Anas, (Guadi- ana,) and took their chief town, named Althaea or Carteia. The following spring (532) he entered the. country of the Vaccaeans, and took their towns of Elmantica or Herman- dica, and Arbucala ; and as he was on the way back to New Carthage, he defeated on the banks of the Tagus an army of more than one hundred thousand Spaniards who came to oppose him. The whole of Spain south of the Ebro, with ' the exception of the city of Saguntum, now obeyed the power of Carthage. The people of this town, who claimed a Greek origin, and the other Greek towns on the coast of Spain, had put themselves under the protection of Rome, and a Roman embassy was sent to Carthage, in the time of Has- drubal, to stipulate for their independence, and to require that the Punic power should not be extended beyond the Ebro. The Saguntines, aware of the ultimate designs of Hannibal, sent pressing embassies to Rome, praying for aid, as Hannibal, having caused a quarrel between them and the Torboletans, menaced their existence. An embassy was therefore sent to Hannibal, who gave a haughty, evasive reply, and sending to Carthage for instructions, he received power to act as he deemed best. Under the pretext of aiding the Torboletans, he therefore came and laid siege to Saguntum with an army of 150,000 men. The conquest of this town was an object of the utmost importance in his eyes; he would thus deprive the Romans of the place of arms which they had in view for carrying on the war in Spain ; he would strike the Spaniards with a salutary dread of the Punic power, and leave no enemy of importance in his rear on his proposed way for Italy : and he would acquire vast wealth for the prosecution of the war. During eight months the Saguntines made a most heroic resistance. Their applications to Rome for aid were vain, as they produced nothing but fruitless embassies to Hanni- bal and to Carthage. At length the town was stormed, all within it slaughtered or enslaved, and the immense booty sent to Carthage or reserved for the war. The Romans, when they heard of the capture of Saguntum, issued a dec- laration of war unless Hannibal was given up to them, and sent an embassy for this purpose to Carthage. The chief MARCH OF HANNIBAL FOR ITALY. 197 of the embassy, Q,. Fabius Maximus, simply stated the de- mands of Rome ; the Carthaginian senate hesitated, not willing to surrender Hannibal, and as little inclined to say that he had acted by public authority. Fabius then, holding up his toga, said, " In this I bear peace or war, take which ye will." " Give which you please," replied the Suffes. *' War, then," cried he, shaking it out. *' We receive it," was shouted forth on all sides. The embassy returned to Rome, whence the consul Tib. Sempronius was already gone to Sicily, with 160 ships and 26,000 men, in order to pass over to Africa, while his colleague P. Cornelius Scipio had sailed for Spain with sixty quinqueremes and 24,000 men, and the praetor L. Manlius commanded a third army of about 20,000 men in Cisalpine Gaul. During the winter Hannibal made all the requisite ar- rangements for the defence of Africa and Spain, and he formed treaties with the Gauls on both sides of the Alps. In the beginning of the spring (534) he assembled his army of 90,000 foot, ' 12,000 horse, and 37 elephants, at New Car- thage, and committing the government of Spain to his brother Hasdrubal, and leaving him a force of about 15,000 men and fifty-seven ships of war, he crossed the Ebro on his way for Italy. In his progress thence to the Pyrenees he overcame the various peoples of the country, in which he left Hanno with 10,000 foot and 1000 horse. Desertion and other causes reduced his army, but at the foot of the Pyrenees it numbered 50,000 foot and 9000 horse, all steady and well-disciplined soldiers. Having passed these mountains, he marched without delay for the Rhodanus, (Rhone,) on the further bank of which he found a large army of Gauls assembled to dispute his passage.* He col- lected, and had constructed, a great number of boats and rafts, but it seemed too hazardous to attempt to pass a broad, rapid river in the presence of so large an army. He there- fore sent at nightfall a division of his troops under Hanno up the river, with directions to cross it a day's march off, and then to come down the left bank and take the enemy in the rear. Hanno did as directed, and having halted a day on the other side to refresh his men, marched down the stream. When he made the fire signal agreed on, Hannibal, who had every thing ready, commenced the passage. The Gauls rushed down to oppose him ; but they soon saw the 17 Opposite Beauvaise. 198 HISTOBY OF ROME. camp behind them in flames, and after a short resistance turned and fled. The remainder of the Punic army then passed over.* Meantime Scipio, having coasted Etruria and Liguria, on his way to Spain, was encamped at the mouth of the Rhone, four days' march from the place where Hannibal was lying. He sent forward a party of horse to reconnoitre, who fell in with and drove back five hundred Numidian horse sent out by Hannibal for the same purpose. When they returned, and told the consul where the Punic army was, he embarked his troops, and sailed up the river to attack them ; but on coming to the place he found them gone. He then returned with all speed, and sending his brother Cn. Scipio to Spain with the greater part of his forces, embarked for Pisa with the remainder to meet the foe on his descent from the Alps. Hannibal, urged by an embassy from the Boian Gauls, had resolved to lose no time in advancing into Italy. He marched four days up the left bank of the Rhone, to its junction with the Isara, (Isere.t) The country between these rivers was named the Island, and two brothers were at this time contending for the regal authority over it. Hanni- bal sided with the elder, who in return supplied him with clothing and provisions for his army, now 38,000 foot and 8000 horse, and gave him an escort through the country of the Allobroges to the foot of the Alps. Hannibal went for ten days about one hundred miles up the Isara ; | he then turned to the mountains. But here difficulties began to assail him. The Gauls occupied the passes, but as they did not keep their plans secret, he learned that they were there; and also finding out they only -kept guard by day, retiring to their town by night, he. set out in the night with some select troops and seized the heights they used to occupy. In the morning the army set forward ; * He adopted the following plan to get the elephants over the river. Broad rafts were attached to the bank, and other rafts to these on the outside, and the whole covered with earth ; the elephants readily went on this, two females being placed at their head. The outer rafts were then loosed, and towed over by boats, the elephants in general remain- ing quiet on them ; some however jumped into the river, but they ~ were saved. (Polyb. iii. 46.) t Polybius calls the other river the Scoras or Scaras ; Livy the Arar, (Saone,) but the confluence of the Rhone and Saone is too far off, and the land between them does not agree with Polybius' description of the Island. t To Montmelian and Bourgneuf. Hannibal's passage of the alps. 199 but the Gauls assailed them in the pass, where they had to proceed along a narrow path over a deep ravine, and did much mischief, especially to the horses and beasts of burden. Hannibal, however, at the head of his select troops, drove them off. He then took and plundered several villages and their chief town. The march now lay for three days in a fruitful valley, where there were numerous herds of cattle. On the fourth day the people who dwelt at the other end of the valley sent to propose a peace with him, offering host- ages and guides. Hannibal, though he distrusted them, agreed to the treaty, but he prudently remitted none of his precautions. After two days' march the troops entered a rugged, precipitous pass leading out of the valley, and here the Gauls had made preparations to overwhelm them. But Hannibal had wisely put the baggage, and horse, and ele- phants in advance, and kept his troops of the linfe in the rear, which foresight saved the army. The loss, however, in men and beasts was considerable, as the Gauls showered stones and rolled down rocks from the heights above them. Hannibal was obliged to pass the night separate from his cavalry. In the morning, finding the Gauls gone, the army joined and moved on, though still harassed by their desul- tory attacks. It was remarked that they never assailed the part of the line of march where the elephants were, as the unusual appearance of these animals inspired them with terror. On the ninth day the army reached the summit of the Alps. Here they made a halt of two days to rest, and to enable those who had been left behind to rejoin. The snow which now fell, it being late in the autumn, and the prospect of the further difficulties they would have to encounter, dis- pirited the troops ; but their leader, by pointing out to them the rich plain of the Po, and assuring them of the facility of conquest, soon raised their spirits, and they commenced the descent. Here however, thoucrh there were no enemies to attack them, the loss was nearly as great as in the ascent. The new-fallen snow made the path indiscernible, and those who missed it rolled down the precipices. They still how- ever advanced, till they found themselves on the edge of a steep, which it was plain the elephants and beasts of burden could never get down. Hannibal tried to take a round to escape this steep ; but the thin crust of ice which had formed on the snow gave way under the feet of the beasts, and held them impounded, and even the men could not get along it. 200 HISTORY OF ROME. He therefore cleared away the snow on the edge of the steep, and encamped there for the night. Next day he set his men at work to level a way down ; * and they made it that day passable for the horses and mules, which they brought down to the parts where there was pasturage ; but it took tifree days to make a way for the elephants. The descent now offered no further difficulties, and the army was soon encamped in the country of the Isumbrian Gauls.t Five months had now elapsed from the day they had set out from New Carthage, fifteen days of which had been oc- cupied in the passage of the Alps The army had in that time been considerably reduced by its various losses, and it now numbered but 26,000 men, i. e. 12,000 African and 8000 Spanish foot, and 6000 horse. Having given his army sufficient rest, Hannibal advanced into the country of the Ligurian tribe of the Taurini, (Pied- mont,) whose capital he took by storm. This struck terror into the surrounding tribes, and they all joined the invaders. Hannibal, finding that those in the plains were only withheld from doing the same by their fear of the Roman armies in their country, resolved to advance at once, and deliver them from their apprehensions. Scipio had meantime advanced from Pisa, and collecting what troops there were in Etruria and Cisalpine Gaul, crossed the Po with the intention of giving Hannibal battle at once. The Punic general was equally anxious to fight ; both armies approached the river Ticinus, (Tessino,) which the Romans crossed, and came to within five miles of Victumviee, (Vige- vano?) where Hannibal lay. Next morning Scipio went out to reconnoitre with his horse and light troops ; Hannibal did the same, and the two parties met. An action ensued : the consul put his light troops and the Gallic horse in front, sup- ported by the heavy horse ; Hannibal set his bridled horse | * According to Livy, Appian, and others, Hannibal, in order to be able to cut down the rocks, had large trees hewn into pieces, and piled around them, and set fire to, and, when the rocks were glowing hot, vinegar poured on them, which rendered them soft and easy to cut. The truth of this circumstance (which is unnoticed by Polybius^ has been disputed in modern times. t Some critics make Hannibal come over the Great, others over the Little St. Bernard; some are for Mt. Genevre, the Simplon, or Mt. Viso ; others, (who we incline to think are right,) for Mt. Cenis. According to these last, his route was Montmelian, Maltaverne, Aigue- belle, La Chapelle, St. Jean de Maurienne, St. Michel, Modane, Verney, Lans-le-Bourg, Summit of Cenis, La Novalese, Suse, St. Ambroise, Rivoli. t The Numidians did not use bridles. BATTLE OF THE TREBIA. 201 in the centre, the Numidians on the flanks. At the first shock the Roman light troops gave way and fled ; the heavy horse maintained the conflict till the Numidians fell on their rear. Scipio himself received a severe wound, and is said to have been indebted for his life to his son, afterwards so famous, then a youth of seventeen. The Romans dispersed and fled to their camp ; and Scipio, now aware of the enemy's great superiority in cavalry, resolved to retire Without delay beyond the Po, where the country was less level. He reached this river, and got over before the Carthaginians came up, and he also had time to loosen the bridcre of rafts. About six hundred men who remained on the other side fell into their hands : the rest of the army reached Placentia in safety. Hannibal went two days' march up the river, and passed it in a narrower place by a bridge of boats ; he then came to within six miles of Placentia, and offered battle, but to no purpose. The Gauls now readily joined him ; and a body of 2000 Gallic foot and 200 horse, who were in the Roman service, cut to pieces the guard at one of the gates, and came over to him. Scipio, thinking his position no longer safe, led his troops out in the night, in order to occupy a stronger one on the hills about the river Trebia, where he might wait for the arrival of his colleague, who had been recalled from Sicily. When Hannibal found Scipio gone, he sent the Nu- midians after him ; but they fell to rummaging the deserted camp for plunder, and the Romans got safely over the river, and encamped. Hannibal then came and sat down about five miles off, where the Gauls supplied him with abundance of provisions. Sempronius, on receiving his recall, embarked his troops, and sailed up the Adriatic to Ariminum, where he landed, and lost no time in joining Scipio on the Trebia. The con- suls differed in opinion : Scipio, who was still disabled by his wound, was for delay, which must be injurious to the enemy, and would probably cause the fickle Gauls to change their minds; besides which he himself when recovered might be of some service to his country : Sempronius was for im- mediate action, as the time of elections was at hand, and moreover the illness of his colleague would afford him the occasion of gaining the sole glory of victory. An occasion of action soon presented itself. The Gauls who dwelt from the Trebia to the Po, wishing to keep well with both parties, declared openly for neither. Hannibal, to punish them, sent a body of 2000 foot and 1000 z 202 HISTORY OF ROME. Numidian horse to plunder their lands. They came to the Roman camp imploring protection, and Sempronius sent out some horse and light troops, who drove off those of the enemy. Elate with this success, he became still more anxious for battle, and Hannibal, who wished for an engagement for the very same reasons that Scipio was opposed to it, prepared to take advantage of Sempronius' ardor. Having observed in the plain between the two armies a stream whose banks were overgrown by bushes and briers, he placed in ambush in it during the night his brother Mago with 1000 foot and as many horse, and in the morning he sent the Numidian horse over the Trebia to ride up to the enemy's camp and try to draw them out ; he meantime ordered the rest of the army to take their breakfast, and get themselves and their horses ready, Sempronius, when he saw the Numidians, sent his horse to drive them off; his light troops followed, and he then led out the rest of the army. It was now midwinter, the day was bitterly cold and snowy, and the troops had not had their breakfast ; the Trebia was swollen by the rain that had fallen, and it was breast high on the infantry as they waded through it. ■ Cold and hungry, they advanced to engage an army that was fresh and vigorous, for Hannibal had directed his men to anoint and arm themselves by the fire in their tents. When he saw the Romans over the river, he led out his troops, and drew them up about a mile from his camp. His advance -guard consisted of 8000 dartmen and Balearic slingers; he drew up his heavy infantry, Africans, Spaniards, and Gauls, about 20,000 in one line, with 10,000 horse, one half on each wing, and the elephants in front of the wings. Sem- pronius drew up his army of 16,000 Romans and 20,000 allies in the usual manner : he placed his horse (about 4000) on the wings. The Roman light troops being already fa- tigued, and having spent their weapons in the pursuit of the Numidians, were easily beaten; and while the troops of the line were eno-aored, the Punic horse charged and scattered that of the Romans ; the light troops and Numidians then advanced and fell on the flanks of the Roman line; the troops in ambush rose at the same time, and attacked them in the rear. The Roman wings, assailed in front by the elephants and in flank by the light troops, gave way and fled ; the centre, about ten thousand men, drove back the Punic troops in front of it, but it suffered from those in its rear. At length, seeing their wings driven off the field, and fearing HANNIBAL ENTERS ETRURIA. 203 the number of the enemy's horse if they attempted to aid them, or to recross the river to their camp, they made a desperate effort, and breaking through the adverse line forced their way to Placentia. Most of the remainder were de- stroyed at the river by the horse and the elephants ; those who escaped made their way to Placentia. The victors did not venture to cross the river : all their elephants but one died in consef|uence of the extreme cold and wet. Scipio the next night led the troops in the camp over the Trebia to Placentia, and thence to Cremona. Sempronius sent word to Rome that but for the weather he should have obtained a complete victory. The truth, however, was not to be concealed ; but the Roman spirit only rose the more in adversity. Cn. Servilius and C. Flaminius * were created consuls, Sempronius having gone to Rome to hold the elections. Hannibal, having made an ineffectual attempt on a maga- zine near Placentia, and taken Victumviae, gave his troops some repose. Early in the spring (535) he attempted to cross the Apennines ; but a violent storm of thunder, hail, wind and rain, forced him to give over his project. He then gave Sempronius a second defeat near Placentia, after which he led his troops into Liguria. Flaminius went to his prov- ince in the spring, and having received four legions, two from Sempronius and two from the praetor Atilius, crossed the Apennines and encamped at Arretium, (Arezzo.) Hanni- bal, finding the Gauls so discontented at his remaining in their country that he was obliged to change his dress frequently, and to wear various wigs in order to escape their attempts on his life, resolved to enter Etruria without delay. Of the various routes into that country he fixed on that through the marshes formed by the river Arno,f as he could thus elude the Roman consul. He placed his African and Spanish in- fantry with the baggage in advance ; these were followed by the Gauls, and last came the horse. He himself rode on his only remaining elephant. For four days and three nights they had to march through the water, enduring every kind of hardship. Most of the beasts of burden perished, several of the horses lost their hoofs, and Hannibal himself lost the sight of one of his eyes. * This was the Flaminius who had caused the Gallic war. See above, p. 192. t Livy, xxii. 2. They were on the right bank of the Lower Arno. (Nieb. i. 128.) Micali and some other moderns maintain that they were the marshes formed by the Upper Po. 204 HISTORY OF ROME. Having learned the character of the Roman consul, a vain, rash man, utterly unskilled in military affairs, Hannibal re- solved to provoke him to a battle before the arrival of his col- league. He therefore proceeded to lay waste the fruitful country between Feesulse and Arretium. The sight of the devastations he committed enraged Flaminius, and he would not be withheld by his officers from giving battle. Hannibal had now reached the vicinity of Cortona, and jvhen he found that Flaminius was following him, he prepared to select the most advantageous position for engaging. He therefore ad- vanced, with the hills of Cortona on his left, the Trasimene lake on his right, till he came to' a spot where the hills approach the lake, leaving a narrow path, and then recede, forming a valley closed at the end by an eminence. He stationed his line-troops at the further end of this valley, placing his light troops on the hills on the right side of it, and his horse and the Gauls on those on the left. He thus awaited Flaminius, who arriving in the evening, encamped on the lake without the pass, into which he led his troops early the next morning. A dense fog happening to rise and spread over the valley concealed the enemy from the view of the Romans ; the head of their column had just reached the place v/here the Punic troops awaited them, when Han- nibal gave the signal for attack, and they were assailed at once in front and flank. Not having time to form, they were cut down in their line of march. Flaminius himself was killed by the Gauls early in the action. Numbers ran up to their necks in the water ; but the enemy's horse charged after them and cut them to pieces.* The number of the slain was 15000 ; a body of 6000 broke through in front, and made their way over the hills to a neighboring village, whither they were pursued by Maharbal. and forced to sur- render, on promise of being allowed to depart without their arms ; but Hannibal, denying the right of Maharbal to grant these terms, assembled all his prisoners, to the number of upwards of 15,000, and separating the Romans, whom he re- tained, he dismissed the allies, declaring, as was his wont, that he was come as the deliverer of Italy from Roman tyranny. His own loss was about fifteen hundred men, * According to Livy (xxil. 5) and Zonaras (viii. 125,) the ardor of the combatants was such that they did not perceive the shock of an earthquake which occurred at that time, and threw down large portions of several towns, sank mountains, and turned rivers from their course. Of this Polybius says nothing. HANNIBAL AND FABIUS CUNCTATOR. 205 chiefly Gauls, on whom he generally contrived to make the loss fail most heavily. This defeat was of too great a magnitude for the govern- ment at Rome to be able to conceal or extenuate it. In the evening of the day the news arrived, the prastor mounted the Rostra and said aloud, " We have been overcome in a great battle," The people, unused to tidings of defeat, were quite overwhelmed ; but the senate remained calm and resolute as ever in adversity. Soon after, another piece of ill news arrived; a body of four thousand horse, which the consul Servilius had sent on from Ariminum, were cut to pieces or forced to surrender by the Punic horse and light troops. It was now resolved to revive the dictatorship, an office for some time out of use, and Q,. Fabius Maximus was appointed,* with M. Minucius for his master of the horse. Hannibal marched through Umbria and Picenum, wasting and destroying the country on his way. On reaching the sea he sent home word of his successes ; and having halted some time, to give his men and horses rest, he advanced through the country of the Marsian League into Apulia. The dictator, having received the two legions of the consul Servilius, and added two newly raised ones to them, ad- vanced with all speed to Apulia, and encamped in presence of Hannibal near Arpi. The Punic general vainly offered battle ; it was the plan of Fabius, thence named the Delayer, (Cunctator,) to give him no opportunity of fighting, but to wear him out by delay. He accordingly kept on the hills above him, followed him whithersoever he went, made partial attacks under advantageous circumstances, and thus raised the spirit and confidence of his troops. Hannibal, having exhausted Apulia, entered Samnium, where he plundered the district of Beneventum and took the town of Telesia, Fabius still following him at a distance of one or two days' march, but giving no opportunity for fighting. It is re- markable, that though the Romans had suffered such defeats, not one of their allies had as yet fallen off. Hannibal hoped that by an irruption into Campania he should be able to force Fabius to give battle, or if he did not, that this con- fession of the inferiority of the Romans in the field would have its due effect on the minds of the allies. He there- fore marched by Allifae and Cales to Casilinum, wasted the * As there was no consul at Rome to nominate him, he was created Pro-dictator. 18 206 HISTORY OF ROME. Falernian district to Sinuessa, and encamped on the Vul- turnus. Fabius moved along the Massic hills ; but neither the sight of the burning villages in the valley beneath, nor the reproaches and entreaties of Minucius and the other offi- cers, could induce him to change his system and descend into the plain. Hannibal, seeing there vv'as no chance of a battle, pre- pared to retire, by the way he came, into quarters for the winter. Fabius hoped now to take him at an advantage : having placed a sufficient force to guard the pass near Tar- racina,* he occupied the town of Casilinum and the hill of Callicula, and posted his army on an eminence on the road by which the enemy must move for the pass. Hannibal, seeing the way thus impeded, and despairing of being able to force it, had recourse to stratagem. He had two thou- sand of the strongest oxen in the booty collected, and bun- dles of brushwood tied on their horns. In the latter part of the night, he directed the baggage-drivers to set fire to these bundles, and drive the oxen up the hill close to the pass ; and the light troops to hasten and occupy its summit. The oxen, infuriated by the heat and flame, ran wildly up the hill ; the Romans, who guarded the pass, thinking from the number of lights that the enemy was escaping that way, made all the speed they could to occupy the summit; but they found the Punic light troops there already; both re- mained inactive waiting for the daylight. Hannibal mean- time had led the rest of his army through the pass, and he sent some Spanish troops, who speedily routed the Romans on the hill. He then marched leisurely through Samnium into Apulia, where he took the town of Geronium, before which he pitched his camp; Fabius, who followed him,^ en- camped at Larinum. The dictator, being obliged to return to Rome on some religious affairs, committed the command of the army to the master of the horse, imploring him on no account to give battle. But Minucius little heeded these admonitions ; he quitted the hills where he was posted, and came nearer to the Punic camp ; and he had the advantage in some slight actions which ensued. These successes were greatly mag- nified at Rome ; and the people, who were weary of the sal- utary caution of Fabius, were induced to pass a decree for making the authority of the master of the horse equal with "* Probably the pass of Lautulos. See above, p. 134. HANNIBAL AND FABIUS CUNCTATOR. 207 that of the dictator. Fabius, who had returned to the army, made no complaint ; he divided the troops with Minucius, and they formed two separate camps, about a mile and a half asunder. Hannibal, who was informed of all that occurred, hoped now to be able to take advantage of Minucius's impetuosity. There was a valley between their camps, in which, though it contained no bushes suited for an ambuscade, there were sundry hollows where troops might lie concealed, and in these he placed during the night five hundred horse and five thousand foot ; and that they might not be discovered by the Roman foragers, he sent at dawn some light troops to occupy an eminence in the middle of the plain. Minucius, as soon as he saw these troops, directed his light troops to advance and drive them off"; he then sent his horse, and finally led out his heavy infantry. Hannibal kept sending aid to his men, and meantime led on his horse and heavy foot. His horse drove the Roman light troops back on those of the line, and he then gave the signal to those in ambush to rise ; the Romans were now on the very verge of a total defeat, when Fabius led his troops to their relief Hanni- bal,, when he saw the good order of the dictator's army, drew off" his men, fearing to hazard an action with fresh troops. As he retired, he observed that the cloud which had lain so long on the tops of the mountains had at last come down in rain and tempest. Minucius candidly acknowledged his fault and the superior wisdom of the dictator, and the whole army encamped together again. The winter passed away, only marked by some slight skirmishes. At Rome, when the time of the elections came, the consuls chosen were C. Terentius Varro, a plebeian,* and L. JErailius PauUus, a patrician. Instead of the usual number of four legions, eight Vvere now raised, each of five thousand foot and three hundred horse, and the allies gave as usual an equal number of foot and thrice as many horse. King Hiero sent a large supply of corn, and one thousand slingers and Cretan archers. As soon as the season for the ripening of the corn ap- proached, (536,) Hannibal moved and occupied the citadel * From Livy's account of Varro, we are to suppose that he was a vul- gar, low-born demagogue. He says (xxii. 25) that he was the son of a butcher ; yet we find him continued in command for some years after his defeat, which can hardly be ascribed to mere popular favor. 208 HISTORY OF ROME. of a town named Cannae, where the Romans had their mag- azines. The consuls of the former year, who commanded the army in these parts, finding their situation hazardous, and the allies inclined to revolt, sent to Rome for instruc- tions, and it was resolved that battle should be given without delay. yEmilius and Terentius set out from Rome with the new-raised troops, and their whole united force amounted to eighty-seven thousand horse and foot. Fabius and other prudent men, placing their only reliance on JEmilius, who had distinguished himself in the Illyrian wars, anxiously im- pressed on him the necessity of caution, and of restraining his vain and ignorant colleague, as this army might be in a great measure regarded as Rome's last stake. As Hannibal was greatly superior in cavalry, it was the advice of yEmilius not to risk an action in the plain ; but Varro, ignorant and confident, on his day of command (for the Roman consuls when together took it day and day about) led the army nearer to where the enemy lay. Han- nibal attacked the line of march, but was driven off" with some loss ; and next day yEmilius, not wishing to fight, and unable to fall back with safety, encamped on the Aufidus, placing a part of the army on the other side of the river, a little more than a mile in advance of his camp, and equally distant from that of Hannibal, to protect his own and annoy the enemy's foragers. Hannibal, having explained to his troops the advantages to be derived from an immediate action, led them over the river and encamped on the same side with the main army of the Romans, and on the second day he offered battle, which ^milius prudently declined. He then sent the Numidians across the river to attack those wlio were watering from the lesser camp. The patience of Varro was now exhausted, and next day at sunrise he led his troops over the river, and joining with them those in the lesser camp drew them up in order of battle. The line faced the south;* the Roman horse were on the right wing by the river side ; the troops of the line, drawn up deeper than usual, extended thence ; the horse of the allies were on the left wing, the light troops in advance of the line. Hannibal, having first sent over his light troops, led his army also to the other side of the river. He set his Spanish * Livy says that the arid wind, named the Vii]turnus,blew clouds of dust in the faces of the Romans. This is not noticed by Polybius, and if it was the case it was probably the fault of Varro, not the ski'^ '^^ ^' nibal, as some suppose, that placed them in this pot" ' . BATTLE OF CANN^. 209 and Gallic horse on his left wing, opposite that of the Romans; then one half of his heavy African infantry;* next, the Spaniards and Gauls , after them the rest of the African foot, and on the right wing the Numidian horse. When his line had been thus* formed, he put forward the centre so as to give the whole the form of a half-moon. His whole force, inclusive of the Gauls, did not much exceed 40,000 foot and 10,000 horse, while that of the Romans was 80,000 foot and about 6000 horse. On the one side, ^milius commanded the right, Varro the left wing, the late consul Servilius the centre; on the other, Hanno led the riorht, Hasdrubal the left wincr, Hannibal himself the centre. The battle was begun, as usual, by the light troops; the Spanish and Gallic horse then charged ; the Roman horse, after a valiant resistance, overborne by numbers, broke and fled along the river; the light troops having fallen back on the heav3'-armed on both sides, these engaged : the Gauls and Spaniards who formed the top of the half-moon, being borne down by the weight of the Roman maniples, gave way after a brief but gallant resistance. The victors heed- lessly pressing on, the African foot on either side wheeled to the right and left, and surrounded them. iEmilius, who had commanded on the right, now came with a party of horse to the centre and took the command ; here he was opposed to Hannibal himself. The Numidians meantime kept the horse of the allies engaged ; till Hasdrubal, having cut to pieces the Roman horse which he had pursued, came to their aid : the allies then turned and fled ; Hasdrubal, leaving the Numidians to pursue them, fell with his heavy horse on the rear of the Roman infantry, ^milius fell bravely fighting ; that part of the Roman infantry which was surrounded was slaughtered to the last man ; the rest of the infantry was massacred on all sides; the Numidians cut to pieces the horse of the allies. The consul Varro escaped to Venusia with only seventy horse. A body of ten thousand foot, whom JEmilius had left to guard the camp, fell during the battle on that of Hannibal, which they were near taking ; but Hannibal, coming up after the battle, drove them back to their own camp with a loss of two thousand men, and there forced them to surrender. * Hannibal had armed his African and Spanish infantry after the Roman manner, with the Roman arms which had fallen into his hands. 18* AA 5^10 HISTORY OF ROME. This was the greatest defeat the Roman arms ever sus- tained. Out of 80,000 foot, according to Polybius, only 3000 escaped, and 10,000 were made prisoners ; of 0000 horse there remained but 370 at liberty, 2000 were taken. Among the slain were two qucestors ; twenty-one tribunes ; several former consuls, praetors, and sediles, among whom v/ere the consul ^milius, the late consul Servilius, and the late master of the horse Minucius; and eighty senators, or those who were entitled to a seat in the senate. The loss of the enemy was 4000 Gauls, 1500 Spaniards and Africans, and about 200 horse. A part of the Roman troops, who escaped to Canusium, put themselves there under ttie command of Ap. Claudius and P. Cornelius Scipio, who were military tribunes ; and as these were consulting with some of the other officers, word came that L. Ceecilius Metellus and some other young noblemen were planning to fly to the court of some foreign prince, utterly despairing of their country. Scipio rose, and followed by the rest went to the lodgings of Metellus, where the traitors were assembled : and there drawing his sword made them, under terror of death, swear never to de- sert their country.* When tidings of this unexampled defeat reached Rome, the consternation was such as cannot be described. Grief and female lamentation was every where to be heard, but the magnanimity of the senate remained unshaken. By the advice of Fabius Maximus, measures were taken for pre- serving tranquillity in the city, and ascertaining the position and designs of the victorious and the condition of the van- quished army. On account of the number of the slain, a general mourning for thirty days was appointed, and all public and private religious rites were suspended; Q,. Fabius Pictor t was sent to inquire of the god at Delphi ; the Fatal Books were consulted, and by their injunction a Greek man and woman and a Gallic man and woman were buried alive in the Ox-market. Measures being thus taken to appease the wrath of Heaven, they proceeded to employ the means of defence. C. Claudius Marcellus, the propraetor, was sent to take the command at Canusium, where about ten thousand * Liv. xxii. 53. The censors of the year 538 deprived Metellus and his companions of their horses, and made them serarians, on account of their conduct on this occasion. t This is the earliest Roman historian. PROGRESS OF HANNIBAL. 211 men were now assembled. M. Junius was made dictator, and by enrolling all above and some under seventeen years of age, four legions and one thousand horse were raised; eight thousand able-bodied slaves were, with their own con- sent, purchased from their masters and enrolled in the le- gions ; the arms, the spoils of former wars, which hung in the temples and porticoes, were now taken down and used. It was apprehended at Rome that Hannibal might march at once for the city, and it is said that Maharbal had urged him to do so, and, on his hesitating, told him that he knew how to conquer, but not to use his victory. But the able general knew too well the small chance of success in such an attempt, and was well aware of how much more importance it was to try to detach the allies of Rome ; and in this he soon had abundant success. The Samnites, Lucanians, Bruttians, most of the Greek towns, great part of Apulia and Campania, and all Cisalpine Gaul turned against Rome, whose power v/as now thought to be at an end. Yet never was Rome's steadfastness greater than at the present moment. Hannibal, being in want of money, offered his Roman prisoners their liberty at a moderate ransom. Ten of them were sent to Rome, with Carthalo, a Punic officer, to consult the senate, on their oath to return. When they drew nigh to Rome, alictor met Carthalo, ordering him off the Roman territory before night ; the senate, though assailed by the tears and prayers of the families of the captives, were swayed by the stern, rigid sentiments of T. Manlius Torqua- tus, and replied that they should not be redeemed. One of the envoys had, when leaving the Punic camp, returned to it on some pretext, and thinking, or aifecting to think, him- self thereby released from his oath, remained at Rome ; but the senate had him taken and sent back to Hannibal. When Terentius Varro returned to Rome, all orders went out to meet him, and thanked him for not having despaired of the republic. How different, as Livy remarks, would have been the reception of a defeated Punic general ! Hannibal, having entered Samnium, and made himself master of the town of Compsa, advanced to Campania, where the popular party in Capua, under the guidance of a dema- gogue of noble birth, named Pacuvius Calavius, had made an alliance with him, and took up his quarters in that luxu- rious city. About this time he despatched his brother Mago to Carthage, with an account of his successes and a demand of men, money, and supplies. Mago, it is said, emptied out 212 HISTORY OF ROME. before the senate a bushel full of gold rings, the ornament of the equestrian order at Rome, to prove the magnitude of the losses of the Romans; but Hanno and the anti-Barcine* party still opposed the war, and advised to seek peace. The opposite party, hovt^ever, prevailed ; it vi^as voted to send him 4000 Numidians, 40 elephants, and a large sum of money ; and Mago and another officer were sent to Spain to hire a body of 20,000 foot and 4000 horse. CHAPTER IV. HANNIBAL IN CAMPANIA. DEFEAT OF POSTUMIUS. AF- FAIRS OF SPAIN. TREATY BETWEEN HANNIBAL AND KING PHILIP. HANNIBAL REPULSED AT NOLA. SUCCESS OF HANNO IN BRUTTIUM. AFFAIRS OF SARDINIA, OF SPAIN, OF SICILY. ELECTIONS AT ROME. DEFEAT OF HANNO. SIEGE OF SYRACUSE. AFFAIRS OF SPAIN AND AFRICA. TAKING OF TARENTUM. SUCCESSES OF HANNIBAL. In the city of Nola, as at Capua, the popular party was adverse, the aristocratic favorable, to the cause of Rome. Hannibal, therefore, hoping to get this town as he had gotten Capua, led his troops into its territory. The Nolan senate instantly sent off to the prsetor Marcellus,t who was at Casil- inum with an army, and he immediately set out, and keeping mostly to the hills, reached the town ; Hannibal having just departed to make an effort to gain Neapolis, for he was ex- tremely anxious to get possession of a good seaport on this coast. Failing, however, in his attempt, he went to Nuceria, which he forced to surrender ; and he then returned and en- camped before the gates of Nola ; Marcellus, fearing treach- ery on the part of the people, retired into the town. Each day the two armies were drawn out, and slight skirmishes, but no general action, took place. At length the senators gave Marcellus information of a plot to shut the gates behind him when he had led his army out, and to admit the enemy. * The party who supported Hannibal at Carthage wis named Bar- cine, from his father's epithet Barcas. t The conqueror of the Gauls. See above, p. 194. HANNIBAL IN CAMPANIA. 213 He therefure next day, instead of leading out his forces as usual, stationed them within the town; the legionaries and Roman horse at the middle gate, the recruits, the light troops, and the allies' horse at the two side ones; and he gave strict orders for no one to appear on the walls. Han- nibal, when he drew out his army as usual and saw no one to oppose him, judged at once that the plot was discovered, and he resolved to attempt a storm, in reliance on a rising of the people in his favor. Having sent a part of his troops back to the camp for ladders and the other requisite imple- ments, he led his army up to the walls. Suddenly the gates all opened, the trumpets sounded, the Roman army rushed out on all sides, and he was forced to retire with a consid- erable loss. Marcellus then closed the gates again, and having instituted an inquiry, put to death seventy persons whose guilt was proved. Hannibal, having retired from Nola, went and laid siege to Acerrse, the people of which town, despairing of being able to defend it, fled from it in the night. He then advanced and laid siege to Casilinum, which was gallantly defended by a small but resolute garrison; and finding he had no chance of taking it, he led off his army to winter at Capua. Here, as vi^as to be expected, his troops indulged in all kinds of luxury and debauchery ; and ignorant, rhetorical writers, who could not discern the real causes of the subsequent de- cline of Hannibal's power, ascribe it to this wintering in Capua. When the weather grew milder, Hannibal again invested Casilinum. The dictator Junius was at hand with an army of twenty-five thousand men, but he was obliged to go to Rome on account of the auspices, and he charged his master of the horse, Tib. Sempronius Gracchus, not to attempt any thing during his absence. Gracchus, therefore, though the garrison were suffering the extremes of famine, could not attempt to convey them supplies. All he could do was to send barrels filled with corn down the stream by night, which the people watched for and stopped ; quantities of nuts were in like manner floated down to them. Unfortunately the Vuiturnus happening to be swollen one night, overflowed, and some of the barrels were carried out on the bank where the enemy lay. The river now was strictly watched; and the garrison, having eaten the leather of their shields and every species of vile food, at length capitulated. Most of the towns of Bruttium which remained faithful to Rome were soon after forced to surrender. 214 HISTORY OF ROME. But a still greater misfortune befell the Romans in the north of Italy ; L. Postumius, the consul elect, as he marched with an army of twenty-five thousand men, through a wood in which the Gauls had sawn the trees on the way-side so as to be easily thrown down, was attacked by them; numbers were crushed to death by the trees, and few of the whole army escaped. The consul's skull was fashioned into a drinking cup by the victors, to be used at their principal temple. The news of this misfortune caused great terror at Rome ; but the senate carried on the business of the state with their usual equanimity. Their body, which had been greatly reduced, received at this time an accession of one hundred and seventy-seven members.* Marcellus was elect- ed as colleague to Gracchus, in the room of Postumius; but the election being pronounced faulty by the augurs, Fabius Maxfmus was chosen in his stead. Having brought the war in Italy to the end of the third year, we will now take a view of the progress of affairs in Spain. Cn. Scipio on arriving' in Spain (534) speedily reduced the whole coast from the Pyrenees to the Ebro. He ad- vanced into the interior, and defeated Hanno at a place named Scissis. The Punic general was made prisoner, with two thousand of his men, and six thousand were slain. Hasdrubal meantime crossed the Ebro, and fell on and drove to their ships, with loss, the crews of the Roman fleet at Tarraco, (Tarragona.) He however always retired before Scipio, who reduced the Ilergetes and some other peoples of that country. The following spring (535) Scipio sailed to the mouth of the Ebro, where the Punic fleet and army lay, and by a sudden attack drove the fleet of forty &hips ashore, and carried away twenty-five of them ;' and he after- wards defeated the Ilergetes, who had resumed their arms. As Hasdrubal was coming to their aid, he was recalled by * Sp. Carvilius on this occasion proposed that two out of the senate of each of the peoples of the Latin Name should be given tlie full Ro- man franchise, and admitted into the Roman senate. This liberal and prudent project was of course treated with scorn. M. Fabius Buteo was made dictator for the purpose of completing the senate, which he did in the following manner : — He selected first those who had borne curule offices since the censorship of iEmilius and C. Flaminius, and had not yet been admitted into the senate ; then those who had been sediles, tribunes of the people, or quoestors; finally, those who had held no office, but had in their houses the spoils of enemies or a civic crown. It is remarkable that there were now two dictators at a time, and that Fabius had no master of the horse. TREATY BETWEEN HANNIBAL AND KING PHILIP. 215 tidings that the Celtiberians, instigated by the Romans, had invaded the Punic province and taken three towns ; he hastened back to its defence, but vi'as defeated in two battles, with the loss of 15,000 men slain and 4000 taken. In this state of aifairs P. Scipio, whose command had been prolonged, arrived with thirty ships of war, eight thousand troops, and a large supply of stores. The Romans now crossed the Ebro, and advanced to Saguntum, as it was here that the hostages which Hannibal had required from the Spanish princes were kept, and the garrison was not strong, and if the hostages were released those princes might be more easily induced to join the Romans. Fortune here fa- vored them; a Spaniard named Abelux persuaded Bostar, the commandant, that his wisest course would be to send the hostages back to their friends, whose gratitude might then be relied on ; and he offered to be himself the agent in the business. Bostar gave his consent ; Abelux went that night secretly to the Roman camp, and engaged with Scipio to put the hostages into his hands ; and the following night, when he left the town with them, a party of Romans, as had been arranged, took him and them and brought them into the camp. The hostages were forthwith sent off to their friends, and this apparent generosity produced a great effect in favor of the Romans. The approach of winter put a stop to all further operations. The following year (536) Hasdrubal had to turn all his forces against a people named the Carpesians,* who had risen in arms. When he had subdued them, he received orders from home to lead his army into Italy to join his bro- ther. At his earnest desire, Himilco was sent with a fleet and army to succeed him, as otherwise, he assured the senate, all Spdin would be lost. He then marched for the Ebro; the Romans, learning his intentions, crossed that river, and an engagement ensued, in which Hasdrubal sus- tained a total defeat. Thisi victory decided those who were wavering, and nearly all Spain now joined the Romans. In Italy, at the commencement of the next campaign, (537,) the two main armies remained long inactive. The Romans were encamped at Suessula; Hannibal at Tifata, over Capua. During this time the Romans found that a contest with a new and powerful enemy awaited them. Philip, king of Macedonia, having ended the Confederate * This people dwelt on the Tagus ; their capital was Toletum, (Toledo.) Si 6 HISTORY OF ROME. War,* resolved to join his arms with those of Hannibal, to whom he sent an embassy^ : and a treaty was made, by which the king engaged to invade Italy with a fleet of two hun- dred ships; and that country being reduced under the do- minion of the Carthaginians, they were to pass over and aid in bringing Greece and the islands under that of Philip. t Fortunately for the Romans, the ship in which the envoys were returning fell into their hands, and the summer was gone before a second embassy reached the Punic camp and returned, so that the season of action was lost. P. Vale- rius Flaccus was stationed with fifty ships at Tarentum to watch the progress of events beyond the sea, and the praetor M. Valerius Lasvinus had orders, in case of any hostile move- ments there, to go to Tarentum, and to land his troops on the opposite coast, and transfer the war thither. The consul Fabius at length put his troops in motion, and having passed the Vulturnus, and taken some of the re- volted towns, marched between Hannibal's camp and Capua to Vesuvius, where Marcellus lay, whom he sent with his troops to the defence of Nola. Marcellus while here made frequent incursions into the adjoining parts of Samnium and laid them waste, and at the earnest desire of the Sam- nites Hannibal led his troops against Nola, where he was joined by Hanno with his forces from Bruttium. Marcel- lus having drawn up his troops, as before, within the town, made a sally ; but a sudden storm of wind and rain came on and parted the combatants. The rain lasted all that night and part of the next day. On the third day a general engagement was fought, and Hannibal, it is said, was re- pulsed with the loss of 5000 men and six elephants; and the next day 1272 Spanish and Numidian horse went over to the Romans, whom they served faithfully ^ the rest of the war. Hannibal having dismissed Hanno went into Apulia for the winter, and fixed his camp near the town ofArpi. Hanno meantime endeavored to reduce the Greek towns in Bruttium, which, chiefly out of fear and hatred of the Bruttians, remained faithful to Rome. His attempt on Rhegium failed ; but ihe Locrians were forced to form an ■^ Histor}'^ of Greece, Fart III. chap. vii. t liivy, xxiii. 33. Polybius (vii. 9) gives a copy of the treaty, which is a very curious document. It only speaks however of an alh- ance offensive and defensive, and of obhging the Romans to give up all their possessions on the farther coast of the Adriatic. AFFAIRS OF SARDINIA. 217 alliance with Carthage. The Bruttians, enraged at being balked of the plunder of these two towns, collected a body of fifteen thousand men, and resolved to win the wealthy city of Croton for themselves. In this, as in almost every other town, the men of property were for, the lower orders against, the Romans. The latter put the town into the possession of the Bruttians ; the optimates retired to the citadel, and the Bruttians and the people being unable to take it applied to Hanno. As the circuit of the town greatly exceeded the wants of the inhabitants, Hanno proposed to those in the citadel to receive a colony of Bruttians into the town ; but they declared that they would sooner die: at last they con- sented to emigrate, and retire to Locri. In these parts Rhegium alone now remained to the Romans. In Sardinia a man named Hampsicora had, at the insti- gation of the Carthaginians, raised the standard of revolt against the Romans. The ill health of the pro-prsetor, Q,. Mu- cius, prevented active operations against him ; but the prae- tor P. Manlius, who now came out as his successor, finding himself at the head of a force of 22,000 foot and 1200 horse, advanced, and encamped near the Sardinian army. Hamp- sicora had left the command with his son, and the inexpe- rienced youth venturing to engage the Romans was defeat- ed, with a loss of 3000 men killed and 1800 taken. This victory would have ended the war, but that Hasdrubal landed with a Punic army. Having joined Hampsicora, he gave Manlius battle. After a conflict of four hours vic- tory declared for Rome : the enemy had 12,000 slain, 3700 taken, among whom were Hasdrubal and two other Carthagin- ians of rank, Hanno and Mago. Hampsicora put an end to himself a few days after, and the whole island then submitted. In Spain the Scipios gave a decisive defeat to the three Punic generals Hasdrubal, Mago, and Hamilcar, who were besieging the town of Illiturgis, (near Andujar.) It is said that with but sixteen thousand men they routed sixty thou- sand, killing more men than were in their own array. Shortly after they gavp them another great defeat at a town named Intibili. Several more of the native peoples now declared for the Romans. The steady ally of Rome, the good king Hiero, died this year, after a life of ninety, a reign of fifty years. He was succeeded by his grandson Hieronymus, a boy of but fifteen years of age. A party in Syracuse, adverse to Rome, per- suaded this giddy, profligate youth to seek the friendship of 19 BB 218 HISTORY OF ROME. Carthage, and he sent an embassy with that view to Han- nibal. His overtures were eagerly accepted; a treaty was formed, by which the island was to be divided between them, and Hieronymus commenced hostilities. He was however assassinated shortly afterwards at Leontini ; bilt the anti-Roman party still maintained the superiority at Syra- cuse. The time of the elections at Rome being arrived, (538,) the consul Fabius returned to hold them. The prerogative tribe {i. e. the one allotted to vote first) having named T. Otacilius and M. ^railius, the consul addressed them, and reminding them of their bounden duty in the present con- dition of their country to elect none but the ablest men, de- sired them to vote over again. They then chose himself and M. Marcellus; and all the other tribes followed their ex- ample, in selecting the only men fit to oppose to Hannibal ; and old men called to mind the similar consulates of Fabius Maximus and P. Decius in the Gallic, and of Papirius and Carvilius in the Samnite war. It was resolved to have eighteen legions this year, (for which purpose six new ones were to be raised,) and a fleet of one hundred and fifty ships of war. One hundred new ships were built, and every citi- zen whose fortune had been rated at 50,000 asses and up- wards in the last census was obliged to furnish one or more sailors, according to his property, and to give them a year's pay. The consul Fabius having returned to his army, the Cam- panians, fearing that he would open the campaign with the siege of Capua, sent to Arpi to implore Hannibal to return to their defence. He therefore came and resumed his posi- tion on Mount Tifata, whence he moved down to the coast ; and after making an ineffectual attempt on Puteoli, which the Romans had fortified, he, at the invitation of the popu- lar party, approached Nola. But Marcellus had thrown him- self, with a force of six thousand foot and three hundred horse, into it. An action, as before, was fought under the walls, rather to the disadvantage oi Hannibal, who, giving up all hopes of taking the town, broke up in the night and marched for Tarentum, where he had a secret understand- ing with some of the citizens, who had formerly been his prisoners. As the Roman power was annihilated in Bruttium and Lucania, Hanno led his army of seventeen thousand foot and twelve hundred horse, composed of Punic, Lucanian, DEFEAT OF HANNO. 219 and Bruttian troops, into Samnium, to occupy the impor- tant town of Beneventum. But Fabius had sent orders to Tib. Gracchus, who was at Nuceria with two legions, prin- cipally composed of Volones,* to hasten to preoccupy it. Gracchus had executed his orders, and when Hanno came, and, encamping on the river Calor about three miles off, be- gan to lay the country waste, he led his troops out against him. As the Volones, when leaving their winter quarters, had begun to murmur at not having yet received their free- dom, he had written to the senate on the subject, and had received authority to act as he deemed best. He now as- sembled his troops, and told them that whoever next day brought him the head of an enemy, should have his freedom. At sunrise he led them out ; the enemy did not decline the proffered battle. They fought for four hours with equal ad- vantage, when Gracchus, being told by the tribunes that the condition on which he had promised freedom, greatly retard- ed the men, gave orders for them to fling away the heads and grasp their swords. The enemies were soon driven to their camp with great slaughter; the victors entered pellmell with them, and of the whole army but two thousand, (the number of the slain on the side of the Romans,) and these chiefly horse, escaped. Gracchus conferred the promised boon of freedom on the spot, and led back his triumphant army to Beneven- tum, where the people all poured out to meet them, and craved the proconsul's permission to entertain them. Leave was granted ; tables were then spread in the streets ; the Volones feasted, with caps or bands of white wool on their heads. Gracchus had this scene afterwards painted in the temple of Liberty, which his father had built on the Aventine. The two consuls meantime had laid siege to and reduced Casilinum; Fabius then entered Sanmium and laid it waste; Hannibal's plans on Tarentum w^re foiled by M. Valerius, who put a garrison into the tow^n. On the other hand, Gracchus having sent som.e cohorts of Lucanians to plunder the hostile territory, they were fallen on and totally cut to pieces by Hanno. In Syracuse, after some of the atrocities familiar to the Greek democracies, the supreme power was transferred from the hands of the party who were for moderation and remain- ing faithful to Rome, to the rabble and the mercenary sol- diers. War was resolved on, and the chief command given * That is, the volunteer slaves, who had been armed. See above, p. 211. 220 HISTORY OF ROME. to Hippocrates and Epicydes, two Carthaginians of Syra- cusan descent, whom Hannibal had sent to Hieronymus. Marcellus, to whom the conduct of the war against Syracuse was committed, took Leontini by assault, and then came and encamped at the Olympium before Syracuse,* while his fleet assailed the wall of Acradina on the sea-side. Quinqueremes were lashed together, and wooden towers erected on them, and engines plied, while light troops kept up a constant dis- charge from vessels ranged behind them. But Archimedes, the greatest mechanist of the age, was m Syracuse ; and in the time of Hiero he had placed engines along the walls, which now baffled all the skill and efforts of the Romans,! and Marcellus found himself obliged to convert the siege into a blockade. Himilco, with a Punic army, having gained over Agrigentum and some other towns, came and encamp- ed on the Anapus, about eight miles from Syracuse ; but finding it in no need of aid, he led off his forces to the town of Murgantia, which the people put into his hands, with the Roman garrison and magazines which were in it. The peo- ple of Enna, in the centre of the island, being suspected by the Roman commandant of a similar design, he fell on and massacred them as they were sitting in assembly; and Mar- cellus, so far from blaming the deed, gave the plunder of the town to the soldiers. As Enna was sacred to the goddesses Ceres and Proserpina, the horror of this impious deed made most of the remaining towns declare for the Punic cause. Marcellus now fixed his winter camp at Leon, about five miles north of Syracuse. The Romans commenced this year active operations against the king of Macedonia, whom Laevinus defeated near the town of Apollonia in Epirus.^ In Spain, the advantage was on the side of the Romans, who gained some victories over their antagonists. The consuls for the next year (539) were Q,. Fabius Max- imus (son of the late consul) and Tib. Sempronius Grac- chus. The year is remarkably barren of events. Hanni- bal remained inactive in the neighborhood of Tarentum ; * See the description and plan of Syracuse, History of Greece, p. 235, 2d edit. t We are told that some of his machines were iron hands, which seizing the ships by the prow turned them up on the poop, and then let them fall ; and that by means of burning-glasses he set fire to seve- ral of the Roman vessels. (Livy, xxiii. 34. Zonaras, ix. 4.) t The whole of the wars between Philip and the Romans will be found in the History of Greece, Part HI. chap. vii. and -^iii. TAKING OF TARENTUM. 221 Marcellus lay before Syracuse ; the consul Fabius recovered the town of Arpi. In Spain the Scipios were still suc- cessful ; they began to follow the example of the Cartha- ginians by taking the natives into pay, and a body of Celii- berians served under their standard. They also extended their views to Africa, where a Numidian prince named Syphax was at war with the Carthaginians. They sent three centurions to him to propose an alliance ; their offer was gladly accepted by the Numidian, and at his request one of the centurions remained with him to form and disci- pline a body of infantry, an arm in which the Numidians had been hitherto very deficient. But the Carthaginians formed an alliance with Gala, the king of that portion of the Numidians named Massylians ; and his troops, led by his son Masinissa, a youth of seventeen years of age, being joined with theirs, they gave Syphax a total defeat. He fled to the Maurusians and collected another army; but Masinissa pursued and prevented him from passing over to Spain as he had intended. The following year (540) was one of the most eventful of the war. Q,. Fulvius Flaccus and Ap. Claudius were chosen consuls, and the army was raised to three-and-twenty legions. Early in the year Tarentum fell into the possession of Hannibal, in the following manner.* A Tarentine envoy at Rome, named Phileas, persuaded his countrymen who were retained there as hostages to make their escape. They were pursued and taken at Tarracina, and being brought back were scourged and cast from the Tarpeian rock. This piece of cruelty irritated the minds of their friends and rel- atives at Tarentum, and thirteen young men entered into a plot to give the town up to Hannibal. Going out under the pretext of hunting, they sought the Punic camp, which lay at a distance of three days' march ; and two of them, named Nico and Philemenus, giving themselves up to the guards, demanded to be led into the presence of Hannibal. The plan was soon arranged, and Hannibal desired them, as they were going away, to drive off the cattle which would be sent out of the camp next morning to graze, as this would give them credit in the eyes of their countrymen, and help to conceal their dealings with him. They did as directed, and, by sharing their booty, gained great favor and many * Polybius, viii. 26. Livy, xxv. 7 — 11. 19* 222 HISTORY OF ROME. imitators. They thus went backwards and forwards seve- ral times, and it was arranged that the rest should remain quiet, while Philemenus, whose passion for the chase was well known, should keep going in and out under the pretext of hunting. He always went and came at night, alleging his fear of the enemy, and always returned loaded with game, partly killed by himself, partly given him by Hanni- bal. A portion of this he took care to give to Livius, the Roman commandant, and another part to the guards at the gate by which he used to conje in. At length he won their confidence so completely, that as soon as his whistle was heard outside in the night, the gate was opened, without any inquiry. Hannibal judged that the time for action was now arrived. He had hitherto feigned illness, lest the Romans should wonder at his staying so long in the one place; and he now did so more than ever. Then selecting ten thousand of his boldest and most active troops, both horse and foot, and di- recting them to take four days' provision, he set out with them before dawn ; a party of eighty Numidian horse pre- ceded them in order to scour the country, and prevent in- formation of their approach from being conveyed to Taren- tum. Philemenus was with him as his guide, and the march was arranged so as to reach the city by midnight. The day fixed on by the conspirators was one on which Livius was to be at a banquet at the place named the Mu- seum, close by the market. It was late in the evening when tidings came of the Numidians being seen, and he merely directed a party of horse to go out early in the morning and drive them off; at night he returned home without any suspicion, went to bed, and fell asleep. The conspirators remained on the watch for the signal arranged with Hannibal, who, when he drew near to the gate which had been agreed on, in the east part of the city, was to kindle a fire on a certain spot, and when those within had re- plied by a similar signal, both fires were to be extinguished. The signal was made and returned in due time; the con- spirators then rushed to the gate, killed the guards, and admitted Hannibal, who, leaving his horse without, moved on with his infantry, and took possession of the market. Meantime Philemenus was gone round with a thousand Africans to the ^ate he was used to enter at. He had the carcass of a huge wild-boar prepared for the purpose, and giving a whistle as usual, the wicket was opened. He him- SUCCESSES OF HANNIBAL. 223 self and three others bore the carcass on a barrow, and while the guard was handling and admiring it, they killed him : they then let in thirty Africans who were behind them, and cutting the bars opened the gates and admitted all the rest, and they joined Hannibal at the market. He divided a body of two thousand Gauls into three parts, and sent them through the town, with orders to kill all the Ro- mans they met ; and the conspirators, who had gotten some Roman trumpets and learned how to sound them, stood at the theatre and blew, and as the soldiers hastened on all sides to the signal, they were met and slain. Livius at the first alarm had run down to the port, and getting into a boat passed over to the citadel. As soon as it was daylight Hannibal invited all the Ta- ,rentines to come without arms to the market. When they appeared he spoke to them kindly as their friend, and dis- missed them with directions to set a mark on their houses. He then gave orders tD pillage all the houses not marked, as belonging to the Romans or their friends. As the citadel lay on a small peninsula, and was secured on the town side by a deep ditch and wall, there were no hopes of being able to take it. To secure the city, there- fore, Hannibal began to run a rampart parallel to that of the citadel ; the Romans attempted to impede the works, but were driven back with great loss. The rampart was then completed, and a ditch also run between it and the town ; and Hannibal retired and encamped on the Galsesus, about five miles off. When all was finished, some works were carried on against the citadel ; but the Romans, hav- ing been reenforced from Metapontum, made a sally by night and destroyed them. Hannibal saw that unless the Taren- tines were masters of the sea, there was no chance of re- ducing the citadel. But their ships which were in the har- bor could not get out, as that fortress commanded the entrance ; he therefore had them hauled along a street which ran across the peninsula into the open sea on the south side. The fleet then anchored before the citadel ; and Hannibal, leaving a garrison in the town, returned to winter in his former camp.* * Livy says that his authorities differed as to the year of the revolt of Tarentum, some placing it in 539, but the greater number, and nearest to the events, in 540. If this last be the true date, it must have been early in the spring ; yet Livy himself says Hannibal went into winter quarters immediately after it ; and Polybius (viii. 36, 13) says that he 224 HISTORY OF ROME. In the beginning of May the Roman consuls and prsetors set out for their respective provinces. The two consuls, Q,. Fulvius and Ap. Claudius, encamped at Bovianum, in Samnium, intending to lay siege to Capua. The Campa- nians, being prevented by their presence from cultivating their lands, sent to Hannibal, imploring him to supply them vv^ith corn before the Romans entered their country. He ordered Hanno to attend to this matter, and this general came and encamped near Beneventum ; and having collected there a large supply of corn, sent vv^ord to the Campanians to come and fetch it. With their usual indolence and negligence, they came vi^ith little more than forty wagons, and Hanno, having rated them well for it, appointed another day. But the Beneventines now heard of it : they sent to inform the consuls ; and Fulvius set out with his army, and entered Beneventum by night. The Campanians came this time with two thousand wagons and a great crowd of people ; and Fulvius, hearing that Hanno was away to get corn, came before daylight and assailed the camp. As this lay on a hill, it cost the Romans much labor and loss to reach it ; and the consul having advised with his officers, ordered the call for retreat to be sounded ; but the soldiers heeded it not; they rushed on with emulative ardor, car- ried the rampart, and made themselves masters of the camp and all it contained. The consuls shortly after, having sum- moned Gracchus from Lucaniato the defence of Beneventum, proceeded to lay siege to Capua. But Gracchus was drawn by the treachery of a Lucanian into an ambush laid for hira by Mago, and he and all that were with him were slain. When the consuls entered Campania and began to lay it waste, the Campanians, aided by a body of two thousand horse which Hannibal had sent them, sallied forth and killed about fifteen hundred of the Romans. Hannibal himself soon appeared, and gave the consuls battle; but the en- gagement was broken off' by the sudden appearance in the distance of the army lately commanded by Gracchus, which each supposed to be coming to the aid of the other side. The consuls in the night divided their forces, Fulvius going toward Cumse, Claudius into Lucaijia. Hannibal pursued this last, who gave him the slip and returned to Capua. Chance however threw a victory into the hands of the Pu- remained there the rest of the winter. It seems therefore moM prob- able that the true time was the autumn or beginning of the winter of 539. TAKING OF SYRACUSE. 225 nic general ; for a centurion named M. Centenius having boasted to the senate of all the mischief he could do the enemy, from his knowledge of the country, if they would let him have five thousand men, they had the folly to give him eight thousand, half citizens, half allies, and so many volunteers joined him on the way as doubled his army. With this force he entered Lucania, where Hannibal now was. But it was a far different thing to lead a company, and to command an army opposed to such a general as Hannibal, who speedily brought him to an action ; and of his whole force not more than one thousand men escaped. Hannibal moved thence into Apulia, where the prastor Cn. Fulvius lay with an army of eighteen thousand men at the town of Her- donia. The Roman general was rash and unskilful, and his army completely demoralized by laxity of discipline ; they therefore yielded the able Carthaginian an easy victory, and but two thousand men escaped from the field. CHAPTER V. taking of syracuse. defeat and death of the soipios. — Hannibal's march to rome. — surrender of capua. scipio in spain. taking of new carthage. affairs in italy. retaking of tarentum. defeat of has- drubal in spain. death of marcellus. march op hasdrubal. his defeat on the metaurus. While the war thus proceeded in Italy, Marcellus urged on the siege of Syracuse. Takmg advantage of a festival of Diana, (Artemis,) which the Syracusans were wont to cele- brate with abundance of wine and revelry, he one night scaled the walls and made himself master of the Epipolae. He encamped between Tycha and Neapolis,* to the inhab- itants of which he granted their lives and dwellings, but both quarters were given up to plunder. The commandant at Euryalus surrendered that important post on condition of the garrison being allowed to reenter the town. Mar- * Part of the Temenites. See History of Greece. CO 226 HISTORY OF ROME. cellus then formed three camps in order to blockade Acra- dina, while a Roman fleet lay without to prevent succors or provisions from being brought by sea. After a few days, Himilco and Hippocrates came to the relief of the town ; they encamped at the Great Harbor, and it was arranged, that while they attacked the division under the legate T. Crispinus at the Olympium, Epicydes should make a sally from Acradina against Marcellus, and the Punic fleet in the Harbor get close in to shore, to pre- vent any aid being sent to Crispinus. The whole plan however miscarried, for they were repulsed on all sides. It being now the autumn, fevers, produced by the moisture of the soil, broke out in both armies : the Sicilians in the army of Hippocrates returned home to escape it ; but the Punic troops having no retreat all perished, and among them their two generals. The Romans suffered less, as they were in the city, and had the shelter of the houses. Bomilcar, who had run out of the Great Harbor after the capture of EpipolaB, was now at Cape Pachynus with one hundred and thirty ships of Vv'ar and seventy transports, but the easterly winds kept him from doubling it. Epicydes, fearing he might go back, gave the command at Acradina to the leaders of the mercenaries, and went to him in order to induce him to give battle to the Roman fleet, which was inferior to his in number. The two fleets were now lying one on each side of the cape ; and as soon as the wind ceased to blow from the east, Bomilcar stood out to sea in order to double it, but seeing the Roman ships in motion he lost courage, and sending word to the transports to go back to Africa, made all sail for Tarentum. Epicydes then, giving up Syracuse for lost, retired to Agrigentum. A surrender of Syracuse, on favorable terms, was now near being effected. Some of the inhabitants, learning that Marcellus would consent to leave them in the enjoyment of their liberty and laws, under the dominion of Rome, fell on and slew the governors whom Epicydes had left, and having called an assembly of the people, elected praetors, (strategi,) some of whom were sent to treat with Marcellus. Matters were thus on the point of being accommodated, when the deserters in the town, persuading the mercenaries that their cause was the same with theirs, fell on and killed the praetors and several of the inhabitants, and then appointed six governors of their own, three for Acradina and three for the Island. The mercenaries, however, soon saw that DEFEAT AND DEATH OF THE SCIPIOS. 227 their case was very different from that of the deserters ; and one of the three commandants of Acradina, a Spaniard named Mericus, made a secret agreement to put the town into the hands of Marcellus. For this purpose he proposed that each commandant should take charge of a separate part of the town. This was agreed to, and the part as- signed to himself being the Island, from the fount of Are- thusa to the mouth of the Greek Harbor, he one night admitted a party of Roman soldiers at the gate next tcv the fount. In the morning, at daybreak, Marcellus made a general attack on Acradina, and while all the efforts of the besieged were directed against him, troops were landed on the island, and, with little loss, they made themselves masters of it and of a part of Acradina. Marcellus then sounded a recall, lest the royal treasures should be pillaged in the confusion. The deserters who were in Acradina having made their escape the town surrendered unconditionally, and Mar- cellus, when he had secured the royal treasure for the state, gave the city up to pillage. During the pillaging a soldier entered the room where Archimedes was deeply en- gaged over his geometrical figures, and not knowing who he was, killed him. Marcellus, who was greatly grieved at this mishap, gave him an honorable sepulture. The nu- merous pictures, statues, and other works of art, in which Syracuse abounded, were sent to Rome to adorn that cap- ital. Marcellus shortly after gave the Punic forces and their allies a great defeat on the river Himera. But equal success did not attend the Roman arms in Spain ; for, the Scipios having divided their forces, Publius, hearing that a Spanish prince named Indibilis was coming with seven thousand five hundred men to join the Punic army, set out to give him battle on the road. In the midst of the action the Numidian horse came up, and then the rest of the Punic army; the Romans were cut to pieces, and Scipio himself slain. About a month after, a similar fate befell Cn. Scipio and his army. From the wrecks of » the two armies and the garrisons a new one was formed; the soldiers 'themselves chose a knight, named L. Marcius, to be their general, and under his command they repelled an attack on their own camp, and afterwards stormed two Punic camps with great slaughter of the enemies. The siege of Capua was now (541) the chief object of interest in Italy. Fulvius and Claudius had shut in that 228 HISTORY OF ROME. town completely by a double ditch and rampart ; famine pressed, and the difficulty of communicating with Hannibal was extreme. At length, on being informed of the condition of his allies, the Punic general came to their aid, and a com- bined attack from within and without was made on the Ro- man lines. It was, however, repulsed with great loss on the part of the assailants, and Hannibal saw that the only chance of saving Capua was to menace Rome, as the army would probably be recalled to its defence. Having, therefore, sent word to the people of Capua to hold out manfully, he col- lected boats, and put his army over the Vulturnus ; then crossing the Liris, marched rapidly along the Latin road by Ferentinum, Anagnia, Lavici, Tusculum, and Gabii, and encamped within eight miles of the city. The news of Hannibal's march caused great alarm at Rome. It was at first proposed to recall all the troops to the defence of the city ; but at last it was thought sufficient for one of the proconsuls to leave Capua, and come with a part of their forces. As Claudius was confined by a wound, Fulvius proceeded with sixteen thousand men along the Appian road. He entered Rome at the Capene gate, and being joined in command with the consuls, marched his forces through the city, and encamped without the Colline gate. Hannibal, who now lay beyond the Anio, only three miles from the city, advanced with two thousand horse as near as the temple of Hercules, in order to view it. Fulvius ordered the Roman horse to charge, and the consuls at the same time directed a body of twelve hundred Numidian de- serters who were on the Aventine to come down to the Esquilise. The people who were on the Capitol, seeing them, thought the Aventine was taken, and the consternation that prevailed is not to be described. Next day Hannibal offered battle, but just as the two ar- mies were drawn out there came on a violent storm of rain and hail which separated them ; the very same thing occur- red the following day. As soon as they returned to their camps the sky cleared, and Hannibal, if is said, seeing the hand of heaven in it, resolved to retire. It is also said, that ' he was moved thereto by intelligence of troops having actu- ally left the city at this time for the army in Spain, and of the very ground on which he was encamped being sold, and having brought its full value, — all which proved to him that Rome was not to be conquered,* He then, it is added, in If these are not the fictions of Roman vanity, they were mere rhodomontades or artifices to keep up the spirits of the people. SCIPIO IN SPAIN. 229 derision called for an auctioneer, and desired him to put up and sell the bankers' shops round the Forum. He moved thence to the river Tutia, six miles from the city, then pil- laged the temple of Feronia near Capenum, passed rapidly throiiorh the Sabine and Marsian countries,* and thence to the extremity of Bruttium, in the hopes of surprising Rhe- gium. On the return of Fulvius to the camp before Capua, the Campanians, hopeless of relief, agreed to an unconditional surrender. Twenty-eight of the principal senators having partaken of a splendid supper at the house of Vibius Vir- rius, the chief author of the revolt, took poison to escape the vengeance of the Romans. Seventy of the remaining senators were put to death, others were imprisoned in vari- ous places, the rest of the people sold for slaves, the town and its territory confiscated to the Roman state. A part of the besieging army was immediately embarked for Spain under C. Claudius Nero. Being joined by the troops there, he advanced against Hasdrubal, whom he en- closed in a valley ; but the Carthaginian, by pretending to treat, contrived to get his troops out of it by degrees, and then bade defiance to the baffled Roman. Spain, where the chief resources of the enemy lay, was now of equal importance with Italy in the eyes of the Ro- man people, and comitia were held for appointing a procon- sul to take the command of the army there. No candidates presented themselves : the people were dejected ; when sud- denly P. Scipio, the son of Publius who had fallen in Spain, a young man of only four-and-twenty years of age, came forward and sought the command. It was voted to him unaniniously ; but soon, when the people thought of his age, and of the ill-fortune of his family in Spain, they be- gan to repent of their precipitation. Scipio then called an assembly, and spoke in such a manner on these points as completely reassured them, and changed their fears into confidence. We have already seen Scipio distinguish himself at the Ticinus, and, after the battle of Cannag. His was destined to be one of the greatest names in Roman story. To the advantages of nature he joined such arts as were calculated to raise him in the eyes of the people. From the day on which he assumed the virile toga, he never did any thing * According to the historian Ccelius (Liv. xxvi. 11) this was Han- nibal's route to, not from Rome. 20 230 HISTORY OF ROME. either public or private without first ascending the Capitol, entering the temple, and sitting there for some time alone. Hence an opinion spread among the vulgar that, like Alex- ander the Great, he vv^as of divine origin, and some even talked of a huge serpent that used to be seen in his mother's chamber, and vv^hich always vanished when any one entered. These things Scipio never either affirmed or denied, and thus enjoyed the advantage of the popular be- lief As a man, a statesman, and a general, his deeds will best display his character. Having received an additional force of ten thousand foot and one thousand horse, with M. Junius Silanus as propras- tor under him, Scipio sailed for Spain. He landed at Em- poriae, and having gone thence to Tarraco, held a meeting of the deputies of the allies; he then visited the troops in their quarters, and bestowed great praises on them for their gallant conduct. To the brave Marcius he showed the most marked favor. As it was now late in the year, he returned to Tarraco for the winter. In Greece, this year, M. Valerius Laevinus formed a treaty of alliance with the JStolians against king Philip. While Lasvinus was absent in Greece, he was chosen con- sul with Marcellus for the ensuing year. The army was re- duced to twenty-one legions, by discharging those who had served a long time. On the proposal of Lsevinus, when pay was not to be had for the seamen, and private persons murmured at being called on to supply rowers as before, the senators set the example, in which they were followed by all orders, of giving their plate and jewels for the service of the state; and an abundant supply was thus obtained. Early in the spring (542) Scipio set out from Tarraco, and crossed the Ebro at the head of an army of twenty- five thousand foot and two thousand five hundred horse. The fleet under C. Laelius, having arrived at the mouth of that river, sailed thence along the coast, Laelius alone know- ing its destination; and it entered the port of New Carthage just as the army appeared before the walls. Scipio had re- solved to open the campaign by the siege of this important town, where all the money, arms, and stores of the enemy lay ; and, what was of still more consequence, where the hostages of the native princes were kept.* The town of New Carthage was thus situated. On the * This siege is related by Polybius, lib. x. TAKING OF NEW CARTHAGE. 231 east coast of Spain a bay, somewhat more than five hundred paces wide, runs for about the same length into the land ; a small island at its mouth shelters it from every wind but the south-east. At the bottom of the bay an elevated pen- insula advances, on which the town was built. The sea is deep on the east and south side of it ; on the west, and partly on the north, it is so shallow as to resemble a marsh, varying in depth with the tide. An isthmus, two hundred and fifty paces long, led from the town to the main land. Scipio, having secured his camp in the rear, attempted to take the town by escalade on the land side, but the ladders proved too short, and the walls being vigorously defended, he sounded a retreat. After a little time he ordered those who had not been engaged to take the ladders and renew the attack. It was now midday, and the retiring sea, combined with a strong wind from the north, had rendered the marsh quite shallow. Scipio, learning this circumstance, represented it as a visible interference of the gods, and ordered a party of five hundred men to take Neptune as their leader, and wade through the marsh to the town. They easily accomplished this task ; and as the wall on that side was low and without guards, they penetrated into the town, and rushing to the gate, on the side where the rest of the army was making its attack, forced it open. The wall was now scaled at all points; the soldiers poured in and slaughtered all they met, till the citadel surrendered, when orders were given to cease from the carnage. Thus was New Carthage taken in one day. The quantity of naval and military stores and of the precious metals found in it was immense. The hostages were numerous ; some accounts said three hundred, others seven hundred and twenty-five ; and Scipio, having learned from them to what states they belonged, sent to them to desire them to come and receive their hostages. The wife of Mandonius, the brother of Indibilis, who was one of them, then came and besouaht him to have a due regard for the honor of the daughters of Indibilis and other noble maidens who were among the hostages, and the young hero gave them in charge to an officer of well-known honor and integrity. Among the captives was a maiden of distinguished beauty. When led by the soldiers before the conqueror, he inquired who and whence she was ; and finding, among other things, that she was betrothed to a Celtiberian prince, named Al- lucius, he sent to summon her parents and her lover. On 232 HISTORY OF ROME. their arrival he first spoke with Allucius, and assured him that the maiden, while in his hands, had been treated with the same respect as if she had been in her father's house. In return, he asked him to become the friend of the Roman people. The prince grasped his hand, and with tears as- sured him of his gratitude. The parents and relatives of the maiden were then called in, and finding that she was to be released without ransom, they pressed Scipio to receive as a gift the gold they had brought. He yielded to their instances; the gold was laid at his feet; he then called Allucius, and desired him to take it as an addition to his bride's dower.* The grateful Spaniard on his return home extolled the magnanimity of Scipio to the skies, and having raised a body of one thousand four hundred horse came and joined him shortly after. Scipio sent Laelius home with the prisoners and tidings of his success, and then led his troops back to Tarraco. The consul Marcellus had meantime recovered the town of Salapia in Apulia, and taken by storm two Samnite towns. But the proconsul Cn, Fulvius, venturing to give battle to Hannibal near Herdonia, sustained a total defeat. Himself and eleven tribunes, and seven thousand — or, according to some, thirteen thousand — men, fell in the action. Mar- cellus hastened and engaged Hannibal at Numistro in Lu- cania; the battle, which lasted all through the day, w^as indecisive ; Hannibal theii retired by night into Apulia, whither Marcellus followed him, but nothing of moment occurred. An embassy came at this time from Syphax to form a friendship with the Roman people. It was received with great favor, and envoys bearing gifts sent back with it. Two ambassadors were also sent to Egypt to renew the friendship with the king of that country. The consuls of the following year (543) were d. Fabius Maximus and Q,. Fulvius Flaccus. Fabius, being resolved to * This is told in a much less romantic manner by Polybius. He says that some youno- Romans brought the maiden to Scipio. He thanked them, and said that nothing- could be more agreeable to him if he were a private person than such a gift, but that liis office of general did not allow him to accept it. He then sent for her father, and giving her to him desired him to match her with whichever of the citizens he preferred. Polybius, who omits no occasion of extolling the Scipios, could hardly have known any thing of the Pr'ince Allu- cius. Indeed, in the latter case, the maiden must have been a hostage, which lessens Scipio's merit. RETAKING OF TARENTUM. 233 reduce Tarentum if possible, besought his colleague and Mar- cellus to keep Hnnnibal in occupation ; and Marcellus, who deemed himself alone able to cope Avith that great general gladly took the field. They came to an engagement near Canusium, which was terminated by night. Next day it was renewed, and the Romans were defeated with the loss of two thousand seven hundred men. Marcellus, having severely rebuked and punished his men, led them out again the fol- lowing day, and after a bloody conflict they remained victo- rious. The loss of the enemy is said to have been eight thou- sand slain and five elephants, that of the Romans three thou- sand slain and a great number wounded. Hannibal retired thence to Bruttium. Fabius, on coming to Tarentum, fixed his camp at the mouth of the harbor, and prepared to assail it by machines worked on ship-board, as Marcellus had done at Syracuse; but treachery enabled him to take the town with less hazard. The garrison was composed of Bruttians, left there by Hanni- bal, and its commander was in love with the sister of a man in the army of Fabius. This man, with the consul's consent, went into the town as a deserter, and by means of his sister induced the Bruttian to betray it. On the appointed night the trumpets sounded from the ships, the citadel, and camp, as for a general assault ; and Fabius, who had secretly gone round with a select body of troops to the east side, was ad- mitted over the wall by the Bruttians. The town was speed- ily won : the booty was immense ; but Fabius abstained from taking the pictures and statues, which nearly equalled those of Syracuse in number and value. Hannibal, who was has- tening to its relief, on hearing that it was taken, said, *' The Romans have their Hannibal. We have lost Tarentum in the same way that we gained it," Scipio, having spent the winter in forming alliances with the native princes, crossed the Ebro early in the spring of this year. Near the town of Bascula he found Hannibal's brother, Hasdrubal, strongly encamped on an eminence, with the river Tagus in his rear. But the valor of the Roman soldiers led by Scipio overcame all obstacles, and Hasdrubal was routed with the loss of eight thousand men slain, and twelve thousand taken in his camp. Among these last was a youth, the nephew of Masinissa the Numidian, whom Scipio treated with great kindness, and sent safe to his uncle. In imitation of Hannibal's policy, he gave their liberty to all 20 * D D 234 HISTORY OF ROME. the Spaniards, but sold the Africans for slaves. He then returned to Tarraco. The consuls of the ensuing year, (544,) Marcellus and T. Quinctius Crispinus, were joined in command against Han- nibal. CrispiuLis, having jnade an ineffectual effort to take Locri, proceeded to Apulia to join his colleague, and the two consuls encamped about three miles asunder, between Venusia and Bantia. Hannibal came from Bruttium, and took up a po- sition near them. There was an eminence covered with wood between his camp and those of the Romans, and expecting that the latter would seek to occupy it, he sent in the night some of his Numidians to lie in ambush on it. The general cry in the Roman camp was to secure this hill, lest Hannibal should get possession of it ; and to comply with the wishes of their men the consuls themselves set out with a party of two hundred and twenty horse to explore it. When they had gone a little way up the hill they were suddenly assailed on all sides by the Numidians, and Marcellus was killed ; Cris- pinus escaped badly wounded. Hannibal instantly occupied the height, and Crispinus retired the following night and en- camped in the mountains. The Punic general gave honor- able sepulture to the body of his rival ; but having gotten his ring, he resolved to derive what advantage he could from it, and he wrote in his name to the people of Salapia, by a de- serter, to say that he would come thither the following night, Crispinus, however, had prudently sent to all the towns to in- form them of his colleague's death, and to warn them against letters sealed with his ring. The attempt on Salapia, there- fore miscarried, and Hannibal returned to Bruttium, where he forced the Romans to raise the siege of Locri. While Hannibal was thus engaged, his brother Hasdrubal was on his march from Spain to join him. After the victories gained by Scipio, and the influence he had obtained over the minds of the natives, the Carthaginians began to consider their cause in that country as- nearly hopeless; and, as Han- nibal had long been urgent for succors, it was resolved that Hasdrubal should lead an army into Italy, He was prepar- ing to do so at the time when he sustained the defeat from Scipio above related; but as he had before the battle placed his elephants and treasure in safety, he retired to the north coast of Spain, and there enlisted a large body of Celtibe- rians ; and as Scipio had sent troops to guard the eastern passage of the Pyrenees, he entered Gaul at the west side, MARCH OF HASDRUBAL. 235 and directed his march through Aquitania for the Alps. He had sent to raise troops in Liguria, and eight thousand Ligu- rians were ready to join him when he appeared in Italy. The Gauls of the Alps, grown familiar with the passage of strangers, offered no opposition ; the asperities of the road had been removed by his brother, and he descended into the plain of the Po without having suffered any losses ; but in- stead of passing on to join Hannibal, he consumed the time, which was of so much value, in besieging the strong colony of Placentia. The consuls elected for this year (545) were C. Claudius Nero and M. Livius Salinator ; the former was opposed to Hannibal, the latter advanced to meet Hasdrubal. Claudius, having selected forty thousand foot and two thousand five hundred horse out of the troops in the south, took his post at Venusia ; Hannibal collected his forces from their quarters, advanced to Grumentum in Lucania, whither Claudius also came ; and the two armies were encamped about a mile and a half asunder. An engagement, in which it is said that Han- nibal was defeated, was fought in the plain which separated the camps, after which Hannibal, as was his wont, decamped in the night. Claudius followed, and coming up with him at Venusia gave him a slight defeat. Hannibal went thence to Metapontum, then back again to Venusia, and on to Ca- nusium, still followed by Claudius. Meantime Hasdrubal, having given over the siege of Pla- centia, was advancing southwards. He wrote to his brother to desire him to meet him in Umbria; but his letters fell into the hands of Claudius, who, deeming the time to be come for venturing on something extraordinary, sent the letters to the senate, informing them of what he intended to do, and directing them how to provide for the safety of the city in case of any mishap. He then despatched orders to the peo- ple of the country through which he intended to pass to have provisions, horses, and beasts of burden prepared : and se- lectinof six thousand foot and one thousand horse, desired them to be ready at night for an attempt on the nearest Punic gar- rison. At night he led them in the direction of Picenum, and when at a sufficient distance, informed them that it was his intention to go and join his colleague. Every where, as they passed, the people came forth to congratulate them and pray for their success; supplies poured in in abundance ; the soldiers marched day and night, taking barely the necessary repose. Claudius had sent on to inquire of his colleague whether 236 HISTORY OF ROME. he would wish them to join him by day or by night, and whether they should enter his camp, or encamp separately. Livius desired them to enter his camp in secret, and by night ; and he arranged that the officers should receive the officers, the men the men, of Nero's army into their tents, so that the camp need not be enlarged, and the enemy might be thus kept in ignorance of their arrival. As Livius was encamped near the colony of Sena, about half a mile from the Punic camp, Nero halted in the neighboring mountains till night came, and he then entered the consul's camp. A council of war was held next day, at which the praetor L. Porcius, who had followed Hasdrubal along the hills, and who was now encamped near the consul, assisted. Most were for a delay of a few days to rest Nero's men, but he himself was decidedly against this course, lest Hannibal, having learned how he had been deceived should be enabled to join his brother. It was therefore resolved to give battle at once. The suspicions of Hasdrubal were aroused when he saw the old shields of a part of the Roman soldiers, and marked that their horses were leaner than usual, and the number of the men was increased. He sent some down to where the Romans used to water, to observe if any of them were sun- burnt as off a journey ; and others to go round their camp, and discover if it had been enlarged, and if the trumpet was blown twice or only once. They reported that it was blown twice in one camp, once in the other ; and though they had remarked no change in the size, the wary general became convinced thai the other consul must be there, and he began to fear that his brother had sustained a decisive defeat; still, thinking his letters might have been intercept- ed, he resolved to decamp in the night and fall back into Gaul, and there wait till he had some sure tidings of Han- nibal. He therefore set out early in the night ; but his guides made their escape, and he vainly sought a ford in the river Metaurus, which increased in depth as it approached the sea. In the morning the Roman army came up, and Hasdrubal could no longer decline an engagement. The Roman army consisted of 45,000 men. Livius led the left, Nero the right wing, Porcius the centre, Hasdru- bal's forces exceeded 60,000 men ; he placed his Spanish troops, himself at their head, on the right ; the Gauls, pro- tected by a hill, on the left; the Ligurians in the centre, with the elephants in their front. The conflict between Livius and Hasdrubal was severe. Claudius, finding that DEFEAT OF HASDRUBAL ON THE METAURUS. 237 the liill prevented him from attacking the Gauls, took some coliorts round in the rear and fell on the left flank of the Spaniards and Ligurians, who, being thus assailed on all sides, gave way ; the Gauls were also attacked, and easily routed ; the elephants were mostly killed by their own dri- vers. Hasdrubal, who had performed all the parts of an able general, seeing the battle lost, spurred his horse, and rushing into the midst of a Roman cohort, died as became the son of Hamilcar and the brother of Hannibal. This victory nearly compensated for Cannae ; 56,000 men, we are told, lay dead; 5400 were taken : the loss of the victors was 8000 men.* That very night Nero set out, and reached his camp on the sixth day, bearing with him the head of Hasdrubal, which, with a refinement of barbarity, he caused to be flung to the guards of Hannibal's camp, and he sent some of his prisoners in with the intelligence. Hannibal, struck with both the public and private calamity, cried, " I see the doom of Carthage ; " and instantly removed to the extremity of Bruttium, being resolved to act merely^on the defensive. CHAPTER VI. SUCCESSES OF SCIPIO IN SPAIN. MUTINY IN HIS ARMY. CARTHAGINIANS EXPELLED FROM SPAIN. SCIPIo's RE- TURN TO ROME. HIS PREPARATIONS FOR INVADING AFRI- CA. INVASION OF AFRICA. HORRIBLE DESTRUCTION OF A PUNIC ARMY. DEFEAT OF THE CARTHAGINIANS. AT- TACK ON THE ROMAN FLEET. DEATH OF SOPHONISBA. RETURN OF HANNIBAL. INTERVIEW OF HANNIBAL AND SCIPIO. BATTLE OF ZAMA. END OF THE WAR. The war in Italy may now be regarded as terminated ; in Greece also little of importance occurred ; Spain alone at- tracts attention. In this country, Hasdrubal the son of Gisco, and Hanno and Mago sustained the Punic cause. Against these last two, who had combined their forces, Scipio sent his * L vy, xxvii. 49. Polybius (xi. 3) makes the slain on one side 10,000, on the other 2000 men. 238 HISTORY OF ROME. legate Silanus, who defeated them and took Hanno prisoner ; he also sent his brother Lucius Scipio to lay siege to a strong town named Oringis, and after a stout defence it was taken. The following year (546) Hasdrubal and Mago, having raised an army of fifty thousand foot and four thousand five hundred horse, took their position at a p4ace named Silpia in Boetica, and prepared to give the Romans battle. Scipio moved from Tarraco to Castulo, and thence to Baecula, near which he encamped. His army now amounted to forty-five thousand men. The Punic army came and encamped near him, and for several successive days they stood in array without venturing to engage. At length Scipio, having changed the disposition of his forces without the knowledge of the enemy, brought them to an engagement, and com- pletely routed them. Most of their Spanish troops went over to the Romans, and Mago, decamping in the night, hastened away to Gades. The Romans pursued, and the sword and desertion reduced his army to nought. Scipio then returned to Tarraco, leaving Silanus in the vicinity of Gades. Masinissa took occasion at this time to have a secret interview with Silanus, in which he expressed his desire to be on friendly terms with the Romans. Scipio, as the Punic power was now at an end in Spain, began to think of trans- ferring the war to Africa. He therefore sent L^lius with presents to Syphax ; and, at the. desire of this prince to hold a personal conference with him, he himself crossed over to Africa. Hasdrubal happened to enter the same port a little time before him, and the two hostile generals were placed on the same couch at the entertainment given them by the king. Having formed a treaty of alliance with Sy- phax, Scipio returned to New Carthage. After the death of the two Scipios, the cities of Illiturgis and Castulo had gone over to the enemy, and the people of the former had added to their defection the guilt of mur- dering the Romans who had sought refuge with them. The time was now come for taking the loner-meditated ven- geance : Scipio sent L. Marcius with one third of the army against Castulo, while he himself sat down before Illiturgis with the remainder. The Illiturgians, knowing they had no mercy to look for, made a most obstinate defence; but the African deserters in the Roman service, having secretly scaled a part which, from its height, was left unguarded, the SUCCESSES OF SCIPIO IN SPAIN. 239 town was taken. Men, women, and children were slaugh- tered without mercy or distinction ; the town was burnt, and all traces of it effaced. The fate of Castulo was less severe, as a party there betrayed the town and the Punic garrison into the hands of the Romans. Marcius then crossed the Baetis, and laid siege to a town named Astapa, whose inhab- itants lived mostly by plunder. Their town was not strong, and they knew that they had no favor to expect. They resolved to perish nobly ; and collecting in their market all their valuable property, they piled it up, and making their women and children sit on the pile, they heaped wood and fagots around them. They set fifty armed youths to guard it, charging them, when they saw the town on the point of being taken, to destroy all there with the sword and fire. They then opened the gates and rushed forth ; they drove off the horse and light troops : the legions had to come out against them, and at length, overwhelmed by numbers, they all perished. The fifty young men then drew their swords, slaucrhtered the women and children, threw their bodies on the pile, set fire to it, and flung themselves into the flames. Such was the end of Astapa. Some time after, Scipio happened to fall sick, and the Spanish princes Indibilis and Mandonius immediately seized arms and wasted the lands of the Roman allies, A mutiny also broke out in the Roman camp at Sucro, (Xucar.) The men complained of being detained in Spain, and of their pay being withheld ; and on hearing a false rumor of the death of Scipio, they drove away their officers and gave the command to two common soldiers. But when they learned he was still alive, their courage fell, and they consented, seeing they had no chance of being able to resist, to go to New Carthage, and submit themselves to their general, with whose leniency they were well acquainted. They entered the town at sunset, and saw all the other troops preparing to march that night against the Spaniards. This sight filled them with joy, as they thought they should now have their general in their power. The other troops marched out at the fourth watch of the night ; but they had orders to halt outside the town, and all the gates were secured. In the morning Scipio mounted his tribunal in the market, and summoned the mutineers before him. They came pre- pared with fierce mien and insolent words, hoping to bully him ; but when they saw his healthy looks, and found that the other 'troops had reentered the town and were now surround- 240 HISTORY OF ROME. iijg them, while they were un armed, their spirits sank. Scipio sat in silence till he heard that the ringleaders, who had been secured in the night, were at hand and that all was ready. He then rose and addressed them, reproaching them with their mutiny, and concluded by offering pardon to all but their leaders. The soldiers behind clashed their swords on their shields; the crier's voice was heard proclaiming the names of the condemned ; they were dragged forth naked, thirty-five in number, bound to the stake, scourged and beheaded, their comrades in guilt not daring even to utter a groan. The mutineers were made to renew their military oath, and they then received their arrears of pay. When Scipio had reduced his troops to obedience, he took the field against Indibilis and Mandonius, and having given them a decisive defeat, granted them peace on their giving a large suui of money for the pay of the Roman army. lie then proceeded toward Gades to meet Masinissa, who was anxious to have a personal conference with him. The Numidian prince had been, as we have seen, for sometime wavering in his faith to Carthage. It is said* that injured love was the motive that now decided him to revolt. He had been educated at Carthage, where Hasdru- bal, the son of Gisco, pleased with his noble qualities, had promised him the hand of his daughter Sophonisba, the most lovely, accomplished, and highly endowed maiden of her time. He had attended his future father-in-law to Spain, and shown himself worthy of the honor designed him. But Syphax was also an admirer of- the fair Sophonisba, and the desire of withdrawing this powerful prince from his alliance with the Romans overcame all sense of justice and honor in the minds of the Carthaginian senate, and, as it would seem, of Hasdrubal himself, and Sophonisba was given to him as the condition of his becoming the ally of Carthage. Masinissa, stung by jealousy, resolved to join the Romans ; and pretending to Mago that the horses were injured by the confinement in the island (Isla de Leon) in which Gades lay, he obtained his permission to pass over on a plundering ex- cursion to the main land. He here had an interview with Scipio, and pledged liimself to the cause of Rome. Orders now came from Carthage for Mago to collect all his troops and ships, and sail to the north of Italy, and rais- ing there an army of Ligurians and Gauls, to endeavor to * Appian, Pun. viii. 37. Zonaras, ix. 11. SCIPIO'S RETURN TO ROME. 241 join his brother Hannibal. Money was sent him for this purpose, and to this he added what was in the treasury and temples at Gades, and the forced contributions of the citizens. In consequence of this, when, after the failure of a nocturnal attempt on New Carthage, he returned to Gades, he found the gates closed against him, and on his retiring, the city was surrendered to the Romans. As it was now the end of autumn, he took up his winter quarters in the lesser of the Baleares, (Minorca.) Scipio, having thus in five years achieved the conquest of Spain, now returned to Rome. The senate gave him au- dience, according to custom, at the temple of Bellona, with- out the city, and he gave a full account of his exploits. He had some hopes of being allowed to triumph ; but as this honor had hitherto been restricted to those who were magis- trates, he did not urge his claim. At the ensuing comitia, he was unanimously chosen consul for the next year (547) with P. Licinius Crassus, who was at this time great pontiff. Aware of the feeble hold which the Carthaginians had on the affections of their African subjects and allies, and recol- lecting the ease with which Agathocles and Regulus had brought them to the brink of ruin, Scipio was resolved, if possible, to transfer the war to their own shores. He was therefore desirous of having Africa assigned for his province, and he made no secret of his intention of appealing to the people if refused by the senate. Thelatter body were highly offended ; some were envious of Scipio, others really dubious of the policy of invading Africa while Hannibal was in Italy. Among these last was Q,. Fabius Maximus, who spoke at great length against Scipio's plan. Scipio replied ; Q,. Ful- vius then demanded of him if he would leave the decision of the provinces to the Fathers; Scipio's answer was ambig- uous ; Fulvius appealed to the tribunes, and they declared that they would intercede. Scipio then demanded a day to con- sult with his colleague, and it ended by the decision being left to the Fathers, and their assigning Bruttium to one consul and Sicily to the other, with permission to pass over to Africa if he deemed it for the advantage of the state. The senate, being thus obliged to give way, vented their spleen by refusing Scipio leave to levy troops, and by refus- ing also to be at the expense of fitting out the fleet he might require. He did not press them ; he only asked to be al- 21 E E 242 HISTORY OF ROME. lowed to take volunteers and free-will offerings. This could not well be refused : the various peoples of Etruria then con- tributed the materials for building and equipping ships ; they also gave corn and arms ; the Umbrians, Sabines, and the Marsian League sent numerous volunteers ; the Camertians a complete cohort fully armed. Forty-five days after the trees for the purpose had been felled, a fleet of thirty ships, fully equipped, was afloat. Scipio then passed over to Sicily, where he regimented his volunteers, keeping three hundred youths, the flower of them, about him, unarmed and ignorant of their destination. He soon after selected three hundred young Sicilians of good family, and directed them to be with him on a certain day, fully equipped to serve as cavalry. They came ; but the idea of service was death to these ef- feminate youths and to their parents and relatives. Scipio then offered to provide them substitutes if they did not wish to serve. They gladly embraced his offer : he appointed the three hundred youths to take their place ; the Sicilians had to supply them with horses and arms, and have them taught to ride; and thus Scipio acquired without any expense a valu- able body of horse. He then draughted the best soldiers from the legions there, especially those who had served under Mar- cellus, and went to Syracuse for the winter. Leelius passed with a part of the fleet over to Africa, and landing at Hippo Regius plundered the adjacent country. He was here joined by Masinissa, who having been driven out of his paternal kingdom by Syphax, was lurking with a few horsemen about the Lesser Syrtis. Lselius then returned with his booty to Sicily. In the course of this summer Mago sailed from the Baleares, and landed with 12,000 foot and 2000 horse at Genua, on the coast of Liguria; and when Laelius had appeared in Af- rica the Punic senate sent him a reenforcement of 6000 foot, 800 horse, seven elephants, and a large sum of money, with directions to lose no time in hiring Gauls and Ligurians, and to endeavor to effect a junction with Hannibal as soon as possible, and thus give the Romans employment at home. In SpaiUj Indibilis and Mandonius excited some of the native peoples to arms against the Romans ; but they were defeated and obliged to sue for peace. In Greece, a peace was con- cluded with the king of Macedonia. The consulate of Scipio having expired, his command, as was usual, was prolonged for the ensuing year, (548,) and the eyes of all men were turned to the fine army which he INVASION OF AFRICA. 243 had assembled for the conquest of Africa. Authorities dif- fer respecting the number of his forces, but they could hardly have been less than thirty-five thousand men, horse and foot. They embarked, taking with them provisions for forty-five days; the transports sailed in the centre; on the right were twenty ships of war under Scipio himself and his brother Lucius, and an equal number on the left under Laelius and M. Fortius Cato the quaestor; each transport carried two lights, each ship of war one, the general's ship three; the pilots were directed to steer for the Emporia on the Syrtes. The fleet left Lilybaeum at daybreak, and next morning it was off* the Hermaic cape. Scipio's pilot proposed to land there, but he directed him to keep to the left. A fog however came on, and the wind fell ; during the night a contrary wind sprang up, and at dawn they found themselves off" the Cape of Apollo, on the west side of the bay of Carthage, not far from Utica, and here they landed and encamped. The consternation was great in Carthage when it was known that the formidable Scipio was actually landed in Africa. Orders were sent to Hasdrubal, who was away collecting troops and elephants, to hasten to the defence of his country, and envoys were despatched to Syphax for a similar purpose. Has- drubal's son Hanno was directed to take a station with four thousand horse about fifteen miles from the Roman camp to protect the open country ; but Masinissa, who was now with Scipio, drew him to where the Roman horse stood covered by some hills, and nearly all his men were slain or taken. He was himself made a prisoner, and afterwards exchanged for Masinissa's mother. Scipio and Masinissa now laid the country waste without opposition, and they set at liberty a great number of Roman captives who were working as slaves in the fields. They laid siege to a large town named Lacha ; the scaling-ladders were placed, when the people sent, offering to surrender ; Scipio ordered the trumpet to sound the recall : the soldiers heeded it not, the town was stormed, and a general slaughter commenced. To punish his, men, Scipio deprived them of all their booty, and he put to death three of the most guilty tribunes. Hasdrubal, who was now at hand with an army of 20,000 foot, 7000 horse, 140 ele- phants, made an attack on the Romans, but was driven off with the loss of 5000 slain and 1800 prisoners. Scipio, wishing to have a strong town as a place of arms and for winter quarters, now laid siege to Utica : he had brought all the necessary machines from Sicily ; but the Uti- 244 HISTORY OF ROME. cans defended themselves gallantly and after assailing the town for forty days he was forced to give over the siege. He with- drevi^, and fixed his winter camp on a rocky peninsula, which ran out into the sea, to the east of that town. Hasdrubal encamped in the vicinity, as also did Syphax, the former with 30,000 foot and 3000 horse, the latter with 50,000 foot and 10,000 horse, but they made no attempt on the Roman camp. During the winter Scipio entered into negotiations with Syphax, in hopes of detaching him from the Carthaginians,* but the Numidian would not hear of revolt; he proposed that the one party should evacuate Italy, the other Africa, and both remain as they were. Scipio at first would not listen to these terms ; but when some of those whom he had sent to Syphax told him how the huts in the Punic camp were formed of wood and leaves, while those of the Numid- ians were of reeds, or they lay on simple leaves, and many of them without the camp, he conceived the horrible project of setting fire to both the camps in the night, and massacring the troops amidst the flames. He feigned therefore to hearken to the proposal of Syphax; messengers went constantly to and fro, and even remained for days on each side; and Scipio took care to send with them some of his most intelligent soldiers, disguised as slaves, who were to observe the position and form of the camps. When the spring came, (559,) Scipio, having gained all the knowledge he required, launched his ships and put his machines aboard as if to renew his attacks on Utica, and he fortified an eminence near the town which he had occupied before, and placed on it a body of two thousand men, osten- sively to act against the town, but in reality to prevent an attempt on his camp by the garrison during his absence. He then sent envoys to Syphax to know if the Carthaginians had made up their minds to agree to the terms arranged between them, and the envoys had orders not to return without a categorical answer. Syphax, now quite certain of the Roman's sincerity, sent to Hasdrubal, and receiving a perfectly satisfactory reply, joyfully dismissed Scipio's envoys. But to his great mortification others came almost immediately, to say that Scipio himself was well content to make peace on these terms, but that his council would not on any account accede to them. This was all done by Scipio in order to clear himself from the guilt of breach of truce. * Polybius, xly. 1 — 5. Livy, xxx. 3 — 6. HORRIBLE DESTRUCTION OF A PUNIC ARMY. 245 in making an attack while negotiations for peace were going on. Syphax and Hasdrubal, little suspecting the atrocious design of the Roman general, having consulted together, agreed to offer him battle at once. But Scipio about mid- day assembled his ablest and most trusty tribunes, and having communicated to them his plan, (which had hitherto been a most profound secret,) directed them, when the trumpets sounded as usual after supper for setting the guards, to lead their men out of the camp. He then sent for those who had acted as spies, and examined them as to the state of the enemies' camps in the presence of Masinissa. At night, when all was ready he set out, at the end of the first watch, and reaching the hostile camps by the end of the third watch, he divided his forces, giving one half of the soldiers and all the Numidians to Lgelius and Masinissa, with orders to attack the camp of Syphax, while he himself led the rest of the army against that of Hasdrubal. Laelius and Masinissa having divided their troops, the latter went and stationed his men at all the avenues of the camp, while the former set fire to it. The flames, which spread rapidly, roused Syphax and his people from their sleep, and having no doubt that the fire was accidental, they endeavored, naked as they were, to get out of the camp ; but several were burnt to death, others trampled down in the rush-out, and those who got out were cut to pieces by Mas- inissa's soldiers. Those in the other camp, when they saw the flames, also took them to be accidental, and some has- tened to give assistance, while the rest came and stood out- side of the camp gazing on the conflagration. All were alike fallen on and slaughtered by the Romans, who at the same time set fire to their camp. Here also the flames spread in all directions ; in both camps men, horses, and beasts of burden were to be seen, some perishing in the flames, others rushing through them, and all over the plain naked, unarmed fugitives pursued and slaughtered by their ruthless foes; of so many myriads * but about 2000 foot and 500 horse escaped, with Hasdrubal and Syphax. " Scipio," says Polybius, " performed many great and glorious actions, but, in my opinion, this was the boldest and most glorious he ever achieved." Yet wlfat was it in * According to Livv, 40,000 men perished by the frames or by the Rword. 21* 246 ' ^ HISTORY OF ROME. reality but a tissue of treachery, duplicity, and cruelty ? By a pretended negotiation the suspicions of the enemy were lulled to rest, and an opportunity gained for spying out their camps, and then they were secretly assailed and set fire to at the hour when all in them were asleep. Such a treacherous and cowardly procedure may be worthy of a leader of pirates or bandits, but it was surely disgraceful, at the least, to the general of a great republic. Hasdrubal fled first to a town in the vicinity, and thence to Carthage, where opinions were divided ; some were for suing for peace, others for recalling Hannibal, others for raising more troops, calling again on Syphax, and continuing the war. This last opinion prevailed. Syphax, yielding to the tears and entreaties of his lovely wife, and encouraged by the appearance of a fine body of four thousand Celtiberians who were just arrived, consented to make new levies, and in the space of thirty days a combined army of 30,000 men encamped on the Great Plain five days' march from Utica. Scipio, leaving the siege of this town, advanced to engage them. After three days' skirmishing a general action com- menced : the Roman army was drawn up with the Italian horse on the right, the Numidians on the left wing. The Celtiberians were in the centre of the opposite army, the Carthaginians on the right, the Numidians on the le'ft. The last two gave way at the first shock ; the Celtiberians fought nobly, and perished to the last man. After the battle Scipio held a council, and it was decided that Laslius and Masinissa should pursue Syphax, while Scipio employed himself in reducing the Punic towns, many of which readily surren- dered, for the heavy impositions which had been laid on them during the war had made them lukewarm in their alle- giance. In Carthage it was now resolved to send to recall Hanni- bal, to strengthen the defences of the city, and to send out a fleet to attack that of the Romans at Utica. Scipio mean- time advanced and occupied Tunis, a town within view of Carthage, at a distance of about fifteen miles. While here, he saw the Punic fleet putting to sea, and fearing for his own, Aie led his troops back to Utica. As his ships of war were not in a condition for fighting, being prepared for battering the town, he drew them up close to the shore, placing the transports three and four deep outside of them, with their masts and yards laid across them, and tied together and cov- ered with planks ; and he set about one thousand men to ATTACK ON THE ROMAN FLEET. 247 defend them. Had the Carthaginians come up while, all was in confusion, they might have done much injury, but thev loitered so that they did not appear till the second day, and w^ith all their efforts they only succeeded in dragging away six of the transports. Laelius and Masinissa reached Numidia on the fifteenth day, and the Massylians gladly received their native prince. But Syphax having collected another army came and gave them battle, and was again defeated, and having fallen from his horse, that was wounded, he was made prisoner. Mas- inissa then pressed on for Syphax's capital, named Cirta, which surrendered when assured of that prince's captivity. Here as he entered the palace he met Sophonisba, who falling at his feet implored him to put her to death rather than give her up to the Romans. The prince's love revived, and as the only means of saving her from the Romans he resolved to espouse her that very day. The wedding was celebrated before the arrival of Lslius, who was highly in- dignant at it, and was even going to drag her from him, but he conceded to the tears of the prince that the decision should rest with Scipio. When Syphax was brought before Scipio he threw the whole blame of his change of policy on Sophonisba, and probably out of jealousy, assured him that her influence over Masinissa would produce similar effects. This sank deep in the mind of the politic Roman ; and, when Masinissa arrived, he lectured him gravely on his conduct, and insisted on his giving up Sophonisba. The lover burst into tears, and prayed to be permitted, as far as was possible, to keep his promise to his bride ; he then retired to his tent, and having given way to an agony of grief, called a trusty servant who kept the poison with which monarchs in those times were always provided, desired him to bear it to Sophonisba, and tell her, that unable to keep the first part of his promise he thus performed the second, and it was for her to act as became the daughter of Hasdrubal and the spouse of two kings. The servant hastened to Cirta. " I accept the nup- tial gift," said Sophonisba, "no ungrateful one, if a husband could give his wife nothing better. Tell him only this, that I should have died with more glory if I had not married on the eve of death." So saying she took the bowl and drained it.* Scipio, now relieved from his apprehensions, sought to * Livy, and probably Polybius, says nothing of the previous love of Masinissa. According to Appian, as he approached Cirta, Sophonisba 248 HISTORY OF ROME. console- Masinissa ; he publicly gave him the title of Mng^ and, after the Roman custom, presented him with the regal insignia. Syphax was sent to Rome, and he died soon after at Tibur. The senate and people confirmed the honors bestowed by Scipio on Masinissa. Scipio now returned to Tunis, whither came an embassy from Carthage suing for peace, and throwing all the blame of the war on Hannibal. The terms he proposed were the withdrawal of all their troops from Italy, Gaul, Spain, and the islands, their giving up all their ships of war but twenty, delivering 590,000 measures of wheat and 200,000 of barley, and paying a large sum of money. He gave them three days to consider of them ; at the end of that time a truce was made to enable them to send to Rome. Meantime Hannibal and Mago had both been recalled. The latter having been worsted in a severe-fought battle in InsLibrian Gaul, and wounded in the thigh, was glad to leave Italy ; he embarked his troops ; but he died of his wound when off Sardinia, and several of his ships were taken by the Romans. Hannibal, it is said, groaned when he received the order to return ; and as he departed, looking back on the shores of Italy, where he had spent so many years, he cursed his own folly in not having marched for Rome after the victory at Cannge. This last circumstance proves that we have not here a true account, for Hannibal could not have blamed himxself for acting right ; and as he must have been by this time perfectly sure that under the present cir- cumstances the conquest of Italy was become hopeless, his groans, if any, were not for his recall, but for the occasion of it. He landed his troops at Leptis. The Punic envoys received a dubious answer at Rome, and before they returned the truce had been broken ; for a number of ships laden with supplies from Sicily for the Ro- man army, being driven into the bay of Carthage, the Car- thaginians seized them ; and when Scipio sent envoys to sent to tell him that she had been obliged to marry Syphax. Masinissa left her at Cirta. Scipio very roughly ordered him to give her upland not to attempt to deprive the Romans of a part of their booty. The prince then set out with some Romans as if to fetch her, and contriving to see her alone handed her a bowl of poison, and telling her that she must drink it or become a slave to the Romans, gave spurs to his horse and left her. She drank it: and Masinissa havinsf shown the Romans her dead body, buried her as a queen. See also Zonaras, ix. 13. At all events, Scipio's conduct was that of the politician, not of the inan of generous feelings. RETURN OF HANNIBAL. 249 complain, they narrowly escaped personal ill treatment, and as they returned their vessel was attacked within view of the Roman camp by a Punic ship of war, and most of the crew slain. Notwithstanding this breach of faith, Scipio dismissed in safety the Punic envoys when they reached his camp on their return from Rome. The war was resumed,* (550,) and the Carthaginians, con- scious of wrong, resolved to strain every nerve. Hannibal had now advanced to Adrumetum, whither numerous volun- teers repaired to him, and he engaged a large body of Numidian cavalry. Urged then by the pressing instances of the people of Carthage, he advanced to Zama, a town about five days' march to the west of that city, whence he sent three spies to learn where and how the Romans were encamped. These spies were tal£en and led before Scipio ; but, like Xerxes, t he had them conducted all through his camp and then dismissed in safety. Struck by this conduct, which evinced such confidence in his own strength, Hannibal pro- posed a personal interview, in hopes, while his forces were still unimpaired, that he should be able to obtain better terms for his country. The Roman did not decline the interview, but said he would appoint the time for it to take place. He was joined next day by Masinissa with six thousand foot and four thousand horse ; and he advanced and encamped near a town named Naragara, whence he sent to inform Hannibal that he was ready to confer with him. The Punic -general came and encamped on a hill about four miles off; and next day each set out from his camp with a few horsemen, and then leaving their attendants at a little distance they met,- an interpreter alone being present. Hannibal commenced by expressing his wish that the one people had never gone out of Africa, or the other out of Ttaly, — their natural domin- ions. He reminded Scipio of the instability of fortune, of which he was himself so notable an instance, and concluded by offering on the part of Carthage to cede Spain and Sicily, Sardinia, and all the other islands to the Romans. Scipio commenced by attempting to justify the conduct of the Ro- mans in entering Sicily and Spain as the defenders of their allies. He dwelt on the late breach of faith at the moment when the Roman senate and people had consented to a peace : V * We have the narrative of Polybius (xv. 3 — 19) hence to the end of the war. t History of Greece, p. 107, 2d edit F F 250 HISTORY OF ROME. and said that if the less advantageous terms now proposed were agreed to, it would be a premium on bad faith. Victory or unconditional submission alone remained for Carthage. The conference thus terminated, and each general retired to prepare for battle. At dawn the next day the two armies were drawn out for the conflict which was to decide the fate of Carthage. Never were two more eminent generals opposed to each other ; Hannibal the greatest, not merely of his own, but, per- haps of any age, Scipio inferior only to Hannibal. In num- ber of troops the advantage was on the side of the former,* but they were mostly raw levies, and only those who had served in Italy could vie in steadiness and discipline with the troops led by the Roman. Scipio drew up his troops in the usual manner, but instead of placing the maniples of the Principes opposite the inter- vals of those of the Hastats, he set them directly behind them, thus leaving open passages through his lines for the elephants to run through. In these intervals he placed the Velites, or light troops, directing them to begin the action, and if oppressed by the elephants to retire through the in- tervals to the rear, or if they could not do so to fall into the cross-intervals. The Italian cavalry under Laelius was sta- tioned on the left, Masinissa and his Numidians on the right wing. Hannibal placed his elephants (of which he had eighty) in front ; behind them his Ligurian, Gallic, Balearic, and Moorish mercenaries, twelve thousand in number ; after these the Africans and Carthaginians; and then, at the dis- tance of somewhat more than a furlong, the troops he had brought from Italy.t It was on these last that he placed his chief reliance ; the mercenaries were put in front to weary the Romans, if with nothing else, with slaughtering them; the Carthaginians in the middle, that they might be obliged, willing or not, to fight : the Punic horse were on the right, the Numidian on the left wing. Each general having encouraged his men, the battle com- * Appian (viii. 40,41) gives the total of the Punic force 50,000 men, that of the Romans 23,000 foot and 1500 horse, exclusive of the Nu- midians. f Livy makes a curious mistake here. Finding in his Polybius roug Jt 'Iraliaq yjy.ovrag uad^ lavrov, he renders it by " aciem Italico- rum militum (Bruttii plerique erant, vi ac necessitate plures, quam sua voluntate, dccedentem ex Italia sequuti) instruxit.^'' It is manifest from Polybius (xv. 11, 6 — 13) that they were his veteran troops. BATTLE OF ZAMA. 251 menced with the skirmishing of the Numidian horse. Han- nibal then ordered the elephants to advance ; but the Romans blew their horns and trumpets, and some of the animals, terrified at the clangor, ran to the left, where they threw their own horse into such confusion that they could not stand before that of Masinissa ; the rest rushed on the Ro- man Velites, where they did and received much injury : at length, maddened by the noise and their wounds, they ran part through the intervals of the Roman lines, part to the right, where, by the confusion they caused, they rendered easy the victory of Lselius over the Punic horse. The infantry on both sides now advanced ; the three lines of the Romans supporting each other, while the timid Car- thaginians let their front line go forward alone. These mer- cenaries fought bravely, and killed and wounded many of the Romans ; but at length they w^ere forced to give way before the close steady orders of the Romans, and fall back on their second line; and enraged at the cowardice of the Africans, they treated them as enemies. The Carthaginians, thus as- sailed at the one time by the Romans and by their own mercenaries, gathered courage from despair, and fought with desperation. They threw the Hastats into confusion ; the Principes then advanced against them ; the slaughter of them and their mercenaries was immense : Hannibal would not allow the fugitives to mingle with his reserve, and they were obliged to scatter over the plain. The bodies and arms of the slain lay in such heaps that it was difficult for the Roman troops to move forward in regu- lar order over them. Scipio therefore, having sounded the recall for the Hastats, who were in pursuit of the flying foes, made them form beyond the heaps of slain ; then increasing the depth of the Principes and Triarians on the wings, he advanced with them over the dead bodies, and on coming up with the Hastats led the whole force against Hannibal's re- serve. It was now that the battle might be said to commence in reality. The numbers were nearly equal,* their arms the same, their courage and discipline alike. Long was the contest doubtful ; at length fortune, or rather the destiny of Rome, favored the Romans. Lselius and Masinissa return- ing from the pursuit fell on the rear of Hannibal's troops, and thus assailed in front and rear they were forced to give way. The loss of the Carthaginians in this battle was * Polybius. Yet it can hardly be true. 252 HISTORY OF ROME. 20,000 slain, and nearly an equal number taken; that of the victors was from 1500 to 2000 men. Hannibal having, both before and after the battle, by the confession of Scipio him- self and the military men of all ages, done all that was in man to secure the victory, fled with a few horsemen to Adrumetura, whence at the call of the government he pro- ceeded to Carthage, which he had not seen since he left it six-and-thirty years before. He advised to sue for peace, as he declared himself to be beaten not merely in a battle but in the war, — meaning that the resources of Carthage were all exhausted. Scipio, having taken the enemy's camp, led his army back to Utica, where finding a Roman fleet arrived, he sent Lseli- us home with the news of his victory ; and desiring his legate Octavius to lead the troops by land to Carthage, he sailed himself with the fleet for the port of that city. When he came near it, he met a ship adorned with olive-branches, on board of which were ten noble Carthao-inians come to sue for peace. He desired them to meet him at Tunis, whither he repaired when he had taken a personal survey of the bay of Carthage. When the Punic envoys came, he held a council of war ; all voices were at first for destroying Car- thage ; bul Scipio, aware of the length and difficulty of the siege, and also apprehensive of a successor coming out to rob him of his glory, declared for peace, and his officers readily acquiesced in his views. After reprehending the Cartha- ginians for their breach of faith, he offered peace on the following conditions. The Carthaginians to retain all they had possessed in Africa before the war ; to make good the losses caused by their seizure of the ships during the late truce ; to give up all deserters and prisoners, and all their long ships and elephants but ten ; not to make war either in or out of Africa without the consent of the Romans ; to restore all his possessions to Masinissa ; to give three months' corn to the Roman army, and pay till an answer should come from Rome ; to pay 10,000 talents at the rate of two hundred a year ; and to give one hundred hostages, between the ages of fourteen and thirty years, to be selected by the Roman general. When the deputies returned to Carthage with these terms, one of the senators, it is said, rose to object to them, but Hannibal went and dragged him down from the pulpit. An outcry being raised at this breach of decorum, Hannibal again stood up and excused himself on the score of his MACEDONIAN WAR. 253 ignorance, on account of his long absence from home. He then strongly urged to accept of peace on the terms pro- posed. His advice was followed ; the peace was confirmed by the Roman senate and people ; and thus, after a duration of seventeen years, was terminated the second Punic war. Scipio having led home his victorious army entered Rome in triumph. He derived from his conquest the title of Afri- canus, it is not known how conferred, and his was the first example of the kind known at Rome.* CHAPTER VH. MACEDONIAN WAR. FLIGHT OF HANNIBAL FROM CARTHAGE. ANTIOCHUS IN GREECE. INVASION OF ASIA AND DEFEAT OF ANTIOCHUS. DEATH OF HANNIBAL. LAST DAYS OF SCIPIO. CHARACTERS OF HANNIBAL AND SCIPIO. WAR WITH PERSEUS OF JTACEDONIA. CONQUEST OF MACEDONIA. TRIUMPH OF ^MILIUS PAULUS. The victory of Zama gave the Romans the dominion of the West ; the ambitious senate then aspired to that of the East, and the king of Macedonia was selected as the first object of attack. The people, wearied out with service and con- tributions, were with some difiiculty induced to give their consent ; and war was declared against Philip under the pretext of his having injured the allies of Rome, namely, the Athenians, and the kings of Egypt and Pergamus.t Philip after the late peace had been assiduous in augment- ing his fleet and army ; but instead of joining Hannibal when he was in Italy, he employed himself, in conjunction with Antiochus king of Syria, in seizing the islands and the towns on the coast of the ^gean, which were under the- protection of Egypt, whose king was now a minor. This engaged him in hostilities with the king of Pergamus and the Rhodians. A Roman army, under the consul Sulpicius, passed over to Greece, (552;) the JEtolians declared against * Livy, XXX. 45. See above, p. 85. t For this war and the follovp-ing events see the History of Greece. 22 254 HISTORY OF ROME. Philip, and gradually the Boeotians and Achaeans were in- duced to follow their example. Philip made a gallant resistance against this formidable confederacy ; but the con- sul T. Q,uinctius Flamininus gave him at length (555) a complete defeat at Cynoscephalse in Thessaly, and he was forced to sue for peace, which, however, he obtained on much easier terms than might have been expected, as the Romans were on the eve of a war with the king of Syria. The peace with Philip was followed by the celebrated proc- lamation at the Isthmian Games of the independence of those states of Greece which had been under the Macedonian dominion; for the Romans well knew that this was the in- fallible way to establish their own supremacy, as the Greeks would be sure never to unite for the common good of their country. After an interval of a few years, the long-expected war with Antiochus the Great of Syria broke out. The imme- diate occasion of it was the discontent of the JEtolians, who being mortally oifended with the Romans sent to invite him into Greece. He had been for three years making prepara- tions for the War, and he had now at his service the greatest general of the age, if he had known how to make use of him For Hannibal, having been appointed one of the suffetes at Carthage, and finding the power of the judges enormous in consequence of their holding their office for life, had a law passed reducing it to one year. This naturally raised him a host of enemies, whose number was augmented by his finan- cial reforms ; for finding that the public revenues had been diverted into the coffers of the magistrates and persons of influence, while the people were directly taxed to pay the tribute to the Romans, he instituted an inquiry, and proved that the ordinary revenues of the state were abundantly sufficient for all purposes. Those who felt their incomes thus reduced sought to rouse the enmity of the Romans against Hannibal, whom they charged with a secret cor- respondence with Antiochus; and though Scipio strongly urged the indignity of the Roman senate becoming the instrument of a faction in Carthage, hatred of Hannibal pre- vailed, and three senators were sent to Carthage, ostensively to settle some disputes between the Carthaginians and Masi- nissa. Hannibal, who knew their real object, left the city secretly in the night, and getting on board a ship sailed to Tyre. He thence went to Antioch, and finding that Antio- FLIGHT OF HANNJBAL FROM CARTHAGE. 255 chus was at Ephesus, he proceeded to that city, where he met with a most flattering reception from the monarch, (557.) Hannibal, true to his maxim that the Romans were only to be conquered in Italy, proposed to the king to let him have a good fleet and ten thousand men, with which he would pass over to Africa, when he hoped to be able to induce the Carthaginians to take arms again ; and if he did not succeed, he would land somewhere in Italy. He would have the king meanwhile to pass virith a large army over to Greece, and to remain there ready to invadejtaly, if necessary, Antiochus at first assented to this plan of the war ; but he afterwards lent an ear to the suggestions of Thoas the jjEtolian, who was jealous of the great Carthaginian, and gave it up. He himself passed over at length (560) to Greece with a small army of ten thousand men ; but instead of acting at once with vigor, he loitered in Eubcea, where he espoused a beautiful maiden, wasted his time in petty negotiations in Thessaly and the adjoinin'g country, by which he highly offended king Philip, whom it was his first duty to conciliate, and thus gave the consul Acilius Glabrio time to land his army and enter Thessaly. Antiochus hastened from Eubcea to defend the pass of Thermopylas against him ; but he was totally defeated, and forced to fly to Asia, (561.) Antiochus flattered himself at first that the Romans would not follow him into Asia ; but Hannibal soon proved to him that such an expectation was a vain one, and that he must prepare for war. At Rome the invasion of Asia was at once resolved on. The two new consuls, C. Lselius and L. Scipio (562) were both equally anxious to have the conducting of this war ; the senate were mostly in favor of Laslius, an officer of skill and experience, while L. Scipio was a man of very moderate abilities. But Scipio Africanus offering, if his brother was appointed, to go as his legate, Greece was assigned to him as his province without any further hesita- tion. The Scipios then, having raised what troops were requisite, among which 5000 of those who had served under Africanus came as volunteers, passed over to Epirus with a force of about 13,000 men. In Thessaly, Acilius delivered up to them two legions which he had under his command, and being supplied with provisions and every thing else they required they marched through Macedonia and Thrace for the Hellespont. A Roman fleet was in the ^gean, which, united with those of Eumenes of Pergamus and the Rhodi- ans, proved an overmatch for that of Antiochus, even though 25(5 HISTORY OF ROME. commanded by Hannibal. When the Scipios reached the Hellespont, they found every thing prepared for the passage by Eumenes. They crossed without any opposition ; and as this was the time for moving the Ancilia at Rome, P. Scipio, who was one of the Salii, caused the army to make a halt of a few days on that account. While they remained here, an envoy came from Antiochus proposing peace, on condition of his giving up all claim to the Grecian cities in Asia and paying one half of the ex- penses of the war. The Scipios insisted on his paying all the expenses of the war, as he had been the cause of it, and evacuating Asia on this side of Mount Taurus. The envoy then applied privately to P. Scipio, telling him that the king would release without ransom his son, who had fallen lately into his hands, and give him a large quantity of gold and every honor he could bestow, if through his means he could obtain more equitable terms. Scipio expressed his gratitude, as a private person, to the king for the offer to release his son; and, as a friend, advised him to accept any terms he could get, as his case was hopeless. The envoy retired ; the Romans advanced to Ilium, where the consul ascended and offered sacrifice to Minerva, to the great joy of the Tlienses, who asserted themselves to be the progenitors of the Romans. They thence advanced to the head of the river Caicus. Antiochus, who was at Thyatira, hearing that P. Scipio was lying sick at Elaea, sent his son to him, and received in return his thanks, and his advice not to engage till he had rejoined the army. As in case of defeat his only hopes lay in P. Scipio, he took his counsel, and retiring to the foot of Mount Sipylus formed a strong camp near Mag- nesia. The consul advanced, and encamped about four miles off; and as the kincr seemed not inclined to fiofht, and the Roman soldiers were full of contempt for the enemy, and clamorous for action, it was resolved, if he did not accept the proffered battle, to storm his camp. But Antiochus, fearing that the spirit of his men would sink if he declined fighting, led tli^m out when he saw the Romans in array. The Roman army, consisting of four legions, each of 5400 men, was drawn up in the usual manner, its left resting on a river ; 3000 Achaean and Pergamene foot were placed on the right, and beyond them the horse, about 3000 in number ; sixteen African elephants were stationed in the rear. The army of Antiochus consisted of 63,000 foot, 12,000 horse," DEFEAT OF ANTIOCHUS. 257 and fifty-four elephants. His phalanx of 16,000 men was drawn up in ten divisions, each of fifty men in rank and thirty-two in file, with two elephants in each of the intervals. On the left and right of the phalanx were placed the cavalry, the light troops and the remainder of the elephants, the scythed chariots, and Arab archers, mounted on dromedaries. When the armies were arrayed there came on a fog, with a light kind of rain, which relaxed the bow-strings, slings, and dart-thongs of the numerous light troops of the king, and the darkness caused confusion in his long and various line, Eumenes also, by a proper use of the light troops, frightened the horses of the scythed chariots, and drove them off the field. The Roman horse then charged that of the enemy and put it to flight ; the confusion of the left wing extended to the phalangites, who, by their own men rushing from the left among them, were prevented from using their long sarisscB, and were easily broken and slaughtered by the Romans, who now also knew from experience how to deal vv^ith the elephants. Antiochus, who commanded in person on the right, drove the four turms or troops of horse opposed to him, and a part of the foot, back to their camp ; but M. ^milius, who commanded there, rallied them. Eumenes' brother. Attains, came from the right with some horse; the king turned and fled ; the rout became general ; the slaughter, as usual, enormous : the camp was taken and pillaged. The loss of the Syrians is stated at 53,000 slain, 1400 taken ; that of the Romans and their ally Eumenes at only, 350 men ! All the cities of the coast sent in their submission to the con- sul, who advanced to Sardes. Antiochus was at this time at Apamea : when he learned that P. Scipio, who had not been in the battle, was arrived, he sent envoys to treat of peace on any terms. The Romans had already arranged the con- ditions of peace, and P. Scipio announced them as follows : Antiochus should abstain from Europe, and give up all Asia this side of Taurus; pay 15,000 Euboic talents for the expenses of the war, 500 down, 1500 when the senate and people rati- fied the peace, the remainder in twelve years, at 1000 talents a year; give Eumenes 400 talents and a quantity of corn ; give twenty hostages; and, above all, deliver up Hanni- bal, Thoas the JEtolian, and three other Greeks, The king's envoys went direct to Rome, whither also went Eumenes in person, and embassies from Rhodes and other places; the consul put his troops in winter quarters at Magnesia, Tral- les, and Ephesus. 22* GG 258 HISTORY OF ROME. At Rome the peace was confirmed with Antiochus. The greater part of the ceded territory was granted to Eumenes, Lycia and part of Caria to the Rhodians, (whose usually prudent aristocracy committed a great error in seeking this aggrandizement of their dominion;) and such towns as had taken part with the Romans were freed from tribute. L. Scipio triumphed on his return to Rome, and assumed the surname of Asiaticus, to be in this respect on an equality with his illustrious brother. Cn. Manlius Vulso succeeded Scipio in Asia, (563,) and as the Roman consuls now began to regard it as discreditable and unprofitable to pass their year without war, he looked round him for an enemy from whom he might derive fame and wealth. He fixed on the Gallo-Grecians, as the descend- ants of those Gauls were called who had passed over into Asia in the time of Pyrrhus, and won a territory for them- selves, named from them in after-times Galatia. He stormed their fortified camp on Mount Olympus in Mysia, gave them a great defeat on the plains of Ancyra, and forced them to sue for peace. The booty gained, the produce of their plun- der for many years, was immense. Manlius then led his army back to the coast for the winter. The next year (564) ten commissioners came out to ratify the peace with Antiochus ; they added some more conditions, such as the surrender of his elephants: the peace was then sworn to, and the Romans evacuated Asia. Hannibal, when he found that the Romans demanded him, retired to Crete ; not thinking himself, however, safe in that island, he left it soon after and repaired to the court of Pru- sias, king of Bithynia, who felt flattered by the presence of so great a man. But the vengeance of Rome did not sleep, and no less a person than T. Flamininus was sent (569) to de- mand his death or his surrender. The mean-spirited Prusias, immediately after a conference with the Roman envoy, sent soldiers to seize his illustrious guest. Hannibal, who it is said had, in expectation of treachery, made seven passages, open and secret, from his house, attempted to escape by the most private one; but finding it guarded, he had recourse to the poison which he always carried about him. Having vented imprecations on Prusias for his breach of hospitality, he drank the poison and expired, in the sixty-fifth year of his age. It is said that Scipio Africanus died in the same year with his illustrious rival, an instance also of the mutability LAST DAYS OF SCIPIO. 259 of fortune, for the conqueror of Carthage breathed his last in exile ! In the year 559 he had had a specimen of the instability of popular favor; for while at the consular elec- tions he and all the Cornelian gens exerted their influence in favor of his cousin P. Cornelius Scipio, the son of Cnseus, who had been killed in Spain, — and who was himself of so exem- plary a character, that when the statue of the Idasan Mother (Cybele) was brought to Rome, it was committed to his charge, as being the best man in the city, — they were forced to yield to that of the vain-glorious T.Q,uinctius Flamininus, who sued for his brother, the profligate L. Quinctius. But, as the historian observes, the glory of Flamininus was fresh- er ; he had triumphed that very year; whereas Africanus had been now ten years in the public view, and since his victory over Hannibal he had been consul a second time, and cen- sor, — very sufficient reasons for the decline of his favor with the unstable people. The year after the conclusion of the peace with Antiochus, (566,) the Q,. Petillii, tribunes of the people, at the instigation, it is said, of Cato, cited Scipio Africanus before the tribes, to answer various charges on old and new grounds, of which the chief was that of having taken bribes from Antiochus, and not having accounted for the spoil. Scipio was attended to the Forum by an immense concourse of people ; he dis- dained to notice the charges against him ; in a long speech he enumerated the various actions he had performed, and taking a book from his bosom, " In this," said he, " is an account of all you want to know." " Read it," said the tribunes, " and let it then be deposited in the treasury." " No," said Scipio, " I will not offer myself such an insult ; " and he tore the book before their faces.* The night came on; the cause was deferred till the next day : at dawn the tribunes took their seat on the Rostra; the accused, on being cited, came before it, attended by a crowd of his friends and clients. "This day, ye tribunes and Q,ui- rites," said he, " I defeated Hannibal in Africa. As, there- fore, it should be free from strife and litigation, I will go to the Capitol and give thanks to Jupiter and the other gods who inspired me on this and other days to do good service to the state. Let whoso will, come with me and pray the gods that ye may always have leaders like untojme." He ascended the Capitol ; all followed him, and the tribunes were left sit- * Gellius, iv. 18. 260 HISTORY OF ROME. ting alone. He then went round to all the other temples, still followed by the people; and this last day of his glory nearly equalled that of his triumph for conquered Africa. His cause was put off for some days longer ; but in the inter- val, disgusted with the prospect of contests with the tribunes, which his proud spirit could ill brook, he retired toLiternum in Campania. On his not appearing, the tribunes spoke of sending and dragging hiin before the tribunal ; but their colleagues interposed, especially Ti. Sempronius Gracchus, from whom it was least expected, as he was at enmity with the Scipios. The senate thanked Gracchus for his noble conduct,* the matter dropped, and Scipio spent the remain- der of his days at Liternum. He was buried there, it is said, at his own desire, that his ungrateful country might not even possess his ashes. The actions of the two great men who were now removed from the scene sufficiently declare their characters. As a general, Hannibal is almost without an equal ; not a single military error can be charged on him, and the address with which he managed to keep an army composed of such dis- cordant elements as his in obedience, even when obliged to act on the defensive, is astonishing. The charges of perfidy, cruelty, and such like, made against him by the Roman writers, are quite unfounded, and are belied by facts. No- where does Hannibal's character appear so great as when, after the defeat at Zama, he, with unbroken spirit, applied his great mind to the reform of political abuses and the restoration of the finances, in the hopes of once more rais- ing his country to independence. Here he shone the true patriot. The character of his rival has come down to us under the garb of panegyric ; but even after making all due deductions, much remains to be admired. His military talents were doubtless considerable; of his civil virtues we hear but little, and we cannot therefore judge of him accurately as a states- man. Though a high aristocrat, we have, however, seen that he would not hesitate to lower the authority of the senate by appealing to the people in the gratification of his ambition ; and we certainly cannot approve of the conduct of the public man who disdained to produce his accounts * For this, and for his similar conduct to L. Scipio, the family gave him in marriage Cornelia, the daughter of Africoinus. The two cele- brated Gracchi were their sons. WAR WITH PERSEUS. 261 when demanded. Of his vaunted magnanimity and gener- osity we have already had occasion to speak, and not in very exalted terms. Still, Rome has but one name in her annals to place in comparison with Africanus ; that name, Julius Ca3sar, is a greater than his, perhaps than any other. To return to our narrative. In the period which had elapsed since the peace with Carthage, there had been annual occupation for the Roman arms in Cisalpine Gaul, Liguria, and Spain. The Gauls, whose inaction all the time Hannibal was in Italy seems hard to account for, resumed arms in the year 551, at the instigation of one Hasdrubal, who had remained behind from the army of Mago; they took the colony of Placentia, and met several consular and praeto- rian armies in the field, and, after sustaining many great defeats, were completely reduced : the Ligurians, owing to their mountains, made a longer resistance, but they also were brought under the yoke of Rome. In Spain the various portions of its warlike population, ill brooking the dominion of strangers, rose continually in arms, but failed before the discipline of the Roman legions and the skill of their com- manders. T-he celebrated M. Porcius Cato when consul (557) acquired great fame by his conduct in this country. Philip of Macedonia, who with all his vices was an able prince, had long been making preparations for a renewed war with Rome, which he saw to be inevitable. He died (573) before matters came to an extremity. His son and successor, Perseus * was a man of a very different character ; for, while he was free from his father's love of wine and women, he did not possess his redeeming qualities, and was deeply infected by a mean spirit of avarice. It was reserved for him to make the final trial of strength with the Romans. Eumenes. of Pergamus went himself to Rome, to represent how formidable he was become, and the necessity of crush- ing him ; the envoys of Perseus tried in vain to justify him in the ,eyes of the jealous senate; war was declared (580) against him on the usual pretext of his injuring the allies of Rome, and the conduct of it wa^ committed to P. Licinius Crassus, one of the consuls for the ensuing year. The Macedonian army amounted to thirty-nine thousand foot, one half of whom were phalangites, and four thousand horse, the largest that Macedonia had sent to the field since the time of Alexander the Great. Perseus entered Thessaly at the head of this army, and at the same time the Roman * By the Latin writers he is always named Perses. 262 HISTORY OF ROME. legions entered it from Epirus. An engagement of cavalry took place not far from the Peneus, in which the advantage was decidedly on the side of the king. In another encounter success was on that of the Romans ; after which Perseus led his troops home for the winter, and Licinius quartered his in Thessaly and Bceotia. Nothing deserving of note occurred in the following year. In the spring of 583 the consul Q,. Marcius Philippus led his army over the Cambunian mountains into Macedonia, and Perseus, instead of occupying the passes in the rear and cutting off his supplies from Thessaly, cowardly retired before him, and allowed him to ravage all the south of Mace- donia. Marcius returned to Thessaly for the winter, and in the spring (584) the new consul, L. ^milius Paulus, a man of high consideration, of great talent, and who had in a former consulate gained much fame in Spain, came out to take the command. Meantime the wretched avarice of Perseus was putting an end to every chance he had of success. Eumenes had offered, for the sum of 1500 talents, to abstain from taking part in the war, and to endeavor to negotiate a peace for him : Perseus gladly embraced the offer, and was ready enough to arrange about the hostages which Eumenes agreed to give ; but he hesitated to part with the money till he had had the value for it, and he proposed that it should be de- posited in the temple at Samothrace till the war was ended. As Samothrace belonged to Perseus, Eumenes saw he was not to be trusted, and he broke off the negotiation. Again, a body of Gauls of 10,000 horse, and an equal number of foot, from beyond the Ister, to whom he had promised large pay, were now at hand ; Perseus sought to circumvent them and save his money, and the offended barbarians ravaged Thrace and returned home. It is the opinion of the histo- rian, that if he had kept his' word with these Gauls, and sent them into Thessaly, the situation of the Roman army, placed thus between two armies, might have been very perilous. Lastly, he agreed to giv.e Gentius, king of Illyria, 300 talents if he went to war with the Romans : he sent ten of them at once, and directed those who bore the remainder to go very slowly ; meantime his ambassador kept urging Gen- tiu"^, who, to please him, seized two Roman envoys who arrived just then, and imprisoned them. Perseus thinking him now fully committed with the Romans by this act, sent to recall the rest of his money. CONQUEST OF MACEDONIA. 263 Paulus led his army without delay into Macedonia, and in the neighborhood of Pydna he forced the crafty Perseus to come to an engagement. The victory was speedy and de- cisive on the side of the Romans; the Macedonian horse fled, the king setting the example, and the phalanx thus left exposed was cut to pieces. Perseus fled with his treasures to Amphipolis, and thence to the sacred isle of Samothrace. All Macedonia submitted to the consul, who then advanced to Amphipolis after Perseus, who in vain sent letters suing for favor. Meantime the prfEtor Cn. Octavius was come with his fleet to Samothrace. He sought ineffectually to induce Perseus to surrender, and then so wrought on the people of the island, that the unhappy prince, considering himself no longer safe, resolved to try to escape to Cotys, king of Thrace, his only remaining ally. A Cretan ship-master undertook to convey him away secretly ; provisions, and 93 much money as could be carried thither unobserved, were put on board his bark in the evening, and at midnight the king left the temple secretly and proceeded to the appointed spot. But no bark was there ; the Cretan, false as any of his countrymen, had set sail for Crete as soon as it was dark. Perseus, having wandered about the shore till near daylight, slunk back and concealed himself in a corner of the temple. He was soon obliged to surrender to Octavius, by whom he was conveyed to the consul. Macedonia was, by the direc- tion of the senate, divided into four republics, between which there was to be neither intermarriage nor purchase of immovable property, (connubium or commercium ;) each was to defray the expenses of its own government, and pay to Rome one half of the tribute it had paid to the kings ; the silver and gold mines were not to be wrought, no ship-timber was to be felled, no troops to be kept except on the fron- tiers ; all who had held any office, civil or military, under Perseus, were ordered to quit Macedonia and go and live in Italy, lest if they remained at home they should raise distur- bances. In Greece, the lovers of their country were put to death or removed to Italy, under pretext of their having favored the cause of Perseus, and the administration of affairs was placed in the hands of the tools of Rome. Paulus on his return to Rome celebrated his triumph with great magnificence. His soldiers, because he had main- tained rigid discipline and had given them less of the booty than they had expected, and instigated by Ser. Sulpicius 264 HISTORi" OF ROME. * Galba, one of their tribunes, a personal enemy to Paulus, had tried to prevent it ; but the eloquence of M, Servilius and others prevailed. Perseus and his children, examples of the mutability of fortune, preceded the car of the victor. After the triumph, Perseus vi^as confined at Alba in the Marsian land, where he died a few years after. Octavius M^as allow^ed to celebrate a naval triumph ; and the praetor L. Anicius Gallus, who had in thirty days reduced Ulyria and made Gentius and all his family captives, also triumphed for that country. CHAPTER VIII.* AFFAIRS OF CARTHAGE. THIRD PUNIC WAR. DESCRIPTION OF CARTHAGE. ILL SUCCESS OF THE ROMANS. SCIPIO MADE CONSUL. HE SAVES MANCINUS. RESTORES DISCI- PLINE IN THE ARMY. ATTACK ON CARTHAGE. ATTEMPT TO CLOSE THE HARBOR. CAPTURE AND DESTRUCTION OF CARTHAGE. REDUCTION OF 3IACEDONIA AND GREECE TO PROVINCES. After the conclusion of the Hannibalian war, the Car- thaginians seemed disposed to remain at peace; but the ambition of their neighbor, Masinissa, whose life, to their misfortune, was extended to beyond ninety years, would not allow them to rest. He was continually encroaching _on their territory and seizing their subject towns. The Roman senate, when appealed to as the common superior, sent out commissioners, who almost invariably decided in favor of Masinissa, and he gradually extended his dominion from the ocean inlands to the Syrtes. On one of these occasions M. Porcius Cato was one of those sent out; and when he saw the fertility of the Cartha- ginian territory and its high state of culture, 'tind the strength, wealth, and population of the city, he became apprehensive of its yet endangering the power of Rome; his vanity also, of which he had a large share, was wounded, because the * Henceforth Livy fails us, as we have only the epitomes of his re- maining books. Our principal authority for this chapter is Appian'a Punica. AFFAIRS OF CARTHAGE. 265 Carthaginians, who were manifestly in the right, would not acquiesce at once in the decision of himself and his col- leagues ; and he returned to Rome full of bitterness against them. Henceforth he concluded all his speeches in the senate with these words, " I also think that Carthage should be destroyed."* On the other side P. Scipio Nasica, either from a regard to justice, or, as it is said, persuaded that the only mode of saving Rome from the corruption to which she was tending, was to keep up a formidable rival to her, strenu- ously opposed this course. The majority, however, inclined to the opinion of Cato; it was resolved to lay hold on the first plausible pretext for declaring war, and to those who were so disposed a pretext was not long wanting. At Carthage there were three parties ; the Roman, the Numidian, and the popular party. This last, which, with all its faults, alone was patriotic, drove out of the city about forty of the principal of the Numidian party, and made the people swear never to readmit them or listen to any propo- sals for their return. The exiles repaired to Masinissa, who sent his sons Micipsa and Gulussa to Carthage on their be- half. But Carthalo, a leader of the popular party, shut the gates against them, and Hamilcar, the other popular leader, fell on Gulussa as he was coming again, and killed some of those who attended him. This gave occasion to a war ; a battle was fought between Masinissa and the Punic troops led by Hasdrubal, which lasted from morning to nio-ht without being completely decided. But Masinissa, having inclosed the Punic army on a hill, starved them into a sur- render ; and Gulussa, as they were departing unarmed, fell on and slaughtered them all. The Carthaginians lost no time in sending to Rome to justify themselves, having previ- ously passed sentence of death on Hasdrubal, Carthalo, and the other authors of the war. The senate, however, would accept no excuse; and, after various efforts on the part of the Carthaginians to avert it, war was proclaimed against them, (603,) and the conduct of it committed to the consuls L. Marcius Censorinus and M. Manilius Nepos, with secret orders not to desist from it till Carthage was destroyed. Their army is said to have consisted of 80,000 foot and 4000 horse, which had been previously prepared for this war. * Plut. Cato Major, 26, 27. Cato one day in the sehate-house let. fall from his toga some fine African figs, and when the senators ad- mired them he said, " The country that produces these is but three days' sail from Rome." 23 HH 266 HISTORY OF ROME. The Carthaginians learned almost at the same moment the declaration of war and the sailing of the Roman army. They saw themselves without ships, (for they had been prohibited to build any,) without an ally, (even Utica, not eight miles from their city, having joined the Romans,) without merce- naries, or even supplies of corn, and the flower of their youth had been lately cut off by Masinissa. They again sent an embassy to Rome, to make a formal surrender of their city. The senate replied that if, within thirty days, they sent three hundred children of the noblest families as hos- tages to the consuls in Sicily, and did whatever they com- manded them, they should be allowed to be free and gov- erned by their own laws, and retain all the territory they possessed in Africa. At the same time secret orders were sent to the consuls to abide by their original instructions. The Carthaginians became somewhat suspicious at no mention of their city having been made by the senate. They however resolved to obey, and leave no pretext for attacking them; the hostages accordingly were sent to Lilybgeum, amidst the tears and lamentations of their parents and rela- tives. The consuls straightway transmitted them to Rome, and then told the Carthaginians that they would settle the remaining matters at Utica, to which place they lost no time in passing over ; and when the Punic envoys came to learn their will, they said that, as the Carthaginians had declared their wish and resolution to live at peace, they could have no need for arms and weapons; they therefore required them to deliver up all that they had. This mandate also was obeyed ; two hundred thousand sets of armor, with weap- ons of all kinds in proportion, were brought on wagons into the Roman camp, accompanied by the priests, the sen- ators, and the chief persons of the city. Censorinus then, having praised their diligence and ready obedience, announ- ced to them the further will of the senate, which was that they should quit Carthage, which the Romans intended to level, and build another town in any part of their territory they pleased, but not within less than ten miles of the sea.* The moment they heard this ruthless command they aban- doned themselves to every extravagance of grief and despair; they rolled themselves on the ground, they tore their garments and their hair, they beat their breasts and faces, they called on the gods, they abused the R^omans for their treachery and * It well became the Romans after this to talk of Punica fides. THIRD PUNIC WAR. 267 deceit. When they recovered from their paroxysm, they spoke again, requesting to be allowed to send an embassy to Rome, The consul said this would be to no purpose, for the will of the senate must be carried into effect. They then departed, with the melancholy forebodings of the reception they might meet with at home, and some of them ran away on the road, fearing to face the enraged populace. Censorinus forthwith sent twenty ships to cast anehor before Carthage. The people, who weVe anxiously waiting their return, when they saw their downcast, melancholy looks, gave way to despair, and lamented aloud. The envoys passed on in silence to the senate-house, and there made known the inex- orable resolve of Rome. When the senators heard it, they groaned and wftpt; the people without joined in their lamen- tations, then giving way to rage they rushed in and tore to pieces the principal advisers of the delivery of the hostages and arms ; and they stoned the ambassadors and dragged them about the city ; they then fell on and abused in various ways such Italians as happened to be still there. The senate that very day resolved on war; they proclaimed liberty to the slaves, they chose Hasdrubal, whom they had condemned to death, and who was at a place called Nepheris at the head of a force of twenty thousand men, general for the exterior, and another Hasdrubal, the grandson of Masinissa, for the city; and having again vainly applied to the consuls for a truce that they might send envoys to Rome, they prepared vigor- ously for defence, resolved to endure the last rather than abandon their city. The temples and other sacred places were turned into v/orkshops, men and women wrought day and night in the manufacture of arms, and the women cut off their long hair that it might be twisted into bow-strings. The consuls meantime, though urged by Masinissa, did not advance against the city, either through dislike of the un- pleasant task, or because they thought that they could take it whenever they pleased. At length they led their troops to the attack of the town. The c'lij of Carthage lay on a peninsula at the bottom of a large bay; at its neck, which was nearly three miles in width, stood the citadel, Byrsa, on a rock whose summit was occupied by the temple of Esmun, (iEsculapius ;) from the neck on the east ran a narrow belt or tongue of land, between the lake of Tunis and the sea ; at a little distance in- lands extended a rocky ridge, through which narrow passes had been hewn. The harbor was on the east side of the 268 HISTORY OF ROME. peninsula ; it was double, consisting of an outer and an inner one, and its mouth, which was seventy feet wide, was se- cured with iron chains : the outar harbor was surrounded by a quay for the landing of goods. The inner one, named the Cothon,* was for the ships of war ; its only entrance was through the outer one, and it was defended by a double wall ; in its centre was an elevated island on which stood the admiral's house, whence there was a view out over the open sea. The Cothon was able to contain two hundred and twenty ships, and was provided with all the requisite maga- zines. A single wall environed the whole city ; that of Byr- sa was triple, each wall being 30 ells high, exclusive of the battlements, and at intervals of two hundred feet were tow- ers four stories high. A double row of vaults ran round each wall, the lower one containing stalls for 300 elephants and 4000 horses, with granaries for their fodder ; the upper, barracks for 20,000 foot and 4000 horse. Three streets led from Byrsato the market, which was near the Cothon, which harbor gave name to this quarter of the town. That part of the town which lay to the west and north was named Megara ; t it was more thinly inhabited, and full of gardens divided by walls and hedges. The city was in compass twenty-three miles, and is said to have contained at this time 700,000 inhabitants. The consuls divided their forces ; Censorinus attacked from his ships the wall where it was weakest, at the angle of the isthmus : Manilius attempted to fill the ditch and carry the outer works of the great wall. They reckoned on no re- sistance ; but their expectations were deceived, and they were forced to retire. Censorinus then constructed two large bat- tering rams, with which he threw down a part of the wall near the belt ; the Carthaginians partly rebuilt it during the night, and next day they drove out with loss such of the Ro- mans as had entered by the breach. They had also in the night made a sally, and burnt the engines of the besiegers. It be- ing now the dog days, and Censorinus, finding the situation of his camp, close to a lake of standing water, unwholesome, re- moved to the sea shore. The Carthaorinians then, watching when the wind blew strong from the sea on the Roman sta- tion, used to fill small vessels with combustibles, to which * This was a general name for an artificial harbor, probably from its resemblance to the -Aoj-d-wv, a kind of drinkingf-vessel. t This is probably a Greek corruption of Magaria or Magalia, tents or dicellings, connected with the Hebrew magur, ' dwelling.' ILL, SUCCESS OF THE ROMANS. 269 they set fire, and spreading their sails let the wind drive them on the Roman ships, many of which were thus destroyed. Censorinus having gone to Rome for the elections, the Carthaginians became more daring, and they ventured a noc- turnal attack on the camp of Manilius, in which they would have succeeded but for the presence of mind of Scipio, one of the tribunes, who led out the horse at the rear of the camp, and fell on them unexpectedly. A second nocturnal attack was frustrated by the same Scipio, who was now the life and Soul of the army. Manilius then, contrary to the advice of Scipio, led his troops to Nepheris against Hasdrubal ; but he was forced to retire with loss, and four entire cohorts would have been cut off but for the valor and skill of Scipio. Shortly after, when commissioners came out from Rome to inquire into the causes of the want of success, Manilius and his officers laying aside all jealousy, bore testimony to the merits of Scipio ; the affection of the army for him was also manifest ; of all which the commissioners informed the sen- ate and people on their return. Masinissa dying at this time, left the regulation of his kingdom to Scipio, who divided the regal office among the three legitimate sons of the de- ceased monarch ; giving the capital and the chief dignity to Micipsa, the eldest, the management of the foreign relations to Gulussa, and the administration of justice to Mastanabal. Scipio also induced Himilco Famseas, a Punic commander, who had hitherto done the Romans much mischief, to desert to them with two thousand two hundred horse. In the spring (604) the new consul L. Calpurnius Piso came out to take the command of the army, and the prsetor L. Hostilius Mancinus that of the fleet. They attacked the town of Clupea by sea and land, but were repulsed; and Calpurnius then spent the whole summer to no purpose in the siege of Hippagreta, a strong town between Carthage and Utica. The Carthaginians, elevated by their unexpected good fortune, were now masters of the country ; they insulted the Romans, and endeavored to detach the Numidians. Hasdru- bal, proud of his successes over Manilius, aspired to the com- mand of the city : he accused the other Hasdrubal of having intelligence with his uncle Gulussa, who was in the Roman camp ; and when this last, on being charged with it in the sen- ate, hesitated from surprise, the senators fell on and killed him with the seats ; and his rival thus gained his object. The elections now came on at Rome; Scipio was there as a candidate for the sedileship ; all eyes were turned on 23* 270 HISTORY OF ROME. him, his friends doubtless were not idle, and the letters from the soldiers in Africa represented him as the only man able to take CaT"thage. The tribes therefore resolved to make him consul, though he was not of the proper age.* The presiding consul opposed in vain ; he was elected, and the people further assumed the power of assigning him Africa for his province. This celebrated man was son to ^milius Paulus, the conqueror of Macedonia. He had been adopted by Scipio the son of Africanus; the Greek historian Polybius and the philosopher Panaetius were his instructors and friends ; and he had already distinguished himself as a soldier both in Spain and Africa. The very evening that Scipio arrived at Utica (605) he had again an opportunity of saving a part of the Roman army ; for Mancinus, a vain, rash man, having brought the fleet close to Carthage, and observing a part of the wall over the cliifs left unguarded, landed some of his men, who mounted to the w^l. The Carthaginians opened a gate and came to attack them, the Romans drove them back and entered the town; Mancinus landed more men, and as it was now evening he sent off to Utica, requiring provisions and a reenforcement to be sent without delay, or else they would never be able to keep their position. Scipio, who arrived that evening, received about midnight the letters of Mancinus ; he ordered the soldiers he had brought with him and the serviceable Uticans to get on board at once, and he set forth in the last watch, directing his men to stand erect on the decks and let themselves be seen ; he also released a prisoner, and sent him to tell at Carthage that Scipio was coming. Mancinus meantime was hard pressed by the enemies, who attacked him at dawn ; he placed five hundred men who had armor, around the remainder (three thousand men) who had none; but this availed them not; they were on the point of being forced down the cliffs when Scipio appeared. The Cartha- ginians, who expected him, fell back a little, and he lost no time in taking off Mancinus and his companions in peril. On his taking the command, finding extreme laxity of discipline and disorder in the army, in consequence of the negligence of Piso, Scipio called an assembly, and having upbraided the soldiers with their conduct, declared his reso- * The lawful age for the consulate at this time was forty-three years, and Scipio was only thirty -eight. ATTACK ON CARTHAGE. 271 lution of maintaining strict discipline ; he ordered all suttlers, camp-followers, and other useless and pernicious people to quit the camp, which he now moved to within a little distance of Carthage. The Carthaginians also formed a camp about half a mile from their walls, which Hasdrubal entered at the head of 6000 foot and 1000 horse, all seasoned troops. When Scipio thought the discipline of his men sufficiently revived, he resolved to attempt a night-attack on the Megara ; but being perceived by the defenders, the Romans could not scale the walls. Scipio then observing a turret (probably a garden one) which belonged to some private person, and was close to the wall, and of the same height with it, made some of his men ascend it. These drove down with their missiles those on the walls opposite them, and then laying planks and boards across got on the wall, and jumping down opened a gate to admit Scipio, who entered with four thou- sand men. The Punic soldiers fled to the Byrsa, thinking that the rest of the town was taken, and those in the camp hearing the tumult ran thither also; but Scipio, finding the Megara full of gardens, with trees and hedges and ditches filled with water, and therefore unsafe for an invader, with- drew his men and went back to his camp. In the morning Hasdrubal, to satiate his rage, took what Roman prisoners he had, and placing them on the walls in sight of the Roman camp, mutilated them in a most horrible manner, and then flung them down from the lofty battlements. When the senr ate blamed him for it, he put some of them to death, and he made himself in effect the tyrant of the city. Scipio, having taken and burnt the deserted camp of the enemy, formed a camp within a dart's cast of their wall, run- ning from sea to sea across the isthmus, and strongly for- tified on all sides. By this means he cut them off" from the land; and as the only way in which provisions could now be brought into the city was by sea, when vessels, taking advan- tage of winds that drove off the Roman ships, ran into the harbor, he resolved to stop up its mouth by a mole. He commenced from the belt, forming the mole of great breadth and with huge stones. The besieged at first mocked at the efforts of the Romans ; but when they saw how rapidly the work advanced they became alarmed, and instantly set about digging another passage out of the port into the open sea ; they at the same time built ships out of the old materials ; and they wrought so constantly and so secretly, that the Ro- mans at length saw all their plans frustrated, a new entrance 272 HISTORY OF ROME. opened to the harbor, and a fleet of fifty ships of war and a great number of smaller vessels issue from it. Had their evil destiny now allowed the Carthaginians to take advantage of their consternation and fall at once on their fleet, which was utterly unprepared, they might have destroyed it; but they contented themselves with a bravado, and then returned to port. On the third day the two fleets engaged from morn till eve with various success. The small vessels of the enemy annoyed the Romans very much in the action ; but in the retreat they got ahead of their own ships, and blocking up the mouth of the harbor, obliged them to range themselves along a quay which had been made without the walls for the landing of goods, whither the Roman ships followed them and did them much mischief During the night they got into port, but in the morning Scipio resolved to try to efiJect a lodgement on the quay which was so close to the port. He assailed the works that were on it with rams, and threw down a part of them ; but in the night the Carthaginians came, some swimming, some wading through the water, hav- ing combustibles with them, to which they set fire when near the machines, and thus burnt them. They then repaired the works; but Scipio finally succeeded in fixing a corps of four thousand men on the quay. During the winter Scipio took by storm the Punic camp before Nepheris, and that town surrendered after a siege of twenty-two days. As it was from Nepheris that Carthage almost entirely received its supplies, they now failed, and famine was severely felt. When the spring came (606) Scipio made a vigorous at- tack on the port of Cothon. Hasdrubal during the night set fire to the square side of it, expecting the attack to be made in the same place in the morning ; but LgbHus secretly entered the round part* on the other side of the port, and the atten- tion of the enemy being wholly directed to the square part, he easily made himself master of it. Scipio then advanced to the market, where he kept his men under arms during the night. In the morning he proceeded to attack the Byrsa, whither most of the people had fled for refuge. Three streets of houses, six stories high, led to this citadel from the market; the Romans, as they attempted to penetrate them, finding themselves assailed by missiles from the roofs, burst * It would appear from this that the wall on one side of the Cothon was rectangular, circular on the other. CAPTURE AND DESTRUCTION OF CARTHAGE. 273 into the first houses, and mounting to the roofs, proceeded along them, slaying and flinging down the defenders; others meantime forced their way along the streets ; weapons flew in ail directions ; the groans of the wounded and dying, the shrieks of women and children, the shouts of the victors, filled the air. At length the troops emerged before the Byrsa, and then Scipio gave orders to fire the town behind them. Old men, women, and children, driven by the flames from their hiding-places, became their victims; every form of horror and misery displayed itself During six days devasta- tion spread around ; on the seventh a deputation from the Byrsa, bearing supplicatory wreaths from the temple of JEscuIapius, came to Scipio offering a surrender, on condi- tion of their lives being spared. These terms were granted to all except the deserters; they came out fifty thousand in number, men and women ; the deserters, of whom there were nine hundred, retired with Hasdrubal to the ^Esculapium, which being on a lofty, precipitous site, they easily defended till they were overcome by fatigue, want of rest, and hunger. They then retired into the temple, where Hasdrubal stole away from them and became a suppliant to Scipio. The Roman general made him sit at his feet in their sight; they reviled and abused him as a coward and traitor, and then setting fire to the temple all perished in the flames. It is said that the wife of Hasdrubal, whom with her two children he had left in the temple, advanced arrayed in her best gar- ments in front of Scipio while the temple was burning, and cried out, " I blame not thee, O Roman, who hast warred against an enemy, but that Hasdrubal^ a traitor to me, his children, his country and her temples, whom may the gods of Carthage and thou with them punish ! " Then turning to Hasdrubal, " O wretched, faithless, and most cowardly of men, these flames will consume me and my children; but what a triumph wilt thou adorn, thou, the general of mighty Carthage, and what punishment wilt thou not undergo from him before whom thou art sitting!" So saying, she slew her children, and cast them and herself into the flames.* It is also said, that when Scipio surveyed the ruin of this mighty city, which had stood for seven hundred years, had abounded in wealth, had spread her commerce far and wide, * This must be a fable. Why would Hasdrubal's v/ife rather perish with Roman deserters than be saved with her husband and her fel- low-citizens .' II 274 HISTORY OF ROME. had reduced so many countries and peoples, and made Rome tremble for her existence, he could not refrain from tears, and he repeated these lines of Homer : " The day will come when sacred Troy will fall, And Priam, and strong-speared Priam's people." * When Polybius, who was present, asked what he meant, he owned that he had his country in view, for which he feared the vicissitudes of all things human. Scipio allowed his soldiers to plunder the town for a cer- tain number of days, with the reservation of the gold, the silver, and the ornaments of the temples ; and he sent to Sicily, desiring those towns from whom the Carthaginians had taken any of these last, to send to receive them. He despatched his swiftest ship to Rome with the account of the capture of Carthage, where the tidings produced the most unbounded joy. Ten commissioners were sent out forthwith to join with Scipio in regulating the affairs of Africa. What remained of Carthage was levelled, and heavy curses pronounced on any one who should attempt to rebuild it; all the towns which had adhered faithfully to it were treated in a similar manner ; those which had joined Rome, partic- ularly Utica, were rewarded with increase of territory. Africa was reduced to a province, a land and poll-tax imposed, and a prastor was sent out every year from Rome to govern it. Scipio triumphed on his return, (606,) and he was henceforth named Africanus. In the first year of the war against Carthage (603) a man named Andriscus, who pretended to b^ a son of king Per- seus, assumed the name of Philip, and induced the Mace- donians to acknowledge him as their king. He invaded Thessaly, but was defeated by Scipio Nasica, and the Achae- ans. Scipio's successor, the prsstor P. Juventius Thalma, brought more troops with him from Italy, (604,) but he lost the greater part of them and his own life in attempting to penetrate into Macedonia, and Andriscus reentered Thes- saly; Q. Caecilius Metellus, however, drove him out of it, defeated him in Macedonia, and afterwards in Thrace, by one of whose princes he was given up to the Romans *"EciGtrat r^uag, orav nor' oAojP.i; ^'IXiog [qt;, Kal n^iauog, xai Xabg Iv^iusXio} IlQiu^ioio. II. vi. 448. In like manner Mohammed II., when he entered the palace of the Caesars in Constantinople after the capture of that town, repeated a passage of Ferdousi, the Homer of Persia, to a similar effect. AFFAIRS OF SPAIN. 275 Another impostor then appeared, who called himself Alexan- der ; but Metellus forced him to seek refuge in Dardania. Metellus triumphed, (606,) and received the title of Mace- donicus, and Macedonia was made a province. Urged by their evil genius the Achaean League now (606) ventured to measure their strength with Rome ; but one army was defeated by Metellus, and another by the consul L. Mummius. Corinth was taken and bunnt; Thebes and Chalcis were razed; and Greece, under the name of Achaia, was reduced to a province. Mummius took the title of Achaicus, and triumphed, (607,) displaying on this occasion a vast number of the finest pictures and statues, the plunder of Corinth. CHAPTER IX.* AFFAIRS OF SPAIN. WAR WITH THE LUSITANIANS. TREACHERY OF LUCULLUS. VIRIATHIAN WAR. MURDER OF VIRIATHUS. NUMANTINE WAR. CAPTURE OF TMU- MANTIA. SERVILE WAR IN SICILY. FOREIGN RELA- TIONS OF ROME. GOVERNMENT OF THE PROVINCES. THE PUBLICANS. ROMAN SUPERSTITION. ROMAN LIT- ERATURE. The hardy tribes of Spain alone now offered resistance to the Roman arms. We will therefore cast a glance at the affairs of that country since the time of the Hannibalian war. After the departure of Africanus, (547,) Indibilis and Mandonius excited their people to war, but they were defeated by the Romans ; the former was slain, and the latter given up by his own people. In 555 a new war broke out, in which the proconsul C. Sempronius Tuditanus was defeated and slain. The prsetor Q,. Minucius gained some advantages in 557, but it still was found expedient to assign Spain as the province of M. Porcius Cato, one of the consuls of this year. Cato, soon after his arrival, defeated a large army of the natives, and he then had recourse to the following stratagem. When deputations came to him from the several * Appian's Iberioa is the principal authority for this chapter. 276 V HISTORY OF ROME. towns, he as usual demanded hostages, and sent sealed letters to each, directing them, under pain of slavery in case of delay, to throw down their walls. These letters he took care should all arrive on the same day ; there was consequently no time for deliberation ; each thought itself alone interested, his commands were every where obeyed, and the whole coun- try thus reduced to tranquillity. Cato then put the silver and iron mines on an advantageous footing for the state, and he triumphed on his return the following year. Spain was now divided into two provinces, named Citerior and Ulterior with respect to the river Ebro. The restless temper of the natives, and the ambition and cupidity of the Roman generals, would not however allow of permanent tranquillity, and hardly a year passed without fighting. Tib. Sempronius Gracchus, when preetor in Spain, (572,) arranged the relations between the Romans and the native population in a manner which gained him general applause. By one of his regulations, the Spaniards were bound not to build any more towns ; when therefore the Cel- tiberians of Segeda increased the compass of their walls, and removed the people of the smaller towns to it, the senate sent to forbid them, and as they did not comply with the de- mands made on them, the consul Q,. Fulvius Nobilior led an army against them, (599 ;) but the advantage in the campaign Avas on the side of the Celtiberians. The consul of the next year, (600,) M. Claudius Marcellus, when the senate had refused the Celtiberians peace, attacked and reduced them to submission. His successor, L. Licinius Lucullus, (601,) though the country v/as tranquil, would not be balked of his hopes of fame and booty. He crossed the Tagus, and, with- out any pretext, entering the Vaccsean territory, laid siege to the town of Cauca, (Coca;) and the people thus wantonly attacked were obliged to give hostages and one hundred talents of money, and to send their horse to serve with him. He then required them to receive a garrison ; and on their consenting, he put two thousand of his best troops into the town, with directions to occupy the walls. When they had done so, he led in the rest of his army, and gave the signal for a generar massacre of the male population, and of twenty thousand souls but a few escaped ; he *then plundered the town. After this vile piece of treachery he advanced through a country which the inhabitants had purposely laid waste, and sat down before a town named Intercatia; whence, after the army had suffered severely from hardship, want of neces- LUSITANIAN WAR. 277 saries, and the incessant attacks of the enemy, he was glad, through the mediation of his legate Scipio, (the future con- queror of Carthage,) — for the people would not trust him- self, — to retire, on receiving hostages, a certain number of cattle, and ten thousand cloaks {sages) for his soldiers. Gold and silver, which he chiefly coveted, they had not to give. He then went to winter in Turditania. The historian remarks that he never was brought to trial at home for thus warring on his own account. Meantime the Lusitanians, one of the independent tribes of the peninsula, had ravaged the lands of the subjects of Rome, and defeated the praetors, M' Manilius and L. Calpur- nius Piso, and the quaestor C. Terentius Varro. They after- wards defeated L. Mummius, the future conqueror of Greece, who had taken the command. The Lusitanians south of the Tagus now shared in the war; a part of their forces crossed over to ravage Africa, while another part besieged a town named Ocila; but Mummius fell on them and routed them with great slaughter, by which he gained the glory of a triumph. His successor, M. Atilius Serranus, reduced a part of them to submission ; but when he went into winter quar- ters, they rose again and laid siege to some of the subject towns. Ser. Sulpicius Galba, the successor of Atilius, coming to the relief of one of these towns, was defeated, with the loss of seven thousand men, and was forced to fly. This was at the time Lucullus was in Spain ; and in the spring (602) he and Galba simultaneously attacked the Lusi- tanians, the former in the south, the latter in the north. Lucullus, having fallen on and cut to pieces those who were returning from Africa, entered Lusitania and laid a part of it waste. Galba invaded the country on the north ; and when some of the tribes sent embassies to him, proposing to renew the peace made with Atilius which they had broken, he received them kindly, affecting to pity them, laying the whole blame of their predatory habits on the poverty of their soil, and offering to give them, as his friends, abundance of fertile land. The simple people gladly embraced the offer, and leaving their mountains came down to the plains which he pointed out to them. These were in three several places; and he directed each portion of them to remain there till he came to regulate them. Then coming to the first, he desired them as friends to put away their arms ; when they had done so, he raised a rampart and ditch about them, (their future town as it w^ere,) and sending in a party of soldiers armed 24 278 HISTORY OF ROME. with swords massacred all who were in it. He did the same at the other two places, and but a few escaped being the victims of this detestable piece of treachery.* About ten thousand of those who had escaped from Lu- cullus and Galba assembled the next year (603) and invaded Turditania. The praetor C. Vetilius marched against them, and succeeded in driving them into a position where, to all appearance, they must either perish by hunger or face the Roman sword. They sent to sue for lands, offering to be- come Roman subjects. Vetilius consented to their request ; but Viriathus, one of those who had escaped from Galba, reminding them of Roman treachery, bade them beware, and pledged himself to extricate them if they, would be guided by him. They chose him general on the spot ; he drew them up in line of battle, directing them to scatter when they saw him mount his horse, and m.ake as best they could for the town of Tribula, All was done accordingly ; Viriathus re- mained at the head of one thousand horse. Vetilius feared to divide his troops to pursue the fugitives ; Viriathus kept the Romans occupied the whole of that day and the next, and then by ways with which he was well acquainted rejoined his men at Tribula. This stratagem gained him great fame among his countrymen, and his army was speedily augmented. When Vetilius soon after came against Tri- bula, the Lusitanian laid an ambush, and slew the praetor himself and nearly half his army. By his accurate knowledge of the country, by his military skill and fertility in resources, and by possessing the confi- dence and affections of the native tribes, Viriathus succeeded during five years in baffling or defeating all the Roman generals sent against him. ' At length (607) the senate, Carthage and Greece being now reduced, resolved to prosecute with vigor the Lusita- nian war, which had assumed a formidable appearance. It was therefore committed to the consul Q,. Fabius Maximus JEmilianus, the son of JEmilius Paulus, and brother of the conqueror of Carthage. As the troops which he brought out were mostly composed of raw recruits, he avoided giving battle for a long time ; at length he engaged and defeated * Galba was prosecuted for this conduct by the tribune L. Scribo- nius, aided by M. Porcius Cato, now in his 85th year. He escaped by appealing to the compassion of the people, producing his young chil- dren to move their pity Cruelty and meanness often go together. (Cic. Orat. i. 53.) VIRIATHIAN WAR. 279 Viriathus, and took two Lusitanian towns. Viriathus how- ever succeeded in gaining over to his side the greater part of the Celtiberian tribes, and he still harassed incessantly the Roman subjects. In 610 the consul Q,. Fabius Maximus Servilianus, the adoptive brother of JEmilianus, came out, bringing with him eighteen thousand foot and one thousand six hundred horse. He sent to Micipsa, of Numidia for elephants, and when they arrived he advanced against Viria- thus, and defeated him ; but the Lusitanian, seeing the Ro- mans scattered in the pursuit, turned back, and having killed three thousand, drove the rest into their camp, which he would have stormed but that night came on. By making attacks in the night or during the heat of the day, he so worried and harassed the Roman army that he at length forced them to retreat to the town of Itucca, whither he pursued them ; but want of supplies and loss of men obliged him to return to Lusitania. Servilianus then again invaded that country; but as he was besieging a place named Eri- sane, Viriathus, who had entered the town by night, headed a sally in the morning, drove off those who were digging the trench, attacked the rest of the army, and chased it into a position whence there was no escape. The Lusitanian used his advantage nobly and moderately ; he proposed a peace, on the terms of his being recognized as a friend of Rome, and all those whom he commanded being secured in the possession of their territory. The consul gladly accept- ed these terms, peace was concluded, and the senate and people of Rome confirmed it. But Cn. Servilius Csepio, the brother and successor of Servilianus, (611,) was by no means pleased at losing his chance of fame and plunder. He wrote home describing the peace as highly disgraceful to Rome. The senate gave him leave to harass and provoke Viriathus in secret ; but this did not content him, and on his repeated instances he received permission to make war openly. He came up with the army of Viriathus, far inferior in number, in Car- petania. The Lusitanian, not venturing to engage him, drew up his horse on an eminence, and sent off the rest of his troops by a deep glen ; and when he thought them in safety he rode after them, in the presence of Caepio, with such speed as to baffle pursuit. Some time after, however, he sent three of his friends to propose a peace : but the un- worthy Roman, by gifts and promises, prevailed on them to engage to assassinate their chief. It was Viriathus' cus- 280 HISTORY OF ROME. torn to sleep in his armor, but his officers had free access to his tent at all hours. The traitors took advantage of this, and going in just as he had fallen asleep, killed him with one blow, they then fled to Caepio to claim their reward, and he sent them to Rome to claim it there. The Lusitanians deeply mourned their valiant, able, and noble-minded leader, and celebrated his obsequies with all the pomp and magnificence in use among them. They ap- pointed a chief named Tantalus to take his place ; but Viriathus was not to be replaced, and they were obliged to submit to Cgepio, give up their arms, and take the land he assigned them. The war which Viriathus had kindled in Citerior Spain now drew the attention of the Romans. The chief seat of this war was the city of Numantia, which lay in the present Old Castile. It was built on a steep hill of moderate height, being accessible only on one side ; the river Durius (Douro) and another- stream ran by it, and it was surrounded by woods. It contained, it is said, only eight thousand fighting men, but these were all first-rate soldiers, both horse and foot. Fulvius Nobilior, in the year 599, had first wantonly attacked Numantia ; Marcellus and LucuUus also turned their arms and arts against the Numantines, who therefore readily entered into an alliance with the Lusitanian hero. In the year 612, Q,. Pompeius, (the first consul of his name,) having received from his predecessor L. Metellus Macedo- nicus,* a well-disciplined army of thirty thousand foot and two thousand horse, laid sieo^e to Numantia ; but he met with nothing but disgrace and defeat ; his army was at- tacked by disease, and he was forced to disperse it through the towns for the winter. Wishing to end the war before his successor should come out in the spring, he entered into secret negotiations with the Numantines, who were extremely desirous of peace, and at his suggestion they sent an embassy to him. In public he demanded uncon- ditional submission, as alone worthy of Rome; in private he declared he would be satisfied if they gave hostages and * This was one of the best men Rome ever produced. As lie was besieging in this war the town of Nertobriga, the people, to punish one of their citizens who had gone over to the Romans, exposed his children to the battering rams. The father cried out not to heed them, but the generous Metellus gave up the siege, sooner than in- jure them. The fame of this humane act caused many towns to sur- render. Flor. ii. 17. Val. Max. v. 1, 5. NUMANTINE WAR. 281 thirty talents in money, and delivered up the prisoners and deserters. They agreed, and all was concluded except the payment of a part of the money, when M. Popillius Laenas came out to take the command. Pompeius then turned round and denied having made any convention with them ; they appealed to his own officers who were present. Popil- lius sent them to Rome, and the senate having heard them and Pompeius, sent orders to Popillius to prosecute the war. He accordingly commenced operations against Numantia, but he was utterly defeated by its gallant defenders. In 615, the consul C. Hostilius Mancinus appeared before Numantia, but in every encounter he was worsted ; and on a false report of the approach of the Cantabrians and Vac- caeans to relieve the town, he fled in the night, and took refuge in the old camp left by Nobilior : here he was sur- rounded by the Numantines, and no chance appearing of escape, he sent to propose a peace. The Numantines would only treat with his qusestor Ti. Sempronius Gracchus, the son of him who had regulated the state of Spain, and Grac- chus succeeded in concluding an honorable peace, and thus saving a Roman army of twenty thousand men. But at Rome this treaty caused high displeasure; some were for giving up to the enemy all concerned in it, as had been done at the Caudine Forks; but the influence of Gracchus' friends prevailed, and it was thought sufficient to deliver up the general. Mancinus, who offered himself a voluntary victim, was taken by his successor P. Furius, and handed over naked and in bonds to the Numantines ; but, like Pon- tius, they refused to receive him. During this time Mancinus' colleague, M. ^milius Lepi- dus, not to be idle, made war of himself on the VaccEeans, under the pretext of their having supplied provisions to the Numantines, and he laid siege to their chief town Pallantia. The senate, loath to engage in a new war at this time, sent out to stop him ; but he wrote to say that he knew the real state of things better than they, and that all Spain would rise if the Romans showed any symptoms of fear. He then went on with the war ; but his hopes of glory and booty were foully disappointed : after a great loss of men and beasts he was obliged to raise the siege and fly in the night, leaving his sick and wounded behind him. The people of Rome deprived him of his office, and fined him heavily. It is not quite certain that such would have been the case if 24* J J 282 HISTORY OF ROME. he had been victorious. The consul Q,. Calpurnius Piso (617) did not venture to engage the Numantines, contenting himself with plundering the lands of Pallantia. It was now become evident that the Numantine war de- manded Rome's ablest general ; the people therefore resolved to raise Scipio Africanus a second time to the consulate for this purpose, (618,) the law forbidding any one to be consul a second time being suspended in his favor. As there were so many troops already in Spain, no legions were raised, but the name of Scipio brought together about four thousand volunteers ; and giving the charge of them to his brother Fahius Maximus, he passed over himself at once to Spain. Here he found the army in such a state of demoralization, that nothing could be undertaken till its discipline was re- stored. He forthwith gave orders for all sutlers, harlots, diviners and priests, (for ill success had as usual produced superstition,) to quit the camp. He directed all the need- less wagons and beasts of burden to be sold ; forbade the soldiers to have any cooking utensils but a spit and a brass pot, or to use any food but plain roast and boiled meat, or to have more than one drinking-cup ; he also obliged them to sleep on the ground, himself setting them the example. By various regulations of this kind, he got the troops into good order, arid having seasoned them by marches and coun- termarches, making them dig trenches and fill them up again, raise walls and throw them down, he led them into the VaccGean territory, whence the Numantines drew their chief supplies, and laid it waste, and then took up his winter quarters in that of Numantia. While here he was joined by Jugurtha, the nephew of Micipsa king of Nu.- midia, with twelve elephants and a body of horse and light troops. In the spring (619) Scipio formed two camps in the vi- cinity of Numantia under himself and his brother. His plan being to starve the town, he refused all offers of battle ; he divided his army into different portions, and raised ramparts and towers round the town, except where it was washed by the Durius ; and to prevent provisions or intelligence being conveyed in by boats or by divers, he placed guards on the river above and below, and from these stations he let long beams of timber, armed with swords and darts and fastened by ropes to the shore, float along the stream, which being very rapid kept whirling them round and round, so that NUMANTINE WAR. 283 nothing could pass. The works round the town were six miles in circuit, those of the town being three miles ; and the besieging array counted sixty thousand men. The Numantines made several gallant but fruitless at- tacks on the Roman works. Hunger began to be felt, and all communication with their friends was cut off. A man named Retogenes, we are told, having engaged five of his friends to join in the attempt, they went one dark night, each with his horse and a servant, up to the Roman works, v/ith a ladder made for the purpose. Having ascended, they fell on and slew the guards on each side, and then getting up their horses,* they sent back their servants, and mounted and rode to solicit the Druacians to aid their kinsmen of Numantia; but their terror of the Romans was too great to allow them. The Numantines then went to a town named Lutia : here the young men were for giving aid, but the elders sent secretly to inform Scipio. It was the eighth hour when the word came; he collected what troops he wanted, and though the distance was forty miles he reached Lutia by dawn. He demanded the principal of the youth; he was told they were gone away ; he threatened to plunder the town if they were not produced ; they were then brought, to the number of four hundred ; he cut off their hands, left the town, and at dawn next day reentered his camp. The Numantines hopeless of relief, now sent five depu- ties, offering to surrender if they could obtain moderate terms. The unfeeling Roman would grant no conditions : the Numantines would not yet surrender at discretion. But the famine grew sorer every day ; they ate leather and other nauseous substances, and even, it is said, began to feed on human flesh. They sent once more to Scipio ; he desired them to give up their arms on that day, and repair on the next to a certain place. They asked a respite of one day, and in that time their leading men put an end to themselves. On the third day a miserable remnant came forth ; Scipio selected fifty to adorn his triumph, the rest he sold fo.r slaves; t he then levelled the town, and divided its territory among its neighbors. He triumphed on his return, and was named Numanticus. Little, however, on this occasion was the real glory of Scipio or of Rome. An army of sixty * If this story be true, the ladder must have been broad and boarded, so that the horses could walk up it. t According to Florus and Orosius, all the Numantines put an end to themselves, after burning their arms, goods, andjiouses. 284 HISTORY OF ROME. thousand men starved out one of four thousand, to whom they would give no opportunity of fighting : a people who had generously granted life and liberty to twenty thousand Romans, were attacked, in breach of a solemn treaty, and destroyed, because they maintained their liberty. In the year 614 the consul D. Junius Brutus had entered Lusitania, and having subdued the country south of the Durius, he crossed that river and advanced to the Minius, (Minho,) which he also passed, (616:) he made war suc- cessfully on the Callaeci, who dwelt to the north of it, and obtained the title of Callaicus. The year after the capture of Numantia the consul P. Ru- pilius terminated a war which had been going on for some years in Sicily. It had thus originated.* In this fertile island, the wealthy natives, and the Roman speculators who had made purchases in it, were in posses- sion of large tracts of land. As the cheapest mode of cul- tivating them, they bought whole droves of slaves at the various slave-marts, whom they branded and placed on their estates. These men, who seem to have been mostly Asiatics, were treated with great cruelty, and so stinted in food that they used to go out in gangs, (it is added, with their mas- ters' permission,) and rob on the highways, and even attack and plunder the villages ; and the influence of their masters was so great at Rome that the praetors did not venture to suppress this disorder. The slaves thus got union and a kind of discipline : they learned their own strength, and began to form plots. Among the slaves was a Syrian named Eunus, who af- fected to be inspired by the Syrian goddess : by various juggling tricks he attained great repute among his fellows, and he publicly declared himself destined to be a king. A wealthy Sicilian named Daraophilus, who resided at Enna, treated his slaves with remarkable rigor, and his wife equalled him in cruelty ; their wretched slaves therefore formed a plot to murder them ; but they previously resolved to consult the prophet. Eunus promised them success ; they placed him at their head, and to the number of four hundred entered Enna, where they were joined by their fellow-slaves, and committed excesses of all kinds. Damo- philus and his wife were seized and brought before their tribunal; as he was pleading for his life two of the slaves * Diodorus, xxxiv. Florus, iii. 19. ROMAN GOVERNMENT. 285 fell on and slew him ; his wife was given up to her female slaves, who, when they had tortured her, cast her down a precipice ; but their daughter, who had always been kind and humane to the slaves, was treated with the utmost con- sideration, and sent, under the escort of some whose honor and fidelity could be relied on, to her relations at Catana.* Eunus now assumed royalty. In three days he had an army of six thousand men, armed with axes, scythes, spits, etc. ; it gradually increased to beyond ten thousand ; he defeated the troops of the praetor P. Manilius, (616) ; and the same fate befell P. Lentulus the following year. A Ci- . lician slave named Cleon, in imitation of Eunus, put himself at the head of another body of slaves, and plundered Agri- gentum and its territory. It was expected that these leaders would turn their arms against each other ; but, on the con- trary, Cleon placed himself under the command of Eunus, and their forces at length, it is said, increased to 200,000 men. The prsetor L. Plautius Hyps^us was defeated by the rebels, (618,) and the consul C. Fulvius Flaccus met with little success ; the next consul, L. Calpurnius Piso, defeated them before Messaua, and his successor, P. Rupilius, (620,) ended the war, their strongholds, Tauromenium and Enna, being betrayed to him : numbers of the rebels were slain in battle or crucified; Cleon fell fighting like a hero; Eunus was made a prisoner, and he expired in a dungeon at Mur- gentia. We will conclude this Part by a few observations on the foreign policy and government of the Romans at this time, and the state of their literature. It was always Rome's policy to form alliances, if possible, with the neighbors, or natural enemies as they are called, of any state with which she was at war. We thus find that in 479 a Roman embassy appeared at Alexandria in Egypt, and concluded an alliance with Ptolemeeus Philadelohus, the object of which was a joint war against Pyrrhus, who was now become formidable ; but the death of that prince the following year made the treaty of no effect. The feeble * What was Scipio's boasted virtue to this ? 286 HISTORY OF ROME. successors of the Egyptian king continued to regard the Romans as their protectors, and the year 586 offers a re- markable instance of the Roman influence. Antiochus Epiphanes had invaded Egypt ,^ Rome was applied to ; an embassy, headed by M. Popillius Laenas, came out. Antio- chus offered his hand to Popillius, who declined it, till the king should have read the letter of the senate, ordering him out of Egypt. Having perused it, he said he would advise with his friends. Popillius, drawing a circle round him with a wand, desired him not to leave it till he had given him a reply. The king then said that he would obey the senate, and the haughty envoy at length condescended to give him his hand. The kings of Pergamus and Bithynia were the obedient slaves of the Roman senate, who employed them against the kings of Macedonia and Syria; and as, lion-like, Rome always gave her jackals a share of the prey, their dominions were augmented by her victories. The meanness of Prusias of Bithynia was unparalleled ; he styled himself the freed- man of the Romans, and would go out to meet their ambas- sadors with a shaven head and the freedman's cap, (pileus,) as being just emancipated. Attalus III. of Pergamus, dying (619) without issue, left his kingdom to the Roman people.* Such portions of their conquests as they did not leave with their rightful owners, or give away, the Rom.ans reduced to provinces, which were governed by those who had borne the •offices of consul and praetor at Rome. The power of these Roman governors was nearly as despotic as that of the Turkish pashas, and they but too often plundered the un- happy provincials in a dreadful manner ; the conduct of the infamous Verres, as detailed by Cicero in his pleadings agrainst him, though an extreme case, will show to what lengths robbery and extortion might be, and sometimes were, carried by Roman prcetors and proconsuls. What aug- mented the evil was, that the office of governor was annual, and each governor was attended by a cohort of officers, friends, and dependents, who had to make their fortunes also, so that (though the command was sometimes prolonged,) the provinces had every year to expect a new swarm of bloodsuckers to feed on them. These governments were, in fact, the chief objects of ambition among the Roman nobility, * Mithridates, in his letter to Arsaces, (Sallust, Fragm.) says that the will was a forgery. ROMAN GOVERNMENT. 287 who looked forward to them as the sources of wealth and fame ; for besides robbing those whom they were sent to protect, it was easy for them to pick a quarrel with some neighboring tribe or nation, slaughter a few thousands of them, and thence acquire plunder, and, on their return home, the honor of a triumph. The only remedy the provincials had, when oppressed, was a prosecution for extortion, {rerum repetundarum,) which they always found some one at Rome ready to undertake ; but this was in general but poor satis- faction, and the dread of it often caused the robbery to be the greater, as the plunderers had to get the means of bribing their judges and advocates; thus Verres, who had pillaged Sicily for three years, declared that he would be content if he could keep the plunder of but one year.* Another great source of misery to the subjects was the Roman custom of farming out all the revenues of the state. There was a large body of capitalists at Rome, chiefly con- sisting of the equestrian order, divided into companies, who took all the government contracts, farmed all the revenues, and lent their money on high interest at Rome, on exorbi- tant interest in the provinces. They were named Publicans, {JPublicdni,) as farming the public revenues : their wealth gave them such influence at Rome that they could dispose of political power as they pleased ; and between exorbitant interest for their money (we find most respectable men charging 48 per cent.) and excessive tolls and customs, they ground down, and alienated and exasperated the minds of, the provincials. Even in the year 585 the senate, when regulating Macedonia, declared that the gold and silver mines should not be wrought, or the domain-lands let, be- cause it could not be done without the publicans, " and where there is a publican," said they, "the public right is vain, or the liberty of the allies is nought. "t In the internal condition of the Roman state at this period we have to observe the absence of all civil commotions, the * Another evil were the Free Legations. When a man of rank had any private business to transact in the provinces, he applied to the senate for a free legation, as it was called, that is, to be appointed a supernumerary or unattached legate (as we may term it) to the gov- ernor of the province. He was thus invested with a public character, and entitled to make demands on the subjects for lodging, &c. at free cost ; and this was easily converted into a means of plunder and extortion. t Liv. xlv. 18: 288 HISTORY OF ROME foreign wars which prevailed all through it giving ample employment for all orders of the people ; but the lower or- ders, by constant service abroad, gradually lost the character of the simple rustic plebeian in that of the soldier ; and the generals, to gain the votes of the troops at elections, acquired the pernicious habit of seeking to win their favor by gifts and by the relaxation of discipline ; whence in the later wars of this time we find the Roman arms unfortunate, till a Scipio or an ^milius Paulus comes to restore discipline. The superstition of the Romans at this time is also de- serving of notice. Every year, as regular as the election of magistrates, is the expiation of prodigies, such as temples, walls, and gates being struck with lightning, showers of stones, milk, or blood, oxen or babes in the womb speaking, lambs yeaned with two heads, cocks turned into hens, and vice versa, mice gnawing gold, etc. etc.; to obviate the ill effects of which, victims were slain and supplications offered to the gods by orders of the senate ; partly, it is probable, merely in compliance with the popular superstition, in part also from their sharing in it. Rome at this time began to form the literature which has coQie down to us ; but unfortunately, instead of being na- tional and original, it was imitative and borrowed, consisting chiefly of translations from the Greek, In the year after the end of the first Punic war, (512,) L. Livius Andronicus, an Italian Greek by birth, represented his first piny at Rome. His pieces v/ere taken from the Greek; and he also trans- lated the Odyssey out of that language into Latin. Cn. Nseviu-s, a native of Campania, also made plays from the Greek,* and he wrote an original poem on the first Punic war, in which he had himself borne arms. These poets used the Latin measures in their verse ; but Q,. Ennius, from RudifB in Calabria, who is usually called the Father of Ro- man poetry, was the first who introduced the Greek metres into the Latin language. His works were numerous trage- dies and comedies, (from tlie Greek,) satires, and his cele- brated Annuls, or poetic history of Rome, in hexameters, the loss of which, (at least of the early books) is to be lamented. M. Accius Plautus, an Umbrian, and Csecilius Statins, an * A translation of the Greek poem, the Cypria, is also ascribed to him ; but it would seem without reason, as the fragments of it are hexameters. The name of the real author is said to have been Lsevius. ROMAN LITERATURE. 289 Insubrian Gaul, composed numerous comedies, freely imi- tated from the Greek. M. Pacuvius of Brundisium, the nephew of Ennius, made tragedies from the Greek ; L. Afranius was regarded as the Menander of Rome ; and P. Terentius, (Terence,) a Carthaginian by birth, gave some beautiful translations of the comedies of Menander and Apoilodorus. None of these poets but Plautus and Terence have reached us, except in fragments ; the former amuses us with his humor, and gives us occasional views of Roman manners, while we are charmed with the graceful elegance of the latter. It is remarkable that not one of these poets was a Roman. In fact Rome has nev'er produced a poet. d. Fabius Pictor, L. Cincius Alimentus, A. Postumius Albinus, M. Porcius Cato, and Cassius Hemina wrote his- tories (the first three in Greek) in a brief, dry, unattractive style. Cincius also wrote on constitutional antiquities, and seems to have been a man of research ; and a work of Cato's on husbandry has come down to us, which we could well spare for his Origines, or early history of Italy. 25 KC THE HISTORY OF ROME. PART IV. * THE REPUBLIC. CONQUEST OF THE EAST, AND DOWNFALL OF THE CONSTITUTION. CHAPTER I.t STATE OF THINGS AT ROME. TIBERIUS GRACCHUS '. HIS TRIBUNATE AND LAWS I HIS DEATH. DEATH OF SCIPIO AFRICANUS. CAIUS GRACCHUS ". HIS TRIBUNATES AND LAWS : HIS DEATH. THE GRACCHI, AND THEIR MEAS- URES. INSOLENCE AND CRUELTY OF THE OLIGARCHS. CONQUESTS IN ASIA AND GAUL. Hitherto we have seen the Romans, in consequence of their admirable civil and military institutions, advancing from conquest to conquest, till no power remained able to contend with them for the mastery ; and, though their con- duct was far from according with justice and the rigid rule of right, the wisdom and energy of their measures must * There is no consecutive history of this period but the epitome of Livy and those of Eutropius and others, and the agreeable sketch of the ingenious but prejudiced Velleius. Appian's Civil Wars gives the internal history ; and from the year 683 we have the continuous narrative of Dion Cassius. The works of Cicero also furnish many particulars, and there are Lives of all the great men of this period by Plutarch. t Appian, B. C. i. 1—27. Velleius, ii. 1—7. Plut., Tib. and C, Gracchus. STATE OF THINGS AT HOME. 291 command our applause. Internal tranquillity had also pre- vailed during this period of glory, and all orders in the state had acted together in harmony. The scene now changes. Henceforth the foreign wars become of comparatively little account, while internal commotions succeed one another almost without intermission ; liberty is lost in the unhal- lowed contests, and anarchy brings forth its legitimate off- spring, despotism. The progress to this consummation we will now endeavor to trace. The political state of Rome at this time was such as is most unfavorable to the maintenance of liberty. The people, who had the power of bestowing all the great and lucrative offices in the state were poor, Avhile a portion of the nobility were immensely rich. There were thus an oli- garchy and a democracy together in the state, and unless this condition of things could be changed there must be an end of the constitution. We have above shown one of the modes in which the Roman nobles acquired wealth, namely, by the oppression of the provinces. They had also been large purchasers of land in the sales of its domain made by the state; and as, on account of the constant wars in which Rome had been engaged since she had made the conquest of Italy, the vast tracks of public land which had been acquired remained mostly unassignedj they were occupied by the men of wealth. Had they, in conformity with the Licinian law, employed free laborers on these lands the evil had been less ; but the victories of the Roman people had filled the market with slaves, and the great landholders, finding that the work of slaves would come cheaper than that of freemen, who were moreover always liable to be draughted for the army, purchased large numbers of them, whom they kept in workhouses {ergastidd) badly fed and hardly treated, and forced to labor in fetters on their lands. These men were not, like the negroes, an inferior race; they were Gauls, Spaniards, Ligurians, Asiatics, and other intelligent or energetic portions of the human family. They had known the blessings of freedom, and, as the late events in 'Sicily had shown, they might endanger the state by a revolt. On the other hand, the frugal independent yeomanry, which in the good times had formed the pride and the strength of Rome, was greatly diminished, and at the same time was debased and corrupted. Engaged in distant ser- vice they were kept for years away from their farms, and 292 HISTORY OF ROME. frequently on his return the soldier found that his family had been driven from their cottage by some wealthy neigh- bor who coveted their spot of land, and justice could not always be obtained against him. Or, having lost all relish for a life of frugal and laborious industry, they were easily induced to sell their little patrimony for what they could get, and then settled at Rome, living as they could, and selling their votes, or else they adopted a military life alto- gether. This state of things caused great apprehension to the prudent and patriotic, who could discern no remedy but a return to the provisions of the Licinian law ; and Laelius, the friend of the conqueror of Carthage,, had in his tribu- nate contemplated some measure of this kind, but he de- sisted when he saw the opposition which the nobility were prepared to give, and hence it is said he acquired his title of Sapiens, i. e. ivise or prudent. Some time after, (619,) Tib. Sempronius Gracchus, who had been queestor to Man- cinus at Numantia, being made tribune of the people, re- solved to attempt to remedy the evils of his country by enforcino^ the aararian law of Licinius Stolo. Tib. Gracchus was the son of that Tib. Gracchus of whom we have already spoken ; his mother Cornelia was the daughter of the great Africanus. This admirable woman had devoted herself to the education of Tiberius and his younger brother Caius, anxiously desiring that they should be the first men of their time in virtue and in ability. Nor were her labors fruitless; of Tiberius it is said, by one who condemned his measures, that *' he was (' the present enterprise set off his head') most pure in life, most abun- dant in genius, most upright in purpose ; in fine, adorned with as many virtues as human nature, perfected by careful culture, is capable of"* He was married to the daughter of App. Claudius, and his sister was the wife of Scipio Africanus. As is usual, various causes were assigned for the conduct of Tib. Gracchus. Some said that he was excited by two Greek* philosophers;! others, by Cornelia, who reproached him that people called her the mother-in-law of Scipio in- stead of the mother of the Gracchi ; others, by jealousy of a ^ Veil. Pat. ii. 2. Cicero also, though he always condemns the conduct of Tiberius in the strongest terms, calls his " revolt from the senate" his only fault. (De Harusp. Resp. 19.) t Diophanes of Mytilene, and Blosius of Cumse in Campania. TIBERIUS GRACCHUS. 293 young man of his own age, his rival in eloquence ; others, by anger and fear at the conduct of the senate on the oc- casion of the Numantine treaty.* But by far the most probable cause is that given by his brother Caius, who said that as he passed through Etruria, on his way to Numantia, he was struck with the deserted look of the country in consequence of the large estates, and observing that all those who were cultivating them were slaves, he began to reflect on a remedy. After his return to Rome he com- municated his views to his father-in-law App. Claudius, to P. Mucins ScjEvola, the great jurisconsult, and to P. Licin- ius Crassus, the chief pontiff — men not to be suspected of demagogy — and other eminent persons, all of whom agreed with him in sentiment. Encouraged by their opinions, and further invited by anonymous writings on the walls and public monuments calling on him to' resume the public land for the poor, he brought forward a bill prohibiting any one from holding more than five hundred jugers of public land himself, and half that quantity for each of his sons ; and directing triumvirs to be appointed annually for dividing the surplus lands among the poor citizens, who were more- over not to be permitted to sell their allotments. The wealthy exclaimed against this law as a crying in- justice : they had, they said, inherited this property from their fathers, or fairly purchased it : they had received it in dowry with their wives, and given it in dowry with their daughters; they had laid out their money on it in build- ings and plantations ; they had borrowed or lent money on it; the tombs of the fathers of many were on these estates, so long had they been in their families. On the other hand, the poor complained of the state of misery to which they had been reduced ; they enumerated the cam- paigns in which these lands had been acquired by the blood of their fathers ; they upbraided the rich with their want of feeling and patriotism in preferring faithless barba- rian slaves to free citizens and brave soldiers. The people of the colonies, municipal towns,! and others who had any concern in this land, flocked to Rome as the time for putting the law to the vote drew nigh, and, as they saw reason to hope or fear from it, sided with one party or the other. * Cicero, Brut. 27 ; De Harusp. Resp. 20. Veil. Pat. ii, 2. t These were the Latin and Italian towns. (Niebuhr, ii. 52, nofe.) 25* 294 HISTORY OF ROME. Gracchus himself, excited by the magnitude and anticipa- ted, good of his object, and warmed by opposition, exerted all the powers of his eloquence in his harangues from the Rostra. The beasts t)f the field in Italy, he said, had their holes and dens to lie in, while those who fought and died for it partook of its light and air, but of nought else, wandering about house- less and homeless with their wives and children. It was a mockery of the generals to call on their men in battle to fight for their altars and the tombs of their fathers, for of so many Romans not one had a family altar or tomb ; they fought and died for the wealth and luxury of others : they were called the lords of the world, while they had not a sod of their own. He asked the wealthy if slaves were better, braver, or more faithful than freenlen : he showed them that, by thus diminish- ing the free population, they were running the risk not only of not making the further conquests to which they aspired, but of losing to the public enemies the lands they already possessed. He finally told them that if they cheerfully yielded up what they held beyond the limits specified in his law, they should have the remainder in absolute prop- erty, and he gave an adequate remuneration for the money they had laid out on what they surrendered. He then de- sired the clerk to read out the bill. But the rich, fearing to make any opposition in their own persons, had engaged Octavius, one of the tribunes, on their side, and he interposed his veto. The clerk there- fore stopped reading. Gracchus then put the matter off till the next market-day; but with no better success, for Octavius again interposed. Gracchus appointed another day, and judging that Octavius' opposition proceeded from his being a holder of public land, he offered to make good out of his own fortune any loss he might sustain. Finding him obstinate, he suspended by his intercession the func- tions of all the magistrates till his bill should have passed, and he placed his seal on the temple of Saturn, that the quaestors might take nothing into or out of it* The wealthy now assumed the garb of mourners; they at the same time laid plots for the life of Gracchus, who aware of them went constantly armed with a dagger, taking care to let it be seen. Another assembly-day came : the people were preparing * As this was the treasury, this was what we now call stopping the supplies. TRIBUNATE AND LAWS OF TIBERIUS GRACCHUS. 295 to vote, when Octavius again interposed ; they lost patience, and were about to have recourse to violence ; but Manlius and Fulvius, two consulars, with tears implored Gracchus to leave the matter to the senate. He snatched up his bill and ran with it into the senate-house ; but here the party of the rich was too strong for him : he came out again, and in sight of the people besought Octavius to give up his op- position ; and when he could not prevail he declared that the public weal must not be endangered by their disputes, and that one or other of them must be deprived of his office. He then desired Octavius to put the question of his deposition to the vote, and on his refusal he said that he would propose that of Octavius. The assembly was then dismissed. Next day he proposed the question ; the first or praeroga- tive tribe having voted for it, he conjured Octavius to change, but in vain. When seventeen tribes had voted, he again implored him ; Octavius, who was naturally of a mild, mod- erate temper, hesitated and was silent ; but on looking at the rich, false shame overcame him, and he persisted : the eighteenth tribe then voted, and he ceased to be a tribune. Gracchus ordered one of his officers, a freedman, to pull him down: the people rushed to seize him, the rich to defend him, and he escaped with some difficulty. Q,. Mum- mius was forthwith chosen in his place. Gracchus now carried his laws without opposition ; he himself, his young brother Caius, and App. Claudius his father-in-law, were appointed triumvirs for dividing the lands. The senate, at the instigation of P. Scipio Nasica, an exten- sive holder of public land, had the meanness and folly to insult Gracchus by refusing him a tent, (a thing always given to triumvirs,) and by assigning him only 4^ asses a day for his expenses. Just at this time Eudemus, of Pergamus, arrived with the will of king Attains. Gracchus immediately proposed that the royal treasures should be brought to Rome, and divided among those to whom land should be assigned, to enable them to purchase cattle and farming implements. He further maintained that it was for the people, not the senate, to regulate the dominions of the deceased monarch. This galled the senate, and Pompeius rose and asserted that being Gracchus' neighbor he knew that Eudemus had given him, as the future king of Rome, the diadem and purple robe of Attalus. Q,. Metellus reproached him with letting the poorer 296 HISTORY OF ROME. citizens light him home at night, whereas, when his father was censor, people used to put out their lights as he was going home, lest he should know that they kept late hours. Others said other things; but what most injured Gracchus, even with his own party, was the deposition of Octavius. Being aware of this, he entered into a public justification of his conduct on that occasion; but his arguments, though ingenious, are not convincing.* The nobility made no secret of their intention to take vengeance on Gracchus when he became again a private man, and his friends saw no safety for him but in being re- elected. To secure the people he declared his intention of shortening the period of military service, and to give an appeal, in civil suits, from the judges to the people. He also (perhaps to gain the knights) proposed to add an equal number from the equestrian order to the panel of judges, who had been hitherto exclusively senators. When the day of election came, the party of Gracchus was much more feeble than usual, for his chief supporters being countryfolk were away getting in the harvest, and they did not attend to his summons. He therefore threw himself on the people of the town, and though the strength of his ene- mies lay in that quarter the first two tribes voted in his favor. The rich then interrupted the proceedings, exclaiming that the same man could not be twice tribune ; a dispute arose among the tribunes, and Gracchus put off the election till the next day.t Though inviolate by his office he put on mourning, and during the rest of the day he went leading his young son about with him, and commending him to the care of the people, as he despaired of life for himself. The people attended, him home, assuring him he might rely on them, and many of them kept watch at his house during the night. In the morning the friends of Gracchus, having early occu- pied the Capitol, where the election was to be held, sent to summon him. Various unfavorable omens, it is said, oc- curred as he was leaving home, but his friend Blosius, the philosopher, bade him despise them. He went up : the elec- tion commenced ; the rich men and their party began to disturb it ; Gracchus made the sign which he had arranged * Plutarch gives the heads of his speech. Cicero (Laws, 1!1. 10) im- putes tlie ruin of Gracchus to his deposition of his colleague. t Appian, i. 14. Plutarch says that it was the friends of Gracchus who began to quarrel when they found tlie election going against him. TRIBUNATE AND LAWS OF TIBERIUS GRACCHUS. 297 with his friends during the night, for recurring to force : his party snatched the staves from the officers and broke them up, and girding their gowns about them fell on the rich men and drove them off the ground with wounds and bruises. The tribunes fled : the priests closed the doors of the tem- ple ; some ran here, some there, crying that Gracchus was deposing the other tribunes ; others said that he was making himself perpetual tribune without any election at all. The senate meantime was sitting in the temple of Faith. When Gracchus moved his hand to his head to give the sig- nal, some ran down crying that he was demanding a diadem of the people. Scipio Nasica called on the consul Mucins ScaBvola to do his duty and save the republic ; but he mildly Replied that he would not use force or put any one to death without a trial; that if Gracchus made the people pass any illegal measure, they were not bound by it. Nasica sprang up, and cried, " Since the consul is false to the state, let all who will aid the laws follow me." Then, regardless of his dignity as chief pontiff, and setting the retention of the pub- lic land, of which he held so large a portion, before all things, he threw the skirt of his gown over his head as a signal to his party, and began to ascend the Capitol. A number of senators, knights, and others, wrapping their gowns round their arms, followed him ; the crowd gave way through respect ; they snatched the staves from the Gracchians, broke up the forms and benches, and laid about with them on all sides. Some of the Gracchians were precipitated down the steep sides of the hill; about three hundred were slain, and among them Gracchus himself, at the door of the temple, by the statues of the kings ; or, according to another account, by a blow of a piece of a seat from Satureius, one of his colleagues, as he was running down the clivus of the hill. In the niffht the bodies of all the slain were fluna; into the Tiber, that of Gracchus included, which his murderers re- fused to the entreaties of his brother. Some of his friends were driven into exile ; others, among whom was Diophanes, were put to death. Blosius, when -taken before the consuls, declared that he had done every thing in obedience to Grac- chus. " What," said Lsslius, " if he had ordered you to burn the Capitol?" Blosius said that Gracchus would have given no such order ; but when pressed he answered that he would have obeyed it, as it must in such case have been for the public good. Strange to say, he was set at liberty! Thus, for the first time for centuries, was blood shed in LL 298 HISTORY OF ROME. civil contest in Rome, — a prelude to the atrocities which were soon to be of every-day occurrence. To the eternal disgrace of the Roman aristocracy, and to their own ulti- mate ruin, their avarice first caused civil discord ; and their contempt of law, divine and human, sprinkled the temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus with the sacred blood of a tribune, and taught the Roman people to despise the majesty of office and the sanctity of religion. The senate pronounced the death of Gracchus and his friends to be an act of justice ; * but the people were so im- bittered against Nasica that he deemed it advisable to go out of their sight; and though his office of chief pontiff bound him not to leave Italy, he obtained from the senate a free legation to Asia, where, after wandering about for some time, he died at Pergamus, Scipio Africanus was at Numantia at this time, and it is said that when he heard of the death of Tib. Gracchus, he cried out in the words of Homer, Thus perish all who venture on such deeds ! t And when, after his return, (621,) the tribune Carbo demand- ed of him before the people what he thought of the death of Tib. Gracchus, he replied that he w^as justly slain if he had a design of seizing on the government. At this the assembly groaned and hooted at him, but he said, " How should I, who so oft have heard undismayed the shouts of armed enemies, be moved by those of you to whom Italy is but a stepdame ? " | The agrarian law also caused Scipio to sink in the popular favor ; for M. Fulvius Flaccus and C. Papirius Carbo, who were made triumvirs in the place of Tib. Gracchus and-of App. Claudius, (who was dead,) finding that those who held the public land did not give in an account of it, invited inform- ers to come forward. Immediately there sprang up a rank crop of legal suits ; for those Italians to whom the senate had re-granted their lands, and those who had purchased, were required to produce their title deeds; but some had been lost, others were ambiguous, and time and one cause or another had * Cicero (Plane. 36. Pro Domo, 54) says that Mucius applauded and defended the deed of Nasica. This hardly accords with his approval of Gracchus' project. \ ' S2g an67.oiro y.al aXXog, o t/? roiavxu ys qiloi. Od. I. 47. I Meaning that they were mostly freedtnen, not genuine P«,oman cit- izens. DEATH OF SCIPIO AFRICANUS. 299 produced such confusion and uncertainty in the various pos- sessions, that the encroachments of the rich could not be ascertained with any exactness, so that no man was sure of his property.* In this state of things the Italians applied to Scipio Africa- nus, under whom so many of them had served, to advocate their cause. Not venturing openly, on account of the people, to impugn the agrarian law, he contented himself with repre- senting that it was not right that those who were to divide the lands should be the judges of what was public or not. As this seemed reasonable, the consul C. Sempronius Tudita- nus (623) was appointed to act as judge; but not liking the office he marched with an army into Illyria, under the pretext of some disturbance there. The whole matter came to a stop : the people were enraged with Scipio, and his ene- mies gave out that it was his design to abrogate the law by force. One evening Scipio went home from the senate in per- fect health, attended by the senators and a large concourse of the Latins and the allies. He got ready a table in order to write in the night what he intended to say to the people next day. In the morning he was found dead in his bed, but with- out any wound. Of the nature and cause of his death there were various opinions, some said it was natural,t others that he put an end to himself; others, that his wife Sempronia, the sis- ter of the Gracchi, (for whom he had little affection on account of her ugliness and her sterility,) and it was even added with the aid of her mother Cornelia, strangled him, that he might not abrogate the law of Gracchus,^ His slaves, it is also said, declared that some strangers who were introduced at the rear of the house had strangled him : the triumvirs Carbo and Fulvius are expressly named as the assassins. § Those who know how virulent and how little scrupulous of means par- ties were in ancient times, will probably feel disposed to sus- pect that he was murdered, and it is needless to say by what party. At all events no judicial inquiry was made, and the conqueror of Carthage had only a private funeral. H * The effect of the writ quo warranto in the reign of Edward I. was similar. t Which Velleius says was the more general account. X Appian, i. 20. Cicero, Somn. Scip. 2. Liv. Epit. 59. Cicero's al- lusion may be to C. Gracchus, who was suspected. Plut. C. Grac. 10. § Cicero, ad Divers, ix. 21 ; Ad Quint, ii. 3. ; De Nat. Deor. ii. 5. iii. 32. Plut. as above. 11 Pliny, H. N. x. 43, 60. 300 HISTORY OF ROME. Scipio Afiicanus is one of the most accomplished charac- ters in Roman story. As a general he was brave and skilful ; and though he had not the opportunities of displaying milita- ry talents of the highest order, success attended all his opera- tions, and he cannot be charged with any errors. He was of a noble, generous spirit in all his dealings, and in money mat- ters he acted with a liberality that was thought surprising in a Roman. Scipio was moreover an accomplished scholar ; he was the pupil of Polybius and Panaetius, and the patron of the elegant poet Terence, who is said to have been indebted to him and his friend Lselius for many of the graces of his dramas. For seven years (619-626) after the death of Tib. Grac- chus, his brother Caius seems to have abstained from public affairs. In 626 he was appointed quaestor to the consul L. Aurelius Orestes, who was going out to take the command in Sardinia. This appointment gave much joy to the nobility, who had been greatly troubled by the eloquence which he had lately displayed in the defence of one of his friends, and at the favor shown him by the people. Cicero * assures us that on this occasion Gracchus had a dream, in which his brother appeared to him and said, that, linger as he might, he must die the same death that he had died. The conduct of Gracchus during his quaestorship was deserving of every praise. The next year, to the mortification of the senate, M. Ful- vius Flaccus was chosen one of the consuls. Aware of the impolicy of alienating the Italians by putting them in appre- hension for their lands, Fulvius proposed to conciliate and compensate them by granting them the Roman civic franchise, and he prepared a law to that effect. The senators admon- ished and entreated him to no purpose ; he persisted in his measure : but just then the Massilians having sent to implore aid against the Salluvian Gauls, Fulvius was induced to take the command of the army sent to their relief; and his victo- ries in this and the following year gained him the honor of a triumph, (629.) The Latins and the Italians, who had gladly consented to accept the boon of citizenship in lieu of the disputed lands, were highly provoked at their disappointment, and many of their states began to think of appealing to arms. The peo- ple of Fregellse did actually revolt, but they were betrayed by Numitorius PuUus, one of their chiefs, to the praetor L. Opimius, who was sent with an army against them. Opimius * De Div. i. 26. CAIUS GRACCHUS. 301 razed the town, and this severity deterred the people of the other towns from rebellion. Aurelius had now been two years in Sardinia, and the sen- ate, though they changed the troops, continued him in his com- mand, thinking that Gracchus would not quit his general, but Gracchus, seeing their object, became indignant, and sailed at once for Rome, (628.) His enemies exclaimed, that his friends were offended at such unusual conduct ; but he defend- ed himself before the censors, and proved that he was justi- fied in acting as he had done. The nobles then charged him with having excited the Fregellians to their revolt, but he easily cleared himself. He then offered himself as a candi- date for the office of tribune, and on the day of election such multitudes of citizens flocked to Rome, from all parts of Italy that the Forum could not contain them, and numbers gave their votes from the house-tops. Soon after he had entered on his office, (629,) he brought forward two laws, one declaring any person who had been de- prived of one office by the people incapable of holding any other; a second making it penal for a magistrate to try any person capitally without the consent of the people.* The first was directed against the deposed tribune Octavius ; but he gave up this bill on the entreaty of Cornelia, to whom Oc- tavius was related : the other was levelled at P. Popillius Lae- nas, who was praetor when Tib. Gracchus was murdered; Popillius, fearing to stand a trial, left Italy. Gracchus then had the following laws passed. 1. A renewal of his broth- er's agrarian law. 2. One forbidding the enlistment of any one under seventeen years of age. 3. One for clothing the soldiers without making any deduction from their pay on that account. 4. One for making roads through Italy. 5. One for selling corn to the citizens every month out of the public granaries at |- As {se?nisse et triente) the modius, or peck,t for which purpose he directed the revenues of Attalus' king- dom to be let by the censors.| Such were the measures of Gracchus in his first tribunate. The law for making roads was eminently useful, and he de- voted much of his attention to them. They were straight and level, with bridges where requisite, and milestones placed all along them. His frumentary law was a poor-law of the worst kind; it drained the treasury, and drew to Rome an idle, turbulent population. It is very difficult to believe that * Cicero, Rabirius, 4. t Liv. Epit. 60. t Cic. Verres, iii. & 26 302 HISTORY OF ROME. his motives in passing it could have been pure ; it was after- wards repealed with the full consent of the people.* Grac- chus also gained favor v/ith the provincials this year by the following act. The proconsul Q,. Fabius having sent from Spain a large quantity of corn extorted from the provincials, a senatus-consult was made on the motion of Gracchus, ordering the corn to be sold and the price returned to the Spaniards, and reprimanding Fabius for his conduct. By a law lately passed the people had been empowered to reelect any tribune who had not had time to complete a measure which he had brought forward ; accordingly Grac- chus was chosen one of the tribunes for the next" year also, (630.) On this occasion he gave a strong proof of his influence over the people. lie said to them one day that he had a favor to ask, but he would not complain if they refused him; and while all were wondering what it might be, and if he wanted them to make him consul as well as tribune, he brought forward C. Fannius Strabo, and recom- mended him for the consulate. His object was to keep out L. Opimius, a determined oligarch ; and he succeeded, for Fannius was chosen with Cn. Domitius. Gracchus' first law was one taking the judicial power from the senate, who had enjoyed it from the time of the kings, and giving it to the knights. As the senatorial judges had of late shown scandalous partiality in the cases of some governors of provinces, the senate was ashamed to make any opposition, and the law passed. It is said that when pro- posing this law from the Rostra, instead of facing the Co- raitium as had hitherto been the custom, he turned to the Forum, t thereby intimating that the power of^the state was in the people ; and he continued this practice. It is also said that when the law had passed, he cried out that he had destroyed the senate. Yet he at the. same time proposed and carried a law directing that the senate should every year before the elections decide what provinces should be consu- lar and what praetorian, and that with respect to the former no tribune should have the power of interceding. Gracchus next proposed a law for communicating the civic franchise to the Latins and the Italians, and extending Italy to the * Cic. Brut. G2. t He was not the first to do so; in 607 C. Licinius Crassus, when proposing a law for giving the choice of members of the sacred colleges to the people, had faced the Forum. (Cicero, Lselius, 25.) TRIBUNATES AND LAWS OF CAIUS GRACCHUS. 303 Alps. It does not appear that this law passed, and it is likely that it injured him with the people, to gratify whom he proposed sending colonists to Capua and Tarentura. The senate had gained the consul Fannius to their side ; but not deeming this enough, they adopted a new system of tactics; they directed M. Livius Drusus, one of the tribunes, a man of birth, wealth, and eloquence, and entirely devoted to them, to endeavor to outbid Gracchus for popularity. Drusus therefore proposed that twelve colonies of three thousand persons each should be founded, that the rent im- posed by the Sempronian law* on the lands which were, or were to be, divided should be remitted, and decemvirs be appointed for dividing them. He also brought in a bill ex- tending immunity from flogging in the army to the Latins. These bills were readily passed by the people, and Drusus now rivalled Gracchus in popularity; and as he declared that he was acting entirely with the approbation of the senate, who gave a cheerful assent to all his measures, that body also rose in the popular favor. Drusus had a further advantao;e over Gracchus in that he abstained from handling the public money, and he appointed others, not himself, to lead his colonies. Gracchus was absent at this time. The tribune Rubrius had selected as the site of a colony the spot where Carthage had stood, and which Scipio had devoted to be a waste for- ever, and Gracchus and his friend Fulvius Flaccus had been sent to lay out the colony, which was to be named Junonia.f Various unpropitious signs, we are told, appeared ; a violent wind shook and broke the first standard, swept the sacrifices off the altar and carried 'them beyond the bounds, and wolves (the sacred animals of the sire of the founder of Rome) plucked up the boundary-marks and bore them away.| Gracchus however persisted, and after remaining there seventy days he returned to Italy to collect his colonists. Finding his influence on the wane, he moved down from the Palatine, on which he resided, to the neighborhood of the Forum, v/here the low^er sort of people mostly dwelt, to prove * That is, of Tib. Gracchus. Laws were always called after the gentile name of their proposer ; thus Sulla's were the Cornelian, Ceesar's, the Julian laws. t After Juno, or Astarte, the patron-deity of Carthage. (Virg. Mn. i.) t Appian says it was after the return of Gracchus that the prodigy of the wolves (the only one he mentions) occurred, and that he and Fulvius said it was an invention of the senate, who wanted a pretext for doing away with the colony. 304 HISTORY OF ROME. his devotion to them. But his measure of setting the Italians on a level with them was too unpalatable to be digested by the populace of Rome, who, as is always the case, were as fond of monopoly, as jealous of their privileges, and as heed- less of justice in maintaining them, as any oligarchs whatever. When he proposed anew the granting the franchise to the allies, the consul Fannius, at the desire of the senate, issued an order forbidding any who were not qualified to vote to be in the city, or within five miles of it, on the day of voting. Gracchus, on the other hand, gave public notice to the Italians that he would protect them if they staid. He however did not, for he looked calmly on while one of his own Italian friends was seized and dragged away by the lictors, probably feeling that he could not now rely on the people, in his anxiety to gain whom he had also offended his own colleagues. For on the occasion of a combat of gladi- ators to be given in the Forum, they had erected scaffolds around it in order to let the seats ; Gracchus desired them to pull them down, that the poor might see the sport without payment. As they took no heed of him, he waited till the night before the show, when collecting a body of workmen he demolished the scaffolds and left the place clear for the populace, by whom this paltry piece of demagogy was of course highly applauded. The time of elections now came on, and Gracchus stood a third time for the tribunate; but he failed, some said through the injustice of his colleagues, who made a false return of the votes, but more probably through the ill-will of the people at his wanting to extend the franchise ; and moreover the senate succeeded in having L. Opimius, a man on whom they could rely, raised to the consulate. They deemed that they might novv' endeavor to abrogate the laws of Gracchus, and the first attempt was to be made on that of the African colony. Gracchus at first bore their proceedings patiently; at lengthy urged by Fulvius and his other friends, he resolved to collect his adherents and oppose force to force. On the day of voting on the law, both parties early occupied the Capitol; the consul, as usual, offered sacrifice; and as one of his lictors, named Antillius, was carrying away the entrails, he cried to those about Fulvius, " Make way, ye bad citizens, for the good ! " they instantly fell on him and despatched him with their writing-styles.*' Gracchus was * Plutarch. Appian relates this event somewhat differently. DEATH OB' CAIUS ORACCIIUS. 305 sorely grieved at this violent deed ; but to Opimius it was a matter of exultation, and he called on the people to avenge it. A shower of rain, however, came on and dispersed the assembly. Opimius then* called the senate together, and, while they were deliberating, the body of Antillius was brous^ht, with loud lamentations, throuah the Forum to the senate-house by those to whom Opimius had given it in charge : he, however, pretended ignorance. The senators went out to look at it ; some exclaimed at the heinousness of the deed, others could not help reflecting how different had been the treatment of the body of Tib. Gracchus and of this common lictor by the oligarchs. A decree however was passed that the consuls should see that the state suffered no injury.! Opimius then directed the senators to arm them- selves, and ordered the knights to appear next morning early, each with two armed slaves. Fulvius on his side also pre- pared for battle. It is said that Gracchus, as he was leaving the Forum, stopped before his father's statue, and having gazed on it a long time in silence, groaned and shed tears. The people kept watch during the night at his house and at that of Fulvius; at the former in silence and anxiety, at the latter with drinking and revelry, Fulvius himself setting the example. In the morning Opimius, having occupied the Capitol with armed men, assembled the senate in the temple of Castor. Summonses to appear before the senate and defend themselves were sent to Gracchus and Fulvius ; but, instead of obeying, they resolved to occupy the Aventine. Fulvius having armed his adherents with the Gallic spoils with which he had adorn- ed his house after his triumph, moved toward the Aventine, calling the slaves in vain to liberty. Gracchus went in his toga, with no weapon but a small dagger. They posted themselves at the temple of Diana ; and, at the desire of Grac- chus, Fulvius sent his younger son to the senate to propose an accommodation. They were desired to lay down their arms and to come and say what they would, or to send no more proposals. Gracchus, it is said, was for compliance, but Ful- vius and the others would not yield. The youth, however, was sent down again ; and then Opimius, who thirsted for civil * Plutarch says, next morning ; but it is not likely that there could have been such delay. Appian makes the death of Gracchus take place the following day. t " Dent operam consules ne quid respublica detriment! capiat," was the form of the decree. It invested them with dictatorial power. 26 * MM 306 HISTORY OF ROME. blood, seized him as being no longer protected by his office, and putting himself at the head of his armed men advanced to the attack. The Gracchians fled without making any re- sistance. Fulvius took refuge in a deserted bath, whence he was dragged out and put to death with his eldest son. Grac- chus, retiring into the temple, attempted to put an end to him- self: but two of his friends took the weapon from him and forced him to fly. As he was going, it is said, he knelt down, and, stretching forth his hands, prayed to the goddess that the Roman people might be slaves forever, as a reward forjheir ingratitude and treachery to him, — a prayer destined to be accomplished! His pursuers pressing on him at the Sublici- an bridge, his two friends, to facilitate his escape, stood and maintained it against them till they were both slain. Grac- chus in vain prayed for some one to supply him with a horse; then, finding escape hopeless, he turned, with a faithful slave who accompanied him, into the grove of the goddess Furina, where he ordered his slave to despatch him : the slave obey- ed, and then slew himself over his body. The heads of Gracchus and Fulvius were cut off and brought to Opimius, who had promised their weight in gold for them ; and the person who brought the former is said to have previously taken out the brain and filled it with lead. Their bodies and those of their adherents, to the number of three thousand,'* were flung into the Tiber, their properties confiscated, their wives forbidden to put on mourning, and Licinia, the wife of Gracchus, was even deprived of her dower, contrary to the opinion of Mucius Scaevola. Opimius, by way of clemency, gave the young Fulvius, whom he had cast into prison, the choice of the mode of his death, though what his crime v/as it is not easy to see. To crown all, having purified the city by order of the senate, Opimius built a temple to Concord ! Plutarch compares the Gracchi with the last two kings of Sparta ; and the parallel between Agis and Tiberius is cer- tainly just. Both were actuated by the purest motives ; both attempted to remedy an incurable evil ; both were murdered by the covetous oligarchs. But Agis committed no illegal act, while the deposition of Octavius plainly violated the con- stitution. The comparison of C. Gracchus with Cleomenes is less just ; the Roman was the better man, though, but for his * Orosius, (v. 12,) who wrote from Livy , says that only 2o0 were slain on the Aventine, but that Opimius afterwards put to death more than 3000 persons, without trial, who were mostly innocent. THE GRACCHI AND THEIR MEASURES. 307 law increasing the power of the senate, we might say that he was a demagogue, like Pericles, who cared not what evil he introduced provided he extended his own influence. In talent, Caius was beyond his brother; his eloquence was of the highest order ; and if, as we incline to believe, his views were pure, he also may claim to be ranked among Rome's most illustrious patriots. With respect to the great measure of the Gracchi, the re- sumption of the public land, its legality is not to be questioned ; and the objects proposed, the relief of the people and increase of the free population, were most laudable. But a hundred and fifty years had elapsed since the conquest of Italy, during which there had been few or no assignments of land ; and such dangers are apt to arise from disturbing long possession, even though not strictly legal in its origin, that it is doubtful if in any case good could have resulted from the measure. As it was, the evil was beyond cure ; the Republic was verging to its fall, and no human skill could avail to save it. Still our applause is due to those who did not despair of it, and who manfully attempted to stem the torrent of vice and corrup- tion. Whatever rhay have been the faults of the Gracchi and their friends, the nobility have little claim on our sympathy ; for they used their victory with the greatest insolence and cru- elty. When they had glutted their vengeance, they began to think of their interest : a law was passed allowing those who had received lands under the Sempronian law, to sell them, and the rich soon had them again by purchase, or under that pretext. Sp. Thorius, a tribune, then (645) directed that no more land should be divided ; that those who held it should keep it, on payment of a quit-rent, to be annually distributed among the people, — a measure which, though it might re- lieve the poor, had no effect on the increase of the free pop- ulation, the great object of Tib. Gracchus. This, however, was not pleasing to the oligarchs : so another tribune, to grat- ify them, did away with the quit-rents altogether ; and thus ended all the hopes of the people. It is remarkable that, at the time the Roman people were thus voting away their rights, they actually had the ballot, and, we may say, universal suffrage. In 614 Q,. Gabinius, a tribune of low birth, had a tabellarian^ law passed, by which the people were to vote with tablets on the election of magistrates ; * So named from the wooden tablets with which they gave their votes. 303 HISTORY OF ROME. in 618, L. Cassius, the well-known rigid judge, when tribune, extended this principle to trials ; and in 622, C. Papirius C^- bo further extended it to the voting on laws : * yet we see of how little avail it was. Cicero t remarks that after it was in- troduced more state criminals escaped than when the people voted openly ; and we know how such acquittals were obtained by the plunderers of the provinces. L. Opimius was accused in 632, by the tribune Q,. Decius, for having put citizens to death without trial ; and it is rath- er startling to find the consul of that year, C. Papirius Carbo, the friend of the Gracchi, exerting his eloquence (in which he excelled) in his defence, and maintaining that C. Gracchus had been justly slain. Opimius of course was acquitted. This change of party did not, however, avail Carbo: he was pros- ecuted the next year (683) by the young orator L. Crassus, for his share, as it would seem, in the measures of the Grac- chi, and seeing no prospect of escape he put an end to his own life. Having concluded the narrative of this first civil discord, we will cast a glance over the foreign affairs of the state at this period. When Attalus of Pergamus left his kingdom to the Ro- man people, (619,) his natural brother Aristonicus took up arms to assert his claim to it. There was perhaps some doubt in the senate as to the justice of their cause ; for it was not till two years after (621) that Asia was decreed as a prov- ince to the consul P. Licinius Crassus, who, though he was chief pontiff, and therefore bound not to leave Italy, led an army thither. But thinking more on booty than war, he was defeated and made a prisoner in a battle fought near Smyrna, and he was put to death by the victor. Aristonicus, however, was forced to surrender (623) to M. Perperna, and the king- dom of Attalus became a Roman province under the title of Asia. In 627 the consul Fulvius, as above related, led an army to the aid of the Massilians ao-ainst the Salluvian Gauls. The con- sul C. Sextius (628) gave this people a defeat at a place, af- terwards named from him and its warm springs, Aquge Sextise, (Aix.) The Allobroges and Arvernians were next attacked, under the pretence of their having given shelter to the king ^ Cicero, Laws, iii. 16. t Laws, iii. 17. The rule he here gives is as follows ; '■'■ Optiviatihus nota, plebi libera sunto (suffragia.") THE JUGURTHINE WAR. 309 of the Salluvians, and having ravaged the lands of the ^du- ans, who were the allies of Rome. They were reduced (630) by the consul Cn. Domitius. The next year Q,. Fabi- ijs Maximus, the colleague of Opimius, gained a great victo- ry over the Allobroges, whose king, Betultus, having gone to Rome to excuse himself to the senate, was detained, and placed in custody at Alba, and directions were sent to bring his son to Rome also, as their presence in Gaul was danger- ous. In 634 the colony of Narbo Marcius (Narbonne) was founded by Q,. Marcius Rex, and the Roman dominion in Gaul now extended to the Pyrenees. CHAPTER II. THE JUGURTHINE WAR. DEFEAT AND DEATH OF ADHERBAL. BESTIA IN AFRICA. JUGURTHA AT ROME. DEFEAT OF AULUS. METELLUS IN AFRICA. ATTACK ON ZAMA. — • NEGOTIATIONS WITH JUGURTHA. TAKING OP THALA. CAIUS MARIUS. TAKING OF CAPSA. TAKING OF THE CASTLE ON THE MULUCHA. SULLA AND BOCCHUS. DE- LIVERY UP OF JUGURTHA. HIS END. CIMBRIC WAR. VICTORY AT AQUJ3 SEXTIiE. VICTORY AT VERCELL^. INSURRECTION OF THE SLAVES IN SICILY. A WAR now broke out which, as narrated by an excellent historian,* displays in an appalling manner the abandoned profligacy and corruption of the Roman nobility at this time. Micipsa, king of Numidia, died, (634,) leaving two sons, Adherbal and Hiempsal, with whom he joined his nephew, Jugurtha, the son of Manastabal, as a partner in the kingdom. Jugurtha was a young man of talent, highly popular with the army, ambitious, and hungering after dominion v/ith the avidity Vv^hich has at all times characterized Eastern and African princes, and like them unscrupulous as to means. He had been incited by many Romans of rank whom he was intimate with at Numantia, to seize the kingdom on the death of Micipsa, and assured by them that money was omnipotent at Rome. Accordingly he soon had Hiempsal, * C. Sallustius Crispus. 310 HISTORY OF ROME. the more spirited of the two princes, murdered ; and, when Adherbal took up arms to defend himself, he defeated him and drove him out of his kingdom. Adherbal repaired to Rome, whither he was followed by envoys from Jugurtha, bearing plenty of gold and silver, which they distributed to such effect, that when the senate had heard both parties, they decreed that ten commissioners should go out to divide the realm of Micipsa between Ad- herbal and Jugurtha ! L. Opimius was at the head of the commission, (635,) and Jugurtha plied him and most of his colleagues so well with gifts and promises, that the far more valuable half was given to him ; and so convinced was he now of the venality of every one at Rome, that they were hardly gone when he invaded and plundered Adherbal's dominions, hoping thus to provoke him to a war. But Ad- herbal, a quiet, timid prince, contented himself with sending an embassy to complain of the injury. Jugurtha replied by reentering his realm at the head of a large army. Adherbal assembled an army ; but Jugurtha fell on his camp, near the town of Cirta, in the night, and cut his troops to pieces. Adherbal fled to Cirta, which would have been taken, but that there happened to be in it a great number of Italian traders, who manned the walls and defended it. Jugurtha, aware that Adherbal had sent to Rome, pressed on the siege with all his might, hoping to take the town before any one could come to prevent him. Three commissioners, how- ever, arrived, with orders for the kings to abstain from war, and decide their quarrel by equity. Jugurtha, alleging that he had taken up arms, in self-defence, as Adherbal had plotted against his life, said he would send envoys to Rome to explain all matters. The commissioners then went away, not having been allowed to see Adherbal, and Jugurtha urged on the siege more vigorously than ever. Two of Adherbal's follovv^ers, however, made their way through the camp of the besiegers, and brought a letter from him to the senate. Some were for sending an army to Africa ; but the influence of Jugurtha's party succeeded in having only a commission appointed, composed however of men of the highest rank, among whom was M, ^Emilius Scaurus, at that time the chief of the senate, a man of talents of a high order, but of insatiable avarice and ambition. On arriving at Utica they sent orders to Jugurtha to come to them in the province ; and having made one more desperate but fruitless effort to storm the town, he obeyed, fearing to THE JUGURTHINE WAR. 311 irritate Scaurus. But the interview was of no effect, for, after wasting words in vain, the commissioners went home. It would perhaps have been better for Adlierbal if they had not come at all ; for the Italians in Cirta, convinced that the power of Rome would be a security to them, insisted on his surrendering the town, only stipulating for his life ; and, though he knew how little reliance was to be placed on Jugurtha's faith, he yielded, as it was in their power to compel him. Jugurtha first put Adherbal to death, with torture, and then made a promiscuous slaughter of the male inhabitants, the Italian traders included, (640.) Jugurtha's pensioners at Rome attempted to gloss over even this atrocious deed ; but C. Memmius, a tribune elect, in his harangues to the people, so exposed the motives of those who advocated his cause, that the senate grew alarmed, and by the Sempronian law Numidia was assigned as one of the provinces of the future consuls. It fell to L. Calpurnius Bestia, (641;) an army was levied, and all preparations made for war. Jugurtha was not a little surprised when he heard of this. He sent his son and two of his friends as envoys to Rome, to bribe as before ; but they were ordered to quit Italy, unless they were come to make a surrender of Jugur- tha and his kingdom. They therefore returned without having effected any thing. The consul, who, like so many others, was a slave to avarice, having selected as his legates Scaurus and some other men of influence, whose authority, he hoped, would defend him if he acted wrong, passed over to Africa with his troops, and made a brisk inroad into Numidia. Jugurtha, instead of trying the chance of war, assailed him by large offers of money, displaying at the same time the difficulties of the war ; and Scaurus, whose prudence had hitherto been proof against all his offers, yielded at last, and went hand in hand- with the consul. They agreed to a peace with him ; he came to the camp and made a surrender of himself, and delivered to the qusestor thirty elephants, a good number of horses and cattle for the army, and a small quantity of money. Bestia then went to Rome to hold the elections, as his colleague was dead. The senate were dubious how to act; the disgraceful transaction was vehemently reprobated by the people, but the authority of Scaurus was great with them. Memmius seized the occasion of assailing the nobility ; he detailed their acts of cruelty and oppression, he exposed their avarice, venality, and corruption, and he finally succeeded in having 312 HISTORY OF ROME. the praetor L. Cassiua sent to Africa to bring Jugurtha to Rome, in order to convict Scaurus and the others by his evidence. Cassius having pledged the public faith and his own, (which was of equal weight,) for his safety, Jugurtha came with him to Rome, (642.) Here, besides his former friends, he gained C. Baebius, one of Memmius' colleagues ; and when Memmius produced him before the people, and, having enumerated all his crimes, called on him to name those who had aided and abetted him in them, Baebius ordered him not to answer. The people were furious, but Baebius heeded them not ; and Jugurtha soon ventured on another murder. There was at Rome a cousin of his, named Massiva, the son of Gulussa, whom the consul elect, Sp. Postumius Al- binus, anxious for the glory of a war, persuaded to apply to the senate for the kingdom of Numidia. Jugurtha, seeing him likely to succeed, desired his confidant, Bomilcar, to have him put out of the way. Assassins were then, as in more modern times, easily to be procured at Rome. Mas- siva was slain, but his murderer, on being seized, informed against Bomilcar, who, more in accordance with equity than with the law of nations, was arrested. Fifty of Jugurtha's friends gave bail for him ; but Jugurtha, finding this to be a case beyond his money, sent him away, heedless of his bail, for he feared that his other subjects would be less zealous to serve him if he let Bomilcar suffer. In a few days he him- self was ordered to quit Italy. It is said that as he was going out of Rome he turned back, and gazing on it, said, " Venal city, and soon to perish if a purchaser were to be found ! " Albinus passed over to Africa without delay ; but, with all his diligence, he was baffled by Jugurtha, who never would give an opportunity of fighting, and kept illuding him with offers of surrender. Many people suspected that the consul and he understood one another. The elections beinor at hand, Albinus returned to Rome, leaving his brother Aulus in command of the army. A delay having occurred, in consequence of two of the tribunes wanting to remain in ofSce, in opposition to their colleagues, Aulus, hoping to end the war, or extort money from Jugurtha, led out his troops in the month of January, (643,) and by long marches came to a town named Suthul, where the royal treasures lay. The town was strong by nature and art : Jugurtha mocked at the folly of the legate, and, by holding out hopes of sur- METELLUS IN AFRICA. 313 render, drew him away from it. By bribes he gamed some of the centurions and captains of horse to promise to desert, others to quit their posts : he then suddenly assailed the camp in the night ; a centurion admitted him ; the Romans fled to an adjacent hill, where they were obliged to surrender, pass under the yoke, and engage to evacuate Numidia within ten days. Grief, terror, and indignation prevailed at Rome when this disgraceful treaty was known. The senate, as was always the case, pronounced it not to be binding. Albinus hastened to Africa, burning to efface the shame; but he found the troops in such a state of indiscipline that he could not ven- ture on any operations. At Rome, the tribune C. Mamilius Limetanus took advantage of the state of public feeling, to bring in a bill for inquiring into the conduct of those who had advised Jugurtha to neglect the decrees of the senate, and of those who had taken bribes from him, had given him back the elephants and deserters, or made treaties with him. The nobility, conscious of their guilt, strained every nerve against the bill ; the people, more out of hatred to them than regard for the republic, urged it on and passed it. Strange to say, Scaurus, one of the most guilty, had influence enough to have himself chosen among the three inquisitors whom the bill appointed. The inquiry was prosecuted with great asperity, the people being delighted to have an opportunity of humbling the nobility ; common fame was deemed suffi- cient evidence, and Opimius, Bestia, Albinus and others, were condemned. Albinus' successor (643) was Q,. Csecilius Metellus, a man who was an honor to his order, of high talents, of stainless integrity, of pure morals ; his only defect was pride, " the common evil of the nobility," as the historian observes. He found the army as Scipio Africanus had found his at Car- thage and Numantia, and he employed the same means to restore its discipline. Jugurtha, aware of the kind of man he had to deal with, and that there was now no room for bribes, began to think of submission in earnest, and he sent envoys offering a surrender, and stipulating only for the lives of himself and his children. But Metellus, knowing there would be no peace in Africa while Jugurtha lived, treated with the envoys separately, and by large promises induced some of them to engage to deliver him up alive or dead : in public he gave them an ambiguous reply. In a few days he entered Numidia, but saw no signs of 27 NN . 314 HISTORY OF ROME. war ; the peasantry and their cattle were in the fields, the governors of towns came forth to meet him, and furnished every thing he demanded. He put a garrison into a large town named Vaga, which was a place of great trade, and would therefore be of advantage if the war was to continue. Meantime Jugurtha sent a still more pressing embassy ; but Metellus, as before, engaged the envoys to betray him, and, without promising or refusing him the peace he sought, waited for them to perform their engagements. Jugurtha, finding himself assailed by his own arts, and that all hopes were illusive, resolved once more to try the fate of arms. Learning that Metellus was on his march for a river named Muthul, he placed his troops in ambush on a hill near it, by which the Roman army had to pass ; but the wild olives and myrtles among which they lay did not suffi- ciently conceal them, and Metellus had time to prepare for action. Jugurtha displa3ed all the talent of an able general, but his troops were far inferior in quality to those to which they were opposed, and, after a hard-fought contest, a com- plete victory remained with the Romans. Having given his men four days' rest, Metellus led them into the best parts of Numidia, where he laid waste the fields, took and burned towns and castles, putting all the males to the sword, and giving the plunder to his soldiers. Numbers of places therefore submitted and received garrisons, and Jugurtha became greatly terrified at this mode of conducting the war. Aware that nothing was to be hoped from a general action, he left the army he had assembled where it was, and, placing himself at the head of a select body of horse, hovered about the Romans, attacking them when scattered, and destroying the forage and the springs of water. These desultory attacks greatly harassed the Roman troops ; and, as the only means of forcing Jugurtha to an action, Metellus resolved to lay siege to the large and strong town of Zama. Jugurtha, learning his design from deserters, hastened thither before him, and conjured the townsmen to hold out bravely, prom- ising to come with an army to their relief, and leaving them the deserters to assist in the defence. Metellus, on coming before Zama, attempted a storm : in the heat of the engagement Jugurtha made a sudden attack on the Roman camp and broke into it ; the soldiers fled in dismay toward those who were attacking the town. Me- tellus sent his legate Marius with the horse and some cohorts of the allies to the defence of the camp.,- and the Numidians NEGOTIATIONS WITH JUGURTHA, 315 were driven out with loss. Next day, when they would renew the attack, they found the horse prepared to receive them. A smart cavalry action commenced and lasted all through the day, and at the same time the town was gallantly attacked and defended : night ended the conflict. Metellus, seeing that there was no chance of takincr the town, or of making Jugurtha fight, except when and where he pleased, and that the summer was at an end, raised the siege and led his troops into the province for the winter. He then renewed his secret dealings with Jugurtha's friends; and having induced even Bomilcar to come to him privately, he engaged him, by a promise of pardon from the senate, to undertake to deliver up his master. Bomilcar took the first opportunity to urge Jugurtha to a surrender, by picturing to him the wretched condition to which he was reduced, and the danger of the Numidians making terms for them- selves without him. Envoys were therefore sent to Metellus, offering an unconditional surrender. Metellus, having as- sembled all the senators who were in Africa, and other fit persons, held a council after the Roman usage, and with their concurrence sent orders to Jugurtha to deliver up 200,000 pounds of silver, all his elephants, and a part of his horses and arms. This being done, he ordered him to send him the deserters : all were brought, except a few who had time to make their escape to the Moorish king Bocchus. Jugur- tha was then directed to repair to the town of Tisidium, there to learn his fate; but his guilty conscience made him hesitate, and after fluctuating a few days he resolved once more to try the fortune of war.. The senate continued Me- tellus in his command as proconsul, (644.) Jugurtha now strained every nerve. At his instigation the people of Vaga treacherously massacred the Roman gar- rison ; but they paid the penalty of their crime within two- days; for when Metellus heard of it, he took what troops he had with him, set out in the night, came on the Vagenses by surprise, slaughtered them, and gave tlie town up to plunder. About this time Bomilcar's plans failed. He had associated with hitnself a man of high rank named l^bdalsa, to whom he wrote a letter urging immediate action. Nabdalsa, lying down to rest, put the letter on his pillow, and his secretary coming into the tent while he was asleep, took and read it. He immediately hastened Ao give Jugurtha information. Nabdalsa was saved by his rank and his protestations of his intention to reveal the plot, but Bomilcar and several others 316 HIST(3RY OF ROME. were put to death ; some fled to the Romans, same to Boc- chus, king of the GfietuJians, and Jugurtha remained with- out any one in whom he could place confidence, haunted by fear and suspicion. In this condition he was forced to an action, and defeated by Metellus. He fled to a large town named Thala ; whither Metellus, though there was no water to be had for the space of fifty miles, resolved to pursue him.. He collected vessels of every kind, which he filled at the near- est river, and he ordered the Numidians to convey supplies of water to a place which he designated. When he reached that place a copious rain fell, and he thus came before Tha- la, from which Jugurtha fled in the night with a part of his treasure. After a siege of forty days the town was taken ; but the deserters had collected the things of most value into the palace, and then, after feasting and drinking, set fire to it and perished in the flames. Jugurtha now sought to arm the Gsetulians in his cause, and he prevailed on Bocchus, whose daughter was among his wives, to form an alliance with him. Such was the condition of the war when (645) the consul Marius came out to supersede Metellus. C. Marius * was the son of a small proprietor at Arpinum in the Volscian country ; he entered the army when young, and distinguished himself by his courage, his military skill, his temperance, and other qualities becoming a good soldier. He rose through the inferior grades of the service, and was at length appointed by the people, who hardly knew him but by fame, to be a military tribune ; he served under Scipio at Numantia, (thus he and Jugurtha were fellow-soldiers,) and that able man foretold, it is said, his future eminence. In the year 633 he was made a tribune of the people, and he had a law passed to lessen the influence of the nobility at elections, and another abrogating that by which corn was ordered to be sold to the people at a reduced price, — certainly no dema- gogic measure : but the hardy peasant probably saw, that an idle town-population could not but be injurious to the state. He then stood for both sedileships in the one day, and failed, but undismayed he shortly after sought the praetorship, and gained it, though he was accused of having used unfair means. He next had, as proprEetor, the government of Ulterior Spain, which he cleared of the bands of robbers that infested it. Marius married into the noble family of the Julii ; and his character stood so high, that Metellus, when appointed to Numidia, made him one of his legates. * Sef Plutarch, Marius. CAIUS MARIUS. 31 7 The gieat object of Marius' ambition was the consulate ; but this was an office which had hitherto been the exclusive property of the nobility, to which no new man,^' be his merit what it might, had ever dreamed of aspiring. Marius howev- er knew that the times were changed, and that the people would gladly seize an occasion to spite the nobility. Vulgar minds are commonly superstitious ; that of Marius was eminently so, and it happened that as he was sacrificing, when in winter quar- ters at Utica, the haruspex declared that mighty things were portended to him, and bade him rely on the gods and do what he was thinking of He instantly applied to Metellus for leave to go-to Rome to sue for the consulate. 'The proud noble could not conceal his amazement ; by way of friend- ship he advised him to moderate his ambition, and seek only what was within his reach ; telling him, however, that he would give him leave when the public service permitted it. Marius applied again and again to no effect; he then became exas- perated, and had recourse to all the vulgar modes of gaining favor with the various classes of men ; he relaxed the discipline of his soldiers ; to the Italian traders, of whom there was a great number at Utica, and to whom the war was very injuri- ous, he threw the whole blame of its continuance on the general's love of power, adding that if he had but one half of the army he would soon have Jugurtha in chains. There was moreover in the Roman quarters a brother of Jugurtha's, named Gauda, a man of weak mind, but to whom Micipsa had left the kingdom in remainder, who was at this time highly offended because Metellus had refused him a guard of Roman horse and a seat of honor beside himself While he was in this mood Marius accosted him, exaggerated the affront he had received, called him a great man, who would with- out doubt be kino- of Numidia if Juo-urtha were taken or slain, as he would be if he were consul. The consequence was that all these people wrote to their friends at Rome, inveighing against Metellus, and desirinop the command to be transferred to Marius. Metellus, having delayed Marius as long as he could, at length let him go home. He was received with high favor by the people ; he was extolled, Metellus abused ; the one was a noble, the other, one of themselves, the man of the peo- ple ; party spirit is always blind to the defects of its favorites,t * A novus homo, or ' new man,' was one in whose family there had been no curule dignity, and who therefore had no images. t Political partisans are, in this, like lovers. '< Mr. Wilks squints no 21* 318 HISTORY OF ROME. and the merits of its adversaries. The tribunes harangued ; the peasants and the workmen of the city neglected their business to support Marius ; the nobility were defeated, and he was made consul. The senate had already decreed Nu- midia to Metelius ; but they were to be further humbled ; a tribune asked the people whom they would have to conduct the war with Jugurtha, and they replied, Marius.* The new consul set no bounds to his insolent exultation ; he made incessant attacks on th^ nobility, vaunting that he had won the consulate from them as spoils from a vanquished enemy. The senate dared refuse none of his demands for the war ; they even cheerfully decreed a levy, thinking that the people would be unwilling to serve, and that Marius would thus sink in their favor. But it was quite the contrary ; all were eager to go and gain fame and plunder under Marius ; who, having held an assembly, in which as usual he inveighed against the nobility and extolled himself, commenced his levy. In this he set the pernicious example of taking any that offered, mostly Capite-censi, instead of raising them in the old way from the classes:! he knew that those who had nothing to lose, and all to gain, were best suited to a man greedy of power and indifferent to the welfare of his country. Having thus raised more than had been decreed, he passed over to Africa, where the army was given up to him by the legate Rutilius, as the proud spirit of Metelius could not brook the sight of his insolent rival. Yet so variable is the multitude, so really just when left to itself, that Metelius was received with as much favor by the people as by the senate on his re- turn, and he obtained a triumph and the title of Numidicus as the true conqueror of Numidia.| Marius displayed great energy and activity; he laid the whole country waste, and forced the two kings to keep at a distance. Aware, like Metelius, that it was only by taking his towns he could reduce Jugurtha, and desirous of performing some feat to rival that of the capture of Thala, he fixed on a town named Capsa, similarly situated, but with this difference, that while there were springs outside of the former, there was but one at the latter, and that within the walls. Having more than a gentleman ought to do, " said an admirer of that remarka- ble man. * This was a manifest violation of the Sempronian la'v. See above, p. 303. t Not those of Servius ; see above, p. 172. \ X Velleius Paterculus, ii. 11. SULLA AND BOCCHUS. 319 made his men load themselves and the beasts, mostly with skins of water at the river Tama, he set forth at nightfall, not saying whither he was going; and resting by day and march- ing by night, he reached before day on the third morning a range of hills within two miles of Capsa ; and when it was day, and the people were come out of the town, he ordered his horse and light troops to rush for the gates. In this way the town was forced to capitulate ; but, contrary to the laws of nations, the grown males were put to the sword, the rest sold, the plunder given to the soldiers, and the town burnt. This fortunate piece of temerity, for it was nothing better, greatly magnified the fame of Marius, and scarcely any place ventured to resist him. He now proceeded to another act of similar fool-hardiness. There was near the river Mu- lucha a strong castle, on a single rock in the plain, in which the royal treasures were deposited. It was well supplied with men, arms, and provisions, and had a good spring of water ; one single narrow path led up to it from the plain, na- ture having secured it on all other sides. Marius spent sever- al days before it ; and having lost some of his best men to no purpose, he was thinking of retiring, when fortune again stood his friend. A Ligurian, seeing some snails on the back part of the rock, climbed up to get them, and going higher and high- er as he saw them, he at length reached the summit. He de- scended again, carefully noting the way, and then went and informed the consul of his discovery. Marius resolved to take advantage of it ; he sent with the Ligurian five trum- peters and four centurions, who climbed up while he kept the garrison occupied by an attack. Suddenly the Roman trumpets were heard to sound above them, and the women and children were seen flying down ; Marius then urged on his men, the wall was scaled, and the fort carried. About this time the qusBstor L. Cornelius Sulla,* afterwards so renowned, arrived in the camp with a large body of horse, to raise which he had been left in Italy. Jugurtha having induced Bocchus, with a promise of a third of his kingdom, to aid him effectually, their combined forces fell one evening on the Romans as they were marching to their winter quar- ters. The Romans were forced to retire to two neighboring * Sulla, not Sylla, is the orthography of all good writers. The Latin language had no ?/ in it at this time. Sulla, i. e. surula, is said to be a diminutive of swa. 320 HlSTOllY OF ROME. hills, around which the barbarians bivouacked ; but to- ward morning, when they were mostly asleep, the Romans sounded their trumpets and rushed down and slaughtered them. In the neighborhood of Cirta, four days after, the two kings ventured on another attack ; but they were again routed with great loss. The consul then went into quarters for the winter at Cirta, whither envoys came from ^occhus, request- ing that two trusty persons might be sent to confer with him. Maiius committed the affair to Sulla and the legate Manlius; and the arguments of the former had no little effect on the king, who soon after sent five other envoys to Marius. They were so unlucky as to fall in with robbers on their way, by whom they were stript and plundered ; but Sulla, who com- manded in the absence of Marius, treated them with great kind- ness ; and on the return of the consul a council was assem- bled, and three of the envoys were, as Bocchus had desired, sent to Rome, where the senate granted him the friendship and alliance which he sought, provided he should deserve it. Bocchus then desired that Sulla might be sent to him. Sulla went (646) with a slight escort, and having run no small risk of being captured or slain by Jugurtha, through whose camp he had to pass, reached the Moorish territories. By employing all the arts of a skilful negotiator, and working on the hopes and fears of the king, he at length engaged him to betray Jugur- tha. The crafty Numidian was lured to a conference, and there seized and delivered up to Sulla. Marius remained in Africa as proconsul for two years. He was chosen consul a second time in his absence, and he triumphed on the kalends of January, (648,) the day of his entering on office. Jugur- tha adorned his triumph, and at its conclusion was thrust nearly naked into a dungeon. " Hercules ! " said he, with a forced smile, as he entered it, " what a cold bath you have !" He was there left to perish by hunger, and his guilty life ended on the sixth day. The cause of Marius being raised a second time to the consulate, in violation of rule and precedent, was an immi- nent danger which menaced the republic from the north, and which he alone was judged able to avert. In the year 639 intelligence reached Rome of the approach of a barbarous people named Cimbrians to the north-eastern frontier of Italy. This people is supposed to have inhabited the peninsula of Jutland, and those parts which afterwards sent forth the Anglo-Saxon conquerors of England. At this time, urged by some of the causes which usually set bar- CIMBRIC WAR. 321 barous tribes in motion, they resolved to migrate southwards. The consul Cn. Papirius Carbo gave them battle in the modern Carinthia, but he sustained a defeat. The barbari- ans, instead of advancing into Italy, turned back, and being joined by a German people named the Teutones, poured into Southern Gaul, where (643) they defeated the consul M. Ju- nius Silanus. The next year the consul M. Aurelius Scaurus had a similar fate ; and in the following year (645) the con- sul L. Cassius Longinus was defeated and slain by the Tigu- rinians, a Helvetic people who had joined the Cirabrians, and the remnant of his army had to pass under the yoke to escape destruction. Q,, Servilius Csepio, the consul of the year 646, turned his arms, as the Cimbrians appear to have been in Spain, against the Tectosages, and plundered their capital Tolosa (Toulouse) of its sacred treasure, which he diverted to his own use. Caepio was continued the next year in his command ; and as the Cimbrians were returned from Spain, the consul Cn. Manlius led his army into Gaul ; but he and Caepio, instead of uniting their forces, wrangled and quar- relled with each other, and kept separate camps on different sides of the Rhone; in consequence of which both their ar- mies were literally annihilated by the barbarians, who now seem to have seriously thought of invading Italy. It was at this conjuncture that Marius was made consul a second time. The Cimbrians however returned to Spain, where they re- mained during this and the following year. Marius, who was made consul a third time, (649,) employed himself chief- ly in restoring the discipline of the army ; and Sulla, who was his legate the first and a tribune the second year, dis- played his diplomatic talent now in Gaul as before in Numidia, and thus augmented the envy and hatred with which the rude, ferocious consul regarded him. His colleague happening to die just before the elections, Marius went to Rome to hold them, and there his friend the tribune L. Apuleius Saturni- nus, as had been arranged between them, proposed him for consul a fourth time. Marius affected to decline the honor ; Saturninus called him a traitor to his country if he refused to serve her in the time of her peril ; the scene was well acted between them, and Marius was made consul with Q,. Lutatius Catulus, (650.) The province of Gaul was decreed to both the consuls ; and as the barbarians were now returned fr:>m Spain and had divided their forces, the Cimbrians moving to enter o o 322 HISTORY OF ROME. Italy on the north-east, the Teutones and Ambrones from Gaul, Marius crossed the Alps, and fortified a strong camp on the banks of the Rhone, that he might raise the spirit of his men, and accustom them to the sight of the huge bodies and ferocious mien of the barbarians. He refused all their chal- lenges to fight, and contented himself with repelling their assaults on his camp ; and at last the barbarians, giving up all hopes of forcing him to action, resolved to cross the Alps, leaving him behind them. We are told that they spent six days in marching by the Roman camp, and that as they vt^ent they jeeringly asked the soldiers if they had any messages to send to their vi^ives. Marius then broke up his camp, and fol- lowed them, keeping on the high grounds till he came to Aquas Sextiae. He here chose for his camp an eminence where there was no water, and when his soldiers complained he pointed to a stream running by the enemies' camp, and told them they must buy it there with their blood. " Lead us on then at once while our blood is warm !" cried they. "We must first secure our camp," coolly replied the general. The camp servants, taking with them axes, hatchets, and some spears and swords for their defence, went down to the stream to water the beasts, and they drove oiF such of the enemies as they met. The noise roused the Ambrones, who, though they were full after a meal, put on their armor and crossed the stream ; the Ligurians advanced to engage them, some more Roman troops succeeded, and the Am- brones were driven back to their wagons with loss. This check irritated the barbarians exceedingly, and the Romans passed the night in anxiety, expecting an attack. In the morning Marius, having sent Claudius Marcellus with 3000 men to occupy a woody hill in the enemy's rear, prepared to give battle. The impatient barbarians charged up-hill ; the Romans, with the advantage of the ground, drove them back, Marcellus fell on their rear, and the rout was soon complete: the slain and the captives were, it is said, not less than 100,000. As Marius after the battle stood with a torch, in the act of setting fire to a pile of their arms, mes- sengers arrived with tidings of his being chosen consul for the fifth time. Catulus, meantime, had not been equally fortunate : not thinking it safe to divide his forces for defending the passes of the Alps, he retired behind the Atesis, (Adige,) securing the fords, and having a bridge in front of his position to communicate with the country on the other side. But when VICTORY OF VERCELL^. 323 the Cimbrians poured down from the Alps, and were be- ginning to fill up the bed of the river, his soldiers grew alarmed, and, unable to retain them, he led them back, abandoning the plain of the Po to the barbarians. Catulus was continued in his command as proconsul the next year, (651 :) his deficiency of military talent was made up for by the ability of L. Sulla, who had left Marias to join him. Marius, who was at Rome, instead of triumphing as was expected, summoned his troops from Gaul, and proceeded to unite them with those of Catulus, hoping to have the glory of a second victory ; and when the battle took place in the neighborhood of Vercellae, he placed his own troops on the wings, and those of Catulus in the centre, which he threw back in order that they might have as little share as possible in the action. But his manoeuvre was a failure, for an im- mense cloud of dust rising, which prevented the troops from seeing each other, Marius in his charge left the enemy at one side, and the brunt of the battle fell on the troops of Catulus. The dust was of advantage to the Romans, as it prevented their seeing the number of their foes : the heat of the weather, (it being now July,) exhausted the barbarians, and they were obliged to give way, and as their front ranks had bound themselves together by chains from their waists, they could not escape. A dreadful spectacle presented itself when the Romans drove them to their line of wagons ; the women rushed out, fell on the fugitives, and then slew themselves and their children ; the men too put an end to themselves in various ways : the captives amounted to 60,000, the slain to double the number. Marius and Catulus tri- umphed together, and though the former had had little share in the victory, his rank, and the fame of his former one, caused this also to be ascribed to him ; the multitude called him the third founder of Rome, and poured out libations to him with the gods at their meals. He would have triumphed alone but for fear of Catulus' soldiers ; and, as we shall see, he never forgave him his victory.* One evil of great magnitude which resulted from this war was, the great number of slaves that it dispersed over the Roman dominions ; and at this very time those of Sicily were again in insurrection. Under the guidance of a slave, * The details of the battle are only to be found in Plutarch, (Marius,) whose authority were Sulla's Qwn Memoirs, and therefore must be received with some suspicion. 324 HISTORY OF ROME. named Salvias, who assumed the name of Trypho and the royal dignity, they defeated the Roman officers. In another part of the island the slaves made one Athenio, a Cilician, their king, but he submitted to Trypho, after whose death he had the supreme command. At length (651) the consul M. Aquilius slew Athenio with his own hand in an engage- ment, and suppressed the rebellion. CHAPTER III.* STATE OF ROME. TRIBUNATE OF SATURNINUS. HIS SEDI- TION AND DEATH. RETURN OF METELLUS. TRIBUNATE AND DEATH OF DRUSUS. SOCIAL OR MARSIC WAR. MURDER OF THE PR^.TOR BY THE USURERS. SEDITION OF MARIUS AND SULPICIUS. SULLA AT ROME. FLIGHT OF MARIUS. The cruelty with which the nobility had used their victory over the Gracchi, and the scandalous corruption and profli- gacy which they had exhibited in the case of Jugurtha, had greatly exasperated the people against them, and alienated from them the affections of the lovers of justice and honor. Ambitious and revengeful men took advantage of this state of feelincr to have themselves made tribunes, and to have measures passed injurious to the nobles as a body, or as individuals. Caepio, who had attempted to modify Gracchus' law, which deprived the senators of the right of being judges, was, after his defeat by the Cimbrians, deprived of his com- mand, and his estate was confiscated, and the following year, (648,) the tribune C. Cassius Longinus had a bill passed, (levelled at him,) prohibiting any one who had been deposed by the people from sitting in the senate. He was some years after prosecuted for the plunder of the gold of Tolosa, and he ended his days in exile. Cassius' colleague, Cn. Domidus Ahenobarbus, deprived the pontiffs of the right of choosing their own colleagues, and gave it to the people ; and another * Appian, B. C. i. 28—63. Velleius, ii. 13—17. Plut., Marius and Sulla. TRIBUNATE OF SATURNINUS. 325 of the tribunes, C. Servilius Glaucia, offered the freedom of the city to any of the Latins or the allies who should prose- cute a magistrate to conviction. These, however, were but preludes to what was to follow. Marius was raised a sixth time to the consulate, (652,) and it is said that he employed both money and arts to prevent Metellus from being his colleague, and to have L. Valerius Flaccus, on whom he could rely, appointed. His allies were Glaucia and Saturninus, both mortal enemies to Metellus, who, but for his colleague, would, in his censorship, have degraded them for their scandalous lives. Glaucia as prsetor presided when Saturninus stood a second time for the tribu- nate. He was notwithstanding rejected, and A. Nonius, a bitter enemy to them both, elected; but when he left the assembly, they sent a body of their satellites after him, who murdered him ; and next morning Glaucia, without waiting for the people, had Saturninus appointed by his own crew to take his place, no one venturing even to murmur. A series of measures of a demagogic nature were now introduced. By one law the land which had been recovered from the Cimbrians beyond the Po was to be treated as conquered land, without any regard to the rights of its Gallic owners, and divided among Roman citizens and soldiers ; 100 jugers apiece Avere to be given to the veterans in Africa ; * colonies were to be led to Sicily, Achaia, and Macedonia ; t the Tolosan gold was to be employed in the purchase of lands to be divided. By another law, corn was to be sold to the people at a reduced rate. | It was added to the law for dividing the Gallic land, that in case of its passing, the senate must, within five days, swear to it, and that any one who refused should be expelled the senate, and fined 500,000 sesterces. The laws relating to the division of the lands were not at all pleasing to the town population, who saw that the ad- vantages would fall mostly to the Italians. The movers, therefore, took care to bring in from the country large num- bers of those who had served under Marius, to overawe and outvote the people of the city. These last cried out that it thundered ; Saturninus took no heed, but urged on his law : * Aur. Victor. t Cic. Balbus, 21. t At the semis et triens. (See p. 301.) Auctor ad Herenn. i. 12. Caepio, who was now quaestor, we are here told, when he could not prevent the law from being put to the vote in any other way, broke the hustings-b,ridges, (pontes,) and took away the voting-urns. 28 326 HISTORY OF ROME. they then girt their clothes about them, seized whatever came to hand, and fell on the country folk, who, incited by Saturninus, attacked them in turn, drove them off, and then passed the law. Marius, as consul, laid the matter before the senate, declaring that he for one would never take the oath. Metellus, for whom the snare was laid, made a similar declaration ; the rest expressed their approbation, and Marius closed the senate. On the fifth day he assembled them again in haste, telling them that the people were very hot on the matter, and that he saw no remedy but for them to swear to it as far as it was law, and that when the country people were gone home they might easily show that it was not law, as it had been carried by force, and when there was thunder. He himself and his friends then swore ; the rest, though they now saw through the trick, were afraid not to do the same. Metellus alone refused. Next day Saturninus sent and had him dragged out of the senate-house ; when the other tribunes defended him, Glaucia and Saturninus ran to the country people, telling them they had no chance of land if Metellus remained in Rome. Saturninus then proposed that the consuls should be directed to interdict him from fire, water, and lodging. The town people armed themselves, and were resolved to defend him ; but Metellus, thanking them for their zeal, said he would not have his country endangered on his account, and he went into voluntary exile at Rhodes. Saturninus then had his bill against him passed, and Marius made the proclamation with no little pleasure. When the elections came on, Saturninus had himself re- chosen, and with him one L. Equitius Firmo, whom he gave out to be a son of Tib. Gracchus, which gained him the popular favor. But his great object was to get Glaucia into the consulate, which was a matter of some difficulty, for M. Antonius, the celebrated orator, had been already chosen for one of the places, and C. Memmius, a man of high charac- ter and extremely popular,* stood for the other. They did not, however, let this difficulty long stand in their v/ay. They sent some of their satellites, armed with sticks, who in the open day, in the midst of the election, and before all the people, fell on Memmius and beat him to death ! The assembly was dissolved, and Saturninus, next morning, hav* ing summoned his adherents from the country, occupied the Capitol, with Glaucia, the qusestor C. Saufeius, and some * See above, pp. 311, 312. RETURN OF METELLUS. 327 others. The senate, having met, declared them public ene- mies, and directed the consuls to provide for the safety of the state. Marius had then reluctantly to take arms against his friends. While he loitered, some of the more determined cut the pipes which supplied the Capitol with water. When the thirst became intolerable, Saufeius proposed to burn the temple ; but the others, relying on Marius, agreed to surren- der on the public faith. There was a general cry to put them to death ; but Marius, in order to save them, shut them up in the Curia Hostilia, under pretext of acting more legally. The people, however, would not be balked of their ven- geance ; they stripped off the roof, and flung the tiles down on them and killed them. A number of their adherents also were slain, among them the pseudo-Gracchus. A decree for the recall of Metellus was joyfully passed by the senate and people, (653:) Marius, having vainly tried to prevent it, left the city, to avoid witnessing the return of his enemy. He went to Asia Minor, under pretence of offering some sacrifices he had vowed to the Mother of the Gods, (Cybele,) but in reality to try if he could excite the king of Pontus to a war, for peace he felt not to be his ele- ment, and his conduct since his triumph had lost him the favor of all parties. The tribune P. Furius, whom Metel- lus had degraded when censor, (650,) also opposed his recall, and stood firm against the tears and entreaties of his son. His filial piety gained for the youth the surname of Pius, {dutiful,) and Furius being prosecuted the next year by his late colleague, C. Canuleius, was torn to pieces by the people, who would not even listen to his defence. When Metellus arrived at Rome the concourse of those who came to con- gratulate him was so great that an entire day did not suffice for him to receive them. Matters now remained rather tranquil for a few years. In 661 the tribune M. Livius Drusus, the son of the opponent of C. Gracchus, a young man of many estimable qualities but of great pride, brought forward a series of measures by which he proposed to remedy the evils of the state, and re- store the authority of the senate. In the first place the knights had not exercised the exclusive right of acting as judges, given to them by the Sempronian law, one whit more impartially than the senators had done. Of this the late condemnation of P. Rutilius had been a glaring instance. Rutilius, one of the most upright and honorable men of his time, had been both qugestor and legate in Asia, and he had 328 HISTORY OF ROME. exerted himself in defending the provincials against the abominable oppressions and extortions of the publicans. This drew on nim the hatred of the whole equestrian or- der, a charge of extortion was got up against him ; the judges joyfully found him guilty; and he had to go into exile. Drusus now brought in a bill, by which, as tlfe sena- tors amounted to three hundred, an equal number should be selected from the equestrian order, and the decuries of judges be taken out of these six hundred, and he added that they should take cognizance of cases of bribery and corruption. This just and well-meant measure gave satisfaction to no party. The senate saw in it a loss of dignity, and they dreaded the influence their new associates might acquire. The knights in general viewed it only as a plan for gradually withdrawing from them the judicial power which they had found so profitable, and they were prepared to be envious and jealous of the three hundred of their own body who might be selected. Above all, they were offended at the bribery clause, as they had thought themselves quite secure of impunity on that head. To gain the common people at Rome, Drusus proposed that the colonies in Italy and Sicily, which had been long since voted, should be formed, and that the Sempronian law for the distribution of corn should be retained. He further, whether it was what he had originally in view, or annoyed at finding his good intentions so ill received,* resolved to give the freedom of the state to all the Italians. He carried on his measures not without violence ; and one evening when he returned home from the Forum, followed as usual by a great crowd, and was in his hall dismissing them, he cried out that he was wounded. A shoemaker's knife was found stuck in his thigh, but the assassin was not discovered. " Ah ! my friends and relations," said he, as he lay dying, " will the republic ever have a citizen such as IV'* No ju- dicial inquiry was instituted into this murder, and all the laws of Drusus were abrogated by a single senatusconsult, on the motion of the consul L. Marcius Philippus, as having been contrary to the auspices. The knights resolved to push their success to the utter- most, and to deprive the allies of all hopes of the civic franchise. They therefore made the tribune Q,. Varius, a Spaniard by birth, bring in a bill to punish all those who * Veil. Pat. ii. 14. SOCIAL OR MARSIC WAR. 329 had openly or secretly aided the Italians in their designs against the state; for, as many of the leading senators had favored their claims, they intended in this way to drive them from the city. The other tribunes interposed; but the knights stood around them brandishing their naked daggers, and the bill was passed; and prosecutions were instantly commenced against the leading senators. Many were con- demned : others, such as Bestia and Cotta, went into volun- tary exile. M. ^milius Scaurus, the chief of the senate, being accused by Varius before the people, made the follow- ing defence : " Varius of Sucro says that ^Emilius Scaurus has excited the allies to take up arms. M. Scaurus, the chief of the senate, denies it. There is no witness. Which, Quirites, should you believe?" The tribune did not attempt to go on with the prosecution.* The allies meantime, seeing that they had nothing now to expect from the justice of Rome, had resolved on an appeal to arms, and began secretly to make the requisite combina- tions among themselves. The Romans, aware of what they were meditating, sent spies to the different towns ; and one of these, seeing a youth led as a hostage from the town of Asculum to another town, gave information to the proconsul Gi. Servilius, who hastened thither and sharply rebuked the Asculans for what they were doing ; but they fell on and slew him and his legate Fonteius, and then massacred all the Romans in the place and pillaged their houses. Before, however, the confederates commenced the war, they sent to Rome requiring to be admitted to a participation in the hon- ors and advantages of that state, to whose greatness they had so mainly contributed. The senate replied that if they repented of what they had done they might send a deputa- tion, otherwise not. The confederates then resolved to try the chance of arms : their army, formed from the contin- gents of their several states, amounted to one hundred thou- sand men, exclusive of the domestic forces of each state. All the peoples of the Sabellian race, except the Sabines and Hernicans, who had long since become Roman citizens, shared in the war which now broke out ; in which Rome had to struggle for her existence with enemies whose troops equalled her own in number, discipline, and valor, and who had generals as skilful as those she could oppose to them. The allies chose Corfinium, the chief town of the Peligni- * Asconius on Cicero pro Scauro. Quintil. v. 12. Curious enough, Varius himself was condemned on his own law. (Asconius as above.) 28 * p p 330 HISTORY OF ROME. ans, for their capital, under the name of Italia ; they ap- pointed a senate of five hundred members, two consuls, and twelve preetorg. The first consuls were Q,. Pompsedius Silo, a Marsian, and C. Papius Mutilus, a Samnite ; the former with six praetors had the command of the north and west; the latter with six praetors also commanded in the south and east. Among the praetors were the following, T. Lafrenius, C. Pontidius, Marius Egnatius, M. Lamponius, C. Judaci- lius, Vettius Scato, Pontius Telesinus, L. Cluentius, and P. Ventidius. The war is named the Social, Marsic, or Italian war, from the names of those engaged in it. The Roman senate made diligent preparations to meet the coming danger ; the Latins, Tuscans, Umbrians and the people of some other parts of Italy remained faithful, and troops came from Gaul and from the foreign allies. The chief command of the farces, which equalled those of the Italians in number, was given to the consuls L. Julius Caesar and P. Rutilius Lupus ; the former had as legates his brother P. Lentulus, L. Sulla, T. Didius, M. Marcellus and M. Li- cinius Crassus ; the legates of the other consul were C. Marius, Cn. Pompeius Strabo, Q,. Servilius Caepio, C, Per- perna and Valerius Messala. The advantages were at first all on the side of the Italians. Vettius Scato defeated the consul Julius, and took the town of ^sernia in Samnium. Marius Egnatius took Venafrum by treachery, and destroyed two Roman cohorts that were in it. P. Presentaeus defeated a force of 10,000 men under the legate Perperna, and killed 4000 of them ; for which Rutilius deprived Perperna of his command, and gave what remained of his troops to C. Marius. Lamponius defeated Crassus with a loss of eight hundred men, and forced him to shut himself up in Grumentum. Papius entered Cam-i pania and took Nola, Stabiae, Minturnse, and Salurnum; the troops in all these places entered his service, and when he laid waste the country round Nuceria the neighboring towns all declared for him and augmented his forces with 10,000 foot and 1000 horse. He then laid siege to Acerrae, to whose relief the consul Julius came with 10,000 Gallic foot and a body of Moorish and Numidian troops ; but Papius, sending to Venusia for a son of Jugurtha's who was a pris- oner there, clad him in purple, and showed him to the Nu- midians, a great number of whom deserted ; and Caesar became so dubious of the rest that he sent them away home. When, however, Papius made an attempt on his camp, he was repelled with the loss of 6000 men. SOCIAL OR MARSIC WAR. 331 Rutilius and Marius advanced to the Liris, over which they threw two bridges within a short distance of each other. Vettius Scato, who was encamped opposite that of Marius, went and lay in ambush during the night at that of Rutilius; and when the Romans crossed in the morning he drove them back with great loss, Rutilius receiving a wound in the head, of which he afterwards died. But meantime Marius had crossed over and taken Vettius' camp, which obliged him to retreat! When the bodies of the consul and other men of rank were brought to Rome for interment, the sight was so dispiriting that the senate made a decree that in future all who fell should be buried on the spot ; the Italians when they heard of it made a similar decree. Marius and Cgepio were directed to take the command of Rutilius' army, as no consul could now be elected in his place, Pompeedius then pretended to desert to Csepio, and urging him to advance and fall on his troops, now without a leader, led him into an ambush, where he and most of his men were slain. At the same time, as Caesar was leading his army, said to be 30,000 foot and 5000 horse, through a defile, he was fallen on and routed by Egnatius. He escaped with difficulty to Teanum, where having reassembled his troops he went and encamped over against Papias, who was still befote Acerrae. The Marsians having attacked Marius were driven back into some vineyards, whither he did not venture to pursue them ; but Sulla, who was encamped behind the vineyards, when he heard the noise fell on the fugitives, and the entire loss of the Marsians was six thousand men. This, however, only exasperated that gallant people, and they soon took the field again. On the side of Falernum, Judacilius, Lafrenius, and Ventidius, having united their forces, drove Pompeius into Firmum, where, leaving Lafrenius to watch him, the others went away. But P. Sulpicius came to his relief, and while the besieged made a sally he fell on the camp of the besiegers and set it on fire. The Italians were defeated and their general slain. In this war the conduct of Marius was little worthy of his former fame ; whether in consequence of his age, (he was now sixty-five,) or of a nervous disorder as he himself said, he acted with timidity and irresolution, shutting himself up in an entrenched camp, and allowing the enemy to insult him, and finally resigning his command. The first year of the war was now drawing to a close ; the 332 HISTORY OF ROME. senate had been obliged to allow the freedmen to be enlisted for the legions, and the Tuscans and Umbrians showed strong symptoms of an inclination to share in the revolt. The opponents to the claims of the allies were forced to yield, and the consul Julius had a law passed granting the civic franchise to the Latins and those who had not revolted, and finally to those who should lay down their arms. This prudent measure at once quieted the Tuscans. The consuls of the next year (663) were Cn. Po^npeius and M, Porcius Cato. The former defeated a body of 15,000 Italians who were on their march for Etruria ; the slain were 5000 in number ; and it being winter, more than half of those who escaped perished by hunger and the severity of the weather. His colleague was less fortunate, for about the same time, having gained some advantages over the Marsians, he made an attack on their camp, but was defeated and slain. Pompeius laid siege to Asculum; the praetor Cos- conius was defeated by the Samnites, but being joined by the praetor Lucceius he again engaged, and routed them with a loss of 15,000 men and their general Marius Eg- natius. Sulla defeated the Italian general Cluentius at Pompeii in Campania. He then entered Samnium, and took the town of JEculanum. He defeated Papius near JEsernia, and then took Bovianum. Pompeius meantime urged on the siege of Asculum. Ju- dacilius, who was a native of that town, advanced with eight cohorts to its relief, sending word to the people to make a sally when they saw him. This however they did not do ; he forced his way in, nevertheless, and seeing there was no chance of his being able to maintain the town, he resolved not to let those escape who had turned the people against him. He seized and put them to death, and then raised a pyre in a temple on which he placed a couch, and having feasted with his friends and swallowed poison, he lay down, directing them to set fire to it, and he thus perished. Fortune was now every where adverse to the allies ; one by one they had lost their best generals ; the spirit of resistance gradually died away ; and they all, but the Samnites and Lucanians, submitted and received the Roman franchise ; and thus, after two years, ended the Social war, which had cost Italy the loss of three hundred thousand of the flower of her population, in the concessions that might have ob- viated it. To prevent the allies from acquiring a prepon- MURDER OF THE PR^TOR BY THE USURERS. 333 derance by their numbers in the Comitia, the senate, instead of distributing them in the actual tribes, formed, as was the ancient practice, eight new tribes to contain them ; a meas- ure which, though not noticed at the time, gave rise to future dissensions. Durinor the Social war an event occurred at Rome which strongly shows the disregard for law, both human and di- vine, which then prevailed. The money-lenders were press- ing hard on their debtors, and, contrary to law, insisting upon interest on interest. The praetor A. Sempronius Asellio, in the trials which took place, reminded the jurors of the law on the subject; and this so incensed the usurers, that they resolved to fall on him as he was sacrificing to Castor and Pollux in the Forum. A stone was thrown which struck the cup out of his hand ; he fled for refuge to the temple of Vesta, which was hard by, but the usurers got between him and it ; he then ran into a tavern, whither they pursued and killed him. Some even went into the temple, which it was not lawful to enter, thinking he had fled to the Vestals, and resolved that even so he should not escape. The senate offered a reward in money to any freeman, liberty to any slave, and a pardon to any accomplice, who would give in- formation against the murderers ; but the usurers had dis- guised themselves so that they could not be identified, or perhaps people were too much in terror of them to give in- formation. ; The merits of Sulla in the Social war had been so great that he was raised immediately to the consulate (664) with Q,. Pompeius Rufus, and the conduct of the war against Mithridates king of Pontus was committed to him. But the envy and the cupidity of Marius were excited, and he re- solved if possible to deprive him of his command. He leagued himself for this purpose with P. Sulpicius Rufus, a tribune of the people, a man of talent and a daring character, and they projected a law for transferring the command to Marius. For this purpose it was necessary to get a majority in the tribes ; and as this could not be effected as they were then constituted, Sulpicius brought in a bill for distrib- uting the new citizens among all the tribes; for as they were highly discontented with their present position, he reckoned that they would give their votes to those who would relieve them from it. But the old citizens were not so willing to part with their monopoly ; they employed 334 HISTORY OF ROME. Sticks and stones against the intruders. The consuls, as the day of voting drew near, being apprehensive of further dis- turbance, proclaimed a Justitium. Sulpicius directed his adherents to come to the Forum that day with concealed daggers, and to do as he should direct them. When there- fore all was ready, he called on the consuls to dissolve the justitium as being illegal. A tumult ensued, the daggers were drawn and brandished, and the consuls menaced. Pompeius fled ; Sulla retired to consult the senate ; and while he was away the Sulpician party fell on and murdered Pompeius' son, for freely speaking his mind. Sulla then dissolved the justitium, and set out for his army, which was at Nola: Sulpicius had his bill passed forthwith, and the Mithridatic war decreed to Marius. Sulla having assembled his troops told them all that had occurred at Rome, and as their hopes of plunder in the East were high, and they feared that Marius would have other troops and other officers, they called on him to lead them at once to Rome. He gladly obeyed, and set forth at the head of six legions. The soldiers stoned the tribunes whom Marius sent to take the command ; the senate, com- pelled by Marius, sent two praetors to prohibit the advance of Sulla, but they narrowly escaped with their lives from the soldiery. Other embassies followed, praying Sulla not to come nearer than where he was, at the fifth milestone, Marius wishing to get time to prepare for defence. Sulla seeing through the design gave the promise; but he fol- lowed close on the heels of the envoys, and he himself with one legion seized the Caelian gate, while Pompeius with another seized the Colline ; a third went to the bridge, a fourth staid without, and Sulla led the remaining two into the city. The people began to throw missiles and tiles on them from the roofs ; but when Sulla threatened to set fire to the houses, they desisted. Marius and his party gave them battle at the Esquiline, but they were defeated, and Marius* and Sulpicius having vainly essayed to excite the slaves fled out of the city. Sulla next day assembled the people, and having deplored the condition into which the constitution had been brought by the arts and the violence of wicked men, proposed, as the only remedy, a return to the former wholesome state of things ; that no measure should be brought before the people that had not been examined and approved of by the FLIGHT OF MARIUS. 335 senate ; and that the voting should be by the classes, as ar- ranged by king Servius, and not by the tribes. He then, as the senate was so much reduced, selected three hundred of the most respectable men to augment it. All the late measures of Sulpicius were declared illegal, and he, Marius and his son, and about twelve other senators, were outlawed, and their property confiscated. Sulpicius was betrayed by a slave and put to death. Marius escaped in the night to Ostia, where one of his friends had provided a vessel for him ; he embarked, but a storm coming on he was obliged to land near Circseum, where, as he and his companions were rambling about, some herdsmen who knew him telling him that a party of horse had just been seen in quest of him, they got into a wood, where they passed the night without food. Next morning, they set out for MinturnsB, but on turning round they saw a troop of horsemen in pursuit of them. There hap- pened to be two vessels just then lying close in to the shore, and they ran and got aboard of them. The horsemen came to the water's edge, and called out to the crews to put Marius out, but they were moved by his entreaties, and, refusing to deliver him up, sailed away ; but afterwards, reflecting on the danger they were running, they persuaded him to land at the mouth of the Liris to get some food and repose, and, while he was lying in the grass, they went on board, and, making sail, left him to his fate. He rambled about the marshes till he reached the solitary hut of an old man, whose compassion he impiored. The old man led him av/ay into the marsh, and making him lie down in a hollow spot near the river covered him with sedge and rushes. Presently Marius heard at the hut the voices of those who were in pursuit of him, and fearing lest his host might betray him he got up, and went and stood up to his neck in the mud and water of the marsh. Here, however, he was soon discovered, and was dragged out, naked as he was, and led to Minturnse and placed in confinement. The authorities there having consulted together resolved to put him to death, and a Gallic horseman was sent to despatch him. The Gaul, when he approached the spot where he was lying in a dark room, was daunted by the fiery glare of the old warrior's eyes, and when he rose and cried with a tremendous voice, " Dost thou dare to slay Caius Marius ? " he rushed out, crying, " I cannot kill Caius Marius." The 336 HISTORY OF ROME. magistrates then determined not to have the blood of so great a man on their heads, and they gave him his liberty, and leading him to the coast put him on board of a vessel to pass over to Africa. He landed at Carthage ; but pres- ently came a messenger from C. Sextilius, the governor of the province, ordering him to depart. He long sat in si- lence, looking sternly at the envoy, on whose inquiry of what reply he should make to the praetor, he groaned, and said, "Tell him you saw Caius Marius sitting an exile among the ruins of Carthage." He then retired to the little isle of Cercina, where he was joined by his son and several of his other friends, and they remained there watch- ing the course of events. Siilla sent back his army to Capua, in order to pass over to Greece; his colleague Q,. Pompeius was to remain to protect Italy with the troops of Cn. Pompeius ; but this army, probably with the approbation of their general, fell on and murdered the consul when he came to the camp, and Sulla was obliged to leave the command with Cn. Pom- peius. He moreover found that the people were adverse to him, for they rejected his nephew Nonius and his friend Servius with contempt when he recommended them- for office. He affected to be pleased at seeing the people ex- ercising the liberty, for which he said they were indebted to him; and he acquiesced in the appointment of L. Cornelius Cinna, of the opposite faction, to the consulate with Cn. Octavius, who was of his own party. He tried to bind Cinha, by the solemnity of an oath, to attempt no innova- tion in his absence. They ascended the Capitol, and Cinna, in the ancient mode, grasping a stone prayed that if he did not keep his engagement he might be cast out of the city as he flung away that stone. Sulla then departed for his army. STATE OF ASIA. 337 CHAPTER IV.* STATE OP ASIA. FIRST MITHRIDATIC WAR. SULLA IN GREECE. VICTORIES OF CH^RONEA AND ORCHOMENUS. PEACE WITH MITHRIDATES. FLACCUS AND FIMBRIA. SEDITION OF CINNA. RETURN OF MARIUS. CRUELTIES OF MARIUS AND CINNA. DEATH AND CHARACTER OF MA- RIUS. RETURN OF SULLA. HIS VICTORIES. PROSCRIP- TIONS OF SULLA. HIS DICTATORSHIP AND LAWS. HE LAYS DOWN HIS OFFICE AND RETIRES. HIS DEATH AND FUNERAL, HIS CHARACTER. The acquisition of the kingdom of Attains caused the Romans to become deeply interested in the affairs of the East. We will therefore now take a slight view of the polit- ical condition of Anterior Asia at this time. After the reign of Antiochus the Great the kingdom of Syria had gone rapidly to decay. The dominions east of the Euphrates were gradually occupied by the Parthians, a people probably of Turkish race, and their empire finally ex- tended over the whole of Persia ; their princes were named Arsacides, from Arsaces, tlie first of their line. Another portion of the Syrian dominions was about this time seized on by Tigranes king of Armenia, who became one of the most powerful monarchs of Asia. The kings of Bithynia and Cappadocia were dependent on the Romans; but the kingdom of Pontus^ on the Euxine, under its present monarch Mithridates VL, a prince of great activity and talent, had risen to considerable importance. It was against this mon- arch that Sulla was now to direct the arms of Rome, with whom the war had originated as follows. Ptiithridates, having, it is said, caused the king of Cappa- docia, who was married to his sister, to be murdered, claimed the guardianship of his infant nephew. His sister appealed for protection to Nicomedes of Bithynia; but Mithridates entered Cappadocia, m.urdered his nephew, and seized the kingdom. The Cappadocians rebelled . against him, and called on the Romans. The senate declared them free, and directed them to form a republic: but knowing none but the * Appian, Mithridatica, 1— €3. Bell. Civ. i. 55—107, Velleius, ii. 20—28, Plut., Marius and Sulla. 29 QQ 338 HISTORY OF ROME. regal form of government, they sent to entreat that they might have a king. Their wish was acceded to, and their choice fell on one Ariobarzanes. Mithridates made no op- position ; but he secretly stirred up the Armenians, who drove the new monarch from his throne ; and Sulla, who had just been praetor, was sent from Rome (660) to restore him. On this occasion Sulla advanced to the Euphrates, where Parthian ambassadors came to him proposing an alliance with Rome. On the death of Nicomedes (661) the throne of Bithynia was disputed by his sons Nicomedes and Socrates named Chrestos ; the Pontic king, in alliance with his powerful son- inJaw Tigranes of Armenia, supported the latter, and at the same time drove Ariobarzanes out of Cappadocia. The Romans sent (662) an embassy, headed by M. Aquilius, to restore the two kings, which was done without any attempt on the part of Mithridates to prevent it. Aquilius and his friends and followers, who had, acording to the usual custom, made the kings and all the towns pay large sums of money or enormous interest for what they lent them, looking forward to the advantages to be derived from a war, required the kings to make an irruption into the dominions of Mithridates. Nicomedes unwillingly complied, on their assurance that they would aid him. Mithridates, desirous to put the Romans in the wrong, offered no resistance, but sent an em- bassy to complain ; and on receiving an ambiguous, unsatisfac- tory reply, he entered and seized Cappadocia. lie then sent again to the Romans, displaying his power and advising them to justice and peace ; but they in indignation ordered his envoy to quit their camp and never to return. The Roman commissioners, with L. Cassius, the governor of the province of Asia, now took upon them, without con- sulting the senate and people, and in the very midst of the Social war, to make war on a most powerful monarch. They collected a force of 120,000 men, and dividing them into three corps, Cassius, Aquilius, and Q-. Oppius took different posi- tions, while Nicomedes was at the head of an army of his subjects. But the Pontic generals Archelaus and Neop- tolemus, two Capp.adocians by birth, defeated Nicomedes ; the Roman commanders successively had the same fate, and Mithridates was speedily master of the v/hole of Asia north of Mount Taurus ; the isles of the ^gean also cheerfully sub- mitted to his dominion, Rhodes alone remaining faithful to the Romans. SULLA IN GREECE. 339 Mithridates now gave a dreadful proof of his hatred to the Romans. He sent secret orders to the people of the Greek towns on the coast to rise on a certain day and massacre all the Romans and Italians, men, women and children, slaves and free, without mercy ; and such was the hatred the Romans had brought on themselves by their insolence, oppression and extortion, that the mandate was strictly obeyed, — less, says the historian, from fear of the king than from animosity toward them. No mercy was shown, no temple was a sanctuary ; those who grasped the images of the gods were torn from them; the children were slain before the face of their mothers, whose own fate was only so long deferred. The lowest calculation gives eighty thousand as the number of those who perished. Such as escaped sought refuge in Rhodes, which Mithridates besieged by sea and land ; but to no effect, as he was obliged to retire with disgrace. Meantime in Greece the Athenians, Boeotians, Achseans, and Laconians had declared for him, and Arche- laus passed over and made the Pira3eus his head-quarters, while an Epicurean philosopher named Aristion became the tyrant of the city by means of a garrison of two thousand men that Archelaus had given him to guard the treasure which was transferred thither from Delos. Near Chaeronea, Brutius Sura, the legate of Q. Sentius governor of Macedo- nia, engaged the Pontic troops for three days, and forced them to fall back to Athens. Sulla was now (665) landed with five legions and some troops of the allies. The Boeotians returned to their alle- giance to Rome; he advanced into Attica, and laid siege to Athens and the Pirseeus, being desirous to end the war as speedily as possible and return to Rome. He first tried to storm the Pirseeus, but, failing in the attempt, he made all kinds of machines, cutting down for that purpose the trees of the Academy and the Lyceum, and taking the sacred treas- ures from Epidaurus, Delphi, and Olympia. All the assaults on the Pireeeus were gallantly repelled by Archelaus, and as the Pontic fleet commanded the sea no want was felt; but in the city famine soon began to rage, while the misery of the wretched citizens was augmented by the insolence and cru- elty of Aristion. At length the chatter of some old men, blaming him for not having secured a certain part of the wall, was overheard by the Romans, and Sulla attacked the town on that side and forced his way in. He gave orders for an indiscriminate slaughter ; no age or sex was spared ; the very 340 HISTORY OF ROME. streets ran blood, till night ended the carnage ; he then granted to the prayers of his friends, and the former renown of the city, the lives of those who remained. Aristion fled to the Acropolis, but thirst soon compelled him to surrender, and he was put to death. Sulla then pressed the siege of the Pirceeus more vigorously than ever, and Archelaus having at length embarked his troops and left it to its fate, he took and burned it, without sparing its noble docks and arsenal, (666.) . Archelaus meantime, in conjunction with the other gen- erals, had assembled an army stated at 120,000 men, with which he encamped near Chseronea. Sulla led his troops into Boeotia. Archelaus, knowing the inferiority of his soldiers, wished to avoid an action, but the impetuosity of some of the other generals was not to be restrained ; they gave battle to disadvantage, and sustained so entire a defeat that only 10,000 men, it is said, of the Vvdiole array escaped, while we are assured that the Romans lost but thirteen men I Archelaus fled to Euboea, and soon after Mithridates, having sent another army of 80,000 men under Dorylaus into Greece, he joined it, and, taking the command, encamped at Orcho- menus. Sulla, seeing the fine plain which extends thence to Lake Copais so well adapted for the action of the enemies' numerous cavalry, dug trenches through it ten feet wide to impede them. Archelaus, observing what he was about, made a charge ; the Romans vi^ere giving way, when Sulla, jumping from his horse, seized a standard, and advancing alone with it cried out, " If any ask you, Romans, where you left your general, say. Fighting at Orchomenus." Shame took place of fear, the troops turned, Sulla sprang again to horse, the enemies were driven to their camp with a loss of 15,000 men, and next day the camp was stormed, and those who were in it slaughtered or driven into the marshes, where they were drowned. Archelaus fled to Chalcis, and Sulla retired to Thessaly for the winter. ■ Meantime matters at Rome had taken a turn highly un- favorable to Sulla, and his friends came flying for safety to his camp. He was therefore anxious to terminate the war, and gladly hearkened to the proposal of an interview with Archelaus for that purpose. The Pontic general, who knew his situation, proposed that he should give up all designs on Asia and return to the civil war in Italy, for which Mithri- dates would supply him with money, ships, and troops. This being indignantly rejected, it was agreed that the king should restore all his conquests in Asia, pay two thousand talents, FLACCUS AND FIMBRIA. 341 and furnish seventy ships fully equipped, and then be secured in his other dominions and declared an ally of Rome. Sulla then, accompanied by Archelaus, set out for the Hellespont : but envoys came from Mithridates refusing to, give up Paph- lao-onia. This roused the indio-nation of Sulla. Archelau? craved permission to go to his master ; and an interview between Sulla and Mithridates having taken place at Darda- nuni, all was arranged as Sulla desired. He excused himselt to his soldiers for not exacting more satisfaction for the blood of so many myriads of Roman citizens, by telling them that if the king and Fimbria were to unite their troops he should be unable to withstand them. C= Flavins Fimbria was at this time in Asia, at the head of a Roman army of the Marian faction, Cinna, as we shall presently relate, having made L. Valerius Flaccus his col- league in the consulate, sent hira with two leo-ions to take the conduct of the Mithridatic war from Sulla, and, as he was not a military man, Fimbria, who was a good officer, was sent out as his legate. Fearing, as it would seem, to meet Sulla, Flaccus led his troops through Macedonia to the Hel- lespont, and here a quarrel taking place between him and Fimbria, the latter, having excited a sedition against him among the soldiers, whom his avarice had alienated, murdered him and took the command of the army, with which he gained some advantages over Mithridates and his son. He was encamped at Thyatira at the time of the peace, and Sulla instantly marched against him. Fimbria's trpops began at once to desert, and finding he could not rely on them, and being mortified by Sulla's refusal of a personal interview, he put an end to himself. His army then joined that of Sulla, who having regulated the affairs of Asia, rewarding those who had been faithful to Rome, and imposing such heavy fines on the rest of the towns as immersed them in debt to the usurers and became a source of incalculable misery, set out for Greece on his return to Italy, where a new war awaited him. For scarcely had he left Rome when Cinna, heedless of his oath, and having, it is said, received a large bribe for the purpose, renevv^ed Sulpicius' project of dividing the new citizens among all the tribes.^ Octavius, with the senate and the old citizens, opposed him. A large number of the new citizens armed with daggers occupied the Forum, to carry the law by terror ; but Octavius, at the head of the opposite party, also armed, came down and dispersed them. Several 29* 342 HISTORY OF ROME. were slain, and Cinna, having vainly essayed to excite the slaves, fled from the city. The senate declared his dignity to be forfeited, and L. Cornelius Merula, the Flamen Dialis, was made consul in his place. Cinna repaired to the army at Nola, which he induced to declare for him ; he also gained several of the allied towns, which furnished him with men and money; and C. Milonius, Q,. Sertorius, and others of his senatorial friends, having come from Rome and joined him, he resumed the consular ensigns and advanced against the city, which Octavius and Merula had put in a state of defence. They had also summoned Pompeius Strabo to their aid, and he was now encamped before the Colline gate. Cinna having recalled Marius, he embarked with his friends and made sail for Italy. He landed in Etruria, where his name and his promises respecting the places in the tribes drew about six thousand men to his standard ; he then sent to Cimia, offermg to serve under him. Cinna overjoyed sent him proconsular ensigns; but Marius, who still wore the dress in which he had fled from Rome, and had never cut or trimmed his hair since that time, replied that they did not become one in his condition. They divided their forces into three parts, Cinna and Cn. Carbo lying before the city, Serto^'ius above, Marius below it ; and Marius having taken Ostia, and put its inhabitants to the sword, threw a bridge over the river so that no provisions could reach the city. Octavius was advised to offer liberty to the slaves; but he replied that he would not give slaves a share in that coun- try, from which, in defence of the laws, he was excluding C. Marius. Orders were sent to Q.. Metellus Pius, who was acting against the Samnites, to make terms with them and come to the aid of the city. But while he hesitated to grant the terms they required, Marius sent, and promising them all they demanded, gained them over to his side. Ap. Claudius, a military tribune who had charge of the Janiculan, admitted Marius into the town, who then let in Cinna ; but the troops of Octavius and Pompeius drove them out again. Pom.peius was shortly after killed by lightning. Famine now began to be dreaded in the city, and both slaves and free deserted in great numbers. The senate therefore sent envoys to treat with Cinna : he asked if they came to him as consul or as a private person; they hesitated, and retired. He then encamped nearer the city, and the senate finding the desertion increase were obliged to deprive Merula of his office, and send to Cinna as consul. Thev CRUELTIES OF MARIUS AND CINNA. 343 only asked him to swear that there should be no slaughter; he declined to swear, but promised that he would not of his own accord be the cause of any one's death, and he desired that Octavius should leave the city lest any evil should befall him. Cinna spoke thus from his tribunal, beside which stood C. Marius in silence ; Jput his stern look showed what he was meditating. When the senate sent to invite them to enter the city, Marius said, smiling ironically, that such was not permitted to exiles. The tribunes assembled the tribes to vote his recall, but not more than three or four had voted, when he flung off the mask, entered the city at the head of a body-guard of slaves named Bardigeans, who slew all he pointed out to them ; it at length sufficing for Marius not to return any one's salute for these ruffians to murder him. Their atrocities at length rose to such a height that. Cinna and Sertorius found it necessary to fall on and massacre them in their sleep. We will enter into some details of the murders now per- petrated. Octavius, declaring that while consul he would never quit the city, retired to the Janiculan. Here, while he sat on his tribunal surrounded by his lictors, some horse- men, sent for the purpose, killed him, and, cutting off his head, brought it to Cinna, by whom it w^as fixed on the Rostra. C. and L. Julius, Atilius Serranus, P. Lentulus, and M. Bgebius were overtaken and slain as they fled. Crassus and his son being pursued, the father killed the son, and then was slain himself. M. Antonius, the great orator, sought refuge in the house of a peasant, who, having sent his slave to a tav- ern to get somewhat better wine than usual, the host inquired the reason ; the slave whispered it to him, and he went off, and, finding Marius at supper, gave him the information. Marius clapped his hands with joy, and was hardly kept from going himself to seize him. He sent a tribune named Annius, who, staying without, sent some soldiers in to kill him ; but the eloquence v^ith which Antonius pleaded for his life was such that the soldiers stood as if enchanted. An- nius, wondering at their delay, went in and himself cut off Antonius' head, and brought it to Marius. Q., Ancharius, seeing Marius about to sacrifice on the capitol, and thinking he might be in a merciful ihood, approached and addressed him, but the signal was given and he was slain. L. Merula and Q. Catulus, Marius' colleague in the Cimbric war, and whom he had never forgiven, put themselves to a voluntary death. Merula opened his veins, and a tablet was found by 344 HISTORY OF ROME. him saying that he had previously taken off his sacred hat, {apex,) in v/hich it was not lawful for a flamen to die.* Catulus shut himself up in a room newly plastered with lime, and burning charcoal in it suffocated himself. Nor must the fidelity of the slaves of Cornutus go without its praise, who concealed their master, and taking and dressing the corpse of some common person burned it as his, and then conveyed him away secretly to Gaul. All the friends of Sulla were murdered; his house was razed, his property confiscated, and himself declared an enemy. Murder, banishment, confis- cation raged every day, and even sepulture was refused to the bodies of the slain, Marius, whose appetite for blood in- creased with indulgence, was at the end of the year made consul the seventh time with Cinna, but he died in the first month while meditating new schemes of vengeance. t Cinna then had L. Valerius Flaccus, and when he heard of his murder, Cn. Papirius Carbo, chosen as his colleague, (667.) Caius Marius was one of those men who, in particular states of society, rise to eminence without teing really great. His talents were purely military; his good qualities those of the mere soldier ; he was temperate and free from avarice, but he was envious, jealous, ignorant, superstitious, and cruel, even to ferocity. As a statesman he was contemptible, the mere tool of others, and deficient in moral courage. Even in his military capacity he was rather a good officer than a great general. In Numidia he only imitated Metellus, who had really brought the war to a conclusion ; there is nothing remarkable in his conduct of the Cimbric war; and, if Sulla is to be believed, the battle at Vercellae did him no great credit. It was party spirit, not a sense of his superior merits, that renewed his consulates at this time ; for surely Metellus, if no other, could have conducted the Cimbric war as well as Marius. Finally, in the Social war, when opposed to able generals and good troops, his deficiencies became apparent. | * The office now remained vacant till 744. Dion, liv. 36; Tac. Ann iii. 58; Suet. Octav. 31. f Fimbria, who was at this time qusestor, at the funeral of Marius ordered Q,. ScEevola, the chief pontiff, to be slain. Finding that the wound was not mortal, he prosecuted him ; and being asked what charo-es he could bring against so excellent a man, he replied, that of not receiving the whole weapon in his body. (Cicero, Roscius Amer. 12.) t It may surprise some to find the aristocratic Cicercr constantly lauding Marius ; but they were natives of the same place, their families had been connected, and Cicero was a vain-glorious man. RETURN OF SULLA. 345 Those who had escaped from the tyranny of Marius and Cinna sought refage with Sulla, and they were so numerous that his camp seemed to contain a senate. Cinna and Carbo, knowing their danger, exerted themselves to the utmost to raise troops and money through Italy to oppose him. It was however carried in the senate to send an embassy to treat of peace. Orders were forwarded to Cinna to give over levying troops till Sulla's answer should arrive; to which he promised obedience, but yielded none. He assembled his troops to pass over to Liburnia to oppose Sulla there, but he was short- ly after killed by them in a mutiny, and Carbo remained sole consul, (668.) Sulla's answer now arrived, declaring his willingness to obey the senate, provided all those who had sought refuge with him were restored to their country, and himself to. all his dignities and honors ; but that he never could be the friend of those who had perpetrated such atrocities', though the people might pardon them if they pleased : adding that he should be better able to protect himself and friends by retain- ing a well-affected army. His envoys however, hearing at Brundisium of the death of Cinna, did not proceed in the business. Carbo, to strengthen himself, had the freedmen distributed through all the tribes, and he wished to exact hos- tages .from all the towns and colonies in Italy, but was pre- vented by the senate. He had also a decree passed ordering all the armies to be disbanded. In Africa the cause of Cinna's faction was at this time tri- umphant, for C. Fabius, whom they had sent thither as pro- prcBtor, defeated and drove out of it Q,. Metelius Pius, who supported the cause of the aristocracy. At length (669) Sulla, having regulated the affairs of Greece and Asia, embarked in 1600 vessels, with an army of 40,000 men, at Patrag, and landed at Brundisium.* He was joined by Metelius with what troops he had, and the nobility flocked to him in such numbers that scarcely any seemed left in the city. Cn. Pompeius, (the son of him who had been struck by lightning,) a young man of but three-and-twenty years, who had impeded the levies of Carbo in Picenum, and raised there an army of three legions on his own account, with which he had succesfu^ly opposed the troops of Carbo's generals, also came to join him. Sulla received this young * Appian. Velleius says 30,000- men, and Plutarch that he sailed from Dyrrhachium in 1200 ships. R R 346 HISTORY OF ROME. man with distinguished favor, styled him Imperator^, and alwajvS rose at his approach and uncovered his head, — hon- ors which he showed to no one else. Those of the other party at Rome, well aware of Sulla's merciless, unrelenting character, saw that there was no me- dium for them between victory and ruin ; and the people in general, knowing that his victory would be followed by mur- ders and confiscations, made every effort to resist him. The consuls, therefore, L. Scipio and C. Junius Nordanus were enabled to enroll a force of 100,000 men for the war against him. The first battle was fouo;ht between him and Norbanus at Canusium, where the latter was defeated with the loss of six thousand men, and fled to Capua. Sulla advanced into Campania : at Teanum he proposed a conference with Scipio about regulating the state, and he took advantage of the ne- gotiations to gain the consul's troops, who, when Sulla pre- pared to attack their camp, all went over to him, leaving Scipio and his son alone in their tent ; they were, however, dismissed in safety by Sulla. He then tried the same course with Norbanus and his troops at Capua, but without success. Carbo hastened to the defence of Rome, where he caused Metellus and all the senators who were with Sulla to be de- clared public enemies. The rest of the year was spent by both parties in augmenting their forces, in which the consuls had the advantage, being largely reenforced from the greater part of Italy and from Cisalpine Gaul. Among the events of this year was the conflagration of the temple erected on the Capitol by the last kings of Rome. Carbo had himself and C. Marius, the son of the great Marius, chosen consuls for the next year, (670.) The cam- paign was opened with the defeat at the ^Esis, a stream which divides Umbria from Picenum, of Carbo's legate, C. Albius Carrinas, by Metellus ; and soon after Marius, giving battle to Sulla at Sacriportum near Signia, was overcome, in conse- quence of a part of his troops going over to the enemy. Ma- rius and the rest of his troops fled to Prseneste, but when a part had gotten in, the Praenestines closed their gates lest the pursuers should enter also. Marius himself was drawn up by a rope ; but those without, who were mostly Samnites, were slaughtered without mercy by Sulla ; who, having left Q,. Lucretius Ofella to blockade the town, led his troops toward Rome. Marius, being resolved that his enemies there should not escape, sent order^^to the proetor L. Junius Bru- tus Damasippus to assemble the senate as if for some other VICTORIES OF SULLA. 347 purpose, and then to seize and put to death P. Antistius, P. Carbo, L. Domitius, and Q,. Mucins Scsevola the chief pon- tiff. His orders were executed ; Scaevola, it is said, was butchered in the vestibule of the temple of Vesta. Sulla, having led his army to the field of Mars, entered the city, from which all his enemies had fled. He sold all their goods by auction, and then assembling the people lamented the necessity he was under of acting thus, and assured them that all would soon be well again. Leaving Rome he marched against Carbo, who was at Clusium : but we need not enter into an enumeration of the various actions which now occurred in different parts ; the superiority in military skill was so decided on the part of Sulla and his generals that they had the advantage in every encounter ; many places submitted; the defeated armies mostly dispersed and went to their several homes ; Norbanus fled to Rhodes, and Carbo to Africa. The Samnites and Lucanians had taken a large share in the war, and now their troops, under Pontius Telesinus and Lamponius, united, with the remnants of Carbo's army under Carrinas, Marcius, and Damasippus, — having vainly at- tempted to relieve Preeneste, — advanced against Rome ; Te- lesinus crying that " there never would be wanting wolves to ravage Italy if the wood that harbored them was not cut down." Their forces amounted to forty thousand men. Sulla returned with all speed to Rome, and late in the day a furious engagement commenced before the Colline gate. Sulla's right wing under Crassus was victorious, the left led by himself was driven back to the city, but the gates were shut against them, and they were forced back on the enemy. The engagement lasted till late in the night. The whole number of the slain on both sides is said to have been fifty thousand, among whom was Telesinus, whose head and those of Marcius and Carrinas were cut off and exposed before Praeneste. Marius, in attempting to escape by a mine from that town, was killed by those who saw him coming out; others say he put an end to himself. His head was cut off and fixed on the Rostra by Sulla, who now assumed the title of Felix, or Fortunate. After his victory Sulla collected about six or eight thousand of his prisoners in a public place, near the temple of Bellona, whither he called the senate. As he was addressing them, the cries of the captives, whom the soldiers were slaughtering by his orders, reached their ears ; the fathers started, but he coolly desired them to attend 348 HISTORY OF ROME. to him as it was only some bad persons who were being chas- tised by his orders. They saw then that the tyrant was changed, not the tyranny, Sulla and his partisans now gave a loose to their ven- geance ; murders were committed all over the city ; and the Marians were not alone the victims, as several took the op- portunity of killing their private enemies or their creditors. Universal terror prevailed : at length a young man named C. Metellus ventured, in the senate, to ask Sulla when there was to be ^n end of the slaughter. " We do not ask," said he, *' to save those whom you intend to destroy, but to free from apprehension those whom you mean to save." Sulla replied that he did not yet know whom he would spare. " Then tell us," said Metellus, " whom you will punish." Sulla said he would, and he at once posted (ptwscripsit) the names of eighty persons; next day he added two hundred and twenty names, and the folio v/ing day an equal number. He addressed the people, telling them that these were ail he could recollect at present, but that he would add any others that occurred to him, as he was resolved to spare none who had borne any command, or aided his enemies since the day that Scipio, as he alleged, had broken his engagement with him, but that if the people obeyed him he would make a salutary change in their condition,* In this proscripti07i, as it was named, lists of those in- cluded in it were hung up in the Forum, and a reward of 50,000 sesterces was offered for each head ; it was made a capital offence to harbor or save any of the proscribed. The properties of all in the proscription lists were declared forfeit, and their children and grandchildren incapable of holding office in the state. In the present state of morals at Rome the effect of this proscription may be easily conceived. Men were fallen on and butchered in the face of day in the streets and in the temples, and their heads cut off and brought before the tribunal of Sulla. Sons might be seen bearing the gory visages of their fathers, brothers those of their brothers, slaves those of their masters : wives closed their doors against their own husbands. >Fresh lists soon appeared ; some made interest with Sulla to have their private enemies proscribed, others those whose houses or lands they coveted. Q,. Aurelius, a quiet man * Appian says he then proscribed 40 senators and 1600 knights. DICTATORSHIP AND LAWS OF SULLA. 349 who had abstained from politics, reading the proscription list one day in the Forum, saw his own name in it. " Alas ! " cried he, " my Alban estate has ruined me," and he had gone but a few steps when he was followed and slain. L. Catilina, afterwards so notorious, killed his own brother, and then applied to Sulla to have him put in the list. To evince his gratitude he soon after slew the praetor C. Marius Gratidianus with great cruelty at the tomb of Catulus, and, bringing his head to Sulla as he sat in the Forum, went coolly, before all the people, and washed his hands in the holy-water vessel at the adjoining temple of Apollo. Sulla himself always presided at the sale of the goods and properties of the proscribed, saying that he was selling his spoils ; and many of his friends, such as his step-son ^Emilius Scaurus, and M. Licinius Crassus, were enabled to acquire immense fortunes by their purchases at these sales. Sulla's atrocities were not confined to Rome. Murder and confiscation spread all through Italy ; the states and towns which had aided Cinna, Carbo, or his other foes with men, money, or in any other way, were called to a severe reckon- ing, their citadels and walls were pulled down, and heavy fines or taxes imposed on them. Some, especially in Tus- cany, were depopulated, and the houses and lands given to his soldiers, for whom he also founded other colonies, and thus provided his three-and-twenty legions with lands. The great object of Sulla was to break down the democ- racy, and to reestablish the ancient aristocratic form of the constitution. For this purpose he resolved to revive in his own person the dictatorship, which had now been out of use one hundred and twenty years. As there were no consuls he directed the senate to appoint an interrex : M. Valerius Flaccus was chosen, and acting under the directions of Sulla he proposed to the people to create him dictator for as long a time as might suffice to regulate the city and all Italy, that is, to give him the office for as long as he might choose to hold it# The people of course voted as required, and Sulla now appeared v/ith four-and-twenty lictors and a strong gruard. He allowed, however, M. Tullius and Cn. Cornelius Dolabella to be chosen consuls for the next year. While Sulla was thus engaged in Italy, Pompeius ,4iad passed over to Sicily. Perperna, who was in the island, quitted it when he landed : and shortly after Carbo, who was coming thither from Africa, was made a prisoner and led in chains before the young general's tribunal. Pompeius, after 30 350 HISTORY OF ROME. reproaching him bitterly, ordered him to be executed, though Carbo when in power had befriended him and prevented his property from being confiscated. Pompeius then passed over to Africa, and having defeated Cinna's son-in-law Domitius, reduced it within forty days. Though he was only a knight, and had never been consul or praetor, Sulla allowed him to triumph. On this occasion the dictator gave him the title of Magnus — Great. We will enumerate the principal of the Cornelian laws, as those now passed by Sulla were named. First, respecting the colleges of priests, the Domitian law was repealed, and the right of coopting their members restol"ed to the sacred colleges; the number of the pontiffs and augurs was raised from ten to fifteen. Respecting the magistracies, no one was to be praetor before qusestor, or consul before prsetor ; twenty quaestors to be chosen annually, partly by the people, partly by the consuls; in like manner the number of prEetors to be raised from six to eight; those who had been tribunes to be incapable of the higher offices, and the tribunes not to have the power of proposing laws. He restored the judicial power to the senators, and prohibited any one from challen- ging more than three jurors, and they were to give their ver- dict openly or secretly at the option of the accused. It was also forbidden to any governor to go out of his province or to make war without the consent of the senate and people. The laws against extortion in the provinces were made more strict, it being Sulla's wish to attach the provincials to the government. Sumptuary and other laws relating to morals were passed ; in that against assassins especial care was taken to exempt those who had murdered the proscribed. As the senate was now greatly reduced, Sulla augmented it by three hundred members from the equestrian order, each of them being chosen by the comitia of the tribes. He also selected ten thousand of the slaves of the proscribed, to whom he gave their liberty, and enrolled them in the tribes under the name of Cornelians. These men were therefore always at his devotion, and his old soldiers were ready to appear when summoned, so that he was under no apprehen- sion for his power. Sulla showed in the case ofL. Lucretius Ofella that he would have his laws obeyed, for when he saw him suing for the consulate without having been quaestor or praetor, he sent to tell him to desist. Ofella taking no notice of the warning, a centurion was despatched to kill him ; and when SULLA S DEATH. 351 the people seized the centurion for the murder, and brought him before Sulla, he said it was done by his order, adding, " A ploughman was one time annoyed by the vermin ; he stopped the plough twice and shook his coat, and when they still bit him he burned the coat not to lose his time ; so I advise those who have been twice overcome not to expose themselves the third time to the fire." During the first year of his dictatorship (671) Sulla had himself and Metellus Pius chosen consuls for the following year. In 673, having had P. Servilius and Ap. Claudius elected, he, to the surprise of all men, laid down his office and retired into private life. The man who had put to death ninety senators, fifteen consulars, two thousand six hundred knights, besides having driven numbers into exile, and in whose struggle for the supremacy one hundred thousand men had perished, who had confiscated the property of towns and individuals to such an extent as had reduced thousands and thousands to beggary and desperation* — that man dismissed his lictors, walked alone about the Forum and the streets of Rome, calmly offering to account for any of his public actions! It is said that one day a young man followed him home cursing and reviling him, and that he bore it patiently, only saying, " That youth's conduct will teach another not to lay down such an office so readily." Sulla retired to Cumae, where he employed his time in writing his memoirs, in hunting and fishing, and in drink- ing and revelling with players and musicians. He was here attacked the very next year with the most odious of all dis- eases, [morbus pedicularis ,) a judgment, one might almost say, from heaven on him; and one day hearing that a magis- trate of the adjacent town of Puteoli was putting off the payment of a debt to the corporation expecting his death, he sent for him to his chamber and had him strangled before his eyes. The etertions he made caused him to throw up a quantity of blood, and he died that night, in the sixtieth year of his age, (674.) Though the Cornelian gens had hitherto always inhumed their dead, it was Sulla's desire that his body should be burnt, lest the impotent vengeance he had exercised on the remains of Marius might in a turn of affairs be directed against his own. After some opposition on the part of the consul Lepi- d|js, it was decided by the senate that his corpse should be * Appian, B. C. i. 203. 352 HISTORY OF ROME. conveyed in state to Rome, and be burnt in the Field of Mars. It was carried on a golden bier, horsemen and trum- peters followed it, his old soldiers flocked from all parts to attend the procession : they moved in military array, standards and axes preceding the bier. The priests and vestals, the senate, magistrates, and knights, came forth to meet it ; more than two thousand golden crowns, the gifts of the towns, his legions, and his friends, were borne along; the Roman ladies contributed spices in such abundance that large figures of Sulla and a lictor were formed out of them, in addition to two hundred and twenty basketfuls which were to be flung on the pyre. The morning being lowering, the corpse was not brought out till toward evening ; but when the pyre was kindled, a strong breeze sprang up and the corpse was rapidly consumed ; an abundant rain then fell and quenched the embers, so that Sulla's good fortune seemed to attend him to the last. Sulla composed his own epitaph, the purport of which was, that no one had ever exceeded him in serving his friends, or in injuring his enemies. He was a man doubt- less of great talents, both as a general and a statesman, but never did a more ruthless soul animate a human body than his ; he was cruel, less from natural ferocity than from a calm contempt of human nature. He thoroughly despised mankind ; therefore, he was an aristocrat,* and therefore he ventured to lay down his power, confident that none would dare to attack him, and not in reliance on his soldiers or his Cornelians, for how could they protect him against the dagger of the assassin ? In this contempt of mankind he resembled Napoleon, as he also did in his superstitious belief in fortune, and in the circumstance of havinor left the world an account of his actions written by himself; but Napoleon was incapable of Sulla's cold-blooded cruelty. * Let us not be misunderstood; we mean that a proud man, like Sulla, who thinks thus of human nature, will be in general an aristo- crat, — not that pride and contempt of mankind are by any means the necessary characteristics of an aristocracy. The demagogue is usually of the same way of thinking, but he is mean enough to flatter those v>7hom he despises. The honest democrat, on the contrary, is often a man of the most amiable and generous character, and his error is that of judging of others by himself. Bias' maxim ol nXalovg xaxoi (' most men are bad,' that is, selfish) should always be present to Uie mind of a politician, and he should think how they, not how the good, wonid act under any given circumstances. SEDITION OF LEPIDUS. 353 CHAPTER v.* SEDITION OF LEPIDUS. SERTORIAN WAR IN SPAIN. DEATH OF SERTORIUS, AND END OF THE WAR. SPARTACIAN OR GLADIATORIAL WAR. DEFEAT AND DEATH OF SPARTA- CUS. CONSULATE OF POMPEIUS AND CRASSUS. PIRATIC WAR. REDUCTION OF CRETE. The consuls of the year in which Sulla died were Q. Lutatius Catulus of the Sullian, and M. ^milius Lepidus of the Marian party ; the latter had been chosen through the influence of Pompeius, contrary to the opinion of Sulla, who warned him of the consequences of what he had done. Events proved the dictator's foresight, for no sooner was the funeral over than Lepidus proposed a law to recall the pro- scribed, and to rescind all the acts of Sulla. The first measure seems but barely just, yet it would in fact have been a renewal of the civi-l war. The senate, therefore, headed by Catulus, the best man of his time, opposed it. Lepidus retired into Etruria, and drew together an army of the pro- scribed and others: and the senate, to prevent a conflict, gave him Cisalpine Gaul as his province. But at the end of his year Lepidus, leaving M. Junius Brutus in charge of Gaul, led his troops toward Rome, demanding the consulate a second time. He Avas declared an enemy ; Catulus headed an army to oppose him, while Pompeius was sent into Gaul against Brutus. Lepidus was defeated in a battle near the Mulvian bridge, and driven into Etruria, where he was routed a second time : he then fled to Sardinia. Pompeius meantime had reduced Cisalpine Gaul, but his conduct to Brutus on this occasion was a great stain on his character. Brutus had surrendered, and by his direction had retired to a town on the Po : the next day there came a man named Geminius, sent by Pompeius, who put him to death. Lepi- dus died shortly after he reached Sardinia, and the remains of his army were led into Spain by Perperna. The Marian cause was however not yet despaired of, for Sertorius, a man of first-rate talent, still upheld it in Spain. After the ruin of the cause in Italy, through the folly of the *Appian, B. C. i. 107—121. Velleuis, ii. 29—32. Dion, xxxvi. 1—27. Plutarch, Sertorius, Pompeius, and Crassus. 30 * s s 354 HISTORY OF ROME. consul Scipio, Sertoriiis, whose advice he would not follow, set out with all haste for Spain, of which he had been ap- pointed prsBtor. He exerted himself to gain the affections of the people by justice and affability, and by the reduction of the tributes; and, knowing that Sulla would soon pursue him, he despatched a force of six thousand men to guard the Pyrenees ; but treachery aided C. Annius, whom Sulla sent as proconsul (671) to Spain, and Sertorius, unable to main- tain himself there, passed over to Africa, where, aiding one of the native princes, he defeated and killed Paccianus, one of Sulla's officers. V/hile considering what further course he should take, he was invited by the Lusitanians to come and be their leader against the troops of Sulla. He gladly accepted the command : and, uniting in himself the talents of a Viriathus and of a Roman general, equally adapted for the guerilla and the regular warfare, he speedily routed all the Roman commanders, and made himself master of the country south of the Ebro. He did not disdain having recourse to art to establish his influence over the natives. Having been presented by a hunter with a milk-white fawn, he tamed it so that it would come when called, and heeded not the noise and tumult of the camp, and he pretended that it had been a gift of a deity to him, and was inspired, and revealed distant or future events. He trained his Spanish troops after the Roman manner, and, having collected the children of the principal persons into the town of Osca, (Huesca,) he had them instructed in Greek and Latin litera- ture, that they might be fit for offices of state, though he had in this a further object in view, namely, that they should be hostages for the fidelity of their parents. So many Romans of the Marian party had repaired to him, that he formed a senate