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SCHOOL

HISTOEY OF EOME

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HISTOEY OF EOME

FROM THE FOUNDATION OF THE CITY
TO THE EXTINCTION OF THE EMPIRE OF THE WEST

-^ ) ABRIDGED FROM

DEAN)MER1VALES GENERAL HISTORY OF ROME

WITH THE SANCTION OF THE AUTHOR

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lATE FELLOW 07 T)inl^ ^CO^KB, C^tMfi9]If9i "*«

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WITH THIRTE5RP*_fMP9

NEW IMPRESSION

LONGMANS, GEEEN, AND CO.

80 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON
NEW YORK AND BOMBAY

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PEEFACE.

The purpose of the present volame differs in «ome
respects from that of the General History of Rome, of
which it is substantially an abridgment. The larger
work was designed for the reading public in general ;
and the author accordingly felt himself at liberty to
treat briefly, or to omit altogether, some points on which
students making their first acquaintance with Roman
History, as a part of their, spbopj work, must have in-
formation. Hence the limits usp^ijly i^^signed; to the
task of abridgment have nat>* in this instance,' been
observed with absolute stric€r]efej&; - 'In^ tlie earlier
chapters I have introduced some, incidents belonging
to the legendary annals of* Rottfo,^ which it was not
deemed necessary to notice in the General flistory ; and
a few subjects of special importance have been treated
rather at greater than at less length ; amongst these I
may mention the constitution and magistracies of the
Republic, the system of Roman law, and the system of
colonisation. For one chapter, the forty-second, which
gives an account of the Roman legions and their method
of encampment, I am wholly responsible. My aim,
throughout, has been, not so much to compress into a
small space a vast amount of detail, as to select those

vi Preface.

incidents whicli have an intrinsic importance, or are
likely to be attractive to the young, and thns to furnish
a narrative, which, although it must necessarily be brief,
may, I hope, be lifelike.

The present volume is illustrated with thirteen maps
and plans, which are for the most part based on those
contained in the Public Schools Atlas of Ancient
Geography.

Charles Puller.

•a * ■ • *

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CONTENTS.

PAGE

Chronological Table ... ^ ... . xxv

CHAPTER I.

The site of Rome— The seven hills— The Palatine— The Campagna
— ^The Italian peninsula — ^The basin of the Mediterranean —
Ultimate extent of the empire 1

CHAPTER II.

Origin of the Roman people — Mythology and tradition — The
Siculi, the Ligures, the Pelasgians — ^The^Etruscans, the Sabinos,
the Latins — ^Their ideas of religion — Their influence on Roman
institutions .......... 5

CHAPTER III.

Early legends of Rome — Hercules and Cacus, Eyai^er, iEneas and
the Alban kings — Romulus and Remus — Foundation of the
city — Rape of the Sabines — Tarpeia — Numa Pompilius —
Egeria — Rites of religion — Tullus Uostilius — The Horatii and
Curiatii— Destruction of Alba Longa—Ancus M^rtius ; his
works of construction ' . , .10

CHAPTER IV.

Tarquinius Priscus — His great constructions — Influence of Etruria —
Murder of Tarquin and accession of Servius Tullius — ^The city
wall — Servius favours the people — His cruel murder — ^Tarquinius
Superbus rules as a tvrant — His success in war — ^Treachery of
Sextus Tarquinius at6abii — ^The Capitol — ^The Sibylline books —
theemb&ssy to Delphi — ^Therape of Lucretia — Expulsion of the
Tatquinii— Consuls appointed — ^VVar with Etruria — Lars Por-
sena— Battle of Lake Regillus — Death of Tarquin — Unhisto-
lical character of the narrative 15

CHAPTER V.

Ijfeneral survey of the Constitution — ^The Patricians — the populus
Romanus — Patrons and clients — Tlie curies— The senate — ^The
*pleb8* — ^The Servian constitution — The tribes — Their comitia

viii Contents.

PAGS

—The centuries— Their comitia — The pontiffs — The curule
magistrates — The consuls—The pnetor — The censors — ^The
fiediles — The quaestors — The dictator 5^

CHAPTER VI.

The first consuls — ^Tho first dictator — ^The plebeians oppressed by
debt — First secession of the ' plebs ' — Fable of the belly and
themembers— The first tribunes of the *plebs' ... 82^

CHAPTER VII.

Agrariairlaw of Spurius Cassius — Policy of the Fabian house ;
their slaughter at the Cremera — ^The consul Menenius im-

?eAched — ^The Publilian law — Arrogance of Appius Claudius —
lis suicide — Continual warfare — Story of Coriolanus — Story of
Ciucinnatus « ?6

CHAPTER VIII.

Efforts of the plebeians to obtain equal laws with the patricians —
The Terentilian law — ^Violence of K»so Quinctius — ^The Capitol
seized \sw Appius Herdonius — ^The Aventine conceded to the
plebs — ^The commission sent to Athens to study the laws of
Greece — ^The Decemvirs — ^Murder of Sicinius Dentatus — ^Ty-
rannj' of Appius Claudius — Death of Virginia — Second seccession
to the Mons Sacer— Triumph of the plebs — The Valerian laws —
The Duilian law — The laws of the twelve tables — General
survey of Roman law 4B

CHAPTER IX,

The Canuleian law gives the right of intermarriage — Military
tribunes appointed— Spurius Maelius — Wars against Fidenaj —
Against thciEquians and Volscians — ^The great war with Veii —
Pay first given to the legions — ^Triumph of Camillus — His
exile . » ^ ... 50

CHAPTER X.

The first Roman colonies— The Gauls invade Italy — Battll^of the
Allia — Burning of Rome — Defence of the Capitol — Story of
Manlius Capitolinus— Camillus deleats the Gauls , . . 53

CHAPTER XI.

JJebuilding of Rome — ^Misery of the poorer classes — Death of Man-
lius Capitolinus — ^TheLicinian rogations become law, b.c. 367 —
The first plebeian consul — ^Tlie office of praetor created — The
curule aediles appointed — Pestilence — Devotion of Mettus Cur-
tius — Chronolc^cal table showing the gradual advance of the
plebeians to political power . * 58

Contents. ix

CHAPTER XII.

PAGB

Farther progress of tlie plebeians — ^Frequent dictatorships — Gallic
wars — ^Manlius Toi-quatoa — Valerius Corvus— The first Stlmnite
war, B.C. 843 — Mutiny at Capua and further constitutional
changes consequent upon its success — The Genudan law — The
laws of Publilins Philo— Grievances of the Latin people— The
Latin war, b.c. 840— Seyerity of Roman discipline — Battle of
Yesuvins — Setf-devotion of Decius — Subjugation and settlement
ofLatinm. . . .' 6j2,

CHAPTER XIIL

Greek colonies in Italy — Alexander, king of Epirus, invades Italy —
The second Samnite war, b.c. 824-^02 — ^The first proconsul— Disr
aster to the Roman arms at the Caudine Forks — The Romans
break faith with the Samnites — ^I'hey retrieve their disgrace, but
sufier a great deftat at LantuIsB — The Samnites again defeated —
Campania reduced — ^The Romans equip a fieet • . • 69

CHAPTER XIV.

Fabius defeats the Etruscans at the Vadimonian lake — Papirius
Cursor triumphs over the Samnites — Conclusion of the second
Samnite war--Censor9hip of Appius Claudius Csecus — The scribe
Flavins publishes the forms of legal actions — The Ogulnian law
— The Hortensian law — ^The third Samnite war, b.c. 299-290 —
Defeat of the Gauls at Sentinum — Self-devotion of Decius —
Conclusion of the third Samnite war — Cruel fate of Pontius
Telesinus — Defeat of the Gauls at the Vadimonian lake, and of
the Etruscans at Vulsinii — Progress of the Romans in Southern
Italy 72

CHAPTER XV.

Tarentum invites the aid of Pyrrhus, b.c. 281 — His victory at
Heradea — Conduct of Fabricius — Pyrrhus again victorious —
He departs to Sicily — He returns and threatens Rome, but is
defeated near Beneventum — Roman conquest of Southern Italy
— Table showing the chief races inhabitmg Italy in order from
north to softth , 77

CHAPTER XVI.

The Roman tribes — Privileges of a Roman citizen— Position of the
subject allies— The Latins— The Etruscans — ^The Sabellian races
— The Greek cities — ^The Roman system of colonisation — The
great military roads • , . . , . • , 81

CHAPTER XVIL r> ^t^

Commerdal greatness of Carthage — Her mercenary army— She
aims at empire and gains a footing in Sicily— Rome brought

Contmts,

PAGE

face to face with Carthage — ^Polybias the historian— From this
time the history of Borne becomes more trustworthy . .86.

CHAPTER XVIII.

Greek settlements in Sicily— Messana occupied by Mamertine
troops— Bome takes their part against Hiero, king of Svracuse
' — Commencement of the first Panic war, b.c. 264— The ilomans
land an army in Sicily and are joined by Hiero — ^They build a
fleet and defeat the Carthaginians in the naval fight of Mylie
— ^They invade Africa and threaten Carthage, but are defeated
by the' Spartan Xanthippus — Storj-ofBegul us— Renewed fight-
ing in Sicily — Roman victory at Panormus — Claudius suffers a
naval defeat at Drepanum, b.c. 249— Lutatius Catulus retrieves
the honour of the Boman fleet at the Agates Insulse, b.c. 241 —
Close of the first Punic war

CHAPTER XIX.

Revolt of the Carthaginian mercenaries^Interval between the first
and second Punic wars — Sicily the first Roman province —
Conquest of Sardinia, Corsica, and Corcyra — ^The Illyrian war
— The Gauls invade Etruria but suffer defeat — MarceUus effects
the conquest of the Cisalpine, and dedicates 'spolta opima' — ^The
Carthaginians undertake the conquest of Spain — Hamilcar —
Hasdrubal — Hannibal, his early training — Fall of Saguntum—
Progress of democracy at Carthage — Balanced condition of
Boman politics— Decay of religion and morality at Rome —
The Floralia and the snows of gladiators ... ^ 95

CHAPTER XX.

The second Punic war— Hannibal crosses the Alps and invades
Italj'— Batde of the Ticinus— Battle of the Trebia— Battle of
the Lake Trasimenus — Fabius * Cunctator '—Great defeat of the
Romans at Cannie — Hannibal withdraws into tlie South of
Italy, and tries to raise the Greeks and Campanians . . 106

CHAPTER XXI.

Hannibal's army reposes at Capua — Roman successes in Spain —
P. Corn. Scipio expels the Carthaginians and occupies the penin-
sula — The revolt of Sardinia put down — Philip of Macedon is
defied — The famous siege of Syracuse — Proceediugs of Hannibal
— He threatens Rome, but is repulsed-^Terrible vengeance of
Rome on Capua and Tarentum — Foreign alliances — Hasdrubal
invades Italy, but is defeated and slain at Metaurus, b.c. 207 —
P. Conielius Scipio — His popularity — He invades Africa and
defeata Hannibal at Zama, b.c. 201 — Close of the second Punic
war .. r •••«.««•• 113

Contents, xi

CHAPTER XXir.

PAGB

The good fortune of the Romans traced to the superiority of their
character and the merits of their policy — Eagerness of the
Italians to combat at their side — Rome confronted with Greece
— Ck>ndition of Greece — Feebleness of Athens, Thebes, and
Sparta — The Achsean league — ^The iEtolians — ^The Macedonians. 121

CHAPTER XXIII.

The Romans commence the conquest of the East — Flamininus
drives Philip of Macedon into his fortress of Pella — Fruitless
negotiations— The victory of Cynoscephalie — Philip sues for
peace — Flamininus proclaims the liberation of Greece, b.c. 194. 125

CHAPTER XXIV.

War with Antiochns, king of Syria — He is defeated at Magnesia,
B.C. 190, and retires beyond Mount Taurus — Formation of a
kingdom of A-sia dependent upon Rome — Protracted guerilla
wa^are in Spain — ^The Gaulsof the Cisalpine finally subjugated
byScipio . . ^ . 129

CHAPTER XXV.

Deaths of three great men, Hannib 1, Scipio Africanus, and
PhUopcemen, b.c. 183^— Perseus, king of Macedon, overthrown
at Pydna, b.c. 168, and his counti-y reduced to a Roman
province— Corinth sacked by Mummius, and Greece reduced to
a province— The third Punic war, B.C. 149-146 — Carthage de-
stroved, and Africa reduced to a province— The secular games
celebrated — Bravo resistance of the Lusitanians under Viriathus
— Numantia destroyed after a gallant defence • • » 133

CHAPTER XXVI.

General account of the Roman empire after the conquest of Greece
and Carthage — The adtaailiistration of the provinces — The
Romans a money-loving people — Distribution of political power
between the various ranks of so'^iety and public assemblies —
Great power of the senate — Rich 'provincial appointments
monopolized by the nobles — Position of the knights— The
populace gratified with doles of corn and costly shows — The
etrnggle between the senate and the knights for the plunder of
^ fehe provinces tum» upon the f^pointment of the judges • • 140

CHAPTER XXVII.

Decay of the old Roman religion — Study of Greek language and
literature — Influence of Grecian women — ^The Roman poets
imitate Greek models — Daily life of a noble Roman in the city,
in the country, at the Campanian baths— Cato the censor . 144

xii Contents.

CHAPTER XXVIII.

Tiberius Gracchus observes the depopulation of Italy and conceives
the project of raising the oonditton of the Roman commonalty
— Dangers of slavery on a large scale — Alienation between the
upper and lower classes of Romans — ^Tiberius is elected tribune
and proposes a distribution of lands — Opposition of the nobles —
The Sempronian law is passed — ^Tiberius Gracchus is accused of
aiming at royalty, add is killed in a riot • . . .. 147

CHAPTER XXIX.

The Italians press their claims to Roman citizenship— Scipio
^milianus supports them, but dies mysteriously — The leadiers
of the commons espouse their cause — Revolt of Fregells sup-
pressed— Caius Gracchus, tribune of the people, carries a series
of popular measures — ^The provinces cry out for relief from a
grinding tyranny— Caius founds colonies at Capua, Tarentum,
and Carthage— He is driven to suicide by the hostility of the
nobles • • , « 151

CHAPTER XXX.

The agrarian laws rendered inoperative by the nobles — ^Tbe
Teutones and Cimbri invade Gaul and defeat the Roman
legions — Affairs of Numidia — Intrigues of Jugurtha; he is
vanquished b}*^ Metellus and Marius — Rise of Caius Marius ;
he is elected tribune and consul ; he recruits his legions from
the lowest class of citizens, and overthrows Jugurtha— Numi(Ua
made a province — The Cyrenaica bequeathed to Rome— Marius
undertakes the war against the Cimbri and Teutones — His great
victories at Aquie Sextis and Yercella— His fi£th consulsmp • 15&

CHAPTER XXXI.

Insurrection of the slaves in Italy and Sicily— Marius a sixth time
consul — Factions in the city — Impeachment of Caepio — The
' gold of Tolosa ' — ^Election of the chief pontiff transferred to
the plebs — Altered position of the patricians — Marius favours
the Italians — Sedition of Satuminus — ^The claims of the Italians
to the Roman franchise supported by the plebeians— Explana-
tion of this alliance — M. Livius Drusus, tribune of the people,
tries to reconcile all parties — He is assassinated — The Social
or Marsic war results in the concession of the franchise to the
Italians 160

CHAPTER XXXII.

Rise of P. Cornelius Sulla— Appointed to conduct the war against
Mitbridates, king of Pontns,he turns back on Rome and chastises
the Marian faction — Hairbreadth escapes of Marius — Cinna
excites disturbance in the city- -He is deposed from the consul*

Contents. xiii

ship and expelled — He returns, accompanied by Marias, at the
heiul of the revolted Italians — Politic inaction of Pompeios
Strabo — ^Triumph of the Marian faction — Bloody proscription of
the senatorial party-^Marios attains his seventh consulship
and dies • . • • 166

CHAPTER XXXIII.

Ginna carries out the democratic policy of Marius — Sulla defeats
Mithridates and expels him from all his conouesta— He leads
back his veterans to Italy laden with spoil— The Capitol de-
stroyed by fire— The Marian leaders raise an Italian armv, but
are crushed by Sulla at the Colline gate of Rome— Fall of Prao-
neste — Sulla proscribes and massacres his opponents — Catilina
^-Cnteus Pompeius— Julius Ctesar — Sulla devastates Italy and
colonises it anew with his veterans; he pursues the Marians in
Gaul, Africa, and Spain — Insecurity of life and property — In-
tolerable burthen of taxation •.•*••• 172

CHAPTER XXXIV.

Solla appointed dictator without limit of time ; he reconstitutes
the republic in the interest of the oligarchy, reconstructs the
senate, giving to it the entire legislative and judicial power,
and curtails the power of the tribunes ; his sumptuary laws ;
his belief in bis own good fortune ; he resigns the dictatorship
and dies ; his ruthless poUcy of reaction doomed to failure in
the end . . • 177

CHAPTER XXXV.

Discontent of the provincials at the oppressive nature of the pro-
coitsular governments; they suffer under heav}' taxation,
usury, extortion, and pillage; no redress to be had— The
poptdar leaders at Rome, debarred from any share in the spoils,
expose the abuses of the system — Cicero's orations against
Verres ; career of a provincial governor— Venality of the tri-
bunals . . ' 181

CHAPTER XXXVI.

Chiefs of the aristocratic faction — Pompeius * Magnus* — Lepidus
restores the power of the tribunate ; he heads a revolt oi the
Marian faction, but is defeated and dies — Sertorius wages civil
war in Spain and Africa ; he is assassinated, and the revolt is

Suelled by Pompeius — An outbreak of gladiators headed by
partacus is i>ut down by Crassus and Pompeius — ^Pompeius
consolidates his influence in Spain and Gaul ; he is elected
consul with Crassus— Character of M. Crassus — Character and
policy of Caius Julius Ciesar •185

XIV Contents.

CHAPTER XXXVII.

Fompeius and Crassus reverse the laws of Sulla, re-establish the
tribunate, and re-admit the knights to the judicial bench —
Pompeius r&ceives a special commission and clears the sea of
pirates — Successes* of Luculliis against Mithridates^, his victory '
at Tigranocerta over the Armenian king ; he is superseded and
Pompeius appointed to the Eastern command — Magnificence of
Lucnllus ; his philosophic temper — Pompeius subdues Armenia,
Syria, and Phcenicia, and proclaims the Euphrates to be the
boundary of the empire ; he regulates the government of Pales-
tine—Death of Mithridates — Settlement of the East . . 190

CHAPTER XXXVin.

Character of M. Porcius Cato — Caesar becomes aedile, and president
of the tribunal forjudging cases of murder ; he cites Babirius
before him for the murder of Satuminus — Curious issue of the
appeal' to the people-^sesar vk elected ' Pontifex Maximus'— .
Rumours of a conspiracy — ^Profligacy of the young nobles —
Influence and intrigues of Catilina — State of Roman society ;
coarseness of the men and frivolity of the women — Catilina
matures his plotr-The Optimates prepare to encounter it —
Cicero is elected consul, organises the forces of the republic,
and learns the secrets of the conspirators — Tlie first Catilin-
arian oration — Catilina allowed to quit the city ; his associates,
Lentnlus and Cethegus, seized 198

CHAPTER XXXiy.

Trial und execution of the conspirators — Defeat and death of
Catilina — Caesar is elected praetor— Conflict between the tri-
bunes Metellus Kepos and M. Porcius Cato— Position and
policy of Cicero — Clodius profanes the mysteries of the * Bona
Dea '—Attitude of Pompeius on his return from the East^
Julius Caesar's debts ; he departs for his province of Farther
Spain— Pompeius celebrates a splendid triumph ; he is af-
fronted by the senate, and turns towards the popular party . 204

• ' CHAPTER XL.

rh« nobles lean on Cato— Caesar returns victorious from Spam,
and is elected consul with the aid of Pompeius and Crassus —
The first triumvirate— Caesar's consulship, b.c. 59 ; his liberal
legislation ; he assumes the command in lUyricum, the Cisal-
pine, and the Province — Clodius, elected tribune, procures the
condemnation of Cicero— Cato's mission to Cyprus — Riotona
factions of Clodius and Milo— Cicero is recalled « • • 209

CHAPTER XLI.

CKsar overruns Gaul ; he crosses the Rhine into cSiiMmy/ and
twice invades Britain— Pompeius obtains a third extracrdinaor

Contents. xv

commission for supplying the city with corn ; he is refused the
mission of restoring Ptolemseus to the throne of Egypt —
Caesar's intrigues at I^ucca — Consulship of Pompeius and
Crassus, B.C. 66 — Caesar's command in Gaul is renewed for a
second period of five years — ^Tumults in the citj — Death of
Julia — ^The Gauls revolt in various quarters — Vicissitudes of
the contest — Gallant defence of his country by Vercingetorix
— Caesar crushes him at Alesia, and finally subjugates Gaul,-
B.C. 51 ; his liberal administration of the country ; his pre-
eminent popularity with his subjects and his soldiers . «' 213

CHAPTER XLII.

The civil power begins to be overshadowed by that of the army —
Account of the.Roman legion under Romulus, under Servius
Tullius, under the early republic — The legions receive pay, but
continue to be regarded as a citizen militia — The hastati —
The principes — ^The triarii — ^The legion numbers about 6,000
men at the date of the Latin war, b.c. 340 — Poly bins' account
of the legion during the Punic wars — Its disposition in ranks,
in cohorts, in maniples and centuries — ^The velites — The auxi-
liary forces, * socii ' — Marius recruits the legions from the lowest
class of citizens — The provincisls — Equipment of Caesar's
legions— The cohors milliaria — ^The eagles and standards — ^The
Roman camp in the later years of f he republic, the same under
the empire — ^The recruiting of the legions; their numerical:
and special titles * * , • 219

CHAPTER XLIII.

Reception of the report of Caesar's successes at Rome — ^Pompeius
takes Spain and Crassus receives Syria for his province —
Crassus, at starting, is devoted to ill-fortune by the tribune
Ateius— The Parthian monarchy — Crassus crosses the Eu-
phrates and attacks the Parthians — The disaster at Carrhae —
Cassius distinguishes himself— Crassus is captured and slain,
and his remains insulted ' . . 229

CHAPTER XLIV.

Interregnum owing to corruption and bribery — Rioting and blood-
shed — Clodius slain in a fray with Milo — Pompeius is ap-
pointed sole consul, b.c. 62 ; he detaches himself from Ctesar —
Trial and banishment of Milo — Pompeius passes good laws,
but violates them in his own person — Caesar's influence at
Rome; ho sues for the consulship a second time; he is af-
fronted by the senatorial party — Cicero proconsul in Cilicia —
Indecision of Pompeius ; his illness and recovery — The sym-
pathy of the Italians raises his confidence in himself— Pre-
carious position of Caesar at the opening of the year 50 ; he is
threatened with the loss of his province while Pompeius refuses
to surrender Spain— Curio, as tribune, supports Cawar — Caesar
quietly collects his forces— The senate refuses all his overtures
and calls upon Pompeius to arm in defence of the state . • 233

xvi Cofitents-

CHAPTER XLV.

PAOV

Tendency of the Roman world towards monarch^-— Hopeful an-
ticipations at home and abroad of the benefits to be derived
from CflBsar's antocracy — Ciesar crosses the Rubicon — Pompeius
quits Rome for the South of Italy — Caesar pursues, and takes
many places — Surrender of Cortinium — Ctesar's clemency — The
selfish design of Pompeius to conquer Rome and Italy for him-
self with the aid of Oriental barbarians ; he crosses the Adri-
atic with his troops ; many senators desert him — C»sar enters
Rome and re-assures the citizens ; he rifles the temple ci
Saturn; he subdues Sardinia and Sicilj", but his lieutenant
Curio is defeated in Africa— C«sar conquers Spain, is appointed
dictator, and afterwards consul ; his wise treatment of debtors
and bankrupts — Ciesar secures his power on a basis of legality \
he joins his l^ons at Bmndisiam, b.c. 49 • • . • 239

CHAPTER XLVI.

Review of the forces pitted against each other — Cassar crosses into
Epirus and blockades Pompeius in his camp at Petra — Pom-

gsius defeats Caesar in their first encounter— The battle of
harsalia, August 9, b.c. 48; Caesar's great victory— Pom-
Seius escapes to Egypt and is there murdered — Caesar pursues
im by land, and reaches Alexandria from S^'ria ; he becomes
enamoured of Cleopatra and takes her part against Ptolemaus
— ^Burning of the £g}'ptian fleet and of the great museum —
Caesar departs to Asia Minor and crushes Phamaces at Zela —
Caesar a second and a third time dictator ; his campaign in
Africa:— Battle of Thapsus — Suicide of Cato at Utica . • 246

CHAPTER XLVIL

Honours showered upon Caesar at Rome— His four triumphs ; his
games and largesses — Campaign in Spain — Battle of Munda —
Deatii of Cnteus Pompeius, and of many prominent republicans
— Caesar's fifth triumph — Concourse of foreigners at Rome —
Caesar introduces some of them into the senate ; he respects
the forms of the republic — ^The imperium and the pontincate
made hereditary in his family — ^The dictatorship, the consul-
ship for five years, the tribunate, the principate, the censor-
ship, accumulated in his person — He aims at fusing the empire
into one body politic ; he plans the redaction of a code of laws ;
he reforms the calendar ; he proposes to build on a large scale
— Caesar's private life and maimers ; his society ; his connection
with Cleopatra ; his irreligion and superstition ; he prepares
for a great war in the East 253

CHAPTER XLVIII.

The young Octavius in the camp at Apollonia— Caesar declines a
kingly diadem ; conspiracy formed against his life by Cassiua
and others — Character of M. Junius Brutus — Assassination of
Caesar ^ the ides of March, b.c. 44 — ^The liberators take refuge

Contmts. xvii

in the Capitol ; the people regard them coldly ; they negotiate
with M. Antonius — An amnesty proclaimed, and Ciesars acts
confirmed — His will and bequests to the people — His funeral
obsequies in the Forum — Speech of M. Antonius — Excitement
of the people — Antonius paramount in the city ; he obtains a
sanction for all Caesar's projected acts ; his arbitrary proceed-
ings ; futility of the assassiuation 259

CHAPTER XLIX.

Octavius returns to Rome and claims the inheritance of Caesar — ^The
senate and the people favour him — ^The liberators repair to their
provinces — Antonius attacks Cicero in the senate— Cicero re-
torts ; the first Philippic — Octavius improves his position, de-
taches some legions from Antonius, and raises fresh troops —
Antonius leads his legions towards the Cisalpine — Cicero
publishes his second Philippic against him — Prominent position
assumed bv Cicero— The consuls Hirtius and Pansa make war
on Antonius and are joined by Octavius — Both consuls are
slain— Octavius suddenly combines with Antonius, who is Joined
by other leaders and becomes master of the situation — Octavius
marches on Rome and becomes consul — Partition of the empire
between Octavius, Antonius, and Lepidus — ^The second Triuqi-
Tirate — Proscriptions at Rome — Murder of Cicero . . . 264

CHAPTER L.

Brutus recruits his legions at Athens, and together with Cassius
plunders Asia— Brutus terrified by a vision — Brutus and Cas-
sius encounter Antonius and Octavius in the two battles of
Philippi in Macedonia; their defeat and death — Fresh partition
of the empire— Antonius remains in the East and falls into the
snares of Cleopatra — Octavius returns to Italy — Fulvia stirs up
a revolt against him— Antonius, in alliance with Sextus Pom-
peius, invades Italy — Octavius opposes him — Peace is arranged
and the empire again divided, Sextus Pompeius obtaining a
share — Naval war between Octavius and Sextus -Victory of
Naulochns won by M. Agrippa— Death of Sextus— Disgrace of
Lepidus 271

CHAPTER LI,

Honours offered to Octavius ; he accepts the tribunate ; his caution
and moderation — Wise administration of Maecenas — Antonius
invades Parthia ; his disastrous retreat ; he returns to Egypt —
Octavia tries to wean him from Cleopatra, but is reposed —
Antonius triumphs over Artavasdes, king of Armenia — Revels
of the Alexandrian court — Octavius wages successful war
beyond the Alps — Antonius winters at Samos and prepares to
contest the empire with his colleague — His treason revea'ed
in his testament — Octavius declares war against Egypt — He
lands troops in Epirus — Desertions from the Antonian side-^
Battle of Actium, September 2, b.c. 31— Flight of Antonius^
a

xviii Contents',

PAOl

Treachery of Cleopatra— Octavius visitB Egypt ar.d is proof
against the wiles of Cleopatra — Suicide of Antoniiis and Cleo-
patra— Egj-pt reduced to a Roman province— Pre-eminent
genius of Octavius 276

CHAPTER LII.

Octavius returns to Rome and celebrates a triple triumph — He
assumes: 1. The military command-iu-chief, with the title of
Imperator prefixed to his name. 2. The functions of the
Censorship without the title. 3. The Principate, or first place
in the senate. 4. The Potestas Consularis in the city and the
provinces ; partition of imperial and senatorial provinces. 5.
The Potestas Tiibunicia. 6. The Sovereign Pontificate. 7.
The name of Augustus — Policy of Augustus compared with
that of Julius CsBsar — His cautious extension of the franchise —
His disposition to preserve the old Roman laws— He restores
the old religion, though himself without belief— His reactionary
policy conciliates the support of the nobles — ^The people
acquiesce easily in his yirtual ro^'alty — Simplicity of the
emperor's habits — The poets of the court contribute to make
him popular— -He receives the honourable title of * Father of his
country' .282

CHAPTER LIII.

Division of the provinces between the emperor and the senate —
Distribution of the legions — ^The fleet and the nayal stations
— The finances — Population — Agrippa and Maecenas — Janus
closed, B.C. 29 — JSlius Gallus in Arabia — Augustus makes a
progi-ess through the East and recoyers the standards of Crassus
from the Parthians, b.c. 20 — Celebration of the secular games —
Movement among the barbarians on the frontier put down by
Tiberius and Drusus *. 289

' CHAPTER LIV. •

The imperial family — Tiberius and Drusus employed in military
service — Drusus invades Germany with slight success and fs
sumained Germanicus ; his death — Tiberius recalled from
Pannonia and married to Julia ; appointed to Gaul, but again
recalled and made consul — Disgrace of Julia — ^Tiberius secludes
himsdf in Rhodes — Fayour shown by the emperor to Agrippa's
sons ; their death — I'iberius, restored to public life, is adopted
by Augustus as his heir ; his successful campaigns in Ger-
many ; his expedition into Bohemia ; the Pannonian revolt —
Banishment of Ovid — Varus defeated by Arminius with the
loss of three eagles — ^Tiberius vindicates the honour of the
empire and enjoys a triumph — Melancholy of Augustus — ^The

youn^ Germanicus takes command on the Rhiney- Augustus
compiles hiB * Breviarium ' and dies, a.d. 14

295

Contents, xix

CHAPTER LV.

PAGS

The Christian era—The * Pax Roraana ' — ^The policy of Augusts
lamed at repression and control, not at conquest — Tiberius
assumes imperial power — Mutinies on the Danube and the
Rhine composed by Drusus and Germanicus — ^The lost eagles
of Varus recovered — Germanicus recalled and sent to the £ast ;
his death ascribed to poison — Attitude of the old aristocracy
towards the emperor — The law of Majest}' — ^The debaters or
informers — Jealous nature of Tiberius — -JSlius Sejanus, as .
minister, removes Drusus by poison, and aspires to the imperial
succession — He induces the emperor to withdraw to Capreae —
Good influence of Livia ; her death, a.d. 29— Persecution of
Agrippina and her family— Fall of Sej anus— Tiberius visits
Rome by water but returns without landing — Indignation of
the people — Charges of profligacy against Tiberius— Insanity
imputed to bis Claudian blood — Despair drives many of the
nobles to suicide — ^Three possible heirs to the empire ; Tiberius,
Claudius, Caius and Tiberius Gemellus — Death of Tiberius —
His degradt'd character — Prosperity of the empire during his
reign 302

CHAPTER LVI.

Cains, sumamed CaUgnIa, becomes emperor, and promises well at
first — He plunges into dissipation — His prodigality leads to
cruelty — His grandiose architecture — He makes a spirited march
into Gaul, and menaces Britain — His abortive triumph — His
insane insolence to the nobles — He is assassinated — Elevation
of Claudius by the soldiers — His gentleness and popularity —
His uncouth figure and uxorious nature — His industry and
liberal policy— He invades Britain, a.d. 43, and leaves the
conquest to be prosecuted by Vespasianus and other generals —
Caractacns — Ckudius treats the Oriental princes generoutily —
Herod Agrippa restores the Jewish kingdom ; his death — ^l^ur-
bnlence of the Jews — Story of the infamous Messalina— The
domestic history of Claudius probably falsifled by Agrippina,
who became his Avife — She obtains the adoption of her son
Nsro, and hastens the end of Claudius by poison, a.d. 54 . .311

CHAPTER LVII.

Xero is preferred to Britannicns and raised to the empire by the aid
of Seneca and Burrhus — The * Quinquennium Neronis' — Agrip-
pina rouses her son's jealousy of Britannicns, who is removed by
poison — Quarrel between Nero and Agrippina — He becomes
ncentious and extravagant — His intrigue with Pop^oea — He
orders the munler of Agrippina — Poppoea becomes his wife*-
Proscription of the nobles and confiscation of their property-^
Seneca escapes a similar fate and retires from court — Nero de-

eades himself by descending into the arena — Great fire of
>me — Persecution of the Christians — Further proscriptions —
Plot a<;aiust the emperor — Seneca and Lucan condemned to
take their own lives— Xero visits Greece and destroys Domitius
a2

XX Contents.

PAGS

Corbulo— Persecution of the philosophers — ^Nero's golden house
— Revolt of Galba and Vmdex— The legions of Virginias
destroy Yindex, but support Golba — ^The armies of Spain and
Gaul march on Rome— Contemptible despair of Nero— His
miserable end, a.d. 68 — ^Extinction of the Julian family . , 319

CHAPTER LVIII.

Galba assumes the empire and enters Rome — Piso is associated
Mrith him — Otho proclaimed by the praetorians — Murder of
Galba and Piso— Galba the representative of the best class of
Roman officers — Revolt of the legions in Gaul — Vitellius pro-
claimed emperor — Advance of his generals, Coecina and Valens
— Otho confronts them, but is defeated at Bedriacum, and takes
his own life — Political moderation of Vitellius — He enters
Rome — Vespasian, supported by Mucianus, strikes for the
empire — Mucianus advances from the East upon Italy —
Gluttony and debauchery of Vitellius — Antonius Primus leads
the van of Mucianus' army into Italy, defeats Valens and
Ccecina at Bedriacum, and takes Cremona — ^Vitellius confronts
him on the Nar, but yields without a blow — The adherents of
Vespasian attacked and slaughtered iu the Capitol— Escape of
Domitian — ^The legions of Vespasian enter Rome — Street fight-
ing — Murder of Vitellius — Vespasian acknowledged emperor . 329

CHAPTER LIX.

Continuation of the conquest of Britain — Importance of London —
Destruction of the Druids in Anglesey— Revolt of the Iceni
under Boadicea suppressed — Revolt of the Gaulish auxiliaries
under Civilis — Bravery of the legions — ^The rising put down —
Government of Judaea under the first five Csesars — The Jews
rebel in the last year of Nero's reign ; their resources and en-
thusiasm ; the Sicarii ; Joseplius the historian — ^Titus invests
Jerusalem— The faction of the Zealots — ^The operations of the
siege — Famine and divers portents — Storming and destruction
of Jerusalem, a.d. 70 333

CHAPTER LX.

Plebeian origin of Vespasian ; his frugal habits of life — The Fla-
vian gens takes the place of the Julian iu popular estimation —
Vespasian restores the Capitol, destroys Nero's golden house,
builds the Colosseum and other historical structures — He re-
pairs the finances; extends the Latin franchise to Spain,
promotes education — ^Persecution of the Stoic philosophers —
Death of Vespasi»n, a.d. 79 — ^Pleasing character of Titus ; his
love for Berenice ; his early death perhaps saved him from dete-
rioration — Great fire at Rome — Eruption of Vesuvius ; Hercu-
laneum and Pompeii destroyed — Accession of Domitian ; kit
pedantic, vain, and licentious character — Agricola carries the
Roman eagles in Britain as far north as the Tay ; he is recalled
^Extravagance of Domitian leads to cruelty —Revolt of Satur-

Contents. xxi

PAGE

ninuB in Gaul put down — ^Domitian tries to reform the morals of
his people ; he persecutes the philosophers and the Christians —
Flavius Clemens— Domitian is assassinated, a.d. 96 . . . 339

CHAPTER LXI.

M. Cocceius Nerva appointed emperor bv the senate — Adoption of
Ulpius Trajanus — ^Death of Nerva — Trajan's warlike propensi- .
ties; his pc^ularity; he receives the title of *Optimus — lie
undertakes and carries out the conquest of Dacia — Trajan's
Forum and column — His great works at Ancona and elsewhere —
Trajan's expedition to ttie East — Armenia annexed — Parthia
subdued — Babylonia occupied — The province of Assvria con-
stituted — Death of Trajan — Condition of the Christians ; atti-
tude of the Bom an rulers towards them — Plinv's letter to
Trajan — Persecution at Antioch ; martyrdom u/ Ignatius —
Accession of Hadrian —He withdraws from Trajan*s conquests ;
he visits Britain, Gaul, Spain, Africa, Parthia, Athens, Antioch,
and Alexandria — The Jewish revolt under Bar-Cochebas sup-
pressed — Roman colony of ^lia Capilolina — Hadrian's in-
quirin<r spirit — He returns to Rome — His buildings and restora-
tions — Hadrian's Mok — Adoption of T. Aurelius Antoniifus —
Death of Hadrian . 345

CHAPTER LXII.

Accession of Antoninus Pius — The ap:e of the Antonines — Period
of repose and good government—Studious character of Antoni-
nus ; his generosity combined with frugality ; his love of peace
— The province of Britain extended to the Clj^de — Advance of
scientific geography — Mildness and humanity of the govern-
ment—Great constructions in the provinces — Serene cheerful-
ness of Antoninus ; his tranquil death — Accession of Marcus
Aurelius — ^The younger Verus associated with him in tlie
empire — Disturbances on the frontiers — Verus despatched to
the East — Pestilence, famine, and earthquakes — Superstitious
fears of the people — Persecution of the Christians — ^I'he
emperors repel the barbarians on the Danube — Death of Verus
— Continual warfare on the Danube — The thundering legion —
Insurrection of Avidius Cassius — Death of the younger Faus-
tina — Gallant struggle of Aurelius against the barbarian
hordes ; his death ; his hostility to the Christians — Progress of
Christianity 353

CHAPTER LXIII.

The reign of Commodus ; his profligacy and cinielty ; he is assassi-
nated and replaced by Pertinax — ^The praetorians mutiny and
slay the emperor — ^The empire put up to auction and bought by
Didius Julianus — ^Three pretenders put forward by the legions ;
Pesoennius Niger, Septimius Severus, and Chjdius Albinus —
Sevems defeats and slays Julianns, and establishes himself
at Rom<s— He conquers both his rivals, the one in Asia Minor,

xxii Contents.

PAOS

the other in Gaul — He proscribes forty senators — ^The lawrer
Papinian — Severus chastises the Parthians ; he visits Britain,
and dies at York — Caracalla murders his brother Geta — His
miserable life — He is assassinated by Macrinas who assumes
the purple — Review of the empire from the time of Augustus —
Compromise of the powers of the senate, the people, and the
army — ^Tlie citizenship of Rome confened on' all her free sub*
jects — Provincial laws incorporated into one system with the
old laws of Rome — ^Toleration of many reli^ons side by side
with that of Rome — Elafz^abalus, priest of the sun at £mesa,
made emperor by the soldiers — After a brief reign he is assassi-
nated, and his cousin Alexander Severus raised to the purple
— Severus controls the legions ; his studious nature ; he favours
the Christians ; he wages war with success in Persia and in
Germany — Severus is Sain in a mutiny 359

CHAPTER LXIV.

The barbarians, the Franks, the Allemanni, the Goths — Rise of
the Persian monarchy, the Saracens — Rapid succession of
emperoM — ^The usurper Maximin — ^The two Gordians — Maxi-
mus and Balbinus — The third Gordian — Philip the Arabian
celebrates the thousandth anniversary of the city, a.u.c. 1001,
A.D. 249 — He is slain bj' Decius, who persecutes the Christians,
and devotes himself in battle with the Goths — Gallus —
iEmilianus — Valerian and his son Gallienus— Odenathus and
Zenobia — Claudius — Aurelian — Tacitus — Probus — Cams —
Carinus— Diocletian, a.d. 235-284 366

CHAPTER LXV.

The disorganised empire reconstituted by Diocletian on the basis
of an Oriental monarchy — He divides the empire with Maxi-
mian ; and again subdivides it with two Caesars, Galerius and
Constantius Chlorus — Diocletian reigns over the East at Nico-
media — After twenty years of victorious rule he abdicates and
retires to Salonn — Insurrection of the Bagandse in Gaul — Op-
pressive taxation — Diocletian persuaded by Galerius and Maxi-
mian to persecute the Christtians — On the death of Constantius,
his son Constantine is proclaimed emperor by the legions at
York — He rules the West with moderation and vigour — He
inclines towards the Christians — ^Elevation of Maxentius in
Italy — Intrigues of Maximian — Death of Galerius— Licinius
andMaximin both claim the empire of the East— Constantine
defeats Maxentius at the Milvian bridge, and rules over Ital^'
and Africa ; his pretended vision — ^The edict of Milan — ^Christi-
anity first tolerated by law — Constantine attacks Licinius and
extends his dominion eastwards ; he reorganises the armv and
the laws ; he arbitrates between the Christian sects at kome
and Aries, and persecutes the Donatists — ^The struggle between
Constantine and Licinius — Battle of Adrianople — ^ConBtantine
sole emperor, a.d. 323 373

Contmts. xxiil

CHAPTER LXVI.

PA08

The council of Nicaea — Domestic unhappiness of Constantine —
Foundation of Constantinople — Superiority of the East in
wealth and intelligence — Constantine's baptism on his death-
bed, A.D. 337 — Division of the empire between his three sons —
Fall of Constantine and Constans — Constantius becomes sole
emperor — Condition of Rome and of tlie Romans— Worship of
the goddess Roma — Constantius' triumphal entry into Rome —
He learns the power of the Bishop of Rome — ^The Arian heresy
— Liberius and Felix— Triumph of the orthodox church at
Rome — The Arian heresy proclaimed at Ariminum, a.d. 359 —
Death of Constantius, a.d. 861 . £80

CHAPTER LXVIL

Earlv career of Julian ; he succeeds to the purple on the death of
Constantius ; his apostasy from the Christian faith and attempt
to revive the Pagan worship— Julian invades Persia; his
victory and death, a.d. 363 — Constantine's policy indirectly
favoured the church — Its pro.sfress hindered by conservative
spirit of Roman aristocracy, and by dissensions between rival
sects of Christians — Julian's attack on the Church by means
of argument and ridicule — He forbids the Christians to teach
in the schools — His attempt to rebuild the temple at Jerusalem
fnutrated — Jovian leads back the army under a Christian stan«
dard ; his death — Yalentinian succeeds him and divides the
empire with Yalens — His court at Milan and Treves ; his wars
with the Germans— Gratian associated with him in the empire
of the West — Death of Yalentinian — Contest for the bishopric
of Rome— Success of Damasus — Rise of the Papacy . . . 886

CHAPTER LXYIII.

Accession of Gratian — Under the influence of Ambrose, he refuses
to wear the pontifical robes — ^The statue of Yictory removed
At>m the senate-house — Agitation among the Pagans — ^Yalen-
tinian II. associated in the empire — Gratian's successful wars
— Death of Yalens and appointment of Theodosius I. to the
empire of the East— Revolt of Maximus and death of Gratian
— ^Yalentinian II. at Milan — Arrogance of Ambrose — ^Yalen-
tinian driven out of Italy by Maximus — ^Theodosius defeats
Maximus and restores Yalentinian — Yalentinian II. slain b}'
Arbogastes — Eugenius, the grammarian, succeeds to the empire
— He revives the hopes of the Pagans — He is overthrown bj'
Theodosius— Christianity re-established — ^The penitence of
Theodosius — ^Advance oi the Goths in the East — ^They submit
to Theodosius — His sons Arcadius and Honorius asscmiA the

Surple in the East and West respectively — Their ministers
lunnus and Stilicho — Alaric ravages Greece, and invades Italy
— He is defeated — Gaul and Spain overrun by barbarians—
FaU of Stilicho

xx:v Contents.

CHAPTER LXIX.

FAQS

Alaric advances to Rome and extorts a ransom from the city, a.d.
408— He rednces Rome a second time, and sets up Attiuus as
emperor under him — The Pagan partv again aspires to power
— Attalus is overthrown — Rome sacked by the Goths under
Alaric, A.D. 410 — The Christian churches respected — ^Alaric
ravages Southern Italy ; his death — Final overthrow of the
Pagan religion — Its close connection with the city of Rome —
Augustine^s treatise, the * City of God ' — ^The triumph of the
Church marred by much corruption . . . • . . 401

CHAPTER LXX.

The Goths treat the empire with respect — Ataulphus establishes
the kingdom of the Visigoths — ^The Western provinces become
generaUy independent of the empire — Roman culture lingers in
Gaul and Spain — ^Various pretenders in Britain, Gaul, Spain,
and Africa put down by the generals of Honorius — Ataulphus
transfers his kingdom to Spain — The Vandals in Andalusia —
Death of Honorius ; his contemptible character — Valentinian
III. succeeds under the regency of his mother, Galla Placidia —
Aetius, the last of the Romans ; Bonifacius, count of Africa —
The Vandals under Genseric ravage Africa, and dominate the
sea — The Huns — Attila, the * scourge of God,' invades Gaul,
and suffers defeat at Cbldons — lie invades Italy, and is turned
back from Rome by Pope Leo the Great — Valentinian III.
assassinated by Maximus — Sack of Rome by the Vandals —
A Vitus assumes the purple ; he is dethroned by Ricimer the
Sueve, who confers the empire on Majorianus:— He abdicates
and dies — Ricimer rales Italy with the title of Patrician —
Series .of titular emperors; Severus, Anthemius, Olybrius,
Glycerins, Julius Nepos — Orestes succeeds Ricimer as Patrician,
and confers the empire on his son Romulus Augustnlus — The
barbarian Odoacer extinguishes the empire of Uie West, aj>.
476 ...... 40a

Index 118^

d by Google

CHEONOLOGICAL TABLE.

763

u.c'
1

715

674
642
618

80
112
136

678
634

176
220

609

246

609

246

608
607

246
247

49G

258

494

260

(1) Period of the Kings.

Foundation of Rome. Romulus reigns for 37 years.

One year of interregnum

Numa Pompillus, elected king, reigns for 39 years.

Two years of interregnum.
Tullus Hostilius, chosen king, reigns for 82 }'ears
Ancus Martins, elected king, reigns for 24 years
Tarquinius Prisons ascends the throne, and reigns for

40 years.
Servius Tullius becomes king, and reigns for 44 years
Tarquinius Superbus mounts the throne, and reigns

for 26 years.
Expulsion of the Tarquinii on February 24. The

* Regifugium.'
The Republic established. Election of the first con-
suls. M. Junius Brutus and Tarquinius Collatinus.
War with the Etruscans— death of Brutus ,
Lars Porsena attempts to restore the authority of Tar-

quin by force. The episodes of Horatius Cocles,

Cloelia, and Mucins Scaevola.
Battle of the Lake Regillus. Final overthrow of

Tarquin.
Death of Tarquinius Superbus

PAGE

11
12
13

13
14
16

21
21

22
22

The above chronology is gathered from the statements of Livy and
other Roman writers, but cannot be regarded as of much historical
value.

509

245

£01
494

253
260

486
477

268

277

471

283

(2) The Early Republican Period.

Foundation of the republic and election of the first

consuls.
The first dictator appointed. Spurius Lartius .
First secession of the plebs to the Mons Sacer .
First tribunes of the plebs appointed ....

Agrarian law of Spurius Cassius

Slaughter of the Fabian house on the banks of the

Cremera.
The Publilian law transfers the election of tribunes of

the plebs to the Comitia Tributa.

» Years before Christ. ^

* Years of the city, lurbis condite.

83
85
86

XXVI

Chronological Table.

B.C.

u.c.

468?

286?

458

296

452

S02

450

304

449

805

448

306

445

309

439

315

431

323

420

334

S96

358

391

363

Episode of Ck>riolanus

Dictatorship of L. Quinctius Cincinnatus .
Commission appointed under the Terendlian law to

study aud report upon the laws of the Grecian

stat^.
The decemvirs enter upon their office and prepare ten
. tables of laws. PiTurder of Sicinins Dentatus.
The second decern virate. The laws of the twelve tables

published.
Episode of Appius Claudius and Virginia. Second

secession to the Mons Sacer.
The Canuleian law gives the right of intermarriage
Spurius MaeliuB slain by Servilius Ahala .
Victory of Aulus Poslumius over the ^qui and Volsci
Militarv tribunes appointed instead of consuls .
The fall of Veil and triumph of Camillus .
The exile of Camillus

390

364

884

870

367

387

366

388

Sr,5

389

860

894

357

397

347

407

843

411

841

413

839

415

840

414

838

416

832

422

s:6

428

321

433

316

438

314

440

312

442

311

443

309

445

804

450

802

452

299

455

(3) Period of the Conquest of Italy.

Battle of the AUia

Sack of Rome by the Gauls .

The Republic saved by Camillus

Execution of Manlius Capitol inus

The Licinian rogations become law

L. Sextius the first plebeian consul. The office of

praetor created.
The Curule iEdiles first appointed
Death of Camillus. The year of plague
Self-devotion of Mettus Curtius

[ Gallic wars. Exploit of Manlius Torquatus

Exploit of Valerius Corvus

Beginning of the first Samnite war

Mutinjr of the legions at Capua. The Genucian law

provides that both consuls may be plebeians.
The laws of Publilius Philo passed . . . .

Outbreak of the Latin war

Battle of Vesuvius. Self-devotion of Decius Mus
Invasion of Italy by Alexander, king of Epirus .

The second Samnite war

Publilius Philo the tirst proconsul . . . .
The disaster at the Caudine Forks . . . .
Defeat of the Romans under Fabius at Lautulae.

Great defeat of the Samnites

Campania reduced

Outbreak of war with the Etruscans and Gauls .
Fabius penetrates the Cimiuian forest, and gains the

victonr of the Vadimonian Lake.
The scribe Flavius publishes the forms of legal actions.

The Ogulnian law opens the priestly offices to the

plebeians.
Close of the second Samnite war . Digitized by v^iuiwuc .
pteflnnning of the third Samnite war ....

Chronological Table.

xxvii

u.c.
459

464
471

474

482

264

490

260

494

256
266
250
249

498
499
504
505

241
241
240
235
229
228

513
513
514
519
525
526

226
225
223
222

528
629
531
532

221

533

219

535

218

536

217

587

210

638

214 } 540

212

542

207

547

206

548

204

550

203

551

201

558

Victory over the Gaols at Sentinum. Self-devotion of

the younger Decius Mas.

Clow of the third Samnite war

Second victory, at the Vadimonian Lake, over the

Etruscans and Gauls.
Invasion of Italy by Pyrrhus. Defeat of the Romans

at Heraclea.
Capture of Tarentum. Roman dominion established

over Southern Italy.

(4) Period of the Punic Wars.

Outbreak of the first Punic war. The Romans invade
Sicily

Naval victory of Duilius over the Carthaginians off
Mylae.

Expedition against Africa under Regulus .

Defeat of Regulus

Victory of Caecilius Metellus at Panormus .

Defeat of Claudius in the naval fight off Drepanum.
Blockade of Lilybieum.

Naval victory off the Agates insulaB ....

Close of the first Punic war .....

Sicily constituted the first Roman province

Sardinia and Corsica subdued

lllyrian war. Corey i-a ceded to the Republic .

The Roman Republic inx-ited by the Greeks to
part io the Isthmian frames.

War with the GnuIs of the Cisalpine .

Triumph of iEinilius over the Gauls near Pisa .

Triumph of Flaminius in the Cisalpine

Conquest of the Cisalpine by Claudius Maroellus.
Dedication of the spolia opima.

Hannibal takes command of the Carthaginian army in
Spain.

Conquest of lllyria by the Romans. Saguntum de-
stroyed by Hannibal.

Hannibal's march across the Alps into Ital}% Defeat
of the Romans on the Ticinus and again on the
Trebia.

Defeat of the Romans by Hannibal at the Lake
Trasimenus.

Great disaster to the Roman arms on the field of
Cannie. Hannibal's army reposes at Capua.

Hannibal's Italian allies defeated ....

Hannibal takes Tarentum and threatens Rome. Con-
quest of Syracuse by Marcellui*.

Death of the two Scipios in Spain

Defeat and death of Hasdrubal on the Metaurus

The Carthaginians expelled from Spain

Africa invaded by Publius Cornelius Scipio

Hannibal quits Italy

Great victory of Scipio Africanus over Hannibal at
Zama.

) take

XXVIII

Chronological Table,

u.c.
553

554
657
558
564
564
571

576

584
586
603
605

608

614
621

Submission of Carthage. Close of the second Punic

war.

The Romans invade Macedonia

Battle of CynoBcephalse

The liberation of Greece proclaimed by Elamininus .
Defeat of Antiochus, king of Syria, at Magnesia
Formation of a 'kingdom of Asia' . . . .
Death of Hannibal and Scipio Africanus .

Death of Philopcemen .

Final reduction of Spain to the condition of a Roman

province.
War with Perseus, king of Macedon ....
Battle of Pydna. Fall of the Macedonian monarchy .
Macedonia reduced to a Roman province .
Beginning of the third Punic war. Death of Cato the

Censor.

Sack of Corinth by Mummius

Achaia reduced to a Roman province ....
Destruction of Carthage by Scipio ^milianus. The

province of Africa constituted.
War with the Lusitanians under Viriathus
Destruction of Numantia

621
625

633
641

645
to
647
642
644
646
647

648
650
651

652
653

664

655
663

(5) Period of the Civil Wars.

Tiberius Gracchus, tribune of the people, proposes an
agrarian law, the * lex Sempronia,* and is killed in
a tumult at the expiration of his year of office

Assassination of Scipio iEmilianus " . . .

Revolt of Fregellae put down. Caius Gracchus, tri-
bune of the people, admits the knights to the judi-
cial bench and carries many popular measures.

Caius Gracchus pursued to death by the Optimates .

The Cimbri and Teutones threaten a descent upon
Italy.

They repeatedly defeat the Roman legions in the
province of Gaul.

e Romans interfere in the affairs of Numidia .

Jugurtha summoned to Rome

Campaign of Metellus and Marius in Numidia .

First consulship of Marius. The legions first re-
cruited from the proletarii.

Capture of Ju^pirtha

Second consulship of Marius. Death of Jugurtha .

The election of the chief Pontiff transferred to the
people.

Marius' victory over the Teutons at Aquie Sextin

Fifth consiQship of Marius. His victory over the
Cimbri at Vercellae

Sixth consulship of Marius. Sedition and death of
Satuminus.

Servile war in Sicily

Great effort of the Italians to gain the franchise

Th<

Chronological Table.

XXIX

B.C.

u.c.
668

664

666

667

668

671

672

80
79
78
77
76
75
74

674
676
676
677
678
679
680

73
71
70

681
683
684

687

66
66
64

688
689
690

691

692
693

69
68

695
696

697

66
66

698
699

Assassination of M. Livius Drusus, the popular

tribune.
Outbreak of the Social or Marsic war, which extends

to three campaigns.
Ck)nclusion of the Social war. The franchise conceded

to the Italians.

First consulship .of Sulla

Marius exiled

Cinna and Marius proscribe the party of the Optimates

at Rome.
Sulla defeats Mithridates at Chaeronea
Seventh consulship and death of Marius .
Sulla's victory over Mithridates at Orchomenus

The Capitol destroyed by fire

Italy conquered by Sulla and his veterans . .
Proscription of the Marian party in Rome .

Sulla appointed dictator

Triumph of Pompeius * Magnus ' over the Numidians

Sulla resigns the dictatorship

Death of Sulla

Revolt and death of Lepidus

Revolt of Sertorius in Spain

The powers of the tribunate restored ....
Lucullus, appointed to Cilicia, undertakes the war

against Mithridates.
Outbreak of the gladiators under Spartacus
Spain and Gaul pacified by Pompeius ....
Consulship of Pompeius and Crassu^ ....
Prosecution of Verres by M. Tulliiis Cicero
The Gabinian law confers an extraordinarv com-
mission on Pompeius for three years, to clear the

sei of pirates.
Pompeius takes command in the East . »

Julius Csesar elected aedile

Syria and Phoenicia reduced to Roman provinces.

Settlement of the East.

Death of Mithridates

Consulship of Cicero

The Catihnarian conspiracy detected and suppressed .

Cflesar elected Chief Pontiff

Pnetorship of Caesar. The Clodian process

Caesar departs to his province in Spain. Return of

Pompeius from the East.
Caesar's consulship. The first Triumvirate
Caesar, proconsul in Gaul, defeats the Helvetii and

the Suevi. Cicero exiled

Cicero recalled. Caesar conquers the Belgic tribes.

Extraordinary commission conferred on Pompeius

for the supply of com.
Cajsar's conquests in Aqnitania and Armorica •
Caei^ar's invasion of Germany and Britain .
Caesar's proconsulate extended to a second period of

five years. Second consulship of Ponipei^l^l^^

Crassus.

XXX

Chronological Table,

B.C.

u.c.
700

701

'62

702

703

704

705

706

707

708

709

710

711

712

713

714

Pompeius takes Spain for his province

Crassus departs to his province of Syria .

Caesar again invades iBritain. Revolt of the Belgic

tribes in Gaul.
Disaster to the Roman arms at Carrhse. Death of

Crassus.
Caesar's victory at Alesia over 'the Gauls under Ver-

cingetorix.

Clodius slain in a fray by Milo

Pompeius sole consul

Cicero proconsul in Cilicia. Illness of Pompeius
Csesar completes the subjugation of Gaul .

Caesar's recall demanded

He draws his forces towards the Italian frontier
Caesar crosses the Rubicon, becomes master of Rome

and Italy, conquers Spain, is appointed dictator and

then consul

Pompeius retires into Macedonia

Civil war in Epirus and Tbessaly. Battle of Phar-

salia on August 9.
Flight of Pompeius to Egypt: his d-ath .
Caesar traverses the East and meets Cleopatra in

Egypt.

Caesar defeats Pharnaces at Zela

Returns to Rome in September

Caesar's campaign a^inst the Pompeians in Africa.

Suicide of Cato at Utica.
Caesar's four triumphs : he is appointed dictator for

ten years.
His virtual autocracy established ....
Caesar's campaign in Spain. Final overthrow of the

Pompeians at Munda.
Assassination of Caesar on the Ides of March

Marcus Antonius usurps power

The young Octivius claims his uncle's inheritance,

and gains the legions to his side.
Brutus departs to his province in Greece, and Cassius

to Syria.
Cicero excites the senate against Antonius
The consuls Hirtius and Pansa both slain in battle .
Octavius combines with Antonius, is elected consul,

and becomes master of Rome.
The second Triumvirate: proscriptions. Murder of

Cicero.
Defeat and death of Brutus and Cassius at Philippi.

Partition of the empire.
Antonius rules the East \iith Cleopatra at his

court.
Octavius returns to Rome. Civil war fomented by

Fulvia. The Perusian war.
Antonius and Sextus Pompeius invade Italy, but are

reconciled with Octavius.
Octavius espoases Scribonia ^l^' '^^^ ^.^ ^^ V*^^ l^ .

Chronological Table.

XXXI

U.C.

716

717
718

720

721
722

723

724
726

Octavius repudiates Scribonia and espouses Livia.

War with Sextu^ Pompeius.
Agrippa creates a fleet for Octavins . . . .
Defeat of Sextos Pompeius at Naulochus. Defeat

and disgrace of Lepidus.
Campaign of Antonius in Parthia ....
Antonius triumphs over the Armenian king Arta-

vasdes.
Campaigns of Octavius in Illy ria and Pannonia .
Antonius collects his forces at Epbesus . • « *•
The treason of Antonius betrayed through his testa-
ment
Octavius, elected consul, proclaims war against Egypt,

and carries his forces over to Epirus.
Battle of Actium on September 2. Ignominious

flight of Antonius.
Octavius receives the submission of the East
Suicide of Antonius and Cleopatra ....
Egypt constituted a province .....
Octavius returns to Rome ; is acknowledged the chief

of the commonwealth.
Takes the title of Imperator, and the offices of Princeps

SenatOs and Pontifex Maximus, with the powers

of consul, censor, and tribune of the people.
Octavius takes the name of Augustus. Close of the

period of dvil wars.

(6) Pebiod op the Empire : the Twelve C.£Sars.

726

729
730
733
734

737

739

742

743

746

746
u.c.
767
769

Foundation of the Empire. Triple triumph of Au-
gustus.

Janus closed

Seduction of the Cantabri completed . . ...

Expedition of iElius Gallus to Arabia

Progress of Augustus through his Eastern dominions

The standards of Crassus recovered from the Par-
thians.

Celebration of the Secular games ....

Journey of Augustus to Lugdunum in Gaul. Menac-
ing aspect of the barbarians on the frontiers. Vic-
tories of Tiberius and Drusus in Switzerland and
the Tyrol.

Expedition of Drusus into Germany. Death of
Agrippa.

Second expedition into Gsrmany. The outpost of
Aliso established.

Third expedition of Drasus Germanicus : he reaches
the banks of the Elbe : his death.

Death of Maecenas. Tiberius adopted as his heir by
Augustus.

Successful campaign of Tiberius in Germany .

Campaign against the Marcomanni in the Bohemian

xxxu

Chronological Table.

F.C.

762
767
769

772

782
784
786
790

792
794
796

797

801

807
808
812
814

817

821

822

828

831
832

834

837
849

Disaster to the legions of Varus in the Teutoburg
forest.

Death of Augustus

Accession of Tiberius .

The eagles of Varus recovered by the roung Ger-
manicus.

Death of Germanicus

Death of Livia. Banishment of the elder Agrippina.

Fall and execution of Sejanus

Abortive visit of Tiberius to Rome ....

Death of Tiberius

Accession of Caligula

Expedition of Caligula into Gaul ....

Murder of Caligula. Accession of Claudius . .

Invasion of Britain. Triumph of Claudius over
Caractacus.

Death of Herod Agrippa at Csesarea. Palestine
annexed to the proconsular province of Syria.

Execution of Messalina. Claudius marries the
younger Agrippina.

Death of Claudius. Accession of Nero

Murder of Britannicus

Agrippina put to death by order of her son

Slaughter of the Druids in Anglesey. Revolt of the
Iceni put down. Death of Boadicea.

Great fire of Rome

Persecution of the Christians. Conspiracy against
the emperor. Deaths of Seneca and Lucan. Pro-
scriptions.

Nero lodged in his golden house

Revolt of Galba in Spain and of V index and Virginius
in Gaul.

Death of Nero, June 9

Galba assumes the purple

Piso Licinianus associated with him in the Empire .

Galba and Piso assassinated January 15. Otho ac-
claimed emperor by the praetorians.

Otho overthrown by Caecina and Valens at Bedri-
acum. Yitellius proclaimed emperor in Gaul.

Vespasian proclaimed emperor in Syria on July 1

The Capitol stormed and burnt by the Vitellians

Vitellius put to death on December 21 . . .

Vespasian established in the empire ....

Siege and fall of Jerusalem. Triumph of Titus .

Building of the Colosseum, of the arch of Titus, &c. .

The legions in Britain commanded bv Agricola .

Death of Vespasian. Accession of Titus .

The cities of Herculaneum and Pompeii destroyed by
a great eruption of Vesuvius.

Great fire at Rome

Death of Titus. Accession of Domitian .

Fruitless wars in Dacia and Germany

Agricola recalled by Domitian . . /^ — — -T^ ^

Death of Domitian, the last of the twelve Caesars

Chronological Table.

xxxin

u.c.
849
850
851
854
857
868

869

870
871
884
886

887
891
900
914

919

920

921

928

933
946

(7) The Age of the Antonines.

Accession of Xerva » .

Ulpius Trajaniis associated with Nerva in the empire

Death of Nerva. Accession of Trajan

CJonquest of Dacia commenced

Conquest of Dacia completed

Trajan's expedition to the East. Earthquake at An-
tioch. Martyrdom of Ignatius. Conquest of As-
syria beyond' the Tigris.

Persecution of the Christians

The Komans led by Trajan to the shorvs of the Per-
sian Gulf.

Death of Trajan. Accession of Hadrian ..

Tlie province of Dacia relinquished .....

Hadrian's visit to Alexandria

Revolt of the Jews under Barchochebas put down.
Foundation of i£lia Capitolina on the site of Jeru-
salem.

Return of Hadrian to Rome

Death of Hadrian. Accession of Antoninus Pius

Celebration of tlie secular games

Death of Antoninus. Accession of Marcus Aurelius.
Lucius Yenis associated with him in the empire.

Expedition of Verus against Parthia. Year of pesti-
lence, famine, and earthquakes. liUstrationof the
city. Persecution of the Christians.

Departure of the emperoi-s to confront the barbarfans
on the Danube. I*eace concluded.

Death of Verus » . .

Unceasing warfare on the Danube ....

Kevok of Avidius Cussius in tlie East. Death of the
younger Faustina.

Death of Marcus Aurelius. Accession of Commodus .

Assassination of Commodus .....

PAaB
345
345
346
347
347
348

(8) Seeies of Emperors elev.\ted to Power by the

LEGI02I8.

Pertinax raised to the purple by the proetorians .

Pertinax slain bv the soldiers

The empire sold to the highest bidder, Didius Julianus.
Septimus Severus, chosen by the legions on the Danube,
destroys Julianus and becomes master of Italy.

Septimus Severus defeats Pescennius Kiger, the Oriental
pretender to the empire, in Asia Minor.

Severus defeats Clodius Albinus in Gaul, and is establfshed
as emperor. Proscription of forty senators. The govern-
ment of Rome conducted by the lawyer Papinian. Severus
leads the legions to Seleucia and Ctesiphon in Parthia ;
and ftfterwards into the highlands of Scotland.

Death of Sevenis at York. Accession of Caracalla. M urder
ofGeta.

The franchise of Rome extended to all the free subjects of
the enxnire. -

XXXIV

Chronological Table.

Caracalla assassinated by Macrinus in Syria

Elagabalus, priest of the sun at Km esa, cousin of Caracalla,

raised to the purple by the Syrian legions. Macrinus

slain in battle.
Elagabalus killed in a mutiny of the prietorians. Alex-
ander Severus, his cousin, raised to the purple. Wars

with the Persians and with the Sarmatians and Germans

on the Danube.
Alexander Severus slain in a mutiny. Usurpation of Maxi-

min, a Thracian peasant.
The two Gordians appointed emperors by the senate, but

slain in Africa.
Maximus and Balbinus raised to the purple by the senate .
Maximin slain by his soldiers at Aquileia. ^Maximus and

Balbinus suffer the same fate. Accession of the third

Gordian. War with Persia.
Gordian slain by Philippus the Arabian, who succeeds to

the empire,
u.c. 1001 ^ Celebration of Ihe Secular games

Philippus slain by Decius at Verona

The Msesian frontier threatened by the Goths

Severe persecution of the Christians ...

Decius and his son slain in battle with the Goths. Gallus

ral^d to the purple and assassinated. uEmilianus raised

to the purple and assassinated.
Valerian and his son Gallienus joint emperors. Wars with

the Franks and Goths.
Valerian defeated and captured by Sapor, the Persian king .
Syria defended by Odenathus and Zenobia ....
Gallienus slain in a tumult. Accession of Claudius .
Victory of Claudius over the Goths at Naissus in Msesia
Death of Claudius. Accession of Aurelian ....
Zenobia defeated and paraded at Aurelian*s triumph. The

existing walls of Rome erected.
Aurelian assassinated. Accession of Tacitus
Accession of Probus. Victories over the Germans, the Goths,

and the Persians.

Accession of Carus in Gaul

On the murder of Carus, Diodetian assumes the purple

(9) Revival of Strong Government. Division of the
Empire. Establishment of Christianity.

Diocletian reconstitutes the empire on the basis of an
Oriental monarchy.

First division of the empire. Moximianus appointed Au-
gustus of the West.

Galerius appointed Ca&sar of the East ; Constantius Chlorus
Caesar or the West.

Triumph of Diocletian celebrated at Rome. Abdication of
Diocletian and Maximian.

Death of Constantius. Constantine saluted emperor by the

troops at York. Digitized by VnWU^lC

Death of Galerius and Maidmian

Chronological Table,

XXXV

Four co-ordinate emperors ; Licinius and Maximin in the
£a8t, Constantine and Maxentius in the West

Constantine's victory over Maxentius at the Milvian
bridge.

Christianity tolerated by the edict of Milan. Battle at
Mardia in Thrace between Constantine and Licinius.

Council of Aries. Persecution of the Donatists .

The sanctity of Sunday established by imperial edict .

Constantine overthrows Licinius at Adrianople and becomes
sole emperor.

Council of Nicfea

Foundation of Constantinople

Death of Constantine the Great Accession of Constantius
in the East, of Constans in Italy and Africa, of Constan-
tine in the West

Defeat and death of the younger Constantine at Aquileia .

Constans slain in a mutiny by Magnentius ....

Magnentius defeated at Mursa and afterwards slain ; Con-
stantius established as sole emperor.

Triumphal entry of Constantius into Rome ....

Council of Ariminum. The Arian heresy proclaimed the
state religion.

Death of Constantius. Accession of Julian the Apostate .

Death of Julian In Persia. Accession of Jovian .

Death of Jovian. Accession of Valentinian I. Second
division of the empire. Yalens established as emperor of
the East ; Valentinian as emperor of the West.

Death of Valentinian. Accession of Gratian

Defeat and slaughter of Valens by the Goths at Adrianople.
Theodosius promoted to the empire of the East.

Valentinian 11. associated with Gratian in the empire

Assassination of Gratian. Usurpation of Maxim us in the
Western provinces.

Valentinian IL driven out of Italy by Maximus.

Defeat of Maximus by Theodosius at Sisc>a followed by his
death at Aquileia. Valentinian II. re-established as em-
peror of the West at Milan.

Valentinian II. slain by the Frank Arbogastes. Accession
of Engenius the grammarian.

Eugenius, the champion of Paganism, overthrown by Theo-
dosius in the passes of the Julian Alps.

Death of Theodosius the Great. Third division of the
empire between his two sons, Arcadius, emperor of the
East, and Honorius, emperor of the West.

(10) Pekiod of the Decay and Fall of the Western
Empire.

Greece overmn by the Goths under Alaric ....
Alaric leads the Goths into North Italy, but is driven out

by Stilicho.
The barbarian host of Radagsesus destroyed by Stilicho at

FseSUlae. Digitized by Vj WiJ V IC

Stilicho put to death by order of Honorius • . • .

^xxvi Chronological Table.

A.n.

409

410
428

429
451

454

455
456
457
461
465

467
472

475
476

Rome besieged and held to ransom by Alaric and his Gotlis
Ostia seized by Alaric. The pagan Attalus made emperor

at Borne.
August 24, Rome sacked by the Goths. Death of Alaric .
Death of Honorius. Accession of Valentinian HI. under

the regency of Galla Placidia at Ravenna.
Africa overrun by the Vandals under Genseric .
Gaul invaded by the Huns under Attila. Defeat of the

Huns by Actius at Ch&lons.
Death of Valentinian 1 1 1. Usurpation of Maximus. Rome

sacked by the Vandals under Genseric.
Avitus invited from Gaul to fill the throne ....

Avitus dethroned by Ricimer the Sueve ....

Majorianus assumes the purple ......

Majorianus compelled to abdicate. Severus made emperor .
Death of Severus. Italy ruled for two years by Ricimer,

* the patrician.'
Anthemius raised to the empire . . * . . .
Rome taken a third time by the barbarians. Anthemius

slain, and foUowtd in rapid succession by Olybrius, Gly-
cerins, and Julius Nepos.
Nepos compelled to abdicate by Orestes, *the patrician,*

whose son Romulus Augustulus is raised to the purple.
Romulus Augustulus deposed by the barbarian Odoacer.

£xtinction of the Western Empire.

4C1
402

403

407

408
409

410

410
410
411
411
411

411
4U

412
412

MAPS.

PAOB

1. The Site of Rome — ^Tiib Seven Hillst . • . • 2

2. The Environs op Rome 7

8. Plan of Rome under the Tarquins 16

4. North Italy 65

5. South Italy and Sicily — Greek Colonies underlined 78

6. The Basin of the Mediterranean 98

7. Plan of Carthage 138

8. Asia Minor 168

9. Syria and Armenia 19G

10. Plan of Roman Camp 225

11. The Roman Empire at its greatest extension. Th%

fdtxmait lint of demareatinn between the Eastern and the
Western Empuret it indicated 290

12. Germany .Hmr^nlr* . . 297

• • Digitized by VjiOOQlC * ^*

JS. PiJkN.oF Imperial Rome . 840

SCHOOL
HISTOEY OF EOME.

CHAPTER I.

THI BITB 07 ROME AJSJ> THE GEADTJAL EXTENSION OF
HER BOJONION.

We speak familiarly of the Wstory of Greece, the history of
Home, the histories of Egypt and Assyria in old times, of
England and France in later times. There is, howeyer, a dis-
tinction in the case of Rome which ought not to be lost sight
of. Rome is the name, not of a comitry nor of a nation, but
of a single city. In tracing its history we shall see how the in-
habitants of one small settlement, at first a mere village, gradu-
ally extended their dominion over realms and nations, till their
home became the centre of a world-wide empire. A few other
cities in the course of the world's history have enjoyed a some-
what similar glory. Carthage is an instance in ancient, Venice
another in more modern, times. But none of these can be
said to approach Rome in the greatness and splendour of its
success.

It will be well to begin with a description of the place
itself, the name of which has become more illustrious than that
of any other spot on the earth's surface.

Midway between the extremities of the Italian peninsula,
and fifteen miles from the western coast, which is washed by
the Mediterranean Sea, lies the site of ancient Rome. It
occupies a cluster of low hills, amoDg which the stream of the

The Site of Rome, and the

CH. I.

Tiber has formed for itself a winding cliauuel. These hills,
which came to be distinguished as the ' seven hills of Home,'
do not rise more than 160 feet above the level of the river.
Far the larger part of the ancient city lay on the left or eastern
bank of the Tiber ; but on the right bank rises a long ridge,
which, not long after the foundation of the city, was fortified,
and became an important outwork ; and in later times the
walls of Rome were carried up to the summit of this ridge,
and enclosed a portion of the right bank of the river within

SITE
ROME

the limits of the city. The names of the seven hills on the
left bank were these : the Palatine, the Tarpeian or Oapitoline,
the Aventine, the Ooelian, the Esquiline, the Quirinal, and the
Viminal. We are not to suppose that the seven hills were
known by these names at the time that Rome was founded.
Some of them, indeed, may have been so designated even then,
but others undoubtedly acquired their names at a later period.
The long ridge on the right bank of the Tiber was called the
Janiculum, and its northern extremity, on which the church of
St. Peter now stands, was known even in classical times as the
Mons Vaticanus. Digitized by

The hills of Rome on the left bank of the river form a large

GH. I. Gradual Extension of her Dominion. 3

segment of a circle, rising for the most part imperceptibly from
the plain beyond, but falling more suddenly into liie interior
hollow ; while at either extremity, to the north and south, they
descend abruptly into the bed of the river. These points are
known as the river faces of the Oapitoline and Aventine hills.
Within the hollow thus formed rises one isolated eminence,
with a level summit and precipitous sides, of a figure irregularly
lozenge-shaped, each side measuring a little more or less than
a quarter of a mile. This hill, which formed the germ of the
city and Empire of Rome, and which is familiarly known as
the Palatine, standing about 400 yards from the river bank,
was so screened by the advancing horns of the semicircle of
hiUs around it, and in early days by the dense jungle which
choked the valleys on all sides, as to be hardly distinguishable by
the eyes of a stranger from beyond the lindts of the enclosure.

The Tiber, rushing past these eminences with its volume of
rapid waters, could with difficulty be stemmed by oar or sail,
and thus added materially to the strength of the position.

Such a site, so screened from observation and so little
accessible, was likely to attract the warlike tribes of Central
Italy as a place for permanent settlement.

Though traces may be discovered in the later manners of the
Italians of their original descent from a race of nomads, yet we
find them from the first dawn of history already settled in
fixed abodes. The idea of the city as a centre of local govern-
ment was no less familiar to them than to the Greeks. Their
strongholds were for the most part perched upon hill-tops, and
the cultivators of the little territory around them dwelt gene-
rally within the shelter of their walls. The earliest legends of
Rome indicate the occupation of the Palatine by a colony of
Arcadians, one of the most primitive races of Greece; and
Virgil describes the visit of the pious -^neas to the Arcadian
king Evander, who was reigning there at the close of the Trojan
War. At the time when our history opens, the Palatine
seems to have been imoccupied by any city or fortress. The
shepherd pastured his flocks there, and the wolf made his home
in the caverns at its base. We shall see how it was seized
by an oflfeet of the Latin race, and converted by them into the
stronghold of a warlike and aggressive people. We shall see,
too, how the competition and jealousy of her lawless neigh-
bom's compelled the Romans (to give this people at ouce tlie

4 The Site of ttome, ch. i.

name which history has assigned them) to fight hard for their
dailj liying. Now a nation that exists by fighting must also
secure itself by alliances ; and so it came about that the Romans
early learnt to relax from the exclusiveness of manners and
kinship characteristic of the Italians. Their martial temper
was indeed formed in the school of active warfare ; but they
were nevertheless driven by circumstances or inclined by nature
to sympathise with their allies and dependents, and to admit
fresh infusions of blood together with fresh political ideas.

Such was the good fortune of Home, or such the Providence
whidi guided from the first the destinies of the Imperial city.
First, tihe seven hills were united within the boundary of a
single wall, and in the course of ages towns and villages,
countries and continents, became connected together under one
mighty polity* Bit by bit, and not without jealous resistance,
the franchise of Rome, together with the rights and burthens
of government, was conceded to the dwellers in rival cities and
distant lands, until the Roman dominion grew into a world-
wide empire, and all her subjects were Romans.

Around the Palatine hill this first nucleus of the empire,
from the Apennine chain to the shore of the Mediterranean,
from Mount Soracte in the north to the promontory of Oirceii
in the south, lies the undulating plain now known as the
Oampagna. This constituted the first zone of the Roman
conquests. The peninsula of Italy, with all the spurs and
valleys of the Apennines, and the richer plains which lie be-
tween those mountains and the sea, constitutes the second zone.
Beyond Italy, we see the great basin of the Mediterranean
confined by the ranges of the Alps and the Atlas, and by the
mountains of Spain and Palestine, containing vast tracts of
rich soil and multitudes of diverse peoples. All this varied
portion of the earth's sur&ce, all these numerous peoples, con-
stituted the Roman empire at the height of its power. And
yet the Roman empire embraced other lands and other popu-
lations also. Beyond the Alps lay Gaul, Germany, and Britain ;
beyond the mountains of Greece and Ulyria extended the
regions of Pannonia, Moesia, and Dacia; beyond the Taurus -
and the Libanus were spread the realms of Pontus Armenia,
Parthia, and Arabia, all of which owed allegiance — some for
centuries, others for a few years only — ^to the power which was
enthroned upon the Palatine. '^'^^' '^ ^wu^ic

CH. II. Origin of the Roman People.

OH AFTER n.

ORIGIN OF THE B01CA.X PEOPLB.

When we come to trace the early records of the Roman people
we shall have to note the distinction between history and
legend. It will be well, even before we arrive at that pointy
to glance at the mythology of the various races from whom the
Romans were descended^ and gather some fidnt and shadowy
hints concerning the early conditions of their existence. The
Roman Oampagna, now for the most part a mere pasture ground
for cattle, was undoubtedly in the primitive ages densely
wooded with oak and ilex. The clearance of this forest pro-
ceeded gradually from the time of the first kings, and even as
late as the period of the Empire some traces of it still remained
not far from the city walls. The earliest mythology of Rome
and Italy points to the great change produced by the first in-
troduction of husbandry. Satamus, the most ancient of the
Italian divinities, is the god of sowing. His name marks the
change from the life of the wandering hunter to that of the
settled cultivator ; the close of a period of incessant war&re,
and the beginning of an era of peace and civility. The age of
Saturn is the age of gold. His consort Ops is the represen-
tative of wealth, with which he is always associated. Again, it
b an age of innocence and simplicity, of modesty and honest
labour. It is an «ra of rustic equality, when everyone toiled
for himself and gained his living by the work of his own hands,
not by that of dependents and bondmen. The festival of the
Saturnalia, in which the slaves of a later age were allowed for
a few days all the license of free men, reminded the Romans
of this happy period of equality and freedom.

The scythe which Saturn wields in later mythologies as the
god of 'Dme the destroyer, was in its origin the hook with
which he taught men to prune their vines, to mow their grass,
and to gather in their com. The same implement is also the
symbol of the gods who derive from him Janus and "Vertumnus.
Faunus, the son of Saturn, is represented as the inventor of
mADuring. Pilumnus, another son, is the patron of the art of
pounding conu The advent of the age of cultivation was cele-

. 6 Origin of the Roman People, ch. ii.

brated throughout the peninsula : the people were conscious of
the benefit they derived from it ; and ItsJy became known as
Satumia tellus, the land of Saturn.

We next learn from tradition the names, and little more,
of four distinct races which successively displaced each other
on the soil of Rome. The age of gold was followed by an age
of blood and iron. The earliest real name in Roman history is
that of the Siculi. Dionysius, who compiled the most authentic
account we have of Roman antiquities, tells us that Rome was
first peopled by the Siculi. Other towns, such as Tibur and
AntemuBB, are also reputed to have been founded by them.
They seem to have spread from one end of Italy to the other,
and to have been driven at last, by the pressiu-e of powerful
tribes behind them, into the island of Sicily. To this island
they gave the name which it still retains, and it is from them
probably that the present population actually derive their
origin.

Next to the Siculi came the ligures, and over them the
darkness of antiquity settles with little less obscurity. We
can, however, trace a connection between them and other
known families of the human race. They seem to have been
of the Basque stock, and it has been affirmed that some relics
of their language still survive in Italy in the names of places.
They in their turn had to submit to more powerful tribes, and
shrank at last into one comer of the country which came to be
known as Liguria. In that little strip of land between the
foot of the Alps and the Mediterranean the peculiarities of
their national character still continue to assert themselves.
A very ancient tradition records the existence of a Septimon-
tium, or political combination of seven hills, in a Rome far
earlier than the historical city. This may have been the Rome
of the Ligures. The names of Suburra, Esquilirius, and Oarinse
have been derived from the Basque language.

The next people who claim our attention are the Pelasgians.
This race, we know, were the occupants of Greece before the time
of the Hellenes, and were spread far and wide over the face of
Southern Europe. Their character and language were closely
allied to those of the Greeks. To them we may ascribe the
legends of Hercules on the soil of Italy. Their settlement at
.Rome may have given rise to the story of the Arcadian Evander
having founded a Grecian city on the Palatine,, and a similar

CK. II.

Origin of the Roman People.

cause, perhaps, explains the early belief that so many sites in
Western Italy were first colonised from Greece.

According to the prevailing tradition, the Pelabgians united

with the Aborigines or primitive inhabitants of Italy to over-
throw the dominion of the Siculi and the Ligures. The new
possessors erected massive fortifications, of which many fine

$ Origin of the Roman People, ch. il

specimens may still be traced ; and thej impressed their mark
more deeply upon Italy than any of their predecessors.

Before we come to the point at which our historic narrative
may begin, it will be well to mark, with the map of Central
Italy before us, how critically the site of Rome was placed
with reference to neighbouring powers that might be arrayed
against her. Long a^r the wave of Pelasgian migration had
passed away we find three important nations met together just
at this point. The Tiber, descending almost due south from
the Apennines to the Mediterranean, divided the country of
the Etruscans from that of the Sabines and the Latins. Again,
the Anio (now the Teverone), running westward into the Tiber
three miles from Rome, formed the line of demarcation between
the Sabines and the Latins. These three nations alike were
accustomed to dwell in fortified cities, and this fact alone may
suffice to convince us that they were not aborigines, but con-
querors who had intruded by force of arms into the country.
We find them all alike in possession of the old Pelasgic for-
tresses, but in the Etruscan territory the conquest has been
most complete. There the language of the Pelasgians has been
obliterated ; and their conquerors have not only occupied their
ancient strongholds, but have adopted as their own and closely
copied the Pelasgic style of massive fortification.

Whatever may have been the course of migration which led
the Etruscans to their final settlement in Central Italy, their
early connection with the East seems to be proved by the
character of their institutions. Their religion was a mystery
and a craft, like the Egyptian and other Eastern systems, and
their priests were at the same time the warriors, the pro-
prietors, and the statesmen of the commonwealth. Such was
the Etruscan Lucumo, Mng, priest, and landlord, and as such
he maintained himself, in spite of the advance of the com-
mercial spirit among his people, some of whose cities on the
Tyrrhene coast had become emporia of the traffic of the Medi-
terranean. But in the eighth century before our era the power
of the Etruscans had already sustained a blow. Their territory
north of the Apennines had been wrested from them, and to
the south they had ceased to maintain their advanced posts in
Latium and Campania. They were confined to a confederacy
of twelve cities in Etruria proper, strictly allied, and still by
ffur the strongest and most important community in Italy.

CH. n. Origin of the Roman People, 9

Their religion was of a Tefined cbaiacter. They belieyed in
a Supreme Being, a ProYidence or Fate, who was rather the soiil
of the world itself than a person exterior to it. The lesser
gods were emanations from this being. They believed also in
a future state of rewards and punishments. They imagined
that the will Of the deify and the course of future events might
be ascertained by the observation of omens. Their soothsayers
drew auguries from the flight of birds, from the appearance
of the victims' entrails, from thunder and lightning and the
heavenly meteors.

The religious ideas of the Sabines and Latins, on the other
hand, were less refined, and affected less mystery. Their ob-
jects of worship were innumerable: the husbandman wor-
shipped the genii of the winds and skies, the shepherd those
who protected his flocks from the wild beasts or the murrain,
the warrior those by whom his arrows were wafted to the
mark or the crafty stratagem suggested. Every city had its
guardian diviiiity ; every wood and stream its genius, its
nymph or faun; every family oflfered a special service to
the patron of the house, the deified spirit of its earliest
ancestor. This family worship of the Ijares and Penates
was regarded as of such solemn obligation that, in default
of natural heirs, the practice of adoption was specially en-
joined for its preservation; this usage seems to have been
observed by the Etruscans as religiously as by the Sabines and
Latins.

The religious ideas of these three races united to form those
of the Roman people ; and the threefold origin of the Roman
state was no less strongly marked in its political institutions.
From Etruria came the division into tribes, curies, and cen-
turies ; the array of battle ; the ornaments of the magistracy,
the laticlave, the praetexta, the curule chairs, and the lictors ;
the arrangement of the calendar, and the art and science of
messuration. From Latium were derived the names of praetor,
consul, and dictator ; the fecials or military heralds ; the na*
tional respect fi>r husbandry ; and finally the basis of the Latin
language itself. From SabeUia, the region of the Sabines,
were deduced the names of military weapons, one of which,
the spear or quxriiy gave a second designation to the Roman
people. The Roman title of Imperator seems to have been a
popular application of the Sabine term embratva'. The patri*

lo Early Legends. Foundation of Rome. ck. ni.

ciate and the patroDBhip^ the habit of dwelliDg in cities, and
the municipal governments of these latter were common to all
the nations which surrounded Rome. Such was also the case
with the division into ' gentes/ clans or septs^ and the remark-
able extent of domestic authority accorded to tiie father and
ihe husband.

CHAPTER in.

BAJtLT LEGBITDS. POTHTDATION OP ROME. THE FIRST
FOUR KIN&S.

The myth which connects Hercules with the site of Rome
represents the demigod in combat with the robber Oacus, who
dwelt in a cave beneath the Aventine. The flames vomited by
this monster may perhaps represent the volcanic fires which at
one time certainly underlay the whole of this region. Next to
the legend of Evander^ already noticed, comes that of JBneas, a
fable no doubt of great antiquity, long current among the
Romans, even before it became celebrated to all time through
the poeiry of VirgQ and the noble prose of Livy. It runs as
follows : JEneas, with his band of Trojans, storm-tost by the
hate of Juno, but protected by superior powers and the eternal
destiny of Rome, landed on the coast of Latium. His adver-
saries fell before him ; and having allied himself by marriage
with the royal house of the Laurentes, he reigned over their
territory till he was drowned in the brook Numicius. His son
Ascanius, or lulus, founded Alba Longa on a ridge beneath
the Alban Mount, and there the descendants of the Trojan
hero had held sway for 300 years, till disunion arose between
the royal brothers Numitor and Amulius, and the one was
dispossessed by the other. Rhea Silvia, the daughter of the
vanquished chief, was vowed to chastity as a vestal virgin, but
&he yielded to the embraces of the god Mars, and brought forth
twins, whom their cruel uncle caused to be exposed. They
were wafted, however, by the overflowing Tiber to the foot of
the Palatine, where a she-wolf gave them suck till they were
rescued by Faustulus, the keeper of the royal sheepfold. The
boys, who bore the names of Romulus c<,nd Remus, were
brought up as shepherds, and as they grew to man's estate they

CH. III. The First Four Kings, H

excelled in beauty, strength, and courage. Remus was seized
in a combat with the shepherds of Numitor and brought before
his grandfather, to whom Romulus was also introduced by
Faustulus, and the secret of their birth disclosed. The youths
were encouraged to attack the tyi-ant Amulius, whom they
conquered and slew. Thereupon Numitor surrendered to them
the tract firom the Tiber to the sixth milestone on the road to
Alba. The brothers contested the honour of founding a city
to be held by both in common. Appeal was made to the de-
cision of augury. Remus, stationed on the Aventine, was the
first to observe a flight of six vultures ; but Romulus, from his
post on the Palatine, was straightway favoured with the sight
of twelve, and the people at once acknowledged him victor.
Romulus yoked together a bull and a heifer, both without spot,
and with a brazen ploughshare drew a furrow round the
Palatine. Then he commenced the building of the wall, but
ere it had reached to man's height Remus leapt in derision
over it, and Oeler, the Mend of Romulus, or Romulus himself,
slew him in his ire. The slayer of Remus had
haughtily exclaimed, ' So perish all who dare to city!^u.c. i!
climb these ramparts!* and the words might be Before Christ
accepted as of good omen. Yet the people and their
chief felt the shame and peril they had incurred, and to avert
the anger of the gods Romulus instituted a festival in honour
of his murdered brother.

Though himself, according to the legend, of royal birth, yet
the followers whom Romulus collected round him were a crew
of unknown and diverse origin. He invited the discontented
and the lawless of all the country round to join him, and esta-
blished an asylum for them on the Tarpeian hill. As soon as
he deemed himself strong enough, he demanded wives from the
neighbouring cities for the men he had thus collected; but
such intermarriage was scornfully refused. Then he announced
a festival in honour of the god Oonsus at the foot of the hill he
occupied. The Sabines and the Latins crowded to the enter-
tainment with their wives and daughters, when the Roman
youth rushed upon them, and carried off the women to their
stronghold. This was the famous rape of the Sabines. The
Latins flew to arms, but were quickly defeated. The Sabines,
biding their time and coming with greater force, actually pene-
trated into the Roman fastness. Tarpeia, daughter of the

12 Early Legends. Foundation of Rome, ch. hi.

warder of the citadel, was tempted by the glitter of the Sabines*
bracelets, and offered to open the gates for the gift of what
they bore on their left arms. They entered at her bidding, but
indignantly crushed her to death under the weight of their
bucklers. A battle ensued in the valley between the Tarpeian
and the Palatine. The Sabines prevailed, and were pursuing
the Romans up the ascent of their own hill, when Eomulus
vowed a temple to Jupiter, and the god miraculously stayed the
assailants. The Romans in their turn drove the Sabines down
into the valley. Then it was that the women, whom they had
seized, threw themselves between the combatants and persuaded
them not only to a reconciliation, but to a hearty friendship
and alliance. The temple was duly erected and dedicated to
Jupiter Stator. From age to age it was renewed and restored,
and of late years its site has been laid bare and identified with
tolerable certainty.

After this imion the Palatine continued to be occupied by
the Romans, while the Quirinal was assigned to the Sabines.
The united people adopted in common the names of Romani
and Quirites, the latter name being probably derived from
gutm, the Sabine word for spear. The two kings, Romulus
and Titus Tatius, reigned conjointly. The two peoples met to
transact busmess in the valley between their respective hills,
which spot came to be known as the Forum Romanum.

At the end of five years Tatius was slain in a battle with
the Laurentines, and from this time Romulus reigned alone
over the combined nations. He was a brave and victorious
ruler, and made successful war upon the Etruscan people of
FideniB and Veil. After a prosperous reign of thirty-seven
years the founder of the Roman state was removed suddenly
from the world. During a review in the Campus Martins an
eclipse of the sun took place, accompanied by an awfiil tempest,
which dispersed the people. When they reassembled the king
had disappeared. Whether he was consumed by the lightning,
or, as suggested by the Romans of a later age, murdered under
cover of the darkness, could not be ascertained ; but, in con-
sequence of a vision vouchsafed to one Julius Proculus, he was
believed to have been taken up to heaven in the chariot of his
father Mars, and was thenceforward worshipped by the Romaics
as a protecting deity under the name of Quxrinus.

A year elapsed before the two allied pdoples could agree on

CH. III. The First Four Kings. 1 3

the choice of a successor. It was at last arranged that the
Bomans should elect, but that their choice should be made
from among the Sabines.

The name of Numa Pompilius was received with acclama-
tion. He was a disciple of Pythagoras, and reputed the wisest
and most just of men. Moreover, he was a favourite u.c S9,
of the gods, and under the guidance of the nymph »•<'• 7^^*
Egeria, whom he consulted in her grotto at the foot of the
Ooelian hill, he arranged the rites and ceremonies of the Boman
religion. It was Numa who assigned their functions to the
pontiffii, the augurs, and the fecials. To him was ascribed the
institution of the College of Vestal Virgins, who should be
chosen from the noblest families and have in their holy keeping
the sacred fire, the palladium, and the penates of the city. He
also appointed the Salii to guard the ancile, or shield, which
had fallen from heaven, and to dance, as their name imports, in
honour of Mars their patron. Numa forbade human sacrifices
and the worship of idols or images. He encouraged the arts
of agriculture, upon which the greatness of the Roman people
was founded almost as firmly as upon arms. He also built the
faQU)U8 temple of Janus, the gates of which stood open in time
of war but were closed during peace. During the nine-and-
thirty years of this happy reign the gates of Janus were kept
constantly shut.

The third king of Rome, Tullus Hostilius, was a complete
contrast to the second. He was chosen by the Sabines from
among the Romans. He was devoted throughout u.c. 80,
his career to warlike enterprises, whereby he con- '^•^' ^7*-
solidated and extended the power of the city. He made war
on the people of Alba Longa ; but the chiefs on either side
agreed to avoid a general encounter, for fear lest, weakened by
mutual slaughter, both nations should fall an easy prey to their
common enemy the Etruscans. The quarrel was decided by a
combat of three champions on each side. The Horatii, three
brothers, fought for Rome ; the Ouriatii, also three brothers,
fought for Alba. Two of the Horatii were first slain, but the
three Ouriatii, wounded and weakened, fell successively beneath
the sword of the surviving Roman. A sister of the Horatii
had loved a Ouriatius, and disloyally bewailed the victory of
her countrymen. Horatius slew her in his indignation. The
people, horror-struck, brought him before the king for judgment,

14 Early Legends, Foundation of Rome. ctr. in.

But Tullu» shrank from judging the man whose prowess had
just gained a victory for Rome. Horatius was then brought
before the Duumvirs, the judges who took cognisance of crimes
of parricide, and they condemned him to be scourged and
hanged. Then at last the murderer appealed to the people,
and the people, moved \q mercy by the thought of his 'recent
exploit, absolv^ him from the penalty. The people of Alba
were now subject to the authority of Rome, but Mettus Fufe-
tius, their king, chafed at this subordinate position. He in-
trigued with the people of FidensB and Veii, and secretly
incited them to a fresh war against Rome. Tullus summoned
Mettus and his Albans to aid the Roman state against their
enemies. The crafty Alban appeared with his army in the
field, but took no part in the combat, and awaited the issue of,
the battle. The Romans won a splendid victory, and next day
Tullus wreaked stem justice on tiie traitor Mettus by causing
him to be tied between two chariots and torn asunder. He
next proceeded to destroy the city of Alba, and to transport
the people by force from their ancient habitations to a "new
home within the Roman city. They were compelled to settle
on the Ooelian hill. Some of their nobles were admitted among
the Roman patricians, but the bulk of them were excluded from
the privileges of the governing class, and they formed the
origin of the Roman plebs, of whose struggles with the patri-
cians we shall hear so much as the history proceeds. After a
warlike reign of thirty-two years, Tullus was struck dead by
lightning while sacrificing to Jupiter Elicius.

Ancus Martins, a Sabine, was next elected king. He was
a man of peace, who encouraged agriculture and commerce, and
* u.c. 113, devoted himself to improving the laws and restoring
B.C. 641. ^e religion of Rome. When provoked to war, how-
ever, by the Latin tribes, he knew how to make the Roman
arms respected. He was chiefiy remarkable for his buildings
and fortifications. To him are ascribed the wooden bridge over
the Tiber (Pons Sublicius), the Mamertine prison under the
Tarpeian hill, the port of Ostia at the mouth of the river, and
the first imperfect ramparts on either bank, which foreshadowed
the widespread walls of the imperial city. He reigned fbr
twenty-four years, and died in peace and prosperity.

Digitized by V^iUU^lC

CH, IV. The Three Latter Kings: 1 5

CHAPTER IV.

THE TSBEE LATTER KUTOS.

Unbeb the reign of Ancus a stranger had come to settle m
Rome. He was the son of one Demaratus, a Greek of Oorinth,
who had fled his native country, and established himself at
Tarquinii, in Etruria. He had married an Etruscan woman
named Tanaquil, and finding himself excluded as a foreigner
from any share in the government of his adopted country, at
his wife's suggestion he migrated to Rome. By her skill in
augury she divined that her husband was destined to greatness.
At Rome he adopted the name of Lucius Tarquinius Priscus.
He soon "became a favourite both with the people and with the
king. Ancus employed him in important affairs, and on his
death-bed appointed him the guardian of his sons. On the
death of Ancus, Tarquinius saw his opportunity and seized it.
With the approval of the people, he set aside the sons of Ancus
and seated himself upon the vacant throne. The u.c. ise,
accession of Tarquin to the royal power marks ^•<'* ^^®-
the influence of Etruria upon the growth of the Roman state.
We now for the first time hear of public buildings rising in
massive grandeur to adorn the city. Tarquin first embanked
the river and drained the marshy low grounds which filled
the valleys between the hUlfl of Rome. A large portion of
the solid vaulting of this huge work, known as the Cloaca
Maxima, remains standing to this day. He enclosed the
Forum with porticos, and fortified the city with walls of
hewn stone. He also began the buQding of the Capitol on
the Tarpeian hill, which was thenceforth called the Capito-
line; and in the valley between the Palatine and Aven-
tine hills he enlarged the Circus Maximus, and there gratified
the people with shows and games on a scale of magnificence
hitherto unknown to them. He is reputed to have carried on
successful wars against both his Latin and Sabine neighbours,
and to have employed the captives taken in these wars to labour
on the public works already described. The Romans asserted
that he was the first to celebrate the Roman triumph ; and it
was to Etruria that they ascribed the robe bespangled with

The Three Latter Kings,

CH. IV.

gold, and the chariot drawn by four white horses, in which st
many of their conquering generals afterwards ascended the
Oapitoline hill. The lictors, who, with their fasces, attended on
the chief magistrates, the robes and ornaments of official
persons, the costume of the soldiers in the field, and perhaps
even the toga worn by the citizens at home, were probably
derived from the same source. After a reign of nearly forty
years Tarquinius Piiscus was assassinated by the sons of Ancus

ROME

Martius. But they were not allowed to profit by their deed of
vengeance. Tanaquil closed the gates of the palace, giving out
that the king was wounded but not dead. She then addressed
the people from a window, and produced to them her son-in-
law Servius Tullius as the elect of the senate and the designated
successor of her husband. This device succeeded, and when
u.c. 176, Tarquin's death could no longer be concealed, Servius
B.C. 678. Tullius w«a accepted as king without opposition.
Roman tradition declared of Servius that he was the son of a

CH. IV. The Three Latter Kings, VJ

slave girl born in the palace, wlio had been recommended to
Tarquin by certain prodigies which surrounded his birth and
infancy^ and who had further gained his master's favour by his
character and talents. The Etruscan writers, on the other hand,
claimed Servius as their own countryman, and asserted that his
real name was Mastama, which he changed, on settling in Home,
for the Latin patronymic of Servius Tullius.

We cannot now decide between the truth of these rival
stories. The reign of Servius was chiefly remarkable for the
changes which he introduced into the Roman constitution, of
which further notice will be taken in our next chapter. He
was also, according to tradition, one of the great builders of the
city. He gave to Rome the full extent which it attained
during the whole period of the republic. He enclosed in one
wall the various fortifications and detached buildings on the
seven hills, uniting to the Palatine, the Aventine, the Capito-
line and the Ooelian, the eastern half of the enclosure, which
comprised the Quirinal, the Viminal, and the Esquiline. He
then divided the city into four quarters, and the people into
four tribes corresponding to them. Outside the city he dis-
tributed the Roman territory among twenty-six tribes, and
these again were divided according to the census of their pro-
perty into classes and centuries. The reign of Servius was
generally peaceful ; but the lands he acquired in war he distri-
buted for the most part among the poorer citizens, and thereby
he incurred the enmity of the old nobility, and became the
victim of a conspiracy which they secretly favoured. The
story relates that the two daughters of Servius were married to
Lucius and Aruns, the sons of Tarquinius Priscus. But the pairs
were ill-mated, for the ambitious and cruel Tullia was married
to the gentle Aruns, while the proud Lucius was the husband
of her softer sister. Lucius and Tullia were drawn towards
each other by the similarity of their characters, and before long
they made away with the brother and sister who stood in their
way, and became united in a marriage stained by innocent
blood. Lucius encroached upon the royal authority of his
father-in-law, and boldly usurped the kingly seat in the senate-
house. The aged king called upon the usurper to give place to
him, but Lucius in reply hurled him down the steps of the senate-
house, and as he was making his way home wounded and
bleeding, he was followed and despatched by the adherents of

1 8 The Three Latter Kings, ch. iv.

Tarquin. The heartless Tullia hastened to salute her husband
as king : her father's body lay bleeding in the road before her^
but she stopped not for that. Over the old man's corpse she
ordered her chariot to be driven, and the parricide was stained
with his blood. So great was the horror excited by this action
that the street where it occurred waa ever after known as the
Vicus Sceleratus. The people grieved for the loss of the good
king who had cared for their interests, and from that day
might be dated the long and jealous hostility between the
plebeian and patrician classes.

Lucius Tarquinius Superbus (so he was called on account of
his pride) was a genuine tyrant. While he wielded the power

u.c. 220, he had usurped, his will was the sole law of Rome.

B.C. 634. Surrounded by a body guard, he murdered, pillaged,
and banished according to his royal caprice. He gave his
daughter in marriage to Mamilius, the chief of Tusculum, and,
strengthened by this alliance, he succeeded in making Rome the
mistress of the confederation of forty-seven Latin towns which
had before been considered as allies standing side by side on a
footing of equality. With the help of these subjects he carried
the victorious arms of Rome into the country of the Hemici and
the Vobci, and established Roman outposts in the midst of their
conquered territories. The settlements of Signia and Oirceii,
composed of Roman and Latin citizens transplanted from their
own homes, and endowed with conquered lands, constituted the
first of the long list of colonies with which Rome secured her
conquests and enriched her people. Meanwhile trouble had
arisen in another quarter. Many of those whom Tarquin had
banished from Rome had been kindly received by the people of
Gabii, and for some years an iiTegular warfare had been carried
on between the two cities. Sextus, the youngest son of Tarquin,
was now sent by his father to Gabii. He pretended that he
was seeking re^e for his life, which was threatened by his
father's violence. The Gabians received him with alacrity and
employed him in their service, and so successful was he in the
field, that they trusted him more and more, until at length the
whole power of the city was confided to his hands. Thereupon
he sent secretly to his father to inquire how he should act.
Tarquinius was walking in his garden when the envoy reached
him, and as he listened to his son's message he moved up and
uovfn,' cutting off the heads of all the tallest poppies with his

CH. IV. The Three Latter Kings, 19

sticky but making no reply. The messenger returned and re-
ported what he had seen. Sextus understood the unspoken
hint, cmd before long he found means by divers pretexts to
destroy or driye away all the leading men of the town, which
he then delivered up to his father.

The yoimger Tarquin was, like the elder, a great builder*
His architects came from Etruria : his workmen were captives
taken in the Volscian wars. His chief efforts were devoted to
the completion of the Capitol, which had been begun by Priscus.
This building, which became so famous and so sacred in after
times, was a temple in which the three presiding deities of
Home, Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva, were to be worshipped
under one roof. The name Oapitolium was said to be derived
from the head of one Tolus which was found fresh and bleeding
when the foundations were being dug. Beneath the substruc-
tions of this august edifice were enshrined the prophetic books
which had been sold to the king by the Sibyl of OumsB, and
which were believed to contain predictions of the future des-
tinies of Rome. One day a strange woman appeared before the
king and offered him nine volumes at the price of 300 gold
pieces. The king refused. She departed, and after burning
three of the volumes returned and offered the remaining six at
the same price. Again Tarquin -refused, and again the Sibyl
destroyed three volumes, and once more insisted on the first
price for the three she still offered. Then at last Tarquin
yielded, and the volumes, now trebly precious, were henceforth
preserved as the most sacred treasure of the Roman state.
They were placed in the charge of two officers of high rank.
In times of danger they were solenmly opened and consulted ;
and more than once they became an important instrument of
government in the hands of priests and nobles.

We next hear of a prodigy which greatly alarmed the
tyrant. One day a serpent crawled out from beneath the altar
and devoured the flesh that was upon it. So fearful a portent
demanded an explanation, and Tarquin sent his two sons Titus
and Aruns, togetiier with his nephew Junius Brutus, who from
motives of policy had for some time pretended to be half-witted,
to inquire at the oracle of Delphi the meaning of what had
occurred. After obtaining their answer, they further inquired
on their own account which of them should succeed to their
father^s power. ' He,' replied the priestess, ' who shall first

20 The Three Latter Kings. ch. iv.

salute his mother.' On their return the princes hurried to the
chamber of the women, each of them eager to be the first to
kiss his mother \ but Brutus, who better understood the riddle^
contrived to stumble, and so falling forwards he embraced the
earth the mother of us all.

Tarquin was at this time engaged with his army in besieg-
ing Ardea, the capital of the Rutuli. The young Roman nobles
found the time pass wearily in the monotonous duties of a
blockade. One evening the sons of Tarquin were carousing
with their cousin Tarquinius of GoUatia, when a dispute arose
as to which of their wives at home was the most virtuous. At
the suggestion of Oollatinus they mounted their horses and rode
off through the night to Rome, so as to take the ladies by sur*
prise. The princesses were found idling and amusing them-
selves. Next OoUatia was visited, and there they found the Mr
Lucretia, the wife of Oollatinus, busy among her maidens ply-
ing the loom. The prize of virtue was readily conceded to her,
and the young men rode back to camp. But Sextus, the son of
Tarquin, inflamed by the sight of such beauty and virtue united,
returned under cover of the night and asked for shelter as her
husband's friend. He was hospitably entertained, but in the
dead of night he entered Lucretia's chamber with his drawn
sword, and with mingled threats and entreaties attempted to
dishonour her. Her virtue was staunch against all attempts.
Then he threatened not only to slay her, but also to kill a
slave and lay his body beside hers, and to proclaim that he
had found them so together. Dreading such a terrible disgrace
she yielded, but as soon as Sextus was gone she sent for her
husband Oollatinus and her father Lucretius, and on their
aiTival, accompanied by Brutus and Volumnius, she told them
the whole story, and then stabbed herself to the heart. Brutus,
enraged at the perfidy of Sextus, threw off the mask of sim-
plicity and took the lead at once. Snatching the dagger from
her bleeding breast he swore solemnly to be avenged on the
whole race of Tarquinius. The others followed Ms example.
They bore the body to the Forum and explained to the people
what had happened : the men flew to arms and ratified the
oath of vengeance. At the head of a small party Brutus
nurried to Rome, called the people together, and in burning
sentences Iwd the matter before them. The Romans did not
hesitate. A decree was passed at the instant to dethrone the

CH. If. The Three Latter Kings. 2t

tyrant \jid expel his descendants from the city. Tarqnin has-
tened baeky but finding the gates closed against him, he retired
into Etruiia, where he soon engaged friends to ^.c. 245,
assist him. He then sent envoys to negotiate for ^.o. 609.
the recovery of his property, and they incited the adherents of
Tarquin in the city to plot for his restoration to power. Brutus
and Oollatinus had been already appointed to exercise the
government for a year with the title of consuls, and to them
the plot was betrayed by a slave. The conspirators were all
arrested, and among them were found two of Brutus' own sons.
The liberator in his chair of office sat in judgment on them, and
condenmed them all to death without exception. He himself
presided sternly while his two sons paid for their treason with
their lives. The property of Tarquin was given up to pillage :
the femily was proscribed, and even Oollatinus was forced to
flee. Valerius was chosen consul in his place. But Tarquin
with the Etruscans at his back was now advancing. The
consuls led forth the Koman legions to encounter him. In the
battle which ensued Brutus and Aruns, the son of Tarquin, fell
dead together, each slain by the other. As with the leaders so
with the followers. They fell man for man, and the battle
seemed to be drawn. In the night a voice was heard from the
forest of Arsia proclaiming that Home had lost one man less
than Etruria. This sufficed for the Etruscans, who retired in
dismay. Brutus recived a public funeral, and the matrons of
Home wore mourning in his honour for a year.

Once again the Etruscans attempted under Lars Porsena to
bring back the tyrant Tarquin to Rome. Then it was that
Horatius Oocles held the bridge for a moment single-handed
agidnst the Tuscan host, while the timbers crashed down into
the Tiber behind him under the strokes of the Roman axes.
This too was the occasion when the maiden Oloelia, who had
been given up as a hostage to Porsena, escaped by swimming
the Tiber on horseback. Another story of this time is that of
Mucius Sc8Bvola, who with three hundred other youths had
sworn to take the life of Porsena. Mistaking the king^s secre-
tary for the king, he struck the former, and when captured and
threatened with torture by Are if he did not reveal the whole plot,
he calmly thrust his right hand into the flame on an altar close
by, and suffered it to be burnt without a groan. Porsena
granted him life and liberty, and, filled with admiration at these

M The Three Latter Kings. ch. tv.

deeds of heroism, retiied from Borne and abandoned Taiquin to
his fate.

The discrowned tyrant now took refuge ^th his son-in-law
Mamilins at Tusculum, and with the aid of the Latin people
u.c. 308, made one last effort to recover his kingdom. The
B.0. 496. battle was fought on the shores of the lake RegiUus,
near Alba. In the ciisis of the combat Valerius vowed a temple
to Castor and Pollux. Presently two youths of eminent beauty
and stature were seen fighting on white horses in front of the
Romans and turning the enemy to flight. While the victors
were still engaged in the pursuit, the same unearthly warriors
appeared suddenly in the Forum, washed their arms at the
fountain of Jutuma, announced the victory and straightway
vanished. The leaders on both sides had met in single combat.
The aged Tarquin retired wounded irom the field. His last
surviving son Titus was slain, so was his son-in-law Mamilius
of Tusculum. Among the Romans fell a Valerius, a Hermiuius,
and an iEbutius. Tarquin, though he escaped with his life,
despaired of obtaining any further succour. He retired to
OimisB, and there perished in a miserable old age.

With the death of the second Tarquin our sketch of the
legendary history of the seven kings of Rome comes to an end.
It seems to have been accepted without question by the early
Roman writers, both poets and historians; it was doubtless
known as a familiar tradition among the people ; and it is so
woven into fche whole literature of Rome, that every student of
Roman history is boimd to be familiar with it. And yet it
must be clearly understood that the narrative given above is
not of the nature of trustworthy history, and it may be well •
here to notice some of the grounds for assigning to it only a
legendary value.

(1). The supernatural incidents scattered through the story
are clearly unhistorical. Such are the miraculous births of
Romulus and of Servius Tullius ; the suckling of Romulus and
Remus by the she-wolf; the translation of Romulus to heaven
in the lightning chariot of his father Mars ; the intercourse
between l^ama Pompilius and the nymph Egeria ; Tarquin's
augury of greatness from the strange behaviour of the eagle
when he entered Rome ; the appearance of the divine beings
Oastor and Pollux at the battle of the lake Regillus.

(2). The chronology of the story is not consistent with ex-

CH. IV. The Three Latter Kings. 23

perience or with itself. The period of 240 years is assigned
to the reigns of only seven elective kings, of whom four died
violent deaths, and one was dethroned some years before his
death. This statement gives an average of thirty-four years to
each reign ; whereas in five centuries of the authentic history of
Venice we find that forty doges, who were also elective rulers,
reigned on an average only twelve and a half years each. The
inconsistencies of the chronology in the family history of the
Tarqmns and Servius Tullius are easily detected.

(3). As often happens in legendary stories, we find the
same series of events related twice over with slight modifica-
tions and ascribed to different persons. In the case before us
the story of Tullus Hostilius corresponds in many of its details
to that of Romulus, while Ancus Martius is the exact counter-
part of Numa. The forty-three years of profound peace ascribed
to Numa's reign are quite incredible when compared with the
warlike careers of his predecessor and successor.

(4). Many of the incidents are palpably of Greek origin ;
such are the stories of the craft used by Sextus Tarquinius
towards the Gabians, and of the message sent to him in dumb
show by his father, the originals of both of which may be
found in the pages of Herodotus. The visit of Brutus and the
two sons of Tarquin to the oracle of Delphi was doubtless in-
vented by some Greek writer of later times.

(6). The whole account of the Regifugium and of the war
with the Etruscans under Porsena h&primdfacie incredible, and
a manifest perversion of the facts to flatter the vanity of the
Roman people. Circumstances are recorded by Pliny and other
Roman writers which make it certain that Rome was at this very
time so completely subjugated by the Etruscans that the use of
iron, except for agricultural purposes, was forbidden to its
inhabitants.

CHAPTER V.

THE COWSTITtmON OF THE ROMAN COMMONWEALTH TJNDBR THE
EABLY KINGS, UNDER SBRVIUS TULLIUS, UNDER THE REPUBLIC.

The time has now come to take a general survey of the political
system under which Rome was governed during the period of
Ihe kings, together with the changes said to have been Intro-

24 The Constitution of ch. v.

duced by Servius Tullius. This will enable us better to under-
stand the position of affairs when the republic canoLe to be the
established order of the state.

It has been already pointed out that there were three
distinct national elements which united to form the body of the
Koman people, viz., a Latin element, a Sabine and an Etruscan.
Corresponding with this threefold ori^, we find that in the
time of Romulus the Eomans were divided into three tribes,
the Ramnes, the Tatienses or Titles, and the Luceres. The
last-named tribe was for a long time regarded as of inferior
dignity to the two others, and its chiefs were distinguished as
fixtrei minorum gentium. The Ramnes, or first followers of
Romulus, took precedence of both the other tribes. The persons
who composed these three tribes may be looked upon as the
foimders of the Roman state. They were also the founders of
the great Roman fiamilies. They constituted, in the first instance^
when Rome was yet a small city, the whole body of Roman
citizens. As such they were jealous of their civic rights and
did not lightly confer them upon strangers, but were careful to
pass on their exclusive privileges to their own children. As
time went on, extensive tracts of country, many important
cities, and whole tribes of neighbouring people became subject
to the authority of Rome, and a large population was naturally
attracted to the capital. These new comers however were not
generally admitted to the rights of citizens, but occupied an
inferior position ; and thus the families descended from the
original Romans were separated off into a distinct class. Poli-
tical power, being concentrated in their hands, became to them
a 8oiu*ce of superior wealth. They, and they alone, formed the
Popvlus Itomanus. They were also spoken of as Patres or
Patricii. In a word, they constituted a hereditary nobility.
There existed, however, an important link between these noble
families and the less favoured classes. The chief of each
Patrician gens could take under his protection any outsiders
whom he chose, and admit them to some of the privileges of
his house. The persons so received were called his clients, and
they adopted his Gentile or femUy name. They followed him
to the wars like the vassals of some feudal prince in the middle
ages. In peace they formed a petty court around him. They
were expected to render him obedience and money service when
he needed it, as for instance when he had a fine to pay, or
wanted to portion his daughters. He was called their Patron

CH. V. the Roman Commonwealth. 25

(patronus). It was his duty to protect them from oppression,
to relieve them in poyerty, to expound the law to them, and
to plead for them personaUy as an adyocate whenever they were
brought into the law courts. These clients of the great houses
formed a numerous body intermediate in position between the
patricians and the conunon people.^ They enjoyed an inferior
Mnd of citizenship, but had no votes in the patrician assemblies.

Each of the three tribes was divided into ten curies, and
each cury into ten gentes or houses. Thus there were thirty
curies and three hundred gentes. From time to time this whole
body of citizens was convened in an assembly or comitia,
entitled the * Comitia Ouriata.' The votes were given by curies,
but the vote of each cury was determined by the independent
sufirages of the citizens who composed it. Ilie business trans-
acted consisted of the election of magistrates, including the
king himself; the declaration of war, and ratification of peace ;
appeals in criminal cases involving the life or death of a Roman
citizen ; and the passing of new laws. It must be observed,
however, that this comitia had no power to propose any
change in the law; the curies could only vote aye or no
upon the questions submitted to them by the king or his repre-
sentative. The assembly of the curies was held within the city,
and the transaction of business was always preceded by a solemn
religious service. It was only on rare occasions that this
comitia was called into action.

The ordinary afi&irs of the state were entrusted to the
management of a more select body under the illustrious title of
the senate. The name indicates that this was originally a
council of elders, who aided the king with their advice and
experience. Such a council generally existed in all the petty
states of ancient Greece and Italy. In Borne it was chosen
in early times fix)m among the curies, and therefore represented
the patrician class only. The king was chosen by the senators
and reconomended by them to the curies for election. He in
his turn presided over their meetings and selected those who
should fill vacant places. The senate controlled the finances,
imposed taxes, and voted the money required tor pulli? pur-
poses. The senate also discussed all changes in the law, and
managed the foreign affiiirs of the state.

The number of senators corresponded closely tontfie" number

1 From what sources the clients were originally drawn is a que9tion
not yet conclusively answered.

26 The Constitution of ch. v.

of patrician houses, being at rirst 100, then, after the incor-
poration of the Titienses or Sabines, 200, and at last, when the
three original tribes had been united, 300. A body guard of
armed and mounted nobles called knights (equites) or celeres
was appointed to attend on the person of the king. Their
number was the same as that of the senators, viz. 300, and they
ranked next in dignity to them. Throughout the regal and
republican periods of Roman history, extending over 700 years,
and beyond this, late on in imperial times, we shall constantly
meet with these two important orders of senators and knights
side by side, claiming exclusive rights to fill some of the highest
offices of state. During the republican period the senators could
no longer be appointed by the king, for there was none, and tlie
custom grew up for all those who had been elected to public
office as consuls, praetors, censors, sediles or quaestors, and had
passed their year of office, to have seats allowed them in the
senate house, where they might speak, but could not vote ; and
from this body of citizens it was the duty of the censor to call
up all who were not unworthy to fill the vacancies in the senate
as they might occur. Under Tarquinius Priscus a new group
of patrician houses or gentes was added to each of the three
ancient tribes, so that each tribe thenceforth consisted of two
divisions, and the patrician families were arranged in six
different groups or divisions.

Thus far we have spoken only of those citizens who traced
their origin to the first founders of Rome, or whose families had
been raised by royal favour to a position of equality with them.

We must now take notice of the fact that around this central
cluster of families a large population soon began to collect.
Some were captives in war, whom the Roman armies had
removed from their own homes and compelled to settle within
the precincts, or at least within the territory, of Rome ; others
were strangers who took up their abode there voluntarily for pur-
poses of trade. They were tolerated and made use of as soldiers
in time of war, but had no share in the government ; they
were not allowed to marry into the patrician families, or even
to traffic with them ; nor did they obtain any share of the
lands conquered in war. These people were classed together
under the general name of plebs, as the patricians were under
that of poptUus. They dwelt mainly in the valleys which
separated the hills of Rome one from another, till Ancus Martius
assigned the Aventine hill specially to them. Many were

CH. Y. the Roman Commonwealth, 27

scattered over the surroimding country as farm-bailifiB and
labourers in the employ of the rich patrician landowners. In
the course of time many of these plebeians began to amass riches.
They were thrifty in trade ; they lent money on usury ; they
made a profit by farming the estates of the patricians. As the
plebeian class rose in numbers and importance, the patrician,
like every exclusive aristocracy, had a tendency to decay, and
many noble flEunilies died out and disappeared. Under these
altered circumstances there arose a need for some re-arrangement
of the relations between the one class and the other, and the
interest of the civil history of the republic turns mainly upon
the continual struggled by which the plebeians raised them-
selves to the same level of dignity and politicnl power with their
haughty rivals. We have seen that Tarquinius Priscus did
ennoble some plebeian families, and thus recruited the strength
of the patricians. But after him came Servius Tullius, who, as
a foreigner by birth, seems to have had little sympathy with
the ezclusiveness of the Roman patriciate, and who, as a wise
statesman, saw that the time was come when the Roman state
required a broader basis ; accordingly he made an effort to weld
together the two classes into one compact body of citizens.
For this purpose he made use of two instruments, the tribe» and
the centuries ; that is to say, he reorganised first the civil and
next the military power of the nation.

First as to the tribes. He divided the whole Roman terri-
tory into thirty districts, four within the city, and twenty-six
outside. The people, without distinction of birth or wealth, he
divided into thirty corresponding tribes. Each tribe had its
chief officer, the tribunuSf who kept the list of its families,
and levied the tax * trUndum ' payable by each. Every tribe
had also its own judges and police, its own tribunals, its own
temples. From time to time the people were convened to an
assembly of the tribes called the comitia tributa; but these as-
semblies did not at first deal with important afiairs of state.
They might rather be likened to our parish vestries. They
elected their own tribal officers, taxed themselves for such local
purposes as roads and police, and made by-laws for their own
self-government. In course of time, however, as the plebeians
rose in importance, the comitia tributa also acquired more
weight and power, and began to deal with state affairs, while
their chief officers, the tribunes of the plebs, came to exercise
irraftt political influence and authority.

28 The Constitution of ch» v*

But the most effective scheme devised by Servius for uniting
the Roman people into one body was the military constitution
of the centuries. Every five years a census v^as taken, both of
the people and of their property. This census was accompanied
by religious rites for the purification of the city, and the period
of five years was called a lustrum and used as a mode of
reckoning the lapse of time. After each census the people were
divided into six classes, according to their wealth, and these
classes were again subdivided into centuries. The people, thus
classified, were convened in a public assembly called the comitia
centuriata. They met outside the city In the Oampus Martins,
because they met as a militia under arms. The business trans-
acted was the same as had previously belonged to the comitia
curiata. The classification of this popular army was arranged
as follows.

First came the cavalry, consisting of eighteen centuries of
equites or knights. Six of these were provided by the six
divisions of the three original tribes, and to them Servius added
twelve new centuries of the richest plebeian femilies. Next
came the infantry, divided as follows : —

Cawdry =18

Infantry : —

Property. Centuries.

/ 40 of old men \
Clasal. . . 100.000as8esandupw(ls ''^''f/"^^'^^ =82

^ and artillerists ^
Class II. . From 75,000 asses to 100,000 | 1 of old men ]. ^ go

asses. ^ 10 of yomig men >

Class III. . From 60,000 asses to 76,000 f 10 of old men ) ^ gn

asses. I 10 of young men >

Class IV. . From 25,000 asses to 50,000 , 10 of old men ) ^ go

asses. I 10 of young men >

Class V. . From 12,500 asses to 25,000 / 16 of old men

asses. 15 of young men

Accensi or reserved troops -l 1 century
Bandsmen (comicines and

tubicines). ^ 2 centuries

Class VI. . Proletarii — persons whose /

property was too small

to be reckoned, and there- -j 1 century }■ = 1

fore were only polled

(jcapite censi), ^

Total ... =194

Note. — The above table follows Livy's account of the centunes.
Cicero and Dionysius of Halicamassus make no mention of the one
century of accensi, and therefore reckon one centurj' less, or 193 in all.

cH, V, the Roman Commonwealth, 29

It will be seen at once how much power accrued by this
system to the wealthier citizens, for as the votes were ^ven by
centuries, and the first class, together with the knights, con-
tained more centuries than all the others put together, it follows
that whenever the knights and the richest plebeians combined
their votes, the question was at once settled without calling
for the suffi-ages of the poorer citizens at all. During the
sitting of the comitia centuriata, a red flag was hoisted on the
Janiculum^ guarded by a picket of roldiers. Origiaally the
striking of this military ensign denoted the approach of a
hostile Etruscan force, and the comitia was instantly broken up
to allow the citizen soldiers to rush to the defence of their
ramparts. Subsequently the signal might be given on the
demand of any tribune who should declare the omens to be
adverse, as at the soimd of thunder, or even the falling of rain.
In any case, on the appearance of the signal, the business of
the assembly was at once suspended. The decisions of the
centuries were still supposed to require confirmation by the
comitia curiata, which consisted of patricians only ; but this
nominal control did not long continue effective.

A more important instrument of power was, however, long
maintained by the patricians in their own hands, viz. the entire
regulation of the national religion. The Pontifex Maximus,
who was aided by a college of minor pontiffs, at first four, after-
wards fifteen in number, was the high priest of the Koman
religion. He was not the priest of any special divinity, but it
was his business to see that the worship of all the various
deities recognised at Rome was duly observed both in public
and private. He appointed the flamens or priests of individual
gods, of which the three principal were those of Jupiter, Mars,
and Quirinus. He also appointed and controlled the vestal
virgins who guarded the fire sacred to Vesta, and the augurs
who watched the flight of birds and inquired the divine will
from the entrails of victims. The pontifex had moreover a
criminal jurisdiction in certain cases, and he regulated the
calendar by the intercalation of an extra month, according to
the imperfect system ascribed to Numa. As no public assembly
could be held except on certain lawful days, and no business
could be transacted unless the auguries were declared favour-
able, it is evident that the patrician pontije^^ j^|ifj^Y^^^ with
no little power.

30 The Constitution of eft. v.

Among the insigDia of soyereignty imported into Home from
Etruria by the Tarquins was the sella curulis or curule chair.
It was a stool of simple form supported by two pairs of curved
legs, the members of each pair crossing in the centre. It
was adorned with ivory, and it is possible that the shape of
the legs may have been derived from that of an elephant's
tusk. This form of chair was preserved throughout the re-
publican period, and assigned as a throne of office to the chief
magistrates^ who were called in consequence ewnde magis-
trates. Their titles and functions shall now be described in
order.

1. The constds, two in number, who shared the power
formerly held by the kings, but resigned it at the end of a year
to their elected successors. To avoid a conflict of authority,
the two consuls generally exercised supreme power month by
month in turn, and in time of war it was usual for one to
command in the field while the other ruled over the city at
home. The consul was the general-in-chief of the army. He
was also the chief judge in the law courts. He presided in the
senate and in the other public assemblies, either in person or
by deputy. He conducted negotiations with foreign states,
and expended the public moneys with the consent of the senate.
He was, in fSsujt, the chief executive officer, who carried out
what had been determined by the republican assemblies. Each
consul was attended by twelve lictors or guards, armed with
fasces, consisting of a bundle of rods with an axe inserted
in their midst. The word ' consul ' has been derived by
the analogy of * exul ' and * prsBSul ' from con and salio, indi-
cating that they marched together with joint power and equal
dignity.

2. The prator. This title is derived from pree-ire, to go
before. It was the old Latian term for a commander of an
army, and was so used in Rome in very early times. The term
'prsBtorium' derived from it never ceased to designate the
'general's tent' or ^head-quarters' of a Roman camp. In the
Roman republic, however, the conml was the general of the
army and the titie of prator lost its old signification. In the
year b.c. 366 a new office was created, to designate which this
title was revived. The praetor's duties were very similar to
those of the consul, but were exercised under the control and
authority of the higher magistrate. The praetor was attended

CH. V. the Roman Commonwealth. 3 1

by only six lictors, and in later times tbeir number was reduced
to two. In the absence or in case of the death of the consul
a praetor might command a Homan army. In the city his
especial function was the administration of justice. In the
year B.C. 246 a second praetor was created to settle disputes
between foreigners, or between foreigners and citizens. In
later times additional praetors were sometimes appointed to
gOYem newly conquered proviaces.

3. The censors, two in number. Originally, the duty of these
officers was to keep the register of the citizens and of their
property. The function of selecting fit persons to fill vacancies
in the senate, and also of elevating plebeian notables to the
rank of knights, next passed into their hands. Out of this
power grew a general authority to inquire into the conduct of
all citizens both in public and private life. Not only criminal
actions, but such failings as extravagance, harsh conduct to
relatives, remaining too long unmarried, and the like, were
liable to be noted by the censors. They could punish persons
of position by erasing their names from the album of the senate
or of the equestrian order ; while citizens of a humbler rank
might be posted, and their misdeeds subjected to a public
reprimand or censure. In later times the finances of the state
feU much under the control of the censors.

4. The aedUes were at first plebeian officers, the conservators of
the public buildings, the temples, the roads, the sewers, and the
aqueducts. They also superintended the markets, and distri-
buted the doles of cheap com which at a later period were
made to the common people at the public expense. In the
year B.C. 366, ir.c. 389, two patrician aediles were appointed,
with the title ./EdUes CundeSy in addition to those already
existing. They exercised an authority very similar to that of
their plebeian colleagues, but it was their especial business to
conduct the public games and theatrical performances, and
on ^hese objects they often lavished vast sums from their
private resources. This was done to win the favour of the
populace, and to secure their election to the higher offices of
state.

6. The qucegtors were in the first instance the accoimtants
and secretaries of the treasury of the republic. They collected
the revenue, and made the payments out of the public funds.
They also registered the laws passed by the senate; it wa9

32 Constitution of Roman Commonwealth, ch. v.

their business to entertain enyoys from foreign states, and they
had the charge of all public funerals and public monuments.
These quaestors, who were of curule dignity, must be dis-
tinguished from the military quaestors, who filled the place of
adjutants or paymasters to ^e legions.

Such were the magistrates by whom the commonwealth was
ordinarily ruled, and such the gradation of their offices, the
' course of honours ' through which a candidate for the highest
distinctions must pass to attain the title of 'nobilis,' and
ennoble botb bimself and his family. If the authority of the
consul was hardly less extensive than that of the king whom
he replaced and who was regarded as a tyrant or despot, it
was restricted to the term of a single year, and was shared by
him with a colleague. But in seasons of great emergency aris*
ing either from the stress of foreign war or popular sedition,
the whole power of the state was flung boldly into the hands
of a single ruler, restricted only by the limitation of his office
within the short period of six months.

6. The dictator^ as he was called, was nominated by one of
the consuls, who must be authorised so to do by a decree of the
senate. During his brief term of office he combined the power
of both the consuls. To his person the wbole of the twenty-
four consular lictors were attached. He himself appointed
a second in command with the title of ' Master of the horse '
{Magister equitum). Many were the occasions when the patri-
cian class, acting tiirough the senate and the consuls, used this
power of creating a dictator as a check upon the plebeians, when
their political agitation became too menacing.

0HA1>TEK VI.

CRUEL OPPRESSION OP THE PLBBBrAKTS. THEIR FIRST EFFORT
TO OBTAIN JUSTICE.

The dates of the events hitherto recorded from the building
of Rome to the Regifugium, or expulsion of the kings, are
not really known with any certainty. But more confidence
may be placed in the date assigned to the Kegifugimn,

cH. VI. Cruel Oppression of the Plebeians. 33

because &om that period the Eomans began to record the lapse
of time by driving a nail every year into the temple of Minerva,
ftnd also by carefully preserving a list of the sue- xj.o. 246,
cessive consuls. We shall henceforth be guided in ^•<'- ^^'
our chronology by the Roman writer Varro, and aided by the
modem investigations of Fynes Clinton and Fischer.

On the expulsion of their king, the Romans elected L.
Junius Brutus and L. Tarquinius OoUatinus to be the two first
consuls. They are said to have revived the constitution of
Servius Tullius, which had been overthrown during the tyranny ^
of Tarquin. They restored to the plebeians their own judges,
and gave them a right of appeal to the comitia tributa. They
distributed among them many lots of public land, and called
up 100 of them to the senate. It was not long before Ool-
latinus was driven into exile as a near relative of Tarquin.
Valerius replaced him. Then Brutus, within the year of his
consulate, fell in battle against the Etruscans. Valerius re-
mained alone in power, and the people, noticing that he was
building a mansion for himself on one of the hills, murmured
that he was aiming at the kingly power. Forthwith he had
the rising walls of his house destroyed, and contented himself
with a modest cabin on the slope of the hill. He also carried
a decree by which royal rule was prohibited, and the very
names of king and kingdom made accursed for ever in Rome.
His patriotism was rewarded by the splendid surname of
Poplicola.

During the ensuing years there followed a continual suc-
cession of wars against Etruscan, Sabine, and Latin enemies,
and, according to some accounts, Rome was for a time subdued
and disarmed by Porsena. At any rate, there is no doubt that
she suffered the loss of all her territory on the right bank of
the Tiber, and this loss seriously crippled the resources both of
the state and of some of the citizens. In the year B.C. 601 the
first dictator, Spurius Lartius, was appointed, and in b.c. 496
the same ofiice was revived in the person of Aulus Postumius,
who led the Roman army to victory in the great battle of
Lake Regillus.

Up to this time the pressure of foreign war had held the
two great classes of the Roman people together. But this
union did not long endure. In spite of the favour shown to
the plebeians, first by Servius and then by Brutus and Valerius,

34 Cruel Oppression of the Plebeians. ch. vi.

the patricians regaided them with intense jealousy, and aimed
at reducing them to a condition of abject servitude. This they
tried to effect by the operation of the Roman law of debt. It
has been explained that when any territory was conquered in
war it was treated as the property of the state, and the pa-
tricians contrived to have it granted to them at a nominal rent,
so that they really enjoyed it as their own possession. Of
course they extracted a large income from this source. The
booty taken in war was also paid into the treasury of the
patricians. They also received fees for various services from
their numerous clients, and they kept all profitable trade in
their own hands. In this way the patricians amassed large
sums of money. The plebeians, on tibe other hand, were for
the most part poor struggling husbandmen, heavily taxed, ex-
posed to severe losses by the incursion of hostile armies, and
often in want of ready money. The patricians were ready
enough to lend it to them, but exacted for its use a high rate
of interest. Meanwhile, in cases of debt the law gave every
advantage to the lender as against the borrower. It entitled
him to seize the estate of his debtor to the last ftirthing, to
lock up the bankrupt in prison, or sell him into slavery with
all his family ; and where the creditors were numerous, they
were authorised, in default of payment, to cut their debtor's
body in pieces and share it between them. These laws applied
equally to all Bomans, but the plebeians were the chief suf-
ferers by them. They groaned under the burden of debt and
the harshness of their creditors, and but little was wanting to
rouse them to fury against their oppressors. One day during
u.c. 2«9, the consulship of Appius Claudius and P. Servilius
B.C. 496. an old man rushed into the Forum, clothed in rags
and bound with fetters, and appealed to the people for pro-
tection. He was recognised as one of the bravest centurions
in the Roman army. On his breast he bore the scars of
honourable wounds received in battle. On his back were seen
the marks of recent stripes. This incident so inflamed the
people that a tumult arose. At the same moment it was an-
nounced that the Volscians were in arms. The consuls sum-
moned the people to enlist. The plebs refused, and defied
the law. The consuls promised that their wrongs should be
redressed, and even offered release from their debts to all who
would serve. The ranks wei*e soon filled. The enemy was

CH. VI. Secession to *Mons Sacer! 35

defeated. Servilius led home his yictorious army; but the
senate, with Appius at their head, now refused to fulfil their
bargain, and ordered the debtors back to their prisons. The
people, however, resisted this measure by force. In the fol-
lowing year their discontent became so menacing, that the
senate appointed as dictator to quell the sedition Valerius
Volesus. He dealt wisely and mildly with the insurgents, and
earned their goodwill ; but his eiforts at conciliation failed^ and
at length the plebeians seceded in a body from the u.c. 260,
city to a rising ground three miles distant, which b.c.494.
was afterwards called the ' Mons Sacer,' or Sacred Hill. A
civil war seemed imminent ; but both parties shrank from such
a suicidal course. The patricians then sent the ten first of the
senate to treat with lie seceders. One of the mediators,
Menenius Agrippa by name, addressed to them the famous
fable of the belly and the members. It ran as follows: —
' There was a time when all the members rebelled against the
belly. " It is not just," said they, " that we should labour as
we do in our several ways, and all for the benefit of this idle,
good-for-nothing belly, which lies at its ease in the middle,
and does nothing but enjoy itself." They therefore agreed to-
gether to do no more work for the belly. The hands should
refuse to carry any food to the mouth ; the mouth should not
receive any ; the teeth should not chew any. Thus they would
starve the belly into a greater activity. But even as they did
so they found themselves enfeebled and emaciated, and they
then perceived that it was to the belly they owed the support
of their own life, and that if it received much, it also dis-
tributed to all the other members the nourishment which they
required.' This fable was readily applied by his hearers to
the schism between themselves and the patricians, and they
acknowledged that the two classes of citizens were dependent
one upon the other, and that neither could do without the
other. Peace was made, and this time the senate acted with
good fidth : the imprisoned debtors were set free, and the in-
solvent released from their obligations.

By far the most important result of this settlement was
that the plebs acquired the right of appointing officers of their
own, whose power should be an effectual check on that of the
patrician magistrates.

The tribunes of the plebs were henceforth declared inr

36 Tribunes of the People. ch. vi.

Tiolable in their persons. To slay them was a sacrilege. Any
who should dare to do so became accursed and an outlaw : his
life might be taken by any man, and his property was confis-
cated. The patrician pontiffs still retained the power of
hindering the action of the public assemblies with their ritual
and augural punctilios, but henceforth the tribunes of the plebs
might in their turn put a veto on the decrees of -the senate
itself.

The institution of the tribunes affected the whole subse-
quent history of Eome. First, it kept the consuls in check ;
in time it acquired for the plebs a share in all the privileges of
the populus ; and at length it effected a fusion of the rival
Orders of the early commonwealth. When, after the great
conquests of Rome, the struggle of classes lay no longer be-
tween patricians and plebeians, the power of the tribunes still
supported the cause of the people, and secured its final triumph
in the establishment of the empire. The emperors themselves
assiuned the name and office of tribunes, and claimed- to be' the
protectors of popular rights.

Truly the secession to the Mons Sacer was ' not a revolt,
but a revolution.' It was fitting that so important an event
should be celebrated with special solemnities. Vows were
made, sacrifices were offered, and an altar "was erected to Jove
the Thunderer, under which name the best and chiefest of the
gods was venerated. The compact between the two orders was
invested with peculiar sanctity under the title of the Leges
Sacratse.

OHAPTER Vn.

AQBARIAN AGITATION. HEROISM OF THE PATRICIANS.

Encouraged by the guarantees which they had won for their
personal liberty, the plebeians now began to a^tate for the
redress of another crying grievance. This was the monopoly
of land in the hands of the patrician class. Land was in those
days the chief source of wealth, and the plebeians complained
that they were unjustly excluded from their fair share of it.
In the early days of Rome each of the citiEens had a space of
two jugera (about an acre and a* half) assigned to him as his

CH. vii. Agrarian Agitation, %f

own property. This was called quiritary land^ and passed from
father to son by inheritance. The remainder of the Roman
territory (ager Komanns) was supposed to be the property of
the state. A portion of this was pasture, which was treated
as a common grazing ground for the cattle of the citizens, and
for this privilege they paid so much a head upon their cattle to
the public treasury. The other portion was arable land^ and
this was divided among the patricians, who held it, not as their
own property, but as tenants of the state, and they were bound
to pay to the treasury an annual rent of one-tenth of the
produce in the case of com land^ and two-tenths in the case of
vineyards and olive gardens.

As the plebeian population increased around them, and
with it the extent and value of the public land grew greater,
the patricians jealously excluded the plebeian class from all
share in the advantages which they themselves enjoyed. They
would 'not even allow them to graze their cattle on the common
pastures; and, further, they neglected to pay the iinnual
tithe and the grazing money which was due from them to the
treasury. Thus, as the public domain was enlarged by war,
the patricians grew more and more wealthy, while at the same
time they evaded the . taxation which the law imposed upon
them. Meanwhile the plebeians, who supplied the in&ntry of
the army by which these valuable conquests were won, re-
ceived no share of the spoils, and were heavily loaded with
taxation. No wonder that they chafed at such injustice.
There had indeed been times when a more generous treatment
had been accorded to them. Servius Tullius had favoui-ed the
plebeians, and assigned much of the public land to them ; and
after the expulsion of the Tarquins, Brutus had pursued the
same just policy. But it was not long before the patricians
reversed this order of things, and even succeeded in ousting
the plebeians from the small share of public land in their
occupation.

In the year B.C. 493, the year of the first appointment of
tribunes, Spurius Oassius was consul. He listened to the com-
plaints of the plebeians, perceived their justice, and assmned
the part of a champion of popular rights. He encountered
great opposition^ but having been elected consul a second and
a third time, he at length, in B.C. 486, brought the matter to a
crisis. It had always been held that the public lands occupied

$8 Agrarian Agitation, ch. vii.

by citizens belonged really to tbe state, and might at any time
be resmned by it. Accordingly Spurius Oassius, in concert
with the tribunes, demanded that these lands should be re-
sumed and distributed afresh, so that plebeians as well as
patricians might have a fair share of them. He further de-
manded that all the occupiers should be required to pay strictly
their legal rent or tithe, and that out of these payments a fund
should be formed to furnish pay in war time to the poorer
citizens^ who could ill afford to leave their farms untilled
without some remuneration. This was the first proposal of the
&mous agrarian laws, of which we shall hear so much as the
history of Rome proceeds. The senate was roused to indig-
nation by these demands, which threatened the wealth and
power of the patricians at their very source. But such was
the force of the popular party that all resistance was over-
borne. The law was passed, and the patricians determined
that, so fer as in them lay, it should become a dead letter.
At the end of his year of office, Spurius Oassius was accused,
it is said, before the comitaa curiata of treason. The people
whom he had befriended made no efibrt to save him. He was
u.c. 269, condemned, and suffered the last penalty of public
B.C. 485. scourging and beheading at the hands of the con-
sular lictors. The senate then repudiated the execution of the
agrarian law, and, in order to divert public attention from the
subject, engaged for several years in petty wars against the
Volscians, the -^quians, and the Veientines. The noble house
of the Fabii were the leaders of this reaction, and for seven
successive years one of the two consuls was a member of this
powerful family. The plebeians, paralysed by the loss of their
champion, clamoured in vain for the promised distribution of
lands. Menenius, the tribune, threatened to put his veto on
the levy of troops. But the consuls betook themselves beyond
the walls of the city, where the protection of the tribunes did
not extend, and, summoning the citizens before them, caused
them to be there enlisted, not without threats and violence.
They succeeded, moreover, in sowing division among their
opponents, and gained over one tribune to neutralise the veto
of his colleagues. The soldiers, however, thus reluctantly
compelled to enlist, had still one remedy in their hands. In
the year 480 B.C. they reftised to complete a victory over the
Veientines, or to seize the booty which was in their power, in

CH. vii. Heroism of the Patricians. 39

order to deprive K»80 Fabius, the cchbuI, of the honour of a
triumph.

Soon after this a change occurred in the policy of the great
Fabian gens. From being the foremost supporters of aristo-
cratic priyilege, they wheeled round and assumed the lead of
the popular party. In B.C. 479, under the command of three
brothers of tiie Fabian house, the legions won a brilliant vic-
tory over the people of Veii and their Etruscan allies. In the
following year Eieso Fabius was elected consul by the suffirages
of the people, which overwhelmed the opposition of the pa-
tricians. Kseso, who had been the actual accuser of Oassius,
now undertook to compel the execution of the agrarian law
proposed and passed by him. But the resistance offered by the
senate to this measure was so obstinate, that even Eieso
Fabius, backed by the influence of the greatest &mily in Rome,
and the whole power of the conmionalty to boot, was forced
to give up the contest. He determined to quit Rome with all
his gens, and retire into voluntary exile. The Fabii established
themselves on the banks of the Oremera, a few miles to the
north of Rome, in face of the hostile Yeiians^ and there main-
tained the war of the commonwealth with their own gallant
band, 806 in number, supported by 4,000 clients. In r.c.277,
this chivalrous and unequal contest they were at last ^-C' *^^*
overpowered and exterminated. Of the whole Fabian race only
one child survived, who had been left behind in Rome as unfit
for such desperate service.

The Fabii were doubtless betrayed by the aristocratic party
in Rome, for, at the time of their destruction, the consul
Menenius stood with his army only four miles off, and made no
effort to aid them. The people grieved at the slaughter of
their champions, and, disgusted at the desertion of Romans by
a Roman, impeached Menenius, who was found guilty and
condemned (b.c. 476). They also extorted from the senate
the right to cite even the consuls before the comitia tributa.
This right was a powerful weapon, and was used effectuaUy.
Within twenty-seven years, seven consuls and many illustrious
patricians were .thus accused and condenmed to exile or to
death. In the year 473 b.c. the tribune On. Genucius exercised
this right by impeaching the consuls L. Furius and 0, Manlius
before the assemoly of the tribes, for their neglect to enforce
the agrarian law. Next day the tribune was found dead in

40 The Publilian Law, ch. vh.

his bed^ and no doubt was entertained that he had been mur-
dered by his patrician opponents. The plebs were stricken
with terror, and the consuls hoped to profit by the confusion,
to wreak their vengeance on other popular leaders. Volero
Publilius was seized^ and ordered to be stripped and scourged
by the lictors, but, being a powerful man, he dashed them
aside, and called upon the people for help. A tumult ensued,
the lictors and the fasces were overthrown, and the consuls
barely escaped with their lives. Two years later Publilius was
chosen tribune of the people. He cdstinguished himself by
introducing the famous ^ lex Publilia,' by which it was enacted
that the tribimes of the people should be elected by the comitia
of the tribes instead of by the centuries. This measure became
law in the year 471 B.C., but not without a struggle. In the
course of it Volero, with his energetic colleague Laetorius,
established the people in arms on the summit of the Tarpeian
hill. The senate had no choice but to yield a reluctant con-
sent. They had hitherto used the influence of wealth in the
comitia of the centuries to favour the election of tribunes who
would be subservient to the patrician order. In the assembly
of the tribes wealth had no prerogative, and the votes were
given, man by man, so that the power of the numerous plebeians
was overwhelming. By the same law the number of the
tribunes was increased from two to five.

Nevertheless the contest between the two orders continued
with unabated violence and with alternate success ; for each
possessed weapons which the other could not parry. It was in
vain that the tribune Sp. Icilius obtained the enactment of a
law whereby it was made a capital ofience for anyone to inter-
rupt a tribune while he was addressing the assembly. The
senate, under the guidance of the haughty Appius Claudius,
answered by declaring war against the -^qui and the Volsci.
The plebeians were compelled to serve under his orders. In the
camp the consul was master of their persons and of their lives.
He treated them with the utmost rigour of discipline, and they
cursed him to his face. In the face of the enemy they refused
to fight under such a leader. Appius chastised them with
unsparing severity. They submitted with sullen desperation to
the rods and axes of the lictors. But their day of vengeance
was at hand. The campaign must come to a close at last. The
consul must return to Rome ; and once within the walls he

CH. Vll.

CoriolcmuS^ 41

muBt lay down his military authority, and &11 himself under
the civil authority of the tribunes. In fact, no time was lost in
citing him to answer for his tyranny before the tribes, u.o. 284,
He replied with his usual arrogance; but he knew b.c.470.
that his fate was ineyitable, and went home from the meeting
to escape condemnation only by suicide.

Throughout the course of these political struggles, the state
of warfare between Eome and her neighbours never ceased.
Year after year in the spring the consul led forth his legions
into the plains of the Oampagna, to do battle against Latins or
Hemicans, ^quian or Volscian foes. These wars were but
marauding expeditions, which produced some plunder, no doubt,
but scarcely any permanent result. As autumn drew on the
Komans hastened back to reap their own harvests; for the
soldiers of Bome were also her husbandmen. The winter was
a period of repose and enjoyment. This constant succession of
campaigns furnished many opportunities for brilliant feats of
arms; and the great &milies exulted in the stories they
could tell of the patriotic exploits of their own heroes.
The legend of the Fabii has been already mentioned ; those of
Ooriolanus and of Oincinnatus must now be noticed.

Oaius Marcius Ooriolanus was a proud patrician youth,
descended from Ancus Marcius< He was one of the bravest of
the brave. In a war against the Volscians he captured Oorioli,
one of their cities, and derived from it the title which he has
made illustrious. Within the city he bore himself haughtily
towards the people, and resented their growing power. They
refused him the consulship: he retaliated in the following
year, when a famine prevailed, by proposing that no com
should be distributed to the people unless they first consented
to abolish the office of their tribunes. He was impeached and
condenmed to banishment. Then he threw himself into the
arms of the Volsd, whom he had before defeated. The Volsci
placed him at their head, and under his command penetrated
far into the Roman territory, destroying the property of the
conunons, but sparing, as was observed, that of the senators.
The Boman power was crippled by disunion; there was no
army to send against him. The people, in an agony of terror,
deputed the chiefs of the senate to meet and propitiate him.
He was deaf to their entreaties. Next day they charged their
priests and augurs to mediate for them in the name of the

4^ Cincinnatus,

CH. VII.

gods of Eome. Still he was obdurate. At last there went
forth from the city a procession of Roman matrons^ headed by
Veturia his mother and his wife Volumnia, accompanied by his
little children. The mother reproached, the wife entreated,
the children pleaded mutely for forgiveness. Unable to resist
such an appeal, Ooriolanus yielded. In bitter distress of mind
he turned his back for the last time on Eome, and led the
Volseians back to Antium, where he ended his days in exile.
Thus did the women of Home once more save the city, and to
commemorate the event a temple was built on the place of
meeting dedicated to the ' Women's Goodspeed.' The most
probable date of this occurrence is B.C. 468, u.c. 286.

Such is the most famous legend of the war with the Volsci.
The contest with the -^qui furnished another not less dear to
the memory of the Romans. In the course of this struggle
the consul Minucius, with his army, was surrounded by tiie
enemy on Mount Algidus, and in imminent danger of destruc-
tion. Five horsemen escaped and carried the news to Rome.
It was decided at once to appoint a dictator. The people with
one voice called for L. Quinctius, better known as Oincinnatus
from his curly locks, to lead them. The officers who were sent
to inform him of his election found him ploughing his little
farm clothed in nothing but a kilt. On learning the object of
their visit he bade his wife to throw his toga over his shoulders,
that he might receive the messengers of the commonwealth
with due respect. He then accompanied them to the city,
where he appointed L. Tarquitius, who was, like himself, brave
though poor, to be his master of the horse. The citizens were
quickly enrolled, and each man was ordered to provide himself
with twelve stout stakes and food for five days. At sunset
they set out, and by midnight had reached the scene of the
conflict. The ^quian camp completely enclosed that of the
Romans. Then Oincinnatus caused his men to surround the
-^quians, and when all were at their posts a shout was raised,
the stakes were quickly pitched, and the whole party set to
work to dig a ditch and raise a rampart round the enemy. The
Romans within, encouraged by the shout, kept the .^uians
engaged in fighting all night, and when day dawned the latter
found themselves ensnared between the two Roman armies.
They surrendered. Oincinnatus made them aU pass under the
yoke (* jugum '), constructed like a doorway, with two spears

CH. VII. Heroism of the Patricians. 43

upright and one laid crosswise over them. Their leader^ Grac-
chus Oloelius, he carried in chains to Eome ; and from the
.^Equian camp and their city of Oorbio he took a large booty,
with which he enriched his troops. On his return he ^.c 296,
led his army in triumph to the Oapitol, and within ^-c- 468.
sixteen days of his appointment he resigned the office of dictator
and returned to labour humbly on his farm.

Whatever degree of credence we may accord to these
stories of military prowess, their existence seems to indicate
how weak the power of Some had become during the first fifty
years of the republic compared to what it had been under the
later kings. In fiEtct, it could not be otherwise so long as the
commonwealth was a prey to such disunion as has been de-
scribed. Yet it was amid these chequered wars and these
internal discords that she was forming the race of heroes whose
bravery, whose resolution, and whose military obedience were
to effect the conquest of the world.

CHAPTER Vin.

THE DBCEMVIRATE. THE SYSTEM OP KOMAN TAW.

The leaders of the plebeian class next turned their attention to
the removal of another very serious grievance. They began to
aim at placing all Boman citizens, of whatever class, on a foot^
ing of equality before the law. Hitherto all knowledge of the
law and of legal proceedings, and even the right to legal
redress, had been an exclusive privilege of the patrician class.
The commons might indeed settle disputes among themselves
according to their own customs, and for that purpose might
plead before the tribunals of their own plebeian magistrates, but
as against the patricians, and in the highest courts of Eoman
law, they had no recognised standing— no acknowledged right
to equal justice. They were therefore at the mercy of the
consuls and other patrician magistrates, who might, and no
doubt often did, treat them with arbitrary injustice. The need
began to be felt for a clearly defined code of law, which should
be binding with equal force upon all citizens alike, and should

44 Demand for Equal Laws, ch. vin.

be justly administered, without distinction between ricli or
poor, patrician or plebeian.

With this object in view, the tribune Terentilius Harsa
proposed that a commission of five or ten persons should be

TT.0.293, appointed to define the arbitral powers of the

B.C.463. consuls. The tribes in their comitia accepted the
measure^ but the senate and the curies rejected it. During the
ensuing ten years this proposal continued to be a bone of con«
tention between the rival orders. The young patricians, headed
by KflBSo Quinctius, the son of Oincinnatus, tried to overawe
the plebeians by violent brawling. When the comitia of the
tribes assembled, they mingled among the crowd of voters and
impeded the proceedings. At last Easso was impeached by the
tribunes, and had to flee the city for his life, leaving his father
to forfeit Ms bail, which amoimted to a fine so great that its
payment reduced him to poverty.

Soon after, the Oapitol was stealthily seized at night by a
party of outlaws headed by Appius Herdonius, a Sabine, and
it is not unlikely that young Quinctius was the real instigator
of this attempt. If so, he paid the penalty with his life, for the

u.c. 294, whole body of intruders was put to the sword.

B.C. 460. The stru^le continued with increasing bitterness.
Year by year the same tribunes were re-elected, and in B.C. 465
ten tribunes were elected. In the following year the tribune
Icilius carried a measure by which the whole of the Aventine
hill, which was public domain, was given up to the poorer
plebeians. It was at once occupied by them, and, being a very
strong position, it became the citadel of the plebeian order, and
added much to their political strength. Two years later,
B.C. 452, L. Sicinius Dentatus became tribune. This man was
the hero of the plebeians, a soldier of extraordinary valour,
covered with wounds and decorations. Under his leadership
the resistance of the patricians was at length overcome, and
the measure of reform so long urged by Terentilius became
law.

Three conunissioners, all of them patricians, were at once
appointed, and sent to study the systems of law in force at
Athens and elsewhere among the Greeks. When their report
had been received, in the month of March, B.C. 450, all the
ordinary magistrates were superseded, and their offices for the
time suspended, while the entire government was entrusted to

CH. VIII. The Decemvirate, 45

a board of ten coinmissionerB called Decemyiriy who were at the
same time to prepare the new code of laws. The plebeians,
perhaps wisely, acceded to the claim of the patricians, as
recognised expounders, of the existing laws, to occupy all the
places in the commission that should revise it. It was, how*
ever, in an evil moment that they consented to waive the most
precious of their privileges, the right of appeal from the
decisions of the superior magistrates to the comitia of the
tribes. On March 16, the decemvirs entered upon their office,
exercising supreme authority day by day in turn. Their rule
was mild and peaceable enough, in spite of the fact that the
leading spirit among them was Appius Claudius, one of the
same haughty family as his namesake mentioned above.
During the year they promulgated ten tables of laws, which
were laid before the comitia of the centuries and of the curies,
and, being accepted by both, were engraved on bronze tables
and hung up in the Oomitium. At the end of twelve months
the decemviri laid down their power, and fresh ones were
elected. Appius, however, had been throughout his year of
office sedulously courting the favour of the people ; and his
intrigues now led to his re-election, B[alf of his new col-
leagues were plebeians, but his strong will soon dominated all
the others, and the decemvirs now assumed the character of
irresponsible tyrants. No assemblies were held; the senate
even was never convened ; in the course of the year two more
tables of laws, making twelve in all, were promulgated ; they
were received with strong disapprobation, and evidently bore
the impress of the prejudiced mind of Appius. The year of
office elapsed, but the decemvirs showed no intention of resign-
ing their power.

The war with the .^uians and Sabines was renewed, and
the patricians seized the opportunity to procure the murder of
the brave Dentatus at the hands of Roman soldiers. In the
city, Appius Claudius ruled with unchecked des- u.c. soe,
potism, but at length he overstepped the limit of b-o-***-
Roman endurance and brought the whole febric of his power
to the ground.

As Appius sat in the Forum to administer justice, he
noticed a maiden of great beauty, who went daily with her
nurse to a school near the Forum. The wicked tyrant deter-

. tt t TW\\ Digitized by vtivJv_ . ,

mined to get possession of her. The girl was Virginia,

46 Story of Virginia, ch. vni.

daughter of a distinguished plebeian named Virginius^ and
betrothed to Icilius, who had been tribune. Finding that her
father was away in the camp, the decemvir prompted one of
his clients to seize the girl in the street and lay claim to her as
the offspring of his slave and therefore his property. The
claim yrdA made, and referred amid fierce popular excitement
to the tribunal of Appius himself. The attitude of the people
was so menacing, that he was constrained to defer judgment
till next day, that the evidence of the father might be heard.
Virginia's friends took care to apprise her father of the danger
she was in. He reached Rome in time to appear with her
next day before the judgment seat of Appius : both he and
Icilius implored the people to stand by them in their need. As
soon as Appius had taken his seat he ordered Virginia to be
given up to the man who claimed her. Her father, foreseeing
the fate in store for her, took her aside for a moment, and
snatching a knife from a butcher's stall close by, stabbed her
with it to the heart. Brandishing the reeking Imife, he vowed
vengeance on the tyrant, and then hurried to the camp.

Such a story soon roused the blood of Roman soldiers ; they
plucked up their standards, and were quicky camped upon the
Aventine. In the city the decemvir's lictors had been over-
come, and Appius himself driven ignominiuusly from the
Forum. Two of the decemvirs, Horatius and Valerius, sym-
pathised with the people and joined in the cry for liberty. The
next step was a secession to the Mons Saeer. Preceded by the
legions, the whole plebeian population marched out of the city
and left the patricians in sole occupation of it. As usual, this
course produced its effect. The decemvirs resigned their
power, and Horatius and Valerius were sent to make terms
with the plebs. The seceders returned to Rome, and occupied
the Aventine and the Oapitol in arms. There they elected
their tribunes, among whom were Virginius, Icilius, and
Duilius.

Valerius and Horatius were chosen consuls ; and on their
proposal it was enacted that henceforth a law passed by the
people in their tribes (plebiscitum) should be binding upon the
whole Roman people. The tribune Duilius also proposed and
passed a law, iJiat it should be a capital offence to leave the
people without tribunes, or to create any magistrate against
whom there should be no appeal. Appius O^udius and his

CH, VIII. The System of Roman Law. 47

colleague Oppins^ the two most unpopular of the decemyirs,
anticipated their condemnation and took their own lives in
prison. The rest were allowed to go into exile, their property
being confiscated ; and then a general amnesty was proclaimed.
*The consuls, next led their armies into the field, and gained a
decisive victory over the .^uians and Sabines. The senate,
however, refused them the honour of a triumph, and ti.c. 8O6,
thereupon this privilege was seized upon by the b.c.448.
plebeian assembly, which decreed that these popular and suc-
cessful leaders should ascend the Capitol in triumph.

The fragments which remain to us of the laws of the
twelve tables are but scanty, and, such as they are, they do not
favour the supposition that the plebeians gained much by the
new legislation they had brought about. This remark applies
with especial force to the two last tables, which contained
many provisions imjust and oppressive towards the inferior
class. It may, however, be well in this place to take a survey
of the old system of Koman law, noticing, as we proceed, those
points which were either confirmed or altered by the twelve
tables.

One of the foundation stones of Roman law was the abso-
lute authority of a father over his children ; this extended so far
that he might sell his son into slavery, and if at any time the
son regained his liberty, he at once returned under the dominion
of the father, who might, if he pleased, sell him again and
again into slavery. This parental authority was in the main
confirmed by the new code, but a limit was placed to the
father's power by the provision that when a son had been
three times sold, and had three times recovered his liberty, he
became free from parental control. But at the same time that
he did so, he lost his relationship to his father and could no
longer inherit from him* The father had uncontrolled power
to dispose of his property by wiU. It had indeed been custo-
mary for all wills to be read in the Oomitium, where they
might be confirmed or rejected ; but henceforth this became a
mere formality, and a citizen's right was recognised to leave all
his property to one chUd, or even to an entire stranger, if he so
willed ; but as his own enjoyment of property during his life-
time had been unfettered, so he was prohibited from limiting
the enjoyment of his successor by any conditifMi^H Thus no
entail could be created.

48 System of Roman Law, ch. vm.

Women were at all times required by the Eoman law to be
under guardianship^ either of a husband or of a father^ brother,
or other near male relation. They might inherit property, but
they could not alienate it without their guardian's consent..
Under the old law, if a woman lived for a year with any man,
she passed under his power as a wife ; but by the twelve tables
she was enabled to evade complete subjection to her husband
by absenting herself from him for three nights in the year.
Formerly the patricians not unfrequently married plebeian wives,
but the children did not inherit their father's superior rank.
The twelve tables prohibited such marriages altogether.

Property, — ^As regards land which formed part of the public
domain, no length of possession could entitle a citizen to the
freehold ; but as regards land which was the property of a
private person, any one who could prove two years of undis-
turbed possession was entitled to claim it as his own, unless it
had been first acquired by force or fraud. The twelve tables
expressly forbade a stranger to own land at all. Possession
for one year was sufficient to confer a legal right to slaves or
moveable property. When land or chattels were sold, the
purchaser must seize it with his hand and claim it as his own
in the presence of five witnesses and of the seller, the money
being weighed out and paid over at the same time. This mode
of transfer was called * mancipatio,* and was the privilege of
Soman citizens only. Moveable property might also be sold
before a magistrate, in which case the purchaser laid claim to
it, and the seller, being questioned by the magistrate, allowed
the claim to be good ; the property was then adjudged to the
claimant. These legsd customs were confirmed by the twelve
tables. The usual manner of settling disputes about the right
to property was for the two litigants to appear before a judge
and to stake each of them a certain sum (called ^ sacramentiim ') ;
the cause was then heard and decided by the judge, and the
losing party forfeited his stake to the public treasury. When
the suit concerned property of large value the stake amounted
to 500 asses, in less important cases only fifty asses were
required. When the question to be decided was whether a
person was a slave or a free man, the smaller stake only was
required, and while the suit was pending the man was left at
liberty and presumed to be fi^.

In certain cases a man might seize his adversary's property.

CH. viii. The System of Roman Law, 49

eyen without a judge's warranty in order to compel him to pay
a debt. An^ if^ after a case had been heard and adjudged in
oourt^ the loser did not pay what he owed^ then his adversary
vras entitled to seize him, and drag him a prisoner to his own
house, and there keep him in chains. The twelve tables con-
firmed the old harsh law of debtor and creditor, except that
they restricted the amount of interest which might be legally
enforced to about ten per cent.

In the case of injuries to the person, the letter of the law
demanded an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, but a
broken bone might be compensated by a payment of 300 asses,
and smaller injuries by a sum of twenty-five asses ; and it may
be stated generally that this harsh law of retaliation was not
strictly enforced. A thief caught in the act was scourged and
handed over as a slave to the man whom he had injured.
Other thieves had to make restitution of double the amount
stolen. Injuries to the character were very severely punished :
anyone found guilty of publicly libelling a fellow-citizen was
beaten with a cudgel and publicly degraded. The beating may
probably in some cases have been fatal. This law made people
very careful how they criticised or satirised any poweiful
person.

Onme%, — The crimes of murder, arson, witchcraft, treason,
and injuring a neighbour's com by night were puni^ed with
death.

The changes introduced into the Roman constitution by
the laws of the twelve tables were as follows :—

An appeal to the people was allowed from every sentence
pronounced by a magistrate ; and the verdict of the people •
was final, and overruled every previous decision. Capital
punishment might only be inflicted by the people assembled in
their centuries.

Privilegia, or laws aimed at particular individuals, were
declared invalid.

A debtor, whose person was adjudged to his creditor in
pledge (^ nexus '), was to be in the eye of the law on a footing of
equality with a free man.

These laws of the twelve tables were solemnly enacted by
the people, and seem to have been regarded with satisfaction,
as reasonably fair in spite of the distinctions between, the two
orders which they perpetuated.

go The Decemvirate, ' ch. viit.

It should be observed that at the same time that the decrees
of the Oomitia Tributa were made binding upgn the whole
Roman people, the patricians and their clients were inscribed
upon the roll of the tribes. It is also worthy of remark that
Valerius and Horatius were the first Roman magistrates who
actually bore the title of consuls. Previous to their time the
chief officers of the state werei called prsdtors.

CHAPTER IX.

CONTIinJATION OF THE STRUeGLB BETWEEN PATRICIANS AND
PLEBEIANS. WARS WITH NBIGHBOTTRING NATIONS.

NoTWiTHBTANBiNa the progress which the plebeians had made
in fi:«eing their order from the oppression of the Roman
aristocracy, there still remained veiy substantial differences
between the political condition of the two classes. This in-
equality was mainly supported by the exclusive right to perform
the ceremonies of religion still rigidly maintained by the
patricians. It was accounted a profanation for any but a
patrician to approach the altars of the presiding deities of Rome.
Thus the pontifices and the augurs still belonged to the higher
class, and without their sanction no votes could be given, no
proceedings could be valid in the popular assemblies. More-
over, the consuls and the other curule magistrates were charged
with certain sacred functions, and for this reason no plebeian
had AS yet been admitted to fill those high offices. It was no
doubt in this direction that the plebeians looked for their next
step in advance. They strongly resented the sharp line of
demarcation which had been drawn by the decemvirs between
the two orders, when they prohibited intermarriage between
them. In B.o. 445 the tribune Oanuleius, in the fiice of strong
opposition, carried a law by which this prohibition was
repealed, and the fiill right of intermarriage between the two
orders of citizens established.

An attempt made in the same year to throw open the
consulship to the plebeians did not succeed ; but in the year
B.a 420 it was arranged that the military authority of the
consuls, the imperium, might be transferred to six officers

cH. IX. Continuation of the Struggle. S i

called military tribunes, and to these offices the plebeians were
eligible. At the same time the sacred dignity of the consul-
ship was carefully separated &om this new military office, and
transferred to the curule magistrates called Censors, who could
only be chosen from among the patricians. During the fifty
years which followed, the command of the armies was some-
times entrusted to military tribunes, and sometimes to consuls,
as of old, but in practice it rarely happened that any but
patricians were elected to these high conunands. Afterwards
the old custom of electing annually two consuls became again
the invariable rule, and so continued for many centuries.

Meanwhile the annals of the city present the usual succession
of contests with the neighbouring nations, varied by internal
dissensions. In B.C. 439 a terrible famine prevailed : the efibrts
of the government to procure com were unavailing, but a
wealthy plebeian, Spurius Mselius, was more successfiil. He
purchased large supplies of com in Etruria, which he sold at
low prices or distributed gratis. This generous conduct made
him a great favourite with the people, and so alarmed were
the patricians at his popularity, that they appointed the aged
Oindnnatus dictator, witiii Servilius Ahala as master u.c. 3i5,
of the horse. Mealius was accused of aiming at b.c. 439.
royalty, and when he sought protection among the people from
his adversaries, was brutally murdered by Ahala in the Forum.
This violence led to a fresh outbreak of the people, and Ahala
was obliged to flee the city.

During the next eight years hostilities were carried on
against the city of Fidenee^ and againsttheiE]quians,in the course
of which dictators were several times appointed. In B.C. 431,
a great effi)rt was made by the .^Equians and Yolscians united
to conquer Home. Aulus Postumius was named dictator, and
gained a crowning victory over these enemies at Mount Algidus.
The severity of Roman discipline is illustrated by an incident
of this campaign. During the manoeuvres, the dictator's son
left the post assigned to him and engaged the enemy. He
returned victorious, but his inexorable father sentenced him to
death for having acted contrary to his orders. The victory of
Moimt Algidus was followed by a truce for eight years with
the -^Equians and Volscians. The arms of Rome were next
turned in another direction. Twelve miles north of the Tiber,
on a mountain spur, pretected on three sides by steep escarp-

£2

52 Continuation of the Struggle ch. ix.

ments, stood the Tuscan city of Veil. It was strongly fortified ;
it surpassed Rome in the solidity and grandeur of its buildings,
and was rich with the products of industry and art. Against
this powerful riyal the hostility of Rome was directed, with
short intervals, throughout the next thirty years, the last
ten of which were consumed by a dege comparable to that of
Troy.

After a desultory warfare which produced little permanent
result, the siege was begun in the year b.o. 406. Year after
year it continued with varying success. The position of Veil
made it impossible for the assailants to blockade it completely
and to reduce it by famine. The Romans, however, clung tena<
dously to their purpose, and maintained the siege at all seasons
of the year. This was an entirely new feature in Roman war-
fare, and compelled them to adopt a most important change in
their military system. Up to this time the soldiers had fought
without pay, and had even supplied themselves with food,
returning always in the autumn season to their own homes to
harvest their crops. Now, however, that they were required
to remain under the standard for several years in succession,
they could no longer maintain themselves. The government
perceived the necessity and yielded to it. Pay was granted to
the troops from the public treasmy. This was the first step
towards the establishment of a standing army and of a regular
profession of arms. Without it the leaders of the legions could
never have advanced the eagles far beyond the sight of the
seven hills ; but with it followed in inevitable sequence the
elevation of the leaders themselves into candidates for sovereign
power. The siege of Veii foreshadowed the fall of the re-
public.

While the siege was proceeding, some alarm was excited
at Rome by an unaccountable rise of the waters of the Alban
lake which overflowed its banks. The portent was considered
so grave that an embassy was sent to inquire its meaning from
the oracle of the Delphian Apollo. The reply came back, that
so long as the Alban lake continued to overflow Yeii could not
be taken. The Romans therefore set to work, and cut a
tunnel through the mountain side, by which the superabundant
water was drained oflT. They then confidently looked for the
conquest of their stubborn enemy. The command of the legions
was now entrusted to M. Furius OamUlus as dictator. He

CH. IX. between Patricians and Plebeians. 53

infused a new spirit into the siege, and seeing no prospect of
stopming the strong defences of the city, he droye a mine
heneath them whose inner extremity opened into the shrine of
Juno within the "Veian fortress. Through this strange entrance
Oamillus, with a chosen hand, gained access to the heart of the
city. His men forced open the gates, and, the whole Roman
army pouring in, he was soon master of the place. Little mercy
was shown to the brave defenders, who were massacred or sold
as slaves. The spoil was of immense value, and was divided
among the Soman people* A little of it, which had been vowed
by OamilluB to the Pythian Apollo, was sold and exchanged for
gold, which, in the form of a rich golden bowl, was duly
sent to Delphi. Such a triumph as that of Camillus had never
been seen before. In a gilded chariot drawn by four white
horses, and arrayed in a splendour worthy of the gods them-
selves, he passed up the Sacred Way ( Via Sacra) to the capital.
So much glory had already inspired him with a fear u.c. 368,
lest the vengeance of the gods should fell upon him. ^°* ^^'
Six years later his fears were realised. He was then accused
of having embezzled part of the spoil of Veii, and ^.c. 364,
driven into exile. As he passed the gates he invoked ^-o- 3^*
a malediction on the ungrateful people. This also was fulfilled^
for before the year was out the Gauls had entered Rome.

CHAPTER X.

TTna SACK OF ROME BY THE GAULS. CAMILLTT8.

The conquest of Veii added largely to the extent of the Roman
territory, and as the inhabitants had been either put to the
sword or carried into slavery at Rome, their fertile lands were
available for division among the Roman citizens. The patricians,
aa nsual, tried hard to keep so valuable an acquisition in their
own hands, but at length the just claims of the plebeians pre*
vailed, and lots of seven jugera or five acres of land were
granted to any plebeians who chose to apply for them. Thus
the lands of Veii were colonised, and the Ager Romanus extended
te north within the ancient limits of Etruria. Durinof the
years which preceded the war with Veii a similar policy had been

54 The Sack of Rome by the Gauls. ch. x,

pursued with the lands of other conquered towns. At Ardea,
at Yelitrse^ at Labiciun, colonies of Roman citizens had been
established ; and the Oity of the Seven Hills exercised sovereign
power over a wide district which extended far out of sight of
her own walls. The dominion of the rising republic was soon
to be severely shaken^ if not threatened with complete extinc-
tion.

The Gauls, who occupied the West of Europe from the
Bhine to the Atlantic, were constantly pressed upon by hordes
of barbarians advancing from east to west. This pressure caused
them from time to time to seek an outlet for their teeming
population into some, new country. More than a century
previous to the period we have now reached in the history of
Rome, the Gauls had passed the defiles of the Alps and had
taken possession of the rich valley of the Po. In effeding this
they overcame the resistance of the Etruscans, whose dominion
had extended as far as the Alps. During a century the range
of the Apennines formed a dividing line between these two
opposing powers. But now, under the leadership of Brennus,
the Gauls passed the line of the Apennines and laid siege to
Olusium. The Romans in alarm sent three envoys, all members
of the Fabian gens, to check their advance by negotiation. Fail-
ing to produce any efiPect, the ambassadors most unwisely took
part with the Etruscans in the defence of thdr city. The
Ghiuls protested against such a violation of the laws of war.
The Romans recognised the justice of their complaints, but
were too proud to deliver up their erring citizens. It was
determined to defy the Gauls, and an army was at once sent
forward to meet the advancing invaders. The two hosts
encoimtered near the small stream of the Allia, on the left bank

u.c. 864, of the Tiber, at a point only eleven miles from Rome.

B.0. 890. The Romans were entirely routed, and a remnant
only of their legions driven headlong back to the ciiy. No
further resistance was attempted ; the walls were abandoned,
and the people, panic-stricken, fled, with such of their property
as they could carry, into Etruria and the nearest cities of
Latium. The flamen of Quirinus and the Vestal Virgins with
the. Sacred Fire retired to Caere. But the Romans of the old
patrician houses, the only true citizens as they claimed to be,
would not thus desert the citadel of their nation and the shrines
gf their gods. They q^uickly collected their most portable

CH.X. The Sack of Rome by the Gauls.

56 The Sack of Rome by the Gauls. ch. x.

treasures and sucli supplies of food as were at hand, and awaited
in the Capitol the arrival of the Gauls. A story was told in
after times of how the senators of Rome, seated in the Forum
in their chairs of office, received the invader with dignified
composure, and for a moment overawed him. It was not till
one of the Gauls, who impertinently stroked the white beard of
the aged Papirius, was stricken to the ground by a blow of the
senator's ivoiy-headed staff, that the barbarians gave loose to
their savage nature and ruthlessly massacred the whole august
assembly.

The city was now given up to pillage and fire ; but the
Capitol was defended by its steep escarpments of rock, and its
brave garrison withstood the first assault of the Gauls. They
therefore set themselves down to reduce it by famine. Mean-
while some of the fugitives from the Allia, joined by others who
had escaped from the city, rallied among the ruins of Veil,
They aclmowledged M. Csedicius as their captain, and they so
far recovered their confidence as to aspire to raise the siege of the
Capitol ; but it was felt that Oamillus was the only leader wbom
they could follow in such an enterprise with hopes of success.
Camillus, however, was still an outlaw and an exile in Ardea.
Then Pontius Oominius, a brave plebeian youth, swam down
the Tiber, scaled the Tarpeian rock, laid before the senate the
proposal of those at Veil, and made good his return, carrying
wifh him a full pardon for Camillus and a commission to him
to assume the dictatorship of the Koman state and save the
republic. This bold deed very nearly caused the capture of the
beleaguered fortress. The Gauls noticed the footsteps of
Cominius on the ledges of the rock, and judged that where one
had descended others might climb up. In the dead of night
a party of them began to mount by this difficult path. The
garrison were lapped in slumber. No sentinel was posted at a
point deemed to be inaccessible. But happily the geese which
were kept in the temple of Juno were scared by the noise of
the intruders, and made a loud outcry. Manlius heard the
Bound and gave the alarm. He was just in time to meet the
first Gkiul who reached the top of the ascent, and to dash him
down upon the heads of those who followed. The Capitol was
saved, and for this signal service Manlius was honoured with
the proud title of Oapitolinus. ^^ ^^ ^^^

Camillus accepted the call of his countrymen in their hptir

CH. X. Camillus, 57

of need. He organised the scattered forces of tlie Eomans
into an army, and advanced to relieve Itome. But before he
could arrive, the defenders of the Capitol were reduced to the
last extremity of famine and compelled to make terms with
Brennus.

The Gaul demanded a thousand pounds of gold. When the
treasure was being weighed, complaint was made that the con-
querors were using unjust weights. * Vsb victis.* ' Woe to the
worsted,' replied Brennus, and so saying cast his heavy sword
into the scales. As Idvy tells the tale, it was at this moment
that Oamillus appeared upon the scene with his troops. He
broke off the capitulation, drove the Gauls out of the town,
defeated them near Gabii, and destroyed them to a man. This
story, though well devised to save the honour of Home,
was scarcely believed by the Bomans themselves. One &ct,
however, is certain; that a treasure, whose existence was
explained by the story just related, was preserved long after in
the vaults of the Oapitol, and was reputed to be there kept to
redeem the city in case of its being a second time conquered by
the Gauls. When Julius Oaesar rifled the treasury, he found
and appropriated this gold. ' There is no more fear of a Gaulish
invasion,' he exclaimed ; ' I have conquered Gaul.' It is probable
that a great deal of this story had its origin in the poetry and
the traditionary legends of the Koman people ; but we cannot
doubt the truth of the main fact related in it. Bome was
certainly sacked and burned by a horde of Ghiulish barbarians.
After their departure the town was so hastily and irregularly
rebuilt that the lines of the new streets often crossed the
sewers of the ancient city. The mischief done by them accounts
for the destruction or loss of almost every earlier monument of
history and antiquity. From this date the records of Bome
make a new start ; her annals are complete without a break,
and the memorials of her deeds multiply as the years proceed.
Oamillus, the second founder, as he was gratefully entitled, of
the city, was in fact the original founder of historic Bome.

d by Google

58 The Licinian Rogations. ch. xi.

CHAPTER XI.

THE LICINIAN B0OATI0N8. THE FIRST PLEBEIAN CON8T7L.

It was indeed to the brave spirit of Oamillufl that the Romans
now owed the regeneration of their state. In their despair
they would fain have deserted the blackened ruins of theb city,
and have betaken themselves in a body to Veii. He persuaded
them to build anew upon the old foundations, using for the
purpose the materials of dismantled Veii.

From the ruins of the city were recovered the augural staff
of Romulus, the twelve bronze tables of the laws, and some
fragments of older legislation and of ancient treaties. But the
most serious loss which Rome had suffered consisted in the
dispersion and destruction of so large a portion of her citizens.
Oamillus again may enjoy the credit of the wise liberality with
which the rights of the city were accorded to the people of
Oapena, of Falerii, and of other places in the Veientine terri-
tory, out of whom four new tribes were formed and added to
the existing list. Such an accession of strength was greatly
needed ; for the ancient enemies of Rome — ^Volscians, ^quians,
Etruscans, Latins — pressed hard upon her now that she was so
enfeebled, and once again she must contend day by day in a
desperate struggle for existence. Even the colonies of Rome,
Velitrae and Oirceii, banded themselves with the Latian towns
of Praeneste and Antium against her ; but this coalition was
crushed under the successive dictatorships of Oamillus, Gossus,
and Quinctius.

We must now return to the internal state of the Roman
people. As in the case of the conquest of Rome by Porsena,
so now after the sack of Rome by the Gauls, distriess and em-
barrassment fell upon the poorer classes. They had lost their
all; houses, bams, implements of agriculture, had all to be
replaced ; and, to make matters worse, the government imposed
additional taxation in order to replace the gold paid to Brennus.
Debt and insolvency, the natural consequences of such distress,
ensued. The slave barracks (ergastula) were filled with cap-
tives, and the people once more cried out against the harshness
of the usurers. Marcus Manlius Oapitolinus stood forward as
the champion of the debtors. He paid the debts of 400

cH. XI. The Ltcinian Rogations, 59

prisoners, thereby impoverishing his own estate. The patri-
cians, alarmed at his growing popularity, pretended that he
was aiming at royal power. They appointed Oossus dictator,
and by his orders Manlius was thrown from the very Tarpeian
rock on whose summit his valour had once saved Home. His
house on the Capitol was razed, and the Manlian gens resolved
that none of them should ever take the name of u.c. 369,
Marcus. The plebeians, deprived of their champion, ^c* 38«.
whom they had deserted in his need, fell into still deeper
misery. In B.C. 377, 0. Licinius Stolo and L. Sextius were
created tribunes of the people. They were re-elected for ten
successive years, and their courage and perseverance gained a
victory for the popular cause which marks an epoch in Boman
history.

The Licinian rogations, as they ai*e commonly called, were
three in number : —

1. That interest should be remitted on all existing debts ;
the capital alone to be repaid within three years.

2. That no citizen should be permitted to occupy more than
500 jugera, about 320 acres, of public land, nor to graze more
than a limited number of cattle upon the common pastures ;
also that payment of the annual tithe or rent to the state
treasury should be rigidly enforced, and that small lots of land,
to the extent of seven jugera or £ve acres, should be assigned
to all poor citizens.

3. That the ofEce of consular tribunes should be abolished ;
that two consuls should be annually elected as of old, and that
one of the two should always be a plebeian.

The first of these proposals was intended to alleviate the
widespread distress of the poorer classes.

The second was meant to guard against the recurrence of
such a state of general poverty and debt by largely mcreasing
the number of small freeholders.

These were points which had been urged before, and perhaps
from time to time conceded, and the same might occur again
with little actual result.

But the third proposal threatened the patricians with the
loss of their most valued privilege. They therefore did all in
their power to hinder it from becoming law. For some time
they succeeded in sowing discord among the tribunes of the
people ; when this manoeuvre failed, anfl^' tti^^ '^'fbVttb^ wer^

6o The Licinian Rogations, ch. xi.

unanimously demanded by the tribunes, they had recourse to
the old remedy of a dictatorship. But even the age and ser-
vices of the venerable Oamillus failed to impose submission on
the people. He retired from the contest. The three rogations
were passed into law by the comitia of the tribes, the senate
giving a reluctant consent to them. The centuries then elected
L. Sextius for their plebeian consul, and the curies retaliated
by refusing to grant him the Imperium, which could not be
conferred without a religious ceremony. Oivil war was on the
point of breaking out, when the aged Oamillus interposed as
peace-maker and persuaded the senate and the curies to accept
u.o. 887, what was inevitable. The election of Sextius was
B.C. 367. confirmed, and Oamillus, having saved the state a
third time, closed a long era of civil discord by the dedication
of a temple to Ooncord.

As some compensation to the patrician party, the chief ju-
dicial power was now separated from the consulship, and the
new office of prsBtor created and reserved to them. The titie
indeed was not a new one, as for many years it had been used
to designate the chief magistrates of the republic until the title
of consul came into vogue. But the office, as distinct from the
consulship, was new. The prsBtor henceforth was to hold su-
preme authority in the city whenever both the consuls should
be absent on military service. He was to declare the law and
preside at the tribunals. In token of his dignily he was to be
attended by six lictors. At a later period this magistracy was
doubled ; the prsstor Urbanus being charged with the adminis-
tration of the law as between citizen and citizen, the praetor
Peregrinus imdertaking' the settlement of all causes in which
persons of foreign origin were concerned. The first praetor
was Spurius Oamillus, and his name seems to express the amal-
gamation which was now taking place between the patricians
u.c. 888, and the plebeians. Oamillus, the hero of the Furian
B.C. 866. house, though a genuine patrician, was represented
as the author of the reconciliation between the two orders,
while the prsenomen of Spurius seems to be always assigned by
history or legend to a champion of the plebeians. Such were
Spurius Oassius, Spurius Maelius, and Spurius Metilius, all alike
noble sufierers in the cause of plebeian independence, and such
perhaps, under happier circumstances, wjas the first of the Boman
praetors, Spurius Oamillus.

CH. XI. The First Plebeian Consul 6\

A further concession was made to the patricians by the
creation of the office of curule sediles. The plebeian asdiles
had been two in number, and were, like the tribunes, inviolable
in their persons. Two more were now added, who were to be
always patricians. Their duty was to preside over the celebra-
tion of the public games. They enjoyed the dignity of a curule
chair in the senate ; they were privileged to wear the toga
prsetexta, with its broad purple border, and to display in their
halls the images of their illustrious ancestors. After the first
election tlus office was thrown open to the plebeians,, and be-
came the first step in their advancement to the senate and the
highest offices of the state. On the occasion of their first ap-
pointment a fourth tribe, to include the plebeians, was added to
the three old ones of Kamnenses, Tatienses, and Luceres. Thus
at length the long-sustained struggle came to an end, and the
commons of Rome were admitted to full citizenship side by
aide with her old nobility.

The following year, B.C. 366, witnessed the death of
Camillus, the great dictator, the saviour of the state, the
greatest of all the heroes of Roman story till we come to Julius
Caesar. He fell a victim to the pestilence which in that year
visited the city for the sixth time since the Regifugium. Rome
was then, as now, an unhealthy place at the best of times, but
the Romans noted with superstitious anxiety the occurrence of
epidemic diseases, and such calamities were often commemo-
rated by the dedication of a shrine to Apollo, Febris, or Me-
phitis. Sometimes the whole consistory of gods was to be
propitiated by a lectisternium, when the images were taken
from their pedestals, borne in procession through the city, and
laid upon couches in the Capitol before tables loaded with
sacrificial ofierings. The pestilence of the year 366 deserves to
be noted, as, by the advice of the priests, stage plays were now
for the first time introduced into Rome from Etruria. To
about the same date must be assigned the romantic story of
Mettus Curtius. A deep chasm had opened in the middle of
the Forum, and such a portent inspired general fear of some
impending calamity. What should be done to appease the
wrath of the gods ? It was annoimced that the chasm would
never dose until it had received the most precious thing in
Rome. Gold and jewels were in vain cast in; then Mettus
Curtius came forth fully armed and mounted on his war-horse*

62 The First Plebeian Consul, ch. xi.

^ Rome/ said he^ ' holds nothing of greater value than arms and
valour/ So saying, he spurred his horse, and, devoting himself
to his country and to the gods, plunged out of sight into the
gulf. With this offering the gods were satisfied and the chasm
closed up.

Chronological Table showing the gradual advance of the Plebeians to

political equality with the Patricians,
B.C. u.c.

494. First secession to the Mons Sacer. First tribunes of the 260

plebs appointed, with power to veto a law ; their per-
sons to be inviolable.
486. Agrarian law of Spurius Cassius ...... 268

471 Pablilian law ; tribunes to be elected bv Comitia Tributa . 288
454. Icilian law ; Aventine hill assigned in lots to the plebeians 300
452. Terentilian law ; commission appointed to collect informa- 802

tion about the laws of Greece.
449. Laws of the twelve tables published. Usury placed under 305

restriction. £very capital sentence to be subject to an

appeal to the people in Comitia Centuriata.
448. Valerian law; Flebiscita made binding on the whole 306

Roman people. The honours of a triumph first decreed

by the people.
445. Canuleian law gives the right of intermarriage between 309

the rival orders.
423. Consular tribunes substituted for consuls ; plebeians to be 334

eligible.
367. Licinian rogations passed. Agrarian laws re-enacted. One 387

consul to be a plebeian.
356. Mardus Rutilus, first plebeian dictator .... 398
4^51. Mardus Rutilus, first plebeian censor 403

CHAPTER Xn.

GALLIC WABfi. FIBBI BAHNITE WAB. IHE LATIN WAB.
B.C. 365-325.

Wb must now pass lightly over a period of forty years, during
which the forces of Rome were engaged in a continual suc-
cession of struggles with foreign enemies. These short cam-
paigns fkbound with episodes illustrating the valour of indi-
vidual Romans. No great struggle between the two orders of
citizens "belongs to this period, but several steps were made in
advance by which the remaining distinctions between them
were still further obliterated. Thus in the year B.C. 866 a

CH. XII*

Gallic Wars.. 63

plebeian, C. Marcius Rutilus, for the first time held the high
office of dictator. He gained a victory over the Etruscans, and
when the curies refused to grant him a triumph, the tribes in
their comitia decreed him that honour. Five years later, B.C.
^51, the same Marcius attained to the august magistracy of the
censorship, hitherto strictly confined to the patricians. In B.C.
337 the office of prsBtor was in like manner filled by a plebeian,
and thus one by one all the highest dignities of the state be-
came the common appanage of either order.

Between the years 365 and 342 a dictator was created no
less than fourteen times. Six of these appointments were made
for the defence of the city against foreign enemies; the re-
mainder were generally for the holding of elections in times of
public excitement, Three of these dictators were appointed in
B.C. 360^ 359, and 357 to make head against the Gauls ; one
repulsed the Hemicans in 361, another the Etruscans in 355,
and a third the Aunmcans in 344.

The Gauls, after their first retreat from Rome, did not
fail to return and renew thek attacks upon the republic.
They had indeed penetrated far beyond the Roman terri-
tory into Campania and even Apulia. But in these forays
they gained no firm hold on the countries which they in-
vaded. Their furious assaults were terrible to unstable
troops, but the constancy of the Romans seldom failed to baffie
and repel them. Their reputed size and strength, together
with the impression made by their sacking of the city, caused
the Romans to regard them with fear and anxiety, and the
appearance of the Gauls in the neighbourhood was the signal,
not so much for a war as for a * Gallic tumult,' when every
citizen was called to arms, and the whole nation rushed in
a mass to the rescue. On one occasion the Gauls were facing a
Roman army on the Anio, when a gigantic barbarian advanced
upon the bridge and offisred to %ht any Roman champion.
Manlius, by permission of his general, accepted the challenge,
and, in spite of his small stature, brought his huge adversary
to the ground. He received the surname of * Torquatus,' from
the . gold chain or * torque ' which he stripped from the dead
Qaul's neck. A similar encounter took place in the extreme
south of Latium, in which M. Valerius was aided by a crow,
which settled on his helmet and struck put fiercely at his
eji^my with beak and claws and wings. From Ihis incident he

64 Gallic Wars, ch. xii.

gained the surname of 'Ooryus/ For some time the Gauls
maintained themselves among the Alban hiUs^ from whence,
on one occasion^ they advanced to the very foot of the OoUine
gate. Their presence there broke up the confederation of Latin
towns which Borne had long held in alliance^ and also en-
couraged the Hemici, the Aurunci, the Etruscans of Caere and
Tarquinii, and the Volscians of Privemum, all ancient foes of
the republic, to renew their attacks upon her. From these
continual contests Borne emerged triumphant, but the difficulty
experienced by her in subduing these petty tribes seems to
point to some internal weakness in her own state. We know
that the Boman soldiery were pre-eminent for their bravery
and discipline, and we can only attribute the long delay in
establishing the supremacy of the republic to the civil dissen*
sions which were still rife within the walls.

The time had now arrived when the power of Bome was
to assert itself beyond the bounds of Latium, and new enemies
in consequence were to be encountered. The highlands of
Central and Southern Italy were at this time occupied by the
great Sabellian race, of which an ofihoot under the name of
Sabines had largely contributed to form the Boman people
itself. Further to the south the same race were known by the
kindred name of Samnites. A body of these mountaineers had,
some time before, descended from the fastnesses of the Apen-
nines, seized upon the fertile plains of Campania, and estab-
lished themselves as a class of patrician rulers in the luxurious
u.c. 411, city of Capua. They were soon estranged from their
B.0, 843. kinsmen, who still dwelt among the hills, and a
quarrel breaking out between the Samnites and the Capuans^
the latter appealed to Bome for aid.

Now the Bomans had for nine years past been in dose
alliance with the Samnites, and had no business to give aid or
countenance to their enemies. It was pretended indeed that
the people of Capua formally surrendered themselves to the
dominion of Bome, and on this plea the republic tried to justify
her treachery to the Samnite nation. In any case war was
declared against the Samnites, and after a successful campaign
of one yearns duration^ the mountaineers were driven back to
their hill forts, and a Boman army was quartered for the
winter in Capua. ^ , ,,

JT Digitized by

The rich plain of Campania lay at the mercy of Bome. It ii

CH. xn. The Latin War, 65

prolMtble that the prospect of valuable lands to be divided
among the conquerors was the real cause of the troubles which
now arose both within and without the Eoman state. During
the winter a mutiny broke out in the army at Oapua : the dis-
contented soldiers marched in a body to Bovillsa, on the road
to Rome. Valerius Oorvus, appointed dictator, led an army
against them; but his levies, instead of fighting, fraternised
with the mutineers.

The government were forced to submit to the people in
arms. A series of laws were passed for the relief of debtors,
for the redress of military grievances, for the regula- u.c. 413,
tion of consular elections : this last law, proposed by ^'C. 34i!
the tribune Genucius, enacted that botii consuls might hence-
forth be plebeians. It is clear that the old aristocracy saw
that the time was now come when Airther resistance to the
demands of the plebeians would be both useless and unreason-
able. And this is confirmed by the fact that two years later,
B.C. 339, under the dictatorship of Publilius Philo, himself a
plebeian, a law was passed by which the consent of the senate
was declared unnecessary to the establishment of laws passed
by the people in the comitia of the centuries ; the plebiscita
were henceforth to have the force of law, whether or no they
were sanctioned by the seniEite. It must not be supposed that
the infiuenee of the senate was destroyed by this measure. In
practice this first Publilian law was very rarely put in force,
but in case of a deadlock between the two assemblies it became
a constitutional principle that the senate must give way. The
second and third of the Publilian laws ordained that one of the
censors must be a plebeian, and threw open the prsdtorship also
to the lower class. PublUius was himself the first plebeian
praetor, b.c. 337.

The success of the Roman mutineers in obtaining all that
they demanded from their rulers produced a strong el^ct upon
the Latin auxiliaries, not Roman citizens, who had fought by
their side throughout the Samnite war. They also had claims
and grievances to urge, and they now began to hope that their
demands might be listened to in the same spirit of concession.
In this they were disappointed. The strife between patricians
and plebeians was at length laid to rest. A new and very
similar struggle was on the point of beginning between the
citizens of a united Rome and the people of Latium, who ac-

66 The Latin War cr. xn.

knowledged iter primary among tfaeir ot'ties and liad ftnr^t
cheerfully under her banners as aflies and auziliwiaB. TiMW
peo]^« now eent a deputation to Rome to piopeee ^taX ik&y
should he ineorporated on a footfing of e^imlitf in 1^ ftennti
state a&d enrolled ataiong her citiiseiie. They also dnmaidhid
that one of the eonsuls and tme-haif of the eenate shoidd be
choeen from amo^ the Latiae. The RomAiiB peroeiVed that
their allies wanted to secure a share in the riefa ianda and ho6tj
expected from the tSon^uest of Oanipama. Tiny were greedily
determined to keep tfaeee advantages to themselyee. The fffe**
posals of the Latins were scomfuily rejected imd tMr amlMe*
sadOTs hardly escaped outriige (b.O. 34D-888>< War wm now
ineyitaUe. The Latins etoie of the same stodraa the Romans;
the same hrare spirit animated them; atid they dMermined to
stry^e a blow for their iotdep^idenee. They marohed from ike
fortified cities of Prflsneste, Tibur^ Tuscului^ Arioia> and
VelitrsB: they w^^ jomed by the Volseians of Antium a^
Pritremtim ) aild they roused the Oampanians to cast in l^ei^ lot
with them and so defend their threatened terrftoiy. The
Romans on their side taeuie en allianee with the Bftabitee,
whom they had just defeated, and marching tiirough their
mouitaki country faced the Latian legions in Otenpania. The
two consuls who led thw army were T. Manlius Torquatos «nd
P. Deeius Mue, both of thena conspicttous elara^es idf tite
her(»o severity cwd patriotism of the frndeftt Retoans. Li the
beginning of the campaign OTders were given that no one
should engage the enemy exc^ by exj^fess eommaBMl of his
superior officer. Yoimg Manlius, the son ef the coikstd^ bebg
lefider of a troop of hcwse, was challenged to single combat by
the TiBcujaa Mettius. IJnable to beaSf the )[Hrovocatioii^ he
fought and slew his enemy, and carried the arms of the Tub-
culan to his father. The consul without hesHation condemned
the noble youth to death for breach of disdpline. He f^
beneath the lictor's axe amid the lamentatioAe of hie young
comrades, to wh(Hu the consul Manlius was ever after an object
of aversion. The decisive battle of the campaign wae fou^t
under Mount Vesuviue, and in the Coume of it the plebeiaii
consul, Deeius Mus, sacrificed himself in his cottnti:y\3 eattse.
The Roman consuls had been warned in a dream that in the
impending combat the army was doomed to perish on one eide,
the general on the other. They agxeed tiat Whichever of Aem.

en. xij. TAe Latin War. 6f^

seemed to be lodng ground should solemnly devote himself to
death. It fell to the lot of Decius to fulfil this vow. He
repeated after the chief pontiff the sc^emn form of devotion,
and then rushed siDgle-handed into the serried ranks of the
enemy, and was- afterwards found amid heaps of slain who had
Mkax beneath his sword. The victory, though stubbornly
contested, reiiiaiiied ^ith the Eomans. The Latins rallied
once more at Tri&num, but w^re there easily defeated. They
tixen betook themsdlves 'to th^r fenced cities, and the re*-
maindefr of tiie war eon»sted in a series of sieges, in which the
Botoans tedueed t^e sti^ong places oi Latium one by one. At
Antium they ot^ptured tiie enemy's ships, which had loDg been
aoetistonied to prey Qp^ Boman commerce. The brazen
beaks of these ships were cut off and fixed to the orator's
platform in the Forum, whieh thence acquired the name of the
Bostra. Thus <ihe Latin confederation fell completely imder
the dominion of Rome ; but the conquered were treated with
moderation. Tibmr anfd Prseneste were allowed to retain their
own laws and ma§^E^ates: other cities were occupied by
Boman igasnsons tmder the name of colonies : others retained
l^ir own lands and usages, but were placed under t^ control
of a Boman prefect. For the most part the Latin population
were «dmitted to a kind of inferior dti^enship, with rights of
commerce emA ktennarriage^ but without the sufirage. This
fraocyse came to be known as the ' Latium ' or ' jus Latii/ and
was in later times exteladed to many other eonquered countries.
By ihtii sttccess in the Latin war ike Romans gained a large
aceesBion to their public domain and to their state revenues, for
the mibjeet Latins W6re at once required to contribute their
sh«re of taxation to the Boman treasAJy. Two new tribes were
fomed oat of portions of the conquered territory; and a large
population beeune liable to serve ia the legions wh^iever
required by the cottsul so to do. Individual Bomans quickly
became owneM of large estates throughout the newly acquired
te^tory ; aasd the froinlier of the Ager Bc«ianuswas pushed as
hi so&tk As Oapiiia and the river Voltuinus.

Digitized by VjOOQIC
92

68 The Second Samnite War. ch. xiii.

CHAPTER Xin.

THE BBOOin) BAMBTTB WAR.

Tee history of Rome comes now for the first time into direct
contact with that of Greece. For several centuries the coasts
of Sicily and Southern Italy had been occupied by numerous
Greek settlements which rivalled; if indeed they did not out-
shine^ the cities of their mother country in wealth and noag^
nificence. Syracuse, Messana^ Tarentum, Psestum^ Neapolis^
OumsB, may be mentioned as some of the most conspicuous
among them. These alien colonies subjugated and enslaved the
native inhabitants of the sea-coast districts, but between them
and the Lucanian and Bruttian tribes, who still maintained
their independence in the mountainous interior of Oalabria,
a state of chronic warfare existed. With aU their artistic
culture and acuteness of intellect, the Greeks were wanting in
the strong political common sense which is necessary to the
formation of a powerful and united state. Their disunion had
already much enfeebled them, and the native races were pro-
portionately encouraged in their attacks upon them.

At this very time Alexander the Great was preparing to
lead his Macedonian phalanxes to the conquest of the East ; and
his uncle, Alexander, king of Epirus, was not indisposed to
pursue a similar enterprise towards the West (b.o. 382). The
Tarentines invited him to aid them against their Italian neigh-
bours, and he responded to the call. Landing with his army
at Tarentum he overran the south of Italy, and won many
victories against the Lucanians, the Bruttians, and the Samnites.
The Romans were not sorry to see so powerful an enemy press-
ing upon the Samnites, and having no further need of their aid
against the Latins, they allied themselves with Alexander, but
the latter soon after fell by the hand of an assassin, and his
ambitious projects were frustrated. The Samnites were by
this time aware that unless they were content to see the whole
of Oampania in Roman occupation they must make a stand
agunst the advance of the republic. The Greek city of PaUe-
polis, which adjoined Neapolis (Naples), was in a state of civil
discord: the Romans sided with thoopillty of nobles; the

CH. XIII. The Second Samnite War. 6g

Samnites threw a garrison into the town to aid the popular
party. Thus the gauntlet was thrown down; and the second
Sanmite war, which lasted 22 years, from B.C. 826 to B.C. 304,
beg:an. Publilius Philo, as consul, laid siege to Palsepolis,
which after a long defence submitted. This siege was the
occasion of afresh innovation in the Roman system of govern-
ment. The. consul was detained before Palsepolis beyond
the period assigned to his magistracy; and by a recent en-
actment it was forbidden to re-elect him during the next ten
years. The services of Philo could not be dispensed with, and
so the difficulty was overcome by appointing him u.o. 428,
pro-consul. Such was the origin of the office which at ^•^' ^^e.'
a later period gave leaders to the Eoman armies quartered in
distant provinces or engaged in conquests of many years' dura-
tion.

While the pro-consul stayed to push the siege of Palsepolis,
two consular armies advanced into the Samnite territory.
Roman diplomacy had not been idle, and the alliance of the
Lucanians and Apulians to the south, of the Marsians and Pelig-
nians to the north of Samnium had been secured. Thus the
enemy was isolated and surrounded ; but these brave moun-
tcdneers fought gallantly for theb homes and their pasture lands.
They contested every inch of ground. The struggle lasted
with varying success year after year, and conducted as it was,
sometimes in open plains^ sometimes in mountain passes, some*
times in pitched battles, more often in assaults upon fortified
places, in ambuscades and surprises, it continued to train the
Roman legionary to the skilftil use of his weapons and the
highest power of endurance. Nor less did it serve as a school
of tactics for the leaders in these varied services. In the
course of it we meet once more with a now familiar story,
illustrating the severity of Roman discipline. In b.o. 324,
Papirius Cursor the dictator, during a short absence from the
camp, left strict injunctions with his master of the horse, Fabius
Rullianus, not to engage the enemy. Fabius, however, seized
a favourable opportunity, fought, and won a great victory.
Paprius, on his return, threatened to execute the successful
general for his breach of orders. The culprit escaped to Rome
and appealed for protection to the people^ but no power
existed, not even that of the tribunes^ which could bar the

TO The Second Samnite War. ch. xm.

diotatoi^s right to piuiisk him. Fapinus iaskted on ^e neoes-
ditj of maintainiiig discipMne, but at last yielded to the probers
of the senate and the people, and granted Fabhis his l^e. In
this same year^ b.c. 324, Alexander the Great reposed at Bah}ion
after completing the conquest of the Pernan monarchy. For
three years longer the war continued without any incident of
importance, but in 321 a great success fell to*the Samnitee.
Theb leader, Pontius of Telesia, was enabled to entice the two
consuls with four legions into a defile at Oaudium, where they
were compelled to surrender unconditionally. The Samnite
general consulted his aged father as to how he should dispose of
his captives. The old man counselled two courses, either to
put the whole of them to death, or else to set them all at
liberty without conditions, and after sudi an act of g^erosity
to count on Roman gratitude for a lasting peace. Pontius pre-
ferred a middle course ; he inasted upon humiliating his con-
quered foes ; and he induced the consuls to promise on behalf
of Rome that the old alliance with Samnium should be
renewed and that the Roman conquests and colonies on Sam-
nite ground, including Fregellas and Oales, should be given up.
To this the consuls, Postumius and Yeturius,in their extremity
consented and b(»ind themselves by an oath. They then,
together with two qusBstors, two tribunes of the people, twelve
military tribunes, 12,000 foot soldiers and 600 horsemen, sub-
mitted to pass man by man under the yoke : two spears set up-
right with a third across them. THhA 600 knights were retained
as hostages fer the fulfilment of the treaty.

On the return of the consuls with theb army to Rome, the
city was filled with dismay and indignation. Such a disgrace
to the RoBoan arms was felt to be intolerable. The people and
the senate refused to ratify the treaty, and the unhappy
Postumius, who had himself concluded it, now eagerly coun-
selled its rejection. He and his colleague dared not resume the
insignia of their office; and after two abortive attempts to
create a dictator, the two noblest dtizen^ Papiriua Ouraor and
Publilius Philo, were appointed to replace them in the consul-
ship. Postumius, with all the officers who had taken the oath,
was now sent back to Oaudium and handed over in fetters to
the Samnite chief. As the fecial delivered him to IV)ntiue,
jPostumi^s exQlflwed, <I 9^ now ne laD|er^^Q^aa haH a

0H. xiii, Ths Second Samnite War. ji

SaDmiie;' lk«a tiiiwa^ louiid ke stsruak ^ saoved per^
kenM 9mtk eaUed t^n the Romans to av^i^ 1^ u»iilt wkich
tii^ aaj^ lecko^as a pxatoKt for a xigkteoua war. J^ fluch a
flimgr pratenee did the Bomaaa tiy to cloak the gvofislffea^ of
faith of which they had been guilty. They justly incurred the
rebuke which Pontius bestowed upon them, while he contemp-
tuously released tha whole of the prisoners^ and refused all
compensation for the violated treaty. The Roman annalists
related stories enough to show that the disaster of the Oaudine
Forks was retrieved by the va^lour of Eoman arms. The very
soldiers who were there passed under the yoke are said to have
^feat^d the Samn^s. vs^ Apvlia, to hay^ cUscharged Pontius
himself with 7,000 of his tiK>ops vn^er the yoke, to hare
released the 600 hostages by force of arms, and to have re-
eevered by the captuie of Luceria aU the arms and trophies
fHneadttred at Oaudium. So eisact a retribution bears all the
nwrks ci bdng invented.

Qb the otiMF hand, it appears that soon after their suecess at
Oaudiiua the Samnites conquered tibA Bomaa ix^lony of Fre-
geUfld on the Lirisy and also tha Apulian town of Lueeria, which
was in aHiaaee witioi Bome, and the republic had enough to do
to nouuntam ita communioationfl with OampttBda and its hold
upon the intervening coimtry. For two years, from B.e. 81^
did, hmtilitftes w^core auapanded, and the BomAsatook advantage
of tiie tvufoa to abolish the local government of C^pua and to
eatabHah a pre&et of their own as ruler tibeie. The Mtax waa
again wnewed with many changes of fortune. Great efforts
were made to tempt the aubjeot races into a zevoh against
Borne. The Ladns, however, stood iinu; the Aurunci
waferad and drew down upon ^emselves 9t\ severe a puiueh-
ment, that their name heneeforth disappears from vo-440,
yatory. In Capua a conspiracy was set on foot^ 9.c9^.
but was put down with a high l^oid, and the leaders of it threw
themaelves sa their awn swords, ^e dictator Fabius auifered
a B^aUe defeat at the pass of Lautulss in Oampania, but this
dkastor waa balanced by a great victory near Oaudium, whieh
eoat thadefeated Samnites 30,000 Hvee. The scale began to
turn once more in favour of the Bomana ; and the Sammtee^
eoBs^ious of an ineieafiiT<g pcessuve upon them, were obliged to
content l^emselTes with the oentsal region of the Apenniaee,

Digitized by Vj VJiJ V I C

72 The Second Samnite War. ch. xiii.

and to withdraw from aU attempts to m^tain their ascendency
over the regions bordering on the coast. The Romans now for
the first time began to develop their strength at sea^ and we
hear of a Boman fleet commanded by two maritime prefects.

CHAPTER XIV.

CONQUEST OF BAMNTUM. EOICAN BITOCBSSBB IN BTBUBIA AND
IN SOTJTHEBN ITALY.

We have now reached the middle period of .the struggle be-
tween Rome and Samnium^ and it would seem that the success
of the republic and the spread of her dominion over a large
extent of subject territory began to excite alarm among her
more northern neighbours. The pride of the Etruscans was
touched to the quick, and the Gauls, who still hovered on the
ridge of the Apennines, became aware that unless these new
conquerors were checked, their own fields of plunder would be
very closely limited.

For forty years peace had been maintained between Rome
and Etruria, but in the year 811 b.o. a combination of Tuscan
cities attacked the Roman outpost of Sutrium. The war which
follows is described by Livy as a series of exploits and triumphs,
in which victory always favoured the arms of Rome. The
names of the Roman heroes are some of them already familiar
to us. A Fabius, a Papirius, a Valerius, again and again mount
the Capitol with the white robe and laurel chaplet; but to
these are now added the representatives of other noble houses
—the Junii, the Fulvii, the Curii, the Sempronii. The chief
source from which Livy drew the materials for his history of
this war, which is by no means to be implicitly trusted, seems
to have been the family annals of the Fabian house ; and, as in
the case of former Etruscan wars, so in this, a Fabiua occupies
the most conspicuous place.

Fabius Maximus Rullianus, after relieving Sutrium, ven-
tured to lead his army through the gloomy defiles of the

Digitized by VnWVJ V I C

CH. XIV. Conquest of Samnium. 73

Oiminian forest into the heart of the richest district of Etruria.
The senate^ terrified by his rashnessi sent to forbid so danger-
ous an adventure. But before the message reached him he
had already penetrated the forest^ and won a great victory oyer
the enemy. By the shores of the Vadimonian lake he gained
another triumph (b.o. d09)| which compelled the powerful cities
of Oortona, Perusia, and Arretium to sue for peace and accept
an alliance with Rome.

During this campaign of the consul Fabius in Etruria^ his
colleague Marcius was worsted by the Samnites, and his .
whole army was threatened with a disaster like that of the
Caudine Forks. The senate determined to appoint Papirius
Cursor dictator. No one, however, except a consul could
lawfully nominate a dictator. Marcius was beleaguered by the
enemy, and Fabius was called upon to exercise his power.
Unfortunately Papirius, on whom he was thus invited to confer
an authority superior to his own, was the very man who, as
dictator on a former occasion, had so implacably tried to take
his life. Fabius might well shrink from again placing himself
by his own act within the power of his ancient enemy. But
he nobly repressed all personal considerations, and complied
with the request of the senate. Papirius rescued the army of
Marcius &om its danger, and celebrated a splendid triumph
over the Samnites, Fabius was rewarded in like manner for
his victorious campaign in Etruria.

The Samnite war was still carried on with ferocity and
with varying success on either side, till at length, after twenty-
two years of warfare, peace was made B.C. 302, and the second
Samnite war came to an end.

It will be well to take this opportunity to glance at the
internal history of the Eoman republic. In the year 312 B.C.
the name of Appius Olaudius once more arrests our attention.
A descendant of the notorious decemvir, he was in that year
appointed to the censorship, and signalised his tenure of the
office in more than one way. It was his duty to revise the
lists both of the citizens and of the senators. In doing this he
disregarded old traditions, and admitted unusual numbers of
alien residents and of freedmen and their descendants to the
full privileges of Roman citizens. In filling the vacancies in
the senate he pursued a similar policy, and elevated many

Digitized by VnWVJV IC

^4 Roman Successes in cu, xiv.

fflmona o£ \am Vixtk, «Dd eTon mni «f finednMn, to thft mu^ of
aeoMors. It was also bU duty aa censor to snqpenutond the
fizoeution of vorka of pul^ utility^ and in this d^paatment he
naanifasted do kas eneigy* Be apent vast sums and aafdoyod
thoiifl»nd8 of workmen on the eonstruction of an mittednet,
and of the gxaat Ap^aian road, which led past Arieia to the
Ldzb and Oampania. This was the fint of the great lines of
communication which in later times steaded from Rome
to the extremities of Europe: and its originator dss^fYos to
have his nanae commemorated In oonnectioB with so vsefel a
work. The innovations of Appius were most distasteftd to the
patricians, hut wore hailed wi^ delight by the oonmK)n people ;
and when the time came for him to resign his office^ he declined
to do so, trusting, perhaps, to Ms popularitj, and determined,
no doubt, to carry out the great works wlddi he had begun.
An attempt was made to impeach him, but it faSed } and the
nobles declared that he was slxuek with blindness and his
whole geas exterminated soon after ft>r an act of mipiety.
This story was perpetuated in the name by which he is known
in histoiy ^Appius Olaudiur ^Officas. In B.o. d04, Fabius
Maximus became censor, and he insisted that tiie new citizens
admitted by daudius should all be ^ooUed f»2ong the four
urban tribes, a measure which greatly -restricted the inftumce
of this lowest class ot voters in l^e conntia.

After the retirement of Ap]Mus from the censorship, his
dark, On. Flavins, who was a freedman's son, was elected a
curule asdile. In his former post he had become ftuniliar with
the forms of Roman law, ^e knowled^ of which bad been
always jealously guarded by the old patrician houses as thmr
own special craffe and mystery. These forms Flavins now
published to the world, together with a legal calendar, and in
so doing he struck one more blow at the fast waning privileges
of the old aristocracy.

In B.C. 800> the tribune Ogulniufl carried a measure by
which the pontifical and augural offices were thrown open to
plebmn candidates ; and thus the control of the naMonal re^
ligion, as well as the technical knowledge of the law, was
surrendered to the whole body of cHisens, and no longer con-
fined to a particular class. Notwithstandymg these numerous
concessions to the popular party, the power of the patriciate
died haid, and the embers of the long conflict continued to

CH. XIV. ktruria a$hd Southern Italy, J^

■BonkUr. In b.o. 287, after the oonehisioiB of the l^ixd Sam-
Dxte wMr> we hear onoe mare of the lower elass being oppressed
by ^ harden of debt, of dieputee about an agrarian law, and
even of a seoession of the commoos to the JanieuhinL Moet
likely the quarrel in this case referred to the di-nsion of the
conquered lands in Campania. It was oooiposed by Horteneius,
who was appcanted dictator for the purpose ; and, a« usual, it
resulted in a complete Tictory fer the commons. The ^.o. 467.
Hortensian law established the goyemment of Borne ^^ 997.
on a thoroughly democratic fo(^ing. Nothing now remained
to the eomitia of the centuries but the election of the ccmqsuIs,
prsstoffs^ and censors. All the other magistrates were eleeted
by the eomitia of the tribes, where birth and wealth had no
privilege and only heads were counted. The entire kgislative
power^and even the decioon of such questions as peace or war,
fell into the hands of the democratic assembly.

To return to the extenial history. In B.c. 209 the third
Samnite war broke out, and it continued down to b.o. 290.
We now find the Samnites allied with the Qauls and the
Elinmranfl against Rome, and the legions of the republic have
to nuudi to the north, to the southland to the east, in quest of
these ubiquitous enemies. TheEoman annals report another
long series of martial eitptoits, victories, and triumphs. It will
suffice to specify one great battie, that of Sentinum, u.o. 4M.
in whii^ almost for the fiorst time, the Romans 6.c. 296.
bfiicted a severe defeat on the Gauls in the open field. Q.
Fabius Mazimus was again the leader of the Romans ; but the
chief honour of the day was due to his plebeian colleague,
Decius Mos, who^ emulating the self-devotion of his father in
the hat4e of Vesuvius, gallantly plunged into the ranks of the
enemy, and retrieved the fortune of the day by his noble
sacrifice. livy^s account of this battle is full of pM^uresque
detaiia, to which, however, we cannot in general give much
credit. In particular, his mention of the Gauls using scythed
chariots is suspicious. On no other occarion do we bear of
these machinee aa being used by the Gauls of Italy, and it
seems fhr more probable that livy has borrowed them &om
GsBsar^s authentic account of the battles with the Belgian
Gauls on the Rhine and in Britain, in which they undoubtedly
pUyed a conspicuous part. Another incident which throws
susficion o» the accuracy of livy's narrative is the iSftct that

^6 Roman Successes in ch. xrv.

the tomb of one of his heroes^ L. Cornelius Sdpio Barbatus,
still exists, and the inscription on it, which is well preserved,
makes no mention of those exploits on which livy lays the
greatest stress, while it records others which are lightly, if at
all, referred to by the historian.

The year B.C. 290 marks the close of the long conflict with
Samnium. After a last crushing defeat, the gallant Samnite
chief, Pontius Telesinus, was led captive to Rome, and cruelly
put to death in revenge for the disgrace he had inflicted on the
legions so long before at the Gaudine Forks.

Latium and Oampania, the country of the SabineS and of
the Samnites, were all now fully subjected to the dominion of
Borne. But northward the Etruscans were still hostile, and
the Gauls soon recovered their courage after the defeat of
Sentinum. To the south the Greek population of the coasts
were leagued with the native Lucanians and Bruttians and the
durvivors of the Samnite people against the conquering city.
Tarentum stood at the head of this loose array, which was too
feeble to cause any disquietude at Rome. On the border of the
Apennines the case was different. Arretium, by its fidelity
to Rome, drew on itself the attacks of other Etruscan forces,
aided by the restless Gauls. The Senones too, the same Gaulish
tribe which had sacked Rome a century before, now crossed
the Apennines in force. The prsetor Metellus, who opposed
u.c. 469, them, was left dead upon the field, with seven tri-
B.0. 285. ijunes and 13,000 legionaries. Fresh efforts had to
be made. The consul Dolabella, advancing through Picenum,
attacked the Gauls in the rear, and ravaged their settlements ;
while his colleague confronted their army, and defeated them
in a great battle on the shores of the same Yadimonian lake
which had witnessed a former triumph of Roman valour.
The Gauls now made terms, and the lii^ering hostility of the
Etruscans was crushed by Goruncanius in the concluding vic-
tory at Vulsinii.

Meanwhile the war progressed in the south. The Greek
city of Thurium implored the succour of the republic against
the banditti of Lucania. Not without difficulty, Fabricius
succeeded in raising the siege, and a Roman garrison was left
in charge of the city. The booty acquired in this campaign
was enormous. Not only the treasury, but the individual
soldiers were enriched, and a fatal thirst for plunder was gene-

cH. XIV. Etruria and Soutliern Italy, 77

rated which: soon turned the armies of Some into an organised
instrument of spoliation. The rich cities of Magna Grsecia
became alarmed, and Tarentmn, the wealthiest, the most
Inzurioos, and unfortunately the least warlike of them all,
determined to stand on her defence, or rather to trust her de-
fence to foreign auxiliaries.

OHAPTER XV.

THE WAR WITH PTEtRHlTS, B.C. 281-276.

The champion, under whose protection the Tarentines dared to
brave the hostility of Rome, was Pyrrhus, king of Epirus, a
cousin of Alexander the Great, and nephew to Alexander the
Epirote, whose descent upon Italy thirty years before has been
already mentioned. Inspired by his cousin's triumphant career
in the East, he doubtless dreamed of subduing a similar empire
in the West. Beyond the Greek settlements of Tarentum and
Orotona in Italy, lay the fertile plains of Oampania and Latium,
and the cities of Eteuria, the Egypt of the West, renowned for
their wealth and their artistic treasures. Beyond Sicily lay
the dominion of Oarthage, whose commercial activity enabled
her to rival the splendour of Tyre. Here were prizes enough
to tempt a bold adventurer ; but Home, little known and less
heeded by the Greeks, had to be reckoned with : and the event
proved that she was destined to be not their subject but their
master.

Not long after the occupation of Thurii, a Roman fleet,
endeavouring to intrude into the harbour of Tarentum, was
driven off with serious loss by the Tarentine navy. Negotia-
tions followed, and an embassy headed by Postumius was sent
to demand satisfaction for the injury. He was grossly insulted,
and his toga befouled by a wretched buffoon: holding up his
dress before the mocking Tarentines, ' This stain,' said he, ' shall
be washed out in your blood ! ' Returning to Rome he dis-
played the defiled garment in the senate house, but though
the offended dignity of Rome clearly demanded a declaration

The War tvitk Pyrrhus. cii. xtr.

cm XT. Tlu Wi^r wtih FytrhUi. 79

of war, ibe lenAto heoftatsd £te some chajs. Ib f«et ike poi^-
lion of Tarebtum wad imtteAlly so strong, that its capture
woald be no «Rsy matter. The B^nan eeaate eould Hot see
tfaeit w&j to acbieVe thalt objeet) ez^pt by the ud of theif
frieaids withui the hostile Walls^ aod the Boldes of Tarratum
were not iiidiafioe^ to betray th^ citj into thek hands. Whni
therefore the ^meiil ^SmiMtH Bfla%i>^ advanced with aA a^my
iBtotha TuentiiieteiritOiy^he still ofiS»ed thesaioeteiVMi^ peace
M had been piroposed by Pocrtioiiius. These oiB»s weie indeed
on the point of beilig agreed to, when the airrival of C^neae^ the
oonfidenliai mimsfler of F^iriiae, with promises of his lAaster^s
sapport^ n)^ the scheme. In the sprhig of b.o. 8d0y Pyrrhus
arrived with his army, consistiBg <^ 36^000 korse azfd foot
sddiefa^ and twenty elephimta He at once assnmed the
flnstaiy over the lasy aAd dissolute mob who had donght his
protection, and they were not long in wearying Of his authcmty.
Moreover, th^ aid which he had been led to eiqpeet from the
native Italian states was not fprthcmning ; and he had no
choice bat to accept the challenge of th6 Boman j^n6ral. The
armies met at Hleradeay on the banks of the SiriS) Mid thai^s
to hie elephants, and to tiie coiifiision produced b^ them among
the Roman ranks, Pyrrhus remained the victor. But though
the beaten anny loet 15,000 m«n^ the vonquerote left 13^000 on
the field : and such a loss they could very ill affsid. Well
migikt Pyrrhus eizdaim that ' sudi another victory would be
worse than a defbat' Still, he was now in a better positioft to
o^T teitas such as the Bomons migiit accept He demanded
only seeurity for his Italian illies, «nd Consented to return him-
self acvMS lj^ sea.

Oineas, whose eloqHience wae fortified with tich presents
for the senators and their wires, conveyed these offers to
Rome. OmoBB was anaaed to find hie gold returned upon his
hands, and his proposals of peace proudly declined. On his
return he described the Eoman senate as an assembly of kings,
and his account of the simple grandeur of the Boman people
wae very discouraging to tdre invader.

The Romans took a special pride in leooitiiting the incidents
Of thai war, in whidi tMir valour, their constancy, and above
1^ theb magnanimity baffled th« nkiU and i^ence of Greek
eiivQtettoB. Much no doubt "tey cdourefd^ and much th^
imagined; but the picture draVim by Ihe^ of the satioBiil

8o The War with Pyrrhus. ch. xv.

character lias lived, and has encircled the name of Rome with
a halo of enduring glory. Fabricius is remembered for his
cool self-possession when the invader tried to terrify him into
dishonourable terms by the close neighbourhood of his monstrous
elephants, and for the integrity which resisted all attempts to
bribe him. Indeed so great was the admiration and confidence
inspired by this spirit, superior both to fear and interest, that
Pyrrhus allowed his prisoners to visit Rome on parole to cele-
brate the Saturnalia, and they aU kept their word and returned
into captivity to a man. This indulgence, said another story, was
granted in return for the generosity of the senate in disclosing
to their enemy the treachery of his physician, who had oflfered to
poison him. When the two armies again met in battle, a Decius
announced that he would imitate the example of his glorious
ancestors by devoting himself to death for the success of the
Roman arms. Pyrrhus threatened to put him to death, if taken,
as a sorcerer in league with infernal powers. But this threat did
not deter him, and his self-devotion was not unrewarded. The
victory indeed remained with Pyrrhus, but, as before, it was not
less disastrous than a defeat. He now found his position in
Italy untenable, and leaving only a garrison in the citadel of
Tarentum, he betook himself to Sicily to aid the Greeks in that
island against the Carthaginians. There had been treaties of
amity and commerce between Rome and Carthage, and the latter
now proposed an alliance against their common enemy. Rome
stiffly refused, and during the three years that Pyrrhus was
engaged in Sicily, the legions reduced his allies on the conti-
nent. In B.C. 27^ he returned to Italy, and this time marched
towards Rome. Near Beneventum he fell in with the army
of Manius Ourius strongly posted on high ground. Pyrrhus
rashly tried to storm the Roman camp, but he was repulsed,
and his army cut to pieces ; even the elephants were turned to
his disadvantage, as the Romans had now learned to scare these
bulls of Lucania (as they derisively called them) with fiery
missiles.

Pyrrhus returned in utter discomfiture to his own country,
and soon afber perished in an obscure combat at Argos. He
left; a strong garrison in the citadel of Tarentum, and it was not
till three years later, B.C. 272, that the surrender of this force
and of the Tarentine fleets gave to ft^,J^^<^a?^jiii&,^ complete
mastery over the South of Italy. .

<M. XV. TAe D^^minmi of Rome* 8 1

TMi qf Italian raw in gfc^aj^ical order from North to South.

GftiOs . . In the plains of the Po, and in Umbria, on the

Adnatic coaat
Etroscims . . iEtruria px^per.
g ( Sabines \ (^Equians, Marsi, Peligni, Rutuli.)

^ c^ -J Lucaniana .
* iBruttians .

Yolaeiana I ^^"" ^^ Latium and hill country o/ Northern

Aurwicafts: I Campania.
Greek qties of M«gna Gxt^fM : -

Tarehtum, Croton, Sybaris, Locri, Thurii, Rhegium.
Greek cities of Campania:

Oumtt, Palapolia, Neapdis, Peeistam.

Central rifkgQB and vnUeyg of the Ap«min«8.

CHAPTER XVI.

THB KOMAK STST8M OF COLONISATION.

Ik the lealm of nature it is found that the mgour and vitality
of a plant are proportionate to the length of time it has taken
to arrive at maturity. The same principle holds true with
Kgnd to human institutions. Those that grow slow last long.
Tke Greeks under Alexander effected in ten years the con-
queail of the East. But this mushroom empire quickly fell to
pieceey and the Oriental populations suhjected to Hellenic
sw»y were never Hellenised. The Romans, on the other hand,
oaaiky aocompliahed the suhjugation of Italy after a struggle
of amaring pertinacity, which lasted 120 years; but Rome
succeeded in thoroughly Romanising her oonquests, and she
planted her laws, her language, her arts, her political usages,
from end to end of Ihe peninsula. When, as time rolled oa^
she extended her dominion beyond the sea, the same perma-
nenee and solidity dharacterised her new conquests, and even to
thiB day every oountry of Western Europe is to a great extent
moulded by her influence. We must now endeavour to set
Ibrth in what way the first important zone of Roman conquest
1PM consolidated and organised, so as to produce such gveat and

, , . ■ "^Digitized by VjW*.^^""

pawnanffiBt results.

82 The Roman Tribes. ch. xvi.

From early times the Roman people were resident partly in
the city, and partly in the surrounding country. Under the
Servian constitution there were four urban and twenty-six rural
tribes. After the Etruscan invasion imder Porsena, the Ager
Komanus was much diminished in extent, and the number of
rural tribes was reduced to sixteen. One more tribe was added
when the Claudian gens migrated with all its followers to
Rome, and was received into the body of citizens. Thus we
obtain the number of twenty-one, which may be called the
original tribes. As the republic extended the limits of its
dominion, portions of the conquered territory were added to
the Ager Romanus, and the people settled on these lands were
incorporated into new tribes, and so grafted into the body of
Roman citizens. Between the years 384-264 B.C., twelve new
tribes were formed in this way ; and some years later two more
were added, to include the population of the Sabine moimtains.
Thus in 264 B.C. we may reckon the Roman citizens as
enrolled in thirty-three trib^, and scattered over a tract of
country which included most of Latium, the southern part of
Etruria, the Volscian region, and the northern half of Cam-
pania. It will be seen at once that a -great preponderance of
power lay in the hands of those citizen^ who belonged to the
twenty-one original tribes, for it is not likely that their num-
bers more than equalled those of the outlying tribes, and yet
they exercised twenty-one votes against twelve only of these
latter. Another source of power to the urban and suburban
tribes was the rule that a Roman citizen could only exercise
his political privileges in the Roman Forum or the Campus
Martins ; and it follows from this that those who lived in or
near to Rome had much more influence on public affairs than
those who lived at a distance.

The Romans had no idea of representative government. A
citizen who wished to exercise his franchise must come himself
to Rome, and vote in person. Roman citizenship, however,
carried with it other rights besides that of political franchise;
and was highly prized by its possessors. These were — 1. Abso-
lute authority over wife and children, slaves and chattels;
2. A guarantee for Ms personal liberty, exemption from stripes,
and from capital punishment, except by the vote of the people
in the city, or under military authority in the camp ; 3. Access
to civil honours and employments ; 4. The possession of land

CH. XVI. The Citizenship of Rome, 83

and goods, subject only to the rules of Eoman law ; 6. Exemp-
tion from all taxes and tributes imposed at discretion on sub-
jects of the state.

The Roman citizens enrolled in these thirty-three tribes (at
a later period, 35), were the men who had conquered Italy ;
and when they came to organise their conquests they had no
intention of sharing their dominion with the subject races.
Rome remained the sovereign head of Italy. The Roman
senate wielded the entire power of the subject states, and
though the latter continued to exercise self-government to a
great extent, yet in their relations with foreign states they were
simply at the beck and call of Rome, and had no choice but to
obey her mandates. There was indeed one class of subjects
who were nominally citizens of the republic (cives sine suflBra-
gio), but this distinction was one little to be desired, and was
in reality a badge of servitude. The population of certain
towns, among which may be mentioned Caere, Anagnia, and
Capua, were reckoned in the Roman census, and were draughted
into the Roman legions. Their own laws were superseded,
and Roman law introduced in their place. A Roman prefect
administered this law and ruled over them. Thus they bore
all the burdens of Roman citizenship, yet they had no political
franchise, and retained scarcely any trace of their ancient
independence. Their position was altogether inferior to that
of the allied or confederated states, which occupied the greater
part of the peninsula. We must now consider the condition
of the allies and of the colonies.

The alliea were — 1st. The Latins, by which term must be
understood those ancient Latin communities, such as Tibur and
Praeneste, which had been allowed to retain their old laws and
institutions. They most of them enjoyed the privileges of
trade (conmiercium), and intermarriage (connubium), with the
citizens of Rome, and also the jus-Latii, which entitled such
of their citizens as had held the highest local magistracies to
rise to the dignity of Roman citizenship.

2nd. The Etruscans. The cities of Etruria were allowed
to maintain a nominal independence, but the Roman senate
constantiy supported the aristocratic faction in each city,
which in turn was steadfastiy devoted to the Roman
alliance.

drd« The Sabellian populations, the Sanmites, the Lucanians,
o2

84 The Allies.

OH. XVI.

the Apuli&Ds, the Bruttiaiis, and many ndiior tiibea. These
racee for the most part retained their old lands, their old laws,
and their old system of self-government. The oaly excepticm
being the^ in certain districts tracts of valuable land were
seized by the Boman senate and divided amoag the colonifitB
sent out by them to garrison the conquered countries.

4th. The Greek cities of the southern coasts wbioh retained
their old condition as free self-^-goveming communities, though
here and there, as in the case of Tarent^m, a Boamn ganison
was established in the dtadel to ensure their fidelity. These
allies were all bound to Rome by solemn covenants, any breach
of which she had the power and the will to punish. They paid
no tribute. Their internal government remained almost un*
altered in their own hands. The one condition of thdr aUianoe
was that in case of war they must fiimish a fixed quota of
troops to fight side by side with the Boman legions. The Greek
maritime cities were bound to furnish ships to the Boman fleet
instead of troops to the army. The fighting men fumiaked by
these numerous allies were, not at fizat organised in flepamte
legions, but were brigaded, so to speak, with the legions of
Boman citizens, in such proportions, that in each legion half
the infantry and two-thirds of the cavalry were allies, the
remainder being citizen soldiers of Bome. It remains to
consider the powerful instrument by which Baime bound
together these subject nations, and gradually imbued tibem
with her own spirit, till at length in laws, in language, and
in institutions they became united into one body police, with
herself. This instrument was colonisation. The colonies were
divided-into two elasses-r-lst, Boman ooktnies, and 2nd, Latin
colonies.

ThB Moman colomeSy such aa Sutrium, Yelitrse, Aixdea, were
formed in the early days of her success. They consisted of Beman
citizens, who, in exchange for yaluable granta of land, con-
sented to qtdt ih^ homes, and to found newjaettlements at a
distance. They carried with them all their rights and privileges
as Boman citizens, and the laws of Bome ; and if at any time
chance or business carried them to the capital, they were as
ftee to vote in the assemblies as if they had never left it. At
the same time, in their own communities, they were orgaaued
politically on the model of the parent state. They were rulod
by two annually elected magistorates, entitled duumTirs, cor-

CH. XVI. The Roman Colonies, 85

reepoBdiag to the consuls. They had their own popular
assemrUjr, sod their own senate, their own military chest, and
th^r own aarmed fSorce. In all respects their goyemment ^as
constituted so m to reproduce in miniature the polity of Borne.
The cities of Putec^i, Salemum, and Buxentum, may be men-
tioned as infitttaees of true Roman colonies, founded at a much
later peiiod.

After tile subjugation of Latium (b.Ow d38) i% be^me the
usual practiee to send out, not Boman but Latin colonies.
These ooHkBowimttes doneisted mainly of persons who were not
B(»iaB eitiaeaS) and if aay true Eomans chose to join them
they were required to Cast in their lot completely with their
new comrades, and to forfeit all right to vote or to become
magistrates in Rome. They were, howerer, petmitted to
retain the move priyate rights of citizenB enumerated above.

In the course of seventy years after the settlement of Latium
as many as twenty of tliese colonies were established in all
parts of Itidy. The prin(Mpid of these may be mentioned as
follows : —

LuceriA, Venusia, and Brundusium, in Apulia; Fregellee,
Literamna, in the Yolseian territory on the frontier of Samnium ;
(3ales uid Oosa, in Campania; Beneventum, in the Samnite
country; Ariminum, in the Gaulish region on the Adrialic
coast; Nanua, in Umbria; Pfestum, a maritime colony in
Lucania. Etruria was already sufficiently controlled by the
old Roman colonies of Sutrium and Nepe, and so were the
^Equians, the Rutulians, and the Volscians by similar establish-
ments at ^sula, at Ardea, and at Antiiun.

During the long period of seventy years covered by the
Samnite and Tarentine wars, the losses suffered in battle caused
a great drain upon the forces of the republic, but, as has been
shown, the roll of citizens was recruited by the admission of
new tribes at frequent intervals. On the whole, we may
estimate the number of citizens at the end of this period at
about 380,000, which represents a total population of 1,200,000
souls. Some of the new colonies were veiy populous; for
instance, Luceria is said to have been occupied by 14,000 meui
Beneventum, by 6,000, Venusia by 20,000 ; and tiieir establish-
ment would have caused a still further heavy drain upon the
Roman population, but for the timely device of planting these
new settlements with Latin allies who were Jiot citizenlihi

86 The Roman Roads. ch. xvi.

Besides the colonies^ there was yet another instrument
ftdopted by the Boman republic to consolidate its empire — the
practice of road-making. It was in the midst of the great
struggle with Samnium (b. c. 312) that the censor Appius con-
structed the road from Eome to Oapua^ which bore his name.
It was built in the most solid fashion^ and paved with large
square stones, some of which even now remain in their places.
Upon such a pavement the legions could march with all their
baggage with speed and certainty, in all weathers and in all
seasons. The value of such a means of communication soon
became apparent. Within fifty years the Valerian Way was
laid to Gorfinium, the Aurelian skirted the coast of Etruria, the
Flaminian penetrated the Apennines to Ariminum, and the
^milian continued this line to Placentia. This was but a first
instalment of the work, and as the Eoman empire expanded,
the Koman roads were carried through Gaul to the furthest
extremities of Spain and England. But they were so planned
as always to lead from the centre to the circumference. There
is an old proverb which says that all roads lead to Eome.
This was once literally true ; and it was of set purpose that
Eome neglected and discouraged the cross lines of communica-
tion. She always jealously guarded against free intercourse
between her diverse subjects, and even in the matter of road-
making she carried out her political motto, ^ Divide et impera.'

OHAPTEE XVII.

ROME BROUGHT PACE TO FACE WlTii CARTHAGE.

Five centuries had elapsed since the foundation of the Eoman
state : two centuries and a half since the constitution of the
republic. At the close of this period we see Eome firmly
established in the position of undisputed mistress of aU Italy.
For a space of more than a hundred years next ensuing the
conquest of the western world was held in debate between the
Eomans and the Carthaginians. The history of that struggle
is full of interest, for upon its result depended the fate of many
generations of the human race. The progress of mankind towards
a higher morality and an improved civilisation hung in the sc^e,

CH. XVII. The Dominion of Carthage, 87

Carthage was one of many offshoots from the Syrian city of
Tyre. Along the southern and western coasts of the Mediter-
ranean Sea stood a number of maritime colonies planted by
Phoenician rovers. They were at first independent of each
otlier and of the parent city. On land they did little more
than maintain their restricted territories against alien and bar-
barous neighbours. The sea was their element^ and upon it
their enterprising spirit led them into distant adventures, and
their genius for commerce rendered them rich and prosperous.
Among these trading communities Carthage had taken the
lead. She had united them into one powerful state, and, at
the same time, had brought under her own settled government
a large extent of territory stretching east and west along the
African shore, and as far inland as the limit of the desert
would permit. But her chief resources were derived from her
commercial relations with trading ports on almost every coast
of the Mediterranean. The sea was the free highway of a
hundred millions of people, who were kept apart by the want
of roads no less than by political jealousies. The Carthaginians
made themselves the common carriers of this vast population.
With the Greeks, the Phoenicians, and the Egyptians, their
relations were strictly commercial, and for a long time they
kept themselves free from political complications with any other
people. Their trading stations studded the coasts of Africa,
Spain, Sardinia, and Corsica. They traded with the Phocseans
of Massilia (Marseilles), and through them with the teeming
population of Gkiul. They worked the iron mines of Hva
(Mba), the silver mines of the Balearic Isles, and the gold
mines of Spain. They traded with the Britons for tin, and
sailed as far as Jutland in quest of amber. Wherever they
found it necessary, they protected their establi^hments by forts,
which they manned with hired soldiers. These mercenary
forces consisted of Libyans and Moors from Africa, of Spaniards,
of Gauls, of Greeks, and even of Italians. They were highly
paid and their families well cared for, by which means they
were attached to the service, and when sent abroad, left always
hostages behind them. Their officers were the young scions of
that proud and wealthy aristocracy which for centuries main-
tained its hold on the government of Carthage, and whose
power was never shaken by a breath of revolution.

The wealth and feebleness of the Gre^itsettlements in Sicily

88 Rome brought face to facehmtk Carthage, ch. km

#rdttempt^d tht» Oftrflia^nifuis to dnt^rtain thoughts o^ddtablish-
iD]^ a foreign eitapfV^, and tMs fithfe step eventually led to tiieir
ruin. Bom6 a&d Oart&n^ had long biden Wal^&ing dd)S aildtltdf
witk j^dtitty, eaeh perhaps aMid Mb ptovofce the feS6ilte6nt
of the oth»r. Thtt attd)cfc of Pyrrhtri on tiiB Homaiis de^tfi to
offer a -favouraWd opportioaii^ td the Oarthaginiand. I'liey
seiz€d it and ohtiiiii^d a ^oti% ift th^ island, hut iti &o doing
ttrey gave Jro*f of aii AmHtioB which the ilomatiis #6idd not
tolerate so iv&ar their owb boi^r». Borne ^as quicMy on the
alert to Arrest the schemes of her rival, ihd to protect the
victHtts whoiii shift YtbA prematurely menac^.

Before enteinng upon the particular of the great strug^iid
between Eome aMd Carthage) it Mil be wiell to remind the
reader that from this epoch we obtain for the fii^st tinie the
gruidaiiice of m historian of gbod feith, who lived near enougb
ia time to ttie events which he relates to haVe the means of
rerifyitig them Mth some accuracy. Polybius, our chief autho-
rity for the iniftideBts of the Punic wars, Was bom within fifey
years of their commeireement, and enjoyed frequent oppor-
tunities of commuEnicating with many of the chief actors in them.
He "^v^as an educated Gr^ek writer, who knew the difference
betweett faithful historical writing and the mere collecting of
legehdi^y tales. He was ac6ustomed to seek and to sift the
evidence upon whieh he founded his rianrtitive : he was also
truthful and impartial, and what he tolld us of his own know-
ledge W6 mAy eonfidently abeept as a fact. Moreover, he passed
many years as a h^stf^e at Home, and his intimacy with the
yotinger Scipio |«wiufed him acctess to the oftcial documents
of An earlier tiijae. His history was probably Written about a
cetttury after the beginmng of the first Punic war.

OHAPTEB XVin.

THE FIRST PUiaC WAS, b!c. 264-841.

FAilnt reports of Pyrrhus that on quitting the shores of ^cily
he exclaimed, ' What an arena do we leave for the Carthaginians
and the Romans to contend on ! ' The struggle for the domimon
of the trllatei^ island was in truth immment between these

CH. xvni. Tfa Fif^ Pn^ IVaK 89

tw« potrek«; and wilfeiit tlUd isladd hy two other powen,
iraither of itmm vtyon^ 0)K>bgi t6 stAfid albtte, «md thelrefore
hoA of ti^m under thtt M^ceesity f)f cfaoosiBg with Whieh of
the two ^fWKter eoftibatiafits h Wo^d ^erre.

Tke OfMan ^(^eifites of Measan^^ 8yra«\)9e, Oatana, £g«ita.
pMMmidl) nad LUyteiMn^ ibl*ttied a loofie fsdenitbii which had
fcft CMltoi^ldB c(mt»olled the island^ hut which had now neither
t^ ttt«Djg^ nor the nerte t& defend itself against a powerM
en^AMMl en^asiy. T^eir riehes And Ibxury presented many
oliSeets of cvi^^ly td a stranget^ and the Ourthtginiond had
lon^ VMb assiailillg atld ^aderniining their position by intrigue
©v*& fflore than hy fojtee. Their recourse to PyrrhuB tor a5d
iMugtkt the Hematts int^ the fields and placed them between
two firee. Besides tbe Gnseks there were Italians in Sicily,
bands of mei^nary soldiers whb had thrust themselves into
some of the strong plaees on the coast. One of these, a troop
of Mamertmes ffom Bfutttum, had seized upon the citadd of
Messtffta, the dibet important j^sce in all Sicily as the port of
piMisagie from CMabria. llie Romans had shortly before oyer-
come and destroyed just such a band of adventtireiB who hAd
fie&ipkA Rhegium, on the opposite shore.

They wert ndw incited by the MamertitoeB to take the con-
traiy part, and sttpport these brigands in their lawless occupa-
tion ^ Messafflt. The senate h^itated to adopt a policy so
flagrantly inconastent. But th^ assembly of the tribes voted
in f3»rour of their new clients : nb tribune opposed his teto, and
the ^etihUf perhaps not unwillingly, consented. Some wad Well
aware that if she wished to cidn(]iuer Sicily, Messana w&s the
tery iey 6( the position ; the most convenient place in the
whole island for landing her troops. It was decreed that a
military fbrCe should be sent to the assistance of u.c. 490,
Ihe Mamertines, who were then threatened by ffiero, ^.c. iw.
Mng of SyiacasiB) and little reassured by the treacherous ovei^
tmies of fbe Carthaginians to secure l^em against him.

One of the tribunes, 0. Claudius, crossed over in a small
boat, and conveyed the assurance of assistance to follow ; but
the Carthaginian and Syracusan fleets held command of the
sea, and the Romans, being deficient in naval force, were baffled
in theiir attempts to cross. Hanno, the CafthaginJan admiral,
iNMBtfiilly declared that he would no longet suffer them to
XB^^tfy witti the sea, evsn so much as to wash their hands in

90 Tlte First Punk War. ' ch. xvm.

it. The treacheiy of some of the Mamertmes had delivered
the citadel into his hands, and he incautiously came down from
his stronghold to arrange terms of peace with the tribune
Claudius. The latter audaciously seized his person, and he
engaged to surrender the citadel as the price of his release. A
band of Eomans was admitted, and from that moment Messana
passed under the dominion of Rome. The Carthaginians
punished their commander by death on the cross, and massacred
all the Italian mercenaries in their army for fear of another
betrayal. They also laid siege to the town, but failed to prevent
the Romans from carrying over sufficient troops to nudntain
their position there. At last the consuls, having collected
35,000 men on Sicilian ground, were enabled to attack and
disperse the besieging forces, and in the course of the following
year as many as sixty-seven cities fell into their hands. The
Carthaginians retired to Africa, and Hiero of Syracuse, dis-
mayed at the success of the Romans, hastened to make peace
with them. His country thus escaped the ravages of war, and
the Romans profited largely by his alliance, drawing from him
ample supplies for their army.

In B.C. 262, the consuls attacked Agrigentum, where the
Carthaginian Hannibal was stationed with a small force of
mercenaries, and it was only after a seven months' siege, and a
bloody victory over a relieving army, that they captured it.
The Carthaginians were now falling short of money, and theii
mercenaries clamouring for their pay caused them much alarm.
On one occasion they betrayed 4,000 of these Gaulish soldiers
into a Roman ambuscade simply to be rid of them. The
Romans proudly remarked that their soldiers, though also in
arrears of pay, fought loyally for their coimtry and their
standards. At the end of the third year of the war, Rome
had left; to Carthage no more than a few maritime ports in the
island ; but at sea Carthage was still supreme, her navy ravaged
some of the coasts of Italy and threatened all, and was often
able to harass the Roman armies by intercepting the supplies
destined for them. It seems that at this time the Romans
were not only destitute of war vessels, but devoid also of the
knowledge required for their construction. It was not till
chance threw upon the coasts of Latium a Carthaginian qidn-
quireme that they obtained a model upon which to work. Then,
indeed, the activity displayed by the republic was marreUous.

CH. xviii. The Naval Victory of Mylce, gy

In the short space of two months^ forests were cut down, timbers
sawn^ and not fewer than a hundred galleys of large size and
adequate solidity constructed. While the ships were building,
thousands of landsmen from the inland towns and yillages of
Italy, and proletarians of the lowest class from Rome, were set
to' work to practise rowing upon benches on the dry land.
These hastily trained levies were no match in nautical
manoeuvring for the skilled mariners of Carthage ; they were
therefore instructed to grapple and board the enemy rather
than to attempt to outsail him or to charge him with the beaks
of their vessels. For this purpose they were provided with
solid frames of timber, which were to be dropped upon his deck
and used as drawbridges, so that the contest might be decided
by a hand-to-hand encounter between the crews. The result
of these tactics was, that in the first great naval engagement
between the two rivals, the Carthaginians were overpowered
and chased to Sardinia, with the loss of half their u.c. 4d4,
fleet and many thousands of killed and woimded. ®-.^- '^^'
Their leader, on landing, was seized and crucified by his own
mercenaries. Such was the victory of MylsB, the first naval
triumph of the Bomans, brilliant in itself and an encouraging
presage of their success in the future. From that time foiv
ward, the Bomans never feared to meet the Carthaginians at
sea, Uiough the fortune of war was by no means invariably on
their side, the balance of victory being held pretty evenly between
the two nations. Meanwhile the exultation at Rome was
unbounded. A triumph was voted to the admiral Duilius ; a
column was erected in the Forum to commemorate his achieve-
ment ; and it was decreed that he should never go through the
city at night without a procession of torch-bearers to illuminate
his passage.

So complete was the victory that the Romans could afibrd
to divide their forces; and while one portion was sent to
complete the destruction of the enemy's fleet and to commence
the conquest of Sardinia and Corsica, the other was directed
upon Sicily to prosecute the war there. This force only
escaped a great disaster through the gallantry of the tribune
Oalpumius, who covered their retreat from an ambuscade by
the sacrifice of himself and a brave band of 300 followers.

The war continued in Sicily without decided success on
ather side^ till at len^h the Cftrthaginians were driven to the

92 Regulus invades Africa, ch. xviii.

westetn etttemity of the islaad, where they fortified themselves
strongly in I)re|)anuin and Lilybeeum.

An enormoitt aTmament was now fitted oat by tlbDaie, and
^nt, under the command of Manlius Vulso and Atmus Regrulus^
to at«w5k Oirthage itself. This array of 330 vessels, 100,000
8attdr8,«nd 40,000 tegionaties, was encountered off the southern
coftst of Sicily by an equal, if not superior, force. The Cartha-
ginians were Worsted, and lost mote than 100 of their ships, the
remainder escaping to Africa, whither they were hotly pursued
by the victorious Bomans. It is difficult to attach credit to the
numbers here stated, as they are five times as great as those
engaged at Tra^dgar.

A^ca had long been to the Bomans a land of monsters
and imaginary terrors. On landing upon its shores they were
much alarmed, and hesitated to advance, thus giving time to
the Carthaginians to prepare their d^ence. One story popular
at B<Ai!e asserted that the invading army was detained on the
banks of the ifver Bagrada by the venomous breath of a mighty
serpent 180 feet long. After securing his means of supply and
retreat, Begulus did advance, and defeated the enemy in various
encounters, capturing luany prisoneirs and a vast amount of
plunder. The senate, elated and oveiw;onfident at his success,
then recalled his colleague and on&-half of the legions. With
his diminished ft>rce Begulus succeeded in taking Tunes, kilChg
and capturing mlany thousands of his opponents. But now the
Carthaginians called to their aid Xanthippus, a Spartan general
of great skill and courage. Under his command, and aided,
as the Bomans declared, by a mighty host of elephants, they
inflicted a great defeat upon the invaders. Carthage was saved,
v.c. 499, ftnd Begulus and a large part of his army made pri-
B.C. 255. soners. The stoiy of Begulus b too picturesque and
too wdl known to be passed over in silence, however good
reasons there may be for doubting the truth of it.

It is related that five years after his capture the Cartha-
^nians, being anxious to arrange terms of peace and an ex-
change of prisoners, despatehed an embassy to Borne to ne-
gotiate. With it ^ey sent Begulus, whom they bound on
pd^(^ to return to captivity if their offers were rejected. The
senate was well inclined to accept the proposed teims, but, to
the stdrprise and admiration of all, Begulus exhorted them not
to da io> beRC^us6 he tfcotiglit sttch a'^Com^ would be to the

CH. xviii. The First Puim fVar. 93

adnaitage c^f Oarthnge. Besistiqg tbe eBtreatiM. of 143 friends,
he revised to break Mt parole ; he lefusefL even ta eater the
city, or 'to yiait his wife and ehildren. Fixisig hia eyes siemlj
on the ground, he took has way baek into captivity ; and the
Garthagioiaiis^ wpaoved by his hrave and hoaomahle conduct,
wreaked th^ veogeance upon him by a series of horrible tor-
tures which ended only with his death. The story proceeds
to reUte how two noble Carthaginians were handed over to
the widow of Be^j^us, who tortured them to death with a
barbaiity quite equal to that by which her husband had perished.
It is not inc^redible that the Carthaginians, who were given to
human sacrifices and other bloody rites, may have been guilty
at times of great cruelty to their Roman prisoners ; but this
particular story is not supported by the evidence of the most
trustworthy historians.

The Bomans were deeply moved by the defeat of their
African expedition, and, despite another naval victory, they
recalled the legions to Italy. Presently after, they suifeied
another ^;ieat disaster, when 270 of their ships were dashed to
pieces in a storm on the Sicilian coast. Carthage, taking
courage from her rival's misfortune, despatched a new fieet
vnth a new army and 140 elephants to recommence the war in
Sicily. Put the senate was diligent also, and in the course of
three months the consuls, one of whom was Cn. Cornelius
Scipio, embarked with their l^ons on a freshly constructed
'fleet of 220 galleys, and, appearing unexpectedly before Pa-
normus, succeeded in reducing that important city. In the
next year the Roman fleet made a plundering expedition to
the African coast, and on its return was again shattered by a
tempest off the coast of Lucania. Discouraged by these re-
peated losses at sea, the senate determined to maintain only
such a fleet as would suffice to protect the shores of Italy and
the communications with the army in Sicily. The legions
quartered there seem to have felt themselves abandoned \ and
it was only by the severest measures that disc^line could
be enforced among them. When, however, the Carthagioian
Hasdrubal ventured to attack them in Panormus, they fought
with their wonted bravery under the coimnand of C^ciUus
Metellus. The African elephants were put to flight, 17.0. ao4,
and ^lyarried confusion among the Carthaginian host ; ^-c* ^^P*
while the Romans, attacking them in flank, cooipletely routed

94 The First Punic War. ch. xviii.

them. A hundred elephants, captured and conveyed to Rome,
were exposed to be liunted hy the populace in the circus, and
the Eomans at last made up their minds that these monsters
were not really formidable adversaries.

This signal defeat disposed the Carthaginians to wish for
peace, and led to the despatch of that embassy, already men-
tioned, of which Regulus formed part.

Failing in this attempt, and being too exhausted to con-
tinue the struggle in the open field, the Carthaginians retired
to their fortresses of LilybsBum and Drepanum, at the western
extremity of the island. In the autumn of the year 250 B.C.
the Romans undertook the siege of LilybsBum with an immense
fleet and army. For many months the attack was carried on
with all the engineering devices known to the ancients ; but
the defence was spirited and successful. The Carthaginian
fleet, too, proved its superiority at sea, and sailed in immolested
to relieve the beleaguered fortress. At length, despairing of
success, the Romans converted the attack into a blockade,
which, however ineffectual, was maintained till the termination
of the war nine years later, when the place was at last ceded
to Rome under the conditions of peace. In 249 B.c. the consul
Claudius was sent to the seat of war with supplies and re-
inforcements. Soon after his arrival he sought out the Car^
thaginian fleet, which was moored in the neighbouring port of
Drepanum; but he was easily outmanoeuvred by Adherbal,
the Punic admiral, and of his fleet of 210 ships only 30 escaped.
Twenty thousand Roman legionaries were made prisoners, and
many more perished in the battle or by drowning. Such a
defeat had not been suffered by Rome since the day of the
AUia.

It is noteworthy that the Romans chose to attribute this
disaster to the impiety of their commander. A story was told,
and repeated in more enlightened times, to the effect that on
the morning of the battle of Drepanum, when the omens were
consulted, Claudius was informed that the sacred chickens
refused to eat. ^ Let them drink,' he profanely exclaimed, and,
casting them into the sea, he advanced to meet the destruction
with which the gods did not delay to punish his wickedness.

About the same time his colleague Junius, while leading
a convoy of provision ships to the relief of the besiegers at
LilybsBum, si^Fered shipwreck off Oamarina, and 800 sluploads
of provisions went to the bottom.

CH. XVIII. The First Punic War, 95

During the six years that followed the Eomans made no
attempt to recover the empire of the sea. The Carthaginian
Hamilcar; snmamed Barcas^ or the lightnings roved the seas
unopposed, and led his mercenaries on pltmdering expeditions
all along the coasts of Sicily and Southern Italy. After a
while the Oarthaginian fleets returned to the peaceful ways of
commerce^ and then, in B.C. 242, the senate seized the oppor-
tunity, constructed and equipped a fleet of 200 galleys, and
sent it^ imder the command of Lutatius Catulus, to challenge
the enemy off Drepanum. Here he remained practising Ms
crews and his pilote for nearly a year, and at length, in the
spring of B.C. 241, he encountered the enemy off the j^gates
InsulflB, and won a splendid victory over them. This victory
decided the war. Oajrthage. was exhausted, and obliged to sue
for peace. The long-contested fortresses of LilybsBum and
Drepanum were ceded at last to Eome, but Hamilcar and his
brave garrison were allowed to march out with the honours of
war. Carthage also undertook to respect the independence of
Hiero and the other Greeks in Sicily, to give up idl that she
had acquired in that island, to restore her prisoners, and to pay
to Home a considerable indemnity. So ended the first Punic
war, after a struggle of twenty-four years' duration, u.c. 678,
The losses on both sides had been enormous ; those ^-c- 241.
of Rome were the heaviest. But at the cost of these sacrifices
she had established her position as a great naval power, and
had made her arm felt &r beyond the limits of Italy. Her
bravery, her skill, and her fortitude thus tried and ap-
proved, seemed to mark her out already for the conquest of
the world.

CHAPTER XIX.

BOHAK CONQirESTB IN THE CISALFINB AND IN THE ISIANBB.
CABTHAQINIAN CONQUESTS IN SPAIN.

It. may seem surpriang that, throughout the long and exhausting
contest just described, the Roman state was never once attacked,
or even harassed, by the many Italian tribes whom she had but
lately deprived of their independence. This immunity was, how-

9^ Raman CoHqutsts in the ch. xix.

ever^ the fruit of her ow« good polusy. The oeii|uered nstioDS
of Itftly soon began to feel the iTnineme advantftge of living at
peace among ihexnselTes as membeis of one gieat confederation.
MorMfveir, tb£ enteirpriaing and warlike spirits among them
Ibond an amjile outilet foor theb notarttal energy in the jwnks of
. the Soman kgiona. Here they were admitted to fight as alHes
side hy aide with their conquerors, and to share not only the
privation% hut also the pay, the plunder, and the honours of
the repubtiean soldieia. Under such conditions their sym-
pathies wore soon strongly enlisted in the cause of Borne. It
was far otherwiae with Oarthage. No bond of union existed
between the great eomm^cial city and her aUies and meroe*
naries, but the pay which she ofibred or the fear whi<^ she
inspired.' Defeated and bankrupt as she was at the end of the
first Punic war, she soon had to ^Eu^e still atemer troubles.

The meioenaries returning firom Sicily found that their
wages, long over due, could not be paid. They mutinied
wholesale, and were quickly joined by 70,000 Libyans and
Numidians. All North Africa was in a blase, and Oarthage
must bestir heiself if she would escape destruction. Uqder the
guidance of Hamilcar Barcas a new citizen aimy was enlisted
and oigamsed, with the aid of a few meKenary battalions who
remiuned faithfrd. In the course of three years of cruel and
horrible warfiure the rising was put down, and Carthage restored
to bar position as queen of Africa. But, as 'the piice-of this
salvation, her government su£g^red a great political change.
The popular party in arms, with BJamilcar Barcas at its head,
had retrieved the fortunes of the state. They now claimed a
voice in its government, and the old aristocracy had no option
but to submit to their demands.

The first Punic war had lasted twenty-four years, and a
period of equal length, bating one year only, elapsed before the
two nations came again into coUiaion. The interval was em-
ployed by both of them in largely extending thdr dominions.
The Romans first consolidated ^oUy into a pvovince. Suich
was the name applied by them to a conquered region beyond
the limits of Italy ; and Sicily was the first of the many pro-
vinces, which, at a later date, made up the vast extent of the
Boman empire. The little kingdom of the Syracusan Hieio
was permitted to retain a nominal independence, and so were
Messina and some other cities whicli had done'goMl lemee to

CH. XIX. Cisalpine and in tJu Islands. 97

the republic. In return they were required to bind tbemselTes
to a s^ct alliance with Home.

The major part of the island was placed under the govern-
ment of a Eoman officer, who bore the title of praetor, and the
natives were compelled to surrender large tracts of land to
Roman proprietors, and to pay a yearly tithe of com and other^
produce. The natives were prohibited from buyiug land. They
might sell, and doubtless many of them, impoverished by the
war, were eager to do so, but lie purchasers must be Romans.
In this way a large portion of this fertile island became the
property of the conquering race.

When the revolt of the Carthaginian mercenaries took place
in Africa, a similar outbreak occurred among the troops
stationed in Sardinia. Rome forbade Oarthage, by a threat of
instant war, to interfere. She, however, stepped in herself,
and after some hard fighting reduced that island and Corsica
to the condition of a conquered province. A praetor was ap-
pointed to administer the government, and the unfortunate
natives were deported in large numbers and sold in the slave-
markets of Rome.

The eastern shores of the Adriatic, indented by winding
bays and sheltered by cotmtless islands, had long been the nest
of a swarm of pirates, who not only destroyed the commerce of
those seas, but endangered the Roman territories on the Adri-
atic coast. These Dlyrian buccaneers, under their queen Teuta,
had of late become over bold. Corcyra had fallen under their
dominion. Not a few Greek cities on the coast had been
plundered, and others were threatened with destruction by these
barbarians. In the year 229 B.C. Rome determined to put them
down. One campaign sufficed, and not only were the Illyrians
reduced within their proper limits, but Corcyra was added to the
territories of the republic, and an alliance, amounting almost to
a protectorate, was concluded with the numerous Greek towns
along the coast. The people of Hellas were overjoyed at being
relieved from such savage neighbours. The Romans were
hailed as a race of heroes, and solemnly invited by u.c. 626,
Corinth to take part in the Isthmian games, while »c- 228.
at Athens they were declared to be honorary citizens and ad-
mitted to the Eleusinian mysteries.

The next great step in advance made by the Roman power
was the conquest of tiie whole Gaulish territory between her

Raman Conquests in the ch. xix.

CH. XIX. Cisalpine and in the Islands, 99

own northern frontier and tke Alps. Hitherto her meet ad-
Tanced positions had been Ariminiini on the upper and Luca
on the lower coast. The whole valley of the Po and the
northern slopes of the Apennines were still in the power of her
long-dreaded enemies the Gauls. Most fortunately for Rome,
during her protracted contest with Carthage these foes had
been divided among themselves.

The Boii and Senones, who were nearest to the Etruscan
and Umbrian frontier, were harassed and pressed upon by the
poorer tribes of the Genomani, the Insubres, and the Ligurians.
These Gauls now made common cause together, and, aided by
numerous hordes from beyond the Alps, gathered up their
strength for a fresh assault upon the wealthy regions of the
Bouth. The Eomans were in consternation. The Gapitol had
been struck by lightning. The SybiUine books, on being con-
sulted, declared that danger was to be apprehended from the
Gauls. Superstitious terrors filled the people vnth alarm, and
these were only allayed by the barbarous sacrifice of two Gauls,
a man and a woman, and two Greeks, who were buried alive in
the centre of the city.

But no efforts were spared to ward off the impending
calamity by energy and prudence. A 'Gallic tumult' was
proclaimed, and all the citizens were called to arms. Legions
were enrolled and sent to the front. Every city was required
to strengthen its defences and to lay in stores of arms and
provisions. Above all, the senate, vrith its usual craft, engaged
the Genomani and Veneti to act in the rear of the Gauls and
threaten their territories if they should venture to advance into
Italy. The force of the invaders was thus crippled at the
outset, and they were unable to pour into the Roman territory
more than 60,000 foot and 20,000 horse, a number with which
the Romans, with 350,000 men capable of bearing arms, might
well be able to cope.

The Gauls, however, advanced undismayed, and pushing
adroitly between two opposing armies, crossed the Apennines,
and descended into the valley of the Amo. The first Roman
force which closed with them was repulsed, and only saved
from destruction by the opportune arrival of a second. Evading
the pursuit of the combined armies, the Gauls retreated with
their booty, but unexpectedly found themselves confronted,
near the mouth of the Amo, by a third Roman army, which

too Roman Conquests in the ch. xix.

had just landed at Pisa on its letnm from Sardinia. Thus
U.C.529, surrounded, the invaders were completely over-
B.0. 225. powered. One of the consuls, 0. Regulus, fell in the
hattle; the other, ^milius, pushed across the frontier and
carried the war into the enemy's country. There it continued
to rage for three years, as the Gauls fought gallantly in defence
of their homes.

One of the heroes of this war was Flaminius, a leader of the
popular party which hegan now to form a strong opposition to
the ruling aristocracy of the city. He was a favourite with
the people on account of an assignment of lands he had made
them in the neighbourhood of Ariminum. His opposition to
the nohles was evinced hy the contempt with which he cast
aside the tranmiels of augury. On one occasion the senate, in
their jealousy, sent letters warning him agamst an engagement
because the omens were unfavourable. Not till he had fought
and won would he open the letters, and then he quietly re-
marked that it was too late to act upon them. At the end of
a successful campaign he demanded a triiunph, and when the
senate refused it, the people interfered and decreed him full
n.c.53i, honours by a vote in their assembly. Flaminius
B.C. 223. secured for himself more solid and enduring honour,
as the builder of the great Flaminian Way, the direct road from
Home to the Gallic frontier near Ariminum. This remained
for many centuries the great highway of the legions from Home
to the north, and by means of it the republic could strike at
any moment a sudden blow at her deadliest enemy.

Another hero of this war, indeed the general under whose
command the conquest of the Cisalpine was effected, was M.
Claudius Marcellus, consul in the year B.C. 222. He won a
brilliant victory at Clastidium, and, in conjunction with his
colleague Calvus Scipio, captured Mediolanum (Milan), the
most important station of the Gkiuls beyond the Po. But the
especial glory of the great Marcellus was derived from his
slaying of the Gaulish king Viridomarus in personal combat.
Twice only in the history of Rome had such an exploit been
'performed, by Romulus, and by Tullus Hostilius. Marcellus,
for the third and last time in the history of the city, as leader
of a Roman army, slew with his own hand the leader of the
enemy, and dedicated his armour, the spolia opima. the prize
of prizes, to Jupiter Feretrius in the Capitol. ^ "^ ^^'^

CH. XIX. Cisalpine and in the Islands^ lOI

Marcelliis gained a triumph over the Gaols and Germans \
he was five times consul^ and rendered many signal services ;
but it is for his capture and dedication of the spolia opima that
Virgil specially celebrates him.

The conquest of the Cisalpine was consolidated by carrying
on- the military road from Ariminum to the foot of the Alps,
and planting colonies at Cremona and Placentia, In the fol-
lowing year the Roman eagles were carried into the peninstda
of Istria^ and access by land was thereby secured into the re-
.gions beyond the Adriatic. The empire of Rome was marching
• onwards with the steps of a giant. At the close of the first
Punic war the Roman senate had declared that they were at
peace with all the world, and that the temple of Janus should
be shut We have seen how that in Sardinia, in Illyria, and
in Cisalpine Gaul the arms of Rome had been actively em-
ployed during the next twenty years ; but the time has now
come when we must turn our attention once more towards
the south and west to understand the circumstances which
were preparing the next and most terrible storm of war which
was soon to burst over the Roman state.

Affcer the subjugation of the revolted mercenaries had been
completed, the veteran Hamilcar stood at the head of the Car-
thftginiftTi state ; but finding himself thwarted by the aristocratic
faction under the leadership of Hanno, he turned his energies
in the direction of Spain, which he undertook to reduce under
the sway of Carthage. Hispania or Iberia, with its fertile soil,
its rich gold mines, and its hardy population, was a prize
worthy to be contested by the greatest of nations. The con-
queror of such a country would secure great store of the pre-
cious metals, large openings for conunerce^ and an inexhaustible
supply of willing and vigorous recruits.

The Carthaginian senate, accustomed to regard commerce
rather than arms as the mainstay of their national greatness,
looked with jealous apprehension on the warlike schemes of
their great captain. But Hamilcar, having once extorted per-
mission to wage his warfare in Spain, was at no loss to make
the war self-maintaining.

By mingling in the politics of the natives, and taking the
part of one tribe against another, he advanced his power step
by step over large portions of their territory. He used the
booty thus acquired to bribe his adversaries at home, and pro-

I02 Carthaginian Conquests in Spain, ch. xix.

bably the mass of his countrymen were soon dazzled by the
splendour of the results he obtained for them. When after
some years of successful aggressions Hamilcar was slain in
Lusitania, the popular party in Carthage insisted on the appoint-
ment of his son-in-law, Hasdrubal, to complete his under-
takings.

The soldier was succeeded in this case by the statesman.
The wise policy of Hasdrubal conciliated the native tribes and
won the confidence of their chiefs. His influence was exerted
to pacify their intestine feuds, and to weld them into a strong
and united confederacy imder the direction of his own republic.
In the excellent port of New Carthage, or Oarthagena, conve-
niently near to the Punic coast, he established a strong base
for future operations. The Romans took alarm, and, under a
threat of inunediate war, compelled him to enter into a com-
pact not to extend his conquests beyond the line of the Ebro.
They professed to interfere in the interest of the Massalians,
with whom they had formed an alli^ce as a check on the
Transalpine Gauls. They had also entered into friendly rela-
tions with the people of Saguntum, who dwelt to the south of
the Ebro. Having taken these precautions, and appealing to
the faith of their treaty with Carthage, which bound both
parties mutually not to molest each other's allies, they awaited
the course of events with renewed confidence.

In the year B.C. 221, Hasdrubal perished by the hand of a
Gaulish slave in revenge for the slaying of his master. The
armies of Carthage in Spain at once acclaimed Hannibal, the
son of Hamilcar, as their commander. This famous general
was then twenty-six years of age. His childhood and youth
had been ^ spent in the camp, where he had learnt the art of
war from his father, and that of government from his brother-
in-law. When he was but nine years old he witnessed the
solemn sacrifice ofiered by his father Hamilcar for the success
of the enterprise which he was on the point of launching
against Spain. At the close of the ceremony the father bade
his child devote himself to the service of his country by swear-
ing with his hand on the altar never to be the friend of the
Eomans. The oath was taken, and the young Hannibal,
keenly sensible of its ob%ation, cherished, through all the
trials of his Iberian campaigns, the resolution to avenge some
day on Home the shame and injuries of Carthage. In the

CH. XIX. Hannibal takes Command. 103

year 219, two years after Hannibal assumed the command in
Spain, news arrived in Home that he was threatening Sagun-
tum. The consuls, who were just entering upon the final con-
quest of Ulyria, did not change the destination of their armies,
but sent a message to Hannibal reminding him of the treaty, and
sternly forbidding him to meddle with the allies of Home.

The young hero replied to the ambassadors in a defiant
tone, and proceeded with his designs against Saguntum. The
inhabitants, nerved perhaps by the hope of aid from Rome .which
never reached them, made a glorious defence, and when all
their resources were exhausted, perished amid the conflagration
of their city kindled by their own desperation.

The republic of Carthage, an older foundation than that of
Home, had advanced a hundred years beyond its rival in poli-
tical development. The old Punic aristocracy had for centuries
ruled the commonwealth with definite alms and consistent
policy. The instrument of their power was the great merce-
nary army, and when this collapsed, the control of public
afiairs passed in a great measure into the hands of the popular
faction. It might have been thought that this transfer of
power would lead to the infusion of new life and vigour into
the government of Carthage ; but in efiect it quickly resulted
in a surrender of the forces of the state into the hands of her
military leaders. It was no longer at Old Carthage, in the
councils of the senate, or even the assemblies of the people,
that her policy was to be determined, but rather at New Car^
thage, in the tent of her ablest captain, swayed perhaps himself
by the demands of officers and soldiers. When the senate
accepted the nomination of Hannibal by the army in Spain«
it gave itself a chief and submitted its policy to his dictation.
Its fate was the same as that which befeU the Koman fenite a
century later, when the long dominant aristocracy was con-
strained, imder the pressure of an armed democracy, to foUow
the course prescribed by the leaders of its legions in the pro-
vinces. Home, it is true, possessed many provinces and many
generals, and might hope to play off one of these against
another, and so retain substantial power in her own hands. Yet
such a course must inevitably lead sooner or later to civil war,
and so it was that Rome was forced to accept the wars imposed
upon her by a SuUaor a Csesar, just as Cartha|^e^<^^^|r^l^itted
to the dictation of Hannibal. ^ '^ ^ ^

I04 Roman Politics, ch. xix.

The safeguard proyided by the Komans against this danger
was the rule which limited supreme command to the short
period of one year. But when the outposts of the republic
were stationed far beyond the frontiers of Italy, this rule was
found impracticable, and the proconsular authority was granted
for periods of five years, which gave time enough for an able
general to mould the legions to his will, and attach them to his
person. When, as in the case of OsBsar, the five years' ride was
still further prolonged, or, as in the case of Pompeius, extended
over many provinces, the opportunity could not be far distant
when the Roman republic must be converted into a monarchy.

At the time, however, vrith which we are now concerned,
these dangers were still remote. The constitution of Eome
stood for the moment in a curiously balanced condition. The
old privileges of the aristocracy had been swept away. The
Licinian, the Publilian, and the Hortensian laws had esta*
blished the equal right of every citizen, no matter what his
birth or his fortune, to be elected to the highest offices. The
legislative power was in the hands of the comitia of the tribes,
where numbers alone prevailed. Nothing could be more tho-
roughly democratic in form than the constitution of Rome ; yet
by a happy fortune the aristocratic sentiment survived ; and
the result was that her magistrates and ber generals were still
almost uniformly nobles. At the same time there was no
monopoly. New men from time to time arose from the ranks
of the people, and showed a capacity for leadership ; they too
were admitted to the councils and the offices of tiie republic.
They were thus ennobled themselves, and founded noble houses
for their children. So happy a balance of the constitution was
not likely to be long maintained. It was due to an exalted
sense of public duty and self-control, which are not often, nor
for long together, found in any community. Indications too
were not wanting that the austere morality of Rome was
already trembling towards its fall.

The sanctity, for instance, of matron life, was a cardinal
foundation of Roman morality. Ofiences against the marriage
tie seem not to have been contemplated as possible in early
times, and accordingly no provision had been made for divorce.
In B.C. 231, at the instance of Spurius Oavilius, who wished to
put away his wife for barrenness, a measure v^as passed which
enabled him and others to divorce their wives by a formal pro-

cH. XIX. Roman Religion. idj

cees of law. But his example was too readily followed, and
nothing did moie to undennine the old severity of Homan morals
than the laxity thus introduced into the holiest and most delicate
of all human relations. The religious system of Rome, at the
same time, had become fixed in sterile rigidity. The ancient
usages of the Italian and Etruscan nations remained entire ;
but whatever spiritual principles may have at one time germi*
nated within them, little beyond the mere husk now survived.
Superstition still maintained an elaborate apparatus of auguries
and sacrifices, of vows and supplications, but neither spiritual
doctrine nor moral teaching were connected with them. All
their observances had no other object than to avert a temporal
injury or acknowledge a temporal benefit. It is not surprisiog
that under such circumstances the faith of the Romans in their
ancient deities, and in the value of religion itself, should be in
a state of decay. That such disbelief was prevalent is proved
by the stoiy of Claudius, who flung the sacred chickens into
the sea, and by that of the family of the Potitii, who, being
entrusted with the cult of Hercules, abandoned all care of the
demi-god to their slaves. The people of Rome were beginning
to be conscious of the hoUowness of their religion, and to look
elsewhere for something better. This they vainly hoped to
find by importing some of the gods of Greece and Asia. A
solemn embassy was sent, B.C. 291, to Epidaurus in the Pelo-
ponnese, to ask for a statue of ^sculapius, and to obtain in*
struction in the observances of his worship. And not many
years after the period at which we are now arrived, the sen-
sational worship of the Good Goddess, or Phyrgian Oybele, was
introduced. These new forms of religion seem to have checked
the progress of impiety for a time, but for moral and spiritual
purposes they were no more efficacious than the old ones.

Two other incidents are worthy of notice here.

In 238 B.C., the popular spectacle of the Floralia was first
celebrated. The idea of it was simple and innocent — the dedi-
cation of the first fruits of the year at the opening of the
summer season. Yet it was speedily degraded into an orgie of
sensual dissipation, which for centuries did more than anything
else to demoralise the Roman youth. Within two years of its
institution was bom M. Porcius Oato, the austere and pedantic
censor, of world-wide celebrity. This man straying, perhaps
inadvertently, into the theatre where, the Floralia were being

I06 Roman Morality, ch. xix.

exhibited, felt constraiued to turn his back upon them and fiee
from the contamination of the spectacle.

The institution of gladiatorial shows preceded that of the
Floralia by several years. It was in the first year of the first
u.c. 490, Punic war that Marcus and Decimus Brutus set
B.C. 264. forth in public a combat between swordsmen at the
obsequies of their father. The brutal excitement of these
bloody exhibitions soon became popular among the Romans,
and before long they formed part of the recognised apparatus
by which candidates for office secured the favour of the electors.
The rude and fierce captives of foreign war were at first set
on to slay one another. After a time schools of gladiators were
established, at which troops of slaves were trained to fight with
elegance and skilL The Romans pretended to believe that
these cruel spectacles helped to train them in sentiments of
manly pride and contempt for woimds and death ; but no true
critic of human nature can fail to trace to their influence the
hardening of the heart and conscience of the mass of the Roman
people.

CHAPTER XX.

THE SECOND PUNIC WAR.

Hitherto the Carthaginian generals had manoeuvred against
the Romans on the neutral ground of Sicily and Sardinia.
They had boldly confronted them in defence of their own soil
when the legions ventured to invade Africa, but they had
shrunk from assailing the power of Rome on her own territory.
Such, however, was the audacious enterprise to which Hannibal
now addressed himself. He reckoned upon the alliance of the
Samnites and Etruscans,' who had but recently yielded to the
Roman power. He was perhaps too apt to confoimd the honour-
able service of the Roman citizen with the mercenary spirit of
his own forces. Above all, he relied upon the implacable enmity
which still subsisted between the Gauls of the Cisalpine and the
enemy with whom they had so long contended. On all these
points Hannibal did in fact miscalculate, and accordingly his
skill, his valour, his constant resolution were all unavaUing.
No doubt he had little means of rightly weighing the data on

CH. XX. The Second Punic War, \o^

which he proceeded ; but the event proved that his invasion
of Italy was grounded on hopes that proved utterly fallacious,
and in his blind confidence he did not shrink from flinging
away upon it all the resources of his country which his father
had so long and carefully husbanded.

Taking advantage of the employment and dispersion of the
Roman legions in so many quarters, the young captain crossed
the Ebro with a force of 90,000 foot and 12,000 u.o. «36,
horse, attended by a squadron of thirty-seven ele- ^•^- ^i^-
phants, in the beginning of the summer of the year B.C. 218.

With a long and difficult march of 800 miles in view across
both the Pyrenees and the Alps, it may seem that the summer
was already too late a season to start on such an expedition.
The guerilla warfare in which the natives opposed him, and
the difficulty of raising supplies for his vast armament, enforced
upon him circumspection and delay. At the foot of the
Pyrenees he was glad to leave 10,000 men under his brother
Hasdrubal, and so reduce the number of mouths he had to feed.
He further dismissed an equal number of Spanish auxiliaries.
In crossing the frontier, which he did at some point near the
Mediterranean coast, his army consisted of only 50,000 foot
and 9,000 horse. He marched to the Rhone without opposition,
but found his passage of that river barred by the Gauls, and
his advance delayed by the necessity of collecting boats to
convey his troops across. Detaching a small force to cross the
stream higher up and fall upon the rear of his opponents, he
effected the passage on the fifth day, but the season had now
fallen deep into the autumn.

Hannibal doubtless intended to follow the coast line into
Italy, marching between the Alps and the sea. Had he crossed
the Rhone a few weeks earlier, he might perhaps have fallen
upon the Roman outposts before he was expected, and found
no legions arrayed against him. But those few weeks sufficed
to baffle his calculations. The Romans indeed were taken by
surprise. Even after the fall of Saguntum they still delayed
to take vigorous measures, never dreaming of the audacious
enterprise which Hannibal was preparing against them. In the
summer of the ensuing year they had collected as usual their
two consular armies, of which they destined the one under
P. Oomelius Scipio to act against Hannibal in Spain, the other
under Sempronius to attack the Carthaginians in Africa.

I08 The Second Punic War. ch. xjt.

When the news of Hannibal^s advance upon Italy reached Rome^
it became necessary to change these plans at once. A portion
of Scipio's army which had not yet embarked for Spain was
directed to make for the coast of Gaul at Massalia, and seek
to intercept his progress. Sdpio reached his destination too
late to stop the invader on the banks of the Rhone. A casual
encounter between Ms own outposts and a body of Numidian
horse first made him aware of this fact. But Hannibal was
too wary to engage the Romans at once. Counting perhaps
on the effect of his presence in Italy in raising the population,
he would not risk the chances of defeat while the entire
destruction of the Roman power seemed within his grasp.
He would not fight till he had planted himself on Italian
soil. He would not pit his Numidians and Spaniards against
the Romans till they should be borne along in triumph by
the whole mass of Gauls and Etruscans, Samnites, Greeks, and
Oampanians.

Avoiding therefore a combat with Scipio, and striking out
a devious course through the peninsula or island which lies
between the Rhone and the Isere, he ascended the stream,
and led his troops into the heart of the Alps, which it seems
probable that he crossed by the pass known as the Little St.
Bernard. The Allobroges, through whose country he was pass-
ing, aided him with supplies and clothing, and the Boii of the
Gisttlpine encouraged him to make the passage of the Alps and
descend into their territory, towards which they undertook
to guide him.

But it was now late in October. The mountain paths were
already encumbered with snow. Little food or shelter was to
be found in these wild regions, and the goodwill with which
the natives had at first received Hannibal soon changed into
hostility towards a soldiery which was obliged to live at free
quarters upon them. Neither the men nor the elephants of
Africa were braced to the endurance required for such an
adventure. Both men and animals perished in great numbers.
Hannibal, however, pressed forward with indomitable energy.
He overcame the resistance of the Allobroges, who now thought
to destroy him among the mountain defiles, and forced his
way over ice and through snow across the slippery summit of
the pass. Strange stories were told of his blasting the rocks
with fire and vinegar. These exaggerated reports probably

cH. XX. Hannibal crosses the Alps, 109

indicate that the Carthaginians had to use the spade as well as
the sword^ and to exert such engineering skill as they possessed
in clearing a track along which the troops could pass. When
at length they descended into the smiling valleys of the Cisalpine)
, their numbers were reduced to 20,000 foot and 6,000 horse, with a
pitiful array of seven elephants. Hannibal had conquered his
difficulties, but now commenced his disappointments. No
allies offered themselves, no auxiliaries joined his slender ranks.
The Gauls awaited the issue of the first encounter before
declaring for either party. The Bomans, roused to a sense of
their danger, evinced their accustomed alacrity. Sempronius
was recalled from Carthage. Scipio, who had not dared to
follow Hannibal's march across the Alps, had transported his
troops by ship from Massalia to Pisa ; there he had been rein-
forced by new levies brought to him by the preetor, and he was
now posted on the banks of the Po, ready to meet the invaders.
The latter, eager for the conflict, advanced almost to the
Tidnus, on the left bank of the Po, when at last they met the
van of the Eoman army which v^as preparing to oppose them.
At this juncture a victory was of the first necessity to the
darings invader. Without a victory he could get no allies, and
v^thout allies he was lost. The affair of the Ticinus was
but a skirmish, but the advantage clearly rested with Hannibal.
Scipio retired across the Po, and two thousand Gauls at once
passed over from the Eoman camp to the Carthaginian. The
champion of Africa seemed at one blow to have justified his
audacious enterprise. Scipio had broken down the bridge over
the Ticinus, and established himself at Placentia, where he was
joined by the legions of Sempronius, who had marched by land
the whole distance from Lilybseum to Messana in Sicily, and
again from Khegium to the Po. The courage of the Bomans
revived. They quitted their fortifications, and took up a
position on the left bank of the Trebia. The forces on either
side might be now about equal, and amounted probably to
40,000 men. Hannibal was eager for a pitched battle. Scipio
had been wounded, and was not yet able to resume his com-
mand; Sempronius was longing for an opportunity of dis-
tinguishing himself. The combat was not long delayed. It
was decided by the superior tactics of Hannibal, who posted
his brother Mago with a chosen band in ambush, and threw
the Romans into confusion by a timely di^t^^^Hhi^l'^rear.

I lo Hannibal defeats the Romans, ch. xx.

Their main body made good its retreat to Placentia, but great
numbers were cut off from it and destroyed on the banks of
the Trebia, the little stream which gave its name to the famous
battle of the day. The legions escaped in two directions, Scipio
retiring upon Ariminum and the upper coast^ Sempfonius
crossing the Apennines into Etruria.

Hannibal was left master of the Cisalpine^ but did not re-
ceive from the Gauls the assistance he had hoped for. Early
in the year 217 he crossed the Apennines into the valley of the
Lower Amo, where he lost an eye through fatigue and sickness.
The consular armies^ now commanded by 0.- Servilius and 0.
FlaminiuS; still clung to their defences^ the one at Ariminum,
the other at Arretium.

Hannibal made many attempts to entice them into an en-
gagement, but without success. At length he plunged boldly
into the heart of Italy, where the rich plateau of the Middle
Tiber would funush his restless soldiers with supplies and
booty. He carried on the war, wherever not restrained by
views of policy, with unrelenting barbarity, destroying every-
thing with fire and sword, and performing to the letter a vow
he had made to give no quarter to a Roman. Flaminius was
aroused at last to follow him. It was by the waters of the
Lake Trasimenus that he came up with the terrible marauders.
A. fog prevailed at the time. The Eomans were entrapped in
a defile, from which their advanced troops released themselves
with severe loss ; but the main body was cut to pieces, and the
consul slain on the field.

When the news of the disaster reached Rome, the senate,
which had made light of their losses at the Ticinus and the
Trebia, could no longer disguise the crisis. One consul was
slain, the other was crouching behind the walls of Ariminum,
200 miles away, and the victor of Trasimenus was between
him and Rome. The senate decided to appoint a dictator for
the preservation of the state. Their choice fell on Q. Fabius
Maximus, the chief of the party of the nobles. His master
of the horse was Minudus Rufus, a fSavourite with the people.
Prayers and sacrifices foUowed, and the gods were entertained
at a Lectistemium. Meanwhile an army of four legions was
speedily enrolled, and Fabius led it in quest of Hannibal
wherever he might be found. For Hannibal, disappointed of
aid from the Etruscans, had marched off mto the country of

cH. XX. Fabius * Cunctator' in

the Samnites instead of descending straight upon the city. He
found himself actually in no less a strait than the Romans
whom he had thrice defeated. He seems to have despaired
of more effectual aid from the Samnites and Pelignians, and
he now sought to stir up the discontent of the Greek popu-
lation of Southern Italy. But even among them he found
himself an ohject of fear and hatred, regarded as a barharian
who massacred his captives and fed his soldiers on their flesh.
Even the Greeks felt that blood, as it is said, is thicker than
water, and were more drawn to the kindred Romans than to
the alien race of Tyre and Carthage. The people of Neapolis
and Pffistum stripped the gold from their temples and sent it
to the senate. Hiero of Syracuse, faithful as ever, sent money
and stores to the utmost of his power. Once more Hannibal
had made a terrible miscalculation.

The policy of Fabius was delay, and he obtained therefrom
his illustrious sobriquet of ^cunctator.' He garrisoned the
strong places : he cleared the country of supplies around the
enemy's camp : he harassed him by constant movement ; but
he refused an engagement. At last Fabius began to close
upon him in the valley of the Vultumus, and seemed to have
caught him in a trap. Then Hannibal showed his genius by
the famous stratagem of driving cattle at night among the hills
with blazing torches on their horns, and thus, by distracting the
attention of his enemies, he managed to evade their blockade.

The Romans, mortified at this escape, began to murmur
against the policy of delay. Their courage was indeed main-
tained by hopeful news from distant quarters, and Carthage
seemed to have forgotten her great general in his difficulties.

The brief dictatorship of the cunctator expired all too soon.
Fabius was replaced by two consuls. The nominee of the
senate, Paulus JSmilius, was well disposed to follow the policy
of his predecessor in command; but Terentius Yarro repre-
sented the blind impatience of the people. The two consuls
held conunand of their immense force of 80,000 foot and 6,000
horse on alternate days. They disagreed and paralysed each
other^s action, Varro constantly threatening, and Paulus as
regularly declining to give battle to Hannibal, whom they had
followed to the field he had himself chosen at Cannse, on the
borders of Apulia. The broad plain favoured the action of his
Numidian cavalry. It was the day of Varro*s command. The

112 Battle of Cannes. ch. xx.

Koman force was double the Oartha^nian in iiuinl)er. In his
blind confidence Yarro advanced in a massive column, instead
of extending his line to surround the weaker enemy. Hannibal,
on the contrary, surrounded Varro. He allowed him to pene-
trate to his cenlre, and then enveloped his entangled and serried
ranks with clouds of horse and light-armed infantry. The
Eomans were routed. The carnage was immense. No less
than 45,000 of the Eomans and their auxiliaries perished, and
among them the consul Paulus, Minucius, the late master of
the horse, 21 tribunes, 80 senators, and innumerable knights.
Rome had received many terrible blows in this campaign, but
the slaughter of Oannae was the most disastrous of all.

Hannibal, though urged by his officers to advance, stiU
hesitated to attack Eome. Oannie was 200 miles from the
city, and the route lay across many mountains and rivers, and
was bordered by Eoman colonies and garrisons. He knew the
delays and perils he would have to encounter, and that his
allies would insist upon lingering on the way to kill and bum
and amass plunder. Even if arrived before the walls, he might
ask himself, what profit would it be to him ? Eome was not
now to be taken by surprise, as in the time of Brennus. He
resigned bimself to the task of stirring up disaffection among
the people of Southern Italy, while awaiting assistance from
Carthage, and gradually providing the means required for lay-
ing siege to the city of * the seven castles.'

The alarm of the Eomans greatly exaggerated the amount
of defection which actually occurred among the South Italians.
The open country districts doubtless furnished the conqueror
with supplies, but few only of the fortified places opened their
gates to him, and he became constantly engaged, during the
years that followed, in subduing their resistance.

The Eomans, surprised to find themselves relieved from the
peril which seemed immediately to threaten them, set to work
with alacrity to raise new legions, sweeping into them not
only proletarians, but also debtors, criminals, and even slaves.
While this enrolment was in progress, Varro, the author of the
disaster, returned in dejection to the city. Instead of disgracing,
or even upbraiding, him, the senate went forth to meet him,
and voted him their thanks 'for not having despaired of the
republic' They entrusted him again with a command, and
sent him back at the head of a consular army to the very
country which had been the scene of his discomfiture.

cH. XXI. The Second Punic War. 113

CHAPTER XXI.

THE SECOND PTJNic Y^ATL—conttrmed,

The memorable battle of Oannae was fought atthebeginnizigof
August, B.C. 216. No movements of importance took place on
either aide for the remainder of the year. Hannibal, who was
in want of money, proposed to the Roman senate to ransom
those of their countrymen who were prisfmers in his hands, but
his offers were stead&sHy refused. At the close of the cam-
paigning season he chose fo^ his winter quarters the luxurious
city of Oapua, which opened her gates to him. The period of
repose which followed was the turning-point in his career.
The hardy veterans, who had marched so far and won so many
victories under his banner, were demoralised by the seductions
of a dissipated city. The iron bonds of discipline were relaxed,
and the speil waa broken which had seemed hitherto to render
his arms invincible.

Meanwhile the Romans, threatened as they were by a foiv
midable enemy in the heart of Italy, adopted the bold policy of
striking at Oarthage in various directions. They were no
doubt aware that Hannibal, as the representative of the Barcine
&U3tion, had many enemies in Carthage. They calculated also,
that the wealthy merchants of that city would be more eager
to defend their markets, and their mines, whoever they were
endangered, than to spend blood and treasure in support of
Hannibal's rash adventure. It was of vast importance to them
to prevent such support being sent to the invaders.

The two Scipios commanded the legions in Spain, and in the
year 216 they drove back a Carthaginian army under Has^
dnibal, which was advancing to reinforce Hannibal in Italy.
They then crossed the Ebro and retook the fortresses captured
from the Saguntines. The struggle which followed was an
obstinate one, the Carthaginians making great efforts to retain
a conquest so rich both in men and gold. In 212 the two
Scipios suffered a defeat and were both slain. But in the fol-
lowing year P. Cornelius Scipio was sent to assume the com-
mand, and in the course of five years he overthrew the power
of Carthage throughout the peninsula, and drove her armies
back to Africa. In 215, king Hiero of Syracuse^We ^faithful

114 "The Second Punk War. ch. xxi.

ally of Rome, died. This event was followed by the defection
of Syracuse from the Roman cause, and the Carthaginians,
trusting to the diversion so created, stopped the succours which
Mago was leading to his brother Hannibal, and sent them to
Sardinia instead. Thus supported, the Sardinians rose against
Rome, and at the same time Philip of Macedon offered to come
over and help the invaders of Italy. All these dangers were at
once confronted and defied by the Roman state. The prsBtor
ManliuB destroyed the Carthaginian army landed in Sardinia.
Philip, before he was ready to move, found himself anticipated
u.c. 642, by a Roman invasion of his own dominions. Marcel-
B.C. 212, lua^ now for the third time consul, reduced Syracuse,
after an obstinate defence, rendered memorable by the me-
chanical devices of Archimedes.

We may now return to Hannibal in his winter quarters at
Capua, B.C. 216-15. There he lay in ease and security, expect-
ing the arrival of his brother Mago from Africa, or of Has-
drubal from Spain, and countmg upon a large accession of force
through the adhesion of the cities of Magna Gh^cia. Finding
himself disappointed in both these expectations, he bestirred
himself to attack the numerous strong places held by the
Romans in his vicinity. In these attacks he met with many
reverses. He was repulsed with heavy loss before CumsB and
Nola. Fabius crossed the Vultumus and captured three places
near to Capua. Sempronius Longus defeated a Carthaginian
division in Lucania, and drove it southward into Bruttium ;
while Valerius and Marcellus chastised the revolted tribes of
the Hirpini and the Samnites, To crown the misfortunes of
Hannibal, a large body of Spanish foot and of Numidian horse
deserted him, and went over to the Romans.

Abandoned by his countrymen, and ill-seconded by his
friends, Hannibal slill proved himself a dangerous foe. In the
year 212 he balanced die conquest of Syracuse by Marcellus by
himself taking Tarentum. Thence he burst away northward,
passed by the Roman army which was actively pushing the
siege of Capua, and showed himself before the walls of Rome.
The citizens closed the gates and determined on a vigorous resis-
tance. Part of the force before Capua was quickly despatched
to their assistance ; and Hannibal, who had no resources ade-
quate to a serious siege, and whose threatened attack was mere
bravado, had to retire from the dangerous position in which he

CH, XXI. The Second Punic War, 11$

had placed himself. Capua soon after fell under the steadfast
operations of the besiegers^ and the consuls Fabius and Fulyius
proceeded in cold blood to make a terrible example of the
place which, once conquered^ spared, indulged and cherished,
had dared to revolt against the republic.

Oapua, with a circuit of five or dx miles round her walls,
had boasted herself a rival of Rome. Capua was the home of
all the highest art and luxury of Greek civilisation. But her
citizens had none of the qualities which might have entitled
them to defy the martial mistress of Italy, and when the
support of Hannibal was withdrawn they quickly succumbed.

Seventy of her senators fell under the rods and axes of the
lictdrs; three hundred men of birth and rank were thrown into
chains ; the whole people were sold as slaves. The city and its
territory were declared to be Koman property, and were even-
tually repeopled by a swarm of Roman occupants. As a paltry
Italian coimtry town, it long retained its doubtful repute as the
fiur Circe whose charms had enervated the host of Hannibal.

The conquest of Capua was effected in 211, and in the same
year a treaty was made with the people of -^tolia, by which
they were secured against the aggressions of Philip of Macedon,
and Home gained a basis for her future operations on the
©astern side of the Adriatic. In the same year too Mar^
cellus celebrated a triumph on the Alban hill, and poured into
Rome the plimder of Syracuse. In the following year Lsevinus
reduced Agrigentum, and Scipio the new Carthage. Rome con-
tracted an alUance with Syphax, king of an African tribe on the
western side of Numidia, who was glad of support against
Carthage ; and she also renewed terms of friendship with the
Egyptian Ptolemy. The year :b.c. 209 was marked by the
capture of Tarentum, on which city the Romans vented their
animosity by selling 30,000 of its people into slavery.

Hannibal continued to make energetic efforts to aid the
unfortunate nations which had cast in their lot with his own,
but neither from the east nor the west did he receive any aid
himself. A solitary gleam of success was shed upon his arms
in Apulia, where he surprised Marcellus, for the fifth time
consul, and slew him in an ambush. At length Hasdrubal
decided to leave Spain to its fate. He collected all his forces,
and, eluding the watch maintained by Scipio, crossed the Pyre-
nees, and reached the Rhone far inland near its confluence with

1 16 Italy Invaded by Hasdrubal. ch. xxi.

the Saone. Thence he followed the same route that his brother
had taken across the Alps, probably the pass of the Little St.
Bernard, and, in conjunction with a strong force of Gaulish
auxiliaries, advanced into the great plain of the Cisalpine.
He seems to have met with no opposition, from the natives, and
l^e Roman generals, feeling themselves too weak to overthrow
him, retired before him. He pursued his way along the upper
cosAt, manifestly intending to effect a junction with Hannibal
in the south.

The Romans had exerted themselves to the utmost to meet
the danger, which had for some months threatened them. The
great MarceUus was lost to them, and both Fabius and Fulvius
were advanced in years and in the decay of their power:
L»vinus had given offence to the ruling party in the senate and
was passed over. The consuls chosen were 0. Claudius Nero
from among the Patricians, and M. Livius from am(»ig the
Plebeians. Nero was detached to keep Hannibal in check in
Bruttium, while Livius was charged to resist the new invader.
To this task his strength proved unequal, and Hasdrubal
marched on, leaving the garrison of Placentia behind him,
crossed the Rubicon, captured Ariminum, found the line of the
Metaurus undefended, and only paused when he came in front
of the camp of Livius before the walls of Sena. From this
position he sent horsemen to inform Hannibal of his arrival and
of his line of march 3 but they fell into the hands of Neio, and
the letters they bore betrayed his plans to the Roman general.
Nero acted with promptitude and resolution. Making a feint
to deceive his opponent, he suddenly quitted- his camp with a
portion of his force, and made a dash to the northward in aid
of Livius, whom he urged to make an immediate attack. Has-
drubal, however, noticed that his enemy had been reinforced,
and retired behind the Metaurus. There he was brought to bay
and forced to give battle. A fiank attack under Nero decided
the combat. The invaders were completely routed, and Has-
u.c. 647, drubal himself was slain in the medley. Nero now
B.C. 207. hastened back to the south and announced the Roman
victory to Hannibal by throwing his brother*s head into his
camp. The Carthaginian must have felt that his last chance of
maintaining himself in Italy had vanished ; yet he obstinately
held his ground at the extremity of the peninsula, and kept the
armies of both consuls occupied for the ensuing year. The

cH. XXI. Tke Second Punic War, 117

victors of Metaurus celebrated a triumph amid the wild rejoic-
ings of the people, now relieved from the danger which had
been so imminent.

In Italy the new consuls did little to provoke the weary
and dispirited hero, and the war languished. But in Spain the
Eoman cause was making great strides under Scipio, the aWegt
general the Romans had ever had. The withdrawal of Has-
drubal with so large a force from Spain, had reduced the
strength of the Carthaginians there to a low ebb, and left them
dependent upon the support of the fickle Iberians. In the year
206 they relinquished Spain to Scipio, leaving only the city of
Gades in the keeping of Mago, and Scipio at once prepared to
carry the war into Africa. He confirmed the compact already
existing with the Numidian Syphax, and concluded a similar
treaty with the Mauritanian Massinissa. The Eoman senate
hesitated to invade Africa while Hannibal still lingered in
Italy ; but in 206 they elected Scipio to be consul, and assigned
him Sicily for his province, and prudently made peace with
their enemies in Macedonia, before venturing on the bold enter-
prise to which their champion was urging them. Among the
national heroes of Rome none was more renowned or more
popular than P. Cornelius Scipio. The account of his exploits
given by Livy perhaps derives its romantic character from the
chronicle of some family panegyrist. Scipio, who was refined
beyond the wont of his rough countrymen, affected the manners
and the society of the Greeks. Popular among the Romans, he
was far more so among their Italian allies, who regarded him
as their great protector against Hannibal. It was said that
when the senate jealously refused him the men and money
requisite for his descent upon Africa, the Italian states united
to furnish him with an armament, and urged him to abandon
the Fabian policy, which, however advantageous to Rome, had
brought prolonged misery upon the Italian peninsula. So
great was his popularity that Roman writers constantly
asserted that wherever he set his foot Scipio might have esta-
blished himself as a king, and it is certain that, excepting
Julius Osesar, no leader ever won and retained such a hold upon
the imagination of the Romans.

It has been already explained that the interference of Rome
with Ulyria brought her into contact with Macedonia. Philip of
Macedon had entertained the envoys of Hannibal and consented

Il8 Africa Invaded by Scipio. ch. xxi.

to aid ^im in his invasion of Italy, gladly assuming the part of
defender of Greece against the threatened aggressions of Eome.
The republic, in this strait, exerted the diplomatic astute-
ness for which it was remarkable. It made a treaty with the
^toiians, who were at war with their Grsecian neighbours,
according to which those lawless brigands were to be at liberty
to seize and retain any Greek town which they could conquer,
while Rome was to receive the slaves, the money, and the rest
of the plunder, as her share of the spoil. At tiie same time
it engaged in alliance with nations still further eastward, and
contrived to keep Philip constantly occupied with the arms of
Attains, of Pergamus in Asia Mnor, of Antiochus of Syria,
and of the barbarous tribes on his northern frontier. Thus the
aid he had promised to Hannibal was deferred from year to
year, and at length, after the victory of Metaurus, the Mace-
donians finally abandoned him, and entered into bonds of amity
with the successful republic.

Scipio, backed by the strong impulse of popular favour, did
at last overcome the resistance of the senate, and was free to
undertake his African enterprise ; but in the outset his career
was checked by the perfidy of Syphax, who, it was said, was
seduced from his loyalty by the persuasions of the Carthaginian
lady Sophomsba. It was evident that a long contest lay be-
fore Scipio, which would require all his constancy and reso-
lution to bring to a successful issue. At this prisis a last effort
was made to reinforce Hannibal. Mago abandoned Gades,
which he could no longer hold, and, carrying with him all the
wealth of that commercial capital, and aJl the troops he could
muster, made for the Ligurian coast, where he hoped to secure
the aid of the Insubrian and other Gkiulish tribes. He was,
however, checked, if not routed, by a Roman army, and him-
self disabled by a wound. The Carthaginian senate at once
recalled him, and at the same time ordered Hannibal to quit
Italy and hasten to the defence of his own country. Meanwhile
Scipio, having landed in Africa in the year 204 B.C., began by
laying siege to Utica. He seems to have found no disposition
to revolt against the Carthaginian government dther
among their native levies or their mercenary troops.
His solitary ally, Massinissa, was a fugitive with a few hundred
horsemen, having been driven out of his own realm by Syphax.
His advice, however^and his knowledge of the country were

CH. XXI. The Battle of Zama, 1 1 9

probably of value to the Roman commander. Scipio achieved
a complete victory over the African army opposed to him, and
Massinissa foUowed up the blow by the capture of Syphax,
which neutralised at once the Numidian alliance. But in his
turn Scipio sustained a reverse in the loss of his fleets and the
stout resistance of the Uticans forced him to raise the siege of
their town. He seems to have contemplated making peace
with. Carthage, and envoys were sent to Rome to arrange
terms. But the Roman senate, exulting in the defeat of
Mago and the recall of Hannibal, would listen to no such

Hannibal reluctantly quitted the land where he had won so
many victories. Before doing so, he suspended in the temple
of Jimo, at the extreme point of the Lacinian promontory, a
number of bronze tablets, on which were recorded, in the Punic
and Greek languages, the chief events of the war. These were
seen by Polybius, and may have served to correct the boastful
narratives of the Roman annalists. He is reported to have
massacred the Italian soldiers who refused to follow him into
AMca ; but the Romans were fond of representing him as a
monster of perfidy and cruelty.

Hannibal sailed from Orotona in the autumn of 203. He
departed unmolested, landed at Leptis, and spent the winter at
Hadrumetum.

The best part of another year passed by before the two
great generals confronted each other in order of battle. At
length, on October 19, B.C. 202, the battle of Zama was fought
on the banks of the river Bagradas, to the west of Carthage.
Despite the superior forces of Hannibal's army and his array
of eighty elephants, victory declared for the Romans. The
Carthaginian horse, being disordered by the elephants, were
routed and dispersed by the Numidian cavalry ranged on the
side of Rome. The mercenaries gave way before the Roman
legions, and came to blows with the Punic militia drawn up
in support of them. A desperate struggle ensued, which was
decid^ by the return of the Roman and Numidian cavalry to
the field, who, falling upon the rear of the Carthaginian army,
completed their discomfiture. The Punic host was not only
routed, but destroyed. Hannibal escaped by flight, and Scipio
was at once advanced to the highest pinnacle of military glory
as the conqueror of the conqueror of Trasimenus and Cannes.

I20 Scipio Africanus, ch. xxi.

There remained, however, a yet higher glory to achieve, and
Scipio made it his own by his moderation and generosity.
Oarthage lay at last at the feet of Rome, and there were many
who u^ged her entire destruction after the manner of Veii, or
the treatment, little less severe, which had been inflicted on
Oapuaand Tarentum. But Scipio withstood the clamour of
his vengeful countrymen. He abstained irom demanding the
delivery of Hannibal into his hands, and allowed Oarthage to
retain her own laws and her A.frican territory. He required
her, however, to surrender all her ships of war but ten, and
all elephants, to pay 10,000 talents in ten years, to give over
100 hostages between the ages of fourteen and thirty, and,
what was worst of all, to engage to make no war, even in
Africa, without the permission of the Homan people. Hannibal
himself proved to his countrymen the necessity of submission.
Massinissa was established in his kingdom as the ally and
vigilant outpost of Bome at the gates of Carthage ; fuid then
Scipio returned with his army to Italy, traversed the southern
half of the peninsula with an immense concourse of the people
who had witnessed so many of his rival's victories, and entered
Home in the most splendid of triumphs.

Scipio received the illustrious surname of Africanus, being
the first Roman (if we except the dubious instance of Oorio-
lanus) who derived a title from the country he had conquered.
His statue was placed, in triumphal robes and crowned with
laurel, in the temple of Jupiter. Some acclaimed him as the
offspring of Jove himself. It is said, indeed, that the people
were ready to offer him the consulship for life. It seems that
they were already far advanced towards the temper which, in
later times, welcomed an imperial master. The moderation of
Scipio was proof against this temptation. Perhaps it might
have been better for Rome had he yielded to it. It seems
possible that at this crisis a true patriot might have accepted
the post of a constitutional sovereign, and done much to check
the downward progress of public life, which became now
marked and rapid. Such, at least, was the opinion set forth
by Oicero at a later period, when the opportunity had passed
away. The noble families of Rome had by this time developed
and inherited a high character as citizens and patriots, and it
may be that, under a limited monarchy, these virtues would
have controlled the elements of evil germinating in the Roman

cH. XXI. The Second Punic War. 121

state. As events turned out, they were incapable of stemming
the torrent of national corruption, which, in less than another
half century, broke down every moral barrier.

CHAPTER XXII.

POLmOAI, GOOD FOETTJNB OP THE BOHA^ STATE. COKDITIOIT
OF GBEECE.

The fortune of war is proverbial, and every warlike people has
passed, perhaps more than once, through a crisis, when so re
slight turn of af^rs might have changed success into irre-
paraUe ruin. The Eomans were devout believers in Fortune :
there was no deity to whom they paid their vows more as-
siduoualy. They dwelt fondly on their own enduring good
luck, which had preserved them from destruction by the
Etruscans under Porsena, by the Volscians under Ooriolanus,
by the G^uls under Brennus, by the Samnites under Pontius,
by the Greeks under Pyrrhus, and now, lastly, by the Oartha<-
ginians under Hannibal. In each of the struggles here referred
to their existence as a nation was at stake. In none did it
come so near to ruin as in that which was decided by Scipio at
Zama. The war with Hannibal was, in truth, the most critical
epoch of Homan history.

We cannot doubt that the continued success of the Eoman
people and their final triumphs over the Gauls, the Italians,
and the Africans, were really due to their own superiority of
character. They had a strength and firmness of mind, which
gare them confidence in themselves, and in one another. They
had a sense of mutual dependence and of brotherly feeling.
Above all, they were conspicuous for their power of self-
command; and, side by side with this faculty, grew up the
power to command others, and the consciousness that they were
fit to rule mankind, and had a great destiny to accomplish.
Thus they came to regard their own city as the natural centre
of the universe, and to a genuine Eoman prolonged absence
from Rome was as terrible as death itself.

On the other hand, the Gauls were semi-barbarians, without

122 Political Fortune of the Roman State, ch. xxit.

political ideas. The Etruscans were slaves driyen to the field of
battle by an effete and debased aristocracy. The Carthaginians
were traders and speculators, who made the public interests
subservient to private ends. Another principal secret of Roman
success was their skill in adopting the races which they con-
queredy and infusing into theu the spirit of their own national
Ufe. Every Boman colony became a nucleus round which there
grew up a semi-Romanised population, eager to imitate the
manners of Rome, and proud to accept from it the first rudi-
ments of its national life. Every Latin colony, and, next to
these, every Italian colony, receiving a certain foretaste of the
Roman franchise, learnt to regard itself as an inchoate member
of the race which ruled throughout the peninsula. It was no
blind chance which saved Rome from Pyrrhus or Hannibal,
but this system of assimilation, which rendered the Italian
ally no less determined an opponent than the Roman himself.
From the moment that the legions were enrolled into a per^
manent standing army, and quartered on the frontiers, the
Gauls, the Etruscans, the Italians crowded into the ranks, eager
to exchange their provincial insignificance for the excitement
of a military career under the Roman standards. They were
attracted by the hopes of plunder and of promotion. They
might look for a share in the sack of cities and in the ravage of
fields. The Italian cities and colonies were always ready to
contribute both men and money for a raid on the riches of
Capua and Tarentum, or on the slave-producing barrenness of
Illyria or Spain. ■ For the Roman officers war had peculiar
charms, for the honours of successful warfare formed the surest
road to civil distinctions, and the wealth obtained by plunder,
when distributed among the voters in the Forum, contributed
largely to the same result. While the bravest and most
generous citizens were retained under the standards at a dis-
tance, the elections fell into the hands of the meaner class who
were left in the city, and who soon learnt to sell the offices of
the state to the richest candidates. These men dispensed the
consulships and prsdtorships to whom they would, and the
custom now became general of soliciting their favour by doles
of bread, by gladiatorial shows, and by other extravagant
entertainments. Thus there grew up, not only in Rome, but
throughout Italy, a passion for war, which not even the losses
and sacrifices of the Punic war could abate, and which no

CH. XXII. Condition of Italy. 123

wisdom or foresight on the part of consuls or dictators could
control. The withdrawal of these hardy races from the labours
of the field was of course destructiye to the ancient system of
agriculture in Italy. A multitude of small holdings, each
worked by its free owner and his family, had existed. In the
course of three generations, from the invasion of Pyrrhus to
the dialodgement of Hannibal, these became transformed into
a few score of large properties, tended by slaves under the
control of a hired bailiff. In spite of the democratic forms of
the Roman constitution, circumstances were throwing the
power more and more into the hands of a small class of wealthy
and privileged persons. These magnates maintained their po-
sition partiy by corruption and partiy by force, but as yet they
were, for the most part, animated by a spirit of patriotism,
with a not imworthy pride in themselves^ their ancestors, and
their country. They still appealed to illustrious examples, and
believed in those examples themselves. They were still, on
the whole, a virtuous aristocracy ; but their virtue began to
tremble to its fall, and in the course of another half century
the demoralisation of the Bomans became complete, and in-
flicted the most grievous sufferings upon the world around
them.

Heavy as were the losses endured by Home in repelling the
invasion of Hannibal, her military strength was soon, renovated
by the admission of the subject races to her legions. The
labours of the field were transferred to captives taken in war.
Debts contracted by the state were easily paid by assignments
of land. She continued to found colonies wherever the native
population had been swept away or enfeebled. She drew into
her own ports the commerce of Oarthage and of the states with
which Oarthage had traded, and this commerce received at this
time an enormous impulse from the suppression of piracy and
the pacification of the great highway of the Mediterranean,
especially in its western waters.

The Greeks had watched the contest with anxiety. They
were well aware that whichever nation were victorious, its
greed of empire would not long leave them unmolested. The
East was covered, so to say, with the ruins of the empire of
Alexander, which had been so hastily built up that it was
unable to cohere for a single century. In Asia ten states had
been formed out of the provinces first occupied by the Seleu-

1 24 Condition of Greece ch. xxn.

cides. Thrace had regained its independence under its own
native princes. Egypt still remained a separate kingdom, ruled
by the Ptolemies with <^e swords of Greek mercenaries. The
continent and the islands of Greece proper had returned to
their ancient condition, forming a cluster of small republics
and tyrannies, which had no unity or cohesion, and whose
policy was chiefly guid«d by mutual jealousy. Sparta perhaps
retained the most of her old martial spirit, but the Spartans
had dwindled m numbers to a paltry tribe of seven hundred.

The Achsean league, a confederation of petty states on
either side of the Gulf of Corinth, had acquired some political
weight, but the people of Oorinth were content to look on,
while their town was occupied by a Macedonian garrison, and
their citadel by another of Achaeans. Philip of Macedon still
swayed a great military power, but he was hampered by the
jealousy of Attalus, king of Pergamus, and of Ptolemy, king of
Egypt. Rhodes aimed at no dominion on land, but maintained
an active commercial life. The ^tolians, a mere nation of
bandits, formed a centre of lawless anarchy, a thorn in the side
of all their neighbours. *

At Thebes political life was quite extinct, and the case of
Athens, once the foremost city of the world, was not much
better. Her navy was limited to three vessels : her commerce,
on which her greatness had depended, was at a standstill : with
the decline of liberty her social activity had become paralysed,
and the enervated descendants of the ancient free men of Hellas
were content to live upon the stores accumulated by their an-
cestors, and, as these became exhausted, to perish with them.

Macedonia was undoubtedly the most warlike and vigorous
of the Greek communities. Her people were still proud of the
victories they had gained under their great conquerors, and her
monarchs still dreamed of reviving the glories of Philip and of
Alexander. But the nation was poor, and depressed by long
subjection to tyrants : men of genius were hardly to be found.
The phalanx — the deep and closely-serried array, which had
broken the looser order of the Greeks, and scattered the inco-
herent masses of the Persians, was no match for the long but
well-supported lines of the Roman legions. The weight of its
attack was lost on an organised force of cohorts and maniples
which could yield and re-form, wheel to right and left, and
skirmish in front or rear ; and its power of enduring resistance

CH. XXII. and Macedonia. 125

might be worn out by Roman perseverance. In her campaign
against the Greeks and Macedonians, Rome was enabled to
dispense with large armies of many legions. Her smaller forces
were more quickly manoeuvred and more easily provisioned,
and her blows were proportionally more sudden and effective.

Moreover, Macedonia was enfeebled by the wide extension
of her dominion. She maintained garrisons in many scattered
positions throughout Greece — in Thessaly, in Eubcea, in Opus
and Locris, Phocis and Elatea, at Goiinth, and in Arcadia*
She held many of the Greek islands and numerous towns and
posts in Asia Minor and in Thrace, notably those on the Propon-
tis and the Bosphorus, which guarded the passage between the
two continents. This condition of things made her the object
of jealous hostility both in Europe and Asia, while her militaiy
force was dissipated over too wide a circuit. To consolidate
the forces of such an empire would have required the genius of
another Alexander; but, in truth, under no circumstances
could she have withstood the steady advance of the Roman
power, which was now brought into contact with her through
the^geiu^y of the ^tolians.

CHAPTER XXIlI.

GBEBCE LIBEBATEI) BY THE BOHANS FROM THE MACE-
DONIAN POWER.

Ten years before the conclusion of the struggle with Hannibal,
war had been declared against Macedonia; but no serious
campaign had been undertaken, and after a time these hos-
tilities were suspended. Philip profited by the interval to aid
the Carthaginians with a contingent of 4,000 men, who fought
against Rome at Zama.

Now that Carthage was reduced to submission, the senate
determined to chastise Philip, and decreed the renewal of the
war against him. In the year 200 B.C. P. Sulpicius Galba and
0. Aurelius Cotta were appointed consuls ; and steps were
taken to provide the first of these with an army with which to
eonquer his new proyince of Macedonia. But the people, who

126 War with Philip. ch. xxiii.

were jealous of the power and privileges now exercised by the
nobles^ professed to be weary of war, and in spite of distribu-
tions of land) sumptuous games, and largesses of com and
money, they refused to do as they were bid, and voted in the
comitia of centuries against the war. The tribune Bsebius
undertook to make a criminal charge against the senate ; but
his office no longer commanded the respect it once did. The
fathers abused and insulted him, and, through the consul, once
more urged their policy upon the conunons. The centuries
voted a second time, and now ratified the decision of the real
masters of the commonwealth. This transaction shows how
completely, under the military regime of the preceding century,
the aristocracy of Rome had recovered its mastery over the
state.

The Bomans were in fact about to plunge, little as they
suspected it^ into a career of eastern conquest, which did not
stop till it led them to the Caspian and the Persian Gulf. They
were jealous perhaps of Greece ; anxious to deprive Oarthage
of a possible ^ture ally. But their main incentive to this war
was the greed of plunder and the lust of dominion, which Iliad
taken possession of nobles and people alike. The marvellous
sweep of Alexander over Asia had fired the imagination of
mankind. This had stirred up Oarthage to aim at the conquest
of a western empire. This had stirred Pyrrhus, and might at
any moment stir Philip- to a similar enterprise. The same idea
was doubtless vaguely present to the Boman mind, impelling
them too to push forward their ever-growing empire. A pre-
text was easily found. The Athenians were determined to
shake oiF the Macedonian yoke, and they applied to the Bomans
to help them. Their petition was strongly supported by
LsBvinus, the commander of the legions on the Macedonian
border, who reported how he had been insulted and defied by
Philip. ' You think,* said the latter to -^milius, ' you may do
anything with me because you are a yoimg man, and a fine
young man, and a Boman ! But if you want war you shall
have it.' Such language was well calculated to determine the
policy of the vacillating Boman populace.

llie Gauls in the North of Italy, and the Bruttians in the
South, required still to be held in check,, and not more than
20,000 men could be spared to send across the Adriatic. This

i» i_ jT» 1 • i Digitized by ,

lorce, nowever, sutnced m the course of two campaigns, b.c.

CH. XXIII. War with Philip. 127

200 and 199, to free Athens; with this exception, no im-
portant success was achieved.

In 198 T. Quinctius Flamininus was chosen consul by the
senate and forced upon the popular assembly, in spite of t^e
fact that he was by law ineligible, not haying served any of
the inferior magistracies. At the head of a strong reinforce-
ment he started promptly to assume his command, and at once
began to act with vigour. Marching with all his forces across
the Macedonian frontier, he compelled Philip to give battle,
and after a hard-fought struggle the latter was forced to retreat
with his army into his stronghold at Pella. The Roman leader
now invited the support of the states of Southern Greece : many
of them gave their adhesion, though some held back. Flami-
ninus, however, proclaimed that the general vote was in favour
of the Romans, and declared himself the protector of the
Achaean league and champion of the liberties of Greece. At
the end of his year of consular office his power was prolonged
with the title of proconsul, and being anxious to have the credit
of a peaceful settlement of affairs, he invited Philip to a con-
ference at the pass of Thermopylae. The ^tolians tried to
irritate and insult the Macedonian tyrant, but Flamininus
soothed him and persuade^ him to send ambassadors to the
Roman senate. The very first demand was that PHilip should
withdraw from the fortresses of Demetrias, Ohalds, and Oorinth,
which he had vaimtingly called the * fetters of Greece : ' his
agents declined even to discuss such a proposition, and the
negotiation fell to the ground.

But the other states .of Greece were now more disposed to
recognise and to side with the Roman power. In 197 Flami-
ninus advanced to Thermopylae, supported by the Greek auxi-
liaries and a body of iEtoUan cavalry. Philip shrank from
meeting him in the hill country, and retired before him into
the plain of Thessaly. There, at a place called Oynoscephalae,
he waited for him, and a great battle was fought. The Mace-
donian army was disposed in two phalanxes, each of 8,000 men.
The first of these broke through the lines of the legions, which,
however, closed in upon it again with no material loss ; the
other was attacked whUe in process of formation and scattered
to the winds. The victory of the Romans was so decisive that
Philip sued for peace, and was glad to accept from the Roman
senate easier terms than he could have obtained from his ene-

1 28 Greece liberated by the Romans ch. xxm.

mies Bearer home. It was not the policy of Kome to crash
men who might hereafter be useful to her as allies. Negotia-
tions for a settlement of the numerous states and cities of
Greece occupied the oisuing year, and in B.C. 196, at the Isth-
mian games, at which the representatives of every Grecian
community attended, it was proclaimed with sound of trumpet
that the Roman senate, and T. Quinctius, its general, had
liberated the whole of Greece from the power of Macedonia.
The Greeks threw themselves into a phrenzy of joy, crowning
their self-styled liberator with garlands, and unheeding the
obvious fact that they had but exchanged one master for
another. Athens was now established as a free state, with the
islands of Delos and Paros added to her small dominion.
Corinth was restored to the Achaean league, and the provinces
of Thessaly, Epirus, and Illyria were broken up into a number
of petty independent republics. Scattered over Asia Minor
lay many Greek communities nominally subject to Ptolemy,
king of Egypt ; and while PhiUp was engaged hand to hand
with the Romans, Antiochus, king of Syria, seized the oppor-
tunity to annex tiiese (Meek settlements. He now threatened
to cross the Hellespont and attack Philip, and at the same
time sent envoys to Flamininus to jiegotiate for the peaceable
retention of his conquests. The Roman general in reply sent
orders to Antiochus to relinquish every Greek city he had
seized, and to give up the idea of crossing over into Europe.
He then turned his attention to affidrs in another quarter.
Sparta had fallen under the tyranny of Nabis, and had become
more and more alienated from the rest of Greece, to which she
properly belonged. Argos had also submitted to the same
tyrant. Flamininus now stirred up the Greeks to curtail the
power of this upstart. The Achaean league, at his instance,
declared war, and he led their forces side by side with the
legions to the gates of Sparta. Nabis was soon reduced to
extremities. Argos was taken from him, as well as a portion of
his own territory ; but in spite of the protests of the Achaeans,
Rome as usual refused to destroy one adversary for the advan-
tage of another.

Flamiiiinus had now exercised the imperium as consul and
pro-consul for nearly four years, and the time was come for
him to retire. He was instructed to withdraw all the Roman
garrisons, and to leave the Greeks at liberty to govern tbenx-

CH. XXIII. from the Macedo7iian Power, 129

selves. He summoned tbe states to a general assembly and
took a solenm leave of them, exhorting them to use well the
■gift of freedom conferred upon them by Rome. The u.c. 660,
scene was one of great excitement, and Flamininus ^-c- 194.
himself was moved to tears of emotion. In Quinctius Flamini-
nus and Scipio Africanus, two of the noblest types of Roman
greatness, we find sternness and even ferocity in action, com-
bined with remarkable tenderness of feeling : we also find that
personal ambition was subordinated in them to a generous
spirit of patriotism, No two Roman heroes more justly deserved
the triumph, the reward of patriotic virtue, than the conqueror
of Hannibal and the liberator of the Greeks.

Meanwhile Greece, so generously emancipated by her Roman
conquerors, enjoyed a period of repose, a respite from the
Macedonian tyranny which had oppressed her for 150 years.
She had recovered strength and self-command enough to con-
trol the jealous ambition of her several states, now united in
one political system. The numbers she could maintain in her
own barren and mountainous country were but small, but imder
the protection of Rome she might revive her old commercial
industry, which had made her rich and populous. The destruc-
tion of her works of art might now be stayed, and she might
hope to acquire, by the charms of her art and of her literature,
a powerful influence over the rougher and stronger race which
was beginning to dominate the Western world. In order to
enjoy these advantages it was necessary that she should be
submissive ; power was now beyond her grasp ; and those were
her best friends and truest patriots who understood this neces-
sity, and controlled their ovm and their countrymen's im-
patience.

CHAPTER XXIV.

THE EOMANS EXPEL AJTriOCHUS PROM ASIA MINOR. SPATST
KSh THE CISALPINE REDUCED TO ROMAN PROVINCES.

Now that Greece and Macedonia lay at the feet of Rome, there
remained no barrier of importance between her and Asia, and
her conflict with the Eastern powers could not be long delayed.
Across the narrow waters of the -^gean Sea, in the ancient city

I30 The Romans expel ch. xxrv.

of EphesuS; sat Antiochus, king of Syria. Surrounded with all
the luxury and magnificence of an Oriental despot^ exulting in
his title of ' the Great j glorying in the success of his arms against
the Bactrians and the Indians, he paid no heed to the summons
of Flamininus to withdraw from Asia Minor. On the contrary,
he dreamed of an empire to rival that of Gyrus or of Xerxes.
Throwing his troops across the Hellespont, he advanced into the
heart of Greece, and it was not till he had traversed Thessaly
and reached Thermopylas that he was encountered and driven
back across the sea by the consul Acilius, b.c. 191. In the
following year the Roman legions under Scipio Africanua and
his brother Lucius first set foot in Asia. Philip, eager for th
discomfiture of Antiochus, was the good friend and faithi'iil
ally of the Roman leaders. The forces of Antiochus were
numerous, and they were commanded by no less a general than
the veteran Hannibal, who had found a refuge at the Ephesian
court, and had doubtless used all his infiuence to rouse the
hostility of his new master against the Romans, whom he so
much detested. But even Hannibal could make nothing of the
wretched Asiatics that marched under his standards. They
were scattered like chaff before the wind by the hardy warriors
of Rome, fresh from the schools of Gaulish and Spanish warfare.
The Romans were always victorious over Asiatics^ and in craft
and policy were little if at all inferior to them. Antiochus was
soon reduced to sue for peace. The answer was that he must
evacuate Asia Minor and retire behind the Taurus. He preferred
to risk a great battle. This was fought and won by Lucius
T7.C. 564, Scipio at Magnesia. In it 30,000 Romans over-
B.C. 190. threw 60,000 Asiatics, and pretended to have slain
50,000 of them, with the loss of only a few hundreds on their
own side. On that day the fate of Asia was sealed. Antiochus
at once yielded all that was required of him : he renounced all
claim to Asia Minor, surrendered his chariots, his elephants,
and his treasures, and gave up his fleet to be burnt by the con-
querors ; he would doubtless have given up Hannibal also, but
the Oarthaginian had already made good his escape.

The immediate result of the defeat of Antiochus was the
formation of a kingdom of Asia. Eumenes, king of Pergamus,
had sided with the Romans, and he accepted the position of a
puppet king, nominally the ally, really the subject of Rome,
over the provinces which artretch from the Hellespont to Mount

CH. XXIV. Antiockus from Asia Minor. 131

Taurus. The natiye chie& aod people were content to accept
his role; hoping no doubt to find in it some better guarantees
for peace and security than they had for a long time enjoyed.
The Boman senate began already to flatter itself with the
spectacle of the kings who attended servilely upon it. Mean-
while in the far East, the nations dwelling on the Euphrates,
and even the remote court of Persia, heard with awe the name
of the Koman republic, whose empire now extended to the
frontier of OUicia.

In 189 B.C., Manlius and Fulvius succeeded the Scipios as
consuls* They were probably the first of the Eoman com-
manders who ventured to declare war without orders from
home. Manlius attacked and defeated the Galatians, the most
warlike tribe of Afda Minor ; while Fulvius treated the -^to-
lians with equal severity, — and thus secured the homeward
march of the victorious legions ; though not a little of their
enormous booty was snatched from them by an insurrection of
Thracians on their fiank. The Romans kept faith with Greece,
and withdrew all their armies across the Adriatic, content
with the renown of their invincible legions throughout the
East In the year 189, Lucius Scipio enjoyed a military, and
.^Emilius a naval triumph over Antiochus, and Scipio assumed
the title of Asiaticus, in emulation of his brother the conqueror
of A&ica.

It must not be supposed that the activity of the Romans
was confined during the wars of Greece and Asia to the eastern
quarter of the world. Both in Italy and in Spain the legions
were all this time fully employed. The warlike tribes of Spain,
which had gladly helped the Romans against Carthage, showed
little disposition to submit quietly to their new masters. Beyond
the mines of gold and silver which the PhoBnician traders had
discovered, there was little indeed for the Romans to gain in
the barren mountains of Spain. These mines too were few and
difficult of access, and even the Romans must have known that
it was cheaper to trade for their products than to fight for them.
We can only attribute the pertinacity with which Rome con-
tinued to assail the liberties of Spain to a love of fighting for
its own sake, and a dogged determination to impose the yoke of
her authority. Disastrous as were these wars in many respects,
they still served the policy of Rome as a splendid school of
military training both for her soldiers and her generals, and

132 Spain and the Cisalpine reduced, ch. xxiv.

continued to do so during the 200 years through which the
struggle lasted.

In the year 200 B.C., after the defeat of Hannihal and the
conquest of Carthage, the Romans might consider themselves
masters of the Iberian peninsula. They occupied all the chief
cities on the coast, and the rude tribes of the interior acknow-
ledged their supremacy. But when the attempt was made to
organise the whole territory as a Eoman province; the natives
broke out into a general insurrection (b.c. 197), and the prsdtor
Sempronius was slain. With the Oeltiberians of the mountain
region were united the Lusitanians of the West, and the
Vaccaeans and Vettones of the East. Without cities, without
conmiissariat, without military organisation of any kind, and
without allies, they yet maintained a guerilla warfare, which
long defied the power of Rome. Victory after victory was
gained by the discipline and endurance of the legions, with
little result except the devastation of the country. M. Porcius
Oato was conspicuous among the Roman leaders for his ruthless
severity. He could boast that he had dismantled 400 strong-
holds between the Pyrenees and the Baetis. A Onseus Scipio,
a Fulvius, a Quinctius, a Oalpumius, are named among the
victors in this petty war&re, and Sempronius Gracchus, whose
sons became afterwards so illustrious, was the destroyer of 300
forts. He also made some eiforts to persuade his barbarian
enemy to adopt a more civilised life, and perhaps deserves the
credit of a milder policy.

From the year 178 B.C., Spain might be regarded as con-
quered a second time ; but meanwhile Rome had another task
of the same kind to accomplish in repressing the outbreaks of
the Italian Gauls.

In the year 200 the Carthaginian Hamilcar headed a revolt
of 40,000 Gfauls, who burnt Placentia and attacked Cremona.
This city was, however, saved by the prsetor Furius, who
defeated the insurgents with heavy loss. Three years later
this war was still of sufficient importance to occupy both con-
suls with their entire armies ; and it was by the treachery of
their own countrymen that the Gkiuls were finally overcome.

The great Scipio brought the war to a close by the reduc-
tion of the Boii, whom he drove out to seek a new home on
the banks of the Danube.

We may now consider the Gauls of the Cisalpine as finally

cH.xxiv. Death of Hannibal. 133

subdued; and their country reduced to the form of a Eoman
province. Colonies were established or revived at Placentia,
Cremona^ Bononia, Mutina, and Parma ; while those planted at
Pisa and Lucca kept guard over the still unsubdued Ligurians.
Multitudes of Gaids were at this time transplanted into Sam«
nium and other depopulated tracts of Central Italy. In b.c.
177 disturbances occurred in Corsica and Sardinia, which were
controlled by Sempronius Gracchus, and so many of the natives
were sold into slavery, that 'Sards to sell' became a cant
phrase for anything that was cheap and worthless.

CHAPTER XXV.

ItACBDONU, GBEBCB, AND APRICA RBDFCED TO PROVINCBS.
THB IHIBD PUNIC WAS. CABIHAeE IS DESTBOTEB.

The year of the oity 571, B.C. 188, is rendered notable by the
deaths of three men of great mark in history.

Hannibal, when he escaped out of the hands of Antiochus,
took refuge, first in Crete, and afterwards with Prusias, king of
Bithynia. Here he at length ceased from his fruitless intrigues
against Home, and busied himseK in obscurity with the affairs
of his new patron. But once more Home demanded, with a
threat of war, that he should be given up. Prusias sent troops
to arrest him, and finding no possibility of escape, Hannibal
swallowed the poison which he had kept concealed about his
person. Such an end was tragic, but it was at least dignified,
and it saved him from the still lower intrigues and greater
obscurity into which he must have fallen had his life been pro-
longed. It is plain that his part was played out. He had
undertaken a task beyond the strength of any one man. Hero
as he was, he contended against a nation of heroes, and his
defect of judgment led to inevitable failure. He has often been
compared with the first Napoleon : the one seems by general
assent to be regarded as the most eminent of ancient, the other
of modem commanders. In estimating his career and character
we must bear in mind that everything the Romans wrote of
him was tinged with deep and ignoble prejudice. To his
credit as a soldier we must place the marvellous skill and

134 Macedonia, Greece, and cii. xxv.

courage which enabled him to midntain so long his invadon of
Italy with means apparently quite inadequate. On the other
hand, as a politician he failed signally. His scheme of uniting
all the races of Italy against Home was grandly conceived ;
but it came to nought ; and by this want of political mastery
the enterprise of his life was ruined.

Hannibal died in discomfiture and exile. The same year
witnessed the decease of his great rival Scipio Africanus, who
had lived long enough to see the unbounded authority he once
enjoyed fade away under the fickle breath of popular fiivour.
His treatment of Antiochus was denounced as too lenient^ and
his brother Lucius was charged with malversation in his
accounts. Publius indignantly tore up the papers presented to
him against his brother, but was himself promptly charged with
arrogance and incivism. Lucius was heavily fined. The great
AfricanuS; on being accused before the people, disdained to reply
except by recounting his own signal services. Reminding the
people that the day of his trial was the anniversary of the
victory of Zama, he called upon them to desist from this
miserable prosecution, and to march with him to the Capitol,
there to return thanks to the immortal gods. This bold stroke
succeeded, and the accusation fell to the ground ; but Scipio
retired to his seat at Liternum in Campania^ refused again to
visit Rome, and directed that even his remains should not be
taken back there for interment.

In the same year died Philopoemen, who both for his valour
and his statesmanship deserves to be called ' the last of the
Greeks.' Chosen eight times for their general by the Achaean
league, he exerted all his influence to keep the Greeks united
among themselves, and to restrain them from provoking the
irresistible power of Rome. He lived in usefulness and honour
to his seventieth year. Then he became entangled in a quarrel
with the Messenians, and fedling into the hands of a personal
enemy, he was treated with great indignity, and compelled at
last to swallow hemlock. In vain did the Greeks rise to avenge
his death and do honour to his remains. The last of their
heroes had perished, and it is to their credit that they showed
an adequate sense of Ms value.

The years which next followed formed a proud period in
Roman annals. The unimportant wars which still continued in
Spain and Istria were crowned with unbroken success. But

CH. XXV. Africa reduced to Provifices, 135

naw for the first time the kings and potentates of the earth
bogan to send envoys to Rome, and to court the people whom
they recognised as their patrons and protectors. From the
Asiatic kingdoms of Bithynia, of Gappadocia, of Armenia ; from
the conuuonwealths of Achaia, Sparta, and Ehodes ; from the
asdent reahn of Egypt, embassies thronged the streets of Home
and crowded the antechambers of the senate house. The
Eomans became intoxicated with this wondrous tide of glory
and good fortune \ and the policy of moderation which had
spared the weakness of Greece, and borne with the petulance of
Macedonia; now gave place to ruthless ambition and greed of
plunder. Philip of Macedon had allowed his son Demetrius to
be educated at Kome, but on his return home the youth became
an object of jealousy to his father, who soon sacri- u.c. 575 ,
ficed him to tiie interests of his brother Perseus, ^c- 179.
Piulip not long after followed him to the grave, leaving in
Perseus an able and high-spirited successor.

Perseus anticipated the impending struggle, and quietly
prepaared for it. At length (b.c. 1 70), the storm burst upon hiir .
On the suggeetionof Eumenes, king of Pergamus, he was charged
¥ath injuring the allies of Borne. War was declared, and in
the first encounter the consul Licinius was worsted. Perseus
still ofiered to make terms, but was told that Borne would
never negotiate with an armed enemy — he must make uncon-
ditional submission. He determined on a desperate resistance,
and for two years made head against his enemy. In b.o. 163
^milius Paulus won the battle of Pydna, and crushed the
Macedonian power.

The whole country submitted at once, and Perseus, in the
vain hope of mercy, surrendered himself to the Bomans. After
marching in the triumphal procession of his conqueror, he was
imprisoned, and a few years later died, not without suspicion
of foul play. The Bomans transported all the chief people of
Macedonia into Italy, and divided the conquei'ed country into
four distinct republican governments, whose inhabitants were
forbidden to intermarry. It was not till seventeen years lat^
(B.C. 151), that an unsuccessful revolt gave them the oppor*
tunity of finally destroying the independence of Macedonia and
converting it into a Boman province.

After the war with Perseus was ended, Bome made a
stringent inquiiy into the conduct of thosmJ]^a^^|;^ which

1 36 Sack of Corinth. ch. xxv.

had seemed to sympathise with the last asserter of independence.
Eumenes was insidted and threatened. Rhodes was selected
for punishment, and deprived of her continental territory in
Asia Minor. In Epirus, the gallant ^milius Paulus was made
the instrument of a ruthless devastation.

It was imposable to ^:s. on the Achaean government any
act of disloyalty. And yet their time too was come. On the
evidence of a traitorous informer many eminent men were
charged with having held conununication with Perseus. They
were required to defend themselves from the charge at Home.
Once in Italy, they were detained without trial, and placed
under surveillance in distant provincial towns.

Polybius the historian happened to be one of these unfor-
tunate hostages, and after seventeen years of exile, he and his
fellow-prisoners were restored to liberty, through the friend-
ship of Scipio ^milianus and the advocacy of Oato the censor.

This unjust treatment of the Grecian notables was a presage
of the fate reserved for their country. In the fluctuating course
of a democratic government, Achaia fell under the rule of an
intemperate fection, forgetful of their complete dependence on
the Roman power. A quarrel with Sparta led to the inter-
ference of Roman commissioners who came over to settle the
dispute. They were treated with insolence by the AchsBans,
and replied by commanding that Sparta, Argos, and Corinth
shoidd be released &om the Achsean league. The demagogues
promptly organised a revolt ; they set the slaves at liberty and
armed them, they forced war contributions from an imwilling
people. Metellus oiFered them easy terms of submission, but
this last chance of averting ruin from their country was thrown
aside, and a paltry force was sent to occupy the pass of
Thermopylae. These misguided patriots could make no stand
against the legions, and were swept away with great slaughter.
Metellus advanced without further impediment to Oorinth.
There, his term of office having expired, he transferred the
command to his successor Mummius, a man of a rude and harsh
nature. The taking of Corinth by this barbarian was a scene of
horrors.

The amount of valuable plunder acquired by the Romans
was enormous. Gold in abundance was recovered from the
ruins, but the master-pieces of Greek art, the bronzes more
precious than gold, the pictures, the statues, were ruthlessly

^ DigitizecTbyVjIJUVlC ''

CH. XXV. The Third Punic War. 137

destroyed and lost to the world for ever. Corinth was re-
planted as a Roman colony a hundred years later, and rose
once more to eminence. But with the sack of Corinth the
history of Greece, the classic land of genius and of freedom,
comes to an end. Thenceforth she sinks into the u.c. 6O8,
portion of a Roman province. The same year, 146, bc 146.'
which witnessed the fall of Greece was signalised also by the
destruction of Carthage. Ever since her great defeat at Zama,
the existence of Carthage, Rome's greatest rival, had been a pro-
tracted agony. Massinissa and the Nimiidians were free to
insult her, and to encroach upon her territory; and she dared
not retaliate, but by sending complaints to Rome. The senate
entertained these complamts and promised redress, but nothing
came of it. At length Cato was sent as envoy to Carthage to
inquire into her wrongs. On his return he denounced her
before the senate as too powerful a neighbour to be suiFered to
stand erect. Plucking some fresh figs from the folds of his robe,
* This fruit,' he exclaimed, ' has been brought from Carthage—
so nigh to us is a city so strong and so prosperous— Carthage
must be destroyed.'

Cato was at this time in the full ripeness of authority and
influence. He was a constant speaker in the senate, and every
one of his speeches ended with the words ' Carthage must be
destroyed.' The senate waa not unwilling to follow his guidance.
Li the year 149 a pretext for war was found in the fact that the
Carthaginians had taken up arms against Massinissa. The
Roman senate promptly declared war against Carthage, and at
the same moment despatched an army of 80,000 men under
the consuls Marcius Censorinus and Manilius Nepos, who were
privately instructed not to desist till Carthage lay in ruins.
The threatened people, aware of their inability to cope with
Rome, sued abjectly for peace and were ready to consent to any
terms. Called upon to send 300 hostages of noble birth to
Sicily, they obeyed. Next, in compliance with the consul's
orders, they surrendered all their arms and engines of war :
200,000 complete sets of armour were conveyed in waggons to
the Roman camp. Censorinus praised their readiness to submit,
and announced that now it only remained for them to quit
Carthage, which the Romans purposed to destroy, but that they
were at liberty to build for themselves another city on any
aite ten miles inland. This cruel command overwhelmed the

138

Tke Third Ptmic War,

CH. XXT.

eDvoys with despair. On their return to their city, all who had
counselled submission were attacked by the people ; resistance
to the death was resolved on, and the most heroic efforts were
made to replace the surrendered arms, and to put the city in a
state of defence. The very women are said to have cutoff
their long hair to furnish bow strings for the archers. These
gallant efforts were not without result. For three whole years

CARTHAGE.

the Carthaginians stood at bay behind their walls. Hasdrubal,
who commanded their forces in the field, held his own succesa*
fully against the Eoman consul. But the siege was doggedly
maintained, and in the course of it the Roman army more than
once owed its safety to the activity of a young officer, Scipio
i£milianu8, the son of ^milius Paulus, who had been adopted
by Scipio, the son of Africanus. In 147, Scipio visited Rome
to offer himself a candidate for the aedileship, but so high ctid

cH. XXV. Destruction of Carthage and l^umantia, 139

his reputation stand, that the people elected him conBul, though
he was not yet of legal age to hold that office, and assigned
him A-Mca for his proyinca Scipio set to work with alacrity to
improye the discipline of Ms troops, and to reduce the hostile
city ; but it was no easy task which lay before him. Another
year elapsed before he succeeded in effectually blockading the
place, and when famine began to tell upon tiie defenders, he
slowly fought his way into one quarter after anol^ier, till only
the citadel, called Byrsa, remained untaken. This fortress
also fell before long. Scipio spared the lives of the enemies,
but gave up the city to be sacked, and then levelled it with the
ground. The Punic territory was soon reorganised as a Boman
province under the name of Africa, and Scipio on his return
enjoyed a triumph, and took the title of Africanus. In this
same year, which marks the disappearance from u.c. 6O8,
history of the Grecian and Carthaginian states, the ^.o. 146.
secular games were for the fourth time celebrated at Home.

During the years which followed, Spain was the only country
which gave exercise to the Roman arms. Successive praetors
continued slowly and painfully to reduce it under authority.
For eight years the Lusitanian chief Viriathus constantly
defied theltoman generals, and subjected them to many defeats.
At length the consul OsBpio infamously bribed three of his
officers to murder him in his sleep. After his death the resist-
ance of the Spaniards centred in the heroic little town of
Numantia, near the sources of the river Douro. Though its
people numbered but 8,000 armed men, they repeatedly worsted
successive Roman consuls with armies amounting to 30,000.
At length, in B.C. 134, Scipio the conqueror of Carthage was
chosen consul, and sent to bring this troublesome war to a close.
As before, his first efforts were directed to improving the dis-
cipline and the endurance of his troops. Then with a force of
60,000 men he blockaded Numantia, and at last reduced it by
funine. Most of its brave citizens had already perished by the
sword. The few that survived were either brought to Rome
to grace the victor's triumph, or sold as slaves on the spot.
Numantia was razed to the ground, and never again rose from
its ruins ; but the gallant defence made by its people against
overwhelming odds deserves to be commemorated to the end

of time. Digitized by VnUUV IC

I40 General View of the Roman Empire, ch. xxvi.

CHAPTER XXVI.

6ENEBAL VIEW OF THE BOKAK EICPIBE. INTEBKAL G^OYEBlf-
lOOrT OF THE BEPUBLIC.

The power of Home was now paramount in the four great
peninsulas which project into the Mediterranean, together with
its principal islands, while her authority was recognised at
almost every point of the coast line. Italy, the centre of this
power, was governed by the prsetor and other ma^trates of
Rome. Spain, Greece, and Asia Minor were reduced substan-
tially to the form of provinces, as were also the islands of the
Tyrrhene, the Ionian, and the -zEgean seas. The province of
Airica comprised the old dominion of Carthage, on either side
of which the kingdoms of Egypt and Numidia enjoyed a
nominal independence. At the eastern end of the Mediter-
ranean, the Jews were in alliance with the republic, Rhodes
was still indulged with freedom, and in Asia a few petty states
were allowed to maintain their native governments. lUyria
offered little temptation to Roman cupidity, but the subjection
of Macedonia was fiilly assured. In the south of Gaul the
cities of Massilia and Narbo were in alliance with the senate,
and were shortly to be used as the foundation stones of a
Roman province of Gaul beyond the Alps. The first, a most
flourishing centre of commerce, was a colony of Phocsean
Greeks from Ionia ; the other was a city of native growth and
a centre of local civilisation.

The government of a Roman province was in fact a military
occupation. Year by year at first, in later times every third
year, a proconsul or a propraetor came from Rome to command
it. He was supported by one or more legions with numerous
auxiliary battalions, and on all points his word was law. Only
to the Roman senate was he responsible, and on his return his
quaestor was required to submit a report of his proceedings,
which might be disavowed, but so long as the interests of the
republic had not suffered he was tolerably safe. In administer^
ing justice to the provincials, he was restricted only by his own
edict issued on assuming the government. The provinces were
organised on the model already described in the case of Etruria
and Samnium. The various communities were treated with
varying degrees of favour. Some retainedy^titefe'^ld local

CH. XXVI. General View of the Roman Empire, 141

goyemment. Some received the Latin or Italian franchise.
Some forfeited their land to the domain of the republic. Tolls
and eustoms were levied, and a tax upon the produce of the
land furnished a constant revenue to the state. The wealth
arising from this source on the conquest of Macedonia enabled
the conquerors to remit the land tax from the entire soil of
Italy.

The rule of the proconsuls and their cohort of subordinate
of&cials was one of tyranny and spoliation. Neither the pro-
perty, the honour, nor even the lives of the provincials were
secure from them ; and their rapacity was rather encouraged
by the senate, as it tended to weaken the conquered race and
cut the sinews of future revolt. Perhaps it was fortunate that
so many of these spoliators took delight in seizing the choicest
works of ancient art, and carrying them to Rome. The pro-
vincials, who understood the value of these treasures, groaned
over their loss, and scoffed at their ignorant spoilers ; but it
turned out that the metropolis of the world was the safest re-
ceptacle for these precious relics. Meanwhile in Spain and in
Asia the energies of yoimg and vigorous races continued to
extract wealth from the soil more rapidly than their masters
could consume it. In Greece and in Africa, on the other hand,
the nations once so dominant seemed stricken with palsy and
steadily diminished both in numbers and in resources. They
had had their day, and could not survive the loss of freedom ;
while to the younger and lustier nations, rebounding from the
shock of conquest, the empire of Rome brought a new life of
progress and development.

The Roman people, dispersed over this great empire in
numerous offices of civil and military command, maintained
their ancient valour, their stem discipline, their zeal for the glory
and the authority of Rome. The wealth of the East and of the
West, which had inflamed their cupidity, had not yet enervated
their vital force. Three centuries were to elapse before the
great wave of Roman conquest should have spent its force.
And yet already the seeds of decay were beginning to germinate
in the body politic, and to detract from the healthy vigour of
the national life. We shall do well to pause and take note of
these signs of decadence.

Notwithstanding their high reputation for disinterested
Tirtue, there never was a people so devoted to money-making

142 General View of the Roman Empire, ch. xxvi.

as the Romans. They amassed riches by all means, by plunder,
by osury , by commerce. To the possession of wealth they showed
the most slavi^ deference^ and hence, whatever might be the
form of their constitution, power drifted into the hands of the
richer dasses, as soon as the old privileges of birth had dis-
appeared. We have already seen how the old patrician
pystem, with its exclusive privileges, had passed away. The
comitia of the curies was, indeed, still sometimes convened for
tne performance of certain religious rites, but it had no political
weight. The real power resided in the comitia of Uie cen-
turies and tribes ; and in both of these it was ingeniously con-
trived that property should prevail over numbers. The comitia
of the centuries, with its division of the people into classes, was
indeed from the beginning avowedly constructed so as to
give a paramount influence to Wealth. As the comitia of the
tnbes acquired political importance, the same result was at-
tained in their case by giving the censor the power to inscribe
all the poorer citizens in the four urban tribes, leaving in the
hands of the rich the control of the remaining thirty-one tribes.

The functions of these two assemblies, both essentiaUy aris-
tocratic, were twofold — elective and legislative. The centuries
elected the consuls, the prntors, and the other curule magistrates.
The tribes elected the inferior officers. Both assemblies could
pass laws which were binding upon the whole people, but
neither of them could initiate a law ; they could but give or
refuse their sanction to measures already approved by the
senate. If a consul, a prestor, or a dictator had a new law to
propose, he laid it before the centuries ; if a tribune had a
measure to recommend, he laid it before the tribes. In both
cases the approval of the senate must be first obtained ; and
if in some instances we hear of honours being conferred by
popular vote in defiance of the opposition of the senate, these
must be regarded as acts of irregular encroachment. The
equestrian centuries (the knights) included among them aU the
richest of the citizens ; and as the higher magistrates received
no salary, but on the contrary had to bear the heavy expense of
providing public amusements, none but rich men could aspire
to high office, and therefore none below the rank of knight were
elected.

Such of the knights as had filled the higher magistracies
acquired with their families the title of ^nobileSf and were

CH. XXVI. Internal Governmmt of the Republic. 143

eligiUe to fill vaeancies in the senate. This assembly was,
however^ limited in nimiber to 600 ; a high standard of pro-
perty was enforced ; and every five years the censors revised
the list; striking off the poor and imworthy, and selecting the
most distinguished men to fiU their places. Those who had
attained to tiie rank of nobles strove hard to maintain their
own position, and to keep out from it those who were still only
of knightly rank. The latter were no less eager to advance
themselves. Hence arose the political conflict of the senate
and the knights, which, in the later years of the republic,
mipiics, and even repeats the phrases of, the early struggle
tu i'itiicians and plebeians. The privileges and flie
power of the senate were enormous. The laws, the finances,
foreign policy, the army, the government of the provinces, were
all regulated by it, and to the senate alone every officer of the
state was responsible. If its power was limited by the right of
the tribunes to veto its decrees, their opposition might be com-
bated by sowing dissension among them, or in the last resort by
the creation of a dictator. Sometimes arbitrary power was
conferred on the consuls by the decree ^ Viderent Oonsules ne
aliquid detrimenti res publica caperet.' Both these resources
were intended only to be used against danger arising from a
foreign enemy, but they were often perverted to serve the pur-
poses of the senate in tiie civil strife of politics. Against these
arbitrary measures the people had one defensive weapon. No
citizen could be sentenced to loss of life or of civil status
without an appeal to the people. If the consuls on any pretext
violated this right, they were themselves liable to be sentenced
by the comitia of the tribes.

In addition to their rank and power the senators enjoyed
great opportunities of growing rich. The proconsuls and pro-
praetors who ruled the provinces, though they received no
salary, amassed vast wealth in the form of gifts and bribes from
their subjects. When the rich fields of Greece and Asia were
opened to theii cupidity, the nobles abandoned usury and com-
merce for the n ore lucrative employment of provincial govern-
ments. They allowed the knights a large share in the occupa-
tion of the most fertile domain land, and confined the poorer
classes to the common pastures. The discontent arising from
this treatment led to the &tal scheme of distributing cheap or
gratoitoiis doles of com^ which was levied as tribute on the

144 General View of the Roman Empire, ch. xxvi.

provinces of Sicily and Africa. The populace were also
amused and pampered by splendid shows in the circus, the cost
of which was borne by the candidates for high office ; and so
heavy was the outlay required for this purpose, that by the
time a man had attained, through successive elections, to the
office of consul, his resources were so crippled that, only by
means of a rich provincial appointment, could he hope to pay
his debts and retrieve his fortune. Thus the provinces were
made to pay for the voluptuous idleness of the Roman people.

Meanwhile the jealous knights, debarred from these guilty
grQ,tifications, kept a watch on the provincial rulers and in-
voked the laws against them. Murder, bribery, peculation,
corruption on the seat of justice, were crimes of which the
comitia of the tribes took cognisance, and that assembly was
not indisposed to judge severely the misdeeds of wealthy
nobles. The senate, however, instituted a new tribunal, com-
posed solely of members of their own order, to judge this class
of offences, and thus foiled the attack of the knights. The
efforts of the latter were then turned to securing for themselves
a share of this jurisdiction, and they hoped by that means to
compel the senate to give them also a share in the provincial
governments.

CHAPTER XXVn.

CORRUPTIGIT OP BOHAK SIMPLICITT BY THE INFLT7X OP
GREEK IDEAS.

The wide-spread intercourse of the Romans with foreign
nations, which resulted from their extensive conquests, pro-
duced great changes in their habits of mind and in their mode
of life. Greece, as was natural, influenced them the most. The
old Sabine deities, such as Oonsus, Lunus, and Jutuma, drop out
of sight. The Hellenic deities, Apollo, iBsculapius, Oybele,
and Bacchus, are fast becoming the favourite objects of worw
ship. But the religious ideas of Greece were quickly followed
by the doubts and disputes of her sceptical philosophers ; and
these were made familiar to the Romans by the poet Ennius,
a countryman of their own. The magistrates did indeed mion*

CH. XXVII. Influence of the Greeks. 145

tain the old ceremonial of processions, sacrifices and auguries,
as an engine of state policy, but the higher classes had ceased
to believe in their efficacy ; and since the plebeians had been
admitted to the priesthood and the augurship, the nobles cared
little for the old traditions. Their attitude of mind is pitihUy
expressed by Enniiua : ' If there be gods at all, at least they do
not concern themselves with the care of human afifurs.'

The nobles began now to p&y great attention to Greek lan-
guage, and literature, and mann«%. Their houses swarmed
with. needy Greeks, whom they employed to teach the grammar
and the language to ^themselves and to their children. Others
composed chronicles of the Boman people Qr annals of the noble
families whom they served ; and these last were food of tracing
their masters' pedjgree to Hercules or ^neas, or some other
Greek or Trojan hero. Tlie Greek women, fescinating and
accomplished as they were, did much to subjugate th^ Roman
conquerors, and were the cause of cruel wrofigs to the rough and
homely matrons of Italy. Ennius, the first of the Latin poets,
and a native of Calabria, was well versed in the ^^c poetry of
Homer, and introduced it to the Eomajis both by translation
and imitation.

He found many followers ; and for more than a century the
Bonoans, deserting their old Satumian verse, laboured hard at
reproducing in their own tongue the Greek hexameter. Their
success in the end was marvellous, and culminated in the
polished diction and poetical rhythm of Virgil. They were
hardly less successful in naturalising the Grecian drama.
Enough of the plays of Plautus and Terence survives to show
how well they learnt to move in the fetters of the Greek comic
muse; and the names of many other play-writers attest the
abundance of this dramatic literature.

Glancing at the manners and customs of the Eomans of
high rank at this period, we may observe how the life of the
cily becomes distinguished from that of the country, and that
of the Oampanian baths from both. The first was the life of
the Forum and the temples : its dominant idea, the service of
the state, and the performance of public duties. In the morn-
ing, the formal reception of freedmen, and the giving of legal
opinions to clients j towards noon, public business in the Forum
or the senate-house ; then preparation for public speaking with
hired rhetoricians, followed by retirement for a short mid-day

1.46 Corruption of Roman Simplicity, ch. xxvii.

sleep. The afternoon was devoted to active exercises in the
Oampus Martins, such as swimming, wrestling, and fencing.
Supper followed, diversified with singing and hufibonerj ; and
so to bed at sundown.

In the country the Roman was up with the sun to super-
intend his farm : part of his day was devoted to hunting, fish-
ing, and other field sports, and the remainder to study, or
writing, or sleep. At the baths there was a complete holiday.
Barefoot and lightly clad in a Grecian dressing-gown, the
Roman lounged through the day in idle gossip, in frequent
bathing, in listening to the light songs and music of foreign
artists. The Roman was generally proud of his stem routLae
of self-imposed duty, and ashamed of these indolent relaxations ;
but the syren Sloth was gradually gaining his ear, and step by
step the love of business gave way to the love of luxury and
ease. Not till then did guilty ambition prompt him to seek in
the conduct of public a£&irs a personal and selfish aggrandise-
ment.

At this period, indeed, the power of the state was so com-
pletely in the hands of a small group of families closely con-
nected by intermarriage^ that it might not have been difficult to
convert so aristocratic a government into a limited monarchy.
The elder Scipio AMcanus, had he chosen to seize the oppor-
tunity, might undoubtedly have held the position of a king or
a doge during his lifetime, and perhaps he might have founded
a dynasty. But the opportunity passed by, and it was not long
before a reaction set in against the nobles, and leaders were not
wanting, some honestly, some of evil design, to inflame the
hostility of the masses. The poet NsDvius, who was driven
into exile by the influence of the Scipios and the Metelli,
avenged himself by satirizing Ms haugh^ enemies. Oato the
censor, too, lost no opportunity of rebuking the nobles for their
pride, their insolence, their neglect of the old Roman traditions.
This rude but vigorous sdon*of the Latin homesteads served
the state in peace and war, and won his way to the highest
honours of the consulship and the censorship. He clung to
the simple and austere habits of the old Roman life, and waged
imceasing war against the luxurious manners imported from
abroad. Harsh, punctilious, censorious, often indeed unjust
and cruel, he allowed no place to the common feelings of
humanity if they seemed opposed to his stem sense of duty, th©

CH. xxvji. Cato the Censor. 147

duty of advancing the interests of the state, of the fann, of the
household. Severe to all alike, his enemies, his women, his
slaves, his cattle, he never relaxed unless it were into some
grim jest. Yet he respected the laws of courtesy : he was not
rude in speech. Even when he counselled the dismissal of the
Greek philosophers from Rome, he did not treat them un-
civilly ; and in his old age, despite his hatred of everything
foreign, he so far yielded to the popular current as to make
himself master of the Greek language.

CHAPTER XXVni.

XHE AaSABIAN LAW OF HBEHITJS aBACCBUS.

Now that the arms of Rome were everywhere triumphant,
external wars ceased for a time to be of much importance, and
our attention must he turned to the internal commotions which
followed each other in quick succession in Rome and Italy.
The first of these was the agrarian agitation set on foot by
Tiberius Gracchus, the son of Sempronius Gracchus and Oo3>
nelia, the daughter of Scipio Airicanus. His brother Oaius
figures, like himself, in this narrative, and his sister was mar-
ried to Scipio Africanus the Younger. In the year 137 B.C.
the young Tiberius was traversing Etruria on his way to join
the armies of Rome before Numantia. His route lay through
many famous cities, once the centres of art and civilisation,
now perishing in poverty and decay. But that which made
the deepest impresdon on his mind was the absence of popu«
lation in the rural districts through which he passed. Where
were the Etrurian people who had fought so stubbornly against
Rome ? Where were the smiling homes and Jfruitful fields of
the Roman eolonists who had«been planted there after the
conquest ? The traveller looked in vain for any trace of an
Italian peasantry; he met with none but a few wretched
herdsmen, and, on addressing them, he found that they were
foreigners of strange features and barbarous idiom — Thracians,
Africans, or Iberians.

How this state of things came about must now be explained.
The old nobility of Etruria, deprived of political importance

1.2

148 The Agrarian Law of ch. xxviil

and stripped of much of their land and wealthy had sunk oui
of fflght among the mixed population of Rome and other large
towns. The amount of land granted in possession to the
colonists was small compared to the vast tracts which had been
leased at low rents to a few privileged nobles. The licinian
law strictly provided that these leases should be revocable at
any moment, and that the land now occupied by the nobles
might be granted in possession to the poorer citizens, whenever
occasion arose for such a division. But in practice such grants
were made out of newly conquered territory, and the old occu-
pations were not disturbed. These vast estates were handed
down from fether to son for many generations, and came to be
regarded as the private property of the noble tenants. The
Roman magnate who claimed their produce lived in profusion
at Rome, or in some luxurious villa, and left their cultivation
to be carried on by slaves. But the multiplication of slaves
was found, after a time, to be both dangerous and expensive ;
and when copious supplies i cheap com came flowing in from
Sicily and Africa, the cultivation of grain was to a large extent
given up in Italy, and vast tracts of country were converted
into pasture, on which a few rude herdsmen, captives of war,
sufficed to tend the sheep, the cattle, and the swine which
ranged the woods. Tiberius Gracchus, who had been highly
educated by his mother Oomelia, and who, himself of plebeian
origin, inherited a disposition to side with the commons in their
struggle with the privileged nobility, seems to have partiy
understood the causes of the desolation he had witnessed, and
to have revolved them deeply in his mind. He proceeded to
Spain, and served as qusBStor to the proconsul Mancinus.
There he gained experience and distinction, and inspired all —
even the enemy— with confidence. On his return to Rome
honours and rewards were showered upon him for good service
done.

The young quaestor now extended his inquiries to other
parts of Italy, and found that the state of things which he had
observed in Etruria was general throughout the peninsula.
Everywhere the old native nobility had disappeared : the free
cultivators had been drafted into the army ; the land was ao*
cumulated in the hands of the wealthy few ; and the peasantry
were represented by scanty bands of captive labourers. No
wonder, then, that the Roman arms should be suffering disi^

cH. XXVIII. Tiberius Gracchus. 149

asters in Spain I There had been a time when Italy could arm
700,000 foot soldiers and mount 70,000 cavaliers— all free men,
all trained warriors ; but now, if another Pyrrhus or Hannibal
should attack her, where were the resources of Italy to resist
him P True it was that, if the population of the country had
diminished, that of the towns had increased. If the legions
could no longer be recruited in the rural parts of Italy, they
might still be replenished from tiie mass of Romans and Italians
who formed the ruling race throughout the provinces of Ghreece
and Africa and Asia Minor. True it was, also, that this con-
verfflon of com land into pasture was to a certain extent a
natural and economical process, and the same change was going
on in Greece. For, however flunous these two countries might
have been in the past for their rich crops of grain, there could
be no doubt that the cultivation of cereals was fiir more profit-
able under the warmer sun of Sicily and Africa, while the cool
upland pastures and rich meadow lands of Italy and Greece
rendered them peculiarly well adapted to the breeding of
cattle.

It was not likely that the dispersion of a few thousand
freeholders over Italy would materiaJly alter this state of affairs.
And yet this abandonment of the country to slaves was fraught
with danger to the state, and presented a problem which de-
manded attention. Already in Sicily the slaves had risen by
hundreds of thousands under the leadership of Eunus. They
had even gained some victories over the troops sent to repress
them, and a year of desolating riots and murderous executions
elapsed, before they were compelled to yield to the discipline of
the Roman legions, and to submit their necks once more to the
stem yoke of Roman slavery. Such outbreaks had been fre-
quent enough on a smaller scale, and the Roman maaters had
not failed to assert their authority and to punish the rebels ;
but the quiet which ensued was a repose full of suffering on the
one side and of insecurity on the other.

Bat Tiberius regarded the policy of his countrymen ftom
another point of view also. If he aimed at the elevation of the
lower classes by free grants of land, he wished also to depress
tiie undue exaltation of the nobles. The gulf was ever widen-
ing and growing deeper between the two classes. The free
eitiaens of Rome were reckoned, a few years later, at 400,000,
while not more than 2,000 could be designated as men of

1 50 The Agrarian Law of ch. xxviii.

property. The few grew richer and richer on the rents of
their estates and the spoils of the provinces. The many were
encouraged to regard themselves as a nation of warriors, to
despise the peaceM and profitable pursuits of trade, and to lead
idle and useless lives in dependence on the largesses of their
wealthy rulers. Such a pernicious state of things might well
make a vigorous reformer eager for change. But the time was
not yet. The nobles were now all-powerfiil, and firmly deter-
mined to remain so.

There were two roads at Borne to honour and influence.
The one 'lay through the regular course of the curule magis-
tracies, culminating in the consulship, which could not law-
fully be attained by any man before his forty-third year.
Such a career must be one of slow and uncertain advancement.
Tiberius was impatient. As a plebeian he was eligible to the
tribimeship, which would give him power equal, in some re-
spects, to that of the consul, and would confer upon him
the security of personal inviolability — a consideration of great
importance to a man who was about to meddle with burn-
ing questions. Tiberius sued for the tribuneship, and was
eagerly acclaimed by the people, who understood his alms,
and encouraged him to recover the public land for the poor
citizens.

The young reformer at once proposed to enforce the Licinian
law, which limited the possession of public domain to an extent
of 500 jugera. He proposed to soften the application of the
law by making certain additional assignments to those occu-
piers who had children, and giving some further compensation
to those who were deprived of their holdings. In spite of this,
the nobles whose estates were threatened regarded the measure
as one of sheer confiscation, and opposed it with all their force.
Fierce debates ensued, but the voice of reason was soon drowned
in the clamour of an excited populace. The senate then
prevailed upon one of the tribunes, Octavius by name, to oppose
his veto to the action of his colleague. Tiberius at once in-
duced the tribes to expel his opponent from office, and, after
some rioting, a triumvirate, consisting of Tiberius, with his
brother Oaius and his father-in-law, A. Claudius, was ap-
pointed to put the law (the lex Sempronia) in force. The
nobles now took advantage of the clauses providing for com-
pensation to raise endless questions and delays. They also had

CH. XXVIII. Tiberitis Gracchus. 1 5 1

recourse to the old artifice of instilling into the minds of the
people doubts of their champion's sincerity. They insinuated
that he had accepted a diadem and purple robe as presents
from abroad ; and they drove him to strengthen his position by
the lavish distribution among the people of the treasures be-
queathed to the state by Attalus^ Mng of Pergamus. This act
was a glaring encroachment on the prerogative of the senate,
and it was followed by the still more hostile proposal to admit
the knights to seats on the judicial bench hitherto reserved to
senators. This privilege of presiding at political trials was
eagerly coveted. It conferred authority over the lives and
fortunes of the highest officers, and doubtless gave many op-
portunities for profitable corruption.

Time went on ; the tribune's year of office expired, and he
asked to be re-elected. The nobles opposed him, and a riot
ensued. In the confusion Tiberius, it was said, raised his hand
to his head to protect himself. ^ He demands the diadem ! '
shouted his opponents. Scipio Nasica urged the consul to slay
the would-be tyrant. When he hesitated, Scipio veiled his
head as one about to perform a sacrifice, and called on the
citizens to avenge themselves on the traitor. The two factions
now fell to blows, and the tribune's party was worsted. Ti-
berius himself was killed with a club on tiie Oapitol, just out-
side the doors of the temple of Jupiter. As many as 300 of
his partisans perished, and their bodies were cast ignominiously
into the Tiber. This was the first blood shed in civil war
between the citizens. The practice became only too common
during the century which intervened before the establishment
of the empire.

CHAPTER XXIX.

FOPULAB OAKEEB OP CAITrS eBACCHUS.

The death of Tiberius Gracchus, which was soon followed by
that of Appius Claudius, left two vacancies in the commission
appointed to carry into effect the lex Sempronia. These were
filled up by Fulvius Flaccus and Papirius Carbo ; but so great
were the difficulties of their task, so ingenious the obstacles

152 Popular Career of Caius Gracchus, ch. xxix.

thrown in their way^ and so active the hostility of the senate,
that no progress was made, and the law remained almost
wholly inoperative.

At this conjuncture Scipio ^milianus, who also bore the
title of Africanus, returned victorious from Numantia. His
military renown and his virtuous character seemed to point
him out as the fittest umpire between the rival factions. His
sympathies indeed were all on the aristocratic side, but both in
speech and action he was conspicuous for moderation.

A new influence was now introduced into Roman politics
by the agrarian agitation of the Gracchi — vis., that of the chiefs
of the old Italian races. These provincial nobles had been
admitted to some of the privileges enjoyed by their Roman
conquerors. They too occupied large tracts of domain land,
and had no mind to see their estates parcelled out among the
needy rabble of the Forum. At the same time they chafed at
their continued exclusion from the Roman franchise. While
crowds of clients and freedmen were enrolled as citizens of tiie
sovereign republic. They now chose Scipio as their patron,
and loudly called for admisaon to the full rights of citizenship.

But Scipio's career was suddenly cut off. He was found
dead in his bed. It was asserted that no wound could be dis-
covered on the body. Suspicion fell on his wife Sempronia,
and on her mother Cornelia, the mother of the GraccH ; but
the senate declined to prosecute the inquiry, and to the senate
the odium was generally attached.

The Italians were gtruch vnth consternation. They had
been silently working their way towards the franchise. Per*
nema, one of their leaders, had actually risen by regular steps
from a provincial magistracy to the Latin francnise, thence to
the Roman franchise, and finally to the dignity of consul. But
the death of Scipio encouraged the senate to proscribe the
claims of these ambitious subjects, and even to decree thdr
expulsion from the city. Hereupon Caius Gracchus and the
consul Fulvius, the leaders of the popular party, espoused the
cause of the Italians. The senate removed Fulvius to the
command of an army and C. Gracchus to an official poet in
Sardinia. The Italians were exasperated at their disappoint-
ment, and the little town of FregellsB rashly flew to arms. The
nobles promptly put down and punished the revolt, and the
spirit of the Italians was thereby daunted for another genera-

cH* XXIX. Popular Career of Cuius Gracchus. 153

tion. Yet the struggle thus begun eyentuallj raieed tlie pro-
Tinces, through a series of civil wars, to the lerel of Rome
herself.

The next move of the nobles was to impeach Oaius Gracchus
for sedition ; but in this they failed, and the accused was elected
tribune and urged to carry his brother's plans into effect* His
designs, however, were both more revolutionary and more in-
terested than those of Tiberius. He began by threatening his
opponents with impeachment and driving them into exile.
'fi^ done, he reaifinned the principle of his brother's agrarian
law by repeated popular votes. Next he introduced a series of
highly popular measures. He appointed by law a regular
gratuitous distribution of com to the poor. He levied duties
on articles of luxury. He supplied the soldiers with clothing
at the public expense. He founded colonies for some, and pro*
vided employment, on the construction of roads and bridges, for
others among the needy citizens.

All these measures were advocated by the great tribune in
eloquent speeches ; but that which won him especial favour
with the people was, that in speaking from the rostra he, first
of all Romans, turned his back upon the oomitium where sat
the patrician curies, and addressed himself directly to the mass
of humbler citizens.

A more serious change was that by which the knights were
at last admitted to a share in the judicial appointments. The
provinces were crying out for relief from the exactions and
oppression of their governors, who were all of senatorial rank.
So long as the senators continued to be their sole judges, the
misdeeds of these men were secure from punishment, and the
oppressed could have no hope of relief. The tribune took ad-
vantage of this loud outcry for justice, and installed the knights
in the tribunals.

'Oaius made the republic double headed,' was the keen
remark of antiquity. This, however, was scarcely true, for, in
the Romali state, tiiere had always been a double element. The
powers of the consul and of the tribune, of the senate and of
the people, had always been arrayed in conflict against each
other. Oaius did but place in the hands of Hie monied classes,
as distinguished from the nobles, a new weapon of substantial
power. The conflict between the senators and the knights was
destined to last a hundred years, and in the course of it the

1 54 Popular Career of Caius Gracchus, ch. xxix.

knights did good service in allaying civil discord and main-
taining respect for the law. But no new measure of justice
was to be had from these new judges. They, the financial
agents, the tax farmers, the capitalists of the republic, were as
harsh and rapacious in their treatment of the provinces as ever
the senators had been, and it was not till a stronger hand was
imposed upon them by the autocrat of the empire that the
tyranny of either the knights or the senators was effectually
controlled.

Meantime the claims of the Italians were still imsatisfied :
they hungered keenly for admission to the Roman franchise,
for a share of the public lands, for access to the honours and
emoluments of office, most of all for the immunity they might
enjoy as citizens from the arbitrary exactions and still more
arbitrary violence they were wont to suffer at the hands of
Boman officers. Hitherto the prejudices and jealousy of the
Roman populace had steadily opposed their admission, but
now the mass of the citizens seem to have been generally
won to the generous views of Oaius Gracchus. The nobles
were deeply alarmed, and were still more incensed by the
tribune's plans for founding colonies at Oapua, Tarentum,
and Oarthage, the very towns which had been Rome's most
hated rivals.

Oaius in an evil moment vacated the tribimeship and visited
Africa on business connected with the colony at Oarthage. In
his absence the nobles plotted his destruction, and elected
Opimius, their ablest leader, to the consulship. On his return
he was no longer protected by the inviolability of the tribune's
office. He was insulted by one of the consul's lictors; and
when his partisans interposed in his defence, the senate, hastily
summoned, declared the state in danger, and invested Opimius
with arbitrary power. The consul's party was the stronger.
Oaius was driven from his refuge on the Aventine, the hill of
the plebeians; he had to cross the Tiber by the Sublician
bridge, and seeing that his escape was cut off, he required one of
u.c. 638, his own slaves to give him the death-blow. Opimius
B.C. 121. iia4 promised to pay for his head with its weight in
gold, and the story runs that the brains were extracted and
their place supplied with lead. Oaius was pronounced a rebel,
his estates confiscated, his widow deprived of her dowry. The
nobles did all in their power to brand the two illustrious til-

CH. XXIX. Popular Career of Caius Gracchus, 155

bunes as seditious demagogues. But the people were passion-
ately devoted to the memory of their champions, and at a later
period erected statues in their honour. »

CHAPTER XXX.

THE CIMBRI AND TETTTONES. RISE OP CAITTS MARITTB.

The nobles, flushed with triumph, now confidently expected to
imdo all the work of the Gracchi and to reassert their own
supremacy. The partisans of the murdered tribunes, though
decimated, were not cowed ; yet, despite their resistance, the
Sempronian laws were gradually reversed. Under the agrarian
laws but few allotments had been made, and the recipients of
these had been forbidden to alienate their land. This prohibi-
tion was now revoked, and the consequence was that rich capi-
talists quickly swallowed up the petty allotments of the poor,
who preferred the lazy life of the capital to the hard work of a
remote farm. No further notice was taken of the demands of the
Italians, and the censors were told to expunge from the list of
senators und knights all who were suspected of leaning towards a
reform of the constitution. The nobles were aided in this reaction
by an alarm of danger from without. In the year B.C. 113 Rome
heard with anxiety that hordes of barbarians known as the
Oimbri and Teutones were descending upon the northern slopes
of the Alps and threatening to pass into Italy. The republic
possessed at this time a powerful force, commanded by Papirius
Oarbo, and engaged in reducing the wild country which lay
between the Adriatic and the Danube. Oarbo barred the passes
of the RhsBtian Alps and turned the course of these northern
hosts westward into Gaul ; Rome could again breathe freely.
Such a crisis is apt to calm the troubled sea of political life.
The masses feel their own helplessness in the presence of a
pow^erful enemy, and their need of superior guidance. In this
case the nobles, strong in their habit of united action, under-
took the defence of the republic; the people patiently sub-
mitted to their control. Between the Alps and the Rhone the
Romans had by dint of hard fighting established a dominion
known as the Province. Into this country she now poured her

IS6 The Cimbri and Teutones, ch. xxx.

tinnies. But so powerful were the hosts of the inyadera, that
in the years b.c. 100 to 107 the legions were four times
defeated and their generals slain or captured. In one day the
camps of Manlius and OsBpio were stormed, and the slaughter
was equal to that at OanniB or the Allia. Yet the yictors re-
frained from entering Italy, and contented themselves with
ravaging Gaul; some even penetrated through the Pyrenees
into Spain.

TMs respite was fortunate for the Bomans, as a fresh
trouble was now arising in the south. At the time when
Carthage was destroyed Rome had favoured and encouraged
her ally Massinissa, king of Numidia, till his kingdom had so
increased as to surround the province of Africa, and he in his
turn became an object of jealousy to the republic.

At the death of Massinissa his kingdom was shared between
his three sons, but by the death of two of them the sole domi*
nion had lapsed to HiGcipsa. He again had tiiree sons, of whom
Jugur£ha, though illegitimate, was far liie ablest. Micipsa
would fain have been rid of him, and sent him with succours to
Scipio before Numantia. There the youth learned the art of
war, and also acquired a knowledge of the Roman character.
On the death of Micipsa he inherited one-third of the kingdom,
but before long he had slain one of his brothers, Hiempsal, and
driven the other, Adherbal, to seek support at Rome. Jugurtha
strengthened his cause by lavish bribery, and the senate
decreed the division of Numidia between the two rivals. Again
v.c. 64S, Jugurtha disturbed the settlement, and, having cap-
B.C. iia. tured Adherbal, put him to a cruel death. The
Romans, headed by the tribune Memmius, insisted on vindicating
the honour of the republic. A consular army was despatched,
but the expedition ended in a speedy and dishonourable peace.
An outcry was now raised against the venality of the nobles,
iEmilius Scaurus being especially pointed at. The Numidian
was summoned to Rome ; a safe-conduct was assured to him,
but he was required to disclose the details of his bribery. He
pretended to do all that was required of him, but secretly
contrived that one of the tribunes should interfere and stop
n.o. 644, the proceedings. On his departure, as he passed
B/j. 110. ^0 gates, he exclaimed, * Oh venal city 1 destined
quickly to perish, as soon as a purchaser shall be found for thee.'
Jugurtha returned in 8a£»ty to his own country, but he was

CH. XXX. War with Jugurtka. 1 57

followed by a Boman army, which, however, did not serioaely
molest him. During the absence of the consul Albinus at Rome
his brother Aulus made a dash at the royal treasures. He was
defeated, and his army passed under the yoke. Albinus was
then again sent out to renew the war. A &esh demand was
made for punishment on those who had accepted Jugurtha's
bribes, and four consulars and a pontiff were condemned. It
was a season of public alarm and public severity. The consul
SUanus had just been routed by the Oimbri. Italy was in
dangw of an invasion. Yet in ^ite of this the other consul,
Q. Oecilius Metellus, was despatched to Africa to supersede
Albinus, and to revive the spirit and the discipline of the
Roman troops.

Metellus came of a most honourable stock, and was person-
ally conspicuous for his integrity. He was ably seconded by
an officer of rising reputation, who had carved his own way
upwards to high military rank. Gains Marius, a native of
Arpihum, in the Volscian moimtains, began life, so it was said,
as ft fium labourer* In his early years he entered the ranks,
and wnen fighting in Scipio's army before Numantia he
attracted his general's notice by his prowess and by his rea^
subnussion to discipline. Scipio even pointed him out as a
possible successor to his own proud position as the first general
of Rome. The ambition of the young Italian was roused. On
the return of peace, he plunged into politics and was elected
tribune as a representative man of the people. A fortunate
marriage allied him with the noble family of the Oeasars, and
this connection probably introduced him to the notice of
Metellus. Under such leaders the legions recovered their dis-
cipline and became once more invincible. The intrigues of
Jugurtha were baffled, his combinations broken up, and in due
time his arms sustained a crushing defeat. Thenceforward he
avoided a pitched battle, and when Metellus attacked and
plundered town after town the Numidian horse hovered on his
flanks and caused great suffering to the Roman troops.
Metellus now tried to bring his adversary to bay by attacking
the strong fortress of Zama; but the defence was courageous
and successful : the Numidians broke into the Roman camp in
rear of the assailants and endangered their position, which was
only secured by the prompt action of Marius and his cavalry.
Metellus was compelled to raise the siege^ and^lie then opened

158 Rise of Cuius Marius. ch. xxx.

commimicatioiis with Jugurtha's closest Mends, whom he bribed
to betray their master. The plot was discovered, and Jugurtha
executed the traitors without mercy. Haunted by fear and
suspicion, having no one in whom he could trust, hated for his
cruelties, he retreated to Thala, in the desert ; but even here
Metellus pursued him, and he with difficulty escaped by night,
A pause now occurred in this African warfare, and Marina
asked his general's leave to repair to Home and sue for the
consulship. Metellus scornfully bade him to stay where he
was; but Marius was the idol of his soldiers, and highly
popular in Bome. His rude manners and his bold bearing
towards the nobles endeared him to the masses. He found
means to prevail over the opposition of Metellus, and at the
last moment, by a great effort, he reached the city in time.
The people not only elected him consul, but appointed him to
the province of Numidia in defiance of the senate, who proposed
to maintain Metellus there as proconsul.

Marius openly exulted in his success, and lost no oppor-
tunity of flaxmting his own humble origin in the face of the
defeated nobles. He at once set to work to organise an army
which should be devoted rather to his own personal ambition
than to the welfare of the republic. Hitherto the legions had
been recruited :&om the middle classes, who had some stake in
the country. Marius enlisted mainly the proletarians — the
rabble of the Forum — and they, with the example of their low-
born leader's success before them, and thirsting for plunder,
flocked to his banner.

Metellus, finding himself superseded by his lieutenant, retired
in disgust to Rome, where, however, a triumph and the title of
Numidicus were accorded to him. Marius prosecuted the war
against Jugurtha with great activity. The Numidian found
safety only in the desert, whence he long continued to defy the
power of Rome. But he was at last betrayed by his ally
Bocchus, the king of Mauretania. Loaded with chains, unpitied
by his former subjects, he was dragged through his own do-
u.c. 6S0, minions by Sulla, the consul's lieutenant. At Rome
.B.C. 104. \^Q ^j^g reserved for two years to grace the triumphs
of his conquerors, and then left to perish miserably of cold
and hunger in the prison beneath the Capitol.

Marius remained for some time longer in Africa to regulate
the affidrs of Nmnidia, the eastern portion of which he annexed

cH. XXX. Triumphs of Marius, 159

to the Roman province of Africa^ while the remainder was
handed over to native prmces. A few years later Ptolemseus
Apion, the last of the Greek kings of Oyrenaica^ bequeathed his
kingdom to the Bomans. A shadow of independence was
allowed to the five principal cities of the country, but Leptis
was occupied by a Boman garrison.

When Maiius returned in b.c. 104 to claim his triumph, the
consulship of the year had been already thrust upon him in his
absence. The Oimbri were again threatening to attack the
Province and to cross the Alps. Since the loss of five armies
in that quarter the Bomans had simply maintained a defensive
attitude in their fortified cities. But the republic was impatient
of this disgrace, and demanded a leader who could expel the
invaders ; &e nobles, therefore, stifled their jealousy, and agreed
to elect Marius to a second consulship and appoint him to the
conduct of the war.

The raw levies of Marius stood in fear of the huge and
hideous barbarians, but the latter were scattered about in dis-
order and left him time for preparation. Marius set Hs troops
to cut a dyke from the mouth of the Bhone for the transport of
supplies. It was many months before he judged his legions
fit to face the enemy ; and during this interval a third and a
fourth consulship were conferred upon him, so grave was the
situation, and so thorough the confidence of Borne in her
champion.

At last the barbarians began to move. The Oimbri and
Helvetii undertook to invade Ttaly through the Tyrol, while
the Teutones and Ambrones were to crush Marius and to
advance along the coast of Liguria. They were to unite their
forces on the banks of the Po. Marius retained his post in the
Transalpine province, while his colleague Oatulus led another
army to the banks of the Adige. Marius with difficulty kept
his men close in camp and waited till the Teutones began their
advance upon Italy. Then he followed them, choosing his own
ground, and offered them battle near Aquae SextisB, the modem
Aix. The barbarians were eager for the encounter. First the
Ambrones, and two days later the Teutones, furiously assaulted
the Boman lines. But both attacks were repulsed with
immense slaughter : the legions were kept well in hand, and
the invaders were completely routed. The memory of that
fearful carnage was preserved ia the name of the Putrid Plain;

i6o Victories of Marius. ch. xxx.

and is still retained in the name of Ponrri^reSi the Tillage
which now marks the spot.

Marius reserved the richest spoils to grace hin triumph, the
refit he consumed in a yast bonfire, the troops standing round
crowned with chaplets. Just as he was on the point of land-
ling the pile, a horseman rode up with the news of his election
to a fiftJi consulship. The memory of this inddent also sur-
viyes in the Locality. Each y«ar the villagers assemble on a
certain hill and kindle a huge bonfire amid shouts of ' Victoire !
Victoire I '

Meanwhile the Oimbri had made their way a<^roe9 the Alps
by t^ Brenner pass, the only one which was practicable for
their numerous waggons. The mwe report of the fierceness of
the invaders sufficed to dismay the soldiers of Oatulus, and
headed l^ their leader they retreated in ccmfusion. Marius had
been summoned in haste to Bome. He lost no time in effects
ing a junction between his own victorious troops i^d those
of Oatulus, and he confined the Oimbri to the further bank
of the Po. The barbarians declined a battle, but sent to de-
mand lands of Marius for themselves and the Teut<»B. ' The
Teutons,* he replied, ' have got all the soil they need on the
other side of the Alps.* The Oimbri could no longer delay the
u.c. ess, %H which took place at Oampi Baudii, near Veiv
B.C. 101. cellsB, and ended in their total defeat and destruction.
The victory was really won by Oatulus and his lieutenant
Sulla, as Marius in a furious charge was carried beyond the
enemy's ranks. Tet the popular voice gave the chief glory to
their favourite hero, who was hailed as the third founder of
Home along with Homulus and Oamillus. Many years elapsed
before the alarm caused by this Oimbric invasion was efi^ced
from the minds of the Romans.

OHAPTER XXXI.
XHB eTBueeiiE op the rcALiAirs pob the fraitghise.

Dttbing the absence of Marius in Gaul, the city had been
harassed by domestic troubles of a new kind. The slaves of
Italy had revolted. Oomposed of m^n of all nations and

cH. XXXI. The Struggle for the Franchise, i6i

classes, there were many among them who chafed bitterly at
the degradation of servitude. Isolated outbreaks had been
frequent and sometimes not without a measure of success.
Numerous leaders had appeared, several of whom deluded their
followers by pretending to magical or prophetic powers. In
this case the insurrection spread from Campania u.c. 665,
to Sicily : more than one Boman army was beaten ^-c* ^'
by these miserable hordes ; and it was not till 100,000 of the
insurgents had been slain that the flame was subdued for a
time.

In the year that followed his return to Rome, Marius was
for the sixtii time elected consul. Careless himself of political
objects, engrossed with the single thought of maintaining his
own pre-eminence, he readily lent himself to the cries of faction.
And such cries were then frequent in the Boman Forum.
The people were bent on reviving the agrarian laws of the
Gracchi The knights were clamouring for the monopoly of
the judicial offices. Personal spite and envy were rife among
them, and these vented themselves on Q. Servilius Csepio. A
few years before he had captured Tolosa in Gaul by an act of
treachery, and had appropriated to himself the golden plunder
of the Gaulish temples. Subsequently he had suffered defeat at
the hands of the Cimbri, and now this misfortune was attributed
by the popular voice to the vengeance of the gods on th^
impious robber. 'The gold of Tolosa' was the cause of his
disaster, and became as such proverbial. The iUnstarred leader
was threatened by the people with confiscation of his goods and
degradation from office. The senate tried to defend him, but a
riot ensued, ^milius Scaurus, the prince of the senate, was
wounded ; and CsBpio suffered an ignominious fate.

In the year 103, the right of electing the chief pontiff was
grasped by the popular assembly. This important political
office had hitherto been wielded by the patricians alone : it still
continued to be reserved to them. But the patricians had
ceased to be identified in interest and feeling with the ruling
oligarchy of the nobles or Optimates, as they are now commcmly
tailed, and as popular leaders they inflicted some of the rudest
shocks upon the old traditions of the republic. At the same
time the knights succeeded in wresting the judicia completely
out of the hands of the senators, and vesting them exclusively

1 62 The Struggle of the Italians ch. xxxi.

in their own order. Marius, as consul, displayed neither courage
nor presence of mind in the face of civil discord. His action
too was ixc from popular. In one measure, however, he gained
the support of the tribunes ; that is, in the favour he showed to
distinguished Italian soldiers. On many of these he bestowed
grants of land in the Transalpine province, the soil of which he
argued had been lost to the native population and reconquered
by the Bomans to be disposed of at their own pleasure. The
opposition of the nobles was only overcome by a popular tumult
headed by the tribune Satuminus. Marius held aloof and let
the storm take its course ; and in the end Metellus, the leader
of the aristocratic faction, disgusted at the insults heaped upon
him, retired into voluntary exile. Upon the arrogant tribune
the nobles soon had their revenge. Satuminus asked for
re-election to the office of tribune. He was opposed, and violence
was used on both sides. In self-defence he seized upon the
Oapitol with a body of armed partizans. The nobles denounced
him as aspiring to royalty, and the people listened again to the
cry so often fatal to their leaders. The state was declared to
be in danger, and Marius charged with its defence. He soon
reduced the insurgents by cutting off their supply of water, and
the people took the life of their Mend and patron without
scruple.

This was perhaps the last moment when a limited monarchy
might have been established at Home. Oould the people have
found an honest and able man to exercise such power as had
already been wielded by Marius ; could the nobles have yielded
to the just claims of their own commons and of the Italians,
a better form of government than the naked despotism of
Augustus and Tiberius might have been evolved. There still
survived among the citizens enough of patriotic virtue to fit
them for a free political life. While they controlled private
ambition by a sovereign authority, they might have retained
some control over the sovereign himself. But the event proved
that neither party in the state was enlightened enough to
entertain the idea of such a compromise. The empire was
the only possible remedy for the evils which now menaced the
state. Tlie Italians had for some time been demanding the
Boman franchise ; but we must not suppose that these pre-
tensions were based upon the idea of their being entitled by
right to such a privilege. They had been subdued by Bome,

CH. XXXI. for the Franchise, 163

and in that stage of the world's history conquerors and con-
quered alike never thought of questioning that the winners in
a fight were justly entitled to keep for themselves all the
privilege and all the power they could grasp. To yield any*
thing would have been understood as a concession not to justice
but to fear. There was in truth little to attract the "subject
masses in the privileges of Koman citizenship. The military
service enforced upon the citizens, and the restraints which
hindered them from the pursuits of trade and art, were evils to
be avoided. The prizes of political office were far beyond their
reach. The real motive which stirred them was the desire for
land suggested by the agrarian agitation of the Gracchi. The
Italians saw the lands which once belonged to their fathers in
the possession of a few wealthy nobles. But they themselves
still tilled and enjoyed those lands subject to paying a rent to
the noble proprietors. Now, if these lands were to be divided
equally among the plebeians of Home, the Italian peasant
would be ousted from his farm unless he could claim his
share in the distribution as being himself a citizen of Home.
Thus the plebeian agitation for land and the Italian agitation
for citizenship moved side by side in close alliance; and
when the knights, in their struggle for ascendency with the
Optimates, availed themselves of this external aid, the aristo-
cratic order found itself arrayed in defence of its prerogative
against a more powerful combination than it had ever faced
before.

The Optimates formed a well-organised party, knit together
in close discipline with their bands of clients and retainers,
trained to the use of their sufirage as well as of their arms.
The Italians had the strength of numbers, for they included all
the races, from the Rubicon in the north to the Straits of
Messina in the south, which had so long and stubbornly with-
stood the arms of Rome. Their free mimicipal constitution
had also produced a race of able speakers and statesmen. The
Oimbric war had trained many thousands of brave veterans
who were now disbanded. Besides these resources they had a
powerful friend in the Roman tribunate. M. Livius Drusus, a
noble by birth, warmly espoused the cause of the Italians, yet
without abandoning his hereditary order. He sought honestly
to reconcile and unite the interests of three contendipg fi^tione.
He restored the judicia to the senators^ at ' t^e swne time

164 The Struggle of the Italians ch. xxxi.

admitting 300 knights into the senate ; he promised lands to the
needy citizens and the longed-for franchise to the Italians.
The yiews of this wisest and ablest of demagogues were large,
and his bearing frank and brave. ' Bcdld me/ said he to his
architect, ' a house wherein all my countrymen may witness all
I do.' At the same time he purchased support on all sides by
an unexampled profusion which did not fail of its object. For
a long time the senate and the people united to do him honour.
When he fell sick, vows were offered for his recovery from
end to end of Italy. Drusus, however, could not patronise
the Italians without incurring the hostility of the privileged
class at home. A story is told of his nephew, M. Pordus Oato,
then a child of four years old, being asked by a Marsian chief
at his uncle's table to support the Italian cause. The little
Oato sturdily refused ; toys and sweetmeats failed to move him.
At last the Marsian seized him by the leg and held him out of
window with violent threats. Still the same obstinate refusal ;
and the Italian sighed to think what resistance he must expect
from the men of Home, when a child could be so inflexible.
Drusus, finding both the knights and senators growing more and
more alienated from him, was forced to lean more unreservedly
on the foreigners, whom he tried hard to restrain from unlawful
violence. But they passed beyond his control. Pompaddius
Silo, the chief of the Marsians, marched on Rome with 10,000
men in arms. The senate consented to parley and to discuss
his claims ; every effort was used to detach the supporters of
the Italian cause ; and on the day of voting the consul Marcius
Philippus tried to break up the meeting. One of the tribune's
officers seized and throttled him. The city was filled with the
fiercest excitement. No one knew whom to trust ; armed bands
u.c. 668, paraded the streets ; and in the confusion, Drusus, as
B.C. 91. he entered his house, was struck by the dagger of an
assassin. As he fell he exclaimed, ' When will Rome find so
good a citizen P ' The assassin escaped in the crowd.

The senatorial faction, to which the murder was generally
imputed, proceeded with all haste to reverse their victim's
measures and to impeach his partisans, among whom were
many of the noblest Optimates. The illustrious ^milius
Scaurus was among others accused before the popular tri-
bunal He deigned only to reply, ' Varius, the Iberian, charges
iEmilius Scaurus, prince of the senate, with exciting the

CH. XXXI for the Frafickise. 165

Italians to revolt. Scaurus denies it Eomans! which of
them do you believe ? ' The people absolved him with accla-
mations.

The Italians, deprived of all support within the city, flew to
amis. The Marsians, with Pompaedius Silo at their head, took
the lead. With them were associated the people of Picenum,
of Samnium, of Lucania and Apulia, and others ; all, in fact, who
belonged to the great Sabellian race. These tribes confederated
themselves into a great republic, whose government was to be
modelled on that of Home ; but the Etrurians, the Latins, the
Umbrians, the Oampanians, and the Gauls of the Oisalpine,
adhered to the fortunes of Rome.

There is no doubt that the forces of which Home could dis-
pose far outnumbered those of the new league. To the roll of
Koman citizens, numbering at this time 400,000 men, must be
added at least 120,000 for her Italian allies, besides all the
auxiliaries which she might draw from her provinces beyond
the peninsula. She held, moreover, the chief fortresses con-
nected by the great military roads throughout the territory of
her adversaries. On the other hand, she dared not weaken her
garrisons scattered through Greece and Asia, Spain and A£rica :
the temper of her allies was uncertain ; and her own citizens,
as well as their leaders, were split up into jealous factions. The
social or Marsic war began in the year B.C. 90, and lasted
through three campaigns. The republic was taken by surprise,
whereas the Italians had long been preparing for the struggle.
These latter fought with much constancy, and in the end gained
their object, despite the long roll of deifeats recorded against
them by Eoman historians.

Among the captains of the Eoman legions were many men
already famous or destined later to become so. The veteran
Marius, as a known sympathiser with the Italians, was not
trusted with extensive command ; but his former lieutenant,
L. Cornelius Sulla, gained the chief laurels of the war. With
him were ranged a OsBsar, a Eutilius, and a Pompeius Strabo.
The young Cnaeus Pompeius served his first campaign ; and
Oicero, the chief of Roman orators, earned his first and only
stipend. In the midst of their reputed victories the Romans'
were forced to concede the very privilege for which they were
fighting. The lex Julia conferred the franchise on the Etru-
rians and Umbrians, and two years later the lex Plautia Popiria

l66 The Social War. ctt. xxxt.

extended this boon to tlie confederated Italians. Ten tribes
were added to the thirty-five abeady existing : yet it turned
out that after all this bloodshed, but few of the Italians cared
to make the requisite journey to Rome, where alone the fi'an-
chise could be obtained or exercised. Between the years B.C.
114 and B.C. 86, the number of citizens only increased from
394,000 to 463,000, and sixteen years later it did not exceed
460,000. Nevertheless the issue of the social war produced a
most important result. It created a precedent for the whole-
sale admission of subjects to the full privileges of membership
of the republic, which was afterwards followed in many
quarters of Spain, of Gaul, and of Africa, while the Latin
franchise was still more widely extended.

There can be little doubt that the liberal policy, which thus
conceded just demands and discarded inveterate prejudices, saved
the Roman state from disruption and decay at a most critical
period of its history.

CHAPTER XXXII.

RISE OF CORNELIUS BULLA. CIVIL WAR. DEATH OP MARTITS.

From this time forward the history of Rome becomes more
and more a chronicle of the lives and rivalries of her great
warriors and statesmen. At the close of the Marsic war, SuUa
was forty-nine years old, Marius about seventy. Though over^
shadowed thus far by the fame of the older captain, Sulla
seized every opportunity of gaining distinction. Nor was
Marius indifferent to his growing reputation. He envied him
also his superior birth and education, for Sulla was a scion of
the noble house of the Oomelii, and was skilled both in writing
and speaking Greek. In spite of this affectation of literature,
his nature was coarse, and he was addicted to gross debauchery
and to low company. He is described as having piercing blue
eyes of a sinister expression, while his complexion, disfigured
by pimples and blotches, was compared by the Greeks to a mul-
berry sprinkled with meal. His manners were h«ughty, and
though not insensible to pity, no single act of kindness or
generosity is recorded of him. The nobles, without liking him,

CH. XXXII. Rise of Cornelius Sulla. 167

accepted him as their champion^ and he on his part was filled
with the idea of exalting his own order and ruling Borne by
means of it Sulla became consul u.c. 666, and had the credit
of bringing the Marsic war to a close. Before his term of office
expired war broke out with Mithridates^ king of Pontus, and
Sulla had the strongest claim to command the legions in Asia.
Marius indeed was jealous, and tried to displace him, but to no
purpose, for the nobles had now found a champion on whom
they could place more reliance.

Mithridates was by birth of Persian extraction, and in
Addition to the realm of Pontus he had extended his sway over
the northern and eastern shores of the Euxine Sea. Phrygia,
once his, had been wrested firom him by the Bomans ; but he
had revenged himself by placing his infant son on the throne of
Oappadocia. His armies were recruited from the hardy moun-
taineers of the Caucasus and the Taurus. His generals were
probably Greeks and not wanting in military sj^. He was
himself a man of vigorous intellect and of robust frame. Among
the stories told of him, one represents him as foi:)tifying his
system against poison by daily absorbing a dose of it ; another^
as being able to converse with his subjects in twenty-five
difierent languages.

In the year B.C. 93 Bome had already interfered to annul
the appointments of Mithridates in Oappadocia. Sulla^ then
prcetor in Cilicia, had enforced the decree of the republic, and
the king of Pontus made no resistance. But when Italy was
convulsed with the social war, he again took arms to expel the
Boman nominee from Oappadocia. Again the Boman senate
asserted its will by force, and again Mithridates yielded.
Finding himself, however, severely pressed by the Boman
armies, he turned at bay and routed them ; then raising the
whole native population, he effected a general massacre of the
Boman citizens in Asia, 80,000 or even 150,000 in number
according to various statements.

To avenge this outrage Sulla was now ordered to the East
at the head of a powerful army. Marius, still brooding over
his disappointment, began a fresh intrigue with the Italians,
who were still dissatisfied with their position in the state. He
raised a tumult in the city, and got himself nominated to the
eastern conmiand in place of his rival. Sulla, however, had
not yet quitted Italy, and having assured himself of the devo-

i68

Massacre of Roman

CH. XXXII.

cH. XXXII. Citizens by Mithridates. 169

tion of his soldiers, he promptly faced about and inarched on
Eome with six legions. The people were struck with con-
sternation by this bold move : resistance was impossible, and
Marius barely succeeded in effecting his escape when Sulla
entered Eome as a conqueror.

On the morrow Sulla summoned the people to the Forum,
and explained to them that a faction had compelled him to use
force. He then rescinded the acts just passed in favour of the
Italians^ and decreed the repeal of the time-honoured rule of
die constitution which gave the force of law to the plebiscita
or resolutions of the popular assembly. Thus the -violence of
Marius impelled his rival to a counter-revolution, by which the
power of the popular tribunes was swept away.

Meanwhile Marius was fleeing for his life and hiding his
head, upon which a price had been set. After many hair-
breadth escapes he got on board a small trading ship bound
&om Ostia to Libya, but landed again, under the torments of
sea-sickness, near Girceii. Affcer wandering for some time
among the desolate pine-forests of that coast^ he was at last
captured crouching among the reeds at the mouth of the Liris.
He was dragged to Mintumce, where the magistrates deter-
mined to put him to death and claim the reward offered. A
Gimbrian slave was sent to despatch him, who declared that a
bright flame shot from his eyes, and a voice issuing from the
gloom demanded, ' Wretch I dare you to slay Gains Marius ? '
The barbarian fled, exclaiming ^ I cannot kill Gains Marius ! *
The magistrates and the people, alarmed by this omen, con-
nived at the escape of their prisoner to AMca. There, as he
meditated among the ruins of Garthage, Marius was warned by
the Boman governor to begone ; and he at last found a refuge
on an island near the African coast.

While the conqueror of the Gimbri was thus fleeing for his
life, and his triumphant rival engaged in the war with Mith-
ridates, fresh troubles broke out in Italy. The Samnites^ led
by another Pontius Telesinus, again revolted, and being joined
by bands of slaves and robbers, threatened a descent upon
Sicily.

Metellus Pius, who was sent to crush them, could do no
more than hold them in check. A Roman army was stationed
in Picenum under the command of Pompeius Strabo, who had
delayed to surrender his imperium at the close of the Social

I70 Civil War. ch. xxxn.

war. The senate sent the late consul Kufus to receive .the
legions at his hands, but a muliny broke out ; Rufus was slain,
and Strabo resumed his command without punishing the muti-
neers. The legions of Rome had slipped from the hands of the
government and become the personal following of their im-
perators. Nor was the government more powerfiil at home.
In the absence of Sulla the demagogue Oinna, backed by a
noisy faction, demanded the recall of Marius and the exiles,
and the full and final enfranchisement of the Italians. Such a
demand was certain to be resisted. A disturbance arose in
the Forum : blood was shed, but the event proved that Oinna
had miscalculated his strength. He was overpowered by
Octavius, his colleague in the consulship, and driven with his
partisans out of the city. Oinna seems to have counted on
Strabo and his army ; but Strabo preferred to wait and watch
the turn of events.

Oinna was promptly and illegally degraded from the con-
sulship. Proscribed and outlawed, he fled into Oampania, and
called upon the new Italian citizens to support their patron.
He soon collected an armed following. Many exiles of the
Marian party joined him ; among them Q. Sertorius, an officer
of distinction. Nor did be fail to unite himself with the Sam-
nites and Lucanians, the avowed enemies of the republic.
Marius himself, threading the ambuscades of a thousand ene-
mies, was acting in concert with him. Suddenly appearing
on the coast of Etruria, he was quickly joined by some friends
at the head of five hundred fugitive slaves, who demanded no
better than to fight for vengeance and plunder. With such a
following the reckless anarch Marius marched upon Rome from
the north, while Oinna approached it from the south. Sertorius
and Oarbo menaced her from other quarters, and Rome saw
herself encircled by four armies of rebellious citizens, backed
by the Sanmite insurrection. The senate hastily recalled
Metellus, bidding him make peace with the Sanmites on any
terms. This he failed to do; but leaving a small force to
watch them, he hurried back to the city. His lieutenant was
soon overpowered, and the Samnites rushed on to Rome, vowing
they would have no peace tiU the covert of the Roman wolves
was destroyed. In their despair the senate appealed to Strabo,
but he would not stir. Soon after a mutiny broke out in his
camp, in which he would certainly have perished but for the

CH. XXXIt.

Civil War. 171

devotion of his son, the young Pompeius. Pestilence now
broke out, whicli decimated the city and the hostile forces
outside the walls. Strabo was carried off by it. The senate
next tried to make terms with Oinna, and failing of that, asked
for an amnesty. Oinna was seated in his curule chair with
lictors and fasces around him. Behind him stood Marius,
clothed, as an exile and an outlaw, in black rags, squalid and
unshorn. His gloomy looks foreboded the proscriptions that
were to follow. The consul Octavius had been assured of
safety and refused to escape. He was at once decapitated and
his bleeding head suspended from the rostra. Never u.c. 667,
before had such a sight been seen in Rome, but civil ^•^- ®^'
war soon made the practice familiar. A general massacre en-
sued. Senators, knights, and meaner citizens were ruthlessly
slaughtered. Some of the noblest men in Rome were among
the slain — Orassus, who had been both consul and censor ; An-
tonius, celebrated as the greatest of the Roman orators ; two of
the Julii, kinsmen of Julius Oaesar, the future dictator. Marius
•wrapped himself in silence, but instructed his followers to spare
only those to whom he gave his hand to kiss. At first the
adherents of Sulla and the aristocratic faction were singled out
for slaughter, but soon the assassins were joined by slaves and
Italians, who murdered indiscriminately on their own account.

This wholesale carnage was at length arrested, but many
executions- still took place under forms of judicial process.
Oatulus, the colleague of Marius in his last battle against the
Oimbri, pleaded for his life upon his knees. ' You must die,
was the stem answer, and he was compeUed to suffocate him-
self with charcoal. The chiefs of the revolution next pro-
ceeded to reorganise the government, nominating themselves
without election to the highest magistracies.

Marius became consul for the seventh time. At the age of
seventy, broken in health, he reached the summit of his aspira-
tions. He even proposed to take command of the u.c. 668,
legions, and wrest from Sulla the conduct of affairs ^-c- 86.
in the East ; but his strength and his spirits alike gave way.
After enjoying the highest favours of fortune, and suffering her
worst buffets, he was weary of life. One evening, after supper,
he told the story of his life to some friends, and remarked that
no man of sense ought to trust again to so balanced a fortune.
Next day he kept his bed, and at the end of seven days died.

1 72 Death of Marius, ch. xxxii.

of no apparent illness. He was honoured with a public funeral,
and it is related that the tribune Fimbria caused the venerable
Mucins ScsBvola, chief of the Koman jurists, to be sacrificed on
the pyre. The victim was, however, not slain, but carried off
by his Mends and restored to life. It seems probable that this
pretended sacrifice was no more than tlie drawing of a drop of
blood to satisfy an ancient superstition.

CHAPTER XXXm.

8TTLLA CRUSHES THE MABIAN FACTION AND DEVASTATES
ITALY.

Marius died in January, early in his year of office, and Oinna
chose Valerius Flaccus to fill the vacancy. He then set him-
self to carry out the long-promised enfranchisement of the
Italians, by suppressing the ten Italian tribes, and enrolling
the new citizens among the thirty-five tribes of the city. The
Sanmites and Lucanians still scorned the ofiered privilege.
The consul next proclaimed an adjustment of debts, by com-
pelling creditors to accept the copper ' (w ' in payment for the
silver sesterce, whose value was four times as great. This
done, Flaccus took command of the legions destined for the
Pontic war, and proceeded to the East to confront Sulla.

Before Sulla left Rome, Mithridates had already gained
enormous successes. Not only Bithynia, Oappadocia, and the
Roman province of Asia, with its rich capital Ephesus, but
the islands of the ^gean, Athens herself, and a large part of
Greece, had acknowledged his dominion, and welcomed him
as a deliverer. By the time that Sulla had crossed the
Adriatic his task had swelled to the reconquest of half the
empire.

When Sulla quitted Italy in B.C. 87, he determined to secure
his own fortunes rather by the devotion of his soldiery than by
the fiivour of any political party in Rome. With this object in
view he would gorge them with plunder. In fact, he en-
couraged, instead of checking, their licence, and his path was

CH. XXXIII. Sulla defeats Mithridates, 173

marked by devastation and sacrilege. The sacred treasures of
Ejadaimis and Olympia fell into his hands. Athens was
stormed and sacked with more than the usual Roman barbarity.
In Boeotia he encoimtered a vast army of Orientals, and totally
routed them at the great battle of OhsBroneea. u.c. 668,
Flaccus now appeared and summoned him to sup- ^•^' '*^-
render his command, but at that moment Mithridates threw
a second army within his reach, and in a second victory at
Qrehomenos, Sulla broke the power of the king of Pontus and
cleared the stage of Greece for his conflict with the Roman
consul. Meanwhile Flaccus was assassinated in a mutiny, and
Fimbria promoted to his place by the soldiers. They however
had no mind to cope with Sulla, but demanded to be led into
Asia, there to ransack the provinces. Mithridates u.c 669,
narrowly escaped falling into their hands, but was ^-c- 85.
saved by Lucullus, Sulla's lieutenant. By this manoeuvre Sulla
secured the advantage of imposing his own terms upon him.
He in fact surrendered Bithynia and Oappadocia, and the
Roman province of Asia, with a large part of his fleets and
treasures, and was admitted into amity with the republic.
Sulla then turned suddenly on Fimbria, and without xj.c. 670,
fighting won over his army by bribery. Fimbria re- **-^- 8*-
fused the safe-conduct offered him, and fell upon his own sword.
With the news of Fimbria's death and the surrender of
Mithridates, there reached Rome the announcement of Sulla's
speedy return, and of his determination to pimish his foes and
those of the republic. The senate, half of which consisted of
Marians, was greatly alarmed, yet, though they made an effort
to pacifiy the conqueror, they forbad the consuls to arm for
their own defence. Cinna and Oarbo, the successor of Flaccus,
disregarded their feeble interference, levied fresh troops, and
invited the Samnites and Lucanians to join them. Oinna was
soon after killed in a mutiny, and Oarbo remained sole consul.
His brief usurpation was a career of lawless violence. Sulla,
who returned to Italy at the head of 80,000 devoted veterans,
felt that he could despise any raw levies raised by such
chiefs as Oarbo, Sertorius, and the younger Marius. Nor did he
dread the hostility of the Italians, who had little concert among
themselves, and whose states he detached one by one from the
common cause. Meanwhile Metellus Pius raised his standard
in Liguria, and the young Pompeius in Kcenum. ^^-'^^^

174 Sulla crushes the Marian Faction, ch. xxxiii.

At this crisis, on July 6, B.C. 83, the city was thrown into
consternation by a great fire which destroyed the Oapitol and
consumed even the Sibylline books. This destruction of the
sanctuary of the nation seemed to portend the closing of one
era and the opening of a new one in the destinies of Kome.

Sulla advanced triumphantly through Apulia and Oampania.
Carbo and the younger Marius had assumed the consulship at the
commencement of the year B.C. 82. The former undertook to
oppose Metellus and Pompeius in the north, and did so with some
success. Marius, whose task it was to stop the advance of Sulla,
was soon defeated, and retired into the fortress of Prseneste.
SuUa, leaving a sniall force to watch him, passed on to Etruria
to grapple with Oarbo, who defended himself gallantly at
Olusium. After contesting several battles, Oarbo was at length
overthrown near Ravenna by Metellus, and eventually escaped
to Africa. Sertorius had already fled to Spain.

Only Marius remained, and the Samnites under Pontius
Telesinus. These brave mountaineers, passing by Preeneste,
made one gallant dash at Rome on the first of November. Sxilla,
however, was close behind them, and engaged them just
outside the OoUine gate. Sulla's own wing of the army was
routed ; but Orassus with the right wing saved the day and
completely broke the Samnite force. Of the Italians 8,000 were
made prisoners : all Roman officers found among them were put
to the sword.

Pontius Telesinus, greviously wounded, was slain by the
conqueror on the field of battle. He was the last of Rome's
Italian enemies. He could but have hoped for one day of
plunder and conflagration, and this being denied him he might
be content to die among 50,000 brave men, of whom a full half
were Romans. When the Prsenestines saw the heads of the
Italians and the Marians paraded before them they opened
their gates, and young Marius caused his own slave to de-
spatch him. A few cities, as Norba, Nola and Voltaterrse, held
out for short periods, but in two years' time the struggle in
Italy died out, and it only remained to crush the lingering
resistance of the Marian party in Africa and Spain.

Up to this point, Sulla had been essentially a party leader.
Perhaps the haughty jealousy of Marius and the contrast
between the origin and manners of the two great captains, had
inclined him more than anything else to identify himself with

<:k. pcxiii. mid devastates Italy, 175

the cause of the oligarchy. But the opposition he encountered
in Italy from the Etrurians and Samnites expanded his views
and transformed him from the chief of a Roman faction into
the head of the Eoman nation. He had reconquered the East,
and disregarding with pitiless scorn the cries of the provincials,
he had riveted their chains anew upon Greeks and Asiatics.
Now he had reconquered Italy, and was prepared to treat the
Italians with a like severity.

Sulla's first care was, however, to take a bloody revenge for
the cruel proscriptions of Marius and Oinna. On the morning
after the battle of the Oolline gate his 8,000 Samnite prisoners
were cut to pieces by his soldiers in cold blood in the Campus
Martins. Prseneste next felt the weight of his iron hand, and
then returning to Kome he mounted the rostra and harangued
the people. He vaunted his own irresistible power ; promised
kindness to those who obeyed him well ; and threatened dire
punishment against all of every rank who had provoked hia
indignation.

These words were a signal to his creatures. The massacre
of the Marian party was at once begun, and many a private
vengeance was wreaked under cover of the wholesale slaughter.
The relatives of Marius naturally were the first to suffer, and
Oatilina hunted one of them to death with cruel torments.
The corpse of the great warrior himself was torn from its
grave on the banks of the Anio, and cast into the stream. The
troubled ghost, according to the poet Lucan, continued to haunt
the spot on the eve of impending revolutions.

Sulla, being questioned in the senate whether victims enough
had been slain, produced a list of eighty names ; two days later,
230, and the next day as many more were added. ^ By and
by,' he said, 'he might remember more.* The proscribed were
outlawed, and a price set upon their heads, their property was
confiscated, and their descendants made incapable of holding
public office.

From December 82 to June 81, these authorised murders
continued not only in Home but in every city of Italy. The
slaves and favourites of Sulla even sold the right of adding the
names of any man's private foes to tlie list of the pio^cribed.
No wonder that such frightful crimes aroused indignant mur-
murs among the Roman people.

Sulla took care to associate with himself as milny as he

176 Sulla crushes the Marian Faction^ ch. xxxn.

could in the guilt of these cruelties, and to make them conspicu-
ous by the rewards with which he loaded them. On Oatilina,
the most unscrupulous of all, a man of blasted character and
ruined fortune, he heaped golden favours. Orassus, ' the richest
of the Komans,* now laid the foundation of his enormous wealth.
Onseus Pompeius, though he held aloof from the proscriptions,
executed his master's vengeance upon captives taken in arms :
he further divorced his wife and married Sulla's step-daughter
Metella. OflBsar, then a youth of eighteen, was connected by
blood with Marius and by marriage with Cinna. Sulla con-
tented himself with requiring him to repudiate his wife.
OflBsar refused, and fled into the mountains : the assassins were
on his track, but so many pleaded in favour of his youth and inno-
cence that Sulla consented to spare him, remarking at the time,
' In that young trifler there is more than one Marius ! * OsBsar
prudently withdrew from the scene of danger, and joined the
army of the East.

The slaughter which took place in these proscriptions at
Bome is thus estimated. Of senators from one to two himdred
perished; of knights from two to three thousand; of the
common people an unknown multitude. But the destruction ot
the Italians was far more sweeping. Whole cities were depo-
pulated ; the Samnite people were annihilated ; and of all their
cities Beneventum alone vras left standing. The people of
Prseneste were exterminated. The Etrurians suffered little
less. The thriving cities of Spoletum, Volaterrse, and Interamna
were given over to fire and sword. FflBsulse was dismantled,
and the new city of Florentia built out of its ruins. Through-
out large districts all the chief people perished, all the pro-
prietors were dispossessed. The void thus created was Med
by the plantation of military colonies from end to end of the
peninsula. As many as 120,000 of Sulla's veterans are said to
have been thus established. In this great convulsion the traces
of ancient manners and even of languages disappeared. Etrus-
can civilisation was buried out of sight, to be rediscovered
after twenty centuries in the tombs of forgotten Lucumons.

It was now the turn of the provinces to suffer a like
chastisement. Greece and Asia had already been scourged by
Sulla. He now pursued his enemies throughout Sicily, Africa,
Gaul and Spain. Metellus in the Cisalpine, Flaccus in the
Narbonensis, Pompeius in Sicily, and Annius in Spain, exe-

CH. XXXIII. and devastates Italy. I ^*J

cuted the tyrant's cruel behests. At the same time the un-
suhdued Thracians and the restless Mithridates threatened a
new war in the East. The shores of Greece and Italy swarmed
with Asiatic pirates. The Apennines from north to south
were infested with hordes of ruined fugitives who had no
resource left but robbery and violence. IVoperty was insecure
under the very walls of populous cities ; and even free citizens
were liable at any moment to be kidnapped and sold into
slavery. Such was the ghastly state to which the civilised
empire of the Romans had been reduced by anarchy and
violence.

Though Sulla had returned to Home laden with the spoils
of the East, he soon stood in need of fresh supplies of money to
maintain his government. Accordingly the provinces were
loaded with fresh taxation. No matter what immunities had
been promised, what treaties made, all were forced to contribute.
So severe was the strain, that some cities were obliged to
pledge their public lands, their temples, their ports, the very
stones of their walls. Sulla sold the sovereignty of Egypt to
Ptolemy Alexander II., requiring him to leave it by will to the
Roman people, and donations were extorted from other kings
and potentates. Thus did the shock of a Roman revolution
carry desolation and suffering to the furthest limits of the
empire.

CHAPTER XXXIV.

SITLLA, AS DICTATOR, CARRIES OFT A RUTHLESS POLICT OP
REACTION, AND DIBS.

After the battle of the OoUine gate, Rome lay at the feet of
Sulla ; but so long as the consuls Marius and Oarbo survived,
lie could exercise no lawful authority within the city. As
proconsul, as imperator, he was omnipotent in his own camp,
and accordingly he set up his praetorium in the Campus
Martins, and from thence, while respecting the letter of the
law, he trampled imder foot its spirit. Before the end of the
year both Marius and Carbo had perished by a violent death,
and the field was cleared for Sulla's exaltation»y v^Ijs rj)oliticnl

178 Sulla becomes Dictator, ch. xxxiv.

ideas took the fonn of violent reaction to the ancient oligarchy
of the patrician families ; and as they had often in times past
had recourse to a dictator to repress the growing power of the
commons, so now Sulla asked for and received from the obedient
senate the unlimited authority of a dictator. Once more, after
a lapse of 120 years, the citizens beheld the four-and-twenty
lictors marshalled round the throne of a ruler who wielded
supreme power both civil and military. Hitherto no man had
held the dictator's office for more than six months : Sulla was
to hold it so long as he deemed good. He was to reconstitute
the commonwealth, and to this end the whole of their hardly
won liberties were placed at his disposal by the Roman people.
Consuls were elected in the year 81 to act as his suborcQnates.
In the year b.g. 80 he himself was consul as well as dictator,
with Metellus Pius for his colleague, but in the year following,
though elected, he declined the consulate.

The dictator now set to work to restore so far as was
practicable the old system, which gave to a few privileged
families a complete ascendency in the state. Sulla, we have
seen, had cut off 200 senators by his proscriptions. Marius had
probably slaughtered an equal number. The remainder had
been decimated on the field of battle. To replenish this void,
the dictator selected 300 from the equestrian order, and the
senate thus renovated seems to have numbered about 400.
The vacancies which thenceforth occurred would be more
than supplied by the succession of men who had filled high
office. Thirty years later the number of senators was not less
than 500. A seat in the senate had never been treated as
a hereditary privilege at Rome, but the high offices, whose
tenure alone gave access to the senate, had been restricted to
one or two hundred families, which were thus sure of being
represented in the great council. To these families Sulla
wished to confine the entire legislative power. He repealed
the lex Hortensia, by which the resolutions of the tribes re-
ceived the force of law. He next restored to the senate the
monopoly of judicial power, and transferred to their tribunal
the qu»stiones perpetuse, the cognizance of many crimes which
had hitherto been judged by the popular assembly. The tri-
bunes were next deprived of their power of initiating new
measures in the comitia tributa, and of their right of veto on
the legislation of the senate. The office of tribune was further

csH. XXXIV. Sullds Policy of Reaction, 179

mado to incapacitate its holder irom aspiring to any of the
higher magistracies. By thus disparaging its leaders, SuUa
counted upon depriving the popular assembly of its power.
The comitia of the centuries was not meddled with. It was
allowed to retain the election to the higher magistracies, in the
confidence that wealth and dignity would have sufficient in-
fluence on the electors. The appointment of the pontifis was,
however, taken from the people, and the whole apparatus of the
state religion once more placed in aristocratic hands. As a
last security, the senate was made independent of the censorship,
which the rival party had used to purge it for their own
purposes.

Meanwhile the roll of citizens had been so diminished by the
slaughter of the ciyil war that means must be found to recruit
it. On this accoimt the Italians were left in possession of the
franchise. Ten thousand slaves had been left without masters
by the proscriptions, and these Sulla contemptuously enfran-
chised, inscribing them on the list of his own gens— the
Oomelian. We have already seen how the dictator had planted
120,000 veterans in military colonies, and endowed them with
lands and the franchise. Doubtless he reckoned upon them to
support his policy at need. But it turned out otherwise : these
old soldiers, accustomed to scenes of violence, proved idle as
husbandmen, discontented and turbulent as citizens.

The legislation of Sulla descended further into minute par-
ticulars of social and civil economy. He passed a law forbidding
any man to hold the same office twice within ten years. He
carefully regulated the authority of the proconsuls, and by a
law of treason closely limited their power of independent action.
He even hoped to revive the virtues of the ancients by sump-
tuary laws, which fixed the precise sums which might be spent
on the pleasures of the table, and even the prices of the articles
which should be consumed. As invariably happens in such
cases, these laws soon became obsolete.

But though Sulla strove thus minutely to restrain his fellow-
citizens, he was never master of his own violent caprices.
Again and again he broke the laws he had himself enacted ; and
no man might with impunity thwart his will. Meanwhile his
marvellous success inspired him with a fanatical belief in
Fortune, the only divinity in whom he really believed, and
whose fftvourite he claimed to be. By resigning power at the

l8o Death of Sulla, ch. xxxiv.

moment of his highest exaltation he hoped to avert the
Nemesis which haunted him with the prospect of a fatal
reverse.

In the year 79 Sulla abdicated the dictatorship, saying that
the work of reconstitution for which it had been given him
u.c. 676, was now accomplished. The Romans were amazed
B.C. 79. at this act of self-devotion, and beheld with awe the
tyrant descend from his blood-stained tribunal and retire with
unmoved composure into the privacy of a suburban villa.
Aged and infirm, and sated perhaps with pleasure as well as
power, he renounced public life only when his strength and
spirits were rapidly failing him. Surrounded by buffoons and
dancers, he continued a sensualist to the last, yet he did not
abandon literature, and dictated memoirs of his own life almost
in his dying moments. Though stained with the blood of so
many thousands, and tormented by a loathsome disease, he
quitted life without remorse or repining. Fearful perhaps of
the fate of Marius, he directed his body to be burned and not
buried, as had been the custom of his house. His monument
in the Campus Martins bore an inscription attributed to him-
self, which stated that none of his friends ever did him a kind-
ness, and none of his foes a wrong, vdthout being largely
requited. Sulla died in the year B.C. 78, at the age of sixty.

Slowly, and vdth many a painful struggle, had Rome out-
grown the limits of a rustic municipality. The few hundred
families which at first sufficed for all the functions of her
government had been compelled to incorporate allies and rivals
into their body and to enlarge their institutions. Sulla tried
hard to revive the spirit of the old restrictions. The old
families no longer existed: he replaced them with a newer
growth, but he would have confined the government of the
empire to this small section of the people. The attempt was
blind and bigoted; it was not less futile than unjust, and
though perhaps many of his contemporaries were as wanting in
enlightenment as Sulla himself, and popular prejudice favoured
his views, he was none the less fighting against nature. Ten
years sufficed to overthrow the whole structure of his re-
actionary legislation. The champions of a more liberal policy
sprang up in constant succession, and carried on the work of
union and comprehension which was everywhere in progress.
The old spirit of exclusiveness, whicli^liai^^'^long fatally

CH. XXXIV. Estimate of his Work, i8l

dominated the communities of Greece and Italy^ was giving
way to a general desire for unity. By the development of the
mighty empire of Rome, Providence was preparing mankind
for the reception of one law and one religion.

But though Sulla's domestic policy came to nought, he had
not lived in vain. As dictator he wasted his strength in at-
tempting the impossihle ; as proconsul he saved Rome. The
revolt of Greece and Asia, with a man of genius like Mithri-
dates at its head, might have been fraught with as much danger
to Rome as that which menaced her when Hannibal was
stirring up the Gauls and the Samnites to rebellion. The
victory of OhseronaBa re-established the Roman empire over
Greece, never again to be shaken there. Sulla chased the
invader back to Asia, bound him by treaties, and compelled
him by armed force to abstain from further meddling with the
Roman provinces ; and though it took twenty years more to
subdue Mithridates completely, yet, for the work he accomplished
in averting this crbis, Sulla deserves to be immortalised in the
annals of Rome.

CHAPTER XXXV.

SCAISDALOUS ABUSES IN THE ADMmiSTRATION OF THE
PROVrNCBS.

We have seen that Sulla had restored to the senate the
monopoly of the judicia. No man of inferior rank could judge
one of the Optimates for his misdeeds. Protected by tMs
powerful defence, the Optimates now pushed to its utmost limit
the system of violence and extortion under which they had
long misgoverned the provinces. They could treat with scorn
the 'new men* — the men of talents and education, but of
moderate birth and fortune — many of whom were eager to
force themselves into notice by denouncing the crimes of their
superiors. But the distress of the provinces became at last too
bitter to be borne. They supplied a mass of discontent always
ready to the hand of an a^tator. Thus a second period of
civil war now opens, outside of Italy, with the revolt of the

1 82 Rapacity of the ch. xxxt.

Spaniards in the West, and the maritime confederacy of the
pirates in the East.

The provinces had always been governed on the principle
that the native races were to be treated as conquered subjects.
The government, civil and military, was quartered upon the
inhabitants. Houses and establishments must be provided, and
the entire charge for the maintenance of the proconsul and his
retinue must be borne by the local revenues. It is true that
the proconsul waa supposed to serve the state gratuitously, but
in practice he was left free to remunerate himself by every
kind of extortion, and no remedy existed for the most arbitrary
injustice. The legions were provisioned and paid at the cost of
the provincials. The produce of the land was tithed to furnish
tribute to the conquering city, and both this and other taxes
were farmed by Eoman contractors, who made large fortunes
by the business, and who were encouraged rather than checked
in their extortions by public opinion at home. But the rulers
of the world were not content with the extortion of money
from their subjects. Objects of art were sought for and seized
with cruel rapacity: every proconsul, quaestor, and tribime
must bring home with him some trophies of this kind. Statues
and pictures, marble columns, gold and gems, were pillaged
from the temples and carried off to Bome. Usury was another
instrument of oppression, and as no compunction was shown in
levying the taxes, whole communities were sometimes driven
to pledge their revenues to Koman money-lenders. These last
were empowered by law to recover their dues by the severest
process. In one case the agent of a noble Eoman shut
up the senators of a provincial town in their curia, till five
of them died of starvation, to recover the debts due to his
principal.

On rare occasions indeed a province might enjoy the sweets
of revenge, though with little prospect of redress or security
for the future. The popular leaders and orators hungered in
vain for a share of these golden spoils, and, being excluded from
them, they affected sympathy with the provincials and high-
minded indignation against their oppressors. From time to
time cases arose of such glaring and infamous misgovemment,
that it was impossible for any tribunal to leave them unpunished.
Among the remains of Roman eloquence preserved to us are
more than one of these indictments, In Cicero's famous

CH. XXXV. Provincial Governors. 183

orations against Verres is found a graphic portrait of a pro-
Tincial tyrant.

Alwut the time of Sulla's abdication, Oaius Verres, a young
noble, accompanied the pnetor Dolabella to his government
of Cilicia. As he passed along he extorted a sum of money
from the chief magistrate of Sicyon, by smoking him with a
fire of green wood in a close chamber till he gave in. At
Athens, at Delos, at Chios, Erythrsea, and Halicamassus he
shared with his chief the plunder of the temples. At Samos
Verres stripped a feunous temple on his own account. At
Ferga he scraped the heavy coat of gilding from the statue of
Diana. From Miletus he stole a fine ship provided for his
conveyance. At Lampsacus he sought to dishonour the daughter
of the first citizen of the place. Being resisted by her father
and brother, he charged them with attempting his life, and the
governor of the province obliged him liv cutting off both their
heads. Such were the atrocities of the young ruffian while
yet a mere dependent of the proconsul. Being appointed
qusestor, he quicMy amassed from two to three millions of
sesterces beyond the requisitions of the public service.

Verres could now pay for his election to the preetorship,
and one year later he started as proprsstor for the rich province
of Sicily. Once there, he set to work to make money. He
sold everything — ^his patronage and his decisions, making sport
of the laws, of the religion, the fortunes, and tiie lives of the
provindals. Not a single senator of the sixty-five cities of the
island was elected without paying his bribe to the proprsetor.
He levied for his own profit many hundreds of thousands of
bushels of grain beyond Ihe authorised tithe. So ruinous were
his exactions that the country was threatened with depopula-
tion. In less than three years, out of 778 farms only 333
remained in cultivation, llie people refused to till the land if
Verres alone was to reap the harvest.

But Verres was an amateur and an antiquary, and had a
taste for art as well as a thirst for lucre. Wherever he stopped
he extorted gems, vases, trinkets, antiques, curiosities, ornaments
of gold and silver, even statues of the gods the objects of local
worship, from anyone who happened to possess them. No one
dared to complain. Antiochus, king of Syria, was robbed in
this way of a splendid candelabrum enriched with jewels
which he was about to dedicate in the Oapitol at Home. All

1 84 Cuius Verres, ch. xxxv.

these treasures were sent off to Italy to decorate the villa of
the proprietor. The Roman treasury suffered as well as the
Sicilian people; for Verres embezzled the sums adyanced to
pay for the supply of com to the city. He left the fleet with-
out equipments, and when it was worsted by the pirates he
executed the officers for cowardice. He crowned his enormities
by crucifying a Roman trader on the beach in sight of Italy,
that he might address to his native shores the ineffectual cry,
' I am a Roimin citizen.'

Such was the charge brought by Cicero against Verres, and
though he was backed by all the influence of his party, he
dared not meet it. Similar impeachments were frequently
brought forward by young and popular orators against other
provincial governors. But they rarely produced any result.
If one proconsul was condemned, his successors were only the
more eager to grasp the wealth which might secure their
acquittal. They boasted that three years of office would
suffice: the first to make their own fortunes, the second to
reward their followers, the third to purchase the suflrages of
their judges. The sordid rapacity of the provincial governors
rendered the dominion of Rome as formidable in peace as was
her hostility in war. It grew with her growing luxury and
corruption, and side by side with it grew and increased the
shameless venality of the tribunals. The knights were justified
in pointing to the corruption of the senatorial judges, and pro-
testing that during the forty years they had sat upon the
judicial bench no such prostitution of justice had existed. The
truth was that the vices of the provincial governments were but
symptoms of a general relaxation of morality. On the one
hand the spread of foreign conquests and the opening of new
sources of wealth had inflamed cupidity and ambition. On the
other, half a century of civil war had broken down the old
respect for law and order. The constitution of Sulla was now
to be assailed by the knights, but this time the struggle was to
be conducted, not on the field of battle, but in the law-courts.

d by Google

CH. XXXVI. Ponipeius ' Magnus' 185

CHAPTER XXXVI.

BMHrBlTT POSITION OF POHPEIUS ' KAGNITS.' — BIBB OF H. GBASSUB
AlO) OP CAIIT8 JULIUS CJB8AB.

The civil wars had lopped the heads of every Boman faction.
Sertorius and Ferpema, the most prominent survivors of the
Marian party, had escaped to Spain and there raised the
standard of revolt against the republic itself. After the death
of SuUa the senatorial party could still reckon among its
leaders a Metellus, a Oatulus, and a Lepidus, but these, although
of the highest birth^ were none of them men of commanding
ability or influence. Both Metellus and Oatulus were thoroughly
trusted by the senate, and had done good service in keeping the
legions true to the aristocratic government. Lepidus, on the
other hand, although the chief of the illustrious ^milian gens,
failed to secure the confidence of the senate. He was connected
by marriage with the popular party, and was thought likely to
desert his own order. He was about fifty years of age. Lu-
cuUus and Orassus, ten years his juniors, had attained to high
distinction and were ambitious of rising yet higher.

In the presence of such chiefs there was room enough for
younger and better men to rise to the head of affairs.

Onffius Fompeius was but thirty years of age. The son of
Strabo, a soldier of fortune, he had been cradled in the camp,
and made himself the idol of the soldiers.

He carried over the army to Sulla at a critical moment, but
he always contrived to maintain the personal devotion of the
soldiers to himself. At the dictator's bidding he pursued the
Marian party in the Cisalpine, in Africa, and in Spain, and
showed himself capable of being a cruel partisan. Like Sulla,
he was fond of literature and practised the art of public speak*
ing. He was neither covetous nor licentious, a great dissembler,
sometimes benign and aflable, sometimes haughty and morose,
but devoid of those warm and generous qualities which make
and retain friends. Sulla however was jealous of his popularity,
and required him to disband his troops in Africa. Fompeius
replied by leading them to Rome : the whole city went out to
meet him, and Sulla was compelled to head the procession,
9nd hail the youthful con(]^ueror with the title of ' Magnus.'

1 86 Rise of Pompeius * Magnus,^ ch. xxxvi.

Pompeius^ though not yet a senator^ demanded and obtained a
triumph. The nobles for the most part mistrusted the youthful
chieftain.

Pompeius had not yet held any civil ofice, and being too
young to sue legally for the consulship, he exerted his influence
to procure the election of Lepidus as an avowed opponent of
SuUa^s policy. As soon as Sulla died, Lepidus began to talk of
repealing his laws, but Pompeius affected to hold the balance,
and threw his weight into the scale of the other consul Oatulus.
Lepidus proclaimed the restoration of the powers of the tribu-
nate. Tie senate was amazed at his audacity, but submitted,
merely binding the two consuls by oath to keep the peace.
On the expiry of his year of office Lepidus assumed the
government of the Narbonensis, and there throwing off the
mask he rallied the Marian party and raised the standard of
rebellion. Junius Brutus, the governor of the Cisalpine, sup-
ported him, and the two advanced to the Milvian bridge, a few
miles only from the city. They were opposed by Oatulus and
Pompeius, who commanded the forces of the senate. The
n.o. 677, rebels suffered three defeats. Lepidus escaped to
B.0. 77. Sardinia, where he died of fever. Brutus was cap-
tured, and the revolt was quickly put down, happily without
sanguinary reprisals being taken. The wariest of the Marians
had held aloof from this precipitate movement, and Perpema
led the renmant of the beaten army to swell the forces of
Sertorius in Spain.

Sertorius, a Sabine by birth, had taken a prominent part
with Marius in the civil wars, but was untainted with the guilt
of the proscriptions. Under the ascendency of Sulla he with-
drew into Spain, where he was hailed by the provincials as a
deliverer from the iniquitous proconsular government. Driven
out of Spain by the armies of the dictator, he took refuge in
Africa, where he gained friends and resources, and defeated an
army sent against him by Sulla. From Africa he crossed at
the call of the Lusitanians into Spain, and placed himself at
the head of a widespread revolt. Metellus, who commanded
for the senate, had neither the vigour nor ability to cope with
Sertorius, who broke several armies of the republic, and for the
moment established an independent sovereignty in the peninsula.
But he had now to encounter the whole power of Rome wielded
by the young Pompeius. This aspiring warrior had refused to

CH. XXXVI. His Victories in Spain, 187

disband his legions, but was wUling to lead them against the
enemies of the republic. Armed with proconsular powers, he
traversed Gaul and Spain, and for some time met with doubtful
success in the conflict with Sertorius. On the retirement of
Metellus the abilities of Pompeius came into full play. Mean-
while Sertorius had foolishly assumed the airs of a Roman
tyrant, rather than a patriot champion, and finding himself
threatened in consequence with desertion, he is said to have
caused the massacre of the children of the chie& whom he kept
as hostages under the pretence of educating them. This reck-
less crime broke his party in pieces. Ferperna caused him to
be assassinated, and stepped into his place at the head of the
Marian army, but he was overthrown and captured in the first
engagement, and sought to ransom his life by disclosing the
names of his adherents in the city. Pompeius refused to in-
spect the list. The captive was put to death, and b.c 71.
the rebellion finally quenched. Pompeius, in recon- ^•^' ^'^>
stituting the governments of Spain and Gaul, found means to
attach to himself a strong parly of personal adherents.

The struggle of Sertorius in Spain had lasted eight years.
Meanwhile the popular party in Home were recovering their
confidence. In the year 76 the scarcity of grain caused much
discontent and agitation ; Aurelius Gotta the consul consented
to restore the ancient privileges and status of the tribunes,
and the tribune Oppius ventured to exercise his veto without
opposition from the senate. At the same time the outcry
against the infamies of the provincial governors became louder
than ever, and a demand arose for purer tribunals to put down
the mischief. Pompeius was calling for increased support : the
Oriental pirates were sacking towns and temples on the Italian
coast : Mithridates was threatening a second irruption into the
eastern provinces. Not money only but men were in request to
recruit the legions and defend the state. Then it was that
Licinius the tribune stood forth, and exhorted the people to
withhold their names untH the senate yielded to their just
demands. The senate temporised; and on a vague promise
that Pompeius on his return would satisfy the popular claims,
the tribunes withdrew their opposition.

Among the perils of this eventful period which had em-
boldened the tribunes was an outbreak of gladiators in Cam-
pania, which spread to a formidable insurrection. The shows

1 88 Revolt of Spartacus ch. xxxvi.

of the arena were now the favourite diversion of the Bomans,
The majority of the gladiators were slaves, captives, and crimi-
nals. A troop or family of these unfortunates broke loose at
Oapua, and after pillaging an armourer's shop, established
(7.0. 681, themselves in the crater of Vesuvius, at that time
B.C. 78. quiescent. Their leader was Spartacus, a Thracian
of great strength and courage, and endowed with a natural
genius for command. Attacked by a detachment sent agamst
them from Oapua, they exchanged their own imperfect weapons
for the arms and armour left upon the field. Their numbers
were fast recruited by Apulian shepherds, restless military
colonists, and others who hungered for plunder. In the course
of three years the niunbers of Spartacus' band were reckoned
at forty, seventy, and even a hundred thousand. Though
master for a time of Southern Italy and of the plunder of many
cities, Spartacus received no countenance from the old Italian
tribes, and perceiving his weakness, he wished to lead his
warriors across the Alps to their own homes in Gaul and
Thrace. But the plunder of all Italy seemed within their
reach, and they despised his warnings. Spartacus ignomi*
niously defeated both the consuls at the head of well-appointed
armies; but dissensions arose, his forces lost cohesion, and
were cut off in detail, and he led the remnant towards Sicily,
in the hope of reviving the servile war of half a century before.
At the extreme limit of Italy he was caught and enclosed by
Orassus, but bursting through the Roman lines with a small
force, he hurried northwards, and for a time Rome seemed to
lie at his mercy. Orassus urged the senate to I'ecall Lucullus
from Asia and Pompeiiis from Spain ; then, fearing lest his
rivals should rob him of his glory, he redoubled his efforts and
finally succeeded in capturing and slaying Spartacus; but
Pompeius arrived in time to share in the destruction of the
fugitives, and his partial countrymen awarded him the honours
of the victory.

Pompeius had inscribed upon his trophy in the Pyrenees
that he had taken 876 cities between the Alps and the Pillars
of Hercules. This statement points us to a fact of much deeper
significance. Pompeius had not merely subdued and spoiled so
many fortresses ; he had reorganised the government of every
community. He had disposed, not merely of offices, but of
^states and territories, in such a way as to bind to himself a

CH, xxxvi. put down Oy Crassus, 189

whole tribe of partisans, clients, and dependents, and to trans-
form one-half of the empire into a province of his own. This
policy of forming an empire within an empire was something
new in the annals of Roman ambition, but was carried out still
more fully by his great rival, Julius Oaesar. When Pompeius
returned to Rome the greatest of her children, he might doubt-
less have seized the reins of government by force ; but he pre-
ferred to trust to his former popularity, and though he still
wanted some years to the legitimate age for the consulship,
and had served none of the inferior magistracies, he had but to
ask and at once to be elected consul by the acclamar ^.c. 683,
tions of a grateful people. Orassus, though far from ^.c. 71.
popular, received lie support of Pompeius, and was chosen as
his colleague.

M. Licinius Orassus was among the foremost men of his
time. He belonged to a noble family proverbial for its wealth,
but he lost his patrimony in the civil wars of Marius, and
thenceforward, as a partisan of Sulla, he devoted himself to
amassing riches. He made money as a speculator, as a usurer^
as a pleader, and by other devices. He Vas surrounded by a
numerous following of mortgagees and debtors, and was trusted
as a safe and shrewd politician by the men of money who were
amassing fortunes out of the spoil of the provinces. The cause
of the knights found a steadfast patron in M. Orassus, and
though his name was not so brilliant as that of Pompeius, his
influence was no mean power in the state.

A third aspirant to power, young and yet unknown to fame,
now enters upon the scene. Oaius Julius Oaesar, the greatest
name in history, was descended from a patrician family which
pretended to trace its origin to lulus, the son of -^neas, by the
goddess Venus. The Julii, as was natural, had generally sided
with the faction of the nobles, but Marius had married a Julia,
and the young Oaius, his nephew, took part with him. He
conflrmed this connection by espousing a daughter of Oinna,
and deemed himself the rightful heir to the leadership of the
popular cause. He perceived, as did many others, that the
republican form of the government was become a hollow fiction,
and that circumstances were tending to prepare the Roman
people for subjection to a single ruler. To this revolution he
lent his whole strength with a frankness which laid him open '
to attack. But though suspected, feared, and denounced,

igo Julius Ccesar, ch. xxxvi.

Caesar was beloved more than any public man in Rome by
all wbo came under the fascination of his genial and generous
nature.

No one yet foresaw his ^ture eminence. Oicero, indeed,
could not fail to mark his brilliant talents and personal beauty,
but when he saw him studiously disposing his curling locks and
his trailing robe, he declared that so frivolous a creature could
never endanger the institutions of his country. Offisar, indeed,
was at that time chiefly known as a leader of fashion among
the dissolute youth of his class; but even his early exploits
betray the buoyant self-confidence of his nature. At the siege
of Mitylene he merited a civic crown by saving the lives of
his fellowH9oldiers. When captured by pirates, he scornfully
doubled the ransom they demanded, but at the same time
pledged himself to bring them to punishment, a promise which
he amply redeemed. When he went as quaestor into Spain,
ne wepty it is said, at the sight of a statue of Alexander, who
had already conquered a world at the age at which his own
public career was only just commencing.

CHAPTER XXXVII.

POMFEIVS GLEABS THE SEA OF PIBATE8 AND CONQUEBS
THM EAST.

The few years which had elapsed since the death of Sulla had
witnessed a great change in the attitude of parties. Up to
that time, with a few exceptions, as in the case of the Gracchi,
every statesman's birth and connections determined his course
in politics, and attached him either to the senatorial or the
popular party accordingly. From that time forward the in-
terests of party ceased to be identified with those of class : the
men who aspired to power all issued from the ranks of the
nobility, and whether they fiEivoured the popular cause, as they
one and all professed to do, or whether they gave a temporary
support to the senatorial fiEtction, they were guided, not by
devotion to the public interests, but by the desire of personal
aelf-aggrandisement. „^,^^,,^

PompeiuB and Crassua had entered on their consulship in

cH. xxxvir. Rise of M, Tullius Cicero. 191

tlie year B.C. 70, not without grave suspicion on the part of the
nobles of the popular reforms they might be disposed to carry
out. The consuls soon justified these apprehensions. Their
first step towards securing popular favour was to reverse the
measures of Sulla, already shaken, and to restore to the tribunes
of the people their ancient prerogatives. In this they were
supported by the vigorous agitation of the youthful Oaesar,
and the resistance of the senate was overborne. The provincials
at once found powerful champions willing to listen to their
indignant complaints, and the popular leaders resolved to bring
the character of the judges to the test.

Osesar threw himself forward to expose the iniquities of
Dolabella in Cilicia and of Antonius in Achaia. Both culprits
were scandalously acquitted. Pompeius himself encouraged
the rising orator, M. Tullius Cicero, to denounce the crimes of
Verres. This man was powerfully supported. His defence
was undertaken by Hortensius, the ablest advocate in Rome,
the acknowledged 'king of the law courts.* It was further
hoped, by delaying the trial, to secure the appointment of
judges favourable to the accused. The prosecutor was young
and little known, being a new man, a municipal of Arpinum,
of knightly family, but of no further distinction. He had
indeed already pleaded with marked ability, and had shown
much spirit in resisting the tyranny of Sulla. As quaestor in
Sicily he had been active and upright, and the Sicilians now
enlisted his services in their behalf. Oicero bestirred himself
to collect his evidence, and strenuously resisted the call for
delay. The consuls were knovTn to approve the prosecution,
and the result was that Verres shrank from the trial and re-
tired into voluntary exile.' Oicero, in feet, never delivered his
famous orations, but he published them as an impeachment of
the system against which they were directed; and so great
was the effect produced by them, that the consuls ventured
at once to restore to the knights their share in the judicia.
Pompeius next required the censors to purge the list of the
senate, a function of which Sulla had deprived them. Sixty-
four senators were removed from the order, and the whole
body was made to feel that it was the instrument of the
commonwealth and not its master. All the blood of Sulla'^
nroscriptions had secured for his work only eight years of

* . , * Digitized by VjCtU VIC

existence. ^

tg2 Pompeim and Crassus. ch. xxxvn,

Pompeius, consul though he was, belonged only to the
equestrian order. As such he was the more readily recognised
by the people as their champion. His popularity intoxicated
him and inflamed his Tanity. He required Orassus to treat
him with obsequious respect. To the multitude he assumed
an air of haughty reserve. By degrees he withdrew from the
publicity of the Forum, and affected so much of royalty in his
manners, that the people became estranged from him. At the
end of two years he perceived that he risked losing their favour
entirely unless he could kindle it anew by some striking exploit.
An occasion soon offered worthy of his genius.

The Mediterranean, the great highway of ancient conmierce,
swaimed with pirates. From Greece, from Asia, and, above
all, from Oilicia, thousands of mariners had escaped from the
iron grasp of Roman conquest and taken to the free life of sea
rovers. Their ships were reckoned at a thousand. Cities and
temples lay at their mercy. Their streamers were gilded,
their oars inlaid with silver, their sails were dyed with Tyrian
purple. Such were the romantic stories current about tiiem.
They took special delight in displaying their pride and petu-
lance towards Home and her citizens. Misenum, Oaieta, even
Ostia, at the mouth of the Tiber, had suffered from their
marauding visits. Two praet'ors were carried off from the
mainland with their lictors and ensigns : travellers were stopped
and plundered on the Appian Way. Rome would not rouse
herself to chastise them, until, in an evil moment for their own
security, they attacked the convoys of grain ships, and cut off
the supplies of food destined for the imperial city. Servilius
Tj.c. 676, first, and after him Metellus, had attacked their
B.C. 78. strongholds in Oilicia and driven them out to sea ;
but on their own element they still held their own against the
power of Rome.

When, however, the corn ships of Sicily and Africa failed
to arrive, and the largesses of grain were abruptly stopped,
when famine seemed to be imminent, the people, in their panic,
adopted a desperate remedy. In the year 67 the tribune
Gabinius proposed that some man of consular rank should be
invested for three years with absolute authority over all the
waters of the Mediterranean, together with its coasts for fifty
miles inland. Despite the alarm and opposition of the senators,
the motion was carried : Pompeius was acclaimedj and a force

CH. XXXVII, Pompeius disperses tke Pirates, 193

of 120,000 infantry, 5,000 cavalry, and 500 gaUeys placed
under his orders. The appointment of Pompeius put an end to
the crisis, and the price of provisions immediately fell. The
new admiral chose twenty-four senators for his lieutenants,
and divided the Mediterranean into thirteen portions, appointing
a squadron and commander for each. By these tactics he soon
captured the greater part of the pirate ships, and could boast
that in forty days he had completely cleared the Western
vtraters. Such of them as escaped fled with all speed to Oilicia,
chased by Pompeius himself vdth a select squadron. In their
own waters they offered battle, but were routed and chased to
their fortress of Ooracesium. Here the moderation of their
conqueror encouraged them to capitulate, and Pompeius was
satisfied vnth dispersing them in small parties among the
neighbouring cities. The plague of piracy was stayed for a
time at least, and the victor deserves the credit of one of the
most successful operations of Eoman war&re.

As the favourite of the people, Pompeius was vigorously
supported by Osesar, who was now more closely connected
with him by marriage with one of his kinswomen. Osesar,
however, was covertly advancing his own schemes. He desired
to detach Pompeius from the senate, and to frustrate the
project, which he and Oicero seemed to entertain, of uniting
the rival orders under a virtual dictatorship. Osesar's idea was
to attain to sovereignty by using the championship of one
faction for the coercion of all the others.

Pompeius loved the forms of the constitution only because
they could so easily be relaxed for his convenience. Supreme
power he would not seize, because he expected it to be thrust
upon him. He loved extraordinary commissions as tokens of
his virtual sovereignty; and Oaesar liked them too as steps
in the direction of monarchy. Moreover, Osesar desired the
absence of Pompeius from the city to make room for his own
intrigues there. Three months had sufficed for the suppression
of the pirates. Another pretext was not wanting for conferring
on the successful imperator a second command not less extensive
and more permanent. Mithridates was again in arms; the
East was in a blaze of rebellion, and the generals of the republic
were receding before it.

In the year 74 Lucullus had been consul, And G$ul had
Ib^en assigned to him as his province, TSuf lie coveted the

194 Victories of Lucullus ch. xxxvii.

splendour of an Eastern command, and by great efforts and
ignoMe condescensions he contrived to get his destination
altered to Oilicia.

LucuUus crossed into Asia with a single legion to receive
the obedience of the forces still posted beyond the ^gaoan.
Here he at once set to work to restore the discipline of the
soldiers, and to repress the cruel excesses both of the militaiy
and civil powers towards the provincials. Mithridates was
already in the field at the head of 150,000 men, trained to the
use of Roman weapons, and relieved from the luxurious en-
cimibrances usually fatal to Oriental armies. The native
population welcomed him as an avenger. For four years the
contest was waged, and the success of Lucullus was at last
signal. Mithridates, expelled from Pontus, took refuge with
Tigranes, king of Armenia, who, trusting in the invincible
strength of his mailed cavalry and the difficult nature of his
mountainous country, defied the forces of the republic. The
kingdom of Armenia was then at the height of its power. No
longer confined to the mountain tract in which the Euphrates
and the Tigris rise, it stretched from the Euxine to the Caspian
and encroached westwards upon Oilicia, Oappadocia, and a
large part of Syria. In the great battlo of Tigranocerta the
Armenian king first learnt the irresistible might of Roman
valour. His mailed horsemen were cut to pieces, and Lucullus
would have pushed on to Artaxata the capital, but for the
murmurs of his soldiers. Turning to the right, he captured
Nisibis ; but the soldiers were weary of their long and distant
service ; the officials whose rapacity Lucullus had checked
made their voices heard at Rome ; Ihe demagogues, jealous of
his splendid success, charged him with protracting the war for
the sake of plimder ; and just as he was on the point of crushing
Mithridates with his whole force, he received from Rome the
unreasonable command to send back a portion of his troops.
His successes were at once arrested and reversed, and tixe
provinces suffered from fresh incursions.

This vacillation in the policy of the government had been
brought about by the tribunes in the interest of Pompeius. It
was represented that Lucullus had failed in his contest with
Mithridates, and the tribune Manilius proposed to confer upon
Pompeius enormous powers for the destruction of the enemy.
Unlike the bill of Gabinius, this proposal of Manilius was not

CH. xxxvii. over Mithridates, 195

justified by necessity : it was a device for the gratification of
unlawful ambition. The people^ however, supported it with
acclamations; the eloquence of Cicero reconunended it to
waverers ; OiBsar and Omssus smiled upon it ; and the dissuasions
of Oatulus and Hortensius were overborne. Pompeius u.c. 688,
was still abroad when the appointment was notified »•<'• *^-
to him. He pretended to accept it unwillingly, but it was
well known that he was burning with envy of Lucullus'
brilliant command, and longing to eclipse the triumphs of his
rival in the distant regions of the East When the two
generals met they scarcely dissembled their mutual jealousy.
The one disregarded every disposition made by his prede-
cessor, and disparaged his exploits ; the other could retort that
Pompeius, as usual, had come to crush a foe abeady broken,
and to snatch the laurels won by other hands. In fietct, the
lictors of Lucullus bore fasces wreathed with fresh green laurel :
those of his rival, issuing from an arid desert, had only withered
branches to exhibit. The lictors of the one offered some of
their fresh leaves to the others, and this was taken as an omen
that Pompeius wbs about to gather the reward of his prede-
cessor's victories.

On his return to Rome, the people aggravated their ill-
treatment of Lucullus by withholding for three years the
triumph he had so justly merited. But he paid little heed to
their conduct. He had not ruled the East for seven years
without amassing vast wealth, and he now contentedly retired
to the privacy of his villa to enjoy it. The sumptuous splendour
of his banquets has passed into a proverb. His gardens, his
pictures and statues, his library open to public use, formed a
new era in the culture of his countrymen. Pompeius might
ridicule him as a ' Xerxes togatus,' a retired Xerxes ; but he
was philosopher enough to smile at these jests, and to receive
his ancient rival on Mendly terms.

No sooner was the imperium transferred to Pompeius than
Mithridates sued for peace. Unconditional submission was
required of him, and he girded himself once more for war. But
the Roman army was twice as numerous as tliat of their enemy,
and a battle on the banks of the Lycus in Armenia gave a
complete victory to the republic. Mithridates, failing to find a
refuge in Armenia, escaped through the Caucasus into Colchis.
Armenia, distracted by the intrigues of its princes, fell eom-

ig6

Pompeius subjugates the East, ch. xxxvii.

pletely under the power of Pompeius ; and now the Romans
stood face to face with the Parthians on the banks of the
Euphrates^ neither side venturing to attack the other. In the
spring of 65, Pompeius pressed on as far as the Phasis in pursuit
of the fugitive Mithridates; the next winter he passed in

SYRIA

ARMENIA.

Pontus^ indulging his soldiers in all the license which LucuUus
had so sternly repressed. Then, finding that the Euxine and
the Caspian were barren both of fame and booty, he turned his
steps southward, hoping that the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf
might reward him with the wealth of Cyrus and the renown of
Alexander.

In the spring of B.C. 64 Pompeius crossed the Taurus and

ck. xxxvii. Death of Mithridaies. 19/

marched upon Syria, which, together with Phoenicia, he quickly
reduced to a Koman province. Antiochus, the last of the
SeleucidsB, was relegated to a petty sovereignty, and the
Euphrates was proclaimed to be the boimdary of the empire.
The realm of Palestine to the southward owed its independence
to the heroism of the Maccabaean family, to whose representative
the Jewish people continued to pay willing homage. But now,
two brothers, Hyrcanus and Aristobulus, contested the priest-
hood, to which the temporal sovereignty was attached. Aris-
tobulus, favoured by the mass of the people, had expelled his
elder brother, and proclaimed himself king. Hyrcanus appealed
to Pompeius, who undertook to restore him to his throne.

The Jews, however, took up arms in defence of their own
choice. They were soon driven into the fortress of Jerusalem,
which, after a three months' siege, was stormed on a day of
religious ceremonial. Pompeius, in defiance of all remon-
strances, penetrated into the Holy of Holies, but he abstained
from rifling the temple of its treasures, and contented himself
with reconstituting the government in dependence u.c. 691,
upon the republic. At this point the sudden death ^•^- ^^'
of Mithridates recalled the proconsul to dispose of his vacant
throne.

The aged king, driven beyond the Caucasus, had established
himself in the Oimmeiian Ohersonesus. There he revolved
new dreams of aggression. He conceived the scheme of uniting
the wild hordes of Scythia with the restless tribes of Thrace,
and leading the huge barbarian host through the eastern gorges
of the Alps, to ravage Italy itself. But the plan was never
executed. He fell a victim to a conspiracy of his own favourite
son Pharnaces, whose life he had once spared when taken in
rebellion. He is said to have so fortified his system that poison
took no effect upon him, and he was obliged to throw himself
on the sword of a slave. Pharnaces was allowed to retain the
kingdom of the Bosporus. The kingdoms of Galatia, Oappa-
docia, and Paphlagonia were settled upon native princes.
Thirty-nine cities were founded or repeopled by Pompeius.
The eastern frontier, from the Lycus to the Jordan, was orga-
nised under Roman proconsuls or native vassals, while Pontus,
Oilicia, Syria, and Phoenicia were definitively inscribed upon
the list of provinces. ^.^^^^^^ ^^ v^wu^ic

%gS Marcus Parcius Cato, en, hxxviu.

CHAPTER XXXVIII.

M. POBCIUS CATO. JULIUS CSBAB IS ELBCTBD CHIEF PONTIPF.
THE OAHLnffAMAlT OONSPIBAOT.

DuBin^o the absence of Pompeius in Asia the extreme section
of the oligarchical party ranged themselves mider their natural
chiefs — men of ancient lineage, such as Oatulus, LuculluSy and
Marcellus. But none of these were conspicuous either for
ability or energy, and their best speaker, Hortensius, was being
speedily eclipsed by the upstart Cicero. But there was one
man in their ranks, a plebeian by extraction, in whose zeal and
courage, however defective his judgment, they could securely
confide.

Marcus Porcius Cato was the great-grandson of Cato the
Censor, a name long revered for the probity and simplicity of
its bearer. like his ancestor, he believed in the mission of a
superior caste to govern Eome, of a superior race to rule the
world. Of a temper naturally humane, he schooled himself to
maintain the doctrine of absolute authority in the state and in
the family. Yet he alone of his party sighed over the atrocities
with which the triumphs of the aristocrats under SuUa had been
stained. Austere by habit, frugal and of simple tastes, be rose
above the temptations of his class to rajdne and extortion.
A disciple of the Stoic philosophy, he aimed at strict integrity
of conduct, while, as a priest of Apollo, he studied bodily self-
denial and practised the religion of asceticism. Doubtless, in
public life, he fell short at times of his high principles : while,
in private, he was puffed up with conceit of his own virtues,
confident in his judgments, inaccessible to generous impulses,
caustic in his remarks on others, the blind slave of forms and
of prejudices. A party composed of such men as Cato would
have been ill-matched with the crafty intriguers opposed to
them. On the other hand, the chiefs of the opposite faction,
Pompeius, Crassus, and CsBsar, were all working independently
towards the abasement of the old governing party of the
Optimates. Cicero, who, like them, sought principally his own
personal advancement, lent them his powerful aid. Ccesar had
made himself a marked man as early as B.C. 68, by defying the
law of Sulla, and exhibiting the bust of Marius among the

CH. xxxvin. Progress of Julius Ccesar 199

images of his &milj. He had made an oration over his aunt
Julia, the widow of the proscribed hero, and had pleaded, not
in yain, for an amnesty to some of the Marian exiles. After
his return from the qusestorship in Spain, he rose to be aedile,
and, in spite of 1,300 talents of debts, delighted u.c. 689,
the people with the lavish munificence of his b.o. ee.
shows, the cost of which was defrayed by his rich colleague
Bibulus.

As soon as he became sedile, Osesar demanded a mission to
reduce Egypt to the form of a province. That country, through
which all the commerce of the Bast already passed, was certain
to prove a mine of wealth to any Roman officer who should
govern it. Orassus and Osesar disputed its plunder, but the
Optimates were eager to inflict a rebuff on their enemy.
Mustering all their forces, they postponed the question about
Egypt, and invited Caesar instead to preside over the tribunal
which inquired into cases of murder. Caesar seized the oppor-
tunity to brand with a legal stigma the dictatorship of Sulla
by condemning two obscure wretches who had been implicated
in the guilt of his proscriptions. He next caused Rabirius, an
aged senator, to be charged before him with the murder of
Satuminus. Cicero pleaded for him, but in vain. Rabirius
appealed to the people, and though the deed had been done
thirty-six years before, and it was notorious that Rabirius had
not been guilty of it, yet the people were fiercely excited, and
would certainly have defied all justice and mercy for the sake
of a party triumph, had not the praetor struck the flag on the
Janiculum while the tribes were assembled. This ancient
signal of the approach of an Etrurian enemy was equivalent to
an immediate call to arms. It was still respected : the assembly
was dissolved, and the people, who had just before clamoured
for innocent blood, laughed at the trick by which their fury
y had been arrested. Caesar had shown his power, and was
content to let the matter drop.

The leaders of the people determined to reward so bold a
champion by getting him elected to the office of chief pontiff,
which would render his person inviolable. Neither the laxity
of his morals nor his contempt for religion need be any bar to
Caesar's advancement to this high office. His duties would be
simply ceremonial. Catulus competed with him for the dignity,
and offered him a bribe to withdraw. But the Optimates were

i200 Corrupt State of ch. xxxviir.

planning a charge of treason against him, and the pontificate
was necessary to his safety. "When he left the house, he said
to his mother, ' This day your son will be either chief pontiff
or an exile.' Oaesar was triumphantly elected.

For some years past rumours had been rife in the city of a
revolutionary conspiracy of the darkest kind. The nobles had
sounded the alarm, and had insinuated that Csesar, Orassus,
and other august citizens, whom they feared and hated, were
privy to the plot. Doubts have indeed been raised whether
the whole story of this conspiracy was not invented by the
party of the estimates, but the burning eloquence of Oicero
and the plain testimony of Sallust must convince any impartial
student that the plot was u terrible reality.

The wealth ai^d luxury introduced into Rome by the con-
quest of the Bast had grievously corrupted the once simple
character of the Boman citizens. Dissipation had reduced the
noblest houses to beggary, while a few crafty usurers fattened
on the plunder of a multitude of spendthrifts. Political and
private gambling had converted men of birth and station into
needy adventurers, nil the more dangerous from their high
comiections and their gallant bearing. Among these reckless
bravoes none was so conspicuous or so able as L. Sergius
Oatilina. Although of good and ancient lineage, his crimes
were those of a brutal nature, and both his brother and his son
were believed to have fallen victims to his ferocity. Laden
with the infamy of such deeds, he yet asked for and obtained
the prsBtorship, and succeeded to the government of AMca,
On his return, B.C. 66, he was about to offer himself for the
consulship, when a charge of malversation in his government
was brought against him by a profligate youth named Publius
Olodius. Presently the rumour ran that OatDina was plotting
with his dissolute associates to murder the consuls and seize
the government by force. It was whispered that Orassus was
to be made dictator, with OsBsar for his master of the horse.
Piso, who had a command in Spain, was to organise an armed
force to balance the legions of the senate under Pompeius.
The scheme, it was alleged, was opportimely detected, and the
chief conspirators marked. Proceedings were threatened against
them, but were stopped by the intervention of a tribune.
Nothing occurred, and nothing was formally revealed. The
affair remained, and must ever remain, dark and dubious.

cH. xxxviii. Roman Society, 2oi

Strange as it may seem, Oatilina did not slirink from suing
for the consulship in the following year, nor did he fail to
obtain the support of Oicero and of other" honourable men. Over
the corrupt patrician youth Oatilina exercised the most extra-
ordinary ascendency. He was their friend and their idol, and
io him they looked for assistance in every act of wickedness or
meanness. They vaunted his strength and vigour, his address
in bodily exercises, his iron frame, which could endure alike
the toils ot war and the excesses of debauch.

The state of society then existing at Rome may perhaps
explain how such a man could acqmre so much influence. The
Bomftn nobles passed much of their time in camps, amid the
excitement of battles and sieges. Their pride was fed by
trophies and triumphs, by retinues of captive slaves, by the
spoils of palaces. During the intervals of repose, they found
little satisfaction in the quiet enjoyments of art and literature.
At home they domineered over all j wives, children, clients,
slaves, were subject to their will. In public they associated
only among themselves, and held aloof in haughty isolation
from all beneath them. The boys, indeed, received a rough
education at the hands of slaves ; but the girls got none at all.
The Roman matron was taught even to vaunt her ignorance as
a virtue. As a natural consequence she could be no companion
to her lord ; she could not enter into nor understand his interests
and occupations, she did not even share in his amusements, and
these accordingly degenerated into debauches. Thus did the
morose and haughty Roman stand isolated in the centre of his
family and of society around him. Nor did he uplift his thoughts
with any feeling of reverence to the gods above. A century
before, Polybius had praised the Romans for their earnestness
in religion. Doubtless they had respected the gods, as avengers
of crime and patrons of virtue. They feared the divine power,
but never dreamed of adoring the divine goodness. Their
religious acts were little more than charms, to ward off the
caprice or ill-nature of the powers above. And now, while
religious belief had almost died out among the educated, super-
stition was more rampant than ever among the ignorant.

In the midst of a society thus hastening to dissolution,
Oatilina moved about with agitated gait, his eyes bloodshot,
his visage ashy pale, maturing his schemes of blood. Involved
in ruinous debt, his last hope of extrication had been the

202 The Catilinarian ch. xxxym.

plunder of a province. The spoils of his prsslxHship ha4 been
wrested from him, and access to the consulship denied him.
But he trusted to his rank to shield him, and with unblushing
efi&ontery sought the aid of men of the highest family.

The young prodigals called for new tables, or the abolition
of debts, and after that they would rush gaily into a revolu-
tion, and divide the public offices among them. Among these
desperate plotters were two nephews of Sulla, and two mem-
bers of the Cornelian house, Lentulus and Oethegus ; even the
actual consul, Antonius, was suspected of being privy to their
designs. They counted on the support of the men who had
been ruined by Sulla, and on the readiness of the rabble to
join in tumult and pillage. They expected, too, the armed
assistance of the veterans who had already squandered their
estates, and of the Italians who still cherished their hostility to
Borne. They proposed to enlist the gladiators of Oapua, and
some would even arm a new insurrection of slaves and criminals,
but to this last enormity Oatilina would not consent.

Some of the Optimates watched the coming storm with
secret satisfaction. They were eager for an opportunity to
resume some of the power they had surrendered to Pompeius, and
to let their great patron know that, in his absence, they could
still save and rule the state without him. They purposed to
make Oicero consul, and to use him as their instrument in
restoring their own ascendency. He had been prsstor in the
year 66, but had re^ed to quit the Forum for the sordid emolu-
ments of a province. He was next designated for the consul-
ship, and, being in favour with the people, was easily elected.
He entered on his office in the year 68, and devoted himself to
the interests of the oligarchy. As the year advanced, the
schemes of Oatilina drew all attention, and as soon as his suit
for the consulship had been again rejected, he prepared to act
at once. The plot was betrayed in all its details to Oicero,
who communicated his information to the senate, and a decree
was passed that the consuls 'should provide for the safety ot
the state.' But every move was hazardous. The time had
passe 1 when a consul could draw his sword like Ahala or
Opimius and rush upon those whom the senate had denounced
as its enemies. Such an act would have violated one of the
most cherished privileges of the people — that every citizen
accused of a capital crime might appeal to the tribes. Yet the

CH. xxxvni. Conspiracy. 203

danger waa imminent Arms were being collected. The day
was fixed for the rising, and each man had his post assigned to
him. The veterans were flocking in. The fleet at Ostia was
supposed to be gained, and assbtance promised from Spain and
Africa. The legions were far away with Pompeius. Rome
had neither a garrison nor a police. At the concerted moment
the insurgents were to advance from various quarters on the
city, and their confederates within to fire it in a hundred places.
By good fortune two proconsuls, Marcius Bex and Metellus
Grelicus, arrived at the instant with troops from the East
Marcius was despatched to face the rebels in Etruria ; Metellus
sent on a similar mission into Apulia. Some levies were de-
spatched to encounter the men of Picenum. The Oapuan gladia-
tors were dispersed in small parties, and Bome was placed in a
state of siege. Citizens were enrolled, guards posted at the gates,
the streets patrolled ; Oicero assumed milita^ command in the
dty, and marshalled his countrymen against their invisible foe.
The consults next step was to summon the arch-conspirator
to discover himself. On November 7, he convened the senate
in the temple of Jupiter Stator on the Palatine. Gatilina
appeared in his place ; his fellow-senators shrank from contact
with him. Then the consul arose and poured forth his famous
oration, the first Catilinarian. Perfectly informed of the
criminaFs guilt, he taxed him with it in the plainest terms ;
yet he dared not bring him to justice. Till clearer proofe
could be obtained, rigorous measures would have been called
tyrannical. Cicero's object was to frighten him away from
Bome into the camp of his armed adherents, so that an act of
overt rebellion might strip him of every privilege. Pointing to
a group of devoted partisans, who crowded the steps of the
temple and only awaited a signal to tear the victim in pieces,
he vowed that he would crush the movement and chastise the
conspirators. Catilina had kept his seat full of rage and fear
throughout the impassioned address, trusting to the secret
&vour of some and to the incredulity of others. At the threat
of violence he started to his feet, muttering some protestations
of loyalty mingled with sneers at his foreign accuser. But the
senators clamoured against him as an enemy and a parricide.
Then, losing all self-command, he rushed wildly forth, ex-
claiming that he would smother the C9i]|^^;^^^f^his own
house in the ruin of the city.

r804 The Conspirators ch. xxxvin.

At Dightfall he left the city umnoleBted and joined his
friends in Etruria. He left instructions to his accomplices in
the city to assassinate the consul if possible, and to he ready
for an outbreak as soon as he should appear before the walls.
Cicero's harangue had completely succeeded in forcing him into
undisguised rebellion. The next thing to be done was to un-
mask the other conspirators who still kept quiet. The consul's
spies watched all their movements, but he dared not strike till,
through their imprudence, he had got written proofs in his hands.
Certain Gaulish envoys were returning home in ill-humour,
after vainly petitioning the senate against the tyranny of their
Roman governors. These men were tampered with, and a
document signed by Lentulus and Cethegus was betrayed to
the consul. Cicero at once summoned the chief conspirators,
seized their persons^ and, with the letter in his hand, arraigned
them before the senate. No defence was possible. They were
found guilty of corresponding vdth the enemies of Eome with
the intent of delivering up the city to the fury of the Gauls and
Etrurians. Rome could once more breathe freely.

CHAPTER XXXIX.

THE CONSPntACT OP CATILTNA CRUSHED. C.S»AB DEPABTS FOR
SPAIN. POMPEITJS BETTIEtNS FROM THE EAST.

Now that the conspiracy was throttled in its birth, the ruling
party tried hard to incriminate in it their adversaries Crassus
and Ccesar. They urged Cicero to produce evidence agamst
CsBsar; but he was too wise to join in such a course, well
knowing that Caesar's popularity was strong enough to shield^
not only himself, but any culprit associated with him. The
difficulty of dealing with the five convicted conspirators had
yet to be overcome. Cicero, doubtful of the issue, hesitated to
leave their sentence to the decision of the tribes. Neither
could he act legally by the mere direction of his own order. So
for, he had scrupidously adhered to the forms of law, even to
the arresting of Lentulus with his own hand, because none but

CH. XXXIX. Tried and Executed, 205

a consul might put a pr»tor under restraint. Finally, he had
caused the criminals to be declared perduelles, or public
enemies, in order to strip them of the rights of citizenship
before proceeding to their punishment. He now threw himself
once more upon the senate. The fathers met in the Temple of
Concord ; Silanus, consul designate, spoke first, and pronounced
for death. All the consulars followed on the same side.
Orassus had absented himself, and Osesar, it might be thought,
would gladly clear himself by sacrificing the culprits. But
such a manoeuvre Osesar utterly disdained. He gave his vote
for perpetual imprisonment, and, encouraged by him, many
raised their voices for mercv. Oicero tried to check the current
of opinion, but, mighty as he was in the Forum, he had little
influence over the senate. It was different, however, when Cato
rose, and, in a tone of deep conviction and unflinching courage,
demanded the execution of the criminals. The audience
swayed round again to the side of severity, and issued the fatal
sentence. The knights, who waited impatiently for the result,
were furious against Ocesar, and could hardly be restrained
from assassinating him. Cicero took care that the sentence
should be executed without delay. The condemned men were
brought to the Tullianum, the prison under the Capitol, and
there strangled. When Cicero, who attended to the last,
traversed the Forum on his way home, he exclaimed to the
crowds of people through which he made his way, ' They have
lived ! ' and the people shuddered in slLence.

Outside the walls of Home, the of&cers of the senate had
been no less successful in repressing the insurrection. In
Etruria alone was the resistance serious and obstinate. Oatilina
had there assembled 20,000 men, but of these one-quarter only
were fully armed. Against him there advanced from Rome
the consul Antonius, whose loyalty Oicero had purchased,
while his rear was menaced by a second army under Metellus.
The news of the executions at Rome threw Oatilina into despair.
His men deserted him by whole cohorts, and soon no more
than 4,000 remained under his standard. Foreseeing the ruin
which must fall upon him, he tried to escape westward into the
province, but the passes were blocked by Metellus, and he was
forced to turn and face Antonius again. The armies met near
Pistoria. The half-hearted consul feigned sickness, and left the
/jOHunand of his legions to Petreius. After a short but sharp

2o6 Cicero Vacates the Consulship, ch. xxxtx.

struggle the rebels were cut to pieces^ and the head of Oatilina,
who died fighting gallantly in advance of his troops, was cut
oif and sent to Rome.

The Optimates plumed themselves on the completeness of
their work, accomplished without any aid from Pompeius.
Thej might venture next to defy the Great Captain himself.
Oicero shared to the full this feeling of self-satisfaction, and
believed himself secure at the head of the party whom he had
saved. But in so thinking he misjudged his own position.
The party felt no devotion to their preserver ; nay, they were
quite ready, perhaps anxious, to sacrifice him, if ever they were
called to account. The service which Oicero had rendered
to the state was signal enough to justify his glowing self-
appredation, but, as regards his influence and position in the
party to which he clung, he was quite mistaken.

While the generals of the republic were still hunting the
common enemy in the Apennines, the leaders of the senate
were already quarrelling over the election of consuls for the
ensidng year. 0»sar, however, had gained the prsBtorship, and
a creature of Pompeius, Metellus Nepos, had been chosen one
of the tribunes, and had attached himself to Osesar with the
design of af&onting the dominant &ction. The execution of

u.c. 693, the traitors had been already denounced as a murder.

B.C. 62. Oicero, on resigning the fiisces, presented himself to
give an account of his consulship. But Nepos interposed. ' The
man,' he said, *who condemned our fellow-citizens unheard,
shall not himself be listened to,' and he required him to confine
himself to the customary oath that he had obeyed the laws.
' I swear,' cried Oicero, ^ that I have saved the state.' Amid
the applause, both of nobles and people, Oato hailed him as
' father of his country.' Upon Nepos further threatening to
recall Pompeius, Oato, himself a tribune, defied him with
personal violence. Nepos, proclaiming that his sanctity was
assailed, fled to his patron's camp. The senate declared his
office vacant, and at the same time suspended Oaesar from his
functions as preetor. The people, however, rose in tumult, and
compelled the consuls to restore their favourite.

Oicero had become sobered from his recent intoxication.
He was alarmed at the coldness of Pompeius and the open
enmity of Orassus. Threats of impeachment had been
muttered, and he was anxious to allay these resentment%

CH. XXXIX. Impiety of P, Clodius. 207

He now sought to appease Giassus. He publicly lauded
the zeal of OsBsar in disclosing the designs of Oatilina. He
who had lately exclaimed ^ Let arms give place to the gown I '
now prostrated himself before Pompeius, whom he exalted
above Scipio as a saviour of the state. The aim of Cicero had
been to weld together the senators and the knights by the bond
of a common interest, but when he saw that the Optimates
spumed the alliance, he thought it most prudent to throw him-
self wholly upon the aristocracy, which had employed, but did
not the less despise him. He failed to secure the real sympathy
of Pompeius, of Orassus, or of Osdsar; whOe the surviving
friends of Oatilina vowed vengeance against him.

An incident now occurred by which it was hoped to sow
discord between Caesar and the popular party. P. Clodius, the
accuser of Catilisa, had ingratiated himse^ with the people.
This young profligate penetrated into Ceesar^s house in feniale
attire, while the mysteries of the Bona Dea were being cele-
brated. He was detected and expelled, but the outrage was
soon made public, and the nobles did their best to magnify the
scandal. Caesar, as chief pontiff, was forced to take a prominent
part ; but, on the one hand, the culprit was an instrument of his
own poHcy, on the other, his honour and his office were com-
promised. He evaded the difficulty by divorcing his wife,
giving as a reason that ' the wife of Caesar should be beyond
suspicion.' But he showed little eagerness for the punishment
of Clodius, who, perhaps through his intervention, was enabled
to borrow money and bribe his judges.

Early in the year B.C. 61 Pompeius arrived at the gates of
Home and demanded a triumph for his conquests in the East.
Trusting to his own transcendent merits to obtain for him any
honours he might desire, he had dismissed the main body of
his troops at Brundisiimi with the promise of lands to be divided
among them. The Optimates interpreted the act as an indica-
tion of timidity before their own imposing attitude. As an
imperator was forbidden by law to enter the city, Pompeius
invited the senate and the people to meet him in the Campus
and hear from his own mouth the policy he meant to adopt.
Of his own actions he spoke magniloquently, on civil affairs
with moderation, of the senate respectfully, but not one word
of approval would he vouchsafe to their recent measures.
Cicero took occasion to descant upon the great dangers from

2o8 Ccesar takes Command in Spain, ch. xxxix.

•which he had saved the state ; but neither praise nor sympathy
could be extorted from the great Pompeius.

The time was now come when Oaesar might advance iiis
power by accepting a military conmiand of importance. The
province of Farther Spain was offered to him ; but he was so
deep in debt that, as he avowed, he wanted 250 millions of
sesterces (about 2,000,000^. sterling) to be ' worth nothing.'
He was also hindered by a decree which forbade any magistrate
to go abroad till the Clodian process should be decided. The
first difficulty was got over by the help of the wealthy Orassus,
who was willing to elevate OsBsar, so that he might lower
Pompeius, and who took the treasures ot Spain in pawn in
return for 200,000/. which he advanced for Osesar's pressing
needs. The other impediment Caesar boldly disregarded, judg^
ing that when once he had got possession of his government,
and taken conmiand of his forces, his enemies could not insist
on his recall.

The senate was obliged to put up with the affront, but
soothed its pride by mortifying Pompeius, withholding the
ratification of his acts, and the satisfaction of his veterans.
Lucullus and Metellus had enjoyed their triumphs without
question, but the conqueror of Mithridates was harassed with
ungracious delays, and his triumph was not celebrated till nine
months after his return. When the time for it at length
arrived, the display of spoils and tropMes was such as Home
had never before witnessed. The proconsul boasted that he
had conquered twenty-one kings. His banners announced that
he had taken 800 vessels, 1,000 fortresses, 900 towns ; 89 cities
he had founded or restored; he had poured 20,000 talents
(5,000,000/.) into the treasury, and almost doubled the national
revenues. This third triumph completed his world-wide glo-
ries ; the first had marked his victories in Africa, the second
those in Europe, and now he had brought, as it were, the
whole world within the sphere of his conquests. Nevertheless,
on descending from his chariot, Pompeius found himself alone
in the city where he had been once attended by crowds of
flatterers and admirers. The senate was cold or hostile, Cicero
u.c. 694, relaxed in his adulation, and the ratification of
B.C. 60. the hero's acts was still petulantly withheld. On
his renewing the demand for lands for his veterans, he was once
more met with a refusal. Deeply chagrined 'litt^tfee treat-

cH. XXXIX. The first Triumvirate, 2>oc^

ment he experienced^ he might now regret the disbanding of
his legions^ and the more so as the approaches he began to
mal^e to the popular party met with little response. OaBsar
was already lodged in their hearts, and they cared for no other
favourite.

OHAPTER XL.

CJS3AB*S GOirsrLSSIP. THE FIRST TRnJKYIBATE. CIGER0*S
BAiriSHHSNT AND SECALL.

The destruction of Oatilina^ the humiliation of Pompeius, and
the absence of Osssar combined to inflate the Optimates with
confidence in themselves and in their headstrong leader Oato.
Cicero was mortified to see so unpractical a statesman preferred
to a philosopher like himself. His remarks on Oato, though
pointed no doubt by wounded yanity, are substantially just.
^ No man/ he said, ^ means better^ but he ruins our affairs ; he
speaks as a citizen of Plato's republic, not as one dwelling
among the dregs of Bomulus.' ' We have only one statesman/
he added, meaning Pompeius ; for he was now drawing nearer
to this chief; who had at length publicly done justice to the
acts of his famous consulship.

The Optimates no doubt were living in afooFs paradise amid
their palaces and their fish-ponds, but in the absence of Caesar
their opponents were irresolute and disunited. Ceesar, on
assuming his command in Spain, made war promptly on the
natives, ingratiating himself vrith his officers and soldiers, and
filling his own pockets as well as theirs with plunder. One
campaign sufficed to free him &om debt, and to reveal to him
his own military capacity. Thereupon, in the course of the
year 60, as the elections drew near, he threw up his command,
and appeared suddenly before the city. He claimed a triumph,
but his position as an imperator was not consistent with that
of a candidate for the consulship. The nobles refused to relax
the law in his favour, and to their surprise Caesar at once
relinquished the triumph and sued for the consulship. At the
same time he effected a close alliance with Pompeius and
Crassus. The glory of the first, the wealth of the second, and

2ia Ccesar^s Consulship, ch. xl.

the popularity of the third combined to give to this triumvirate
a paramount power over public affairs. Each of them was in
reality hoping to use the other two as instruments for his own
advancement to the first place in the commonwealth: but
Osesar was the first to profit by the combination, for his allies
pledged themselves to raise him to the consulship.

Csesar was backed by a rich Candida te, Lucceius, who bore a
large share of his expenses: the nobles opposed to him the
wealthy Bibulus. Even Oato consented to use bribery against
bribery. Caesar's election was carried with Bibulus for his
colleague. Osesar now courted the people more than ever.
He distinguished his term of office by an agrarian law which
assigned lands to the Pompeian veterans and to a large number
of poor citizens. This bill was furiously opposed by Oato, who
with Bibulus and Lucullus tried to dissolve the assembly on a
plea of unpropitious omens. They were all three very roughly
handled by the people. Oaesar sat immoved in his chair, and
the law was carried amid the clash of arms in the Forum.

Osesar's consulship was an epoch of grave importance from
the free expression it gave to the views of the popular party.

While the nobles, dismayed at their discomfiture, shrank
from all public action, and Bibulus shut himself up in his house
for the remainder of his term, Osesar was proposing laws in the
comitia for regulating the tribunals, for controlling the pro-
consuls, for improving the position of the provincials. IVom
the fii'st he had declared himself the patron of the oppressed
provinces, and now that he was in power, he fulfilled his
promises. The people supported his liberal measures as a
fresh defiance of the aristocratic party, not from any liberal
sympathies of their own. Oicero, who could not understand
the consul's broad and generous policy, passed his time in
literary leisure at Tusculum and Formise, but cast back vristM
glances at the arena of public life. The movements of Olodius,
who was taking steps towards the tribunate, caused him much
uneasiness; for he judged rightly that they portended an
attack upon himself. Further disquietude was caused by the
arrest of a villain named Vettius, who avowed that he had been
suborned by Oato and others to assassinate Osesar and Pom-
peius.

All parties may have felt it a relief when Osesar's consulship
drew to a close. Every obstacle, every rival had yielded to his

cH. XL. Ccesar Proconsul of GauL 211

ascendency. He himself saw clearly that the days of the free
state were numbered, and the example of Pompeius, expecting
in fretful inaction the offer of supreme power, warned him that
the sovereignty of the empire must be seized, not waited for.
He resolved to quit the city, gather resources in the field of
foreign adventure, and return as a conqueror to claim the
diadem. Frank and generous as he was, we may well believe
that he foresaw what benefits he might confer on Home and
the empire under the personal rule of a large-minded adminis-
trator. The people, whom he had delighted with shows and
largesses, overruled the decree of the senate, and granted him
the provinces of the Cisalpine and Illyricum for five years, with
an army of three legions. Symptoms of distiu-bance had been
noticed among the tribes beyond the Alps. The Allobroges
had risen, and been put down. The Helvetii were preparing
for a migration which threatened to encroach on the province.
Strong measures of repression were called for. In spite of
Cato's warnings, the senate not only acquiesced in the assign-
ment by the people, but added to it the Transalpine province
also. The proconsulate of Oeesar in the West might now rival
in importance the extraordinary Eastern command lately given
to Pompeius.

After vacating the consulship at the end of the year 69,
Caesar lingered for a time outside the walls to watch the course
of events, and especially the manoeuvres of young Clodius, who
by his aid had now gained the tribuneship. This shameless
demagogue found himself in a position of great u.c. 696,
power, courted by Pompeius, and able by promises ^'C- *®'
of popular favour to control the action of the consuls, who were
greedy and necessitous. He confirmed his influence by poprl&r
measures, requiring that the supply of cheap com should be
henceforth gratuitous, and forbidding the consuls to dissolve
the comitia under pretence of observing the heavens. He further
deprived the censors of their power of degrading knights and
senators at their sole discretion. He next set himself to work
the downfall of his personal enemy Cicero. He moved the
people to interdict fire and water to whosoever should have
inflicted death on a citizen without an appeal to the tribes-
Cicero, though not named, was clearly pointed at. Declining
Caesar's offer of a post in his province, he descended into the
Forum in the garb of a suppliant and pleaded with the citizens

212 Banishment of Cicero. ch. xl.

for help and for compaasion. The senators were disposed to
stand by him, but the consuls supported Olodius, and the
tribune raised a tumult in the streets and pelted Oicero and
his sad corUge with mud and stones. Pompeius, when appealed
to, coldly repulsed him. Olodius convened the tribes outside
the walls to allow the attendance of OsBsar, who, after con-
demning the execution of the conspirators, faintly exhorted the
people to forego revenge and condone the offence.

Oicero had already retired from the city, but the implacable
Olodius caused him to be sentenced by name. Oicero was
banished four hundred miles from Borne, or beyond Italy. It
was declared capital even to propose his recall. His estates
were confiscated, his cherished villa at Tusculum given over to
be pillaged by the consuls, and his mansion on the Palatine
pulled down, part of the site being cynically dedicated to the
goddess Liberty, so as to render its restitution impossible.

The triumvirs were not ill-pleased with the sentence which
struck the senate through Oicero. The noUes were mortified
by the affiront to their policy, but felt that they were not Mly
discredited as long as Oato remained at their head. At the
instigation of his patrons, Olodius now directed his manoeuvres
against the most just and virtuous of the Bomans by imposing
upon him the odious task of dispossessing Ptolemy, king of
Oyprus, upon grounds wholly Mvolous and iniquitous. He was
required to bring the luckless monarch's treasures to Rome,
and to annex his island to the empire. Oato acted in blind
obedience to the decree of the people ; but if Olodius hoped to
corrupt him by the handling of so much wealth he was dis-
appointed, and when Oato returned two years later, the dema-
gogue had fallen too low to harm him by his false insinuations
The successes of Olodius soon turned his head, and he ventured
to affiront both Oaesar and Pompeius. The latter was even
intimidated into the belief that a plot was formed against his
life, and shut himself up in his house. But Osesar came to his
rescue, and the next elections freed him from persecution, while
they raised some decided friends of Oicero to the consulship.

The new consuls at once demanded the orator's recall.

They declared that Olodius was by his birth incapable of being

ir.c. 697t tribune, and that all his acts were invalid ; more-

B.C. 67. over, that the decree which had condemned Oicero

.was a privilegium, as directed against an individual, and so

CH. XL. Casar's Conquest of GauL 213

contrary to the fundamental laws of Rome. The demagogue,
divested of his office, had no resource but violence. The nobles
armed a party of swordsmen under Milo to encounter him.
For seven months the two factions shed each other's blood in
the sight of the affirighted citizens. At last in August Milo
was triumphant. The tribes could meet in safety, and the recall
of Oicero was voted by acclamation.

The patriot's return was likened to a triumphal procession.
All Italy Arom Brundisium to Rome came out, as he tells us,
to meet him. But his seventeen months of exile had revealed
the weakness of his character by the unmanly dejection to
which he had yielded. He had shown in the hour of his trial
that Rome was only the second object of his thoughts, himself
the first. He could not disguise from himself that he had been
made the sport of men far inferior to himself in ability and
honesty ; and he sighed to think that the signal exploit of his
career was after all no better than a splendid failure.

CHAPTER XLT.

CS&hB, CONQUERS GAUL AND INVADES BRITAIN.

Cjesar entered his province in the spring of the year 68, and
during the foUowing years was intently occupied in subduing
the tribes of Gaul from the Rhone to the Seine, the Rhine, and
the Atlantic. He barred the passage of the Helvetii into the
Roman province by means of a chain of earthworks near the
site of the modem Geneva. As they poured westward by a
more northern route he followed and routed them on the banks
of the Saone, finally crushing them in a second victory among
the upper waters of the Seine. He next drove back the
Suevi who had crossed the Rhine under their chief Ariovis* us,
and having thus relieved the Gkiuls from both their assailants,
set himself to form alliances with some tribes and to sow dis-
cord among others, with a view to the eventual subjugation of
them all. The .^dui and Arvemi, each with selfish aims of
their own, were disposed to assist in the ruin of their common
country.

214 Qesar invades Britain, ch. xli.

In the following year Oeesar broke the confederacy of the

Belgic tribes in the north-east, and in his next campaign worsted

TT.o. 697, the Veneti at sea, and reduced the most part of

B.C. 67. the north-western districts. At the same time

his lieutenants overran the south-western region known as

Aquitania. G^aul was now to a great extent subdued ; but in

u.c. 699, order to find fresh foes and fresh plunder for his

B.C. 56. legions, Osesar, in b.c. 55, bridged the Rhine and

invaded the German forests. In the autumn of the same year

he crossed for a reconnaissance of a fortnight's duration into

Britain, but having sufiered some losses at sea, he withdrew

into Gaul for the winter. In the following smnmer he landed

a second time in Kent, and fording the Thames above London,

defeated the Trinobantes before their stockade in Hertfordshire.

u.c 700, But he found no inducement to remain in the

B.G. 54. island, and after exacting the promise of a small

tribute, he turned his thoughts once more to Home, satisfied

with having occupied his troops and amused his countrymen

by the record of his adventures.

During this period of active warfare, Gsesar had kept a watch
on the march of events in the city. Year by year, as the season
for campaigning closed, he repaired to the baths of Lucca, the
most convenient point within his territory at which to receive
his numerous partisans, and consult with them on measures of
home policy. During his long absence Pompeius and Grassus
were scheming independently for supreme power. A scarcity of
corn had occm:red, and, with Gicero's aid, Pompeius induced
the senate to give him an extraordinary commission, and place
him for the third time above the laws. He was authorised to
appoint officers to collect supplies of grain fix)m all parts of the
empire, and to fix the prices himself, for the space of five years.
Gicero accepted a place on the commission. The whole scheme
was a mere device for restoring to Pompeius the paramount
authority which four years before he had unwarily resigned.

Nevertheless, whether from indolence or mismanagement,
Pompeius does not seem to have strengthened his position by
his new powers. He found himself more than ever exposed to
the intrigues of the nobles and the violence of the mob, and he
was defeated in an attempt to get a further appointment which
was coveted as a valuable prize.

Ptolemeeus, king of Egypt, had been dethroned by his

cH. xLi. CcBsar intrigues at Lticca. 2 1 5

subjects, and the senate proposed to restore him by force.
This duty they wished to entrust to Lentulus, one of their own
party ; but the intrigues of Pompeius baffled them. He, in his
tiurn, was refused when he sought the appointment for himself.
The turbulence of the mob and of the demagogues became
worse than ever. The statue of Jupiter on the Alban mount
was struck by lightning, and general consternation was caused
by this portent of impending revolution. Pompeius and Orassus
were filled with mutual distrust, and the senate muttered
threats of impeachment, exile, or even death against Caesar.

Osesar meanwhile held a kind of court at Lucca. Con-
Bulars, officials, nearly half the senate crowded to his receptions.
A hundred and twenty lictors, it was said, might sometimes be
counted at his door. Both senators and knights returned to
Rome delighted with his courtesy and generosity. Many
began to foresee the approaching end of the republic. Indeed
the machinery of the free state was at a deadlock. The consuls
and the tribunes, the senate and the people, mutually checked
each other and paralysed the action of the state. The elections
for the ensuing year were not held, the consuls pretending that
the auspices were adverse, but at the same time abstaining
from all public duties, as men deprived of their legitimate
power by the fury of the mob. When the curule chairs fell
vacant, the tribunes disregarded the legal forms of an inter-
regnum, and convened the tribes irregularly. Young Orassus
appeared on the scene with a detachment of Osesar's veterans
from Gaul, and with their aid Pompeius and Orassus secured
the consulship for themselves, and the other offices u.o. 699,
for their friends. M. Oato, who sued for the praetor- ^c- 55.
ship, was mortified by being set aside in favour of the in-
famous Vatinius.

Osesar had patched up a truce between Pompeius and
Orassus at Lucca, and had used his influence with the people
to secure for them the provinces of Spain and Syria. In
return they helped him to obtain a renewal of his own com-
mission for a second period of five years. The pretext put
forward was that Gaul yet required to be orgam'sed by the
same strong hand which had subdued it. But Osesar meant to
use the interval in confirming his influence over his legions,
trusting to time to dim the lustre of his rivals and prepare the
empire for himself. OsBsar did not gain his object without

2i6 Ccesar's Secofid Period of ch. xli.

resistance on the part of the nobles ; but they were no longer
championed by men of dignity and position, like Lucullus or
Oicero. Oato, who had much degenerated through daily contact
with yiolence and vulgarity, andFavonius, a mere party brawler,
were their leaders. Oato had to be lifted on men's shoulders
in order to force his way into the place of meeting. His long
and angry invective was answered by the brandishing of clubs
and the throwing of brickbats. The Optimates were driven
from the comitia, not without bloodshed. It was after one of
these scenes that Pompeius returned home with some drops of
blood sprinkled on his robe. His young wife Julia, 0«8ar*s
daughter, met him, and, horrified at the sight, was seized with
premature labour and died soon afterwards.

OsBsar had used the first five years of his proconsulship
to good purpose in reducing Gaul throughout its length and
breadth, and in daunting the fierce tribes of Gtormans and
Britons near its frontiers. He might now hope to use the
resources of his province for his own aggrandisement. Though
chief of the popular party at home, he always supported the
nobles agamst the democracy abroad. He maintained the form of
popular assemblies as a convenient means of levying tribute, and
what he took from one tribe he used in buying the friend-
ship of others ; while he charmed all with the sweets of Roman
civilisation and the prospect of Roman citizenship. Hitherto
the Gauls had offered no general resistance to their conqueror.
A few tribes here and there had fought and yielded. Their
first serious revolt arose in the Belgic Gaul, and had for its
centre the country of the Treviri. It was supported by the
Nervii, the Eburones, and the Lingones. These tribes were
balanced by the Remi, the Senones, and the ^dui, which
remained stedfast to Rome, and prevented the disturbance
from spreading southwards. The campaign of the year 54 was
signalised by a great disaster to the Roman arms ; but Osesar
promptly retrieved it, and relieved the camp of his lieutenant,
U.C.701, Cicero's brother, by a brilliant victory over the
B.C. 63. Nervii. In the following year he quelled the in-
surrection in the North, and induced his Gaulish allies to wreak
a bloody vengeance on the nation of the Eburones.

Scarcely was his back turned upon this scene of massacre
when a fresh revolt broke out in the centre of the country, and
the district which lies between the Seine and the Garonne w^

cH. xLi. Proconsular Power. 217

in a flame. At Genal)us, on the Loire, a number of Boman
eettlers were massacred. The Druids incited the people to the
war, but the command was taken by Vercingetorix, ^ chief of
the Arvemi, who, alone among the Gauls, stands forth as
a military genius, and whose heroic defence of his country
deserves the highest praise. At his hands Osesar suffered a
severe defeat at Geigovia, near the AUier. The proconsul lost
his sword, and his retreat into Italy was cut off. But in truth
Italy at that time offered him no asylum. In Gaul he must
either conquer or die. His lieutenant, Labienus, succeeded in
pacifying the more northern tribes, and with the whole force
at his command OsBsar once more showed a bold front to his
enemy. This time Vercingetorix was defeated, and led his
routed army into the city of Alesia, near the modem Dijon,
where he entrenched himself with 80,000 men. Csesar enclosed
his beaten enemy, together with a large concourse of non-
combatant fugitives, in a second circumvallation, and in due
time compelled the surrender of the whole force by famine.
The captives' lives were spared, but Vercingetorix, who merited
a better fate, was reserved to grace his captor's triumph and to
perish miserably in the dungeons of the Capitol. In u.o. 703,
the eighth year of Osesar^s proconsulship the subju- ^-c- «!•
gation of the vast region between the Alps, the Rhine, the
Pyrenees, and the ocean was complete.

The conquest of Gaul was not achieved without an enormous
loss of life, but in constituting the government of his province
OflBsar pursued a new and liberal policy. He founded no
military colonies to control the natives and to possess their
lands. His object was not to bring Home into his province,
but to turn the eyes of the provincials towards Rome, to give
them an interest in the imperial city, and to use their support
in furthering his own designs. He left them then their land,
their laws, and their i*eligion : in a great measure their own
self-government was undisturbed, though doubtless directed by
Roman agents. Honours and privileges were showered upon
their chiefe and cities. But the courteous manners of the
magnanimous Roman won more hearts even than his bene-
factions.

At the same time that OsBsar was thus riveting the yoke of
Roman dominion upon the vast territories of Northern, Eastern,
and Western Gaul, he had another task to accomplish in the

2 1 8 CcBsar's A rmy. ch. xli»

old soutkem province, the Narbonensis. The government of
that region had been confided by Pompeius to adherents of his
own, who belonged to the party of the senate. These. men
OsBsar displaced in all directions, filling the offices of govern-
ment with friends and partisans on whom he could depend,
rewarding with lands and largesses all who did him good
service. At the same time he kept his legions fully recruited
and in a high state of discipline and efficiency. His gallant
and generous bearing and his splendid military genius had
captivated the youth of Gaul, who flocked eagerly to his
standards. Indeed, Caesar's conquest of Gaul was mainly
eflected by the swords of Gaulish soldiers. When he entered
upon his proconsulship, the only troops he took over from his
predecessors were the legions numbered the 7th, 8th, and 9th,
which had probably been raised by Metellus in the Cisalpine.
The legions numbered 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th, and 16th,
were aU originally levied within the limits of Transalpine Gaul.
But few of these soldiers could have been of Roman or Italian
origin. They were most likely recruited among those tribes on
whom the Latian franchise had been confeized ; but to each
of them were attached a number of foreign cohorts, subject to
the same discipline, equipped vdth the same arms ; and these
auxiliaries, after a few campaigns, became as trusty and as
efficient as their regular comrades. One legion was undoubtedly
composed solely of Qfl-uls, who were distinguished by wearing
a lark or a tuft of lark's feathers in their helmets, and the legion
thus acquired its name ' Alauda.' To a vain and excitable,
a proud and pugnacious race, like the Gauls, service under
such a general as Caesar was eminently attractive ; and in spite
of the severity of his discipline and the toilsome labours he
required of them, their devotion to his person was absolute.
Unlike Pompeius, Lucullus, and all the other generals of his
time, Caesar alone might boast that his troops had never
mutinied, and that when captured by the enemy they invariably
refused to serve against him. Such were the legions with
which Caesar conquered Gaul ; with them he was now about
to conquer the empire of Rome.

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cH. xLii. TIte Roman Legion, 219

CHAPTER XLII.

THE ROMAN LEGIONS AND THEIR SYSTEM OP ENCAMPMENT.

Wb have now reached a turning point in the history of Rome
at which the civic institutions begin to be overshadowed by
tihe military organisation. Hitherto the annual magistrates,
legally elected, have ruled the state ; the laws have been framed
by the people in their comitia, by the Optimates in the senate.
These have been the prevailing forces in the commonwealth.
But they are fast hastening to their fall, and their place is to
be taken by a successful soldier, an imperator, whose power is
only limited by his life. The will of the armed legions wiU
henceforth prevail over that of the citizens. We shall do well,
therefore, to form a clear conception of the Roman army, of its
actual condition in Caesar's time, and the steps by which it had
been developed. From the beginning to the end of Roman
history the legion Q legio,' derived from ' legere,' to choose) is
the name used to express an organised body of troops. It
corresponds, perhaps, more nearly to a cofys (Tarm^e than to
any other term in modem military phraseology ; for the legion
included both heavy infantry, light infantry, cavalry, and such
rude forms of engineering appliances and artillery as were
known to the ancients. In the legendary accounts of Romulus
the legion is stated to have contained 3,000 foot soldiers and
300 cavalry, each of the three tribes contributing 1,000 of the
one and 100 of the other. Passing on, as we must do, for want
of any trustworthy sources of information, to the legion as it
was organised under the Servian constitution, we find a more
complete and elaborate system. The nation is now divided into
thirty tribes, and also arranged according to the distribution of
property under five classes. For every legion that was required
for the service of the state, the first class supplied forty cen-
turies of thirty men each, who were armed at their own expense
with helmet, breastplate, shield, and greaves, besides sword and
spear ; total 1,200 men. The second and third classes together
supplied a like number of men, also armed at their own expense,
but less fully equipped with defensive armour; total 1,200.
I The fourth and fifth classes supplied a third body of 1,200 men,

220 The Roman Legion ch. xlti.

who were unprovided with defensive annour, but carried heavy
javelins (pila), with which to harass the approaching enemy.

The 2,400 men drawn from the first three classes were ar-
ranged in order of battle ten deep^ the first five ranks being
occupied by the heavily-armed men of the first class, and the
five ranks behind being filled by the half-armed men of the
second and third classes, who gained some protection from the
defensive armour of their richer comrades in front. The un-
armed troops of the two lowest classes were formed in a loose
body apart called a ' caterva.' The cavalry, 300 in number,
was supplied by the eighteen centuries of knights, which com-
prised all the patricians and the richest of the plebeians.

Such was probably the constitution of the Roman legion in
the early years of the republic. It is important to observe that
these soldiers received no pay and were armed at their own
expense : they were simply citizens withdrawn for a few weeks
or months from the pursuits of civil life, and destined to return
thereto as soon as the campaign was ended. For many cen-
turies, even after the payment of the legionaries had been in-
troduced, this continued to be the fundamental idea of the
Roman militia ; and so late as the period of Lucullus, B.C. 66,
we find the legions murmuring and disposed to mutiny because
they were not at once led homewards when the war with
Mithridates, for which they had been enlisted, was at an end.

The great effort made by the Romans under Oamillus in
the long siege of Veii, B.C. 400, made it necessary to retain the
lemons under arms winter and summer for several years, and
as the soldiers were thus prevented from supporting themselves
or their families by productive industry, the system of state
payment for their services could no longer be avoided. As the
Roman dominion expanded, as long and distant wars against
such enemies as the Samnites, the Gauls, the Carthaginians,
came to be of frequent occurrence, the necessity for paying the
soldiers continued to be imperative, and the old practice of
unpaid service passed out of popular remembrance.

Another change occurred about the same time, and has
likewise been attributed with some probability to Oamillus,
though we have no certain knowledge as to who was the
author of it. Instead of the solid mass and serried ranks of the
Greek phalanx which had formed the battle array of early
times, we find, about the period of the I^tin war, B.o. 840, that

cH. xLii. before the Punic Wars. 221

the legion was subdiTided into snaall companies or maniples,
and disposed in a looser order of "battle. The front rank con-
sisted of fifteen maniples of young and vigorous men, whose
principal weapon was a long spear (hasta), and thence called
' hastati.' Each maniple contained sixty men, and spaces were
left between the maniples to allow the troops behind to advance
between the lines if necessary. The second rank was formed
of the 'principes/ heavily armed troops of superior age and
strength, many of them protected by shirts of mail, in addition
to helmet, greaves, and shield, and carrying both heavy javelins
and swords. Their number and order of battle was the same
as that of the hastati.

Behind the principes stood the 'triarii,' or veterans, on
whom the brunt of the battle did not fall till both the ranks of
younger men had been worsted ; these agun were supported by
two more ranks of less trusty warriors called respectively the
rorarii and accensi, and these three rear ranks numbered 900
men each, or 2,700 in all.

The rorarii were armed with light javelins, and they began
the battle by advancing between the companies of the foremost
ranks and skirmishing in front of the array before the armies
came to cbse quarters, retiring through the lines when the
shock became imminent. The accend stepped into the posts
of those who had fallen, and supplied their place to the best
of their power, doubtless using the weapons of their dead or
wounded comrades. From this enumeration we obtain, as the
full strength of the legion at this period, 76 maniples of 60 men
each, or 4,600 men, in addition to which we must reckon two
centurions and a standard bearer to each maniple, which brings
up the total to 4^726, in round numbers 6,000 infantry, besides
the invariable force of 300 cavalry.

The Greek historian Polyluus, who passed many years of
his life at Borne about the period of the third Punic war
(B.C. 149), and who had opportunities of obtaining trustworthy
information concerning all that related to the war with Han-
nibal (B.C. 218), has left us a dear account of the state of the
Roman legion during the great contest with Carthage.

At that time, say B.C. 200, it seems that the ordinary
strength of the legion was somewhat in excess of 4,000 men,
but that in great emergencies the numbea^tw!^ increased to
5|Q09.

222 During the Punic Wars, ch. xliu

The three first ranks of the array were still designated by
the names hastati, principes, triarii, and there is no change to
record in the quality and armament of these troops. Their
numbers, however, and their subdivisions, are different. The
two front ranks now contain 1,200 men apiece, marshalled in
ten maniples of 120 each, while the triarii, or veterans, number
only 600, in ten maniples of 60 each, making a total force of
3,000. The names rorarii and accensi have disappeared, and
in their place we find 1,000 of the poorest and youngest recruits
allotted to each legion as light troops or skirmishers, with the
appellation ' velites.'

The increased strength of the maniples has caused them to
be subdivided into two centuries, each of which is commanded
by a centurion and his lieutenant, * optio,* so called because he
was selected by the firee choice of his centurion.

The legion is further arranged in ten cohorts, each of which
contained 400 soldiers, and was thus composed : —

One maniple of hastati .... 120

„ principes .... 120

„ triarii ..... 60

Proportion of velitea 100

Total ... 400

The legion thus contained 4,000 infantry disposed in ranks,
in cohorts, in maniples, and centuries : but to this force must
be added the officers and standard bearers, viz., 6 tribunes,
who commanded the legion in monthly rotation, 60 centurions,
and as many standard bearers ; total 4,126. The force of 300
cavalry, divided into ten 'turmae,' must, of course, also be
reckoned; but in addition to this the dominant position of
Rome in Italy has now brought into the field a large con-
tingent of auxiliary forces supplied by the subject allies, * socii.'
The allied infentry attached to each legion equals in number
the Roman infantry, while the cavalry force is twice or thrice
as numerous as the Roman cavalry. In this way the entire
force of the legion may now be reckoned at from nine to ten
thousand men. A consular army consisted of two legions, and
when both consuls took the field at the head of their armies,
the force amounted to nearly 40,000.

Throughout the best period of the republic^ ser we in the
ranks of the Roman legion was accounted a privilege, and was

CH. XLii. Changes introdticed by Marius, 223

not only reserved to Boman citizens, but to those of them
whose fortune was not less than 4,000 copper pounds. Ex-
ceptions to this rule did undoubtedly occur. Thus after the
disaster at CannsB 8,000 slaves were purchased by the state
and equipped as soldiers. They fought bravely, and were re-
warded with freedom. Still, the rule stated above was almost
universally maintained down to the beginning of the first cen-
tury before Christ. The great democrat Marius first introduced
the practice of recruiting the legions from all classes of Roman
citizens without distinction of fortune. The basis of the army
was further extended by the admission of the Italians to the
right of citizenship after the Social War, B.C. 88. Throughout
the vast dominion of Rome multitudes of provincials were ad-
mitted by purchase or favour to civic rights, and it soon became
the practice to raise the legions principaUy in the provinces,
while under the Empire the prsdtoiian troops alone were re-
cruited among the youth of Italy. The changed condition of
the legion arising from these causes shall now be described,
and it should be observed that the legions which fought under
OaBsar are those now spoken of.

The numbers of the Roman legion proper, without auxiliaries,
now range from 6,000 up to 6,200 men, but may be taken as
about 6,000 in general.

AU the legionaries are armed and equipped alike : the old
distinctions of hastati, principes, &c., have disappeared. In-
stead of the old arrangement in three or five lines, with open
spaces between the maniples and the young soldiers in front,
we now find the legion arrayed in two lines, each of which is
divided into five cohorts, and the veterans occupy the front
rank.

The velites are no longer heard of, but for skirmishers there
are attached to each legion troops of foreign mercenaries highly
trained in the use of their own peculiar weapons. Such were
the bowmen of Crete, the slingers of the Balearic Isles, and the
javelin men of Mauretania. The principal division of the legion
is now the cohort: the maniple is still maintained, but the
centmy comes into greater prominence.

Before the date of the battle of Pharsalia, B.C. 48, an im-
portant modification had been introduced in the constitution of
the cohorts. Hitherto the ten cohorts had been all equal in
numeiical strength : we now find the fii'st cohort, to which tL§

224 The Standards. Th^ Camp, ch, xlii.

custody of the eagle is committed^ raised to a double standard
and enjoying a special dignity, with the title of ' cohort milliaria.'
Thus if the number of legionaries be taken at 5,940, we s^iall
have the first cohort numbering 1,080 men, while the other
nine muster but 640 each.

The eagle was carried by the first centurion of the first
cohort. It consisted of a small image of the bird with expanded
wings, made of silver or bronze, and carried at the top of a
staff. Each cohort had also its separate standard, consisting of
a dragon woven into a cloth banner, which hung from a cross-
bar near the top of the staff. Under the empire this figure of
a dragon was replaced by a representation of the reigning em-
peror^s head, which became an object of worship to the soldiers,
and after Oonstantine this was again replaced by a representar
tion of the Saviour's head, which constituted the sacred la-
barum.

In 086says time the cavalry was almost entirely recruited
among the provincial population : the few Roman equites who
might be present with the legion acting as aide&-de-camp to
the general or in some athez post of special honour.

The equipment of the foot soldier was extremely burden-
some. In addition to helmet, cuirass, and shield, he carried a
pUum, a sword, and a dagger, provisions for three days, various
implements used in entrenching the camp, and stakes for pali-
sading it. The location, construction, and fortification of the
camp were objects to which the utmost attention and scientific
skill were devoted by the Eoman commanders. No army passed
a single night without entrenching itself; the position must be
easily defensible, wood and water must be accessible : ^01 in
selecting a camping ground was regarded as a most important
qualification in a general.

Let us endeavour to form a clear conception of the con-
struction of a camp, such as would be made night after night,
throughout a long march, by a consular army of two legions,
with auxiliaries, in the best period of the republic, say B.C. 200.
The number of troops to be accommodated would beabout 20,000,
viz., 6,000 legionaries and the same number of auxiliaries for
each legion.

The camp then is carefully laid out in a square of 2,017
Boman feet, whose four sides may be supposed to face the four
cardinal points of the compass. Immediately upon reaching

CH. XLII.

The Roman Camp,

225

the ground parties of soldiers are told oiF under their centurions
to dig the ditch and raise the mound on the inner side of it,
two sides of the square, say the east and west sides, being-
undertaken by the legionaries, and the other two, north and
south, by the auxiliaries. In the centre of these two last-men-

PIjAN of ROMAN CAMP.

PORTA PRAETOR I A

A »

200

•

VIAQM

NTAMA

•

100 3Sa
4 S

4 a
* 8

4, 3

z
t

[sol
a

7
?

1?
-1

4 8

4 3

4 8

4 3

* 3

* 1 a' I *-'

3 4

a' 4'

*' 4'
S' 4'
7"^

..^

«'

»'

VIA oyuiM

«'

PORTA OECUMANA

A. Pnetoriutn.

B. Quaegtorium.
c. Foruin.

D. Tents of military tribunes.
„ P I Extraordinarii.

' • j Infantry outside ; cavalry In-

' \ side.

1,1'. Eqnites.

2, 2'. Triarii.

3, 3 . Frincipes.
4,4'. Hastati.

6, 6'. Cavalry of the allies.
6, 6'. Infantry of the allies.

tioned lines openings are left 50 feet wade to serve as gates,
fortified, however, with barriers, and known as the Porta Prae*
toria and Porta Decumana respectively.

The ramparts on the east and west sides are also pierced
a

226 The Roman Camp ch. xlii.

•with gateways 100 feet wide ; these, however, are not centrally
situated^ their distance from the southern end being twice as
great as it is from the northern end of the enclosure. They
are designated as the Porta Principalis Dextra, and Sinistra re^
spectiyely. The mound, when completed, is fenced with stout
stakes planted on its summit, and sentries drawn from the ranks
of the velites are posted at frequent intervals all along the
rampart. Strong pickets both of horse and foot are, at the
same time, thrown forward to a condderable distance outside
each of the four gates.

Eetuming to the interior of the camp, which has been
pitched according to one unvarying plan while the ditch and
mound were in process of construction, we find the following
arrangements. From east to west, uniting the two Portse
Principales, runs a broad street 100 feet in width, called the
Principia. Along its north side are pitched the tents of the
twelve military tribunes, six for each legion, with their baggage
and horses in rear of them. From the centre of the north side
opens a space 200 feet square, in the middle of which stands
the PraBtoriura, the tent of the commander of the army, gene-
rally the consul. On one side of the Prsetorium is a large open
space used ns a Forum' or place of assembly, for the delivery of
speeches and celebration of sacrifices. On the other side is th^
Quaestorium, the establishment of the quaestor, who acts as
quartermaster and paymaster of the army, taking charge at the
same time of all the booty which may have been captured.
East and west of the Forum and the Quaestorium, and also along
the whole northern face of the camp, are pitched the tents of
the extraordinani^ both equites and pedites. These were picked
troops furnished l)y the allies for the special duty of guarding
the Prsetorium and the Quaestorium. The infantry are quartered
outside of the cavalry, and a clear space 200 feet wide is left
between the outermost tents and the rampart.

We now pass to the south side of the Principia. There is
but one street running parallel to that main passage: it is
called the Via Quintana, and it is situated nearly half way
between the Principia and the south end of the camp : it is but
50 feet wide. At right angles to these two streets, opening
out of the Principia and crossing the Quintana, are five narrow
streets each 60 feet wide. The centre one of the five opens
exactly opposite the Praetorium, and divides the quarters of the

CH. xLii. in Imperial Times. 227

two legions from one another. Facing inwarda upon this
street are the tents and stahles of the equites, 300 horses on
either side. Back to back with them, and facing upon the first
of the side streets in either half of the camp, stand the tents of
the veteran triarii, 600 for each legion. Facing them across
the street are the principes, back to back with whom come the
hastati. The two outermost streets then occur, and beyond
them stand the quarters of the allies — the cavalry inside, the
infantry facing outwards to the ramparts. A clear space of 200
feet surrounds all the tents, and then we reach the vallum with
its stockade. An elaborate system of posts and sentinels is
organised to guard the gates, the Prfetorium, the Queestorium,
and indeed every individual portion of the camp. A watch-
word is issued by the consul, and the rounds are made during
the night by men selected from the equites by lot.

Many more details might be given, which must, however,
be sought elsewhere. It will suffice here to add a short notice
of the changes introduced into the camp system under the
Empire. We will still maintain the supposition that the sides
of the camp face the four cardinal points of the compass ; but,
of course, it will be understood that this supposition is made
only for convenience of explanation, and that in reality the
camp might face in any direction that best suited the peculiari-
ties of the ground.

The first thing to be noticed is that, owing to the inferior
discipline and more mercenary character of the imperial forces,
as compared with the republican, the amount of labour ex-
pended on the construction and fortification of the camp is far
less than it was in the earlier times ; and, as a consequence, the
troops are crowded together into a much smaller space, and the
defences are of a slighter character. We have to deal with an
army of three legions, together with Praetorian cohorts or body
guards, numerous officers of the imperial court, and large
supplements of barbarian cavalry and light infantry, in all
not less than 40,000 men, who are now encamped in an
enclosure less than that formerly allotted to a consular army of
20,000 men. The form of the camp is no longer a square but
an oblong, with the angles rounded off, the long sides measuring
one-third more than the short ones, which may be supposed to
face north and south. The position of the Principia and the
Via Quintana are scarcely altered, except that the portion of
q2

225 Recruiting and Titles ch. xlii.

the camp north of the Principia is somewhat more elongated
in proportion. The Prsetorium now occupies the very centre of
the camp between those two cross streets, and the legionaries,
as being moat trustworthy, are quartered nearest to the ram-
part all round, and separated from it by a much narrower open
interval than of old. Their lines are bounded on the inner side
by a street called the Via Sagularis, which makes the entire
circuit of the camp. Within that street the foreign auxiliaries
have their quarters, but the immediate neighbourhood of the
Preetorium is, of course, guarded by the encampment of the
Praetorian cohoi-ts. The most northerly section of the camp
is now bisected by a street which runs due north from the
Principia to the Porta Preetoria, and the number of minor
streets, by which the camp is intersected, is considerably
increased.

A few remarks must here be added concerning the sources
from which the legions were recruited, and the period of their
service. During the second and third centuries, before the
Christian era, all citizens whose fortune exceeded 4,000 copper
pounds, and whose ages lay between seventeen and forty-six,
were liable to be drafted into the army, and might be called
upon to serve either for twenty years in the infantry, or for ten
in the cavalry. None could be appointed a military tribune,
nor even sue for election to a civil magisti-acy, until he had
served at least half of the full term. When the full term had
expired, the legionary was entitled to an honourable discharge.
He was called * emeritus,' and generally received a grant of
land ; in great emergencies, however, he might still be recalled
to the standards for a short period. The changes introduced
by Marius caused the military career to become much more of a
profession than it had been, and the rule requiring legionary
service of any aspirant to a magistracy was relaxed ; while at
the same time it often happened that old soldiers were induced,
by attachment to their generals, or by hopes of promotion or
plunder, to prolong their service beyond the stipulated term
of ten or twenty years. Under the Empire the term of service
was fixed at sixteen years for the Praetorian guards and twenty
for the legionaries. The latter, however, were entitled during
their last four years to serve together in a separate body with a
distinct flag, whence they received the name of ' Vexillarii.'
These troops were excused from all manual labour, and their

CH. xut of the Legions. 229

Bole duty was to fight when occasion arose ; the infringement
of this privilege was the frequent cause of mutinies in the
imperial camps on the Rhine and the Danuhe.

Under tbe imperial system many of the legions became per-
manent organisations, which retained their titles, and in some
cases their stations, unaltered for centuries. These titles were
both numerical and special. Thus as many as five legions were
called by the title ^Tertia,* and these could only be distin-
guished from each other by their special titles, one of them
being known as ' Tertia Parthica,' another as * Tertia Gallica,'
and so on, the title generally indicating the war for which the
legion was raised, or the country where it was recruited, or the
commander who incorporated it. In some cases the titles were
more fanciful in their character, as in the case of Caesar's
favourite Gaulish legion entitled *Alauda,' from the plume
resembling a lark's crest worn in the head-piece. Thb legion^
at first only an auxiliary force, was subsequently incorporated
in the imperial army as ' Legio Quinta Alaiida.' During the
five centuries of imperial rule, the names and numbers of the
legions of necessity varied ; old organisations died out, and new
ones were created as occasion arose. It may suftice to point out
that under Augustus the legions were twenty-five in niunber;
under Alexander Severus, a.d. 230, thirty-three at least, of
which nineteen had retained their identity from the- tima of
their incorporation by Augustus.

CHAPTER XLIIL

THE DISASTROUS CAMPAIGN OF CRASSTTS AGAINST THE
PARTHIANS.

The adventurous career of Caesar in Gaul excited the keenest
interest among his countrymen in Rome. They heard his
successes recited in the solemn decrees of the senate. They
saw the buildings with which he decorated the city loaded
with trophies of the conquered Gauls. Their admiration was
Mndled into rapture by the eulogies of Cicero, who exalted

230 PompeitLS, Proconsul of Spain, ch. xliil

tlie triumphs of their great proconsul above those of all
the ancient imperators. 'Marius/ said he, 'drove back the
Gauls from Italy, but Caesar has penetrated their fastnesses
and conquered them. The Alps were planted there by the
gods, as a barrier against the barbarians, to shelter Kome in her
infancy. Now let them sink, and welcome ; from the Alps to
the Ocean she has no enemy to fear.'

The Romans might well marvel at the splendid performances
of the man whom they had known a few years before only as
the profligate spendthrift, the elegant debauchee. But his
enemies hoped that his strength would give way under the
toils of protracted wai'fare. Instead, they heard with amaze-
ment how this sickly gallant was climbing mountains on foot,
swimming rivers, riding his horse unbridled, sleeping amid
rain and snow in the depths of forests and morasses. If he
spared his body at times it was only to exercise his mind;
reading and writing on various subjects, maintaining an im"
mense correspondence, official and private, dictating to four or
even to seven secretaries at once. The prolongation of Caesar's
command for a second period of five years was looked upon by the
people as a pledge of their hero's advancement to supreme
power. The senate viewed it with bitter vexation, and Cato
went so far as to propose that he should be given up to the
enemy on the pretence of some breach of faith with them. Pom-
peius and Crassus smiled at their colleague's advancement, each
of them hoping to profit by the precedent for his own exaltation.

Pompeius, as proconsul of Spain, rejoiced to find himself
once more at the head of an army. Six legions were assigned
him for his government ; but, contrary to all usage, he chose
to administer it by his lieutenants, while he remained himself
in Italy. During the remainder of his consulship he strove by
lavish shows and largesses to recover his waning popularity.
In vain did he open his splendid theatre in the Campus Martius^
the first stone structure of the kind ever built in Rome. It
could seat 40,000 spectators, and was adorned with gold, marble,
and precious stones. At the opening ceremony 500 lions were
hunted in the arena, and eighteen elephants were opposed to a
trained band of gladiators ; but the citizens were sickened by
the sufferings of such noble victims.

Crassus, who for sixteen years had not appeared in camp,
was impatient to seize upon his province. He longed to emulate

CH. xLiii. Crasstts departs to Syria, 231

the triumphs of Pompeius in Asia, of Caesar in Gaul, and Taunted
that from his province of Syria he would penetrate to the
farthest limits of the East, to the Indus and the Persian Gulf.
But the nobles were uneasy and jealous, and by means of the
tribune Ateius excited the religious scruples of the people
against a scheme of unprovoked invasion. Ateius met him
at the gates on his departure, and, casting incense upon a
burning brazier, devoted the impious aggressor to the infernal
gods. Both citizens and soldiers were deeply impressed, and
the expedition seemed from the first doomed to ill-fortune.

The Parthians, the most powerful nation of the East, who
occupied the realm of Cyrus and Darius from the Caspian to
the Persian Gulf, were an oiFshoot of the great Scythian or Tartar
stock. Two hundred years after the death of Alexander they
overthrew the Macedonian dynasty in Seleucia, and but for the
Romans would have subdued Syria also. Their progress was
checked by Rome on the banks of the Euphrates ; aad for many
centuries Rome was the last bulwark against these barbarians
of the widespread Greek civilisation of the East. The Par-
thians indeed had in a measure exchanged the rude simplicity
of their ancestors for the voluptuous ease of their Hellenic
capitals; but the nation still retained its fame for martial
prowess, and its mail-clad bowmen, mounted on agile horses^
were formidable alike in the charge and in the retreat.

Crassus, on reaching his province, crossed the Euphrates
at once, unopposed, and took and garrisoned several towns.
On the approach of winter he retired to Syria to u.c. 700,
collect resources, to extort tribute and plunder, ®<^' ^•
and to prepare supplies for a long and distant campaign. The
Parthians sent an envoy to demand whether his aggressions
imported a declaration of war on the part of the Republic.
When he haughtily replied that he would give them an answer
in their own capital, the Parthian smiled, and pointing to the
palm of his hand, declared that hair would sooner grow there
than the Romans ever see Seleucia. The confidence thus felt
or feigned impressed the Roman soldiery, who were already
made anxious by reports of the prowess of this new enemy.
Unfiavourable omens were announced, but Crassus heeded them
not. He had secured the aid of Artabazes, king of Armenia,
but neglecting his wise counsel to adopt a northerly well-watered
xoute^ he determined to advance across the desert of Mesopo«

232 The Disaster at Carrkce, ch. xliii.

tamia. A treacherous guide led the army away from the river
into the midst of treeless, sandy wastes, where the soldiers
u.c. 701, fainted with toil and thirst, and were scared by the
B.C. 53. dreary scenery around them. He then gave the
Romans the slip, and betook himself to the Parthians whom he
had so well served.

After a few days' eastward march, Orassus reached a stream
where for the first time he encountered the enemy. Orodes,
the Parthian Mng, had sent forward his vizier Surena to watch
and check his movements. The legions were taken by surprise,
supposing the enemy to be flying before them. Oassius, an
able officer, advised the extension of their line, but Orassus
obstinately formed his troops into a massive square, scarcely
giving them time to drink at the stream. The close Roman
formation supplied a good mark to the stonn of Parthian
arrows; but was useless in attacking their light cavalry.
Crassus ordered his son to charge at the head of his small force
of Gaulish cavalry. The youth attacked gallantly, but, deprived
of the support of the legions, was soon overpowered and slain.
The Parthian arrows continued to thin the Roman ranks, and
when evening fell the survivors sank exhausted on the ground.
Crassus in this terrible emergency proved utterly helpless.
Oassius and other officers gave the signal for retreat, and the
remnant of the legions staggered through the darkness back
towards Oarrhae, where their last outpost had been left. With
the help of the garrison, Crassus was barely enabled to reach its
walls. The place, however, was judged to be indefensible,
and the broken army began its retreat in several detachments.
The Parthians, however, overtook Crassus and harassed his
division severely. Could he hold out but a few hours longer
he would reach the hills, and be safe from the attacks of his
mounted pursuers. At this juncture some liberated Roman
prisoners came into camp primed with stories of the clemency
of the Parthian monarch, and bearing an invitation to Crassus
to capitulate on favourable terms. The undisciplined soldiery
clamoured for submission, and the proconsul, against his own
judgment, yielded to the outcry. A meeting was arranged
between hiai and Surena, in the course of which the two
parties came to blows, and Crassus with his officers was
slauahtered. The main body of the army escaped to the hills,
but tlio expedition had cost the Romans 20,000 slain and

CH. xLiii. Anarchy in the City, ^33

10,000 made prisoners. These last were kindly treated, and
allowed to settle in the country.

The bead and liand of Orassus were sent to Orodes ; and
the victorious Parthian soldiers were amused with a burlesque
imitation of a Roman triumph. Orodes allied himself by mar-
riage with the Armenian Artabazes, and duiing the festivals
which ensued the head of the murdered Orassus was introduced
to give point to the declamation of an actor. Among other
insults offered to this bloody trophy, the story runs that molten
gold was poured into the mouth of the avaricious Roman.

OHAPTER XLIV.

ANAECHY IN THE CITY. VACILLATION OP POMPErUS. C^SAR
PREPASES TO SEIZE UPON THE GOVERNMENT.

The slaughter of a proconsul and the rout of several legions,
the gravest disaster which had befallen the Roman arms since
the first victories of the Cimbri, made but a faint impression
upon the citizens, whose whole attention was absorbed by the
state of affairs at home. One of the triumvirate was now dead,
the imion between the two survivors had been already weakened
by the death of Julia, the daughter of one and the wife of the
other. Corruption and violence in the city continued to grow
to such a pitch of extravagance as to compel the best men of
the state to contemplate in their despair the necessity of a
dictatorship.

The year 701 opened with an interregnum which lasted six
months. No comitia had been held, and no consuls elected,
owing to the flagrant bribery of the candidates. The prolonga-
tion of the crisis, however, alarmed Oato, who, in the name of hia
party, made advances to Pompeius to come forward and require
an election to be held. Pompeius gladly responded to the invi-
tation. When he interposed to facilitate the election of Oalvinus
and Messala, the nobles once more hailed him as their champion.
The difficulty of getting consuls duly elected recurred, and
the following year, B.C. 62, opened with an interregnum. This
time it was violence rather than bribery that hindered the

234 Murder of Clodius, ch. xliv.

course of the law. Milo, Scipio, and HypssDus demanded the
consulship with arms in their hands ; every day was marked
by scenes of riot and bloodshed in the Forum. Amid many
obscure murders which disgraced this period, one stands out
conspicuous for its disastrous consequences. It happened that
Milo was travelling on the Appian Way escorted, as was his
wont, by a troop of armed retainers. A few miles from the
city he was met by Otodius similarly attended. A quarrel
arose between the two parties, and Olodius, wounded in the
struggle, took refuge in a neighbouring tavern. Milo gave way
to his fury, attacked the house, and caused his enemy to be
dragged forth and slain. The corpse was picked up by a pass-
ing friend, and brought to Rome. The people, on recognising
their fevourite demagogue, burst into riotous tumult ; benches,
books, and papers were snatched from the curia of the senate ;
fire was set to the funeral pile thus formed, and, together with
the remains of Clodius, a considerable section of the city was
consumed. Elotous attacks ensued upon the houses of Milo
and other nobles. Milo repelled his assailants with bloodshed,
and after some days of uproar order was restored.

The outrageous violence thus exhibited by nobles and
people alike manifestly threatened the Republic with anarchy
and dissolution. Men of peace, like Oicero, held aloof from
the Forum, where force and bribery had taken the place of
law and justice. Oato himself, though unshaken in courage,
despaired of the ancient principles of the commonwealth, and,
much as he loved liberty, was driven to seek in the authority of
a personal ruler protection for the state and for society. ' It
is better,' he said, ' to choose a master than to wait for the
tyrant whom anarchy will impose upon us.* But, in fact, no
choice remained in the matter. There was but one man at
whose feet Rome could throw herself. With bitter reluctance
Bibulus proposed the appointment of Pompeius as sole consul,
and Oato supported him. They might hope that the great mao
would use his power with moderation, would restore order in
the city, and would find means for compelling the proconsul of
Gaul to surrender his province and disband his armies. Such
results might be cheaply purchased by a year of despotism.
Pompeius did his best to soothe their anxieties, and declared
that he would take Oato as his adviser,^]f^4^ji^^^i^^te in the
interests of freedom, ^

cH. xLiv. PompeiuSy sole Consul. 235

The sole consul entered upon his office at the end of February,
r.c. 702, and at once adopted without reserve the policy 0^ the
Optimates. For himself he kept firm hold on his proconsular
imperium and his Spanish province ; but throwing oif all
pretence of an alliance with Caesar, he undertook to wrest out
of his hands the power which he wielded. To please the popu-
lace Milo was surrendered to stand his trial. Cicero prepared
an oration in defence of him, in which he would have congra-
tulated the state on being delivered from such a ruffian as
Olodius ; but when he rose to address the tribunal, the furj'^ of
the people, and the presence of an aimed force introduced by the
consul, dismayed him. He stammered through a shoit and
nerveless speech, and sat down, leaving his task half finished.
Milo was found guilty and banished to Massilia ; and when
Cicero sent him a copy of. the splendid declamation he had
purposed to deliver, he sarcastically remarked that he thought
himself lucky in that it had never been spoken, ' else,' said he, ' I
ahould not be now enjoying the delicious mullets of this place.*

Pompeius had little difficulty in restoring tranquillity to the
city, weaiy of riot and bloodshed. As the pupil of Sulla, the
conqueror of the Marians, he was justly feared. But he failed
to conceive any large measures of reform which might infuse
new life into the commonwealth. He passed laws against
bribery ; he prohibited the eulogies which the powerful friends
of an accused man used to utter before the judges in his
behalf; he decreed that no magistrate sbould have a province
till five years after he had quitted office, and that no man
should sue for a public charge while absent from home. These
excellent laws he himself violated whenever it suited his con-
Tenience; pleading in his own person for his father-in-law,
Metellus Scipio ; claiming a renewal of his proconsulship while
he was actually consul; and favouring Caesar's candidatm*e
for a second consulship, though he was absent in Gaul.

The brilliant successes of Caesar had made a deep impression
on the citizens, which was kept alive by the splendid structures
reared at his expense in their midst. On the site of the Curia
Hostilia, lately burnt down, rose the stately hall of Julius, and
a space was cleared hard by for the construction of a grand
piazza — ^the Forum Jiilii. To the disgust of the senatorial
leaders, Caesar, however far away, still controlled the elections
in the city; and now that he chose to sue for a second consul*

236 C(Bsar sues for a second Consulship, ch. xliv;

ship, it was found impossible to resist him, and even Pompeius,
though he did so with a bad grace, had no choice but to
acquiesce.

Ofesar's demand was not dictated by vanity. His term of
proconsular government was about to expire, and it was a
matter of vital importance to him, involving his personal
safety, that he should return to Rome protected by the dignity
of the consular oilice. His enemies were already open-mouthed
against him. Both impeachment and assassination were dis-
cussed among them. They scanned the news from Gaul in
eager hope of hearing that some disaster had befallen him ; and
nothing would have pleased them better than to learn that the
•conqueror of Gaul had met the fate of the invader of Parthia.
After ten years of military autocracy it was impossible for
Caesar to step down quietly into the position of a private citizen.
The jealousies aroused by his elevation were too bitter. Could
he at this point of his career attain the consulship, he might
pass from thence once more to the rank of proconsul, and again
defy his foes at the head of his legions. It is difficult to say
whether this necessity was of his own contriving ; but it existed,
and upon it turned the impending establishment of the Empire.
At the end of six months Pompeius brought his sole
consulship to an end by associating with himself Metellus
Scipio, his father-in-law. Before quitting office he* took care to
prevent the succession of Oato to the consulship by securing it
to Serv. Sulpicius and M. Marcellus. The latter, a violent
aristocrat, insisted on the recall of Osesar, though the senate
had just decreed a supplication of twenty days in honour of
his victory over Vercingetorix. He also aimed another insult
at the proconsul by ordering a citizen of the Latin colony of
Novum Oomum (the modern Como), which was under Caesar's
patronage, to be beaten with rods. Caesar and his friends re-
sented the indignity as a studied af&ont to the popular chieftain.
Pompeius still lingered at the gates of Rome in command
of his legions, as usual, in critical moments, vacillating and
uncertain what course to pursue. Cato and Marcellus con-
tinued to thunder against the Gallic proconsul, while Cicero,
the most prudent member of the party, was prevailed upon
r.c. 703, to accept the distant government of Cilicia. The
B.C. 61. orator was unwilling to quit the centre of aifwrs,
jwid despite the scornful neglect with which he was treated by

CH. xLiv. Illness of Pompeius, 237

tte oligarchs, he clung to the hope that he might once again be
called to interpose and save the state a second time. He de-
parted, however, and on reaching Oilicia found that a threatened
inroad of the Parthians had been already repelled by Cassius.
He earned the title of imperator in petty warfare against the
robber tribes of the hill country, and flattered himself that
he might be permitted to celebrate a triumph for this paltry
success. His civil administration was upright and moderate,
in startling contrast to the tyranny of other proconsuls.

In reply to Marcellus's demand for Caesar's immediate
recall, Pompeius proposed to allow him six months' respite ; a
half measure which both irritated him beyond hope of recon-
ciliation and gave him an interval for preparation. The foolish
behaviour of Pompeius at this crisis may probably have been
due to the fact that he was already sickening of a serious
. malady. His life was for some time despaired of at Neapolis,
and the danger he was in aroused a remarkable demonstration
of sympathy among the Italians, who crowded the temples to
pray for his recovery, and besieged his litter with congratula-
tions as he slowly returned to Rome on his convalescence. It
is no wonder that the sick man misjudged the value of all this
popularity, and supposed that his great name was a charm of
all-powerful might. He could not guess that the same voices
which now welcomed him the loudest would so soon be raised
in frenzied acclamation around the conqueror of Gaul.

At the beginning of the year 60, the state of the political
game stood thus : the senate had secured the accession of two
consuls of their own party, C. Marcellus, who was devoted to
their cause, and Paulus ^milius, who had in fact sold him-
self to Csasar for the means of building his splendid basilica.
Caesar's commission in Gaul would not naturally expire till the
end of 49 ; but it was determined, that if he persisted in suing
for the consulship, a successor should be at once appointed to
relieve him of his military command before he should appear in
the city as a candidate. Caesar's friends might reasonably
insist that in that ca^ like measure should be meted to his
rival Pompeius. Among the new tribunes was one Scribonius
Curio, whose devotion to Caesar could only be explained by his
liaving been bought with Gallic gold. He was of aristocratic
birth, and in spite of dissipated habits had attracted the favour-
able notice of Cicero. Caesar, however, had relieved him from

238 Ccesar's Preparations. ch. xliv.

emlnTrassment, and had offered bim prospects bj whose bril-
liancy he was easily seduced. Meanwhile Osesar was using
the truce accorded to him in organising his resources, and
moving his troops quietly towards the Italian frontier. The
senate, too, was well armed and confident. Pompeius could at
any moment transport his seyen legions across the sea from
Spain. It was supposed that Csesar^s veterans were disaffected,
and his resources exhausted. Atticus imagined that he could
embarrass him by calling in a debt of 50 talents. Marcellus
now proposed that Caesar should be recalled from November
next ensuing, nearly a full year before the expiration of his
command. Curio replied by threatening a similar motion
against the command of Pompeius. If this were not passed he
was prepared to veto the other. The consul was outmanoeuvred,
and resorted to violent language ; but the people hailed Cario
with acclamations.

Matters were evidently hastening to a crisis, yet no pre-
parations were made for tbe impending struggle. If Marcellus
urged Pompeius to concentrate in Italy his Spanish forces, he
was checked by the great warrior's vainglorious reply: 'I
have but to stamp with my foot to raise legions in Italy.'
Thus reassured, the senate decided to recall Caesar at once.
Curio vehemently remonstrated; the attitude of the people
was menacing ; and the vacillating senate, by a second decisive
vote, demanded the simultaneous resignation of both proconsuls.
Meanwhile Caesar stationed himself at Ravenna, ominously near
the frontier of Italy, and continued to draw his troops towards him.
Marcellus, foreseeing the Imminent danger, sought out Pompeius
in his Alban villa, thrust a sword into his hand, and invited
him to take command of all the troops in Italy for the defence
of the commonwealth. Caesar was still strictly within his
rights, but the position of Pompeius was no longer legal. Curio
protested against the proconsul's call to arms, declared that the
inviolability of his office no longer protected him, and that the
laws had ceased to reign, and suddenly quitted the city for his
patron's camp.

The pretext which Caesar wanted to justify his meditated
course was now provided; but he determined to wait and
draw his opponents further into the snare. He therefore pro-
posed to the senate to resign his Transalpine province, retaining
only the Cisalpine and Illyricum with two legions. This offer

CH. xLiv. His Rupture with the Senate, 239

beingrejected, lie would be content to lay down all his commands
if Pompeius would do tlie same. Failing the acceptance of this
condition, he would come in person to Bome to avenge his
own and his country's injuries. The government refused to
listen to these overtures ; the consuls pronounced the state in
danger ; and the senate proclaimed that Csssar, if he did not
lay down his arms, should be treated as a public enemy. In
vain did the tribunes Antonius and Gassius interpose their veto
in Caesar's interest. In this supreme crisis, the senate refused
to be bound by constitutional rules. Pompeius occupied the
city and its environs with military force. The refractory tribunes
were threatened with punishment Antonius and Oassius,
together with Ourio, fled as if for their lives. In leaving the
city, they signified that they threw up their outraged offices,
for the tribune was forbidden to step outside the walls during
his term of service. Arrayed in all the dignity of violated
independence, they knew that they would be eagerly received at
the proconsuPs quarters, and paraded through the camp as the
cause and justification of war.

CHAPTER XLV.

CJSSAB CEOSSBS THE RUBICON AND SECTJRES HIS AUTHOEITT
OVER ITALY AND THE WEST.

It has been argued in defence of the revolt which Csesar was
about to perpetrate that the action of his opponents was
technically illegal. But the situation cannot be rightly judged
on such simple grounds. Caesar's irregular ambition had brought
things to such a pass that it was impossible for any government
to keep strictly within the law in resisting him. His justifica-
tion, if there be one, is rather to be sought in the decay of
ancient ideas, in the disorganisation and corruption of the
existing system of the Eepublic, in the fact that the altered
circumstances of Rome required a new form of government,
and impelled men by an irresistible tendency to seek it under
the authority of a personal ruler. Such a consummation had
been already foreshadowed by the consulships of Maiius and

240 Review of tJu Situation, ch. xlv.

Oinna, by the dictatorship of Sulla, by the wide and protracted
commands entrusted to Pompeius and Csesar. Such autocracies
had satisfied the nobles, so long as they were wielded by the
chiefs of their own order. The people were no less disposed
to accept them, if only they might choose their sovereign for
themselves. The men of philosophic mind who still clung to
the ancient forms of the Republic, under which liberty had so
long flourished, were aware that those forms had ceased to be
living realities, and that license rather than liberty now grew
tmder their rank shelter.

Two letters exist which purport to have been addressed
to Caesar at this juncture. Though ascribed on insufficient
authority to the historian Sallust, they probably express the
sentiments of men of his class and character. In them Csesar
b invited to assume the government as the man who alone can
remedy the disorders of the state. * Save Rome,' exclaims the
writer. * Save this mighty empire from decay and dissolution.
Infuse a new element of life into this corrupt and disorganised
populace by introducing numbers of foreign citizens. Crush the
factions of tyrants at home, and extend far abroad the roots of
the Roman community. Exact military service from all, but
limit the term of it. Let the magistrates be chosen for their
virtues, not for their wealth. Let the impartial eye of a
supreme ruler watch over and control this reformed polity, so
that neither fear nor favour nor private interest may interfere
to stifle its free growth.' This exposition of the views of
intelligent public men was supported by the mass of the middle
class, the men who were working their way to wealth by trade
and humble industry. A general distrust was felt of the
ascendency of the nobles, who had so often resorted, in their
own selfish interests, to a policy of revolution and proscription.
At this very time it was reported that a list had been prepared
of forty senators and many humbler citizens doomed to slaughter,
and Csesar^s accession to power was anticipated as an era of
peace and security. Great weight accrued to Csesar's cause
from the favour in which he was held among the foreign subjects
of the Republic. To them monarchy was more familiar than
the forms of a commonwealth, from whose franchise they were
themselves for the most part excluded. Caesar was personally
beloved by multitudes who had never seen him, as the patron
of the subject races. Not satisfied with the incorporation of

XH. xLv. CcBsar crosses the Rubicon. 241

the Italians^ he had advanced the Oispadane Gauls to the
franchise, and the Gaals beyond the Po and even beyond the
Alps might expect similar favour at his hands. In Greece and
in Asia he had attached many communities to himself by his
liberal policy. Foreign nations might well hope that Caesar was
.preparing, like a second Alexander, to mould the whole Roman
world into a mighty monarchy under equal laws.

The tribunes had quitted the city on the night of January 6.
The consuls thereupon repaired to the camp of Pompeius,
virtually resigning their authority to him. Fresh u.c. 705,
troops were levied, but the legions in Spain were ^-c* **•
left as a check upon Caesar in his rear. Arms and money
were forcibly collected, and the temples of the Italian towns
were rifled of their treasures. Caesar, who was informed of his
enemies' plans, received the news of these proceedings by an
express. He at once appealed for support to the one legion he
had with him at Kavenna. On the 15th he sent forward some
cohorts to the Rubicon, the frontier of his province, some twenty
miles distant. The same evening he followed in person and
crossed over with a small detachment. At Ariminum he was
joined within a month by two legions. Three legions he
stationed at Narbo to watch the Pompeian forces in Spain,
while the remainder of his troops were concentrated in Southern
Gaul, ready to face either east or west as occasion might
demand. The actual force of the invaders, barely 6,000 strong,
could hardly have resisted their opponents, who counted thrice
their number. But as soon as the news reached Rome that the
Rubicon had been passed, Pompeius, seized with consternation,
marched through the southern gate of the city, and was followed
along the Appian Way by a crowd of citizens terrified at the
bare idea of an onslaught of Gaulish barbarians.

Some pretence at negotiation followed, and Pompeius was
encouraged by the defection of Labienus, Caesar's best officer.
Caesar advanced ; Arretium, Iguvium, and Auximum promptly"
received him. The road to Rome lay open ; but hearing that
his adversaries were crossing the peninsula to the Adriatic
coast, he turned to the left, traversed Piceniuu, took Cingulmn
and Asculum, and attacked the important fortress of Corfinium,
where Domitius with a small garrison had been stationed.
The latter called upon his fleeing general for support, but
Pompeius coldly refused, and continued his march. In vain

242 Flight of Poinpeius. ch. xlv.

did Domitius prepare to stand a sie^e. No sooner did Caesar
appear before the place than the garrison delivered it, with
their commander, into his hands. Caesar, with characteristic
clemency, spared his captive and gave him his liberty — the first
instance perhaps of such magnanimity in the history of Roman
civil wars, though not the last in Caesar's generous career.
Whatever the officers might do, the soldiers of the garrison
joined the victor's standard with alacrity, and his forces swelled
to formidable numbers. As he advanced, the Italians, alienated
by the fierce denunciations of Pompeius, pronounced in his
favour.

Meanwhile Pompeius, without a halt, led the consuls and
magistrates to Bnindisium, whence he at once despatched
several legions to Epirus, remaining himself to accompany the
last of his divisions. Caesar arrived at the gates in time to
dispute his embarkation, but being destitute of ships, was unable
eft'ectually to hinder it.

In sixty days Caesar had made himself master of Italy. In
face of heavy odds and confident predictions of failure he had
accomplished this enterprise. Meanwhile his rival was dragging
the nobles of Home aftei him in his rapid and ignominious
flight. In vain did they clamour to be led against the invader,
and heap reproaches on their chosen champion. He was not to
be diverted from his plans ; and he would not disclose them.
At last, as he stepped on board at Brundisium, the love of
home and country prevailed with many over every other feeling,
and again the Appian Way was crowded with knights and
senators; but this time with their faces towards the city.
Many of these no doubt were indolent voluptuaries, who could
not bear to forego their accustomed luxuries ; but others were
good citizens, who began to suspect some treachery in their
leader. The ominous words were often in his mouth, ' Sulla
could do this, why should not I ? ' — a warning that no victory
of Caesar was now so much to be dreaded as a victory of
Pompeius. Those who clung to his fortunes were the needy
spendthrifts and reckless adventurers of the party who hoped
to profit by an abolition of debts and confiscation of properties
on their return.

The flight of the great captain was not a mere panic, but
part of a settled plan. His object was not to restore the chiefs
of his party to power, but to grasp it for himself. He would

CH. xLv. . Ccesar enters Ro?ne, 243

call upon the servile nations of the East to trample on the free
citizens of Western Europe. War against Italy ! war against
Rome I was the cry of the most daring and profligate in his
camp. * We will starve the city into submission ; we will not
leave one tile upon a roof throughout the country/ was echoed
by Pompeius himself. 'He left the city/ says Cicero, *not
because he could not defend it, not as driven out of it ; but this
was his design from the first, to move every land and sea,
to call to arms the kings of the barbarians, to lead savage
nations into Italy not as captives but as conquerors. He is
determined to reign like Sulla, as a king over his subjects ; and
many there are who applaud this atrocious design.'

The flight of the consuls and the senate left Osesar in
possession of Italy and of Rome, and with them of all the
material and moral resources he required. Cicero, whom he met
in Campania, declined to follow him, and his scruples Caesar
could aflbrd to respect. His first business, however, was to
assure the citizens that the}' had no slaughter nor pillage to
fear from him. He entered the city unattended ; and while he
engaged to give 2,000 sesterces to each of his soldiers, and 300
to every citizen, he made no requisitions, but de manded only
the treasure hoarded in the temple of Saturn beneath the
Capitol. The gold here deposited was believed to be the actual
ransom of the city recovered from the Gauls by Camillus, and
was held sacred to the one purpose of repelling a Gallic
invasion. The tribune Metellus forbade it to be seized, but
Caesar pushed him aside. ' The fear of a Gallic invasion/ he
said, * is for ever at an end. I have subdued the Gauls.*

In the absence of the regular government the city was
placed under militai'y control j but it was of the utmost impor-
tance to secure the regular supply of corn, and the granaries of
Rome, Sardinia, Sicily, and Africa were all held by Pompeian
lieutenants. Sardinia was quickly mastered by Caesar's troops,
and Curio had no difticulty in driving Cato out of Sicily ; but
when he passed on with his troops into Afiica he met with a
stubborn resistance. Aided by the Numidian Juba, the Pom-
peians engaged him on landing and speedily overpowered him.
Curio was slain, his troops were driven back into Italy, and
Africa remained to Pompeius.

Leaving Rome under the command of Lepidus. and Italy
under that of Antonius, Caesar set outPfor ^pamVo'^'l go/ he
B 2

244 Ccesar conquers Spain, ch. xlv.

said; ' to engage an army without a general ; I shall return to
attack a general without an army/ On bis way thither he was
delayed by the defection of Massilia, which had been stirred up
by Domitius to declare for Pompeius and the senate. Caesar
left a considerable force to blockade the place, and hurried on
to take command of the three legions which had preceded bin*
into Spain. His position there soon became precarious. He
was in want both of money and of provisions, and his camp
was cut off by a flood which swelled the rivers Segre and
Cinga, and swept away the bridges. The enemy exulted in the
certainty of his destruction ; but by the use of light coracles,
such as he had seen in Britain, he maintained his communica-
tions. When the two armies met face to face a parley ensued,
and the Pompeian legions, with little hesitation, passed over
to his side.

This rapid conquest of Spain was soon followed by the
reduction of Massiiia. Domitius, however, again escaped, and
rejoined his associates in Epirus. The western provinces of the
empire were now completely Caesarian. Seciu-e in his rear, the
conqueror could direct his undivided forces against his only for-
midable opponent, from whom he had just wrested the principal
strength of his army. Caesar was still at Massiiia when he
learnt that the people of liome had proclaimed him dictator.
It mattered little that the appointment had been irregularly
made, that he had been nominated by the praetor and not by
a consul, that he had been acclaimed by the people instead of by
the senate. It was better that he should rule under a known
historical title than with none at all. The people rejoiced
to see themselves at last governed by a master of their own
choosing, and forgot that his power rested on the army and not
on themselves. Caesar did not forget it, neither did his soldiers.
The ninth legion mutinied at Placentia, and demanded the
rewards he had promised them at Brundisium ; but he sup-
pressed the revolt with firmness and severity. His position
was once more secure.

The special need for a dictatorship at this moment arose out
of a fiscal crisis. The large class of debtors and repudiators,
who had supported Caesar's schemes, demanded their reward in
the shape of a cancelling of their debts. Numbers of citizens
had been reduced by the money-lenders, who charged interest
of froTp twelve to forty per cent., to a state of intolerable bondage.

CH. xLv. Ccesar's wise Measures, 245

These were the men who had favoured the conspiracy of Cati-
line, and they confidently expected from Osesar a forcible inter-
ference in their behalf. A precedent was not wanting in the
history of the republic of a compulsory reduction of all debts by
three-fourths. But the dictator, absolute as he was, refused to
listen to this cry for confiscation. He appointed arbiters for
the valuation of debtors' property, and insisted on its sale. The
only relief he would afford the bankrupts was to disallow the
claims for usurious interest, and to distribute grants of land
among the most distressed. An ample largess of corn added to
the general contentment. An amnesty was also granted to all
those who had been exiled by Pompeius, excepting Milo and
Antonius, the consul who had taken the field against Oatilina.
Oaesar held the dictatorship only eleven days, and did not even
appoint a master of the horse. He then caused himself to be
elected consul together with Servilius Isauricus. The other
magistracies were conferred upon his adherents with every due
formality, and before issuing from Rome to join his legions at
Brundisium, he declared war against the public ene^ny, at the
Latin feriae, on the Alban Mount.

Nothing was now wanting to the regularity of his govern-
ment : neither the decrees of the senate, for he had assembled
more than half that body at Rome, nor the election of the
people, the sanction of the curies, and the taking of the auspices
on the spot appointed by custom and religion. Caesar, as pro-
consul, was a rebel from the moment he quitted his province ;
but as soon as he became consul legitimately installed, the
right, in the eyes of the Romans, passed to his side, while his
adversaries were changed into enemies and traitors. The re-
presentative of the people had become the guardian of usage
and public order, while the champion of the oligarchy derived
his arbitrary power from the passions of a turbulent camp.
Such was the political aspect which the struggle had now
assumed, though, in reality, the contest was one of personal
rivalry between the two chiefs.

d by Google

246 Review of the Opposing Forces, ch. xlvi.

CHAPTER XLVI.

CiE8AR DEFEATS POMPEITJS AT PHARSALIA, AN» SUBDUES THB
BAST AND AFRICA.

In the eyes of the Eastern potentates Pompeius was still the
greatest captain and statesman in the world. From Galatia
and Oappadocia, from Thrace, Oilicia, and Commagene, kings
and princes obeyed his call, and assembled at Thessalonica,
bringing with them a host of horsemen, bowmen, and slingers.
For the nucleus of his army he had five legions which had
followed him from Italy, and four more which he had sum-
moned from their stations in the East. Nine complete legions
may have amounted to 45,000 men : the cavalry and auxiliaries
may have swelled the number to 100,000 ; the motley host of
the allies was countless. These swarms of soldiers had to be
dispersed, for the country could not maintain them together.
Moreover, half the legionaries were raw levies which required
careful training. Pompeius bad another difficulty to contend
with in the rival pretensions and discordant counsels >erf his
officers. Lentulus, Marcellus, Domitius, the regenade Labienus,
Oato, and Cicero were all striving to gain his ear and sway his
judgment. Thus during nine months did Pompeius make his
preparations and mature his plans on the coast of Epirus.

Cs&sar could boast no such mighty armament, but his legions
drawn from Spain and Gaul, from Italy and the Cisalpine,
were for the most part tried and trained veterans, devoted to
his imperium, and their officers were no less staunch. With
such a force at his command, wielded by one mind, striking like
a single arm, Cresar need not encumber himself with numbers.
At the end of the year 49 he was ready at Brundisium to
embark with seven legions, numbering only 15,000 men and COO
horse. Pompeius held command of the sea with a fleet of 500
galleys ; but Bibulus, who commanded it, was careless, and
Ctesar boldly crossed the Adriatic with the first division of his
forces. His transnorts. in returninsr to fetch the second di^i-
sion, were interceptei, and Csesar had to content himself with
evasive movements, till M. Antonius could equip a second
convoy and bring over the remainder of his troops.

On the voyage Antonius was driven by the winds to a point

cH. xLvi. Ccesar attacks Pornpeius. 24J

a hundred miles away from where his chief was stationed, and
Pompeius, who lay between them, might easily have over-
powered him. But this he failed to do. CsBsar effected his
junction with his lieutenant, and, throwing himself between
Pompeius and his magazines at Dyrrachium, calmly proceeded
to draw lines of circumv illation round his enemy on the
promontory of Petra, where his camp was pitched. This
manoeuvre did little harm to Pompeius, who could draw his
supplies from the sea ; but the spectacle of the great Pompeius
thus blockaded by his daring nssailant gave an impetus to the
favour in which Csesar s cause began to be held even in the
countries where he was least known. Greece and Macedonia
assured him of support, and thus encouraged, he pressed his
blockade of Petra, and reduced his enemy to great straits by
cutting off the streams which supplied his camp with water.
Pompeius would not face his assailant, but led a large force
round to attack him in the rear, and in this, their first encounter,
he utterly routed Caesar's troops, and might have destroyed
him altogether. Caesar fell lick upon his new friends in
Macedonia and Thessaly, and Pompeius was urged to seize the
opportunity of recrossing the Adiiatic and making a bold stroke
for tlie recovery of Italy and Rome. But the East had still too
strong a fascination for him, and turning his back once more on
Home, he directed his forces on Macedonia, though too late to
overtake his rival, who had already penetrated into Thessaly,
and occupied the great valley of the Peneus.

The nobles in the senatorial camp amused themselves with
quarrelling over the expected spoils of war, and both Cato and
Cicero were so disgusted by their truculent threats that they
stayed behind in lilpirus.

Pompeius at length moved southward from Laiissa and
offered battle to Caesar, who stood posted on the banks of the
Enipeus, not far from the conspicuous hill on which towered
the fortress of Pharsalia. In spite of his superior numbers both
of legionaries and of cavalry, without counting his host of
foreign auxiliaries, Pompeius for a long time shrank from the
issue of battle.

At length on August 9, shortly before noon, the Pompeian
army deployed on the plain, with the stream of u.c. 706,
Enipeus on their rght. The Caesarians, less than ^'^' **•
half their number of infantry, and vastly inferior in cavalry,

24S Battle of Pharsalta, ch. xlvi.

promptly accepted the challenge. Their left wing rested on
the stream ; their right was covered by the few squadrons of
brave German horsemen which formed the whole of Oaesar^s
cavalry. The Pompeian infantry were ordered to await the
onset of the enemy. Caesar commanded his legions to charge,
and this they did with effect, wasting no force upon the
slaughter of the barbarian allies, but pressing hard upon the
Roman legions. The cavalry of Pompeius charged in their
turn, clothed in complete armour, and outnumbering their
German opponents seven times. The latter bravely withstood
the shock, striking at their enemies' unprotected faces, and
slowly retiring upon their supports. This cavalry contest
decided the battle. The Pompeian horsemen broke their ranks
and retired in disorder. Caesar seized the opportunity to bring
up his reserves, and charging at the same moment both in
front and in flank, he threw tbe Pompeian infantry into
disorder. As soon as Caesar saw that fortune had decided in
his favour, he gave orders to spare the Roman citizens, but to
destroy the foreigners. Pompeius had already withdrawn to
his camp, and when he found that his routed battalions were
in full flight, he mounted his horse and galloped oft' towards
Larissa.

Pompeius seems to have risked his whole fortune upon the
issue of this one battle. No provision was made for the con-
tingency of defeat; no attempt to rally the forces of his
powerail, though broken, party. Passing by Larissa, he gained
the ^gean coast near the mouth of the Peneus, and there
embarked on board a merchant ship with a few of his officers.
At Lesbos he picked up his wife Cornelia, and as he passed
along the coast of Asia he was joined by a few more of his
adherents. The wild idea of taking refuge with the king of
Parthia seems to have occurred to him, but this was overruled,
and he steered instead for Egypt, where he would be inacces-
sible to an enemy destitute of a fleet, and where he might
yet hope to collect his friends, and prepare for another
struggle.

The fugitive arrived at Pelusium with about 2,000 men.
By the will of the late king his daughter Cleopatra was destined
to wed her brother Ptolemaeus, then a mere stripling, and to
reign conjointly with him under the guardianship of a council
of state. Cleopatra, hovrever, had been expelled the kingdom.

CH. xLvi. Death of Pompeius. 249

and was at this momeiit tbreatening to invade it, and recover
her rights by force. The king's army was drawn up on the
eastern frontier to oppose her, and the small band of Pompeius
might have secured the victory to either party. The royal
council determined not to accept his dangerous alliance, but at
the same time to prevent him from joining the other side. He
was treacherously inveigled into a boat without an escort, and
there murdered, his head cut off, and his body cast into the
surf, whence it was shortly washed up on the beach. His
freedman recognised the mutilated corpse, and burnt it on a
rude pyre made from the wreck of a fishing boat. The ashes
he buried in the sand, and placed over them a stone, on which
he trailed, with a blackened brand, the word ' Magnus.' Thus
perished the great Pompeius at the close of his fifty-eighth
year, and such were the sorry honours paid to the last hero of
the Commonwealth — to him who had gsdned three triumphs
over the three continents of the ancient world, had been thrice
consul, and once without a colleague, whose proconsulate had
extended over the East and West alternately, who might
have demanded the dictatorship, and perhaps have seized the
empire.

The victor of Pharsalia never failed to improve his suc-
cesses by promptness and decision. He left one division to
watch Oato in Illyricum, and another to complete thereductiori
of Greece. Attended only by a squadron of horse and one
legion, he hotly pursued Pompeius by way of the Hellespont,
'where he received the submission of Oassius. Thence he
'marched across Asia Minor and Syria, and taking ship from the
Syrian coast, reached Alexandria with 4,000 men a few days
after the death of Pompeius. The head of his enemy was
shown to him, but he turned from it with horror, and ordered
the remains to be honourably interred.

When Caesar marched into the capital with the ensigns of
a Koman consul at the head of his army, the people took
offence, and bloody affirays began between the Oaosarians and
the men of the Egyptian army. Caesar, who was in want of
money, soon got possession of the king's person ; at the same
time he admitted Cleopatra to an interview, became enamoured
of her, and avowed himself her lover and her champion. The
young king's advisers trembled for their lives, and raised the
populace against the intruders, who ^ere shut up in a confined

250 ' Vem\ ViJz, Vici! ch. xlvi.

quarter of the town, and reduced to great straits for want of
water. To keep open his retreat by sea Osesar fired the
Egyptian fleet, and in the conflagration thus caused, the great
library of the museum, with 400,000 volumes, was destroyed.

Caesar's position in the midst of a hostile population became
more and more precarious. In vain he attempted to seize the
isle of Pharos by a coup de main. He was repulsed, and only
saved his life by swimming, bearing (it was said) his Commen-
taries in one hand. At length the reinforcements he was
waiting for arrived, and enabled him to assume the oflTensive.
Ptolemoeus perished. The Egyptians submitted, and Cleopatia
was established as their queen.

Caesar, whose finances were at a low ebb, felt his mouth
watering for the treasures of Egypt, the richest country in the
world. Perhaps it was the need of gold rather than the fasci-
hations of the ^ Serpent of the Nile,' which caused him to delay
three months longer in the country. But he was roused to
action by the encroachments of Phamaces, the son of Mithri-
dates, who had taken advantage of the divisions of the re-
public to attack his neighbours Deiotarus and Ariobarzanes.
These princes, though they had just been fighting on the side
of Pompeius, appealed to Calvinus, Caesar's lieutenant, for
help. Calvinus received orders to support them, but he was
worsted in battle, and Pharnaces overran Asia Minor. In
April, 47, Caesar quitted Alexandria, landed at Tarsus, traversed
Cilicia and Cappadocia, and encountered the barbarian host at
Zela, in Pontus. In one battle he overtlurew and destroyed the
power of Pharnaces. In five days the war was at an end. ' I
came, I saw, I conquered,' was the boastful phrase in which he
announced his success to the senate. Pompeius had taken
years to subdue Mithridates.

It may be imagined with what anxiety those who remained
in Rome watched Caesar's operations in Epirus and Thessaly.
Even the victory of Pharsalia scarcely set their minds at rest,
for they heard that the conqueror was plunging still further
into the distant East. Nevertheless his adherents removed the
statues of Pompeius and Sulla from the Forum, and even his
secret enemies were constrained to join in demonstrations of
sympathy and confidence. Power, practically unlimited, was
conferred upon him by successive decrees, and in October,
B.C. 48, Caesar was created dictator fertile ^second time, and

cH. xLvi. CcBsar returns to Rome, 251

also tribune of the people for his Kfetime. He appointed M.
Antonius his master of the horse and commandant in Rome.
Brave, but violent and dissolute, Antonius had neither the
vigour nor the prudence which the situation required. Rumours
of Osesar's perils at Alexandria began to circulate, and en-
couraged some of his opponents to ventura on seditious dis-
turbances. Antonius hesitated, uncertain how to act, until a
personal affront from the tribune Dolabella, who had intrigued
with his wife, aroused his passion ; he attacked the turbulent
mob with arms, and filled the streets with slaughter. It
was well that the dictator appeared in person in September,
B.C. 47.

Caesar's return was marked by no proscriptions. lie did,
however, confiscate the estates of Pompeius, and of others
who were still in arms against him. During the three months
he remained in Rome he worked hard at reconstructing the
government ; he nominated himself and Lepidus as consuls for
the ensuing year, and caused himself to be again created dic-
tator. To his partisans and to tbe people he was lavish of his
gifts, but some of his legions, notably the tenth, were dissatis-
fied. They marched in open mutiny from Campania to Rome
to demand the fulfilment of their general's promises. Caesar
mustered them in the Campus, approached them unattended,
and invited them to declare their grievances. His presence
daunted them ; they could only ask for their discharge. ' I
discharge ycu, Quirites,' replied the imperator, and they shrank
abashed by his rebuke. So purely military had been the rela-
tion between themselves and Caesar, that they felt it a humilia-
tion to be now no more than citizens.

Caesar now departed to crush the remainder of his enemies
in Africa. Cicero had already returned mournfully to Italy,
but the deh^ of Pompeius' mighty army had gradually been
assembled in Africa under the command of Scipio, Cato, and
Cnaeus Pompeius. The seven days' march of Cato and his
legions through the desert, torrid with heat, and infested with
serpents, w recorded with pride by Roman writers as the
boldest exploit of their soldiers, and a monument of Cato's
intrepid endurance.

The forces commanded by Scipio amounted to ten complete
legions, and the Numidian Juba could bring 120 elephants and
multitudes of light cavalry into the field. The officers of this

252 Suicide of Cato. ch. xlvi.

great army began to discount their future triumphs, but the
want of money, and the want of unity among their chiefs,
forced them to await inactively the attack of their enemy.
Scipio, the imperator, Varus, the proconsul of the province, and
Juba, the Numidian king, contended for the supreme command.
Oato, alone of the chiefs, acted with his single- minded patriot-
ism. His associates got rjd of him by charging him with the
defence of Utica, while they remained at Adrumetum. Early
in the year 46 an envoy arrived with a summons to surrender
to OsBsar the imperator. In reply they put him to death as a
deserter. But Oaesar was not fer behind him. He landed at
Leptis with five legions, and began at once to intrigue with
the Mauretanian and Numidian princes. He then advanced
and offered battle to Scipio, who shrank from it till Juba had
u.c. 708, joined him. At length, on April 4, the armies met
8.0.4"). on the field of Thapsus. Caesar's troops rushed
eagerly to the attack, and their leader, abandoning his tac-
tics, gave the word ^ Good luck I * galloped to the front and
charged at their head. One after another the elephants, the
Numidias cavalry^ and the legions of Scipio gave way. The
resistance made was slight ; the rout of the Pompeians com-
plete; the slaughter immense. Both Scipio and Juba fled
tiom the field, but perished soon after.

Oato and his officers were disposed to make a stand at
Utica, but yielding to the entreaties of the inhabitants, they
determined to surrender the city. When Ocesar approached,
Oato invited his subordinates, and all who would, to escape by
ship. For himself he determined to remain at his post. While
the embarkation proceeded he sat down to supper with his son
and some other attached friends, discoursing during the repast
on the highest themes of philosophy. He then retired to his
chamber to read Plato's volume on the immortality of the soul.
During the night he stabbed himself with his sword, and the
wound not proving immediately fatal, he tore it open with his
own hands. Osesar, when he heard of it, lamented that he had
lost the pleasure of pardoning him. But, in fact, Oato was too
honest and consistent to submit to a tyranny, however merciful
and beneficent. Life would have teen unendurable to him,
except as a free citizen of a free republic. With the establish-
ment of Oeesar's tyranny, Oato regarded his own career as
prematurely closed, and deemed it his duty to extinguish an
abortive existence.

cH. xLvii. Honours and powers conferred on Ccesar, 253

CHAPTER XLVII.

CiBSAR BEIGN8 AS AN AFTOCRAT UNDER REPITBLICAN FORMS.
HIS GREAT DESIGNS PARTIALLY ACCOMPLISHED.

When Csesar returned to Italy in July, there was no limit to
the fulsome adulation with which ^e senate heaped honours
upon him. A supplication of forty days was decreed in honour
of his victory. Two statues of him were put up, one of them
inscribed to ' Caesar the demigod.* His image was to be borne
in the procession of the gods at the lectisternia ; temples even
were dedicated to Caesar's clemency, which were soon perverted
to the worship of his own divinity. The seventh month of the
year, the fifth of the ancient calendar, Quintilis, received the
new name of Julius, which it still retains. The dictatorship
was now conferred upon him for ten years, and with it the
powers of the censorship for three years, by which means he
acquired the right to revise the list of knights and senators at
his will. He was authorised to nominate to one-half of the
curule magistracies, the consulships only excepted, and to
appoint governors to the praetorian provincas. In the senate
he took his seat on a golden chair between the two consuls, and
was the first to give his opinion. If he did noi yet assume the
diadem, he wreathed his temples with laurel, and prefixed to
his name the title Imperator. Nor was the glorious title of
' Father of his country,' conferred by decree upon Camillus, by
acclamation upon Cicero, withheld from Caesar. He celebrated
four triumphs — over the Gauls, over Ptolemseus, over Phar-
naces, over Juba; but he claimed none for the victory of
Pharsalia.

Caesar's next care was to gratify his soldiers with ample
largesses and the people with costly entertainments. A multi-
tude, probably numbering close upon 200,000, were feasted at
22,000 tables ; and after the banquet such shows were exhibited
in the circus — such combats of wild beasts and gladiators — as
had never been seen before. Over the theatre was stretched an
awning of silk, the rarest production of the East; and the
Komans were shocked to see some of knightly rank descend
into the arena. Caesar also opened a new Forum, and paid special
honours to Yeuus, his ancesti'ess and the patroness of his house.

254 Ccesar's Triumphs and Clemency, ch. xlvii.

As soon aa these ceremonies were over the imperator
started, late in September, for Spain, to crush the lingering
resistance to his rule still maintained there by Ongeus Pompeius.
Oaesar had hitherto left this motley crew of adventurers and
robbers to be dealt with by his lieutenants, but their ill success
roused him to make an effort in person. After some months of
warfare and not a little peril, he finally stamped out the revolt
on the field of Munda in March, B.C. 45. Great numbers of the
old republican party peiished ; among them Varus, Labienus,
and Onaeus Pompeius himself. Sextus, the younger son of the
great Pompeius, alone escaped, to lead a wandering life as
chief of a band of outlaws, among the wild Iberian mountains,
u.c. 709, Caesar then spent several mouths in settling the
B.C. 45. affairs of the Western provinces, and re-entered
Rome in September.

On his return he celebrated a fresh triumph over the
Iberians. Games and festivals followed, to the delight of
the populace. At these there were present a wondrous con-
course of all the nations of the Roman world. Moors and
Numidians, Gauls and Iberians, Britons and Armenians, Ger-
mans, and even Scythians. The Jews offered their homage
gladly to the only Roman who had treated them with kindness
and respect. Cleopatra, the queen of Egypt, was there, her
crown in her hand, offering her treasures and her favours to her
admirer and preserver. The subjects of the Empire entered
Rome in Caesar's train, and thus inaugurated the union of the
capital with the provinces. It is Caesar's glory that, when thus
raised to the height of power, his hand fell heavily on none of
his fellow-citizens. The nephew of Marius forgot the ruins of
Carthage and the marshes of Minturnae, and scorned to retaliate
the proscriptions of Sulla. Even Cicero, the most humane of
his own party, was amazed at the victor s clemency. With
generous good taste, Caesar ordered the restoration of the sta-
tues of Sulla and Pompeius to their places before the rostra.
Towards the institutions of the Republic he showed a similar
deference. While grasping the substance of absolute power,
he allowed the shadows of the old free government, the senate,
the comitia, the magistracies, to remain almost unchanged. It
is true that he had little restraint to fear from a senate of
which two-thirds were nominees of his own. The number of
this assembly was now raised to 900, and among the new

en. xLvii. Ccesar's Autocracy, ^55

additions were provincial allies, soldiers, perhaps even captives.
Discredit fell upon the senate from the number and quality of
these strange senators, but much more from the gross servility
they displayed towards their master. Oajsar refused many of
the prerogatives they offered him, but he retained, as champion
of the people, the office of tribune, which rendered his person
inviolable. He also consented that the imperium or military
rule and the dignity of supreme pontiff should be made heredi-
tary in his family. This provision marked before all the world
his actual royalty, and though he never assumed the title of
king, his golden chair and the regal magnificence of his robe
denoted in all public assemblies his kingly power.

The dictatorship for life, the consulship for five years, with
the command of the public treasure, secured to Caesar the
executive power of the state ; the imperium gave him the com-
mand of its forces ; the tribunate gave him a veto on its legis-
lation. As pjnncepSf or first man of the senate, he guided the
debates of the national council ; as censor, or ciistos motntmy he
controlled its composition. As chief pontiff, he could use the
engine of the state religion to give a divine sanction to his
acts. These various offices united to make him the autocrat of
the Roman commonwealth; yet in assuming them he did
nothing inconsistent with the forms and precedents of the
republic.

There is good reason to think that in thus laying the foim-
dation of his empire, Osesar aimed at something higher than the
mere gratification of his personal ambition. By attaching to
his own person distinguished foreigners, and promoting them to
places of dignity in the city and in the senate, he gave the first
impulse to the fusion of his world-wide dominion into one
national body. With the same object in view he extended the
franchise to the medical profession, who were mostly of Greek
origin, and to other whole classes of subjects : he prepared to
do the same for Sicily, the nearest and the oldest of the pro-
vinces. Instead of endowing his veterans, after the manner of
Sulla and Pompeius, with estates which they knew not how to
cultivate, Ocesar preferred to reward them with gifts of monev',
and to keep them under his standards ready for further service.
As a further step towards the imification of his vast dominion,
he set on foot an elaborate geogi'aphical survey of the Empire.
He next undertook the preparation of a code of Roman law.

256 Reform of the Calendar, ch. xlvil

This had to be compiled from many sources, from thousands of
recorded judgments aud precedents, from the edicts of prcetors
and pontiffs, from ancient traditions and customs. Oicero had
recognised the urgent need for such a work. Osesar did more ;
he saw that it could be done, and had he lived ten or twenty
years longer, he would have anticipated by six centuries the
glory of the imperial legislator Justinian.

Another work of great utility, the reformation of the
calendar, was carried out by the great Julius, and posterity has
called it by his name. As early as the days of Numa, the
I'^ngth of the solar year, the period of the earth's revolution
round the sun, had been fixed, with a remarkable approach to
accuracy, at 365 days and six hours. At the same time a lunar
year, or twelve lunar months, occupies a period of 364 days,
and this latter number was taken as the basis of the old Eoman
year, which accordingly fell short by eleven days and six hours
of the true length of a solar year. In four years this de'ect would
accumulate to forty-five days, which were made good by interca-
lating every second year an additional month of twenty-two and
twenty-three days alternately. Afterwards one day was added to
the 354, so as to make the number 365, an odd one, which was
thought more lucky. In order to compensate for this superfluous
addition, the system of intercalating the short months was
modified by a very intricate process. The pontiffs, who regu*
lated the calendar, purposely shrouded their system in as much
mystery as possible, and then used it to serve political or
private ends. Thus they would arbitrarily add a month to one
year, so as to extend the term of office of a partisan, or the
date of a friend's debt falling due. In another year they would
withhold the rightful addition of a month, in order to favour
some provincial governor who had made his fortune and wished
to return home. The uncei-tainty thus produced had become
an intolerable grievance, and at the time of OBSsar's advent to
power it had been aggravated by the neglect of the pontiflfe for
several years to add any intercalary months at all, so that in the
year B.C. 46 the calendar was eighty days in advance of the real
date. The consuls who should have entered on their office on
January 1, 46, really commenced their functions on October 13,
47, Osesar, as chief pontiff, had made it his business to acquire
a thorough knowledge of astronomy. He determined to correct
the imperfections of the old calendar, and called to his aid

CH. xLvir. C(Bsat^s Private Life. 257

Sosigenes, tbe best astronomer of his time. He decided tbat
the year 45 B.C., the first of the new era, should begin on the
day of the first new moon after the shortest day. In order to
efiect this, 90 days had to be added to the year 46. First an
intercalary month of 23 days was inserted between the 23rd
and 24th of February ; next at the end of November two extra
months of 80 days each, followed by one extra week, were
inserted. This year, B.C. 46, contained 446 days, and was long
remembered as the year of confusion. On January 1, 45, the
Julian calendar, which is substantially the same as our own,
came into operation, with its ordinary year of 365 days, and the
additional day in February every fourth year, or leap year, to
compensate for the six hours left out of account in each of the
intervening years. Oaesar^s calendar, though a great improve-
ment on its predecessor, was not perfect. In the course of
centuries the error accumulated to as much as twelve days, and
this was again corrected by Pope Gregory XIII. in 1662, and
provision was made in the Gregorian calendar to prevent any
such error recurring in the future. This important correction
was adopted in England in the middle of the last century ; it
has never yet been accepted in Russia and in other countries
where the authority of the Greek Ohurch prevails.

Like almost all the great men of Home, Caesar had a passion
for material construction, but only a few of the great works
which he designed were completed or even commenced. The
substructions of his basilica and his forum are the sole remains
of them which can now be traced.

In private life Gaesar took a leading place among the intel-
lectual men of his time. It is pleasing to learn how the bitter-
ness of political strife was softened among Roman statesmen
by social intercourse of a cheerful, kindly nature. Literature
and philosophy, especially that of the Epicurean school, con-
tributed to the interest of a refined and genial society. Osesar
drew around him a group of thoughtflil, scholarly, large-
minded men, among whom he could unbend from the cares of
empire and give himself up to festive mirth. At table he was
distinguished for his moderation; but his numerous amours
excited much scandal, and none more so than his passion for
Cleopatra, whom he had installed in his palace and gardens on
the other side of the Tiber. The noblest Romans, not excepting
Cicero himself, flocked to her receptions, but when it waa

258 His Superstition, His Haughtiness, gh. xlvii,

rumoured that Caesar meditated raising this barbarian foreigner
to the dignity of his wife, public feeling was shocked at such a
vinlation of religious and social customs. Cleopatra did indeed
bear him a son, but if he ever cherished a wish to maiTj her, h^
refrained from gratifying it.

In religion Csesar was an uncompromising sceptic. He had
no belief in a future state, the foundation of all religion, and h«
set at nought the omens and auguries of the priests. Yet he
failed to shake himself free from the thraldom of superstition.
He crawled on his knees up the steps of the temple of Venus to
propitiate Nemesis. He addressed a prayer to the gods before
the battle of Pharsalia, and appealed to the omens before
crossing the Rubicon. He even carried about with him in
Africa a certain Cornelius, a man of no personal distinction,
but whose name might be deemed propitious on the battle-
fields of Scipio and Sulla.

In his intercourse with the Roman magnates, the repre*
sentatives of the republican patriciate, Caesar was not so much
at ease ; indeed, to some extent he stood in a false position.
Autocrat though he was, he still professed to be the first citizen
of a republic ; and the grandees of Rome, accustomed to perfect
equality in their intercourse with one another, were mortified
at what seemed to them his haughty and capricious bearing.
He, for his part, must have been keenly alive to the fact of his real
sovereignty, and however modestly he might choose to represent
his position, he would be disposed to exact deference and
courtesy from those who seemed inclined to presume. He was
their master, and it was right that they should know it. Once,
when the senators came in a body to communicate to him their
decrees in his honour, he received them without rising from his
seat. After all, his natural and most befitting place was at the
head of bis legions, to whom his imperium was an acknowledged
sovereignty. He accordingly projected a fresh war of conquest
in which Parthia wSs to be subdued up to its farthest limits ;
and when this should be accomplished, he proposed to return
across the Tanais and Borysthenes, subduing the barbarians of
the North, and finally assailing the Germans in the rear. At
the close of the year 45, he directed his troops to assemble in
lUyricum, there to await his arrival. He contemplated a long
absence, and provided for the succession of chief magistrates
for the two follovnng years. On January 1, 44, he entered on
his fifth consulship, with M. Antonius for his colleague.

CH. xLviii, He declines the Diadem. 259

CHAPTER XLVIIL

C.SSAB IS ASSASSINATED. H. ANTONIUS GRASPS AT POWER.

The destined heir of Caesar's imperium was ali'eady in the
camp at ApoUonia, taking lessons in arts and arms under the
ablest teachers. Caius Octavius, the son of Caesar's sister's
daughter, now in his nineteenth year, though delicate in health,
was a youth of high promise. Caesar had shown him much
favour, had advanced his family from the plebeian to th«
patrician class, and had allowed it to be understood that he
purposed to adopt his great nephew as his son, and to bequeath
to him his patrimony and the dignities which the senate had
declared hereditary in his family. The idea of a dynasty and of
the hereditary succession of their rulers was unfamiliar to the
Republican Romans, but it began now to be whispered, both
among his friends and his foes, that Caesar would Uke to be
hailed as king. Two or three attempts were made to give the
people an opportunity of adopting the suggestion spontaneotisly ;
but these were not responded to, and Caesar cautiously pre-
tended to deprecate such an honour. At length, on February
15, the day of the Lupercalia, a more determined effort was
made to get the title conferred on him by acclamation. Caesar
presided over the festival, seated on his gilded chair. The
consul Antonius, who was taking a prominent part in the
ceremonies, approached the dictator with a diadem, and offered
it to him as the gift of the Roman people. Some faint applause
was heard, but when Caesar put the tempting circlet from him,
a loud burst of genuine cheering rent the air. On the diadem
being again offered, Caesar exclaimed, 'I am not king; the
only king of the Romans is Jupiter:' and he ordered the
diadem to be suspended in the Capitol.

The dictator's prudence had baffled any attempt to excite
public feeling against him ; yet among many of the nobles a
bitter hostility was aroused by the bare thought that any man
should presume to lord it over them as a king. A plot was
formed for his destruction by sixty or eighty conspirators,
among whom were some who professed the warmest devotion
to him. Decimus Brutus had received the government of the
Cisalpine from him. Trebonius, Casca, Cimber, and others

s 2

26o M. Junius Brutus, ch. xLvm.

had received various marks of his favour, O. Cassius, who
was most likelj the author of the plot, had recently been ap*
pointed prsetor. He was a vain, vindictive^ jealous man^ whose
pale looks and acrid humour had not esct^ped Oaesa/s watchful
observation.

The conspirators required the charm of a popular name to
sanction their projected t}Tannicide. M. Junius Brutus, the
nephew of Oato, pretended to trace his descent from a third son
of that foimder of the Republic who had not scrupled to take
the life of his own two eldest sons. His mother was of the
family of Ahala, the slayer of Spurius Mselius. His wife,
Porcia, was the daughter of Oato, a woman of masculine spirit,
firm and severe like her father. Brutus himself was a weak,
vain, unstable man, who affected the character of a philosopher,
yet clutched with sordid — even iniquitous greed at the emolu-
ments of public life. Of all the Pompeians he had been the last
to join, the earliest to desert the banner of the Republic. After
Pharsalia he successfully courted the favour of Oaesar, who
raised him to an eminence which pleased and dazzled him. The
weakness of his character may be estimated from the means
employed to work upon him. A paper affixed to the statue
of the ancient Brutus with the words, * Would thou wert now
alive;* billets thrust into his hand inscribed 'Brutus, thou
sleepest ; thou art no longer Brutus,* shook the soul of the
philosopher to its centre. Oassius, who had married his sister,
easily drew him into the plot, and pretended to regard him as
its chief support and contriver. His name struck a chord of
association which ensured a large measure of popular sympathy
whenever the deed should be done. So long as Caesar remained
in the city, opportunities would not be hard to find, for he
insisted upon going about unarmed and without escort, pro-
testing that it was better to die at once than to live always in
fear of dying. But so soon as he should quit the city for the
camp, his safety would be assured by the fidelity of the soldiers.
It was apprehended, not without reason, that once more at the
head of the legions he would not return as a citizen to Rome.
Nay, it was possible that he might not choose to return to Rome
at all, but transfer the seat of empire to some new site, Ilimn,
perhaps, or, if the charms of Cleopatra should retain their power,
perhaps Alexandria.

Such considerations fbrbiade delay. The imperator's departure

t:H. xLviiL Assassination of CcesaK 261

was imminent. The senate was convened for the Ides of
March, the loth of the month, and it was determined to strike
the blow at the sitting of that day. Hints of impending danger
reached Osesar's ear ; even the inauspicious day was brought
to his notice ; he would fain have excused himself from attending
the assembly. But his fears were laughed away by Decimus,
and he went. As he moved through the Forum to the theatre of
Pompeius in the Campus more than one person tried to warn him
of his danger. As he passed the Augur Spurinna he observed
to him pleasantly, ' The Ides of March are come.' * Aye, Caesar,'
replied the sage, * but they're not gone.' He entered the hall,
his enemies closing around him, and keeping his friends at a
distance, Trebonius being specially chained to detain Antonius
at the door. On his taking his seat, Oimber approached with a
petition for his brother's pardon. The other conspirators joined
in the supplication, grasping his hands and embracing his neck.
Csesar put them from him gently, but Cimber seized his toga
with both hands and pulled it over his arms. Then Caeca,
who was behind, drew his dagger, and grazed his shoulder with
an iU-directed stroke. 0«sar disengaged one hand with a cry,
and snatched at the hilt. ' Help I ' cried Casca, and in a moment
fifty daggers were aimed at the victim. CS»8ar defended him*
self for an instant, and wounded oneuan T>i4th has stylus^ but
when he distinguished Brutus in the press, the steel flashing iik
his hand also, ' What ! thou too, Brutus ! ' he exclsimed, let go
his grasp of Casca, and, drawing his robe over his &ce, made
no ^rther resistance. The assassins Stabbed Mm through «nd
through, and he fell dead at the foot of Pompeius* statue.

By the time the deed was done, the conspirators found
themselves alone in the hall. Senators, lictors, attendants, all
had fled. Antonius had slipped away unobserved to his own
house. Great consternation fell on the citizens, who expected
riot and massacre to follow; for while Decimus had armed
some gladiators for his own and h's friends' defence, the city
was filled with Cseaai's veterans, and Lepidus with a legion was
just outside the walls.

The assassins now marched to the Forum to seek the public
approval of their deed. They shouted that they had slain a king
and a tyrant, lut they met with no response. Dismayed by
this cold reception, they took refuge with their armed guards on
the Capitol^ and were joined there during the evening by Cicero

262 Antoftins grasps dt Power. ch. xlviii.

and others of the RepublicaD party. Next day Brutus descended
into the Forum and tried to stir the populace by a speech. He
was coldly listened to, and finally driven back to his refuge
on the Capitol. During the past night Antonius had not been
idle J he had secretly obtained from Calpumia, Caesar's wife,
the dead man*s will, and his private treasures. With the help
of his brothers he had also appropriated two million sesterces
from the public treasury. Provided with these resources, he
had made overtures to Lepidus, and received his promise of
support.

Antonius, the minister and favourite companion of Caesar,
was regarded by many as his natural successor. Hitherto
known chiefly for his bravery and dissipation, he was now about
to display the arts of a consummate intriguer. He opened a
negotiation with the liberators, and with their consent, as consul,
convened the senate on March 17, near the Forum ; but the
murderers dared not leave the Capitol, and the discussion of
their deed was carried on in their absence.

The majority of the senate would have declared Caesar a
tyrant ; but Antonius pointed out that this course would have
the effect of annulling all his acts and appointments, and there-
upon those who were interested in maintaining them resisted
the proposal with all thdr might.

At length, by the advice of Cicero, a compromise was
agreed to. No judgment was pronounced either upon Caesar
or his murderers, but an amnesty or act of oblivion was decreed,
which left Caesar s acts unchallenged, and yet assured the safety
of the liberators. The populace acquiesced, and invited the
latter to descend from the Capitol, Antonius and Lepidus
sending their children as hostages. The dictator's assignment
of the provinces was then confirmed. Trebonius succeeded to
Asia, Cimber to Bithynia, Decimus to the Cisalpine, while
Macedonia was secured to Brutus, and Syria to Cassius, on the
expiration of their term of ofiice at home. Antonius, however,
remained master of the situation. If Caesar was not a tyrant,
his will must be accepted, and his remains interred with public
honours. Antonius recited the will to the people, in which
Caesar nominated Octavius his heir, and bequeathed his gardens
by the Tiber to the Roman people and 300 sesterces to every
citizen. The liberality of their departed favourite exasperated
the rage of the people against his murderers. The funeral

CH. xLviii. Obsequies of Ccesar, ^.63

pyre had been built in the Campus Martius, but the body lay
in state in the Forum on a bier of gold and ivory. At its head
bung the victim's toga hacked by the assassins' daggers ; the
twenty-three wounds by which his life blood had ebbed away
were represented on a wax figure visible to all. Antonius, as
chief magistrate of the Republic, now stepped forward to recite
the praises of the mighty dead. The people, deeply moved by
the sad spectacle before them, had been further excited by
dramatic representations of the deaths of Agamemnon and Ajax
by the treason of their nearest and dearest. Antonius read the
decrees which had heaped honours upon Caesar, had declared
his person inviolable, his authority supreme, himself the father
of his country. Then he pointed to the bleeding corpse which
neither laws nor oaths had shielded from outrage, and vowed
that he would avenge the victim whom he could not save.
The people, in a frenzy of enthusiasm, insisted upon burning the
body where it lay in the midst of the Forum. Chairs, tables,
brushwood, were hastily piled together and the body laid upon
them. The temple of Castor and Pollux stood hard by, and
it was averred that two majestic youths, armed with sword
and javelin, were seen to apply the torch. As the flame rose,
the veterans hurled in their arms, the matrons their ornaments,
even the children's trinkets were devoted. The foreigners
present in the city, Gauls, Iberians, Africans, Orientals, were
not behind the citizens in their demonstrations of reverence
and grief for the dead. The success of Antonius was complete.
The people, excited to fury, seized burning brands, and rushed
to fire the houses of the conspirators. These attempts were
repulsed, but Brutus and his associates dared not show them-
selves in public. Antonius now interfered to stop the rioting
with armed force ; he also took steps to conciliate the senate ; he
passed a resolution abolishing the office of dictator; and he
proposed the recall of Sextus, the last survivor of the Pompeii.
He at the same time communicated with the liberators Brutus
and Ca.ssius, who were in hiding, and offered them his good
offices and protection. In return for all this, he asked one
favour — the right to enlist a body-guard for his own protection.
The senate weakly assented ; and in a short time he had 6,000
men under arms.

The senate had confirmed Caesar's acts, and this sanction
Antonius caused to be extended to those which had been

264 Octavius claUns the ch. xlviii.

merely projected. He himself possessed all Gsesar's papers,
and, having gained his secretary, Faberius, could forge autho-
rity for anything he chose. Everything lay at his feet, and
things which Ottsar had not dared to do, Antonius did in his
name. By the sale of places, and even of provinces, he quickly
amassed wealth, and proceeded to purchase senators and
soldiers and tributary sovereigns, even his own colleague Dola-
hella. Thus supported, he coolly reversed the dictator's dis-
position of the provinces, depriving Brutus and Oassius of their
promised governments, claiming Macedonia for himself, and
giving Syria to Dolahella. ' The tyrant is dead,' murmured
Cicero, ' but the tyranny still lives.' This was strictly true, and it
might surely have been foreseen. The crime of tbft liberators
had borne no fruits, and therefore was a blunder and a fdlly>
Within a week Antonius had set himself up as a second tyrant
hardly less powerful than the first. But another aspirant now
enters upon the scene; a third tyrant, more powerful than
either Cs&sar or Antonius, but craftier and more fortunate, was
about to seize the sovereignty, and establish the empire of
Borne,

CHAPTER XLIX.

PBOOBESS OF OGIAVUrS, THE HEIB OF JXTIJirS CJSAB.
IHS SECOND TBIUICVIBATB.

The young Octavius, busy with his martial exercises among the
legions at Apollonia, was surprised by the news of Caesar's
assassination. His mother's letters determined him to return
to Rome, and before he started he received an assurance that
the legions would support him. On landing in Apulia almost
alone, he first learnt the contents of Caesar's will, his own
adoption and inheritance. He at once boldly assumed the name
of Caius Julius Ceesar Octavianus, and presented himself to the
soldiers at Brundisium as the adopted son of the great impe-
rator. He was received with acclamations; the friends of
Caesar began to fiock around him, but the young adventurer
wisely declined any display of force. In temperate language
he addressed the senate, clainoing, as a private citizen, the

CH. xLix. Inheritance of Ccesar, 26^

inheritance of a deceased father. As he passed through
Oumae he visited Cicero, and gained his lavoiirable opinion.
At the end of April he entered Home, and found that Antonius
was absent from \he city.

Despite the warnings of his moti&er, this youth of eighteen
years Resented kimself before the praetor and claimed Caesar's
inheritance. He harangued the peopk, and pledged himself to
discharge the sums bequeathed to them by his father.

Before the return of Antonius in May, Octavianus had
made many friends and conciliated many enemies. In a
Mendly tone he reproached Antonius for leaving the assassins
unpunished, and demanded of him Csesar^ treasures. The
consul replied that none such existed ; the money left had all
been public treasure, and was already spent. Octavianus, un-
dismayed by this failure of resources, proceeded to sell what
^remained of Cd&sar's property, and all his own, borrowed of his
friends, ana at length amassed a sufficient sum to discharge the
obligation he had assumed. The people were delighted by this
generous sacrifice, and Antonius perceived with amazement
that his youthful rival was not to be despised ; but the influence
he had already gained with the people was too strong to h%
shaken either by craft or violence.

Meanwhile the conduct of the liberators was timid aud
uncertain. Dedmus had indeed repaired to his government in
the Cisalpine ; Cassius, on receiving a pressing invitation from
the legions in Syria, yielded to Cicero's counsel, and, in defiance
of the decree which had superseded him in favour of Dolabella,
set out for his province. Brutus still lingered on the coast of
Campania, and, only after long delay, nerved himself at last to
the task of calling tlie patriots to arms in Greece and Macedonia.
Cicero had actually embarked to join these conspirators in the
East, but being driven ashore in Calabria by stress of weather,
could not be persuaded to quit the £oil of Italy, and turned his
steps, with mournful presentiments, towards Rome. In the
West Sextus Pompeius had appeared at the head of a powerful
fleet on the coast of Gaul, and encouraged the rising hopes of
the Republicans. In the city and in the senate Antonius still
reigned supreme by force of arms, balanced only by the growing
autliority of Octavianus.

On September 1 the senate was convoked, and Ottsar's
name was to be enrolled among the Roman divinities. An-

266 Cicerds Philippics ck. xlix.

tonius seized the opportunity to attack Oicero, who had returned
to Rome the day before, but was not then present, threatening*
to demolish his house on the Palatine. Next day, in the
absence of Antonius, Cicero defended his own conduct both
in leaving the city and in returning to it ; and then turning
to the administration of Antonius, he burst into an eloquent
invective. He denounced the consul's arbitrary exercise of
power, his venality, his hypocrisy, the falsehood by which he
had sheltered his own unlawful deeds bebind the pretended
authority of the dead imperator. The senate listened with
admiration, and their applause warmed the orator to renewed
energy.

In this the first of Cicero's great orations against Anto-
nius, known as the Philippics, in allusion to the harangues of
Demosthenes against Philip of Macedon, be confined himself to
denouncing the policy of his enemy, and left his personal
habits untouched. A few days later Antonius retorted upon
Cicero with a violent tirade against the orator s entire career,
accusing hire of the murder of the Catilinarians, the assassi-
nation of Clodius, the rupture between Caesar and Pompeius ;
denouncing him to the legions as the secret contriver of their
hero's death. Cicero prudently kept out of the way of the
armed guards of Antonius ; he retired to his villa near Naples,
and the two enemies, though they continued to wage this war
of words, never saw each other alive again.

All this time Octavius was silently advancing his projects,
and undermining Antonius' position. By promises and lar-
gesses he was seducing the soldiers from their allegiance. On
October 8 the consul hurried off to Brundisium to stay the
defection of his legions, which, he heard, had been tampered
with. Octavius at the same time left the city to visit his
parent's colonies in Campania, Umbria, and the Cisalpine,
among which he collected 10,000 men. He also made
strenuous efforts to gain Cicero, and through him the senate,
whose sanction he required, to give legality to his enterprise.
He loaded the pliant statesman with compliments and caresses,
calling him his &ther, and promising docility and obedience.

Antonius, too, was acting with energy and decision ; by a
combination of severe punishments and liberal promises, he
succeeded in reclaiming some, at least, of his wavering batta-
lions. He then returned to Rome to denounce Octavius before

CH. xLix. against Antonius. 267

the senate for levying troops without authority, but only to
find that two of his legions had just passed over to his rival*
His position was becoming untenable. Sulla, Marius, Oeesar^
Pompeius, every party leader, had in turn abandoned the city,
where the senate was paramount, to recruit his forces in the
field. Antonius had received from the senate the government
of the Cisalpine, and he now summoned Decimus to withdraw
from that province ; but the Republican proconsul would only
yield to force. Antonius then raised his standard at Tibui*,
and marched to Ariminum at the head of four legions ; Lepidus
was marching from Spain to join him with four more. Pollio,
with four others, remained in Spain, and Plancus, with an
equal number, was in Farther Gdul. These were the forces on
which it was thought Antonius might rely in his contest with
the Republicans, but they were widely scattered. The loyalty of
the soldiers was imcertain, that of their commanders still more
80. Octavius had by this time collected five legions under his
command at Arretium, and occupied an independent position,
ready to side with either party, or to fall upon the \ictor.
Many citizens supported his pretensions, and the senate itself
accepted him as llieir champion.

Such was the complication of afiairs in the month of
November. Oicero meanwhile was working with feverish
anxiety to unite all parties against Antonius. He exhorted
Decimus ; he caressed Octavius ; he watched eagerly for the
action of Brutus and Oassius, Trebonius and Cimber in the
East. In the West he trusted mainly to the loyalty of Hirtius
and Pansa, the consuls elect. The moment had arrived for the
publication of the second Philippic, already poliahed in private
to the keenest edge of satire. It branded Osesar as a traitor and a
tyrant, Antonius as a monster. It directed the eyes of all to
Oicero himself as the mainstay of the Commonwealth, and called
on every citizen to arm. The effect was electrical. Both people
and senate repudiated and defied the iniquitous usurper. The
consuls elect were confirmed in their loyalty to the Republic by
the outburst of public feeling. Oicero, elated by the applause
which echoed around him, felt himself for the moment the
chief of the Conmion wealth, and enjoyed the noblest triumph
of any Roman since the days of Africanus or Camillus.

Before the end of the year Antonius had confined Decimus
within the waHs of Mutina. The senate urged Octavius to

268 Combinution against Ataonius. ch. xlix.

attack him ; but it was not till the spriDg of the year 43 that
he took the field in conjunction with Hirtius and Pansa, the
consuls.

Daring their absence from the city, Oicero, though without
an office, was allowed to take the helm of affairs. Ilis eloquent
harangues inspired all men with confidence and devotion. He
filled the treasury with voluntary contributions from the loyal
and fines levied on the disaffected. He maintained an active
u.c. 711, correspondence with the chiefs in the provinces,
B.C. 43. assuring each in turn of the constancy of all the
others, and encouraging them with glowing accounts of the
strength and resources of the party.

Antonius was compelled to raise the siege of Mutina by the
advance of Hirtius and Octavius. While pretending to nego-
tiate with them, he suddenly turned upon Pansa, who was on
his way to join them, defeated, and mortally wounded him.
Hirtius saved the beaten force from utter rout, and a few days
later, in conjunction with Octavius, inflicted a defeat on the
Antonians. Hirtius lost his life in this engagement, and thus
both consuls were stricken down. The senate and people at
Rome, overjoyed by the victory, carried Oicero in triumph to
the Oapitol, and sainted him as the true victor of Mutina. The
contest seemed to be at an end. Decimus was pursuing An-
tomos; Plancus was advancing to block the passes into Gaul;
Brutus and Oassius in the East, and Seztus <m the 4sea, all seat
tidings of success.

Before he expired, the consul Pansa warned Octavius that
the senate meditated treachery towards him, and advised Mm
to be reconciled with Antonius. The crafty young schemer
had already determined on that course. He quarrelled with
Decimus as the murderer of his father OsBsar. He let Antonius
know that he had no wish to crush him, and stood aside to allow
him to effect a junction with Lepidus in the Transalpine.
Plancus terminated his long indecision by casting in his lot
with the stronger party, and thus Antonius found himself at
the head of twenty-three legions.

This was the dreadful reality to which the senate now
awoke from their dream of easy victory. They had thought to
use Octavius as their tool^ and then to cast him aside. He
had asked for and been refused the consulship. He now
crossed tthe Rubicon at the head of eight legions^ and marched

CH. xLix. The second Triumvirate^ 269

on Home to seize the prize by force. Some feeble attempts at
defence were made, but one after another the senators and
consulars slipped through the gates and went over to the in-
truder's camp. Cicero, alarmed for his safety, made his escape*
On September 22 the people pretended to elect Octavius to the
consulship, with his kinsman Pedius for colleague. Next day
the audacious stripling completed his twentieth year. The^
first act of the new consul was to summon the murderers of
Caesar before his tribunal. Judgment passed against them by
de&ult, and they were interdicted fire and water.

Octavius was now in a position to make terms with
Antonims on a footing of equality. Placed between two such
powers, and deserted by li^ancus, Decimus was lost. His
troops deserted from him wholesale. He tried to escape into
Macedonia^ but was captured and put to death by Antonius.
The blood of the assassin cemented the union between the
Cflesarian leckders. Towards the end of October, Antonius,
Lepidus, and Octavius met near Bononia to share their conquests
between them. It was agreed, after three days' parley, that
Octavius should resign the office of consul, while, under the
title of a triumvirate for the establishment of the Conunon-
wealth, the three chiefs should reign together over the city,
the consuls, and the laws. They claimed absolute authority
irrespective of senate or people, together with the power of
appointing te all the magistracies. The provinces were par*
titioned as follows ; Italy was to be held in common by all
three ; the two Gwols fell to Antcmius ; Africa and the islands
fell to Octavius. These two, with twenty legions each, were
to carry on the war, while Lepidus, with Spain and the
Narbonensis for his province, was to control the empire from
Rome in the interest of all three. The troops were satisfied
with the promise of largesses and estates, and insisted that
Octavius should espouse a daughter of Fulvia, wife of An-
tonius, as a ratification of the compact.

The triumvirs now sent an order to Pedius to slay seven-
teen of their principal adversaries. The order was promptly
executed, but Pedius died from horror and disgust at being
made the instrument of such a slaughter. The triumvirs then
marched into the city, and occupied the temples and towers
with their troops under arms. On November 27 the trium-

. i.«-rkr .. —JUigitized by

Yirate was proclaimed. Before qmttmg Rome to combat the

270 Murder of Cicero: ch. xlix.

murderers of Caesar in the East, the triumvirs' determined to
leave no enemies behind them. A formal but limited proscrip-
tion was decreed. Each picked out the names of the victims
Jie personally required, and each purchased the right to pro-
scribe a kinsman of his colleagues by surrendering one of his
own. The list was headed vrith the names of a brother of
Lepidus, an uncle of Ajitonius, and a cousin of Octavius. Cen-
turions and soldiers were sent in quest of the doomed men, and
a good many probably perished without warrant. The heads
of the proscribed were affixed to the rostra, but the triumvirs
did not always pause to identify them.

On the other hand, many of the proscribed escaped ; some
to Macedonia, some to the fleet of Sextus Pompeius. Cicero
himself was not overtaken till a month later. On the first
news of the proscription, Cicero took refuge with his brother in
an island near Antium, and even made good his escape to sea ;
but instead of proceeding in all haste to Macedonia, he twice
disembarked, and at length retired to his villa near Formiae.
The danger of delay was imminent ; his slaves placed him in a
litter and hurried him towards the shore ; but the opportunity
■had been lost. He was pursued and overtaken by the assassins.
Cicero's party was the more numerous, and would have drawn
in his defence, but he forbade them. The Ktter was set down,
and, fixing his eyes upon his murderers, Cicero offered his out-
stretched neck to the sword. The head was severed from the
body and carried to Rome, where Antonius set it up with
exultation in front of the rostra. Fulvia, it is said, pierced the
tongue with her needle, in revenge for the sarcasms it had
uttered against both her husbands.

Amid such scenes of horror the year came to a close. On
January 1, 42, Lepidus and Plancus became consuls. In spite
of the general mourning and dismay, they insisted on celebra-
ting the commencement of their reign with public festivities.
Both of them claimed and held a triumph for victories unknovm
to history. ' The consuls triumph,' said the soldiers, ' not over
the Gauls but over the Germans 1 ' Each of them had in fact
sacrificed a brother in the proscriptions. The massacres had
now ended, but funds were needed, and a period of confiscation,
forced loans, and heavy requisitions, ensued.

The citizens were made to swear obedience to ,all Caesar's
laws, and to accord him divine honours. Octavius undertook

CH, T^Lix. Brutus and Cassias, '2yi

to drive Sextiis out of Sicily, but found the straits too strongly
guarded by his piratical fleet Antonius crossed without delay
to the coast of Epirus,

CHAPTER L.

BATTLE OP FHILIPPI. THE EHPIBE BIYTDXD BETWEEN
iLNTONITXS Aim OCTAYITJS.

The Greeks took little interest in the political struggles of their
Koman masters, though they had a traditional preference for
republican forms, Athens, the capital, the head-quarters of
philosophy, was a sort of university, frequented by aspiring
youths of every nation. Among these was the genial satirist
known to us as the poet Horace.

Brutus, the philosopher, on presenting himself at Athens
and claiming the government of the province, met with a hearty
reception and ready support. The Pompeian veterans, scattered
through the country since Pharsalia, flocked about him ; the
arsenals, the revenues, the forces of the province were placed at
his disposal ; and in the army which he proceeded to organise,
many of the Roman students at Athens received commistiuns :
among them ihe young pcet Horace was made a tribune. The
neighbouring kings and rulers sided with the new governor,
who soon overpowered the partisans of the triumvirs.

Oassius, who, since the Parthian campaign of Grassus, en-
joyed a high reputation in the East, haid established himself
with equal success in his province of Syria. It seems strange
that these two Republican leaders, with ample forces at their
disposal, made no effort to resist the usurpation of the triumvirs
in Italy. Probably both of them were very much in the hands
of their soldiery, who preferred marauding expeditions against
weak and wealthy enemies such as Rhodians and Lycians, to
severe fighting against well-trained legions as poor as them-
selves. Both Brutus and Gassius did in fiEtct devote themselves
mainly to extracting booty from the regions subject to their
sway.

Laden with the plunder of Asia, the armies were about to

^y2 Battle ofPhitippi. cr. e.

pass over iDto Macedonia. It is related that Bnitufl, wliile
watching in his tent one night, beheld standing before him a
terrible phantom, which en being questioned replied, ' I am thy
eyil demon ; thou shalt see me again at Philippi.' The Epicu-
rean Oaflsius made Bght of the apparition. With 30^000 foot
and 20,000 horse, well-appdnted troops, he had no misgivings.
The triumvirs meanwhile were advancing across Macedonia
with a still more numerous host, but owing ta their weakness
u.c. 712, ftt sea they were but ill-supplied. The two armies
B.C. 42. came face to face about twelve miles east of Phi-
Hppi. Antonius was opposed to Cassias next the sea ; Octavius
fronted Brutus more inland. Oassius, aware of his enemy's
shortness of supplies, tried to restrain the impatience of his
colleague, but in vain. On the day of battle Octavius was
ill ; his division was overthrown by that of Brutus, and he was
carried off in the midst of his retreating army. But Antonius
had inflicted an equal defeat on Oassius, and the latter, ignorant
of his colleague's success, thought the cause lost, and slew himi-
self in despair.

The effect of this fatal deed was disastrous. Cassius, ac-'
customed to command^ had exercised some control over the
soldiers ; but the mild student who survived was powerless to
do so. Despite his lavish largesses and easy discipline, numbers
of them deserted his standard. Still the army of the triumvirs,
straitened for provisions, was in little better condition, and
could Brutus have refrained from fighting, he might have won
a bloodless victory. Instead, he renewed the battle of PhiJippi,
after an interval of twenty days, on the same ground. This
time the Osesarians broke the ranks of their opponents and
assailed them in their camp. Next day Brutus found that his
reserve of four legions refused to fight, and he had no resource
but to follow the example of Oassius and commit suicide.

Antonius and Octavius were now completely successful,
and many important opponents of their policy fell into their
hands, on whom they did not scruple to wreak a cruel
vengeance. Octavius in particular is said to have shown him-
self most implacable on this occasion. Some portion of the
beaten army escaped with the fleet to reinforce the armament
. of Sextus Pompeius.

The victors now made a fresh partition of the empire,
, Octavius taking Spain and Numidia, Antonius^ 'dl&tf beyond

cii. L. Antoniiis and Cleopatra, 273

tho Alps and Illyricum. The Cisalpine was for the first time
combined with Italy itself, and the whole peninsula they held
in common. Lepidus was contemptuously excluded from all
share of the empire, but was afterwards allowed to take the
small province of Africa.

Octavius, still sufteiing in health, returned to Italy. Anto-
nius remained in the East, where his own licentious nature
was encouraged by the dissolute habits of the people. Forget-
ting the claims of his soldiers, he lavit^hed his wealth upon
himself and his parasites. Coarse and easy tempered, he loved
flattery if seasoned with wit. He had seen and admired
Cleopatra in Caesar's train, and, having reached Cilicia, he
summoned her to appear before him to answer for having sided
with Cassias in the recent contest. Cleopatra, confident in her
ready wit and personal charms, s.iiled up the Cydnus to Tarsus
in a gilded vessel, with purple sails and silver oars, to the
sound of flutes and pipes. She assumed the character of
Venus, and Antonius that of Bacchus. The two divinities
held their gorgeous revels on board, and it was an easy matter
for the wily Egyptian to gain the mastery over the rude soldier.
Antonius cast away all thought of domestic claims and schemes
of empire, and retired with her to Alexandria, to lose the
world in her arms.

Early in the year B.C. 41, Octavius arrived in Italy charged
with the invidious task of settling the Caesarian veterans on
the lands of the native proprietors. Fulvia, daring and am-
bitious, was virtually ruling the state through her influence
over the consuls. She resented the appearance of Octavius on
the scene, and, hoping to win back her husband from his
Egyptian charmer by stirring up troubles in Italy, she en-
couraged the Italians to resist the assignment of their lands to
the veterans. A short civil war ensued, but Agrippa, the best
friend and ablest ofiicer of Octavius, shut up the malcontents
in Perusia, and reduced them to capitulate by stress of famine.
The news of Octavius' growing ascendency in Italy, together
with an attack of the Parthians on Syria, at length aroused
Antonius from his dream of pleasure. Despatching his lieu-
tenant Ventidius to repel the Parthians, he started himself for
Italy with some legions and a powerful fleet. At Athens he
met his wife Fulvia, who upbraided him for his desertion of
her ; but he letorted bitterly upon her, ancl s£ie soon after died

274 Sextiis Pompeius. . ch. l.

broken-hearted. Passing thence to the shores of the Adriatic,
he made a compact with Sextus Pompeius, who transported
him across the straits, and together they proceeded to plunder
the south-eastern coasts of Italy. Sextus had heen so long an
exile from Rome that he was looked upon as no better than a
foreigner or barbarian ; and the man who in company with
such an ally assailed the sacred soil of Italy, was justly regarded
as an invader. When therefore Octavius drew the sword to
resist his advance^ the people hailed him as the champion of
their hearths and their gods. For the moment, however, the
soldiers were stronger than the people. They compelled their
chiefs to treat, and with the help of Oocceius Nerva, PoUio,
and Maecenas, a new partition was arranged. Antonius re-
ceived the whole eastern half of the empire from the Adriatic
to the Euphrates. Octavius took the entire west, and Africa
was abandoned to Lepidus. The peace was cemented by the
marriage of Antonius, now a widower, with Octavia, the sister
of the young Osesar ; and the rivals, outwardly reconciled,
hastened to Rome to celebrate their alliance with games and
festivities.

Octavius, to whom the government of Rome now fell by
right, controlled the mutinous disposition of the soldiers, and
tranquillised the people by regular distributions of grain. He
had already repudiated Claudia, the daughter of Fulvia,
whom he married to satisfy the soldiers, and he now wedded
Scribonia, a relative of Sextus Pompeius. This led to a re-
conciliation with the wild sea rover. Sicily, Sardinia, and
Corsica were assigned to him as his share of the empire ; and
he was charged to clear the sea of pirates, as his father had
done. The three chiefs banqueted together, not on land, where
the imperators might be too powerful, nor at sea, where the
pirate chief could make himself master of his guests, but on
board a vessel moored within the harbour.' Msenas, an officer
of Sextus, proposed to cut the cable and carry them out to sea ;
but Sextus forbade it, muttering that Msenas should have done
the deed, but not have asked leave to do it, Sextus still
cherished some hopes of e japire, and alone among the Romans
based his hopes on maritime ascendency. Surrounded by
foreign adventurers, he had forgotten the habits— even, it is
said, the speech — of a Roman. He affected to be the son of
Neptune, and pretented to the honours of a demigod/^

cH. L. Agrippa creates a Navy. 275

The ill-assorted alliance did not long continue. Octavius
l^pudiated Scribonia, in order to espouse Livia, whom he
forced from her husband, Tiberius Nero. Sextus was the first
to arm, and Antonius, at the instance of his consort Octavia,
assisted Octavius against him with a fleet of 130 galleys, in
return for which he demanded 20,000 legionaries for the war
he was preparing against Parthia.

Antonius then rejoined Cleopatra in the East, sending his
wife home to her brother's care. Msenas proved a traitor to
bis own master, and with his aid Octavius soon recovered
Sardinia and Corsica ; but his attempts at naval warfare were
unsuccepsful till the conmiand was taken by the valiant and
prudent Agrippa.

On January 1, 37, M. Vipsanius Agrippa became consul,
and set himself to the task of wresting the command of the
seas from Sextus. Like the old heroes of Rome in their wars
against Carthage, he had to begin by creating a navy. u.c. 717,
For this purpose a commodious harbour was needed ^•^- ^^^
on the southern coast of Italy, and this he obtained by uniting
the lakes Avernus and Lucrinus, near Naples, and admitting
the waters of the sea to them. The artificial port thus pro-
duced he named Portus Julius, in honour of his master. Here
he prepared his galleys and exercised his seamen, and in the
ensuing spiing he attacked Sicily at its three salient angles.
Octavius in person conducted the assault on Messana, but was
more than once repulsed ; Lepidus gave but little assistance.
At last Agrippa completely defeated Sextus in the great sea-
fight at Naulochus, and the latter collected his treasures and
abandoned Sicily for the East. Antonius, however, would not
receive him, but finally crushed him in another great naval
battle. Lepidus ventured to match himself against Octavius in
Sicily, but was quickly overcome. Octavius spared his life,
and this most feeble scion of the great ^milian house lingered
on through more than twenty years of retirement at Circeii.

Digitized by VjOOQlC

275 Cautions Progress of Octaviiis, ch. lt.

CHAPTER LI.

COITT^ST FOB THE EMPIRE DECIDED AT ACTIUM. DEATH OF
ANTON IXJS. CONCLUSION OP THE PERIOD OF CIVIL WARS.

On the deposition of Lepidus, his conqueror commanded not less
than 45 legions, 25,000 horsemen, and 37,000 light troops;
besides a fleet of more than 600 galleys. Bat he had now to
reckon with his own victorious soldiers, who demanded large
rewards in lands and money. To satisfy these claims Octavius
imposed severe exactions, especially on Sicily. On his return
to Rome, the people, rejoicing in the abimdance of corn which
had followed on the clearance of the seas, received him trium-
phantly. The senate would have heaped honours upon him,
but he accepted only the trihunician inviolability, an ovation,
and a golden statue. He declined to take from Lepidus the
pontificate.

Deeply impressed by the fate of OsBsar, Octavius was very
watchful over the safety of his own life. Though in reality
engaged upon the enterprise of raising himself above the laws,
he took no step however daring without trying to secure for
it the semblance of legality. Before re-entering the city he
rendered an account of all his acts to the people, excused his
proscriptions by the plea of stem necessity, and promised
clemency for the future. He proceeded to restore their ancient
prerogatives to the magistracies : and the wise administration
of Maecenas reconciled many enmities. Life and property were
secured by tbe institution of a cohort of city guards. An
active police scoured the whole peninsula, rooting out the bands
of robbers, releasing many kidnapped freemen from the factories
of the great proprietors, and restoring to their masters, or
putting to death, multitudes of fugitive slaves who were at
large.

About midsummer of the year 36, Antonius had assembled
100,000 men on the Euphrates to complete the conquest of the
u.c. 7^8, Parthians. Cleopatra joined him on his way, but
B.C. 36. ije gent her back to Egypt, promising soon to return
to her there. The season was now so far advanced that he had
to march in great haste, and on reaching Praaspa, 300 miles
beyond the Tigris, he found that the engines needed for a siege

CH. u* AnUnius at the Egyptian Court, 277

Bad feUen far into the rear. He tried ta reduce the city by
b'ockade^ but found his own supplies cut off by the Parthian
horsemen, and was soon obliged to beat a hasty retreat. The
severe winter of that elevated region was imminent, and his
legions suiiered intense hardships duiing a march of twenty-
seven daj; 8. Antonius hurried his weary soldiers, with great loss
and suiiering, back to Syria, where Cleopatra met him, and with
her he returned unabashed to Alexandria.

The imperator chose to represent this shameful retreat as a
victory, and Ocbivuis humoured his conceit, and so maintained
a coi-dial understanding with> him. Octavia, howeiiex, deter-
mined to make an effort to wean her husbaad from the fatal
influence which enthralled him. She set out for the £ast^
carrying with her magnificent presents, clothing for his soldiers,
beasts of burden, money, equipments, and a body-guard of
2,000 picked men splendidly arrayed. At Athens she received
a conuuand from her husband to advance no further,, and she
had no choice but to return with dignity to Home. In the
following year he made an inroad into Armenia, ti.c. 720^
carried otf king Artavasdes in gilded chains to ^•^- ^^
Alexandria, and, to the disgust of all Roman citizens, celebrated
a triumph in the streets of his foreign capital.

The Egyptian court now plunged into the gi'oesest de-
bauchery, the queen leading tbe way, and contriving a suc-
cession of new pleasures for the Roman voluptuary. If she
would retain her seat upon the throne of the Ptolemies, she
must keep her lover constantly amused. If she coidd succeed
in converting him into an Oriental despot, she might yet bope
to rule supreme upon the Capitol. All her talents, which were
of the most varied kiud, were called iuto requisition,, as well as
the lighter artifices of her sex. Painters- and sculptors grouped
t'le illustrious pair together, and the coins of the kingdom bore
the efiigies and titles of both. Masques and revels- followed in
quick succession, and the princely lovers assume! the characters
of Isis and Osiris.

The rumours of these orgies caused much resentment at
Rome, where Octavius was advancing in popularity, and
beginning to fill the space in the public eye left vacant by
Csesar^s death. His manners were affable, his u.c. 721,
concern for the public weal unwearied. After the ^•^- •^^•
leduction of Sicily, he had established a mild but firm govemr

2/8 AntoHUis collects his Forces. ch. li.

ment at Rome. lie had then encountered with success some
of the rudest tribes amon^ the Alpine passes, in Dalmatia,
lUyria, and the remote Pannonia. At the en d of three campaigns,
in one of which he obtained the distinction of an honourable
wound, the senate decreed him a triumph, but he deferred its
celebration. Already at the beginning of 33, the rivals had
entered upon angry recriminations, Antonius objecting that he
had not received his share of troops and pro^dnces on the
deprivation of Lepidus, while Octavius retorted by chai-ging
him with the murder of Sextus, the capture of Artavasdes, an
ally of the republic ; above all, with his scandalous connection
with the Egyptian queen, and his acknowledging her child
Oaesario as a genuine son of the dictator. Antonius, who had
been preparing an expedition against the Parthians, suddenly
changed the destination of his legions to Ephesus. Thither his
officers were directed to bring numerous fresh battalions levied
throughout Greece, Africa, and Asia. Thither, too, he summoned
the barbarian chiefs from the Caspian to the Syrtis to assemble
with their hosts of auxiliaries. Cleopatra contributed not only
a contingent of troops, but a squadron of the most powerful
galleys ever launched upon the Mediterranean. The object of
all these preparations was not avowed. Antonius pretended
to be absorbed in frivolities. He passed the winter at Samos,
lavishing his resources upon a splendid Dionysian festival, and
the new Bacchus repeated his former extravagances while tha
empire of the world was trembling in the balance.

During the year 32, the consuls were Domitius Ahenobarbus
and Sosius, both nominees of Antonius; but their influence
was counterbalanced by the defection of some important
partisans from his cause. Plancus returned from the East,
charged with the testament of Antonius, which he was to
deposit in the custody of the Vestal virgins. This document he
betrayed to Octavius. The senate learnt with horror that the
renegade triumvir had recognised Csesario as the legitimate heir
of Csesar, that he had distributed crowns and provinces among
his own bastards, and directed his own body to be entombed
with Cleopatra's in the mai:8)leum of the Ptolemies. No one
could any longer doubt the truth of the rumours which asserted
that he had pledged himself to subject Rome to the caprices of
the queen of Egypt, to remove to Alexandria the eeat of empire,
to prostrate the gods of the Capitol before the monsters of the

cH. LI, Octavius proclaims War. 279

IWe. All eyes were turned upon Octavius as the designated
saviour of the nation and of i+s faith. He refrained, however,
as yet from declaring Antonius a public enemy, and contented
himself with proclaiming war against Egypt. With the sanci
tion of the senate he assumed the consulship, with Messala
for his colleague, at the beginning of the year 31. u.c. 723,
At such a crisis the legitimate office was more ^•^- ^i-
effective, as it had always been more popular, than any extra-»
ordinary commission.

To the remonstrances of his own friends, who urged him to
dismiss Cleopatra, Antonius replied by divorcing his legitimate
wife. Preparations for war were pushed forward on both sides.
The forces of Antonius numbered 100,000 infantry and 12,000
horse. He was supported by many kings and potentates of the
East. His fleet counted 600 gaUeys, some of which had eight
and even ten banks of oars.

The infantry of Octavius was less by 20,000, his cavalry
about equal, and his fleet, commanded by the skilful Agrippa>
comprised no more than 150 ships, slighter but more manage-
able than those of his enemy. Finding the straits unguarded,
Octavius carried his troops over into Epirus, and from that
moment defection began both among the Roman and barbarian
leaders on the other side. Antonius thought himself surrounded
by traitors, and required Cleopatra herself to taste all the viands
set before him.

Both on land and at sea the Western power began to assert
its superiority in the preliminary encounter. The two armies
had been gradually concentrated on the shores of the Ambracian
gulf, which was occupied by the fleet of Antonius. Here
Antonius challenged his rival to decide the contest by single
combat, but received a contemptuous refusal. He began to
despair of victory, and to meditate an inglorious escape by sea
to Egypt, leaving his army to retreat as best it might into
Asia.

At length on September 2, at midday, with a light favouring
breeze, the huge galleys of the Oriental fleet sailed forth into
the open eea. Too unwieldy for attack, they were provided
with ponderous defences, and the light vessels of Octavius
could make but little direct impression on them. u.c. 728,
The Liburnian triremes, however, were manoeuvred ^.c. 31.
with activity and intelligence. They rowed round and round

28o Battle of Actium. ch. li.

their unwieldy adversaries, sweeping away their banks of oars,
distracting their defenders with flights of arrows, and at last
applying fire to the crippled monsters. In the midst of the
flight Cleopatra's galley hoisted its sails, threaded the maze of
combatants, and stood away for Egypt. Antonius leapt into a
boat; atid hurried after her in disgraceful flight. The rage and
shaine of his adherents filled them with despair; yet they
Inaiirfained the contest with determination, till, one by one, their
huge vessels took fire and burnt to the water's edge. Three
hundred galleys were captured.

The army on shore for some time refused to believe in the
faint-hearted conduct of its chief; and it was not till Oanidius,
the general in command, passed over to Octavius' quarters that
the gallant legions could be induced to make their submission.

On the point of land, the actS, which overlooked the scene
of the battle, stood a little chapel of Apollo, known as the
Actium. From this pLace the great sea fight, which decided
the fate of Rome and of the world, derived its name ; and on
this spot Octavius instituted the festival of the Actian games,
which was celebrated every five years for many generations.

The conqueror had nothing now to fear from Cleopatra and
her minion ; he could allow their punishment to bide its time.
Maecenas had bean left to govern Rome ; and Agrippa was now
despatched to pacify Italy, which was still disturleJ, while
Octavius visited Greece, and received a glad welcome from its
people. Thence he passed on to Asia, where provinces and
dependent kingdoms promptly submitted to him. During the
winter he visited Rome for a few days, and was escorted from
Brundisium by a crowd of citizens, knights, and senators. Once
more he was forced to sell his own property and that of
his nearest friends to satisfy the claims of his veterans ; and,
promising an ample largess out of the spoils of Egypt, he
started in the spring to complete his victory over the fugitives.

The news of Antonius' defeat at Actium, and of the sub-
mission of his land army, had preceded him to Egypt ; and on
his arrival there he found his authority renounced by the
Roman legions. He was hardly restrained from suicide ; but
on rejoining Cleopatra at Alexandria he found her preparing
with masculine activity to defend herself. One after another,
however, her allies fell away from her, and then she conceived
the idea of fleeing with her treasures to the utmost parts of

CH. LI. Death of Antonius. 28 1

Arabia. Some of her ships were even dragged across the
Isthmus of Suez to the Red Sea, but were there destroyed by
the Arabs. The project had to be abaudoned, as was also the
still wilder scheme of taking flight to Spain and raising that
turbulent province against the heir of Caesar. After an interval
of sullen isolation. Antonius returned to his mistress, and
plunged with her into recklesb orgies till the time should come
for both to die^

Meantime both the one and the other pleaded for mercy
separately from the victor. Antonius received no reply;
Cleopatra was encouraged to hope for favour if she would rid
the world of Antonius. Octavius was resolved to make her
kingdom his own, but be wished to exhibit her alive at his
triumph, and he was most anxious to possess himself of the
treasiures of the Ptolemies, which she had it in her power to
secrete or destroy. His agents suggested to her that Octavius
was young and might yield to the power of her charms ; and
in the hope of a last conquest she determined to betray her
paramour. As the conqueror approached, Antonius, encouraged
by some success in a cavalry skiimish, prepared to strike one
blow for empire, but at that moment both his navy and his
troops, seduced by the queen's artifices, deserted him. He was
at the same time falsely informed that she had committed
suicide. All was now over with Antonius, and he inflicted
upon himself a mortal wound ; but before he died, the queen
caused him to be conveyed to the tower in which she had taken
refuge, and he expired in her arms.

Octavius' first care on entering Alexandria was to secure the
queen alive. This was accomplished with some difliculty ; she
returned to the palace, resumed her state, and prepared to receive
the visit of Octavius. Much depended for her on her success in
this interview, and she used eveiy artifice to excite the pity if
not the love of her young conqueror. Octavius fixed his eyes
coldly on the ground, asked for a list of her treasures, and
bidding her be of good courage, quitted her. Cleopatra was
dismayed at her failure ; but on learning that she was certainly
to be removed to Rome, she made up her mind to die. She
retired to the tower of her mausoleum, where lay the body of
Antonius, and was next day found dead with her two women.
The manner of her death was never certainly known, but at the
triumph of Octavius a wax image of her was carried in the

282 Foundation of the cii. 1.1.

procession, with the aims encircled by serpents, and this con-
firmed the popular rumour that she perished by the bite of an
asp conveyed to her for the purpose in a basket of figs. Her
child by Julius was cruelly put to death ; the dynasty of the
Ptolemies ceased to reign, and Egypt became a Roman pro-
vince.

With the death of Antonius the period of civil wars and
political strife comes to an end. The struggle so long main-
tained by the people against the nobles has ended in the sub-
mission of both parties alike to a supreme ruler. The hour has
come, and with it has appeared the one man capable of using
it for the establishment of a durable monarchy upon a firm
foundation. Had Antonius triumphed at Actium, his profligate
empire would have quickly fallen to pieces. The pre-eminent
genius of Octavius is attested by the permanence of the edifice
which he erected. The creations of his hand were rooted in
the ancient ideas and habits of the people ; they stood the test
of time, unlike the fabrics of SuUa's and Caesar's power, which
quickly collapsed and peiished. We must now examine the
system adopted by the real founder of the Roman empire,
which endured in its main features for more than two cen-
turies, and continued to animate the governments of Rome and
Constantinople down to the commencement of modern history,
if indeed it can be said to bo even yet extinguished.

CHAPTER LII.

THE FOUNDATION OF THE EMPIRE BY AirGTrSTXJS,

Aptee regulating his new province, Octavius made a progress
through his Eastern dominions, rewarding his allies, and dis-
possessing his enemies. He passed the winter at Samoa,
wishing perhaps to allow more time for his proscriptions to be
forgotten, before he returned in triumph to Rome. When at
u.c. 726, last he reached the city, in the middle of 29, he waa
B.C. 29. welcomed with enthusiasm. He had now to choose
whether he would be a citizen of the commonwealth or its
ruler. The firamework of the republican government still

CH. LiL Empire by Augustus. 283

existed ; both senate and people continued to exercise their
prerogatives. Octavius himself professed only to wield a
delegated authority. He had laid down the extraordinary
powers of the triumvirate ; it was as consul commissioned by
the state that he conquered at Actium and subjugated Egypt.
His acts in Greece and Asia awaited the confirmation of the
senate. So moderate and loyal did he seem, that his popularity
was unbounded.

As soon as the ceremony of his triple triumph was ended,
Octavius ought by law to have disbanded his army, and laid
down his command. This necessity he evaded, for the senate,
eager to flatter and caress him, conferred upon him the title of
Imperator, and allowed him to prefix it to his name, as Julius
Osesar had done, whereby he became permanent conmiander
of the national forces. Every ordinaiy command ceased the
moment the Imperator entered the city, but Octavius, as em-
peror, might wear the insignia of military power even within
the city. This prerogative, indeed, he never exercised, and his
example was followed by his successors. They generally relin*
quished even the formal title of imperator in their ordinary
intercourse with their subjects, and were content to appear as
princes or premiers of the citizens.

Having thus secured to himself the army, the instrument of
substantial power, Octavius sought to disguise the real founda-
tion of his authority by raising the estimation of the senate as
the representative of the national will. Julius Otesar first, and
after him the tiiumvirs, and especially Antonius, had degraded
the senate by swelling its numbers to a thousand, and thrusting
into it foreigners and men of low condition, Octavius now
assumed the powers of the censorship, by virtue of which he
ejected from the senate many who were unworthy to sit in so
august an assembly, reducing the number to six hundred, and
requiring strictly a property qualification.

Upon the senate thus remodelled, Octavius conferred addi-
tional dignity by placing himself at its head as Princeps, the
most honourable of all republican titles, and one which had
always been held for life. The military command he soon
offered to resign, and, after a long afiectation of resistance,
accepted it only for a term of ten years, but it was afterwaids
repeatedly renewed to him. The powers both of the consul
and of the censor, but without the titles, were in like manner

284 Prerogatives of the Emperor, ch. lii*

renewed to hiin from time to time, and by virtue of them he
occupied the highest place in the city, and was recognised as
the chief of the state, the head of both its legislative and
executive departments, the organ of its ibreign relations. The
Komans had been wont to say that their consul was, in fact, a
king, checked by the presence ot a colleague, and by the limited
term of his office. Octavius, however, holding his authority
for life, and sitting paramount above the titular consuls, reigned
under the forms of a republic as real king of the Romans. In
addition to these powers Octavius claimed proconsular authority
over the whole empire. As imperator he had shared with th«
senate the administration of the provinces, choosing for his own
those in which large armies were maintained ; he stDl generally
allowed the senate to appoint the governors of the districts
assigned to it, but even in these he now claimed an authority
paramount to theirs. The prerogative of the emperor was
completed by the acquisition of the powers of the tribunate,
which were conferred on him in perpetuity. The chief value
of this power lay in the popularity of its name. The peoplcj
long accustomed to look upon the tribunes as the champions
of their liberties, could not imagine that they were really the
slaves of one who held that title. When Octavius, after the
df ath of Ijepidus, assumed the dignity of sovereign pontiff, he
combined in his single hand the most invidious instruments of
patrician tyranny and plebeian independence.

Nevertheless, while Octavius thus amassed one prerogative
after another, he discreetly avoided drawing attention to his
really sovereign power by the assumption of any distinctive
title. Antonius had formally abolished the dictatorship. No
voice was allowed to hail the new Caesar as * king.' Yet the
teed was felt of some distinguishing name to express the new
power which had arisen. Various titles were discussed between
the emperor and his friends, and at length the epithet ' Au-
gustus,' hitherto applied only to the temples and servicer of
the gods, was proposed and determined on. The worship of
Octavius as a god was spreading tacitly in the provinces,
though as yet forbidden in Italy ; the name of Augustus gave
a fresh impulse to the sentiment of adulation which already
possessed the people.

The question has often been discussed whether or no Julius
Csesar had formed any definite scheme for the constitution of

CH. Lii. His Conservative Policy. 285

tlie Homan empire. It may well be that, Lad his life been
prolonged, he might have moulded the whole mass of the
citizens and subjects of Rome into one body politic under his
own autocratic rule. Judging from his treatment of the Gauls
both in Italy and beyond the Alps, it seems certain that his
policy would have been to break down the barriers which
divided citizens from subjects, and to fuse all the various races
which peopled the Roman empire into one vast nation on the
basis of equal rights, with one language and one law for all
alike. The conquests of Alexander, with the consequent wide
diffusion of the Greek tongue, had familiarised the world with
this idea in practice, and the specidations of every school of
philosophy encouraged mankind to look forward with longing
to such a consummation, as the greatest blessing that could be
conferred upon the human race- The Epicurean philosophy and
the popular traditions inherited by Julius Osesar both inclined
him to favour such ideas, which, to an old-fashioned Roman,
must have seemed nothing short of revolutionary.

The policy of Augustus was on this point, as on most others,
diametrically opposed to that of his great uncle. Julius had
fallen just as the throne had been attained ; Augustus, ever
studious to avoid a like fate, marked his uncle's footsteps only
to avoid them. Julius had openly, and without extenuation,
grasped at kingly power ; his nephew strove by every means to
disguise the reality of his own kingship behind the mask of
republican forms. Julius had aspired to mould mankind into
one great nation, and had thereby alienated the old national
party in Rome. Augustus steadily opposed these subversive
notions. Resisting all the pressure brought to bear upon him,
he stoutly maintained that the Romans were a peculiar people,
the born sovereigns of mankind, the conquerors and rulers of
the world. This statement, however, must be understood with
discrimination. Augustus, the child of the popular party,
could not altogether repudiate the doctrines as the represen-
tative of which he had risen to power ; he, too, extended the
Roman franchise to the provincials, but always in a cautious
and temperate manner, taking care to give due effect to the
opposing doctrine which asserted the privileged character of
the Roman people. The exact colour of his system, which had
shifted its hues during his early career, seems to have been
definitely fixed from the day when, arrajed against the foreign

286 Law and Religion, ch. lti.

forces of his rival Antonius, he came forth at tlie head of the
senate, the people, and the gods of Home, as the champion of
the whole nation, without respect to class or party.

The extension of the Roman franchise was by no means the
only matter concerning which a conflict of ideas was in pro-
gress. Roman prsetors and proconsuls had carried the Roman
law into every province of the empire, but they had also been
compelled to take account of the usages and principles of juris-
prudence already established among the conquered races,
many of which were more in harmony than the hard old laws
of Rome witb the advancing cultivation and humanity of the
age. These foreign principles of law were gradually asserting
themselves, and forcing their way even into the Roman Forum.
There arose two schools of Roman lawyers, the conservative
and the liberal. It has been already stated that Julius contem-
plated a codification of Roman law, and it is probable that he
aimed at a large modification of the old laws of the republic,
so as to bring them into harmony with the more liberal juris-
prudence of other countries. Augustus threw his weight into
the opposite scale, and strove to preserve the ancient laws as
little changed as possible.

In the realm of religion the conflict of ideas was the
hottest of all. For two centuries Rome had in vain attempted
to maintain her old mythology and ritual in face of the new
ideas which crowded in upon her from foreign parts. Now
Greeks, Egyptians, Syrians, even Jews, as subjects of the
empire, demanded the recognition and free exercise of their
religious creeds and usages. The metropolis of the world had
become the common receptacle of all existing beliefs and cere-
monials. Here, too, Augustus exerted all his force to sustain
and revive the old national traditions. For his own part he
seems to have been devoid of all belief in any of the speculative
systems current in his time, and derided the ideologists who
were not content, as he was himself, with taking the material
world as he found it, and putting it to its practical uses. But
he perceived the danger of leaving the multitude to be tossed
to and fro by a constant succession of new and exciting blasts
of doctrine on such a subject. Augustus was engaged in con-
structing a fixed and enduring order of affairs. Accordingly
he repaired the crumbling temples, revived the priesthoods,
and renewed the ancient ceremonials. The Fasti of the court

CH. Lii. Conciliation of the NoUes. 287

poet, Ovid, were, in fact, a calendar of the ritual of the year.
The Romans were given to understand that their new chief,
who had once saved their country from conquest, and their
gods from desecration, had now placed the one under the pro-
tection of the other, and bound them together by a pledge of
mutual recognition.

The policy of Augustus was on all sides essentially reac-
tionary. Yet we need not suppose that he was blind to the
force of circumstances prevailing around him, or that he
expected ultimately to arrest the progress of ideas* It was
enough for him if he could divert or moderate them ; enough,
at least, if he could persuade his countrymen that he was doing
more than anyone else could do to maintain their empire on the
stable foundalious of the ancient ways. It is just possible that
a man of greater genius and boldness might have moulded his
opportunity to a higher issue by guiding the revolutionary
forces which he strove merely to restrain. But we must
acknowledge how grand was the result which, following his
own temper, and the bent of his own character, he did actually
effect. The establishment of the Roman empire was, after all,
the greatest political work that any human being ever wrought.
The achievement of Alexander, of Caesar, of Charlemagne, of
Napoleon, is not to be compared with it for a moment.

The name of Julius Osesar was the watchword of the
veterans who conquered imder his nephew, and it continued
dear to the mass of the citizens, as that of the man who had
crushed the oligarchy and avenged the Sullan massacres. Yet
the great writers of the Augustan age reflect but little of this
enthusiasm. Virgil and Horace have no panegyrics for the elder
Caesar. We need not attribute this silence to any unworthy
jealousy on the part of Augustus of the memory of his great
predecessor. It was the result of political design. As soon as-
the rivalry of Antonius was crushed, the attitude of Augustus
towards the aristocracy completely changed, and he thence-^
forth devoted to its interests all the powers he had received
from the triumphant democracy. The nobles could not long
refuse their support to a conqueror who carried out their own
ideas of conservatism and reaction, who promoted the son of
Cicero and the friend of Brutus to the highest offices, and who
offered to themselves, without reserve, careers^ of honourable
and lucrative employment. At the same tune thS lower

288 Acquiescence of tfie People, ch. lh.

classes were tranquilliEed and amused by shows and largesses,
and relieved from the burthen of military service. Citizens of
all ranks were set at ease by the cessation of political proscrip*
tions, flattered by the assurance that their empire over the
nations was completed and secured, comforted by the know-
ledge that the favour of the gods had been purchased, and
the stability of the state ensured by the piety of the emperor.

The easy acquiescence of the Romans in a regal tyranny
thus slightly disguised ceases to be surprising when we con-
sider, firstly, the weariness engendered by a whole century of
civil strife and bloodshed; and, secondly, the fact that the
race of Irue old Roman citizens had to a great extent died out,
and their places had been filled by a crowd of bastard citizens
of miscellaneous origin. To such a mongrel nation royal rule
could hardly imply degeneracy or decay. Had not Macedonia
been glorious under Philip and Alexander ? Had not Sparta
and even Rome itself been conspicuous for heroism under a
dynasty of kings ? The Romans had ceased to value or under-
stand free politici\l life, but they could appreciate old customs,
religious traditions, wise laws ; and as they watched the revival
or establishment of such institutions, they looked forward hope-
fully to a new career of growth and progress.

In his personal habits and demeanour Augustus carefully dis-
tinguished between the Imperator and the Princeps. He with-
drew from the familiarity which Csesar had used towards his
legionaries, no longer addressing them as 'comrades,* but always
as ' soldiers.' But in private life, amid aU the magnificence which
he encouraged on the part of his nobles, he himself was studiously
simple and modest. His house on the Palatine was moderate
in size and ornament. His dress was that of a plain senator,
woven by the hands of Livia and her maidens in her own
apartment. He traversed the streets as a private citizen, with no
more than the ordinary retinue of slaves and clients, courteously
addressing the acquaintances he encountered, taking them by
the hand, or leaning on their shoulders, allowing himself to be
summoned as a witness in their suits, and attending at their
houses on occasions of domestic interest. At table he was
sober and decorous; his guests were few in number, and
chosen for the most part for their social qualities. Augustus
was specially fortunate in the poets he attracted to his court
and person. Horace taught his contemporaries to acquiesce in

cii. LIU • The Provinces, 289

the new regime securely and contentedly, while Virgil kindled
their imaginations and shed over the empire of the Csesars the
halo of legendary antiquity. In the temples on days of puWio
service, around their own hearths on every ordinary occasion,
the Romans were taught to remember in their prayers the
restorer of order, the ci eater of universal felicity, and to pour a
libation for a blessing on themselves and on CaBsar the father
of his country.

This title, the proudest any Roman could obtain, had long
been bestowed by the citizens in private on their hero and
pati-on, when at kst the senate took up the voice of the nation,
and conferred it upon him with due solemnity. The proposal
was received and confirmed with eager acclamations, and
Valerius Messala, one of the noblest of the order, was deputed
ta offer the title in the name of the senate and the people.
' Conscript fathers,' replied the emperor, ' my wishes are jjow
fulfilled, my vows are accomplished. I have nothing more to
ask of the Immortals, but that I may retain to my dying day
the unanimous approval you now bestow upon me.'

CHAPTER LIII.

ORGANISATION AND CONDITION OP THE EMPIRE UNDER
AUGUSTUS. MILTTART INCIDBNT8 OP HIS REIGN.

Italy, which now extended from the Alps to the Straits of
Messana, was divided into eleven regions, and governed by the
praetor in the city. The rest of the empire was apportioned
between the emperor and the senate. The imperial provinces
were as follows : the Tarraconensis and Lusitania in Spain ;
Gaul beyond the Alps, including Upper and Lower Germany —
the districts bordering upon the Rhine ; Pannonia and Mace-
donia ; Ccele Syria and Phoenicia ; Cilicia, Cyprus, and Egypt.
To the senate were assigned Bsetica, Numidia, Africa, Cyren-
aica, Achaia, Asia, and the great islands off the coast of Italy.
Dalmatia and Illyricum, at first given to the senate, were soon
afterwards taken by the emperor in exchange for the Nar-
bonensis and Cyprus. Palestine was added by Augustus to

290

Military System

CH. Lin.

the empire, whicli then included every coast and island of the
Mediterranean except Mauretania. Those parts of the empire
such as G^aul, Pannonia, and Thrace, which extended him-
dreds of miles away from the inland sea, were little more than
wild forests. The populous and civilised parts of the Roman

dominion, including all the great cities and centres of commerce,
formed but a fringe along the shores of the Mediterranean.

The possession of this great central waterway was most
favourable to the peaceful development of the empire. The

CH. Lii!. of the Empire, 291

facility thus afibrded for the iiitercliange of commerce and of
thought hound all the proyinces together in the honds of a
common interest, and so secure was the peace which resulted
from this cause that the Mediterranean provinces were left
almost wholly without military garrisons. Italy, and Rome
itself, were in like manner almost destitute of regular defenders,
the emperor heing content to confide his personal safety to a
few cohorts of hody-guards or prgetorians. It was not till the
reign of his successor that these troops were collected into a
camp at the gates of the city. Their numher never exceeded
10,000 or 20,000. The legions, which formed the standing
army of the empire, were relegated to the frontiers or to turhu-
lent provinces. Three legions occupied Spain ; the hanks of
the Rhine were guarded hy eight; two were quartered in
Africa, two in Egypt ; four were posted on the Euphrates and
four on the Danuhe ; and two were held in reserve in Dalmatia,
whence, if required, they could easily he summoned to Rome.
Each of these twenty-fivo legions mustered 6,100 foot and 720
horse ; they were recruited for the most part among the suhject
races outside Italy, and the local auxiliaries attached to each
legion, and armed and drilled after their native usage, ahout
douhled the numhers of the force, raising the total of the
imperial armies to 340,000 men. The Italians claimed exemp-
tion from legionary service and were enlisted only in the prse-
torian cohorts.

Augustus was the first to estahlish a regular and permanent
navy, which he stationed under the supreme command of
Agrippa at Misenum, Ravenna, and Forum Julii or Fi-^jus in
Gaul. These fleets kept the pirates in check, secured the free
transmission of grain to the capital, and convoyed the ships
which hrought trihute in money from the East and the West.

The sources of public revenue were numerous and varied.
The public domain had indeed for the most part lapsed into the
hands of private proprietors. The land-tax had been remitted
to the soil of Italy since the conquest of Macedonia, but was
levied in every other part of the empire ; no citizen or subject
-was free from the pressure of the poll-tax. Mines and quarries,
fisheries and salt-works, were public property farmed for the
state. Tolls and customs were levied on every road and in
every city, and every sort of personal property, including slaves,
yaid an ad valorem duty. Augustus imposed a rate of one*

2g2 Agrippa and McBcenas. <jh. liii,

tweutieth upou legacies, but tlris experiiueiit caused consider-
able murmurs. Egypt and Africa paid a special contribution
in grain for the supply of Italy and Rome, and the emperors
found themselves obliged to keep up the old Ticious practice of
doles and largesses, whereby provincial industry was taxed to
support idle arrogance at home. The empire under Augustus,
bounded by the Rhine, the Danube, the Euphrates, Mount
Atlas, and the Atlantic Ocean, had almost reached the farthest
limits that it ever permanently retained, though the conquest
of Britain had yet to be undertaken. The population of tbis
vast region is computed at about 100,000,000, and during the
Jong period of peace and prosperity which ensued, it probably
continued to increase for another century. The population of
Rome may be roughly reckoned at 700,000. and though it long
continued to increase, it does not seem to have ever much
exceeded 1 ,000,000, a number which was probably approached,
if not equalled, by the census both of Antioch and of Alex-
andria.

The new ruler set about embellishing his capital by the
erection of temples and public buildings. In this he was
seconded by his nobles, and especially by his friend Agrippa,
who, having secured by his signal services in the field th^
second place in the commonwealth, loyally abstained from
aiming at the first. In the year B.C. 23, when Augustus,
prostrated by fever, seemed unlikely to recover, it was to
Agrippa that he handed his ring, a hint, as it was deemed,
that it was on him he would most desire that the empire should
be conferred. To Agrippa he entrusted, on his recovery, an
Eastern command which made him almost an equal and a
possible rival to himself.

Augustus was further supported by the tact and prudence
of 0. Oilnius Maecenas. This man had governed Italy for him
during his struggle with Antonius, and long remained his chief
adviser : to his suggestions the Romans ascribed the first out-
lines of the imperial system of government. The genial
character of Maecenas attracted to his side the best and ablest
men of the day, and secured the favour of the literary class.
,At his table Virgil, Horace, Varius, and Pollio discussed, in the
presence of Ai^ustus, all the various schemes of philosophy
and politics, and brought them to an amicable settlement.

The principal events of the reign of Augustus, which

CH. Liir. The Reign of A ugnsUis, ^93

Extended over more than forty years, were of little mark, and
may be shortly enumerated. His triple triumph u.c 726,
in 29 over the Illyrians, the Egyptians at Actium, ^'^' ^a.
and Cleopatra herself, has been already mentioned. Peace
being thus restored to the world, he solemnly closed the temple
of Janus, a happy event of which the citizens could recall only
two previous instances, and which deeply impressed them. An
outbreak of the Oantabrian mountaineers in Spain compelled'
the emperor to take the field against them. Stricken by sick-
ness, he quitted the camp and left his generals to complete
their reduction. On the accomplishment of this conquest he
closed Janus a second time. The Pax Romana, as u.c. 729,
it was proudly designated, did not however remain ^•<^' ^o-
long without disturbance, either on the frontier or in the'
interior. Neither was the old spirit of Roman aggression yet
wholly pacified. The proposal to retrieve the ill-success of
Caesar against Britain was indeed discussed, but prudently
abandoned. In the year 24, the Roman greed of u.c. 780,
conquest and plunder was gratified by the despatch ^•<^- 24.
of an expedition under ^lius Gallus into the spice regions of
southern Arabia. It returned with heavy loss and no advan-
tage gained, and the mortification of Augustus at this failure
was scarcely compensated by the success of Petronius in
southern Egypt, and the tribute he exacted from the Ethiopian
queen Candace.

In the year 21, Augustus, who had just put down the
abortive conspiracy of Murena, ventured to leave Rome on a
long progress through his Eastern dominions. In Sicily he
planted colonies at Syracuse and elsewhere. In Greece he
"bestowed special favours on Sparta, while he withdrew from
Athens her lucrative privilege of selling her franchise. After
wintering at Saraos, he advanced through Asia to Syria, where
lie punished the people of Tyre and Sidon for their turbulence,
and perhaps even as far as Palestine, where he seems to have
granted some extension of territory to Herod, king of Judeea,
The chief object of this proconsular tour was to recover the
standards of Orassus from the Parthians. Tiberius Claudius
advanced with an army into Armenia, and Phraates the Par-
thian at once conceded hb demands. Contemporary medals
represent him as doing homage at the feet of the emperor's
representative and receiving the crown from his hands, Tha

294^. ' The Secular Games. ^ cu. liii.^

long-lost trophies, the brazen eagles, cherished objects of the
soldiers' devotion, were restored by Tiberius to his father, and
by him transmitted to Rome, and suspended in the temple of
u.c. 734, Mars the Avenger. They were greeted by the
B.C. 20. people with acclamations, and by the poets with
paeans of triumph.

After receiving a renewal of his powers for a second term
of five years in B.C. 18, Augustus determined to celebrate his
restoration of the state by holding the secular games with
solenin ceremony. They were supposed to be held every
hundredth or hitndred and tenth year of the republic, and the
Tj.c. 737, Sibylline books, on being consulted, sanctioned the
B.C. 17. celebration. Heralds traversed the streets, inviting
every citizen to attend upon a spectacle * which none of
them had ever seen, and none coidd ever see again.' The
ceremonies were very simple. Sulphur, pitch, wheat, and
barley were distributed. The Aventine, the Palatine, and the
Oapitoline were paraded by the multitude. Sacrifices were
offered; the game of Troy was enacted; and the festival
ended with the performance of a choral ode of praise and
thanksgiving, probably the actual hymn included among
Horace's poems as Carmen Saeculare.

In the year 15, the security of the empire was threatened by.
barbarian tribes along its whole northern frontier. On the
Lower Rhine the legions had been defeated by the Germans
with the loss of an eagle. The mountain tribes of Switzerland
were menacing the Cisalpine. The Istrian peninsula was
invaded by the Parmonians and Noricans. The Dalmatians
were in revolt. Macedonia was ravaged by the Maesians, and
Thrace by the Sarmatians. Augustus himself travelled as far
as Lugdunum in Gaul to inquire on the spot into the weakness
u.c. 739, of the admmistration of that province. At the
B.C. 15. ganae time Drusus Claudius Nero, the emperor's
younger stepson, overthrew the Rhaetians among the Alps
near Trent, and defeated the barbarous tribes in the valley of
the Inn ; while Tiberius followed the course of the Rhine as
far up as the Ijake of Constance and crushed the enemy in that
Quarter.

Google

en. Liv. Tlie Imperial Family. ^95

CHAPTEE LIV.

THE IHPEBIAL PAIOLY. CABEERB OF TEBERIUB AlO) DBTTSXTS,
C^TASIOIf OV GEBMAIVY. DEATH OF ATTGUSTUS.

We are enteriDg on the career of an imperial dynasty. The
consuls and tribunes of the Boman commonwealth, though the
titles and offices still surrive; Ml henceforth into a position of
minor importance. The emperors indeed, from Augustus
onwards, will commonly assume the title of consul, and in-
vaiiably maintain their grasp on the tribunician power, dating
the years of their reign by the intervals of its renewal. But
those who are associated with them in these offices are oyer-
shadowed by the superior dignity and power of tlie imperial
throne. On the other hand, the kindred of the emperor will
occupy a prominent place in the state, for from among them
the rulers of the world are to be chosen.

Octayia, the sister of Augustus, and wife of Antonius, had
a son by a previous marriage named M. Marcellus, who, in
default of sons to his uncle, was for some time the hope of the
house. This youth gave high promise of ability, as we learn
ijom the matchless praises bestowed upon him by Virgil, and
to him Augustus gave for wife his only child Julia, the
daughter of Scribonia. But Marcellus died in 23 at the age of
twenty, leaving no offspring. Julia was soon remarried to
M. Agrippa, and by him had several children, to one of whom
the succession to the empire might be reasonably expected to
fall. The two eldest sons, Caius and Lucius, orrew up, and
were advanced in the public service, but both of them were cut
oil* in early life, the one in the year a.d. 4, the other in a.d. 7.
A third son, Postumus, was pronounced by his grandfather
imfit for public life, and was put aside if not murdered by his
order. There were also two daughters, Julia, married to
jEmilius Paulus, and Agrippina, the wife of Claudius Ger*
znanicus, of whom more remains to be told.

So few and obscure were the direct descendants of the
great emperor, but he had attached another branch to the stem
of his house by hu last marriage with Livia DrusiUa This
noted matroui the first woman who attained a public position

2gd Campaigns of Drusiis. cii. uv.

and became a real power in the state, liad been married to
Tiberiiis Claudius Nero, and had already borne him a son,
Tiberius. In the year B.C. 38, Octavius, aft«r divorcing Scribo-
nia, snatched Li via from her husband and married her himself.
A few months later she bore a second son, Drusus, of whom
Octavius was reputed to be the father. Livia bore no more
children, but maintained her dominion over the heart of her
husband, and secured for her two sons the first place in his
affections. Tiberius and Drusus were both men of ability, and
proved worthy of the confidence placed in them. These two
Stepsons of the emperor first distinguished themselves in com-
mand against the Alpine mountaineers, and were afterwards
entrusted with the more important task of combating the
Germans and Pannonians.

Augustus required of both an entire devotion to his interests
and those of the state, exposing them to the hardships of a pro-
longed warfare far from the pleasures of the capital. While
Tiberius was sent to quell an insurrection in Pannonia, Drusus
was charged with the administration of Gaul. He signalised
his government of that disturbed province by raising an altar
to Augustus at Lugdunum, thus confronting the influence of
the Druids by the awful associations connected with the majesty
of the emperor and the fortune of Rome.

The Rhine, defended by a chain of fortified posts, had long
formed the frontier of the empire ; but the impetuous youth
who now commanded the legions in that quarter aspired to the
Conquest of Germany and the reduction of Central Europe to
the same state of subjection as Gaul or Spain. Starting from
the north-eastern frontier of Gaul, Drusus attacked the Usipetea
and Sicambri in the country of the Lippe and the Lahn, the
modem provinces of Westphalia and Nassau. His aim was to
penetrate as far as the Weser, and the seats of the powerful
Ohauci and Chenisci, now known as Hanover and Detmold.
With this object he despatched an expedition by sea to the
mouths of the great rivers which fall into the German Ocean,
so as to surprise the enemy in flank and rear. He eaaly drove
iT.c. 742, the Germans before him by land, but his maritime
B.C. 12. armament was shattered by the waves and shallows,
and he was forced to beat an inglorious retreat.

In a second campaign the eagles were advanced as far as the
Weser, but the Germans retired steadily, refusing to risk a

CH. LlV.

Map of Germany,

297

Digitized by VjOOV IC

29* Death of DrusHS Gemtanictts, ch. uv,

battle ; and Drusus did not extricate himself without difficulty
from his perilous position. An outpost was planted at Aliso,
fitfty miles east of the Rhine; and for his successes the emperor
granted him the triumphal ensigns and the honour of an ovation,
but refused him the title of imperator. Meanwhile the exploits
of Tiberius against the Pannonians were deemed worthy of a
similar recognition. Augustus had the satisfaction of exhibiting
both his stepsons to the people in the character of national
heroes. In the year 11 B.C. Tiberius was married to Jidia^ and
about the same time Octavia died.

In the year 10 B.C. Augustus again visited Gaul, and
yielding to the instances of Drusus, autJiorised another expedi*
tion beyond the Rhine. This time the Roman army penetrated
through the country of the Ohatti as far as the river Elbe.
But the Ouerusci still retired before them. Drusus became
alarmed at the perils of his situation. Unfavourable omens
were reported; and after erecting a trophy to mark their
farthest point, the legions retreated, but before reaching the
Rhine, the young conqueror was killed by a fall from his horse.
Augustus conveyed the remains with ample honours to Rome,
and himself pronounced an oration over the body when it was
buried in his own mausoleum in the Campus Martius. The
title of Germanicus, which had been conferred on the young hero,
was allowed to descend to his son.

Tiberias, who had succeeded in consolidating the Roman
power south of the Danube, was now sent to Gaid to complete
his brother's conquests. His campaigns in the years 8 and 7
produced but little result, and he was soon withdrawn by the
emperor to Rome, and made consul for a second time.

After the death of Agrippa in the year 12 and that of
Drusus in the year 0, the hopes of the people and of Augustus
became centred in Tiberius, but the union between him and
Julia proving fruitless, the emperor began to look to her children
by Agrippa for the future support of his power. At the time
of Tiberius' recall, her two elder sons Caius and Lucius were
about fourteen and ten years old respectively. Oaius had
already served his first campaign. But the conduct of Julia
now became so scandalous that the emperor was constrained
to banisb ber to an island. It may be that her disgrace waa
caused by the jealousy of Li via ; but if so the intrigue was
only half successful, for the fall of the mother seemed to increase

CH. LiVc- ' Career of Ttbertits.- 299.

the grandfatlier^s affection for tke children. Tiberius retired in
disgust to Rhodes, where he remained for seven years in moody
and indolent seclusion. When, tired at last of his self-imposed
banishment, he asked permission to return, the emperor coldly
forbade him. This prohibition was afterwards withdrawn, but
Tiberius was still excluded from all public affairs, and made to
give place to his more favoured nephews, until the premature
death of these princes rendered his succession imperative.

The position of the emperor had become lonely. The death
of Agrippa had been followed, in B.C. 8, by that of Maecenas.
The need of heirs to secure a peaceful succession to the empire
was pressing. Accordingly in a.d. 4 Augustus adopted Tiberius
as his son, and invested him with tribunician power, at the
same time requiring him to adopt the young Germanicus,
together with his own child by his first consort Vipsa-nia, who
bore the name of Drusus. Tiberius now again put himself -at
the head of the legions in Germany. Ilis campaigns of the
yeara a.d. 4 and 5 were remarkable for their boldness and
success. Tiberius in person led his army from Aliso to the Elbe,
while a powerful force was sent round by sea from the Rhine,
and sailing up the Elbe effected a junction with the land army.
The Germans indeed still pursued their policy of refusing a
battle, aud thus the Roman general had no victories to boast of;
yet the influence of the empire in Central Europe was much
increased by these repeated advances, and the young chiefs of
the German tiibes began to crowd to Rome, accompanied by
their followers, there to learn the arts of civilisation. Tiberius
contemplated the complete subjugation of Germany; but he
lacked the military ardour of a Osesar or a Pompeiiis, nor was
he heartily supported by the emperor. Augustus perceived the
dangerous preponderance which the army was beginning to
acquire in the empire. The mercenary legions clamoured for
increased pay and privileges, and cried out against their long
detention on the frontiers. The citizens, content to live in
idleness on the dole of public corn, grew more and more reluc-
tant to endure the hardships and discipline of the camp. The
soldiers of the Rhine and the Danube threatened to become
Rome s direst enemies.

In A.D. G Tiberius transferred his own command horn the
Rhine to the Danube. Starting from Camuntum, the modern
Presburg, he plunged with six legions westward into the great

300 The Eagles of Varus. ch. liv.

Hercynian forest, the modern Bohemia. At the same time his
lieutenant Saturninus, with a like force, marched eastward from
the Rhine to meet him. This was another bold and skilful
combination which deserves unqualified admiration. It was on
the point of being completed when the reported outbreak of an
insurrection in Pannonia disconcerted the plans of Tiberius.
Flis first duty was to secure the peace and safety of the empire.
Both armies were ordered to retire upon their respective bavses ;
and this operation was conducted without loss or dishonour.

The struggle of the Pannonians, protracted through three
years, was formidable enough to try the resources of the empire
and to bring discredit upon the emperor himself. Augustus
had outlived the favour with which he had been so long
regarded, and he was harassed by the scandals brought upon hi»
family through the misconduct of a younger Julia as shameless
as her mother. The exile of Ovid, which occurred in a.d. 8, was
most likely due to a political intrigue, for which his friend
Maximus suffered death and Agrippa Postumus was disgraced
And secluded.

The closing years of Augustus were further clouded by h
great military disaster. The government of the half-constituted
provinces beyond the Rhine had been entrusted to Quintilius
Varus. This officer tried to rule the rude Germans by the
subtle system of Roman law rather than by the sword. His.
well-meant endeavours irritated the Germans to the point of
r.c. 762, rebellion. Headed by their hero Arminius, they
A.D. 9. compelled the proconsul to take the field against

them with three legions. The Roman army, entangled in the
Teutoburg forest, was utterly routed, the proconsul slain, and
three eagles captured. The Romans had sufiered no such
defeat except on the three fatal days of the AUia, of Oannse,
and of Oarrhse.

Aided by Tiberius, the emperor gallantly confronted the
danger of a general rising in the north and of seditions in the
city. The Gauls and Germans in Rome were placed under
strict control. With the utmost difficulty fresh troops were
levied, and after a whole year devoted to preparations, Tiberius,
accompanied by the young Germanicus, once more led the
legions across the Rhine. This expedition amounted to little
more than a military promenade. The Romans were now too
wary to pursue the enemy into their forest fastnesses. At the

GH. Liv, Ikath of Augustus, 50 1

end of a few weeks they retired behind the Rhine, which became
once more the frontier of the empire. Tiberius now returned to
Jlome to celebrate his triumph over the Pannonians. The
citizens were reassured by this solemnity, and, reckless of recen|;
losses, still believed in the invincibility of Roman arms. But
the aged Augustus sank into a state of nervous despondency,
allowed his hair -and beard to gi'ow untrimmed for months,
and was heai'd to exclaim, * Varus ! Varus I give me back my
legions.'

Germanicus now assumed the coihmand on the Rhine, while
Tiberius was detained in Rome, and seemed more than ever
secure of the succession ; though it was rumoured that Augustus
chafed at the moroseness of his temper^ and formed a gloomy
augury of his career in power.

Conscious of his approaching end, the emperor, for the third
time during his reign, ordered a census of the empire to be
taken. This was completed in a.d, 14. He spent the next
few months in compiling a brief statement of his acts, which
has most fortunately been preserved to modern times by its
inscription on the wall of a temple still standing at u.c. 767,
Ancyra. This record extends over a period of ^'D-I*-
fifty-eight years, and details with simple dignity all the under-
takings he accomplished, the offices he served, the honours he
enjoyed, his liberality and magnificence, his piety towards the
gods, his patriotism in behalf of the city. His last summer was
spent in moving gently from one villa to another, until death laid,
his hand upon him at Nola. Tiberius hurried to his death-bed^
and Livia gave out, whether truly or not, that he had arrived
in time to receive his parting injunctions and perform the last
offices of filial piety. Augustus had arrived at the verge of
seventy-seven, and had lived in safety with his ambitious consort
for half a century. The vulgar surmise that Livia poisoned
him seems hardly worth a thought, except to warn us against
too easy belief in many surmises of the same sort which we
shall hereafter meet with.

The closing scene of this illustrious career was very peacefuL
After desiring that his grey hairs and beard might be set in
order, Augustus asked his friends around him whether he had
played well his part in life's drama, and then muttered a verse
from a comic epilogue inviting them to greet his exit with
applause. He then fell into Livia's arms, commending to he^

302 The Pax Romana. ch. liv.

tlie memory of tbeir long union . Though cheered hy no reli^ous
hope, he was supported on the verge of the abyss by the
assurance that he had confirmed by a great achieyement tho
Ibrtunes of the Roman state.

OHAPTEE LV»

THE REIGir OF TIBERIUS CJESAR.

The Christian era, the date of the Hrth of Christ, has been
assigned by the commonly-received chronology to the year
753 of the city, but it is now ascertained that it ought to have
been fixed four years earlier, that is, in the year B.C. 6 or
tr.c. 749, at which time Quirinius or Oyrenius was first governor
of Syria. The early Christian writers asserted that at the
moment of the Divine Birth all the world was at peace. This
statement can scarcely be accepted as literally true, since there
hardly ever was a time when, either on the frontiers or in some
one of the provinces, warlike operations were not in progress.
Yet the reign of Augustus was essentially a period of peace.
All civil strife was at an end, and there was no powerful
nation or state with which Rome was engaged in deadly
contest. The Roman peace, * Pax Romana/ as it was proudly
called, reigned over the vast extent of the empire, and this, when
contrasted with the centuries of unresting warfare which had
gone before, made a deep impression on the minds of the
Romans. The poetry of the Augustan age echoes with jubi-
lant strains in honour of it. The transition of the Roman
mind from aspirations of unlimited aggression to views of
mere repression and control was sudden, but not the less
permanent.

From this time forth an attack upon any foreign power
became the exception to the settled policy of the rulers, and
the people could hardly be roused even to avenge a national
dishonour. The frontiers were now well defined, fortified, and
garrisoned, and still further protected in many places by zones
of depopulated countiT, or nominallv independent states in

their front. . " - Digitized by v^uuv^ic

CH. Lv. Accession of Tiberius. 303

For forty-four years, from the battle of Actium to the death
of Augustus, the control of this vast and peaceful empire had
been wielded by a single hand. The emperor had chosen his
counsellors from among men of the second rank ; his generals
from among the members of his own family. Thus, neither in
the state nor in the army, had any of the old nobility the oppor-
tunity of attaining to such prominence as might have encou-
raged him to advance his claim as a rival candidate for the
throne. No attempt of the kind was made. The decease of
Augustus and the accession of Tiberius were announced to,
and accepted by, the soldiers. The only precaution taken was
to assas^ate the wretched Agrippa Postumus in his secluded
exile.

Tiberius at once summoned the senate. The testament of
Augustus declared him heir to all bis private fortune, and this
was readily accepted as a devolution of his public pre-eminence.
The consuls and all the officers, both of the state and of the
army, swore obedience to him as their imperator. All the re-
maining functions of imperial power were heaped upon Tiberius,
and after a slight show of resistance, he consented to become
the chief of the Roman people. At the same time, first funeral
honours, and next divine honours, were eagerly decreed to the
body and the soul of the deceased Augustus. The apotheosis
of dead emperors became henceforth a recognised institution of
the state.

Before Tiberius was secure of his position at Rome, the dis-
content of the legions on the Danube and the Rhine broke out
into open mutiny. They complained of their long service,
their slender pay, and the total lack of plunder. The emperor
despatched his son Drusus to Pannonia, and by the accident of
an opportune eclipse, he was enabled to quiet the disturbance
with some slight concessions.

On the Rhine Germanicus was placed in great danger.
His legions proposed to carry him in triumph to Rome and
make him emperor. He with difficulty repressed their en-
thusiasm, and in order to divert their thoughts led them into
the heart of Germany to recover the eagles lost by Varus.
This expedition, like so many others, returned at the close'
of the season without the gain of any solid advantage.

Tiberius remonstrated with the young Csesar, who none the

304 The Young GerinanicUs,, ch. lw

less renewed the attempt in the following year with better
u.c. 768, success. On this occasion the resistance offered by
A.D. 15. Arminius was weakened by ti'ibal dissen^ons. The
land and sea armaments united their forces, and were able to
yisit the scene of the disaster in the Teutoburg forest, where
they buried the corpses of their countrymen and recovered two
of the eagles lost by Varus. Next spring Germanicus made a
third campaign over the same groimd, in the course of which
he recovered the last of the Yarian eagles^ and succeeded in
defeating the fuU force of Arminius in a pitched battle. In
both these campaigns heavy loss was suffered by the detach-
ment of Roman troops which returned from the war by sea ;
and Tiberius complained, with increasing vehemence, of these
expensive and bootless enterprises.

Germanicus had proved himself an able general, yet his
recall from his northern command was determined on. The
provinces of Asia needed the presence of a proconsul of more
than usual dignity. Cappadocia and Commagene were to be
reduced to the form of provinces, Syria and Judaea were
uneasy under the weight of their taxation. The Parthians
would be more loyal to their engagements if they were once
more overawed by the presence of a near relative of the
emperors, the vicegerent and representative of his father s
majesty and power.

Germanicus not unwillingly undei-took this Oriental mis-
sion, visiting with interest the celebrated sites of Greece and
Western Asia, and winning the goodwill of everybody by his
gentleness and affability. After placing the diadem on the
head of the Armenian king in his own capital, and settling the
affairs of Commagene and Cappadocia, he amused himself with
a tour through Egypt. Throughout this prolonged journey he
was accompanied and jealously watched by Cnssus Piso, a
noble of high rank, appointed by the emperor with the title of
adjutor. On his return from Egypt, Germanicus sickened and
died of a wasting illness. The people, who loved him as
heartily as they detested Tiberius, were fully persuaded that he
had been poisoned, and when it was found that Piso had profited
l^y the death of his superior to seize upon his vacant appoint-
ment, that noble was promptly summoned to appear before the
senate and justify his conduct. Piso returned to stand his
trial, but when the time came for him to make his defence, he

CH. Lv: The Laiv of Majesty. 305

was found dead with his throat cut and his bloody sword
beside him. There seems no reason to doubt that he committed
Suicide, but popular rumour asserted that Tiberius had caused
him to be assassinated to silence any testimony against
himself.

The death of Piso points our attention to the antagonism
which now began to make itself felt between the old aristo-
cracy of the republic and the growing power of the empire.
The number of tbese illustrious families had been greatly
thinned by the civil wars ; the pride and self-assertion of those
who survived was only the more intensified. To an -^milius,
a Calpumius, a Lepidus, or a Piso, the son of Octavius was no
more than a plebeian imperator raised to power by the breath
of the commonalty. His pretensions to legitimate right they
despised and repudiated. Each of them conceived that he had
as good or better right to rule than the upstart whom fortune
had placed in the ascendant. Piso doubtless deemed himself at
least the natural equal of Tiberius.

Against the intrigues of these discontented nobles the
emperors found it necessary to defend themselves by special
measures of repression. Fifty years before the foundation of
the empire, a law of majesty had bee a enacted for the protec-
tion of the tribunes. Any attack upon the person or the
dignity of the tribune was declared to be an assault upon the
majesty of the commonwealth, and was punished as treason
against the state. Of this law Augustus availed himself to
prevent the publication of pasquinades against the emperor, as
well as to repress more serious attempts at sedition. Under
Tiberius, howerer, the position of the emperor came to be
regarded with increasing adulation, as one altogether sacred
and apart from conmion men, as that of the gods on Olympus.
Not only attempts on the life of the emperor, but any words or
writings which detracted from his unapproachable dignity, were
treated as heinous crimes only to be compared with sacrilege.
To inquire of a soothsayer into the yeirs of the emperor was
made treasonable; to speak a disrespectful or abusive word
against the emperor was equally so.

When to a law of this sweeping nature was added a system
of spying and informing, which was set on foot and encouraged
by Tiberius, it is no matter of surprise that during his reign
many of the nobles, both men and women, fell under its severe

3o6 Rise of ^liits Sejamts. ch. lv,

penalties. The informers were rewarded with a large share of
the confiscated fortunes of their victims, and so degraded were
many of the nohles, that they did not scruple to acquire wealth
in this way by preying upon their own order. By such mean
and crafty devices Tiberius was enabled to mask for a time,
under the forms of justice, the studied cruelty with which he
broke down the independence of the class he feared and
hated.

Conscious of his own lack of commanding ability, morose
and reserved by temperament, the emperor was intensely jea-
lous of all who possessed the qualities in which he was most
deficient. This feeling, soothed for a time by the death of the
gallant and popular Germanicus, was soon revived against hia
widow Agrippina, who stood no less high in popular favour.
His own son Drusus, though constantly employed in military
affairs, was not loved by the Roman people, nor did the em-
peror regard him with any confidence or aifection. Tiberius
had indeed recalled him to Rome, and, by conferring on him
both the consulship and the tribunician power, had virtually
associated him with himself in the empire. But it was not on
Drusus that he really leant for support. The man on whom
the emperor relied as his intimate counsellor and useful instru-
ment was iElius Sejanus, the captain of the praetorian guards, a
courtier of no high distinction in birth, accomplishments, or
abilities — ^perhaps preferred for this veiy want of distinction.

Sejanus conceived the daring ambition of securing to himself
the succession to the imperial throne. To effect this object it
would be necessary to destroy aU the branches of the imperial
family who might have legitimate claims to it. He began by
removing Drusus by poison, having first debauched his wife
Livilla, whom he hoped to marry after her husband's death,
and so raise himself into the line of succession. He further
fomented his master's iU-feeling against Agrippina and her
family, to whom he imputed a spirit of restiess intrigue.
Lastly, he exerted all bis influence to induce the emperor to
withdraw from the vexations of public life at Rome to the
voluptuous retreat of Caprese, and to leave in his minister's
hands the entire control of state affairs.

One good influence still exercised some restraint over the
miiid of Tiberius, distracted by fears and lealousies, that of hia
mother Livia. To her adroitness throughout tni reign of

CH. Lv, Death of Livia. 307

Augustus, and especially at the moment of Lis death, he
■undoubtedly owed his own elevation. His obligations to her
he had always acknowledged to the extent of almost allowing
her to share his power. It is probably to her influence that we
may attribute his one act of justice to the family of Ger-
manicus in marrying that prince's daughter, a younger Agrip-
pina, to On. Domitius Ahenobarbus. From this union sprang
the future emperor Nero.

The elder Agrippina continued to live in constant fear
-of the tyi'ant, which her high spirit did not suffer her to
conceal.

Tiberius at length rebelled against the pretensions of his
mother, and mustered courage to forbid her to take part in public
aflairs, while he withdrew himself to Oaprese, and left Sejanus
in sole possession of all ostensible power.

At last Livia died in the year 59, in her eighty-second, or
as some compute, in her eighty-sixth year. Tiberius ^.c. 782,
scarcely disguised his satisfaction, took no part in ^'^' 29-
the ftmeral, and forbade her deification, which the senate had
obsequiously proposed.

Released from her restraining influence, he fell more than
ever into the hands of his minister. The first act which
marked this change for the worse was the despatch of a harsh
letter to the senate denouncing the elder Agrippina and her eon
Nero, but leaving the assembly to guess what measures would
be most pleasing to its master. The people thronged about the
senate house protesting that the letter was a forgery, and a
foul conspiracy of Sejanus, The latter, however, profited by
this movement to excite the fears of Tiberius, and induce him
to command an inquiry into the political conduct of the widow
and her children. Accusers were readily found ; the trial was
hurried through, and both mother and son were banished to
the barren islands of Pandateria and Pontia. Agrippina is
said to have resisted the attempt to remove her, and to have
lost an eye in the struggle. Two other of her sons, Dnisus and
Oaius, still remained, and these Tiberius retained about his own
person at Oaprese: but at the suggestion of Sejanus one of
them, Drusus, was soon after dismissed from the island, and
imprisoned in a dungeon at Rome.

Many of Agrippina's friends now fell under proscription,
while Sejanus seemed to be advancing in his audacious projects,

3o8 'Fall of Sejamts, ch. lv,

and rising still higher in favour. He was appointed consul
jointly with the emperor, and encouraged to hope for a mar-
liage with Livilla. The people whispered that Sejanus was
emperor of Rome, while Tiberius was lord of one island only.
The senators crowded about the leader of their debates with
every demonstration of devotion, and when they decreed him
consular powers for five years, he regarded it as a surrender of
the government into his hands.

Tiberius, however, was becoming afraid of a favourite who
had grown too powerful, and had already determined to over-
throw him. Aft«r the lapse of a few months he resigned the
consulship, and required Sejanus to do the same. He then
announced his intention to visit Rome, and so played upon the
fears and ambitions of his minister as to goad him into form-
ing a plot for the emperor's assassination. Tiberius obtained
proofs of this conspiracy, and then took into his confidence
Macro, an officer of his body-guard, whom he commissioned to
. take command of the praetorian guard. He further directed
him to confer with the consuls, and to have the senate con-
vened. At this sitting a long and rambling letter from the
emperor was read, in the course of which he complained of the
solitude of the poor old ►Osesar and his precarious position, and
required one of the consuls to bring a military force to Oapreae
and escort him to the city. The letter, after wandering from one
subject to another, suddenly closed with an appeal to the consul
to arrest Sejanus as a traitor. The ex-minister found himself
hustled and seized by the chiefs of the senate; Macro had
already taken command of the prsetorian guard, and without
further delay Sejanus was dragged to the Mamertine prison
u.c. 784, ftnd there strangled. His remains were afterwards
A.D. 31. cagt out and publicly insulted in the streets, and
his family and friends shared his fate in a general massacre.

Tiberius watched for the telegraphic signals from Rome in
an agony of suspense. The swiftest triremes lay ready to waft
him to Gaul or Syria should his combinations be frustrated.
Even when he knew that his orders had been executed, he
still lingered for months upon his lonely rock, while a relentless
proscription was carried on by the senate against all who could
be deemed his enemies.

Early in the following year, a.d. 32. Tiberius crossed the

, . 1*1 -1. . , ^ ^Digitized by- VjOV^: , _

iiarrow strait which divides Oaprese from the mainland at

CH. Lv, Depravity of Tiberius: 309

Surrentum, and began his progress to Rome. The citizens
joyfully prepared to welcome their emperor in their midst, but
were rather astonished to learn that he had left the land and
was advancing in a galley up the Tiber, preceded by guards
who rudely cleared away all spectators from the banks. In
this strange fashion he arrived at Caesar's gardens, but no
sooner did he find himself once more beneath the hills of Rome,
than he turned his prow without landing, and never paused in
his retreat till he had regained his island. The Romans were
intensely mortified by this proceeding. Their indignation and
disgust broke forth in loud murmurs against the emperor. lie
wjis spoken of as the patron of panders, the sport of minions ;
as being drunk with wine and blood ; as being ashamed to face
honest people, and unable to tear himself for a moment from
his detestable orgies and vile debaucheries.

It has been conjectured with much probability that the strange
conduct of Tiberius may have been due to a taint of hfireditary
insanity in the blood of the Olaudii, which had been wont to
break out in that family during many generations either in the
form of extravagant pride or ungovernable violence. The
ancients, however, considered that the morbid ferocity and
unhappiness of this emperor were simply the natural penalty
of the evil and licentious life which he led. Be this as it may,
Tiberius was not alone in his despairing ajid miserable frame of
mind. Some of the noblest Romans of his time were driven to
suicide by a similar feeling of degradation and despair. Cocceius
Nerva, a man of the highest character and attainments, occupying
a high position in the state, enjoying a flourishing fortune and
perfect health, deliberately starved himself to death. Arruntius
and others imitated his example. This form of death was aleo
imposed by the tyrant upon the young Dnisus, who had for some
time languished in the dungeons of the imperial u.c. 786,
palace, and was voluntarily chosen by Agrippina ^'^' ^^'
as the only escape from the miseries and bereavements of her
life in exile. It was thus through his own perverseness and
cruelty that Tiberius, as he approached the end of his life, found
himself supported by only three surviving males of the lineage
of Caesar, and none of these gave any promise of political ability,
or had received any training in public life. Among these three
princes, who all stood in the position of his adopted sons, he
must choose his successor, ITiey were as follows : (1) Tiberius

3 10 Death and Character qn. lv*

Claudius Drusus, born iJ.c. 744, B.C. 10 — nephew of the emperor,
and son of the elder Germanicus. He was reputed weak in
mind, and had been excluded from public life by Augustus ;
he was, however, fond of books and literary pursuits. He
afterwards became the emperor Claudius. (2) Caius, the
younger son of Germanicus and Agrippina, born a.d. 12 — a
favourite with the legions for his father's sake, and nicknamed
by them Caligula from the military buskin (caliga) which he
wore as a child in the Rhenish camps. During his long residence
in the palace at Caprese he learnt to dissemble, and by patient
and obsequious service disarmed the jealousy of his great-uncle.
He afterwards became the emperor Caligula. (3) Tiberius,
surnamed Gemellus, born A.D. 19, son of the younger Drusus
who was starved in the vaults of the Palatine, and nephew of
Caligula. He was made coheir with Caligula of the emperor's
property, but soon after the accession of the latter was put to
death by his order.

As the end of Tiberius drew near he became more and more
dependent upon Macro, the captain of his body-guard, but he
steadily refused to nominate an heir to the empire for fear
his officers should transfer their devotion from himself to his
destined successor. WTien at length he lay in a state of torpor
resembling death, it is said that Macro made sure of the tyrant's
departure by having him smothered under blankets. His death
occun'ed on March 16, a D. 37.

The character of Tiberius was execrated by the Romans,
and their execrations have been justly echoed by all posterity.
For cruelty and debauchery no man has attained a name so
detestable. It is, however, important to remark that the
crimes and vices of this monster were of a personal and private
sort, and did not largely affect his government of the empire.
Those who came into personal contact with him, the senators,
the nobles, his own kinsmen and counsellors, and the citizens of
Rome, could not but be degraded by his evil influence. The
wide-spread provinces of the empire were happily beyond the
reach of his poisonous example, and flourished during his reign
with a peaceful prosperity previously unknown. The impe-
rial arms, though little exercised, were everywhere respected.
The embers of agitation in Africa and Gaul were quietly
extinguished. The manners and arts of Rome extended their
away year by year deeper into the hearf' ott^rmaSi\ The

CH. LV. of Tiberius, 3 1 1

Parthians were overawed. Palestine was annexed, and tlie
Jews found the imperial rule far more mild and equable than
that of their own princes had been. In one important parti-
cular Tiberius changed the system under which the provinces
of the empire were governed. It had besn the practice to
change the proconsuls after two or three years of office. Tibe-
rius left them sometimes unchanged for many years together,
Urnd to this cause, more perhaps than any other, we may attribute
the exceptional felicity enjoyed by the Roman empire during
his reign.

CHAPTER LVI.

THE EEIGN8 OF CATTS CALIGULA AND OF CLATJBITJS.

At the age of twenty-five Caius Caesar, commonly known as
Caligula, assumed the reins of power. Young, handsome, and
courteous, though utterly inexperienced, he was eagerly wel-
comed by the senate, the army, and the people. His weakly
constitution, his liability to fits, and the feverish excitability
of his brain render it probable that his Claudian blood carried
with it the germs of insanity. But at the outset of his career,
all men were charmed by the generosity and modesty of his
conduct. After promising ample largesses to the people and
the soldiers, he proclaimed an amnesty to all political prisoners
and exiles. He publicly burnt the informations put into his
hands by the spies and sycophants of the previous reign, and
proscribed their vicious authors. He allowed the political
writings which had been suppressed by the senate to be freely
circulated. He revised the roll of the senate and the knights,
bestowing his favour on those most worthy of it. Lastly, he
earned the popular applause by the piety with which he conveyed
the ashes of his mother and brother from their lonely u.c. 790,
resting places to the mausoleum of Augustus. It ^'^' ^^*
was a relief to the citizens that he did not insist on the
deification of the hated Tiberius.

On assuming the consulship he promised to devote himself
to public business, and during the next two months his just and
liberal measures proved that he had redeemed his pledge. On

3^2 Follies and Cruelties ch. lvi.

the arrival of his birthday on August 1, this industry was
exchanged for profuse and magnificent hospitality. The con-
secration of a temple in honour of Julius, the founder of hia
race, was celebrated with a triumphal procession, with sacrifices,
hymns, and banquets at which the emperor himself presided,
with his sisters at his side, surrounded by the priests and flamens
of the Augustan hero-worship.

Business henceforth gave place to enjoyment. With a wild
frenzy of delight he plunged into gross and voluptuous dissipa-
tion, which soon upset his weak constitution and laid him on a
sick-bed in imminent danger of death. The interest taken in
his health, the anxiety shown for his recovery, turned his weak
head, and filled him with exaggerated notions of the importance
and sacredness of his life. His first act on recovering was to
put to death his nephew Tiberius.

Macro, the prsBtor'an captain, had introduced him as emperor
to the army and to the senate, and had since then stedfastly
supported him. Macro's wife, Ennia, had surrendered herself to
his passion. These two were next executed by his order with-
out trial of any kind. The illustrious Silanus, whose daughter
the emperor had married, was recalled from Africa, arraigned
on some charge, and summarily ordered to kill himself. These
cruel deeds were most likely prompted by the requirements of
his reckless extravagance.

The death of his sister Drusilla, with whom he carried on
an incestuous commerce, further embittered him and drove him
on to madness. After decreeing to her divine honours by the
name of Panthea, the crazy monster declared that if any man
dared to mourn for her death, he should be punished, for she
had become a goddess ; if anyone rejoiced at her deification,
he should be punished also, for she was dead.

This incident illustrates the logical character of Caligula's
mind, which frankly asserted itself in his system of government.
Augustus and Tiberius had learnt in the school of experience to
indulge their subjects with a pretence of independence. Caius
knew himself to be the master of a nation of slaves, and it
pleased him to assert his autocracy openly, in Oriental fashion,
such as he had learnt from Herod Agrippa, king of Judaea, with
whom he was brought up in the palace of Tiberius. It pleased
him also that everything about him should be on a grand
imperi(il scale. Strange it is that he should have been guided by

CH. Lvr. of Caligttla. % 1 3

fluch a principle in his choice of his fourth wife^ Csesoma ; but
in his architectural undertakings it led him to good results.
He completed the temple of Augustus, restored the theatre of
Pompey, and laid the foundations of an amphitheatre of his
own. He designed and began the noble aqueduct caUed Aqua
Claudia, a work of manifest utility, whose ruins still bear wit-
ness to its splendour. One of his extravagant freaks was the
throwing of a bridge or gallery from his own residence on the
Palatine across the valley to the Capitol, in order, as he said,
that he might be next neighbour to Jupiter, with whom he
claimed equal divinity. A similar undertaking was the con-
struction of a bridge across the bay of Baiae from Bauli to
Puteoli. A spit of land already existed on the one side, and a
mole 1,200 feet long on the other. These two points were
connected by a bridge of boats, and across the causeway so
constructed the emperor led a body of troops in triumph. The
show was witnessed by a crowd of spectators, many of whom
fell into the water and were drowned, the emperor, it is asserted,
being delighted by the accident, and forbidding them to be
rescued.

Tasteless extravagance was now the order of the day, and
nowhere more so than at the tables of the rich. Dishes of
costly rarity were sought for, such as peacocks, nightingales,
and tb^ tongues and brains of phaenicopters (possibly flamin-
goes). Caius is reported to have spent as much as 80,000^. on
a single feast, exclaiming at its conclusion, ' A man should be
frugal except he be a Caesar.' His vanity led him to aim at
pre-eminence not only in gluttony but also in charioteering
and in oratory. Envious of the fame of the ancient heroes of
the republic, he cast down their statues, and deprived Ihe
images of illustrious houses of their distinguishing marks, the
Cincinnati of their ringlets, the Torquati of their golden collars.
He forbade the last descendant of the great Pompeius to bear
the surname of Magnus ; and he rejected with contumely the
works of Virgil and Livy from the public libraries.

From such unworthy acts of brutality he roused himself in
the year 39 to undertake a spirited enterprise. Lentulus
GsBtulicus, proconsul of the Khenish provinces, had defied
Tiberius and refused to suiTender his command. It u.c. 792,
is probable that he was engaged in a conspiracy a.d. 39,
with persons of distinction at Home against the new emperor.

314 Murder of Caligula. ch. Lvr.

Oaius, however, marched into Gaul, and to the frontier of the*
Rhine, put down the plot, cut off the leaders of it, and banished
his own sisters, whom he found to be implicated.

In the following year he announced his intention of invading
Britain. At Gessoriacum (Boulogne) he marshalled his legions,
and reviewed them from a galley at sea ; then the trumpets
soimded, and the emperor issued the absurd command to pile
ftrms and pick up shells on the beach. These ' spoils of the
ocean,' as Oaius called them, were forwarded to the senate at
Home, with the order to deposit them among the treasures in
the Capitol.

Having thus, as he pretended, reduced the ocean to sub-
mission, he returned to llome to celebrate a gorgeous triumph.
As he approached the city he learnt that the penate had failed
to pass the necessary decrees, and, filled with fury against that
body, he gave up the idea of a triumph. His treatment of the
nobles now became unbearably insolent. One day, he threatened
to make his horse a consul. Another, he laughingly suggested
to the consuls, as a good joke, that with one word he could
cause their heads to roll on the floor.

The end of this monstrous principate was drawing near,
tiot from general indignation of the senate or people, but from
resentment at a private affront. Oassius Ohserea, a tribune of
the praetorians, vowed vengeance on the emperor for softie gibe
with which he had lightly stung him. Associates who had
grievances to avenge were soon found, and the conspirators
only waited for the propitious moment to strike the blow.
Four days did Oaius preside at the theatre surrounded by the
men who had sworn to slay him. At last, as he was passing
through a vaulted passage from the palace to the circus, Ohserea
and another tribune, Sabinus, fell upon him and struck him
tr.c. 794, down. Others of the party kept rM the German
A.D. 41. body-guards till he had been despatched with thirty
wounds. The assassins all escaped, and the body was hastily
buried. The senate, to which the tyrant's death was promptly
announced, was thrown into confusion, and undecided how to
act. They could only agree to destroy the infant child of the
late Osesar and its mother Osesonia. The decision, however,
was taken out of their hands. Some of the guards roaming
through the palace discovered, hiding behind a curtain, a
person whom they recognised as Olaudius, the uncle of their

CH. Lvi, Accession of Claudius. 3 1 J

murdered chief. They led him, more dead than alive with
fear, to the camp of the preetorians, and demanded a largess.
He promised lavishly. Then the soldiers hore him on their
shoulders to the curia^ and required the senators to accept him
as the last living representative of the Caesars. All opposition
quailed hefore the will of the soldiers : the offices and honours
of empire were at once heaped upon the man who, up to that
day^ had been deemed unfit to discharge the meanest functions
of civil or military government. Any transient bope of re-
storing the republic collapsed. The treasury and the granaries
were empty, and if Rome did not appoint an emperor, she must
accept a dictator.

Claudius at once avenged his nephew's death by the exe-
cution of Chserea and Sabinus, but his timid nature shrank
from blood-shedding, and he preferred to propitiate bis nobles
rather than attempt to crush them. He was careful, however,
to secure his own life. Guards were constantly posted round
his person at table, and on all public occasions ; and none was
suffered to approach him without being searched for concealed
weapons. Thus reassured, Claudius proclaimed au amnesty to
all political exiles, and displayed in many particulars a kind
and generous spirit. He restored to Greece and Asia the
statues of which Caius had robbed them. He paid special
honours to the memory of Germanicus, Augustus, and Livia.
So popular did he become, that when, by chance, a lepoit of
his assassination was spread abroad, the people were violently
excited ; they assailed the senators and soldiers with cries of
treason and panicide, and were not to be appeased till their
fevourite appeared in person before them.

The contemporary accounts represent this emperor as feeble
in health, with shambling gait, and misshapen limbs and
figure. His busts, however, show a fine intelligent counte-
nance harassed by pain and perplexity of spirit. Uxorious by
temperament, he married a number of wives in succession, but
was free from the libidinous excesses common among his class
and family. His special weakness was gluttony ; but at the
outset of his reign he was debarred by poverty from the wild
extravagances of Caius, and he dared not, like him, replenish
his coffers by the proscription of his nobles and the confiscation
of their estates.

Claudius began at once to devote his time and his powers to

3 1 6 Conquest of Britain. ch. lvl

the pul>lic service. Thoagh his wits may have heen slow, his
industry was untiring and his zeal sincere. In the administra-
tion of justice he would tire out his legal assessors hy his
unwearied application to business. If some of his measures
^ere pedantic and old-fashioned, others displayed a breadth of
view and liberality of spirit unknown since the time of the
great Julius. Indeed he carried out the policy of his great
ancestor by largely extending the R<jman franchise to the
provincials. In the control of the provincial governors, and the
vindication of the majesty of Rome on all the frontiers of the
empire, he was no less successful. But his most brilliant enter-
prise was the invasion and actual subjugation of Britain. In
u.c. 796, the year 43 Aulus Plautius landed with four legions,
Aj). 43. probably on the coast of Kent, and, having over-
come all resistance, crossed the Thames into the country of the
Trinobantes, who occupied Essex and Hertfordshire. Here the
emperor joined the army, and so active were his movements,
that within sixteen days he had subdued this people and
planted a colony, Oamulodunum (now Colchester), on the site
of their capital.

Claudius then returned at once to Home, but his lieutenants
Continued to prosecute the conquest with success. Vespasianus
reduced the western country as far as the Exe and the Severn.
Gstorius Scapula advanced to the Wye and the foot of the
Welsh mountains. The Britons, headed by Oaractacus, made
a gallant but fruitless resistance. They were utterly routed,
and their leader, who had escaped from the field, was soon after
betrayed to the Romans, and carried off to Rome to figure in
the triumph which Claudius had justly earned. This tiiumph
was conducted after a new fashion. In the course of it the
captive Caractacus was allowed to address the emperor in a
speech not unworthy of a patriot ; and the latter, to his credit^
spared his prisoner's life.

In the East, Claudius effected a new settlement of the
frontier provinces. Many suppliant princes who had thronged
the court of Tiberius and Caius were sent off to govern their
native realms in dependence upon the sovereign empire. Among
these was Herod Agrippa, who was not only confirmed in bis
sway over Galilee, but received in addition the province of
Palestine. The Jews, who had been on the brink of rebellion,
owing to the threat of Caius to set up his statue in their temple.

XH. Lvi. The Jews at Rome, 317

were pleased with this concession and celebrated the return of
Agrippa to Jerusalem as a national triumph. The reign of
Ilerod was not of long duration. In tbe following year, a.d. 44,
at Csesarea, after addressing the people, he was saluted by tie
' Hellenising section of them as a god. His death by a terrible
disease followed within a few days ; his son was retained in Italy
as a hostage ; and Judaea became once more part u.c. 797,
of the proconsular province of Syria. For several ^^' ***•
generations the Jews had been accustomed to roam beyond the
narrow limits of their own country. Wherever trade was
active, in the great cities of the Euphrates, in Alexandria, in
the ports of Greece and Asia Minor, they had settled in large
numbers. Such a colony existed also at Rome, and occupied
a quarter of their own. Many of these people were highly
cultivated, and ingratiated themselves with the best families, to
whom their religious doctrines began to be familiar. Julius
Caesar and Augustus showed them much favour, but owing to
their turbulence and quarrelsome disposition, Tiberius punished
them by deporting 4,000 of them to Sardinia. Under Claudius
they gave similar cause of offence to the government. It may
be that their hatred of the rising sect of Christians was tbe
cause of these troubles. A scarcity of corn occurred, and finding
it difficult to provide the Roman populace with food, the govern-
ment took the opportunity to order a general expulsion of the
Jews.

The subjection of Claudius to his wivas has been much
dwelt upon by historians, and has rendered him a by-word for
weakness and stupidity. After divorcing first one and then
another, he married for his third wife the infamous Valeria
Messalina. Her infidelities and the arts by which she deceived
her husband are described as surpassing all bounds. At length,
during the emperor^s absence from Rome, she cast her eyes
upon a young and virtuous noble named Silius, and we are
assiired publicly went through the ceremony of marriage with
him. Claudius was with difficulty roused to a sense of his
dishonour, and gave the order for them both to be ^.c. goi,
executed. It has been hinted, however, that the a.d. 48.
emperor had already divorced his wicked wife, and himself
brought about this second marriage in order to satisfy the pre-
diction of a soothsayer that the husband of Messalina was

, . 1 , J J il Digitized by VniJVJ VIC

destined to a speedy death. ^

'3 1 8 The Wives of Claudius, .cir. 1,^1.

It is important to oWorve here that the materials for the
history of this period are far from trustworthy. Even the great
Tacitufl is not to he implicitly relied on. There is distinct
reason to helieve that the affairs of Claudius were studiously
misrepresented. The most popular account of them was derived
from the scandalous memoirs of Agrippina, which were greedily
accepted and repeated by the ribald anecdotists of the next
generation. Her aim in writing them seems to have been to
blast the fame of Messalina, whose vacant place she filled, to
discredit Claudius, and to magnify her own merits and those of
her son Nero.

On the death of Messalina there ensued a great struggle in
the palace for the succession to the imperial couch. Claudius
had allowed the management of aflairs to fall for the most
part into the hands of freedmeh, all of whom were of Greek
origm. Narcissus, Callistus, and Pallas put forth each a candidate
for marriage with the emperor. Agrippina, who gained the
prize, is said to have owed it even more to her own seductive
arts than to the favour of her powerful advocate, Pallas. This
second heroine of the name was a daughter of Germanicus, sister
of Caius Caligula, and niece of the reigning emperor. The
objections to the maniage of an uncle with his niece were
easily overruled.

Agrippina began at once to exert all her influence to secure
the succession to her own son by a former husband, Domitius
Ahenobarbus. She spared no pains, and probably no falsehood,
to disgust her facile spouse with the memory of the wretched
jMessaUna, by whom he had a son named Britannicus. Claudius
consented to adopt the young Domitius into his family, by the
name of Nero, placed him on a level with his own child, and
allowed him to be betrothed to Octavia, the sister of Britannicus.
Agrippina, who had been bom among the Rhenish camps, was
careful to keep up her interest and popularity with the army ;
and for this purpose foimded the military colony of Colonia
Agrippinensis, now Cologne. She took her seat beside the
emperor at all military spectacles, and had her Image stamped
with his upon the coins.

Under the influence of his freedmen and his ambitious consort,
Claudius was induced to sully hb later years by many acts of
cruelty. By the time that Nero, now in his sixteenth year, was
married to Octavia, the plans of Agrippina had ripened. The

CH. LVI.

His Death, 319

constitution of the emperor, weakly from the first, was beginning
to break up, and his wife resolved to hasten his end. She took
counsel with the infamous Locusta, who made a profession of
the art of poisoning. During a journey taken by the r.c. 807,
emperor into Campania for the benefit of his health, ^^' ^'
she found means of introducing poison into a dish of mushrooms,
of which he was very fond. Perhaps the dose was too strong,
for he vomited and the drug failed of its effect, Agrippina
hastily secured the services of the physician in attendance, who
thrust a poisoned feather down the patient's throat under pre-»
tence of assisting him, and the efifect was sufliciently rapid.

CHAPTER LVII.

THE EEIGN OF NERO.

The reign of Claudius had been, on the whole, a period of
general prosperity and contentment forthe empire. The machine
of government, both in the. city and in the provinces, had worked
smoothly and steadily. The success of the legions in Britain
And in Germany had added lustre to the Roman name. Both the
senate and the populace had been treated with consideration and
generosity. Yet in spite of his inoffensive character, the feebly
dulness of Claudius, and his want of self-respect in the matter
of his wives, brought upon him more contempt and odium than
all the vices of the Csesars before him. This feeling was care-
fully encouraged by Agrippina, in order to lower the estimation
of Britannicus, and enhance the popular expectation of her own
child, Domitius Nero.

Seneca, the philosopher, had been charged with the educa-
tion of the prince. Burrhus, the prefect of the praetorians, had
undertaken to maintain his claims to the empire. With the
help of these two men, Agrippina found no difficulty in thrusting
3ritannicus aside and installing the upstart Nero on the imperial
throne. The beauty of his person, the grace of his demeanour,
and his reputation for rare talents and accomplishments,
inclined the Romans to welcome him as their ruler. These
brilliant hopes seemed for some time destined to be fulfilled.

320 Nero and Agrippina. ch. lvii.

Under Seneca's guidance, aided by the manly sense of Buirlius,
Nero held the balance between the senate and the people,
and gratified both. His teachers urged upon him counsels of
moderation, courtesy, and clemency, which he carried out in
practice. The first five years of Nero's reign, the famous
* Quinquennium Neronis,* were long celebrated as an era of
virtuous and able government. The wise statesmen, in whose
hands Nero was little more than an instrument, were content
simply to protect the machinery of government from disturbance,
and the Roman world enjoyed the privilege of being ruled wiiif
a ' masterly inactivity.'

The young emperors worst enemy was his own mother,
Agrippina. From the day of his accession she resolved to share
his state and power. She was borne in the same litter with
him ; she stamped the coins with her own head beside his ; she
received ambassadors, and sent despatches to foreign courts.
Finding that her influence upon her son was altogether evil,
Seneca and Burrhus brought about the disgrace and dismissal
of Pallas, her freedman and confidant, on a charge of treason.
Agrippina threatened to use her influence with the army, and
even hinted at setting up Britannicus as the rightful heir to
the empire. These threats roused Nero's jealousy agcdnst the
u.c. 808, young prince; the services of the vile Locusta
A.D. M. \ret^ again employed, and the innocent stripling
was poisoned at a banquet in the palace in the pi-esence of the
guilty emperor.

The schism between the mother and son became now,
complete. Her intrigues with the chiefs of the army were
disclosed to him, and he retaliated by withdrawing the guard
from her house, and never paying her a formal visit without the
precaxition of being surrounded by soldiers. It was rumoured
that both mother and son entertained designs upon the life of
the other. Nero at length insisted upon his mother's conduct
being inquired into. She was declared innocent of conspiring
against him, and she in turn had the satisfaction of bringing
some of her accusers to punishment. As time went on, the
young emperor sank more and more into licentious and extra-
vagant habits : by the former what remained to him of natural
good feeling was becoming fast extinguished ; by the latter he
was being entangled in necessities, which could not fail to drive
him to tyrannical and bloody excesses. If he still ingratiated

CH. Lvii, Murder of Agrippina. %2\

himself with the people by remis^oiis of taxation, he was ahout
to indemnify himself by the proscription of the wealthiest of
the nobles, and the confiscation of many vast estates.

The most beautiful woman then in Rome, and one of the
most licentious, was Poppaea Sabina, wife of the dissolute
Salyius Otho. She entangled Nero in an amour with her, and
suffered him to send her husband to a distant govemment in
Lusitania, while she employed aJI her arts to obtain the divorce
of Octavia, and her own elevation to the imperial couch. The
great obstacle in her way was the power and influence of the
empres&-mother, who angrily supported Octavia in her rights.
Poppeea revived against her the charges which had been examined
and rebutted four years before, and Nero, under the teaching of
Poppaea, was less unwilling to believe them.

The tyrant now determined on the murder of his own mother.
He contrived that as she crossed the smooth waters of the
bay of Baiae her galley should founder. To the disappoint-
ment of her son, Agrippina escaped to land, and sent a message
to him. He assembled his ministers, and at last extracted from
them the counsel for which he was longing. . Seneca and Burrhus
felt that the palace must be relieved from the intrigues which
had so long harassed it. They consented to complete the frus-
trated crime by the hand of assassins. A pretext was easily
invented, the order was given, and the empress was despatched
without delay. As she lay prostrate before her murderers,
* Strike,' she cried, 'the womb that bore a monster.* u.c. 812,
Nero is reported to have himself inspected the corpse, ^^' *^'
and expressed his admiration of its beauty. Such were the
horrors over which Roman society then shuddered and gloated.

Popp»a now obtained entire sway over the tyrant, living
with him openly as his mistress, and encouraging him to give
himself up to the coarsest and most disgusting pleasures. It
was not till three years later that she cared to obtain the divorce
and exile of Octavia, her own release from Otho, and finally
her marriage with Nero. Installed as empress, she bore him
one child, and died soon after from the effects of a kick in-
flicted by her husband during a second pregnancy.

The faithful Burrhus was relieved by death from the sight
of his prince's increasing depravity. It was rumoured that
Nero had had him poisoned, but of this there is no sufficient
evidence^ Many nobles, however, were at this ttme pposcribed^

322 < Great Fire of Ronte, ch. lvh.

and their wealth appropriated by the tyrant. The great freed-
men of the court of Claudius, Dor3rphorus and Pallas, fell in
like manner and were little regretted. Seneca himself^ who
had amassed great riches by usury, narrowly escaped a similar
fate. He succeeded in disproving the charges brought against
him, but accepted the warning of lus danger and retired from
court. Nero was not sorry to be relieved of the restraint of
his presence. Casting aside the stately traditions of the Roman
nobility, the emperor now strove to make himself the idol of
the populace, the scum of all nations with which Rome was
inundated. He descended into the arena, contending vdth pro-
fessional singers and musicians, and taking part in the games
of the circus. The rabble shouted with delight, but the nobles
shuddered at the degradation of their order.

It was in the summer of the year 817, the 64th of our era,
that the great fire broke out which consumed six out of the
fourteen quarters of Rome. Springing up in the eastern
portion of the city> and fanned by an east wind, it swept away
all the buildings which occupied the hollows below the Pala-
tine. For six days the fire burned furiously, and scarcely had
it died down, when another fire began in the opposite quarter,
and consumed all the region between the Pincian and the
Capitoline. Many venerable temples, works of art, and monu-
ments of antiquity perished in the fiames. The people were
panic-stricken and highly excited. It was asserted that incen-
diaries had been seen at work, and on being questioned, had
declared that they acted under orders. It was rumoured that
the emperor watched the fire from his palace, and amused him-
self with enacting the drama of the destruction of Troy in view
of it. The belief gained ground that he had himself caused the
conflagration as a spectacle for his own wanton enjoyment.

So deep was the indignation of the people that the throne
of Csesar seemed to rock upon its base. Nero hastened into the
streets, distributed in aid of their present necessities all the
money he had at hand ; and then, with characteristic cruelty,
determined to divert public attention by a persecution which
should transfer the odium from himself to his innocent victims.
The Jews were not popular in the city ; but the new sect of
Christians, which had lately arisen among them, was beginning
to excite alarm by the number of conversions it had effected
among the highest class of Romans. The Christians were

CH. Lvii, Persecution of the Christians. 323

teputed to withdraw from public and social life, and to hold
doctrines hostile to the laws and customs of Rome. It may be
that some of them had incautiously announced their expecta-
tion of the destruction of the world by fire before the coming
of their Loi-d. It is probable that the Jews would fan any
suspicions directed against the new sect. At any rate, Nero
accused the Christians of having caused the conflagration, and
commanded their execution. Numbers of victims were seized,
wrapped in pitched cloth, and set on fire, so as to bum like
torches. Even the refuse of the Roman mob was at last moved
to pity ; but their first fury had been diverted from the emperor,
and it subsided into vague distrust or careless contempt.

Meanwhile Nero continued from time to time to replenish
his cofiers by the proscription of the wealthiest nobles. In
spite of the jealousy with which the Osesars had regarded them,
this Class had contrived to accumulate great possessions, espe-
cially in land. It is said that half the soil of the province
of Africa was held in fee by no more than six proprietors. As
one after another was attacked by the tyrant, the survivors
became alarmed and conspired against him. Many of the chief
people in Rome joined the plot, at the head of which stood
Oalpumius Piso, who hoped in cai?e of success to be elevated by
the senate to the throne. Seneca and his nephew Lucan gave
their adhesion to the scheme: but the combination was be-
trayed, and collapsed without ever striking a blow. xi.q. 81 7,
Seneca and Lucan were required to take their own ^'^' **•
lives. The people seem to have had no sympathy with what
was after all a purely aristocratic faction. They still pre-
ferred the names of Marius, of Oaesar, and even of Nero, the
champions of the plebs, to any which the senate would deign
to invoke.

The ease with which this senatorial revolt had been quelled,
betrayed Nero still further to his ruin. He felt relieved from
all restraint imposed by the opinion of Roman society. His
vain exhibitions of himself and his supposed accomplishments
disgusted even slaves and foreigners. During a tour which he
made in Greece the Romans heard with indignation of their
emperor contending for prizes at the Grecian festivals. All
classes were thoroughly weary of him, but it was reserved
neither for the senate nor the people of Elome to effect a change.
A third force^ that of the army on the distant frontiers, was

324 Persecution of the Pkilosof Iters, ch. lvil

preparing to assert its power. Such a catastrophe as a pro-
Tincial governor marchiog in arms against his imperator and
driving him from the throne, had never yet occurred ; though
in more than one instance the CsBsars had descended with
irresistible might upon their lieutenants, and snatched from them
the power which began to he too great.

It may be that jealousy of Domitius Oorbulo, the Syrian
proconsul, was the motive which led Nero to the East. If so,
the emperor was misguided by his own miserable vanity. This
popular and successful commander was thoroughly loyal to his
master, and when Nero required him to throw himself upon his
own sword, he lost in him one of his most trusty servants.
Meanwhile G^ba, his general in Spain, on whom he blindly
relied, was preparing to draw the sword against him.

In the year 68 Nero returned to Rome from Greece, urged
by repeated warnings irom his freedman Helius, whom he had
left as governor of the city. He had amused the Greeks, he
had pretended to compliment them with the gift of freedom :
he had at least begun the useful work of cutting through the
Isthmus of Corinth. On the other hand, he had robbed them of
thousands of statues and artistic treasures for the decoration of
his own capital. He had also offended them by his persecution
at Home of the stoic philosophers Seneca, Barea, Thrasea, and
others. The gravity and earnestness of these men, in an age
which had heard the early teachings of the gospel, began to
draw men's minds away from the contemplation of the tyrant's
greatness. Such a fact was sufficient to excite his jealousy
against them, as against the Christians. Both philosophers and
Christians were really quiet inoffensive subjects: both sub-
mitted patiently to the emperor's ruthless edicts ; but while the
sufferings of the men of science passed into oblivion, those of
the men of faith left a burning memory behind them, which
brought about in course of time the greatest of all social and
moral revolutions.

Nero returned to find his capital rebuilt and beautified in
Grecian style, and to occupy his splendid pala:.'e, his golden
.House as it was called, which extended its luxiudous precincts
not only over the Palatine, but over portions of the, Cffilian and
Esquiline as. well. Gardens, lakes, baths, pleasure grounds,
were included in the imperial domain, with bridges and galleries
to connect the various mansions. ^Now at lastj^' said Nero,

CK. Lvii. Revolt of Galba, 325

* I am lodf?fid as a man should be/ and the saying was remem-
bered against him.

Meanwhile plots were rife in the armies of Spain and Gaul,
and in the city the temper of the nobles was gloomy, that of
the mob uncertain.

The emperor returned in excellent spirits on account of the
favourable oracle obtained by him at Delphi. ' Beware ! * said
the prophetess, ' of the seventy-third year.' To a youth of
thirty such a warning seemed to promise a long career. It
proved to have another and a fatal meaning. Ho entered
Naples, Antiiun, and Rome in a succession of triumphs, but
only to hear the news that a revolt was imminent. Galba, the
governor of Hither Spain, was in league with Vindex of Farther
Gaul. Galba had his omens too. In his childhood the great
Augustus had let fall to him the words, ' You too shall some
day taste of empu-e.' He was now in his seventy-third year.
It was upon Vindex that Nero firet fixed his attention. He
called upon Virginius to lead the legions of Germauia against
him. The soldiers were loyal, though their general was not ;
they cut the legions of Vindex to pieces, and the rebel leader
perished with his troops. Then they changed their minds, and
proposed to raise their own commander to the purple, but Vir-
ginius preferred to follow in the wake of Galba, and thus the two
great provinces of the West prepared to march against Rome.

Some months elapsed before the legions of Gaul and Spain
could reach the heart of Italy. Nero seemed incapable of devi-
sing any serious defence ; and diuring this period of suspense
displayed the contemptible weakness of h:s character. When
the danger became imminent, he tore his hair and robes and
cried aloud in abject terror. Abandoned by all men, he had no
resooice left but suicide ; no guard or gladiator could be found
to pierce his breast ; even his casket, which contained the
poison supplied to him by Locusta, had been stolen. When
night came on, he took horse with one or two attendants and
«3caped from the city to the neighbouring villa of his freedman
Phaon. Here he lingered a few hours in utter prostration of
spirit, when news arrived that the senate, on hearing of his
lUght, had proclaimed him a public enemy and sentenced him
to a shameful death. Taking two daggers from his breast, he
tried again and again to nerve himself to the fatal deed ; but it
'Was not till the sound of horses' hoo& was heard, and the

326 Death of Nero: gh. lvii.

messengers of death were plainly closing upon him, that he
placed a weapon to his hreast and hade his slave Epaphroditus
drive it home. The corpse was imperfectly consumed on the
spot, and the remains afterwards huried in the Domitian gar-
dens on the Fincian. It is recorded as a striidng circumstance
that even such a monster as Nero found some unlqiown hands
to strew flowers upon his urn.

Nero perished on June 9, OS (u.c. 821), at the age of thirty
years and six months, in the fourteenth year of his principate.
Kis child hy Poppaea had died in infancy, and a later marriage
had proved unfruitful. With him the stock of the Julii,
refreshed as it had heen hy grafts from the Octavii, the Olaudii,
and the Domitii, hecame extinct. Each of the six Caesars had
married repeatedly, Claudius as often as six times ; many of
these unions had heen fruitful, yet no descendant of any sur-
vived. A large proportion of them had fallen victims to
political jealousy. Such was the price paid hy the emperor's
family for their splendid inheritance. The empire, however,
had enjoyed, for a hundred years, immunity from civil discord
and promiscuous hloodshed, till the secret was discovered that
a prince could he created elsewhere than at Rome, and from
this time the succession of the Eoman emperors was most
conunonly effected hy the distant legions, and seldom without
violence and slaughter.

CHAPTER LVni.

CONTEST FOB THE EMPIRE DURING EIGHTEEN MONTHS. SALBA,
OTHO, AND VITELLIUS, SUCCEED EACH OTHER. VESPASIAN
ACKNOWLEDGED EMPEROR.

Servius SuLPicirs Galba had heen proclaimed imperator hy
the legions in Spain on April 13, almost two months hefore the
actual fall of Nero, On hearing of the emperor^s death he
advanced to Narho, where he met the envoys charged hy the
consuls and the senate to acknowledge his claim to empire.
Competitors indeed started up in various quarters, and among
them, Nymphidius, the prefect of th^ j)r^t<^j^^^^t none

CH. Lviii. Ga/ia and Piso, 327

of them could make head against the fortunes of Galba^ who
assumed the title of Csesar, and proclaimed him- ^.c, 822.
self the successor of the great Julius. He entered A-d* c^*
Rome as a victorious general on January 1 of the following
year.

Galha was a man of ancient family^ a successful soldier,
and a strict disciplinarian, but he possessed no grace of manner
to persuade, nor force of genius to command. He felt insecure
of the obedience of the great proconsuls, with their numerous
legions posted on the Rhine and the Euphrates. He therefore,
with the help of some of the chief citizens, who went through
the form of an election, associated with himself in power Piso
Licinianus, a noble of distinction. The new Caesar, however,
was as austere and unpopular as Galba himself, and the
emperor's parsimony towards the soldiers, who expected a
liberal donative, grievously disappointed them.

No man in Rome was so mortiiied by Piso's elevation as
Otho. This noble, whom Nero had removed to Lusitania when
he took from him his wife Poppsea, had re-entered Rome in
Galba*s train.

He at once took advantage of the discontent which was
rife among the troops, and as early as January 14, the fifth
day after Piso s election, his intrigues had so far succeeded,
that the praetorians were prepared to carry him to their camp
at nightfall, and present him to the people as the choice of the
soldiers in the morning. But Otho acted with more delibera-
tion. On the morning of the loth Galba was sacrificing before
the temple of Apollo on the Palatine, when the aruspex
informed him that the signs were inauspicious and portended
a foe to his household. Otho was standing by and accepted
the words as an omen. He quitted the emperor's side, and
descended into the Roman Forum. Here he was met by a
handful of soldiers, who hailed him as imperator, and with
drawn swords bore him to the praetorian camp. The revolt
was at once complete.

Galba had not yet finished his sacrifice when the report of
the mutiny reached him.

Hasty measures were taken to ascertain the fidelity of the
cohort on guard, and of the German and Illyrian troops quar^
tered in the Campus and the city. Both soldiers and people
appeared to be indifi^erent and indisposed toini^ifr'teither for or

328 Fall of Galba. ch. lvhi*

against the imperator. Galba turned iiTcaolutely from one to
another of his advisers. At last he sent Piso before him to the
Forum. Presently a report was spread that Otho had been
slain by the praetorians. One of the guards waved a bloody
sword, exclaiming that it was he who had killed Otho. ' Com-
rade/ said the old man, ' who commanded you ? ' The words
were treasured up as worthy of a Roman imperator, but they
struck no chord of loyalty among the soldiers or the people.
By the time that Gklba had overtaken Piso in the Fonim, ha
was met by the tumultuous band of the praetorians advancing
with Otho in their midst. A single cohort surrounded Galba^
but they quickly made common cause with their comrades.
The emperor's litter was overturned at the Cuitian pool beneatli
the OapitoJ, and there Galba was hacked to pieces. The murder
of Piso soon followed, though for a moment he made a brave
defence, and forced his way into the temple of Vesta, where,
however, he found no secure asylum. The praetorians, fully
sensible of their own importance, demanded to choose their
own prefects* The Empire had in fact become a military
republic.

The sudden fall of this unfortunate ruler must have caused
great disappointment to all the more sober citizena Such
among them as were superior to the popular illusion in favour
of a prince of the Julian race, to which a kind of divine right
seemed already to attach, might well have imagined that one of
the most able and experienced of their military chiefs would
have held sway over the people and the legions with a firm and
equal hand. The men who now governed the provinces, nobles
by birth, senators in rank, judges and administrators as well as
captains by office, represent the highest and largest training of
the Roman character, for they combined a wide experience of
men and affairs with the feelings of a high-born aristocracy
and the education of polished gentlemen. They were con*
querors, but they were also organisers. They were the true
promoters of the Roman civilisation which has left its impress
upon Europe for so many centmies. The citizens felt assured
that it must be through personal mismanagement that Galba,
the representative of this class, had failed to command success.
Tacitus, speaking solemnly in the name of his countrymen,
after summing up h's many excellent qualities, declares that all
men would have pronounced him fit to rule had he but never

Digitized by VjjiJ^ VIC

CH. Lviri; Brief Reign of Otho. 329

ruled. Undoubtedly^ he should have condescended to hribe the
soldiers at the outset; this would have given him a breathing*
time^ and afforded the only chance of controlUng them. His
successors took care not to fall into the same error. Some
failed notwithstanding, but others succeeded in consequence.
Meanwhile the legions in Gkiul and on the Rhine, under the
command of Valens, Osecina, and Vitellius, had already refused
the military oath to Galba at tiie opening of the year. Vitel-
lius was put forward as their candidate. The other chiefs of
the army acquiesced in his superior claimu and consented to act
as his lieutenants, and it was resolved at* once to march upon
Home. Valens and Osecina, as bolder and better captains, led
the advance. Vitellius delayed his progress till he was assured
of the adhesion of the Narbonensis and Aquitania to his cause.
Otho, to whom the senate had already taken the oath of
fidelity, on hearing of the defection of Vitellius, offered to
satisfy all his claims, and even to share the empire with him.
This offer Vitellius had the spirit to refuse.

As soon as it became evident that the empire must be
decided by the sword, Otho quitted Rome at the head of all the
forces he could muster. He encountered the army of Osecina
as they were marching across the Cisalpine, and inflicted a
severe check upon them. But when Valens, coming from the
Western Alps, effected his junction with them, the two com-
manders assumed an attitude of defiance, and challenged Otho
to a decisive battle at Bedriacum, near the confluence of the
Adda and the Po. After a resolute and bloody contest the
victory remained with the Vitellians, whereupon the Othonians
promptly admitted them to their camp and made common
cause with them. The position of Otho, who was surrounded
b}' a band of fidthful followers, might still not be desperate.
J3ut he determined to refrain from further resistance, and,
hopeless as he was of preserving his life from his enemies, he
saciificed it with his own hand. Vitellius was lazily descend-
ing the Saone in a barge to avoid the iatigue of marching. At
LugduBum he met Valens and Osscina returned victorious from
the Cisalpine, and thereupon he assumed the ensigns of empire.
Some cruel executions followed, but not many. The Romans,,
indeed, gave him little credit for generr>sity, and insisted that
his clemency was merely the indifference of a gross debauchee,
who cared for nothing but his gluttonous gratifications. As he

33o Vitellius assumes the Purple. ch. lviii,

marched slowly along, all the country round was swept for
delicacies for his table. But his edicts at least were moderate
and popular. He waived for the present the title of Augustus,
and-positively refused that of Caesar. He directed the diviners,
the favourites of Otho and Nero, to be expelled from Italy, and
forbade the Eoman knights to disgrace their order by fighting
in the arena* It was acknowledged that his wife Galeria and
his mother Sextilia conducted themselves in their high positions
with noble simplicity. During his advance into Italy he asso-
ciated with himself Yirginius, the most generous Roman of his
day, who had openly espoused his cause. Yet the Romans
were slow to forgive the victor in a battle against Romans.
They declared that when he reached Bedriacum he showed no
remorse at the death of so many of his countrvmen. At last
he would have entered the city, cloaked and booted, in the
garb of war, at the head of his conquering troops ; but from this
atrocity he was dissuaded, and at the Milvian Bridge he laid
down his military ensigns, and traversed the streets in the civil
praetexta, the soldiers following, but with sheathed swords.

Thus far the armies of the East had taken no part in the
contest. They were fully occupied in watching the Parthians,
in controlling the Egyptians, and in suppressing the revolt
which in the last year of Nero's reign had broken out in
Palestine.

Mucianus was proconsul of Syria. Second to him in com-
mand, but held in no less honour by the soldiers, was T. Flavius
Vespasianus, a plebeian by birth, who with his son Titus was
actively employed in Palestine. Both these generals had
nominally acquiesced in the claims of Galba, of Otho, of Vitel-
lius, in succession, but had given them no active support.
Vespasian was inspired with a fanatical belief in his own good
fortune, and under the influence of oriental diviners became
tilled with the idea that he was destined for empire. Mucianus
u.c. 822, conceded to him the first place and lent him all his
A.D. 69. influence. On July 1, the soldiers proclaimed him
imperator, to which the titles of Osesar and Augustus were
speedily added. Mucianus now undertook to lead one division
into Italy ; Vespasian remained for a time in Syria to maintain
the frontiers and concert alliances ; to Titus was entrusted the-
conduct of the war in Palestine.

Mucianus advanced slowly, no preparations having been

tH. Lviii. Vespasian proclaimed Emperor. ' 331

made in advance. He was joined by three Illyrian legions,
who recognised in him the avenger of Otho the friend of Nero.
The seeds of further defection were sown by letters to the
troops in Spain^ in Gaul^ and in Britain.

At the moment that the Syrian legions were proclaiming
Vespasian, Vitellius was making his entry as emperor into
Bome. So far as he took any part in public aJSau's, his
behaviour seems to have been modest and becoming. But he
left the real government to be managed by Valens and Oaecina
with gross oppression and extortion, while he surrendered him-
self wholly to the vilest debauchery. Within the few months
of his power he spent nine hundred millions of sesterces (seven
millions of pounds sterling) in vulgar and brutal sensuality.
The police of the city was neglected. The soldiers, imcontroUed,
inflicted great hardships on the citizens. The freedmen,
Asiaticus and Polycletus, became powers in the state. The
degradation of Rome was complete : never before had she sunk
so low in luxury and licentiousness. Three legions of Vespa-
sian had crossed the Alps under Antonius Primus, who led the
van of Mucianua' army. Valens and Csecina, with a powerful
force, were despatched to oppose him. But Piimus confidently
challenged them to the combat and defeated them on the plains
of Bedriacum. Cremona fell into his hands and was given
over to plunder and burning.

Vitellius was still at Rome grovelling in his beastly indul-
gences, refusing to credit the account of his disasters, but
wreaking his fears and jealousies upon the best of the nobles
within his reach. The Flavian generals sent him back their
prisoners, that he might learn the truth from their own mouths.
Vitellius saw, interrogated, and straightway slaughtered them.
At last he quitted the city at the head of the praetorians.
Primus crossed the Apennines to encounter him, while the
populations of Central Italy rose against him. The two armies
confronted one another in the valley of the Nar, but the. Vitel-
lians yielded without a blow. Terms were offered by Primus
which were confirmed by Mucianus and greedily accepted by
the defenceless emperor, who consented to retire quietly into
private life. But in an evil moment he was persuaded to
return to Rome, and there, at the head of a desperate faction, he
attacked the adherents of Vespasian under his brother Sabinus
imd drove them into the Capitol. An assault followed, in the

332 Fall of Vitellius. ch. lviii.

course of which fire was freely used, and the most augast
sanctuary of the Roman people was burnt to the ground.
Vitellius watched the struggle from the palace opposite, the
people from the Forum and Velabrum beneath. The citizens
were keenly reminded of the sack of Home by the Gauls, for
the soldiers of Vitellius came from Gaul, and were mostly of
Gaulish extraction. At length thef^e Gauls and Germans burst
in with yells of triumph and put the Flavian defenders to the
sword. But Domitian, the younger son of Vespasian, who had
taken refuge in the holy precincts, contrived to slip away in
dL«guise. The Flavian legions, under Mucianus and Antonius
Primus, were now steadily advancing upon the city. One last
effort was made by the Vitellian soldiers and the rabble of the
city to resist them, but in vain. The victors entered pell-mell
with the vanqiushed, for the gates of Rome now stood always
open ; and the combat was renewed from street to street, the
populace looking gaily on, applauding or hooting as in the
theatre, and helping to drag the fugitives from the shops and
taverns for slaughter. Rome had witnessed the conflicts of
armed men in the streets under Sulla and Oinna, but never
before such a hideous mixture of levity and ferocity.

Through all these horrors the Flavians forced their way,
and drove the Vitellians to their last stronghold, the camp of
the praetorians. A fierce conflict ensued. The assailants had
brought with them the engines requisite for a siege. They
cleared the battlements with catapults, raised mounds to the
level of the ramparts, and applied torches to the gates. Then,
bursting into tbe camp, they put every man still surviving to
the sword. Vitellius, on the taking of the city, had escaped
from the palace to a private dwelling on the Aventine ; but
tinder some restlees impulse he returned and roamed through
"his deserted halls, dismayed at the solitude and silence, yet
shrinking from every sound and the presence of a human being.
At last he was discovered, half-hidden behind a curtain, and
ignominiously dragged forth. With his hands bound, his dress
torn, he was hurried along, amidst tbe scoffs of the multitude,
and exposed to the insolence of the passing soldiery. Wounded
and bleeding, he was urged on at the point of the lance ; hia
bead was kept erect by a sword held beneath to compel him to
show himself, and to witness the demolition of his own statues.
At last, after suffering every form of insult, he was despatched

CH. Lviii. Affairs in Britain, 333

with many wounds at the GemonisB, to which he had been
thus brutally dragged. The death of Yitellius finally cleared
the way for Vespasian, to whom, though still far distant, the
senators decreed all the honours and prerogatives of empiie.
Primus and Mucianus adhered faithfully to him, and paid their
court to his son Domitian as his acknowledged a.u. 823,
representative. Vespasian and Titus were appointed ^^* ^^^
consuls at the commencement of the new year, and to a civil
strife of eighteen months soon succeeded a stable pacification.

CHAPTER LIX.

AFFAIRS nr BRITAIN. THE GAULISH REVOLT. DBSTRTTCTION
OF JERFSALEM BY TITUS.

Our attention has been for some time confined to events whose
interest centres in Bome itself. We must now make a short
digression to notice three episodes of frontier fighting— the
further subjugation of the Britons, the suppression of the
mutiny of the Gaulish tribes, and the final conquest of Judeea.

1. After the defeat of Oaractacus, the southern part of
Britain, from the Stour in the east to the Exe and Wye in the
west, formed a compact and organised province, the govern-
TSkSsat of which was directed from Oamulodunum (Oolcheirter).

Londinium, though neither colonised nor fortified, had
already become a great centre of continental trade, from which
com and cattle and handsome slaves were exported in exchange
for the manufactures of the Belgian and Rhenish cities. Roads
of earlier than Roman construction traversed the country irom
Dover and Richborough to Seaton and Brancaster, to the
Severn, the Dee, and the Northern Ouse, and all of them passed
through Londinium. Four legions occupied the country. The
Second, which, under the command of Vespasian, had subdued
the south-west, was quartered at Oaerleon, on ti^e Usk. The
Ninth kept guard over the independent tribe of the Iceni at
Brancaster, on the Stour. The Twentieth, at Chester, watdbed
the Brigantes, who maintaiued their independence in the North.
The Fourteenth was engaged in carrying on the conquest of
North Wales. Numb^ of Druids, escap^lEri^ « France^

334 Revolt of the Iceni. ch. lix,

together with their British colleagues, retreated before the
conquerors into the sacred isle of Mona (Anglesea).

The Fourteenth legion, led by Suetonius Paulinus, haying
reached Segontium (Caernarvon), prepared rafts to carry the
infantry over the Menai Strait, while the cavalry swam their

A.D. 61, horses across the channel. The Britons made a

u.c. 814. gallant resistance in defence of their liberty and
their faith, but they were massacred in numbers by the Roman
soldiery, and the Druidical worshi{) was finally abolished.

Suetonius was suddenly recalled by news of disaster in his
rear. The Iceni, headed by their Queen Boadicea, who burned
to avenge the insults offered by Romans to herself and her
daughters, had burst in great multitudes across the Stour, had
sacked and burned both Oamulodunum and Verulamium, in
Hertfordshire, putting the colonists to the sword ; and when
Suetonius appeared upon the scene he was unable to save
Londinium from the like fate. The Britons vastly outnumbered
the Roman legions, and, flushed with conquest, for some time
harassed them severely. Suetonius, confident in the discipline
of his troops, coolly watched his enemies as they encumbered
themselves with plunder, and offered them battle on ground
of his own choosing. The event proved that his confidence
was well founded ; despite the eloquence and courage of
Boadicea, the barbarians wavered and broke before the steady

A.D. 61, onset of the legions ; 80,000 of them were slain ;

u.c. 814. their queen committed sijicide, and the revolt of the
Iceni was subdued.

This outbreak had cost the Roman colony dear both in
wealth and numbers. It is said that 70,000 of them perished.
But these losses were quickly repaired. The Roman yoke,
now firmly fixed, brought peace and prosperity to the country,
whose wealth of flocks and mines was rapidly developed.
Before the death of Nero, the Roman province extended to the
Mersey and the Trent. The Britons had fought bravely for their
freedom, but they were quick to perceive the advantages of a
higher civilisation, and submitted more readily than many other
nations to their Roman conquerors.

2. We may now turn to the mutiny of the Gaulish auxi-
liaries. A large portion of the upper classes of Gaul had been
thoroughly incorporated into the Roman Empire and were
reckoned as Roman citizens. From aiion| these natives and

CH. Lix. Revolt of Gaulish Troops, 335

the Homan colonists, the legions were recruited which garrisoned
the country, and watched the frontier of the Rhine. A yet
larger portion of the population were still looked upon as subjects
and Gauls, and from this class auxiliary troops were leyied,
which were brigaded with the legions, but occupied an inferior
position. During the civil wars which followed the death of
Nero, both Gralba and Vitellius haddmwn largely on the strength
of the legions in Gaul ; the auxiliaries in consequence found
themselves in a great preponderance of numbers over the
regular troops. Advantage was taken of this circumstance by
Civilis, a Romanised Batavian, to seduce his countrymen from
their allegiance, and incite them to claim the right of choosing
an emperor for themselves. The legions on the Rhine adhered
to the cause of Vitellius. Oivilis and his Batavians declared
for Vespasian, and the Gaulish auxiliaries throughout the
Khemsh camps joined their forces to his. It soon appeared,
however, that the movement was in reality directed towards
the liberation of the country. Oivilis himself was put forward
as the chief of an independent empire. The steadiness with
which the legions, weakened and ill-commanded as they were,
resisted this mutiny is well worthy of notice. Outnumbered
in the field, they shut themselves up in strong camps and stood
a siege. They were relieved, and before long again overmatched
by the mutineers ; but in the face of heavy odds they held the
country bravely for Rome. As soon as Vespasian was firmly
seated on the throne, he despatched Mucianus and Domitian
with supports to these brave legions, but even before the succour
reached them, they had mastered their enemy and driven the
Gaulish hero out of his island in the Rhine into the German
forests. Olassicus and Tutor, two of the native chiefs, weie
slain. Oivilis, however, made terms, and was allowed to
return and live peaceably at home. Julius Sabinus, who claimed
descent from tbe first Osesar, after living for nine years in woods
and caves, threw himself upon the clemency of Vespasian, but
was at once put to death. Thus ended the last national effort
of the Gauls. It was strictly confined to the soldiery, and never
stirred the mass of the people. Its leaders were all officers in*
the Roman army whose aim was self-aggrandisement. Ther
two great elements of Gaulish nationality, the nobility and the
priesthood, had been absorbed and assimilated by the Empire.
The nobles were content to become centurions and tribunes;

33^ R^oli of the Jews. ch. vol

the Druids rejoiced in tbe titles »nd pensiaBS of augnrs and
ilamens. We shall hear no more either of one or of the other.

3. Contemporary with these events in the West was the
last desperate struggle of the Jews for their national inde-
pendence^ which issued in its final extinction hy Titus*

Under the first five of the OsBsars^ Judaea, though suhject to
the empire, generally enjoyed a semhlance of independent
government under its native princes of the &mily of Herod,
'pasaing, however, at times under the direct control of Roman
officers styled procurators who represented the authority of the
governor of the province of Syria. After the death of Herod
Agrippa, A.D. 44, the country was permanently annexed to
Syria, and was governed hy a procurator, who redded at Caesarea.
The Jews were at this time in a ferment of political and
religious excitement. Many false Ghrists appeared and drew
the people after them. The nation was pervaded hy an uneasy
expectation of some great impending change. Caligula nearly
caused an outbreak hy his command that his own statue should
he erected in the temple ; his death occurred in time to avert
a catastrophe. Claudius showed more respect for their religious
scruples ; hut the violent temper of the Jews rendered the
task of government a most difficult one, and many oppressions
and cruelties were exercised hy the local governor without the
emperor^s sanction. At last, under the harsher government of
Nero, the spirit of disaffection grew to a head, and burst into
open rebellion. The fanatical pride of the people, stimulated
by their priests, asserted itself in a tone of defiance which Home
would never brook, and which required to be put down with a
strong hand. Some there were no doubt who counselled
moderation and submission, but the general feeling was one
of more bitter and persistent hostility than Borne had any-
where else encountered.

The resources of the Jews were more formidable than might
le supposed, judging from their small extent of territory, which
scarcely exceeded that of Belgium or Portugal in the present
day. But the population was unusuaUy dense, and had been
exempted from tbe military levies which had exhausted many
provinces. The fiower of their youth had been trained indeed
to arms, but only to serve under native leaders upon their own
soiL Armed troops of brigands were at hand to swell tbe ranks
of a national army. A sworn band of assassins, the Sicarii^ the

CH. Lix. Vesfasian and TittiS^ 337

men of thedagger, urged their desperate meaeures upon the priests
and nobles on peril of their lives. The names of Maccabseus,
of David, and of Joshua were invoked with genuine enthusiasm.

Casting aside the authority of the procurator in Judeea and
of Agrippa the younger in Itursea, the Sanhedrim constituted
itself a priestly and revolutionary government for the whole of
Palestine. They divided the country into seven military dis-
tricts, the command in Galilee being entrusted to Josephus,
the historian. He represented himself as an able commander,
but his countrymen have regarded him with good reason as a
traitor to their cause. Vespasian was the captain to whom the
conduct of the war was entrusted by Nero. Josephus claims
to have held lotapata against him for forty-seven days, but the
Jewish historian was captured in the final assault, and thence-
forth became the flatterer, and perhaps the instrument, of the
Komans.

During two campaigns which followed the fall of lotapata,
Vespasian slowly overran and ravaged the whole of Palestine
without attempting to attack Jerusalem. During the struggle
for the succession in Rome he withdrew to Osesarea, and from
the day when he was saluted emperor by the troops, a.d. 69,
he ceased to direct the affairs of Palestine, which were com-
mitted to the charge of his son Titus. In the year 70, Titus
advanced with four legions and numerous auxiliaries— a force
of 80,000 men — upon the devoted city. The defences of Jeru-
salem, both natural and artificial, were remarkaWy strong. Be-
hind them stood 24,000 trained warriors, and a host of irregular
combatants ; but the hundreds of thousands of worshippers
assembled for the Passover, and shut up within the walls, were
an element of weakness rather than of strength in the defence.

A yet more potent source of weakness lay in the fierce
factions by which the Jews were distracted. Hitherto the
moderate party, headed by Ananus the high-priest, had con-
trolled the city. In this great emergency all the fierce and
fanatical spirits, known as the party of the Zealots, flocked in
from the country, with Eleazar at their head. They insulted
and threatened all who were favourable to a compromise with
Rome, and in a short time made themselves masters of the
temple and its strong enclosure, and forced the whole people to
submit to their dictation.

The Zealots themselves were further split into three factions,
z

338 Siege and Fall of Jerusalem. ch. lix.

Eleazar, at the head of the residents in Jerusalem, held the
inner enclosure of the temple. The more moderate John of
Giscala was lodged in the outer precinct. Simon Bargiora, with
a third army, undertook the defence of the ramparts. Through
the assassination of Eleazar, John became master of the entire
temple. Between him and Simon there still reigned mutual
jealousy and defiance.

Titus advanced from the north and planted his camp on the
ridge of Scopus. Provided with powerful engines and siege
artillery, he proceeded methodically to break down the successive
defences ; but so energetic was the resistance offered, that he did
not effect a lodgment within the first wall without heavy loss.
All attempts at conciliation were savagely rejected, and the
besiegers blockaded the second circuit and the fortress of
Antonia. Famine soon prevailed among the Jews, who sufibred
the direst horrors. The terrors of the people were excited by
the report of prodigies. The fanatic Hanan traversed the
streets crying, * Woe to Jerusalem ! * till at last, exclaiming
* Woe to me also ! * he fell by a blow from a Roman catapult.
The Romans affirmed that the gates of the temple had burst
open of their own accord, and a voice more than human had
been heard exclaiming, ' Let us depart hence ! '

The tower of Antonia fell, and the temple became unten-
able. John and Simon, united in their last danger, retired
into the upper city on Zion, breaking down the causeway which
connected it with the temple on Moriah. The temple itself
was stormed and, contrary to the orders of Titus, destroyed by
fire. Josephus was now sent to parley with the besieged, but
was spurned by them as a renegade. Titus himself tried in
vain to bring them to terms. Such clemency was unexampled ;
but his patience was now exhausted, and he vowed to destroy
the entire city. The attack proceeded. Thousands of Jews
fell in unavailing sallies; thousands died of famine; the
remainder were captured and sold into slavery. The two
leaders endeavoured to escape into the country by rock-
hewn galleries underneath the city. They failed, and were
captured. John was imprisoned for life. Simon was reserved
to grace the conqueror's triumph. Titus, whom the soldiers
had saluted Imperator, hastened to Rome in fear lest his father's
jealousy might be excited against him. But Vespasian was a
man of sense and feeling, and the confidence between father

ck. Lix. Accession of Vespasian.. 339

and son was never shaken. The diBstruction of Jerusalem, the
subjugation of Palestine, redounded to the glory and aggrandise^
ment equally of both.

CHAPTER LX,

THE FLAVIAN EMPERORS —VESPASIAN, TITITS, DOMITIAN.

The accession of Vespasian, the head of the Flavian house,
marks an epoch in Roman history. The first six emperors born
or adopted into the family of the Julii, might boast of blue
patrician blood illustrated from ancient times by consuls and
imperators and other leaders of men. Even after the death of
Nero, a Sulpicius, a Salvius, or a Vitellius, if he had been per-
sonally successful, might have transferred to his own family
that halo of divinity by which the Julii had seemed to reign by
right divine ; for they all belonged to the class to which the
tradition of power attached in Rome. Vespasian, on the other
hand, was a man of low birth. The Flavii were not only ple-
beians, but plebeians whose gens had never been ennobled by
a single distinguished ancestor. Vespasian had risen to emi-
nence by his own prudence and ability, and was now thrust
upon the astonished senate by the will of the soldiers. The
people welcomed the choice ; and the fortunate accident which
made the Flavii the defenders of the Capitol when assailed by
impious adversaries, might seem to sanctify the new dynasty
in the eyes of a superstitious people, and prepared the way for
the deitication of Vespasian after his death, and the ascription
of divine honours to Domitian even during his lifetime.

The new emperor, mature in years, and accustomed to
simple habits of life, set an example of frugality to the reckless
spendthrifts of the Roman aristocracy which happily they were
not slow to follow. And thus the nobles, whose grandfathers
had been demoralised by the plunder of Greece and Asia,
became once more reconciled in their way of living to the mass
of humbler citizens.

The taiumphs of her arms in Biitain, on the Rhine, and in
Palestine, had placed Rome at the summit of her power, and a
happy augury for the future might be drawn from the restora-

340

His great Constructions^,

CH. LX.

tion of her great national sanctuary on the Capitol, which it was
given to Vespasian to undertake and carry out. The demolition
of Nero*s golden house added still further tp his popularity. On
one part of its site he erected the splendid baths to which Titus

gave his name ; on another rose tte vast Flavian amphitheatre
known as the Colosseum, probably from the colossal image of
Nero which stood before its entrance. The arch of Titus, which
still commemorates his conquest of Judssa, was not completed
and dedicated till the accession of Donutian,

CH. LX, His. Reign and Death. 341

During tlie ten years of Vespasian's tranquil reign, he ap-
plied himself to the restoration of the finances which had been
squandered by Nero, Loyally supported by the legions and
their officers, he compelled his troops to rest content with
moderate rewards. As a tribute to the memory of Galba, the
Latin right was conceded to the whole of Spain. On the other
hand, Greece, which had been enfranchised by Nero, was again
reduced to the condition of a taxable province. Many depen-
dent kingdoms and republics in the East were absorbed into the
empire. It need not surprise us that Vespasian was charged
with parsimony and avarice, when we learn that he estimated
the needs of the public treasury at four myriad millions of ses-
terces, or 320,000,000/.

Vespasian knew how to spend wisely as well as how to
Save. His vast constructions have already been mentioned^
but he deserves especial credit as the first of Roman emperors
who expended public money on a system of national education.
He aimed at attaching the literary class to the empire, and the
appointment of Quintilian, the rhetorician, to the consulship
marks the increased estimation in which the class of teachers
was held. It is to be regretted that he foimd it impossible to
show similar favour to the philosophers of the Stoic and Cynic
schools. Resenting the brutality of the soldiers, these men
intrigued against the government which rested on them for
support. Vespasian revived against them the persecuting laws
of the republic, and drove them out of the city ; and his
memory must always sufier for the execution of Helvidiua
Prisons, the great luminary of the Stoics.

At the ripe age of seventy, full of toils and honours, Ves-
pasian died of natural decay, demanding in his last u.c. 832,
moments to be raised upright, as ' an imperator ^^' '^•
ought to die standing.' From the day when the legions in the
East had saluted Titus by the title of imperator, his father had
wisely admitted him to a substantial share of power. Titus in
return had relieved him from some of the most dangerous and
invidious tasks of government: he came to the undivided
sovereignty not without a character, at least among the nobleSf
for craft and cruelty ; but he was still the darling of the soldiers
fmd a favourite with the people. He bore the reputation of a
scholar and a refined thinker, and he is the hero of one of the
very few love-romances of Roman history. ^ f IiS46ve for Bere«

342 Reign of Titus. ch. lx.

nic^ sister of Agrippa, king of Ohalcis, was returned l)y her,
And slie followed him to Rome in the expectation of becoming
his wife ; but the Roman prejudice against intermarriage with
a foreigner was too strong to be disregarded, and the lovers
were compelled reluctantly to part from one another.

During his short reign Titus won the respect and affection
of all classes, but especially of the nobles. To their grateful
recollection we doubtless owe the preservation of his famous
dictum that he had * lost a day * when he had let twenty-four
hours pass without the performance of some beneficent action.
Two years after his accession he died of premature decline, and
had no choice but to nominate his unworthy brother Domitian
as his successor. Perhaps his early death saved him from the
downward course which so many gallant princes had rmi before
him. His profuse expenditure had already exhausted the
treasures accumulated by Vespasian ; and even Titus, ' the
delight of the human race,' as he was fondly termed, could
hardly have escaped the stain of cruelty in his efforts to replace
them. This short principate witnessed two grave calamities.
A fire, scarcely less disastrous than that in the reign of Nero,
swept over the city, damaging the new temple on the Oapitol,
u.c. 833, and destroying many public buildings which had
A.D. 80. escaped the earlier conflagration. Still more re*
Downed in history is the great eruption of Vesuvius, by which
u.c. 832, the cities of Herculaneum and Pompeii were de*
A.D. 79. stroyed ; the one buried under a flood of molten lava,
the other under a shower of burning ashes. For ages all
memory of these buried cities passed out of men's minds, till in
the middle of the last century their site was rediscovered ; and
the excavations carried on since that time, and still actively
proceeding, have brought to light innumerable objects of
interest which illustrate the arts, the commerce, and the daily
life of a civilisation long since passed away.

The first of the Flavian emperors had displayed, even upon
the throne, the frugality, the simplicity, and the manly firmnes?
which were characteristic of the yeomen of the Sabine hills
His sons were not proof against the seductions of a court and
city life ; and the younger of them, Domitian, who now assumed
the imperial purple, showed a marked deterioration of character.
His jealousy of the military renown of his father and brother
failed to arouse him to deeds of warlike prowess \ and though

CH. Lx. DofHitian, Agricdd, 34J

a student during his years of obscurity, he never emulated his
brother^s fame as a scholar. A pedant and a disciplinarian
towards the vices of others, he was cruel and licentious himself.

Domitian could not refuse to dedicate the Arch of Titus,
which celebrated the conquest of Judsea by his father and
brother, but he was bent on rivalling them in the admiration
of the citizens and the adoration of the soldiers. Accordingly
he put himself at the head of the legions on the Lower Danube,
and took part in two campaigns against the Sarmatians and
the Dacians. Whatever flatteries the court poets may have
written, history is silent as to his exploits ; one of his armies,
we know, suffered a disastrous defeat ; yet he gave himself the
honour of a triumph and assumed the name of Germanicus.

Meantime his lieutenant in Britain, Agricola, was carryings
the Roman eagles far beyond the limits of the Mersey and the
Trent. Taking the command in the year 78, he a.d. 78,.
completed the conquest of North Wales, and then ^•<^- ^^^•
advanced his camps to the line of the Tyne and the Sol way.
Here he was confronted by the wild and restless tribes of
Caledonia, and in seven successive campaigns he reduced the
country as far north as the Tay. At ths same time his fleet
explored the coast as far as Cape Wrath and proved that
Britain was an island ; while some of his land troops, from the
Mull of Galloway, beheld the coast of L'eland a new region,
which he was assured might be conquered by fi; single legion.
So much success excited the jealousy of Domitian, ^.d. 34,
and Agricola was recalled to Rome, where he lived ^'^' ^^^'
in high honour with both prince and people for several years.

Domitian^s vanity would not be satisfied without an arch of
triumph to rival that of his brother. Ilis colossal equestrian
statue was already erected in front of his father's temple. The
people at the same time demanded games and shows in in-*
creasing profusion. To meet all these expenses, in the absence
of plunder from abroad, he was obliged to levy large gifts^
under the name of golden crowns, on the nobles and provincials
of the empire. Such a course of action produced its natural
consequence, discontent, which culminated before long in insur-
rection. L. Antonius Saturninus, a descendant both of the
triumvir and of the popular tribune, commanded two legions on
the Rhine. He seduced his own soldiers, and made an alliance
with the German tiibes across the frontier.j yS^s^plan was to

344 Legislation of Domitian. ch. lx.

march on Eome in the winter season, and, trusting to the
unpopularity of the emperor, to strike a blow for power. He
was, however, quickly defeated and slain. Domitian, who had
faced the emergency with courage, took steps to prevent the
recurrence of such an attempt. He broke up the armies of the
empire into smaller commands, and forbade the hoarding of any
considerable sums of money in the military chests. At the
same time he took the opportunity to wreak his vengeance by
arbitrary executions upon all who had excited hia suspicion.

In one respect it must be owned that Domitian's rule was
directed, however inconsistently, to the good of the public.
He was a disciplinarian, and he determined to try to reform the
morals of his people. His religion was a vile superstition, but,
such as it was, he was in earnest about it. He began by inquir-
ing into the irregularities imputed to certain of the Vestal
Virgins. Two of them were convicted, and mercifully allowed
to take their Own lives ; a third, Cornelia, was condemned to
suffer the full penalty of the law, that is to be waUed up alive
with only a crust of bread and a flask of water. With the
same object, viz. to propitiate the divine patrons of marriage, he
enforced the laws against adulter}^, and put some check upon
the spread of disgusting forms of Oriental effeminacy. In spite
of the fact that one of his own special favourites was the actor
Paris, who was infamous for his dissolute life, the imperial
reformer next directed his severities against the singers and
dancers in the theatres. With the mimes, according to ancient
precedent, were included the astrologers, and the same pro-
scription was further extended to the philosophers, so that
Apollonius of Tyana, the most noted moral teacher of his time,
was expelled with others of his class from Italy. The Christians,
whose progress among the upper classes was beginning to excite
alarm, did not escape persecution. Flavins Clemens, a cousin
of the emperor, was sentenced to death on a charge of Judais-
ing ; he has always been reckoned among the Christian martyrs.
Domitian teased and irritated all classes, and his cruelties
were wont to 'be aggravated by a certain grim humour. He
lived in constant fciir of assassination, and surrounded himself
with guards and informers ; but all his precautions failed to
A.1). 96, secure him. A child is said to have found in his
A.r. 949. chamber the tablets on which he had designated the
empress and some of his own household for death. A plot was

<:h. L3t. Reign of Nerva. .345

at once formed in the palace, and the blow was struck by the
freedman Stephanus. Thus the noblest blood of Rome was
avenged by menials.

CHAPTER LXI.

EMTEROKS APPOINTED BY THE SENATE— NEKVA, TilAJAlT,
HADRIAN.

By the death of Domitian, the race of the Flavii expired, as
that of the Julii had done before. No heir existed who
could claim the empire as of right. The senate at once asserted
its privilege of appointing to the vacant throne ; and the eleva*
tion of M. Oocceius Nerva by the selection of the senate marks
another important epoch in the history of the empire. Domitian
was the last of the ' twelve Caesars,* so called most likely because
Suetonius composed the biographies of those twelve only. His
successors continued to assume the title, but they held the
office by a very different tenure. Nerva was not the creation
of military power, nor the descendant of a line which owed its
origin thereto. He was the nomJTiee of the senate, and the
first of five emperors selected b5 Jiat body, who were the
worthiest rulers Rome ever had, and who gave to the empire
more happiness and prosperity than any others. Nerva too
was not a native of Rome, nor even of Italy ; his family had
long been settled in Crete ; and after him the emperors in long
succession were of provincial if not foreign extraction.

Nerva began his reign by heaping indignation on the memory
of the murdered emperor, and punishing the base instruments
of his cruelty. The praetorians indeed demanded the sacrifice
of Domltian's murderers, and Nerva, though he boldly resisted
the cry of vengeance, found it impossible to shield them. As
soon as their swords were sheathed, he determined to curb the
pretensions of the soldiers by adopting as his heir and partner
in the empire the best and bravest of his officers. M. Ulpiua
Trajanus was in command on the Rhine, but his name and
character* were well known. When Nerva mounted the Capitol
and proclaimed his adoption, the senate acquiesced without a
demur. The praetorian guards trembled before the legions of
a resolute chief, and shrank back into their camp. The aged

346 Brilliant Reign of Trajan. ch. lxl

Nerva, by this master stroke of policy, firmly established his
authority, and continued to exercise it in dignified tranquillity,
till death removed him after a short reign of sixteen months. ^

No one dreamt of opposing the lawful succession of Trajan.
He belonged to a good old Roman family long settled in Spain,
in which country he had been born. As a soldier and a pro-
vincial, he might be- disposed to content himself with the
command of the legions at a distance, and to leave the govern-
ment of the city in the hands of the senate. So, doubtless, hoped
the nobles, and so it proved to be. Trajan, in the full vigour of
his age and confident in his own ability, had not yet reaped his
Jaurels, but was eager to gain triumphs and annex provinces.
He rekindled in the Romans the old spirit of conquest, and,
cheered by their applause, devoted the greater part of his reign
to two great enterprises, the subjugation of a vast territory
beyond the Danube, and the overthrow of the Parthian empire
on the Euphrates and the Tigris.

Trajan, on receiving the reins of power at Cologne, at once
sent a promise to the senate that no member of that body
should suffer capital punishment under his rule. Before quitting
the province he secured the Rhenish frontier by establishing
new colonies and military stations. He threw a bridge across
the river at Mainz, and advanced the outposts of the empire to
Hochst and Baden. He then repaired to Rome, and, as we
learn from the courtly ^ Panegyric * of Pliny, won the fevour of
all classes of the citizens by his gracious demeanour. So secure
was he of the loyalty of the soldiers, that he ventured to reduce
by one-half the customary largess. When he handed to the
prefect of the praetorians the poniard which was the symbol of
his ofiice, he could boldly say, * Use this for me, if I do well ;
if ill, against me.* The popularity of Trajan was already, during
this brief sojourn, so unboimded, that the senate conferred upon
him, in addition to the usual imperial titles, the transcendent
appellation of 'Optimus,* the Best, a distinction which was
never enjoyed by any other emperor.

Meanwhile the legions on the frontiers were longing for
active warfare, and their imperator was as eager for fresh
triumphs as themselves. But he determined not to meet the
expenses of war by imposing fresh burdens of taxation on the
citizens. His campaigns should be self supporting, and should
enrich the treasury by adding new regions to the list of tributary

CH. Lxr. Conquest of Dacia, 347

provinces. The Romans were still, as it proved, a martial
naiion, and well disposed to second the bold advance of Trajan.
Between the Danube and the Carpathians lay the wild tract of
mountain, plain, and forest known as Dacia, represented on the
modem map by the countries of Hungary, Transylvania, and
Roumania. The Dacian tribes were swayed by a single ruler,
known to the Romans by the name or title of Decebalus. In
the year 101 Trajan began the conquest of this region. Mar-
shalling his forces at Sissek, on the Save, he descended the
stream into the Danube. Along the bank of this a.d. 101,
great river he constructed a road, and at Severin he ^^' ^^•
spanned the current with a solid bridge whose foundations may
still at times be seen. At the end of two campaigns he had
overrun much of the country, and had occupied the royal city,
where he afterwards planted his colony of Ulpia Trajana. The
hill fortress of Decebalus was stormed, and the conquered chief,
together with his nobles, destroyed themselves. The a.d. 104,
column of Trajan still stands at Rome, and bears, in ^'^' s*^*
its bronze reliefs, the record of this conquest ; around its base
still stretches the open space of Trajan's Forum, and the ruins
of the temple erected there at a later period for the worship of
his divinity. Dacia was completely subjugated, and so effectually
colonised by the Romans, that to this day the language of the
people is substantially the Latin tongue.

On his return to Rome, a.d. 106, Trajan devoted himself to
adorning the city and the empire with splendid constructions,
defraying the expenses out of the tribute of his conquered
province, and building not for himself but for his people. At
Ancona the arch of Trajan still reminds the traveller that that
chief port of the Adriatic was constructed by him. The port
of Oivita Vecchia is to this day sheltered by Trajan's mole ;
another of his works was the existing bridge over the Tagus at
Alcantara. A writer three centuries later says that 'Trajan
built the world over,' and Constantino compared him to a wall»
flower because his name so often met the eye inscribed upon
his buildings.

After an interval of eight years, devoted to works of peace
and to the administration of a beneficent government, Trajan
quitted the city for the East, to reduce the Parthians to sub-
mission. Chosroes, the Parthian ruler, alarmed by his advance,
Oent envoys to propitiate him, but the presents they bore were

'348 Conquest of Parthia. ch. lxi.

xejected. At Antioch, delay was caused by a tremendous
•earthquake; in which yast numbers of people, including one of
the Roman consuls, perished, and the emperor narrowly escaped
destruction. After repairing the losses caused by this disaster,
he led his legions to the frontier of Armenia, and summoned
to his presence the usurper Partbamasiris. This prince was
required to lay his diadem at the feet of Trajan, and formally
to acknowledge that his kingdom belonged to Rome. After
suffering grave indignities, he wks dismissed, and, if the histoiy
may be trusted, was waylaid and murdered, to the disgrace of
the emperor who gave the order.

Having thus settled the position of Armenia, Trajan ad-
vanced upon the Parthians by the same route which had proved
&tal to Orassus, but, unlike the luckless triumvir, he drove the
enemy before him, established himself firmly in the region of
Adiabene, and before the end of the year 116 had constituted
the new province of Assyria beyond the Tigris, and had justly
earned the title of Parthicus.

The winter was passed at Nisibis or Edesss, :;'jd early in the
spring of 116 the Roman army descended the Euphrates by
water. The Parthian monarch fled into Media, and his capital,
Ctesiphon, surrendered without a blow. Trajan advanced
through Babylonia to the shores of the Persian Gulf, and longed
to rival the achievements of Alexander. But the disturbed
state of the country behind him convinced him that he had
reached his limit. On his return march he stormed and
destroyed Seleucia, and on reaching Otesiphon placed a creature
of his own on the throne of Parthia. Armenia and Mesopo-
tamia, with some portion of Arabia, were reduced to the form
of provinces ; but they were never solidly incorporated with the
empire, and before their conqueror had reached Antioch on his
homeward march, they had already severed the unwelcome
connection. Trajan had been wounded in an attack upon the
little fortress of Atra, and did not live to see Rome again. He
died in 117 at Selinus, in Oilicia, after a short illness. He had
reached the age of 65, and had reigned nineteen years and a
half. Though more of a rough soldier than a courtly scholar,
his manners were kindly and gracious, and he has left a higher
name than any of his predecessors in the purple for generosity
and manliijess of character. He deserved to be the favouritei

igi ize y ^

CH. Lxi. The Christians tmder Trajan, 349

as he was, both of the nobles and of the people, both of the
city and of the provinces.

Trajan's expedition to the East may very probably hare
been caused by the uneasiness of the rulers of the empire about
the restless intrigues of the Jews, and a vague consciousness of
the growing iiumbers of the Christians, who, for aught they
Iraew, might be aiming in secret at political ends. After the
destruction of Jerusalem, the Jewish hopes of a Messiah were
carefully inquired into, and all who pretended to a descent from
David were prosecuted. But the Jewish religion was stiU
tolerated at Eome, and throughout the empire, as a national
cult. The Christians, as professing an irregular and unrecognised
creed, were outside the protection of the law, and during the
Flavian period a wave of persecution passed over them. When,
however, it became evident that these new sectaries cherished
no schemes of rebellion, the authorities relaxed their severity
and were content to require of them the acknowledgment that
< Caesar was their master.'

During Trajan's reign, Pliny the younger was governor of
Bithynia, and persons were often charged before him with the
crime of being Christians. His practice was to question them,
and if they boldly confessed the fact he considered it to be
his plain duty to condemn them to death. Finding, however,
that this treatment only increased their numbers, and convinced
of the moral innocence of his victims, he vrrote to the emperor
for instructions on the subject. Trajan recommended mild
measures, commanding that the Christians should not besought
for, and that denunciations of them, which emanated chiefly
from the Jews, should be discouraged. Still, if any were
accused, and professed their guilt, the majesty of the law must
be upheld. Meantime multitudes of Jews as well as of Roman
citizens continued to join the new religion. The East was rife
with reports and expectations of a coming deliverer. The con*
flagrations at Rome and the fetal eruption of Vesuvius added to
the alarm produced by the Christian prophecies of an approaching
destruction of the world by fire. The claim of the Christians
to superior morality excited the passions of the populace, which
is always intolerant of such professions. The manifest fact that
a secret association, uniting in its bonds numbers of persons of
eyery class, was advancing in power and organisation dis-
turbed the minds of the rulers, who were accustomed ruthlessly

350 Accession of Hadrian. ch. lxi.

to suppress every combination of the kind. AlUthese influences
seem to have been kindled into fierce activity by the coincidence
of a destructive earthquake with the emperor's visit to Antioch,
The fanaticism and terror of the sufferers broke forth ag^ainst
the Christians, and Trajan stained his good name by encouraging
a cruel persecution which became memorable for the martyrdom
of the Christian bishop Ignatius in the arena of Antioch.

At the same time the Jews, driven from their own land,
and scattered throughout the East, were intriguing in every
city, in Alexandria, in Antioch, even in distant Seleucia, striving
to unite their own people in a combined movement against the
might of Rome, stirring up Parthians, Armenians, and Arabians
against the common enemy. All these schemes had been dis-
concerted by Trajan's sudden and vigorous expedition ; but his
conquests, though brilliant, had lacked stability, and it became
an embarrassing problem for his successor whether to maintain
or to relinquish them.

On Trajan's death without issue, the empress Plotina at
once announced his chosen heir to be P. -^lius Hadrianus, his
cousin, and, like himself, of Spanish birth. Both senate and
people acquiesced in the choice, for Hadrian was distinguished
for virtue and ability. The remains of Trajan were conveyed
to Rome and buried beneath his column. Hadrian
lingered in the East to pacify the disaffected pro-
vinces, and wisely determined to return to the policy of Augus-
tus, to restrict the limits of the empire, and to abandon the
recent conquests. Then he returned to Rome to receive the
homage of the senate, and began his reign in a spirit of modera-
tion and liberality.

Full of activity both of mind and body, Hadrian visited
every province of the empire, commanding the legions in person
wherever danger threatened, and leaving marks of his progress
in public buildings and in improved government. His first
expedition was to the new Dacian province, which was threat-
ened by encroaching tnbes of Sarmatians. At the head of
his legions he defeated these barbarians, but deemed it wiser,
after his first success, to withdraw behind the Danube, and
even to break down Trajan's bridge. At the outset
* of this campaign a conspiracy was formed against
him, and he was obliged, notwithstanding his promise to shed
no senators' blood, to put it down with severityV^^c^^^

CH. LXL

His Travels. 351

After a short interval spent at Rome, Hadrian visited the
North of Britain, where the Caledonian tribes were giving much
trouble. Here he built roads and military stations, fortified the
country from sea to sea between the camps of Agricola on the
Tyne and the Solway, bridged the Tyne at Newcastle, and fixed
the provincial government at York. The mineral wealth of
the North of England was then attracting numerous settlers,
as it has done again so conspicuously in this nineteenth cen-
tury. From Britain he passed on through Gaul and Spain, and
crossed the Mediterranean to quiet some disturbances in Maure-
tania. Thence he turned his steps to the extreme eastern
frontier, where the restless Parthians were again menacing war.
In a personal interview he prevailed on Ohosroes to leave the
empire at peace. Journeying homeward through
Asia Minor and Greece, he stayed long at Athens ;
and after visiting Rome and Carthage, returned once more to
the East — to Athens, Antioch, and Alexandria.

In the course of sixty years since the campaigns of Vespa-
sian and Titus, the Jews in Palestine had increased in numbers,
and they now broke into a fierce insurrection headed by Bar-
Cochebas, the 'Son of the Star.* Hadrian had inquired
curiously into many religions, that of the Jews among others.
They had hoped he had become a proselyte, and they now
denounced him as an apostate; but he ruthlessly a.d. I3.s,
put down their rebellion, slaughtered their people -^-u* ^^^*
in vast numbers, and planted the colony of ^Elia Oapitolina
on the site of their sacred city.

Hadrian distinguished between the Jews and the Chris-
tians. The latter he recognised as loyal citizens, and dis-
couraged the local persecutions to which they were exposed.
During his sojourn at Athens, they ventured to approach him
as a seeker after truth; and he listened graciously to the
apologies of Quadratus and Aristides, who were famous for
their wisdom and learning.

At Athens Hadrian had shown himself an intelligent
inquirer into the highest questions of human speculation. At
Alexandria he appeared rather as an explorer of curiosities.
Egypt, the granary of Rome, had been jealously guarded by the
emperors as their own special province. No Roman of rank
might even visit it without express permission. This prohi-
bition served but to whet the curiosity of the Romans about

352 Hadrian's Buildmgs, ch. lxl

that land of mystery. The splendid ruins of antiquity ; the
distant past from which that civilisation had descended ; the
strange worship of bulls, and cats, and crocodiles ; — ^all these
might well excite the interest of intelligent travellers. The
emperor examined all the wonders oi' Egypt, visited the pyra-
mids, inscribed his name upon the vocal head of Menmon, and
expressed his delight and admiration.

But the people of Alexandria were wont to mock at
Romans and other strangers as children of a younger civili-
sation than their own; and they showed little respect for
Hadrian. When his favourite Antinous perished by drowning
in the Nile, they outraged the grieving emperor with their
ribald scoffs. He refrained with difEculty from chastising the
offending city, but quitted the country in disgust. At Antioch
he met with no better treatment, being exposed to the gibes
and insinuations of a frivolous people ; and he showed his resent-
ment by adorning the city vnth no public buildings, such as he
had lavished on the places which had entertained him on his
travels. From Antioch he repaired to Athens and remained
there, enjoying its arts and sciences for some length of time,

Hadrian returned to Home in 134, and began at once to
adorn the city with splendid buildings. The temple of Venus
and Rome, now but the fragment of a ruin, was the grandest
temple in the city. But his most magnificent work was his
own mde» or mausoleum, whose solid mass is still conspicuous
in the castle of St. Angelo. When first erected it had far more
of architectural ornament than now. Tier over tier of columns
graced its sides, and above it soared a gilded dome surmounted
by the statue of the founder, who was ultimately buried beneath
it. Besides these new constructions, Hadrian restored many of
the older buildings, such as the Pantheon, the temple of Augus-
tus, and the baths of Agrippa. He piqued himself on his
knowledge of all matters, but especially of architecture, and is
said to have put Apollodorus, the architect, to death for an
uncourtly criticism of one of his designs, Favorinus, the rheto-
rician, yielded to his authority on questions of grammar, re-
marking that ' it is ill disputing with the master of tiiirty legions.'

Hadrian reigned supreme in the loyalty of the soldiers, and
in the favour of the senate and of all classes of citizens. Yet
he chose to associate vvith himself in the purple a young and
Mvolous noble, 0. Oonunodus Verus, This worthless partner

CH. Lxr. Death of Hadrian. 353

of hia empire was entrasted with a command on the Pannbnian
frontier, but he soon fell into a decline, and in the third year of
his feeble sovereignty died. Hadrian hastened to
supply his place. Assembling the chiefs of the
senate^ he announced to them that his choice had fallen on
T. Aurelias Antoninus, a man of mature age and proved ability.
The new emperor was required to adopt two h^rs, Annius
and Lucius Verus, both of the family of the, lately deceased
emperor.

The life of Hadrian himself was not protracted beyond the
middle of this year. He suffered much from maladies for which
medicine afforded no relief, and is said to have become initable
and sanguinary in his last years. At one time he would take
refuge in magical arts, at another in poison or the dagger of the
suicide ; but he was kindly watched and tended, and expired in
comparative tranquillity, leaviug to the world as his last legacy
a playful and poetical address to his own departing spirit.

CHAPTER LXn.

THE AGE OF THE ANTONINES.

Titus Attbelius Antokinitb was already in his fifty-second
year when he began to reign. In honour of his adoptive father
he changed his style to Titus ^lius Hadrianus Antoninus ; and
to this the senate added the epithet Pius. He is commonly
known as Antoninus Pius. He was married to Arria Gkileria
Faustina, and had several children, but only one daughter,
Faustina, survived, and her he joined in marriage with his .'
nephew Aurelius, whom he had adopted at the same time as the
young Verus. The name of Antoninus, which was borne
equally by Pius and by his successor Marcus Aurelius, becaine,
next to that of Augustus, the most honoured in the long
imperial series. The age of the Antonines is generally reckoned
as beginning with the accession of Nerva. It was a period of
peace and prosperity, and of good, we may almost say, of con-
stitutional government; but in the course of it the ancieint
martial valour of the Boman people was perishing for want of

exercise. Digitized by >^1UU^IC

354 Antoninus Pius. ch. lxii;

The two Antoninea wero philosophers in the purple, who
governed their i)eople in concert with the senate on the highest
principles of virtue. The elder could seat himself in his
Ulirary on the Palatine and rule the empire from its centre.
But for the exifi^encies of frontier wars, the younger, Aurelius,
iv'ould have passed a no less studious life. Both of them, hy
their promise to shed no senator's blood, were pledged to
frugality in the public service ; and both redeemed their pledge.
Antoninus, while he remitted some customary taxes, was mag-
nificent in gifts and largesses and public works ; and when the
full treasury of Hadrian was emptied, he replenished it by the
sale of the impeiial furniture.

The internal history of this happy reign was entirely un-
eventful. On the frontiers, indeed, there was frequent ti'ouble,
especially on the Danube and in Africa, but this mild prince,
who judged it better to save one citizen than to slay a thousand
enemies, adopted the policy of buying off the invaders. In
Britain, however, after a revolt of the Brigantes had been put
down, the defences of the empire were carried farther north,
and a second wall was built across the island between the
estuaries of the Clyde and the Forth. The space thus gained
to the Roman province between the walls of Agricola and
Antoninus was rapidly filled up by Roman colonists, who were
constantly pushing forward even beyond the limits of protec-
^on. In the most distant regions of Parthia, Armenia, and
Scythia, the emperor of Rome was accepted as the supreme
arbiter of national quarrels. Yet the policy of Augustus was
adhered to, and the limits of the empire were not extended ia
that direction. This period of quiet equilibrium was signalised
by some great works of geographical interest, the ' System of
Geography ' of Ptolemy, the * Itinerary ' of Antoninus, and the
* Periplus of the Euxine and of the Erythraean or Indian Ocean '
by Arrian.

The greatest glory of Antoninus is the unremitting care with
which he studied to promote the welfare and happiness of his
people. Humanity, under him, made a great step in advance.
Not content with repressing the exactions and injustice of the
tax-coUectors, he required his officers to spare the needy and
indulge the unfortunate. Not only did he economise the public
resources, but he sacrificed his own fortune to the service of the
state. He celebrated the secular gameg/^|Ji^^t splendour.

cH. Lxir. Marcus Aurelius. 355

and adorned the city with a graceful column as well as by the
completion of Hadrian*s mausoleum. The amphitheatre at
Nismea and the aqueduct of the Pont du Gard, the noblest
monuments of Roman art beyond the Alps, are also ascribed to
his munificence. Antoninus also contributed important addi-
tions to the code of Roman law, and his judgments were
marked by equity and humanity. His paternal kindness
towards the Ghnstians was. even more generous than that of
Hadrian.

The special characteristic of Antoninus was his cheerfulness.
No philosophical dispute, no popular outburst of petulance^
could disturb the serenity of his temper. Content with his
political surroundings, with the society of his friends, with the
religion of Ids time, he was troubled by no anxieties. Power
made no difference in him. Kind, modest, affable, and abste-
mious as he had always been, such he continued to be as
emperor. To his imworthy consort Faustina he was more
than forgiying, taking no notice of her irregularities, and when
she died, as fortunately she did in the early years of his princi-
pate, he assigned her divine honours, and never married again.
After reigning for twenty-three years he died, a.d. 161, giving
to Ids guard as his last watchword, ' Equanimity.'

Marcus Aurelius, who now succeeded to the throne, had
been for some time associated in the government. In presiding
on the tribunals, in guiding the deliberations of the senate, in
receiving embassies and appointing magistrates, he had shrunk
from no fatigue, but his heart was still in his philosophical
studies. Plato had maintained that states would surely flourish,
were but their philosophers princes or their princes philoso-
phers ; and the hope that he might prove this doctrine true
encouraged Aurelius in his undertaking. By Hadrian's direc-
tion, Antoninus had adopted the young Verus at the same time
with Aurelius, but he had treated the two on a very different
footing. While marrying Aurelius to his own daughter, and
treating him with confidence as his destined successor, he had
excluded from public life the weak son of a dissolute sire.
Aurelius at once reversed tius wise decision, and elevated his
brother to a position equal to his own, conferring upon him
every dignity which he enjoyed, not even withholding the title
of Augustus. For the first time two Augusti sat together in

the purple. Digitized by Vj WU^ IC

aa2

356 Pestilence, Famine^ IVar. ch. lxii.

The first years of the new reign were troubled by distur-
bances in various parts of the empire. Lusitania broke into
insurrection. Spain was invaded by the Moors. The Chatti
crossed the fi*ontiers into Gaul and Rhsetia. In Britain the
legions were disaffected. But the most serious
alarm was caused by war with Parthia, and a
disaster to the Roman arms at Elegia, on the Euphrates, com-
parable to that of OarrhsB. Aurelius despatched Verus to the
East with experienced officers to guide him; but before he
reached the seat of war/ Avidius Oassius had already retrieved
the fortunes of the empire by a series of victories, which opened
the gates of Otesiphon and Seleucia, and revived the memory of
Trajan's conquests. Verus hastened back to Home, but the
returning army brought with it the seeds of a terrible pestilence,
which spread its devastations throughout the West. Famine,
fires, and eari;hquakes succeeded to the plague, and the public
terror was brought to a climax by the report of a powerful
irruption of barburians across the Danube. Superstitious fears
took possession both of the people and of the prince. Theee
calamities were attributed to the anger of the gods, and the
progress which the Christians were making pointed them out
as suitable victims to appease the divine wrath. Aurelius
purified the city by a solemn lustration and a lectistemium of
seven days, and then, to his lasting disgrace, gave orders for a
cruel persecution of the Christians.

Aurelius now set out for the seat of war accompanied by
Verus. The legions were sickly and desponding ; the citizens
scarcely hoped for their victorious return. Already
the outposts were in retreat, and the colonists were
flying before a numerous and organised host of invaders. But
the memory of Trajan was still held in awe on the Danube.
Before the emperors reached the Alps, the shadow of their
great name had gone before them, and sufficed to repel the
intruders and make them sue for peace. In the following year
they visited Illyricum and made provision for the defence of
the empire in that quarter ; and on their return to Home in the
autumn of 166, Aurelius was relieved,, by the death of the
feeble Verus, of one source of anxiety and embarrassment.
From this time forward Aurelius knew no respite from distant
warfare. Germans, Scythians, and Sarmatians attacked the
northern frontier. From hifi bead-quarters at Camuntum

CH. Lxii, Fr6ntter Wars. 357

(Presburgr), be had to confront them on the frozen Danube in
winter, on the arid 8teppes in summer. Once his army was
surrounded by the Quadi, and cut off from its supply of water,
when a sudden storm fiUed the camp with rain water, and dis-
prdered the enemy with lightnings. The marvel was attributed
by some to the incantations of an Egyptian sorcerer, by others
to the favour of Jupiter Pluvius ; by the Christians it was
averred to be due to the prayers of a Christian legion tra-
ditionally known as the thundering legion. The incident is
represented, and may still be studied, among the sculptures on
the Aurelian column at Home.

From the northern frontier Aurelius was suddenly called
away by the revolt of Avidius Cassius in the East. This able
and ambitious general spread a report of the em-
perors death, and invited his soldiers to raise him
to the purple. He is said to have been urged to this treason
by the empress Faustina herself, who was as dissolute in her
conduct as her mother had been, and to whom Aurelius was as
blindly indulgent as Antoninus had been. Before the emperor
reached the scene of action, Cassius had fallen by the hand of
his own soldiers, and Faustina fell sick and died on the journey.
Aurelius commanded her deification, but the Homans execrated
her memory, not only for her own vices, but also as the mother
of the detested Commodus. The Stoic emperor pardoned the
supporters of the fallen traitor, and, to prove his own spotless
innocence, caused himself to be initiated in the mysteries at
Eleusis. On his return to Bome he celebrated a triumph over
the Sarmatians, together with his son Commodus, now entering
upon manhood. But the pressure of the northern tribes
became again intolerable. Once more the philosophic emperor
was forced to plunge into the noisy turmoil of the camp. With
failing health, with an exhausted treasury, and troops thinned
by the desolating plague, he toiled on for three more years at
what seemed a fruitless task. One great victory is claimed for
his arms ; and a final triumph began to seem almost within
reach, when he was carried off by a fever at Vinde-
bona (Vienna). He at least escaped the mortifica-
tion of seeing the great Sarmatian war closed by a disgraceful
peace which was soon after purchased by the Romans.

Marcus Aurelius, though not endowed with brilliant mili-
tary genius, yet commanded his legions with courage an4

3 $8 M. Atirelws a Persecutor. ch. txit

earnestness, and was not ill seconded by his officers and men.
But the armies of Rome were no longer what they once had
been. These troops of foreign mercenaries were not to com-
pare for martial vigour with the old Italian militia ; and the
population of the empire was seriously crippled by the plague.
On the other hand, the Germans and Scythians opposed to him
flowed forward in irresistible hordes, with all the audacity that
belongs to the lusty youth of nations. From this time forward
the tide of victory began to set against the empire. The
attitude of Rome became purely defensive, and though bhe
fought bravely, her defence was crippled by a sense of weak-
ness, and at length by anticipation of defeat. Aurelius seems
to have perceived, before his countrymen, this downward
course on which the empire was entering, and to have been
saddened by the pixwpect.

The despondency of the imperial philosopher is strongly
marked in the book of * Meditations,' in which he closely
analyses his own character and motives. Stoicism had become
to this, the last great representative of the sect, more than ever
a matter of conscience and religion ; and as such it not im*
naturally kindled in his mind a feeling of hostility to the pro-
fessors of the young and vigorous system which was soon to
supplant it. The fastidious pride of the Roman philosopher
could not brook the simple creed on which the Christian leant,
and by which he ruled himself in action. To live for the state,
to sacrifice every passion and every interest to the good of the
state, was the fundamental rule of life to Aurelius. When,
therefore, he found the Christians withdrawing on religious
grounds from the duties of the public service, he had found an
excuse for treating them with cruelty ; and the result was that
on every occasion of military defeat, inundation, or pestilence,
he yielded to the cries of the infuriated populace, and crowds of
Christian martyrs were hurled ' to the lions * in the arena.

In spite of this wholesale persecution, the new religion
was steadily advancing in its influence over men's minds,
Greece and Rome were falling more and more under the influence
of the East, and the speculations of Oriental philosophy excitedr
more interest than any other topics. Christianity, derived
from an Oriental birthplace, seemed to lift the veil from some
of the deepest mysteries of theosophy, and to satisfy the
craving of mankind. Digitized by ^^yu^ic ,

CH. Lxiii. CommGdus, Periihax, 359

CHAPTER LXni

COMMODTTS, PEBTINAX, SEPTIlEnrB SEVERirS, CARA.CALLA,
MACBIKUS ELAGABALTTS, ALBXAXDER SEYEBTTS.

We need not dwell long on the reign of the wretched Oommodiis
the unworthy son of a noble father. At first he allowed the
government to be administered by the wise statesmen by whom
his father had surrounded him, and veiled his own profligacy
within his palace walls. But his own sister Lucilla plotted
aorainst his life, and the assassin she had hired, as he aimed the
blow, announced that it was sent by the senate. Gommodus
escaped, but was thenceforward filled with deadly enmity
against the senators, and contrived on various false accusations '
to rid himself by death or exile of all the most distinguished
among them. The government then fell into the hands of a
succession of favourites, some of whom plotted against their
master, were detected, and executed, while others were sacri-
ficed to the clamours of the discontended populace.

The emperor maintained himself upon the throne by
largesses to the preetorians, and extravagant amusements for
the people. He himself fought as a gladiator in the arena 750
times, and delighted to exhibit his prowess by slaying hecatombs
of wild beasts with bow or javelin, always under due protection.
He afiected the character of Hercules, and these barbarous
feats made him a favourite with the rabble. The provinces
continued to enjoy a quiet and orderly government, but those
who came in contact with the tyrant were never safe from his
capricious cruelty. At length, after twelve years of
empire, he was assassinated by his favourite concu*
bine Marcia, in concert with Eclectus his chamberlain, and Lsetiie
the prefect of the jjraetorians.

Fertinax, a distinguished senator, was at once put forward
as his successor, and accepted by the praetorians, by the senate,
and by the people. He was a cultivated and experienced statesr
man of the same stamp as Galba, but unfortunately without a
military foUowing. For this reason he lay at the mercy of the
prsBtorians, and had no choice but to buy their favour with a
liberal donative. He had no intention, however, to remain a
mere puppet in their hands, and soon began to enforce discipline

360 Scptimius Severus . ch, lxiii.

among them. This they would not endure^ and before three
months had expired they broke into open mutiny, forced their
way into the palace, fell upon the emperor and slew him. His
bhort reign of eighty-seven days had been a contrast indeed to
that of Commodus. The exiles were recalled ; life and property
were once more secure; and the finances were recruited by
legitimate means. There was no power in Rome nor even in
Italy which could resist the organised force of the praetorians,
and these mercenaries proceeded to offer the empire for sale to
the highest bidder. Didius Jiilianus, a senator, satisfied their
rapacity by the offer of a sum equal to 200/. sterling to each of
the 12,000 soldiers. He was presented to the senate as the
choice of the soldiers, and the conscript fathers could but
submit in silent wrath to the force of arms, and accept the
upstart emperor. Not so the armies on the frontiers. In three
independent quarters they flew to arms. The legions on the
Euphrates saluted their commander Pescennius Niger as
emperor ; those on the Rhine conferred the purple on Clodius
Albinus ; the soldiers who kept guard on the Danube nominated
Septimius Severus. The last-named leader was an African by
birth, full of enei-gy and ability, and when once the movement
was resolved on, he lost not a moment in executing it. Hif)
troops were practised in arms, well disciplined, and near to
Italy. He led them at once to Rome, and without striking
a blow reduced the prsetorians to submission, captured the
wretched Julianus, and put him to death after a reign of two
months only. The first act of Septimius was to disarm and
disperse the praetorians who had supported his rival. He then
organised his own most trusted legions as an imperial guard of
50,000 men. Leaving the capital securely in their hands, he
advanced steadily to the East to try conclusions with Niger.
Arrived within striking distance, he summoned him to surrender
to the emperor acknowledged by the senate. The eastern pre-
tender, however, showed fight, but to little avail ; his forces
were defeated, first at the passage of the Hellespont, and again
in the defiles of Oilicia ; he himself was taken and slain.

Severus was now at liberty to deal with his rival in the

West. Olodius Albinus, though gluttonous and indolent, was not

A D 1 94 ^thout soldierly qualities, and his troops were of high

mettle. Severus encountered him at Lugdunum^ in

Gaul. A desperate battle ensued between the rival armies.

.CH. LxiiT. conquers his Competitors. 361

and the result was for some time uncertain, but the fortune of
Severus ag^ain prevailed. Albinus was routed, captured, and
put to death. The enterprise of Severus was crowned
with complete success^ not ill-earned by boldness,
energy, and conduct. In these qualities he might fairly be
compared to the great Julius, but he was wanting in the clemency
which distinguished the first CsBsar. On his return to Rome,
Severus made a searching inquisition into the temper of the
senators towards him, and finding that many among them were
kinsmen or friends of one or other of his late rivals, and that no
strong affection was felt for him by the remainder, he did not
hesitate to strike terror by the execution of forty of their
number. The senators stood aghast at his cruelty, but they were
cowed and gave him no further trouble.

The rule of Severus was a pure autocracy; but it was
equitable and beneficent. He spent little time at Rome, which
he could leave securely guarded by his praetorian army, while
the dvil government was carried on by the lawyer Papinian.
Severus once more led the Roman legions to Gtesiphon and
Seleucia, and impressed upon the Parthians a lasting respect for
the power of Rome. In his later years he visited Britain, and
penetrated far into the wilds of Caledonia ; but he concluded
that the safest limit of the empire was the line laid down by
Hadrian, which he ordered to be strengthened by a second
rampart. Severus died at York, giving as his last ^ ^ ^^^
watchword ' Laboremus,' as though, in his opinion,
the spade were quite as effective an implement of war as tho
sword.

Julia Domna, the wife of Septimius Severus, adorned her
imperial station with many high qualities, but she had the mis-
fortune to be the mother of two princes, one of whom became
almost the greatest monster of the whole imperial series. These
two brothers, Bassianus, generally known by the nickname of
Oaracalla, and Geta, were present with their father in Britain
At the time of his death. They both set out at once for Rome,
but so ill-disposed were they towards each other that they
kept apart throughout the long journey. The quarrel continued
to rage between them in the capital, till at length Oaracalla
poniarded his brother with his own hand in his mother's arms.
The fratricide made no secret of his crime, and proceeded to
.secure his own safety by the slaughter of every man and womaA

•3^)2 . Caracalla. Macrinus; ch. Lxia

whom he regarded as an adherent of the murdered Geta.
Thousands perished, and among them Fadilla, the last surviving
daughter of Aurelius, and Papinian, the minister of SeveruS,
who had refused to write a public defence of the infamous deed.
Haunted by the furies of an evil conscience, this rude, illiterate,
and hideous monster soon fled from Rome and roamed about
the remoter provinces of the empire, not pretending to take
command of the armies, but slaking his cruel thirst for blood
wherever the fancy took him. At Alexandria he revenged
himself for some popular gibes by a frightful massacre. His
miserable life was protracted by frequent changes of residence
for six years. He was Idlled at last on tha borders
'of Syria at the instigation of his chief minister
Macrinus, one of the prefects of the city, who found that his
own life was in danger from the tyrant.

Macrinus easily bribed the soldiers on the frontier to pro-
claim him emperor, and in spite of some murmurs at the
elevation of another African of low birth, he was for the time
recognised by the senate and the people of Home. He remained,
however, in the East, and set himself to improve the discipline
of the legions, and to reduce their emoluments within more
reasonable limits. This effort, though much needed, and
prudently exerted, produced discontent among the soldiers, and
led to the speedy downfall of the usurper.

It wlU be well to pause at this point and take a general
view of the situation of the empire. The system of govern-
ment introduced by Augustus was in form and in fact a com-
promise or balance between three great powers in the state—
the senate, the people, and the army. The emperor, as prince
of the senate, tribune of the people, and conunander of the
army, professed to derive his authority from each of these three
forces, and to exercise it as their constitutional representative.
The rule of Augustus embodied this idea in practice with
marvellous accuracy. That of his successors in the main con>-
formed to it loyally, in spite of the capricious vagaries of a
Caligula or a Nero. Under the Flavii, the empire rested some-
what more avowedly upon the will of the legions. Under
Nerva and his successors, the influence of the senate was appa-
rently increased, and served to mask the really preponderant
power of the army. Throughout this period the popular
element in the commonwealth^ the Boman mob^ fell more and

€H. LxiiL Citizenship made Universal,, 363

more into contempt. It was enough to feed it and to amuse it
Its suii'rages could always be purchased. But in the mean time a
new and more important Boman people was growing year by
year in numbers and in influence. The liberal policy of JuHuS
Osesar towards the Gauls and other foreign races had bee9
revived by Claudius, and from his time forwards large numbers
of provincials were from time to time admitted as citizens of
Home. The sums paid for the enfranchisement of individual^
formed an important source of revenue to the imperial treasury.
These new citizens cast in their lot with the Roman officials,
supported them in their despotic government, and helped them
to control any popular movements which might arise. Under
Hadrian this class of provincial citizens already comprised
nearly the whole free population. Under Caracalla, by the
advice of the wise jurisconsults whom his father had placed
around him, the edict was issued by which the citizen^ip of
Borne was conferred upon all.

Side by side with this great social revolution, the trans?*
formation and codification of the law had been advancing with
rapid strides. The old municipal law of Rome was quite
inadequate to the needs of a world-wide empire ; and genera*
tions of lawyers had been working under imperial supervision
to incorporate the legal principles and usages of other civilised
communities into that logical snd harmonious system which
became in later times the basis of modem European law.
At the foundation of this world-wide system of citizenship and
law lay a principle utterly repugnant to old Roman ideas, a
principle which owed its gradual acceptance to the teaching of
the Stoic philosophers — that of the universal brotherhood and
natural equality of all men. The Romans learnt it from the
Greeks. It was earnestly maintained by Cicero and Seneca,
embodied in wise laws by the philosophic jurists of the em-
pire, and authoritatively enforced by Hadrian, Antoninus, and
Aurelius.

The current of religious thought flowed in like manner in
an ever-widening channel. The gods of Greece and Egypt
were admitted side by side with those of Italy into the Roman
Pantheon. The GhtuHsh deities Taranis and Hesus were
identified vdth Jupiter and Mars, and the Druidical priesthood
was replaced by a hierarchy of Flamens and Aruspices. The
Jewish religion was recognised^ and Christianity, though never

364 Elagabalus^ Priest of the Sun. tn. Lxiit.

authorised, and often persecuted, was generally tolerated.
During the period of peace and prosperity which followed the
death of Marcus Aurelius, no inquisition was made into the
belief of the Ohristians. Their manners and teaching began to
exercise a wholesome influence upon society ; the number of
converts among families of high rank increased ; and the
Christian bbhope, especially the bishop of Bome^ became almost
a recognised power in the state.

Under these circumstances Home was not unprepared for
•the strange phenomenon which now burst upon the world.
The children of Mars and Quirinus were required to accept as
their chief, their prince, and their supreme pontiff, a stripling
from Syria, a priest of the Sun, clothed in the Oriental tiaiti
and linen stole, and invested by the devotees of his cult and
nation with a peculiar personal sanctity ; and they did ac-
cept him. On the fall of Oaracalla, the empress-mother, Julia
Domna, put an end to her life ; but her sister Julia Msesa, herself
•a widow, retired to Antioch with her two daughters, Soemias
and Mamsea, who were also widows. Soemias the elder had
^one son, Bassianus. Mamsea had also a son named Alexander.
«The young Bassianus, conspicuous for the beauty of his £Eu;e and
figiure, became priest of the Sun in the temple at Emesa. The
legions stationed there chafed at the hard discipline of Macrinus;
they fancied they could detect in the features of Bassianus
some resemblance to the house of Sever us ; tbey pretended that
he was the son of Oaracalla, and by a sudden movement pro-
claimed him emperor. Macrinus was taken by surprise, and
dismayed by the popularity of his rival ; the praetorian troops
in attendance upon him were faithful, and almost made up by
their valour for the numbers of effeminate Orientals to whom
,they were opposed, but Macrinus fled, and, with his son, was
AD 218 ^'^^^^y taken and slain. The contending armies
promptly fraternised, and the senate acquiesced in
an appointment which bore some semblance of a return to the
principle of hereditary descent.

The deity of the Sim was worshipped at Emesa under the
form of a rude black stone, and under the name of Elagabalus.
His priest was de^gnated by the same name, and is known
among the Roman emperors as Elagabalus. Ignorant alike of
Itoman history and Roman manners, the Oriental youth trans*
^ferred his superstitious cult, his filthy depravity, and his

CH. Lxiii. ; Alexander Severus. "\ 365

effeminate drefis unchanged to the city of Augustus and
Antoninus. The period of his rule, which was happily not
prolonged, marks the lowest depth of infamy and degradation
to which imperial Rome ever sank. His grandmother Msesa
persuaded him to make his cousin Alexander, a .

youth of better promise, his colleague in the empire,
and soon after the praetorians mutinied, and put an end to his
miserable life and principate.

Alexander was readily accepted as his successor, and took
the additional name of Severus. Under this amiable prince
the empire enjoyed some years of peace, and was relieved from
much of the taxation imposed by the necessities of warlike or
profligate rulers. His minister, Ulpian, carried forward the
important work of codifying the law. Eaised to power at the
early age of eeventeen, Alexander was too much under the
influence of his mother Mamsea, who seduced him into some
acts of injustice and cruelty towards his wife and his father-in-
law. The praetorians, when they found that the child whom
they had placed upon the throne was resolved to keep them
under control, broke into mutiny. But their anger was directed
more against the minister than the emperor. The citizens rose
in arms to defend Ulpian, but in vain ; he was seized and mas-
sacred within the palace. Alexander watched his opportunity
to avenge the deed upon Epagathus, the praetorian leader ; and
as time went on he displayed a firmness in dealing with his
mutinous legions which enabled him to acquire the mastery over
them.

Without being a profound student or an acute philosopher,
Alexander was fond of literature and eager to make himself
acquainted with the lives and teaching of the best and wisest of
mankind. Among the images set up in his chapel as objects of
devout contemplation, are said to have been those of Orpheus,
Abraham, and Jesus Christ. Amid the cheerful contentment
which reigned around him, he was never tempted to raise a
persecuting hand against the Christians.

At length the affidrs of the East, where the Persian
monarchy had risen upon the ruins of the Parthian, compelled
him to take the field. His operations were conducted on a
grand scale, but resulted in no substantial success, though one
great victory is ascribed to him. From Asia he returned to
the camps of the Danube and the Rhine, and there his careeE

36^ The Franks and Allemannu ch. lxih.

was abraptly cut short by a mutiny, whicli raised to the purple
au obscure Thracian peasant named Maximinus.
This barbarian emperor was conspicuous for his
gigantic stevture and rude prowess ; but he was entirely illite-
rate, and ignorant even of the Greek language.

CHAPTER LXIV.

ADVANCE OP THE BABBARIAN8. RAPID SrCCESSION OP
SMPEBOBB.

The usurper Maximin was followed by a succes^on of
emperors whose brief and feverish reigns, with one or two
exceptions, have little to interest us. It will suffice to record
their names, and the circumstances of their elevation to the
purple, after first casting a general glance upon the relations of
Home to the communities around her. The rulers of the state
will henceforth be stationed on the frontiers ; and the city of
Rome will fall out of notice, until our attention is recalled to
it by the triumph of the Christian religion.

The increasing force and activity of the barbarians forms
the chief political feature of the period before us. We find
them now associated into three powerful confederations, each
of which in turn proved too strong for the imperial forces.
About the time at which we are now arrived, the tide of inva-
sion was turned on the Rhenish frontier, and the German tribes
began to force their way into the Roman provinces. The
Chauci, the Qhatti, and the Cherusci, united under the common
designation of the Franks, at length overcame the resistance of
the legions on the Lower Rhine, and carried their devastations
through the whole extent of Gaul. Thence they passed into
Spain, and, seizing the ships in the harbours, traversed the
Mediterranean to its most distant shores. The Frankish con-
quests, however, were not permanent, and after the storm was
passed the Roman power was re-established within its ancient
limits.

On the Upper Rhine and the head waters of the Danube,
in the countries now known as Baden, Bavaria, and Bohemia,
four important tribes, the Suevi, the Boii,the Marcomanni, and

ctt. Lxiv. The Goths and Saracetis,. 367

the Quadi, were banded together under the title of Allemanni.
After a protracted struggle with the garrisons of RhsBtia and
Pannonia, the Allen^ianni^ in a.d. 272, burst the barrier of the
Alps, and spread desolation over Northern Italy as far as
Eavenna. The invaders, it is true, failed to acquire any firm
footing, and yielded to the enervating effect of the soft Italian
climate; but the empire was made painfully sensible of ita
weakness, and even Home itself was seen to He almost at the
mercy of the barbarians.

The Goths, the most formidable of all the barbarians,
became known to the Eomans at this period. They appeared
on the Lower Danube with their kindred Getse, and that river
proved no effective barrier to their progress. They were daring
navigators, who did not fear to traverse the broad and stormy
Euzine. They ravaged the coast of Asia Minor ; they sacked
the rich cities of Trapezus, Oyzicus, and Nicomedia ;
at last they penetrated the Hellespont, and carried
the terror of their name through Greece and the islands of the
^gean, and as far even as Calabria.

In the far East the empire was assailed by another power.
The waning monarchy of Parthia had expired, and in its place
a young and vigorous Persian dynasty had arisen. Ardshir the '
son, and Sapor the grandson of Sassan, took advantage of the
weakness of the empire, and once more reduced Amienia to
dependence upon them. They repelled the attack of Alexander
Severus, recovered possession of the recent Koman conquests,
and in their turn ventured to invade the Roman provinces of
Asia Minor. Further south the Saracens began to come into
notice, harassing the borders of civilisation in Palestine and
Egypt. Throughout the empire the country parts were infested
by bands of brigands, and government scarcely existed outside
the walls of the cities. Innumerable finds of the hoarded
coins of this period attest the prevalent sense of insecurity. Of
the emperors whose faces appear on the coins of these troubled
times, two things are worthy of note. First, however selfish
might be their personal ambition, they never neglected the
paramount duty of defending the empire against all assailants ;
and second, none of them ever dreamt of tearing a limb from
the empire and setting himself up as an independent provincial
monarch. The all looked to Rome as the centre of authority,
and assumed the titles and functions of Roman emperors.

368^^ The Gordidns. Philippus, ch. lxivw^

The usurpation of Mazimin was deeply resented by the

senators, and the two Gordians, father and son, who held high

office in Africa, stood forward as the representatives of this

feeling and the opponents of the Thracian upstart. They

assumed the purple^ and in concert with the senate prepared to

defend Italy against Maximin, but they were attacked by the

neighbouring governor of Mauretania : the younger

was slain in battle, and the elder driven in despair

to kill himself. Maximus, a rude but able soldier, and Balbinus,

a cultivated orato?, were chosen by the senate to supply their

place, and with them was associated a third Gordian, the

grandson of the elder, a mere boy, who received the title of

Osesar. Maximin advanced into Italy and laid siege to

Aquileia, and being delayed tbere by the gallant resistance of

the place, his soldiers mutinied and murdered him.

'A few months later Maximus and Balbinus fell

victims in the same manner to their soldiery, and the young

Gordian assumed the purple as sole emperor.

For five years the government was ably administered by

his minister, Misitheus. Gordian in person repelled an attack

of the Persians upon Syria. But Misitheus died, and his

successor Philippus, an Arabian, conspired against

his master. Gordian was slain by his own soldiers

on the Euphrates, and Philippus reigned in his stead.

This Oriental prince has been claimed as a convert to
Christianity. The most important act of his reign shows that
A.D. 248, be did not scruple to propitiate the gods of Home by
A.U. 1001. the most solemn of all their rites. On April 21,
A.D. 248, he celebrated the thousandth anniversary of the foun-
dation of the city with great pomp, and performed the secular
games veith all the splendour given to that festival by Augustus
and his successors. He was anxious perhaps to reassure the
citizens at a moment when the Goths, a new and formidable
enemy, were threatening the empire on the side of MsBsia..
But his own troops were in open mutiny headed by Maximus,
who pretended to the empire. Philip despatched Decius
against him, but Decius in his turn was set up by the troops as
a rival claimant to the throne. The issue was decided between
them at Verona in a battle in which Philip was defeated and
slain.

Once more the Romans saw at their Jy^bfCfS^etor of the

CH. Lxiv; Decrus, Valerian, 369

best Koman blood, who was also a brave soldier. Becius
belonged to the old plebeian bouse famous in bistory for its
patriotic devotion. He bad not scbemed for power, but it bad
been tbrust upon bim. In bis opinion Eome could only be
saved by a victorious army^ and tbe discipline of tbat army
could only be maintained by a return to ancient Koman
principles. In tbe eyes of one wbo put bis trust in tbe gods of
Home, toleration was a weak mistake, and Decius insisted that
tbe Christians should conform to the ancient ordinances of the
state. Tbe Goths were threatening invasion ; and as in former
crises of a similar kind, so now^ but with unexampled severity,
persecution fell upon the believers. Tried by the test of heathen
vows and sacrifices^ many false professors doubtless fell into
apostasy; but the true remnant were drawn together more
closely than ever, and confirmed each other in the faith by
many noble examples. The storm of persecution, though sharp,
was transient. Decius hastened to the scene of war in Meesia
to prepare bis legions for the coming struggle, leaving Valerian
in charge of the city with the office and title of censor. In
three campaigns Decius opposed a manful resistance
to tbe encroaching foe ; and at length gained the
distinction of fallings first of all the Koman emperors^ on the
field of battle. A gallant son perished with him, but the
devotion of these latter Decii gained no triumph for Kome.

The senate nominated for his successor an officer named
Gallus, who at once purchased a humiliating peace; but all
parties were dissatisfied : Gallus was murdered by the soldiers,
and an officer of the Danubian army, ^milianus, took his
place. Against this new pretender Valerian now
advanced at the head of the army of tbe Khine, and
^milianus in his turn was assassinated. Valerian, with his
son Gallienus, wore the purple for the period, now unusually
long, of seven years. He was not destitute of civic virtues, and
bore his dignity with grace and moderation; but he proved
incapable of dealing with the barbarians, and during his reign
the frontier provinces were often overrun by the Franks and the
Goths, At length Valerian girded on his sword, and marched
to the Euphrates to check the career of the conquering Sapor.
He was, however, defeated and captured at Edessa ; and after
suffering unheard-of indignities, the Persian tyi-ant mounting
Qn bis captive's back into tbe saddle, be died, and bis skin,

B B

370 Gallienus. Zenobia. ch. lxiv.

tanned and painted purple, was suspended in a temple. Sapor
advanced into Asia Minor ; but was content to return to Persia,
carrying with him a multitude of slaves. The
indolent Gallienus made no attempt to repair the
honour of the empire, which was better sustained by Odena-
thus, a Syrian chieftain, who defended Palmyra^ and who
assumed the title of emperor.

While GaUienus lingered in vicious ease at Rome, a host of
pretenders sprang up in every quarter of the empire. Roman
writers have called them the thirty tyrants, and their number
did not fall short of nineteen; but one after another they
perished by the hands of their own troops or by the arms of
the emperor's loyal lieutenants. Odenathus alone was accepted
83 a colleague by Gallienus, and honoured with the title of
Augustus. He and his gallant queen Zenobia were the most
distinguished persons of that obscure but turbulent epoch.

In due course Gallienus met with a violent end in a tumult
in the camp. In his last moments he nominated for his
successor, Olaudiud, a man of courage and ability,
though of mean birth and foreign extraction. With
him begins a brief revival of military glory. The civil contests
of the last few years had exercised the legions, and elicited
such military ability as might exist. At the same time the
city of Rome had been completely severed from the imperial
camp. By a decree of Gallienus the senators were prohibited
from taking any part in military affairs. The citizens acquiesced,
and were content to lead an easy life, busied only with the
ceaseless war of words, interested in the disputes between the
Neo-Platonists and the Christian sects, while the defence and
government of the empire were left to provincials and strangers,

Claudius routed the Goths in the great battle of Naissus in
MaBsia, and assumed the name of Gothicus. He then prepared
A D 270 ^ advance against the Persians, and to compel the
submission of Odenathus and Zenobia; but his
career was cut short by a natural death at Sirmium on the
Danube, and he nominated the gallant captain Aurelian for his
successor. This man, the son of an lUyrian peasant, proved'
himself one of the ablest chiefs of the Roman lemons. He
defeated the Goths on the Danube, but prudently withdrew the
outposts of the empire from the northern bank of that river.
"With his legions largely reinforced by barbarian cohorts, he

CH. Lxiv. Aurelian, Probus. 371

hastened to the East, and encountered no unworthy rival in
Zenobia, queen of Palmyra. Zftnobia, who was guided by the
counsels of the philosopher Longinus, enjoyed and deserved a
high reputation for political capacity. She resisted the Roman
emperor in the field ; but was overpowered and carried captive
to Rome to grace her conqueror's triumph. Aurelian, however,
spared her life, and she long lived in dignity and honour at
Hadrian's villa near Tibur. The emperor, who was a stera
disciplinarian, was preparing to carry out a virulent
persecution of the Christians when he fell by assas-
sination ; and such was the respect in which he was held by the
legions, that they consented to wait six months for the nomi*
nation of his successor by the senate. One substantial monu-
ment of his short reign remains in the existing walls of Rome,
which were first erected in his time as a defence against the
Allemanni who had penetrated into the heart of Italy. The
walls of Servius had long been outgrown, and the new enclo-
sure, with its circuit of twelve or thirteen miles, contained
within it aU the suburbs, and comprised an area three or four
times that of the Servian. The city of Aurelian (Orleans) in
Gaul, built on the foundations of the ancient Genabum, was
another of his works. He designed it as a check upon the
encroachments of the Franks and Allemanni, and his name i9
still perpetuated in its modem appellation.

Aurelian's successor, Tacitus, was selected by the senate.
He was a man of good birth and of good character ;
but his great age rendered him incapable of enduring
the fatigues of war, and he succumbed after a campaign of a
few months against the Scythians.

Again the army undertook to create an emperor, and made
an excellent choice in Aurelius Probus, a tried and bnlliant
general, and, like Aurelian, a native of Sirmium. Probus
defeated the Germans on the Rhine and the Danube : he next
overthrew the Goths ; and then, marching to the extreme east
of the empie, compelled the Persians to agree to an honourable
peace. The peace of the empire being thus secured, Probus
employed his legions in draining marshes and planting vine-
yards. He also re-established the cultivation of the vine in
Spain, Gaul, Britain, and the Danubian provinces, where it had
been prohibited since Domitian's time in the interest of the
Italians. But these peaceful labours were distasteful to the

BB 2

372 Carus, Diocletian. ch. lxiv.

legionaries, and, after a useful reign of six years^ Probus was
killed in a mutiny.

The prize of empire fell next to Gaul. Oarus, who was
chosen hy the legions to fill the vacant throne, was a native of
Narbonne. He, too, was a hardy soldier who paid no attention
to Rome, but spent his life in the camp. His son Oarinus
was of a violent and brutal temper ; yet Carus was reluctantly
compelled to leave the young OsBsar in command of the western
provinces, while he himself led a fresh expedition against the
Persians. Oarus was the first Koman emperor who penetrated
in person beyond Otesiphon on the Tigris ; but the fates seemed
to forbid the transgression of that limit by a Roman general,
and Oarus was suddenly cut off, whether by accident or
treachery is uncertain. His son Numerian at once led the
legions homewards ; but he also was struck down, and it iai
probable that the deaths of both father and son were due to
the ambition of their lieutenant Aper, who undoubtedly aimed
at the succession.

Meanwhile another chief, the Dalmatian Diodes or Diocle-
tianus, was on the watch for his own advancement. He had
risen from the lowest ranks by sheer force of talent, and had
been early assured by a prophetess that he was destined for
empire, and that he would attain it by the slaughter of a boar.
Assiduous hunting in the forests of Gaul and Msesia had won
lor him no prize of power. But now he knew that his hour
was come ; and, as he thrust his sword into the bosom of Aper
to avenge his murdered chief, he confidently called upon the
army and the senate to recognise his own claims and lift him
to the purple. The army of the East adhered staunchly to him.
Oarinus, at the head of the forces of the West, disputed his
succession, and showed high military capacity in more than one
victorious engagement. But the star of Diocletian
was in the ascendant. His rival was cut off by an
assassin ; and the man who best imderstood the needs of the
empire and of the age was left in undisturbed commaDd of the
resources of the state.

d by Google

CH. Lxv. Reorganisation of the Empire, %T}^

CHAPTER LXV.

THE EMPIBE RECONSTITUTED BY DIOCLETIAN. KISE OF
C0N8TANTINE TO SUPBEME POWER.

The accession of Diocletian to power marks a new epocli in the
history of the Roman empire. The old names of the repuhlic,
the consuls, the tribunes, even the senate itself, have by this
time lost all political significance. The empire of Rome is
henceforth constituted as a pure Oriental Autocracy ; and the
very name of citizen falls into disuse. If the provincial magis-
trates and assemblies still retain some of their ancient functions,
they are strictly limited in their action to matters of police
and finance. Hitherto the senate had been popularly regarded
as the legitimate centre of administration and source of authority ;
but in practice it was rarely able, and then only on sufferance,
to assert its right to select the chief of the state. The result of
this weakness was that the provinces lay at the mercy of the
armies. At any moment the empire might be torn asunderinto as
many kingdoms as there were armies. The chief of the strongest
army called himself emperor ; but, in the absence of a central con-
trolling power, only the fortune of war or the chance stroke of thef
assassin's dagger could decide who should be emperor. The danger
of disruption was becoming yearly more imminent, when Dio-
cletian arose to knit the empire once more together into a living
organisation.

Since the reign of Gallienus the senators had been for-
bidden to take any part In military matters ; and this rule, in
which they indolently acquiesced, had deprived them of the
last remnant of substantial power. Accorc&ngly, in framing his
new imperial constitution, Diocletian took no account of the
senate ; but such was the traditional dignity of that once splendid
assembly, that the emperor prefen-ed to remain at a distance
from the city where it still held its sittings. In order to put
an effective check upon the ambition of his officers, Diocletian
associated with himself three other chiefs, each of whom should
rule over a separate quarter of the empire, and combine in
maintaining their common interest. His first step was to choose
for his colleague Maximianus, an lUyrian peasant, whom he
invested with the title of Augustus, a.d. 286. Maximianus was
deputed to control the Western portionoiofe tiie empire, while

374 First Division of the Empire, ch. lxv.

Diocletian took command in the East. But; finding the burden
of government more than could he home hy two rulers, he, in
the year 292, created two Caesars, the one, Qalerius, to share
with him the empire of the East ; the other, Oonstantius Ohlorus,
to divide the West with Maximian. The Csesars were bound
more closely to the Augusti by receiving their daughters in^
marriage. Each of these four princes reigned as a king in his
own territory, having his own court and capital as well as his
own army and camp ; though the supremacy of Biocletain was
fully recognised. Diocletian reigned at Nicomedia over ABia
Minor, Syria, and Egypt; his Csesar, Galerius, resided at
Sirmium, and governed the Danubian and Macedonian provinces.
Maximian occupied Italy, Africa, and the adjacent islands, with
his head-quarters at Milan ; while Oonstantius, established at
Treves, undertook the defence of the Rhenish frontier, and
drew the forces needed for the task from the martial provinces
of Spain, Gaul, and Britain.

All the four emperors found serious work to do in quieting
rebellious subjects, overthrowing pretenders to sovereignty, or
repelling foreign foes; but they all acted with energy and
success. Egypt was pacified, Mauretania humbled ; Galerius
reduced the Persians to submission; Oonstantius discomfited
the Allemanni who had invaded Gaul, and put down the pre-
tenders Oarausius and AUectus in Britain. Thus victorious in
every quarter, Diocletian celebrated his twentieth year of power
by a triumph at the ancient capital, and then returned to
Nicomedia. He soon afterwards formed the resolution to
relieve himself of the cares of government, and called upon
Maximian to do the same. On May 1, a.d. 806, being then
fifty-nine years of age, Diocletian performed the act of abdica-
tion at Morgus in Msesia, where he had first assumed the purple
at the bidding of the soldiers. On the same day a similar scene
was enacted by his colleague Maximian at Milan. Diocletian,
completely successful in all his plans, crowned his career of
moderation and self-restraint by confining himself during the
remainderof his life to the tranquil enjoyment of a private station.
He retired to his residence near Salona, in his native province
Dalmatia, and amused himself during his declining years with
the cultivation of his garden.

During the reign of Diocletian a serious outbreak of the
labouring population occuiTed in Gaul, i^feiiystem of imperial

en. Lxv. The Bagandce, The Christians, 375

taxation was intensely oppressive. The peasants, though legally
fifee, were in fact registered and bound to the soil, in order to
guard against any of them evading his share of the taxes.
The restriction thus placed upon the natural movements of
population produced, in years of famine, pestilence, or war, the
direst distress. At the best of times the local officials could
only escape ruin for themselves by grinding to the utmost the
classes below them. Under this evil system, the wealth and
population of the empire were fast sinking, while the luxury of
the magnates and the necessities of the government increased.
Gaid had suffered much from the incursions of the barbarians and
from civil wars during the last half-century, and the distress
thus caused led to the insurrection of the Bagandae or rustic
banditti. For several years the country was overrun with
troops of famished and furious marauders, who attacked all
property, and, in the case of Autuu, sacked and destroyed one of
the chief centres of Gaulish civilisation. The insurrection at
length died out ; but the imperial government failed to learn
from it the urgent necessity of devising some less exhausting
system of taxation.

The Christian writers have represented the BagandsB as
believers who had been driven to desperation by repeated per-
secutions. This statement is not corroborated by the pagan
records, and there are strong grounds for doubting the truth of
it; but it does seem likely that the insurrection opened the
eyes of the government to the explosive nature of the prevailing
cQscontent, and inclined them to regard Christianity with a
jealous and hostile eye. Certainly it was at this time that the
most general and violent effort was made to stamp out the new
faith altogether. Diocletian was opposed to such a course ; but
both Maximian and Galerius m*ged it upon him, and at length
prevailed. The persecution which followed was systematic and
relentless. Constantius, however, refused to take part in it, and
the Christians in Gaul, the country of the Bagandse, were
unmolested. Though Diocletian allowed himself to be persuaded
against h^s better judgment to become a persecutor, we need
not suppose that his cruelties were prompted by any super-
stitious fear of the offended pagan deities such as had dictated
the earlier persecutions. Neither is it probable that he had any
fanatical desire to prop the tottering edifice of pagan philosophy
ftnd superstition against the assaults of the new Mthi^iThe aim

376 Death of Constantius Chloru^. ch. lxv.

of Diocletian's life had been to ite-establish a powerful central
government, which might command absolute obedience through^
out every comer of the empire. In this he had succeeded ;• but
meanwhile the growing power and organisation of the Christian
Church had become a state within a state. Courts and prefects
did not like to see their authority rivalled by that of metro-
politans and bishops. Diocletian would not brook the existence
of a power independent of his own sovereign will ; and it was in
order to extirpate such a power that he declared internecine war
against the Church. He had undertaken a task which was
beyond his or any man's strength, and which was doomed to
failure. He had underrated the moral force, the unquenchable
vitality of a society, which could not only survive but multiply in
defiance of his ruthless edicts. He lived to see the persecution
come to an end, and perhaps even to hear, in his retirement, of
the edict of Milan, which guaranteed to the Christians once for
aU an established position in the commonwealth.

Notwithstanding the ability which Diocletian had dis-
played in the government of his realm, the distribution of power
he affected to make on his abdication seems to indicate caprice
or weakness. Instead of inviting the two Caesars to step into
the superior position of Augusti, and associate each with him-
self a CflBsar of his own choice, he allowed Galerius to nominate
both the new princes ; and Constantius was required to accept
for his Csesar one Flavins Severus, to the injury of his own son
Constantine's claims. Constantius was at the time lying sick in
the north of Britain. Galerius was watching for his death,
and hoping to secure for himself supreme authority over the
whole empire. But Constantius was beloved by his subjects,
and especially by the many Christians who had taken refuge
under his sway, for his moderation. He was also admired by the
soldiers for his victories over the Allemanni and the Cale-
donians. At the moment of his death, they pro-
claimed his son Constantino emperor in their camp
at York, and this nomination was received with enthusiasm by
all classes throughout the West. Galerius did not venture to
oppose it ; but insisted that Constantino should be content with
the fourth place among the associated princes with the sub-
A.D. 806. ordinate title of Caesar. Constantino affected to be
A.D. 812. satisfied, and devoted himself during six years to the
administration of the Northern provi^j^Hf^ ^^ ,jj^ thoroughly

CH. Lxv. Death of Maxiinian and Galerius, 377

quelled the barbariaDS in Britain^ and put the Roman province
in a complete state of defence. He re-established the pro-
Tincial government which had been overthrown by Oarausius*
Thence he hastened to the Ehine, where the Germans werfr
making fresh incursions, and completed his victory at Novio^
magus by a terrible massacre of his captives. To his own sub-
jects he was merciful and kind, protecting the Christians^ and
easing the burden of taxation which had pressed so hard upon
the people of Gaid. Though personally indifferent to every
form of religion, he perceived that Christianity was a rising
power. His imagination was fascinated by it ; and his vigorous
understanding recognised the fact that the Christians were the
best husbands and fathers, the most honest dealers, perhaps the
bravest of soldiers, certainly the most loyal of subjects. How-
ever small their numbers compared to those of the pagans,
their effective force was indefinitely multiplied by their zeal
and earnestness, and by the admiration their long sufferings
had extorted. While watching his opportunity for raising him-
self to the highest place in the empire, Constantino was perhaps
already meditating an alliance with the greatest moral power of
the period.

Meanwhile the senate at Home awoke for a moment from
its torpor, and, resenting the interference of Galerius with Italy,
decreed the title of Augustus to Maxentius, the son of their
late ruler Maximian. Maximian himself issued from his retire-
ment on the plea of aiding the cause of his son, and sought
to secure the support of Constantine by giving him his daughter
Fausta in marriage. Maxentius soon drove his father out of
Italy, and the old man found a refuge with his son-in-law in
Gaul. Here his restless spirit drove him to make repeated
efforts to recover the imperial power which he had resigned.
His schemes were more than once frustrated, and he himself
pardoned by Constantine, whose soldiers were ardently devoted
to their emperor. At length Maximian contrived a plot to take
the life of his generous benefactor. He was foiled and per-
emptorily required to put an end to his own existence.
In the following year occurred the death of Galerius,
whose cruelties have rendered his name a by-word, and whose
death from a loathsome disease was regarded by the Chris-
tians as a divine retribution. Severus was already dead ; and
Xicinius, by birth a Dacian peasant, had been promoted in hia

378 Constantine Emperor of the West ch. lxv.

place. Mazimin, the nephew of Galerius, had been for some
years the Oaesar of the East. On the death of Galerius, Licinius
took possession of the empire of the East, and he, with Maximin,
MaxentiuSy and Oonstantine, divided the Roman world between
them; aU four claiming the superior title of Augustus.
Licinius and Gonstantine were both able and ambitious; the
two other princes were weak and indolent. Scarcely had
Galerius expired, when Gonstantine crossed the Alps to attack
Maxentius. He gained three brilliant victories — at Turin, at
Verona, and lastly at the Milvian Bridge, two miles from
Home, where Maxentius, after his defeat, was dro wned
^^' ' in the Tiber. Gonstantine was received with ac-
clamations in Rome, and speedily acknowledged emperor of
the West throughout Italy and Africa. In the 3 ear 813 he
issued at Milan the famous eHict which assured the Ghristians
not only of his protection but also of hb favour. He after-
wards affirmed with a solemn oath that while on his march
from Gaul he had beheld the vision of a brilliant cross in the
heavens inscribed with the legend, * By this conquer ! *

Gonstantine, who now saw Rome for the first time, affected
to treat the senate with respect ; but he took care to prevent
the city from ever agwn giving laws to the empire by disband-
ing the preetorian guards and destroying their camp. He veiled
his own personal faith in studied ambiguity, assuming the office
of Ghief Pontiff of the old national religion, and erecting
statues of some of the gods of Olympus on his arch of triumph.
Gonstantine had accepted the proffered alliance of Licinius, had
given him his daughter in marriage, and had engaged him to
set his seal to the edict of Milan. Bearing it back with him to
the East and placarding it on the walls of Nicomedia, Licinius
evoked the enthusiasm of the Ghristians, and had little difficulty
in crushimr his rival Maximin, who, after suffering three defeats,
poisoned himself at Tarsus. But Gonstantine was jealous of
the success of Licinius, and, pretending to have discovered an
intrigue against himself, advanced with a small force to take
him by surprise. A drawn battle on the plain of Mardia in
Thrace led to an agreement by which Illyricum, Macedonia,
Greece, and part of MsBsia were ceded to Gonstantine and incor-
porated with the Western empire. During the nine years that
this compact remained in force, Gonstantine was actively
engaged in reorganising his army and consolidating his vast

CH. Lxv. Ecclesiastical Councils. 379

dominions. He reduced the strength of the legions to 1,500
men, and multiplied the number of them. He admitted slaves
to the ranks, and generally selected barbarian captains for
command. At the same time he was busily employed in
revising the laws, hoping to bring Christians and pagans to live
harmoniously together under equal laws; but he soon found
that it was impossible to bring the Christians themselves into
agreement. The bishops invoked his authoiity and besought
his interference to reconcile the differences between the sects.
He held councils at Bome and at Aries, where the
question in debate turned upon the treatment of the
weak brethren who had lapsed from the faith in the time of per-
secution. The Donatists rejected the emperor's decision, which
was contrary to their views, and he was obliged to have recourse
to the arm of power. The first imperial council of the Church
t^as the signal tor the first ecclesiastical persecution. Constanline
tvas quite disposed to coerce the sectarians into uniformity, and,
although but half persuaded to be a Christian, he made impor-
tant concessions to the believers. In the year 321 he enacted
that no secular labour or civil action, except the emancipation
of a slave, foe permitted on the ^day of the Sun,' and that
Christian soldiers be allowed to quit their ranks on that day,
and attend their religious services. Yet while the principles
of the Christians were thus respected, their churches protected,
and their endowments secured to them, Constantino did not
break with paganism. He was still Chief Pontiff of Jupiter,
' best and greatest' Vows and prayers might still be addressed
to the pagan deities and even to the genius of the emperor.
He even looked forward to being himself enrolled, after death,
among the objects of national worship.

All this time Ldcinius was growing mere and more jealous
of the Western emperor, and of the favour with which the
Christians regarded him. He foresaw that a struggle between
them was inevitable, and he foolishly weakened his own cause
by withdrawing his protection from the Christians. When at
last the two emperors took the field against each other, Licinius
openly avowed himself the champion of the pagan gods, and
the contest became that of the new faith against the old. Con-
stantine assembled his forces in Greece to the number of
130,000 men, with the labarum or monogram of Christ dis-
played upon his standard. licinius encountered him at the

38o Constaniine * the Great! ch. lxv.

Bead of 166,000 men, and with a host of aruspiced and diviners
in his train. The armies met at Adrianople, Constantino
giving for his watchword * God our Saviour.' The
Western army, in spite of its inferior numhers,
carried all before it, and Licinius was driven for refuge into the
fortress of Byzantium. Thence he was dislodged by Orispus,
the son of Oonstantine, at the head of the fleet ; and after some
further efforts at resistance he retired to Nicomedia and made
a full submission to the victor. He was promised his life, but
the promise was not long observed. On the death of Licinius^
Constantino saw himself at length sole and undisputed sove-
reign of the whole Roman world.

CHAPTER LXVL

THE BUILDING OF C0NSTANTIN0PI.E. THE BEIQN OP
CONSTANTIUS.

OoNSTANTiNB Well deserved the title of ' Great ' which has
been affixed to his name in common with thof© of only two
other conspicuous heroes of ancient history. The changes
effected under his auspices were of more value and importance
to the world than any achievements of Alexander or of Pom-
pey. The establishment of Christianity, by itself, and I'egarded
only as a politic measure, entitles its author to the highest
honour; and the victories of Constantino in the field, the
extont of his dominion, and the firm grasp with which he held
it, were all unsurpassed by any ancient sovereignty.

From the time of his elevation to sole power he became
more than ever the protector of the Christians, and no flattery
was too strong to express their gratitude towards him. In the
year 325 the strange sight was witnessed of a Roman emperor,
Chief Pontift* of the pagan religion, surrounded by guards and
officers of state, presiding over the deliberations of an assembly
of Christian bishops. This occurred at the famous Council of
Nicsea, where, after the testimony of the bishops as to the
tradition of their several dioceses had been received, the final
judgment on the most abstruse dogmas of the faith was pro-
nounced by Constantino. The pagans, indeed, asserted that hia.

CH. LxvL Foundation of Constantinople. 381

devotion to Ohristianity was due to his need of absolution for
a domestic crime^ which had been refused to him by the priests
of the old religion. It is certain that his domestic relations
were unhappy. Dissension raged between his mother Helena
and his wife Fausta. He treated his brothers with great
injustice, and excluded them from public life. His eldest son,
Orispus, had been borne to him by an early favourite before his
marriage with Fausta. The latter was jealous of the favour
in which Orispus was held, fearing it might result in injury to
her own legitimate offspring. A palace intiigue led to the
sudden execution of Orispus, and the death of Fausta fol-
lowed soon after. From the date of that tragedy Oonstantino
was never free from gloomy remorse. He roamed from city to
city, fixing his court most commonly in Gaul, at Treves, or
Lyons, and never visiting Eome except to celebrate the
twentieth year of his reign. These wanderings came to a close
at length, when he determined to erect for himself a new
capital. For many hundreds of years Eoman statesmen had
looked eastwards ; the chief wealth and intelligence and
population of the empire were to be found in the eastern
provinces. Sulla and Pompey had returned to Home dazzled
and debauched by the splendour and the pomp they had
^oyed in Asia. Antonius and Osesar had been suspected of
a design to make themselves Oriental despots. Augustus had
entertained the idea of rebuilding Ilium. Diocletian had
actually for a time transferred the chief seat of empire to
Nicomedia. Oonstantine went beyond aU his predecessors. He
had marked the advantageous position of Byzantium when he
pursued Licinius within its walls. He now determined to
build a new Rome upon the site and make it the administrative
centre of the empire. With prescient ambition he marked out
its walls in person, embracing an area as large as that of Bome;
Here he required his nobles to settie and build palaces for their
families. Leaving the city and senate of Bome undisturbed,
he quietiy created a new senate and a new hierarchy of officers,
and gave them a dignity equal to that of the ancient capital.
The new metropolis basked in the sunshine of the imperial
presence, and Bome soon sank into the position of a mere pro-
vincial capital such as Alexandria, Antioch, or Treves. Oon-
stantinople became the mistress of the world, and succeeded to

. * _ . . , .^. _.. . Diqitizsd by VJWVJvIC

Rome's proudest title, 'The City.' ^

382 Death of Constdntine, ch. lxvi.

This transfer of the seat of empire to the East was due to
something more than the caprice of the emperor. The position
of Rome as the centre of imperial power had. been due solely to
her military supremacy. Throughout the long period of the
growth of the republic and of the empire, Greece and the East,
rather than Rome, had been the source whence the intellectual
movement of the world had sprung. The laws, the literature,
the philosophy, and now at length the religion of the empire,
derived their origin from the lands which lay to the east of
Italy. In wealth, in population, in culture, in intelligence, the
Greeks and Orientals surpassed the people of Rome and Italy ;
and, now that the conquerors of the world had lost their once
pre-eminent qualities of martial hardihood and practical states-
manship, it was but natural that power should drop from their
Hands. Another reason for the change may be found in the
fact that the most dangerous external foes of the empire were
now to be found in the East. The renewed vitality of the
Persian monarchy, and the pressure of the Gothic hordes upon
the line of the Lower Danube, required the constant presence
and vigilant attention of the ruler in that quarter of the empre.
A better centre of operations against these enemies than the
new capital could not have been found. Constantinople, in
fact, never succumbed to the power of the Goths. It proved a
t>ulwark to the Eastern half of the empire against their attacks,
and, by diverting their advance into a more westerly line of
march, it exposed Italy and Rome to the full force of their
onset.

Here, then, at the southern end of the western shore of the

Bosphor?^ at the point of junction of two continents, Ctonstan-

tine reared his imperial city, where for another

thousand years the traditions of Roman dominion

were maintamed. Here he passed the la£t six years of his

successful life.

Here he celebrated, in 336, the thirtieth anniversary of hia

elevation to the purple. In the following year, while leading

his army against the Persian Sapor, he died at

Nicomedia, receiving at last on his death-bed the

sacrament of baptism which he had so long delayed, and which

he probably regarded as a passport to heaven.

According to his directions, the empire was divided between
his three sons. Oonstantine, the eldest, ruled over the Western

CH. Lxvi. Cdnstantius sole Emperor. 383

provinces, probably at Treves. Constans, the youngest, occu-
pied Italy, lUyricum, and Africa, but held his court not at
Borne, nor even in Italy, but at one of the Pannonian fortresses.
Oonstantius succeeded to the government of the East, making
Constantinople his capital, and maintaining, during his long
reign of forty years, the struggle begun by his father against the
Persian monarchy. It was not long before Oonstantine and
Constans quairelled and fought. Their forces met
at Aquileia, and the death of Constantino, which
ensued, left Constans master of the entire West. He took up
his residence in Gaul and led a life of indolent dissipation, till
he was surprised by a mutiny of his soldiers, and
despatched by their leader Magnentius. The mur-
derer assumed the purple, and was acknowledged emperor of
the Western provinces; but the lUyiian legions refused to
recognise him, and set up an officer of their own, Vetranio, as
his rival. Constantius heard at Edessa of this double revolt
against the authority of the house of Constantine. He quickly
retreated from the Pernan frontier, and, marching across Asia
Minor and through his capital, he never halted till he con-
fronted Vetranio near Sirmium. A conference was arranged ;
the aged Vetranio, touched by a feeling of loyalty, admitted
the superior claims of his great master's son, descended from
his throne, did obeisance, and was forgiven. This reconcilia-
tion was followed by a decisive battle with Magnentius at
Mursa, in Pannonia. After a bloody encoimter the usurper
was routed. He fled first to Aquileia, thence to Rome, and
finally to Gaul, but was at last taken and killed.
Oonstantius became undisputed ruler of the united
empire. At the time of Constantino's death the soldiers had
murdered all the scions of the house of Chlorus except the
emperor's three sons and two of their cousins, Gallus »^ ^ ^^
and Julianus. Constantius now found it necessary
to his security to execute his cousin Gallus, leaving but one
collateral branch of his house, Julianus.

It was now thirty years since Constantine had left Rome.
A generation of Romans had arisen who had never seen an
emperor nor witnessed a great military pageant. The senate
still sat : the consuls still gave their names to the successive
years: but no affairs of state were discussed: no provincial
government was directed from the whilom mistress of the

3^4 '^^^ Divinity of Rome, ch. lxvl

world. Here, amid the treasures of art collected during
centuries of supremacy, amid the cultivated society which had
long gravitated to the centre of empire, the wealthiest and
idlest of the old aristocracy still loved to congregate. Since
the edict of toleration all tongues had been loosened ; Christians
and pagans proclaimed their opinions in hot and sometimes
angry debate. But the peace was not broken. Substantial
harmony prevailed among all parties. For fifty years Rome
had enjoyed a period of tranquil prosperity, such as might,
perhaps, be compared advantageoudy even with the favoured
era of the Antonines.

Although the sceptre had in reality departed from Rome,
the citizens were far indeed from recognising the fact. They
did not abate one jot of their ancient pride in themselves and
their city, however little ground there might be for such self^
satisfaction. The success of Rome had always been attributed
to the reverence of her people for the national gods *, and, despite
the progress of Christianity, this feeling was by no means extin-
guished. The belief in such deities as Jupiter, Venus, or
Apollo, had, it is true^ almost died out ; but in their place the
divinity of Rome itself, the genius of the empire and of the
city, had taken a firm hold on the aiFections and the devotion
of the people. The goddess Roma had her temple, the most
magnificent of all: she was doubtless there represented by
an image of bronze or marble ; but the most perfect embodi-
ment of this ideal divinity was the person of the reigning
emperor. It had now for centuries been the custom to accord
divine honours to the emperors after death ; and even during
life a kind of divine sanctity had long been attached to their
persons. The Orientals worshipped the emperor as a god
without hesitation, and even in the West vows were made and
sacrifices were ofiered in his name. Christian though he might
profess to be, the emperor did not disclaim these honours nor
refuse to accept such worship. Surrounded by this halo of
superhuman power and dignity, Constantius made his public
entry into the imperial city, which he now saw for the first
time. He was filled with admiration for the splendid build-
ings and monuments which met his eye in all directions : the
temples, the palaces, the theatres, the aqueducts, the memorial
columns, and the triumphal arches : but he was trained to self-
control J and, as he moved along slowly iathisthaiii^iie never

CH. Lxvi, Arianism -^J Constantius, 385

suffered his eye to glance to tlie right or left, he moved no
feature nor finger, except when ia passing under some lofty
archway he was observed to bow his small figure slightly, as
though he were wont to esteem himself something more
elevated than human. So unapproachable a superiority did he
aftect that he never suiFered anyone to sit beside him in his
chariot, nor associated with himself in the consulship one who
was not of the imperial family.

Oonstantius had now to learn with surprise how great was
the position and power of the bishop of Rome ; and how that
the faith of the Christians was a force capable of resisting even
his imperious will. Already during his father's lifetime the
doctrines of the presbyter Arius had been widely accepted in
the East. His heresy, which placed the second person of the
Trinity in a lower scale of divinity than the first, was embraced
by many as a compromise with Polytheism. The Council of
Nicaea condemned the heresy, and the heretic was banished ;
but before his death Ci)nstantine restored Arius to favour, and
Constantius accepted his teaching and proscribed the orthodox
believers. He went so far even as to depose Athanasius from
his see, and when the latter took refuge at Home, and was
welcomed by Pope liberius, Constantius had called upon the
Pope to condemn and excommunicate him. Liberius had man-
fully resisted the emperor's dictation : he had been exiled to
Thrace, and during his absence an Arian bishop, Felix, had
l)een thrust into the see. The Christians then absented them-*
selves from the churches ; and now that the heretical tyrant
appeared among them, the women came in long procession, like
the Roman matrons of old, to remonstrate with him for his
sacrilege. Constantius tried to compromise by declaring that
Jjiberius and FelLx should both be bishops of Rome conjointly.
He delivered his decree in the Circus. * Shall we have factions
in the Church as in the Circus?' exclaimed the indignant
multitude. ' One God, one Christ, one Bishop I ' was th^
universal cry.

Liberius, broken in spirit by his distant banishment, sub-
mitted to the imperial will, and was allowed to return to
Rome ; but the Christians were not to be so easily subdued.
When Felix attempted to perform episcopal functions in public,
they broke into open riot. The streets and the baths vrere
deluged with blood. The factions of Marius and Sulla wer^

386 ' Julian the Apostate. ch. lxvi.

renewed, not for men but for piinciples. Eventually Felix
fled. Idberiufi resumed his throne, and was not again dis-
turbed. He prudently stayed away from the council held by
Oonstantius at Ariminum, at which the Arian heresy was
formally proclaimed and made the predominant faith. The
Council of Ariminum sate in the year 359. Oonstantius himself
died in 861.

OIIAPTER LXVII.

JXTLIAN THE APOSTATE. PROGRESS OP CHRISTIANITY IN SPITE
OP OPPOSITION. JOTIAN. VALENTINIAN.

After the slaughter of GaUus, already mentioned, the only scion
of the house of Oonstantine who survived was Julianus. He
had been educated in the Christian religion, and had studied first
at Milan and afterwards at Athens, where he devoted himself
eagerly to the philosophy and the creeds of Pagan antiquity.
Through the favour of the empress Eusebia he was advanced
to the rank of Caesar^ and invested in 355 with the govern-
ment of Gaul, which was suffering from the incursions of the
Allemanni. His administration of the province was eminently
successful ; the invaders were driven out ; the Rhenish frontier
was strengthened. Fixing his capital at Lutetia, the modem
Paris, he enlarged and beautified that city, and laid the founda-
tions of its future eminence. Oonstantius became jealous of
Ids reputation, and required him to despatch four of his legions
to the Persian frontier. The soldiers refused to be detached
from the command of their favourite captain, and compelled
him to assume the purple and raise his standard against the
legitimate emperor. Julian led his troops through South
Germany towards the Danube and Constantinople. He was
already received with acclamations in the Eastern capital before
Oonstantius was aware of his approach. The
emperor started at once from Antioch to confront
his younger rival, but, worn out with fatigue and anxiety^ he
cied in Cilicia, and Julian was received in every quarter as his
successor.

Julian, who had never been in Rome, at once crossed the
Bosphorus, and proceeded to Antioch to prepare for an invasion

eft. LXAai. His Expedition to Persia. 387

of Persia. His short reign was spent entirely in Asia. At
Antioch he cultivated the intimacy of the pagan men of letters,
and especially of the sophist Libanius. He quickly threw off
the profession of Christianity, and restored with much ceremony
the ritual and the sacrifices of the pagan deities. Julian pre-<
tended to discover the most refined philosophy hidden under
the forms of a vulgar idolatry ; he also affected an austere life
of self-denial, and aimed at proving by his practice that the
morality of Paganism was superior to that of Christianity. The
people of Antioch, who, though nominally Ohiistian, were a
loose and frivolous race, resented his apostasy and chafed at the
severity of this pagan puritan.

Julianas expedition against Persia was a brilliant advance.
He floated down the Euphrates with a powerful army, and then
waited for reinforcements from Armenia before undertaking the
siege of Ctesiphon. Disappointed of these succours, he never-
theless penetrated into the interior of Persia. Sapor retreated
before him, allowed him to pass by his forces, and then attacked
the exhausted Eomans in the rear. Julian repulsed the enemy
with great spirit, but was slain in the pursuit. The Christian
Jovian was acclaimed emperor on the field of battle, and he
succeeded in extricating his legions from their perilous position.
The imperial apostasy had triumphed for two years only, and, as
every Christian held, had been signally punished.

The history of Rome has now become little else than the
history of the progress of Christianity. To this progress the
apostasy of Julian gave indeed a transient check, but it was
succeeded by an era of more vigorous advance. The religious
policy of Constantine had been conspicuous for its moderation.
He tolerated and even favoured Christianity, but he took no
hostile action against the ancient religion. He retained the title
of Chief Pontiff to the end of his life, and the Roman senate, the
stronghold of Paganism, refused to regard him as an apostate,
and enrolled him at last among the gods. Doubtless Constantine
was politic as well as zealous. He would not forfeit the support
of the pagans by overt hostility, yet some of his measures were
calculated to advance the interests of the new creed and to
depress the position of the old. When the Christian ministers
were allowed to share with the pagan priesthood their immunity
from the burdens of municipal ofiice, it was a clear gain to them,
lor they were not weighted, like their rivals, with the cost of
c c 2 /

388 Obstacle^ to the spread of Christianity, ch. lxvii.

public sliows. The laws enacted by Constantine against divina*
lion and magic were a great discouragement to the aruspices
and to the pagan priests in general, whose services were closely
connected with magical arts and incantations. The closing on
moral grounds of the temples of Venus, which had become mere
resorts of public licentiousness, was another blow to the old
system, and foreshadowed its approaching dissolution.

The Ohristians might well be hopeful of the triumph of their
cause ; yet they were still in a minority, and their progress
was delayed by two important circumstances. The withdrawal
of the emperors from Home threw the prestige of authority into
the hands of the senate and the nobles, who, as the representatives
of the oldest traditions of the city, adhered almost universally
to Paganism. The intellectual classes, the sophists and the
orators, supported the nobles in their resistance to the new
faith. Altogether Paganism was the fashion at Rome. It was
rarely that the Ohristians could boast of a convert among the
leaders of society; and when such an event occurred they
chanted their victory in no measured tones. The conversion of
Victorinus, the most popular champion of the worship of the
pagan deities, and especially those of Egypt, made a great stir.
When it was announced that he was about to recantin public
his old opinions, and make a solemn profession of.hki Christian
faith, crowds flx>cked to hear him, and the impression produced
by this and similar incidents upon the popular mind was very
strong.

The progress of . Christianity was furtl^er impeded by the
dissensions of Christians among themselves. It is not sur-
prising that in a society collected from every clime and nation
divers interpretations of its fundamental teaching fhould spring
up; and when persecution ceased and a sense of security,
succeeded, tliese divisions became embittered. There arose a
puritan party under the name of Donatists, who insisted upon
tightening the bonds of discipline, and tore the Church asunder
under the pretence of binding it more closely together. The
heresy of the Arians touched the most essentisd doctrine of the
Church, and there could be no peace between them and the
orthodox. The favour shown to this heresy by successive
emperors, and the more facile acceptance it met with among
all classes, including even the barbarian tribes, embittered the
feelings of its faithful opponents. Council after council was

CH. Lxvii. Jidiatis revival of Paganism. 389

held to endeavour to reconcile these irreconcilable differences j
and at length the quarrel between the rival Churches became
a scandal in the eyes of their adversaries. * No beasts of the
field/ it was remarked by them, ^ are so fierce against one
another as the Ohristians against the Ohristiaus.'

Meanwhile Paganism, with little abatement of external
splendour, was slowly crumbling to decay. The temples were
still open ; the sacrifices were not disused : the priests enjoyed
their endowments. But all enthusiasm for the system was
dead ; the prodigality of offerings and ceremonies was curtailed ;
the temples fell into disrepair ; the priesthood, with its atten-*
dant expenses, was regarded as a burden rather than an honour.
Had the Church been more united, she might perhaps even now
have entered* upon the inheritance of her predecessors.

Such were the circumstances under which Julian the
Apostate determined to strike a blow for the ancient faith.
His cultivated mind combined the graceful legends of Homeric
mythology with the moral and spiritual theories of the philo-
sophic schools. Christianity presented itself to him as the
religion of the court, deformed by many corruptions, as the
religion of a depraved tyrant, who had been the persecutor of
his family and the murderer of his only brother. He recoiled
from a faith which was disfigured by such gross moral incon-
sistencies in the highest places both of the Church and of the
state.

Julian did not venture to adopt the barbarous practices of
the persecutors of old in devoting the lelievers to the sword, the
fire, and the lions. His own nature was averse to cruelty, and
the temper of the times was more humane than it had been.
At first he contented himself with writing down the religion
of the Galileans, as he contemptuously called them, thinking to
brand them with ignominy in the eyes of the Greeks and
Romans by noting their obscure provincial origin. He next
took the harsher step of shutting the schools and colleges against
them, and forbidding them to exercise the function of sophists
or teachers, thinking so to degrade them in the eyes of the
learned and literary among his subjects.

Julian also made an effort to refute, by a material proof, the
pretensions of his adversaries. The Christians pointed to the
destruction of the temple at Jerusalem as a fulfilment of their
Master's prophecy. They maintained that it could never b^

390 Indifference of the People. ch. lxvii.

rebuilt. Julian sent workmen to tlie spot, with orders to clear
away the ruins, and prepare the foundations on which to recon-
struct the temple. According to the account we have received
from a pagan historian, their operations were interrupted by a
violent convulsion of the earth, with fire and smoke and
sulphureous exhalations. The Ohristians exultingly claimed it
for a mii*acle. The pagans were dismayed by the occurrence,
and Julian desisted from the attempt.

It is interesting to observe that Julian was so far influenced
by the religion which he was combating, that he endeavoured to
engraft some of its living principles upon the dead stock of the
old system, and to bring about not only a ceremonial but a
moral revival of Paganism. He felt the force of the argument
that a true faith must be shown by good deeds, and he urged
his co-religionists to take the Ohristians as an example in moral
conduct, and to en^ulate them in works of charity while they
excelled them, as he proclaimed, in real piety. He put his
teaching in practice by commanding the foundation of hospitals
for the sick, a good deed hitherto without precedent on the
part of a pagan. But all Julian's efforts to galvanise into life
the dead corpse of Paganism were in vain. Neither the educated
teachers nor the ignorant multitude showed any sympathy for
his enthusiasm. They cared not for its ritual nor for its
doctrines, and its costly sacrifices were regarded as a burden,
and suflered to fall into disuse. Against an institution so
thoroughly effete, Ohristianity could not fail to advance with
steady progress.

The prevailing attitude of the public mind towards the
rival religions which were striving for the mastery was un-
doubtedly one of indifference, and in nothing was this more
plainly shown than in the facility with which the soldiers of
Julian, who had daily attended his pagan sacrifices, transferred
their allegiance to the Christian standard of the Labarum, under
which Jovian conducted his retreat. The position of the army
was critical, and in providing for its safety it was judged best
to surrender the strong fortress of Nisibis, and withdraw the
empire once more within the frontier line of the Euphrates.
Jovian seems to have been a man of ability. In religious
matters he showed impartial tolerance towards the
orthodox, the heretics, and the pagans ; but he did
justice to the claims of Athanasius^ and reinstated him in his

CH. Lxvii. Jovian, Valentiniaiu 391

bishopric. After a short reign of seven months he fell sick and
died before reaching Constantinople.

The ministers or officers of the late emperor^s court chose
for his successor Valentinian, a Pannonian soldier of low origin
but distinguished prowess. Though devoid of literary culture
he was a thorough disciplinarian, and soon proved his capacity
for government. His first act on reaching Constantinople was
to divide the empire with his brother Valens, taking the Western
provinces for his own share. The arrangement thus effected
for the third time was final. The empires of the East and of
the West were never again united. Valentinian set up his
court at Milan, but soon repaired to Treves in order to personally
conduct the war against the AUemanni. His courage and
activity were in full request ; and he engaged in person in many
battles, often coming off victorious, but never able to inflict a
decisive blow. He was remarkable for the justice and vigour
of his civil government, and he was unfairly charged with
cruelty on account of the severity with which he chastised the
corruption of his ofiicers. He associated with him-
self his son Gratian, and educated him wisely for
his future position of power. After reigning for twelve years,
he died from the effects of a violent fit of passion.

Valentinian pursued the same tolerant and impartial policy
in matters of religion as his predecessors. Invested like them
with the ofiice of Supreme Pontiff, he could not persecute the
pagans, but he took no active part in pagan ceremonies. On
the other hand, he attacked unsparingly the professors of
magical arts, which were at that time a highly popular form of
superstition, and which were so intertwined with the pagan
ceremonial that his prosecution of the one might seem to detract
from his impartiality towards the other. Meanwhile the
Christians continued to advance their cause with vigour, but
we can hardly venture to trace their success to the genuine
spirit of their religion. They won their way no longer by the
graces of lowliness and meekness, which had signalised the
professors of the faith in purer times.

In the absence of the emperors from Rome, the position ot
the bishop of that city had become one of no mean secular
importance. It conferred wealth and splendour, attracted the
devotion of women of the highest rank, and raised its fortunate
bolder to the pinnacle of fashion as well as of luxury . Accordingly

392 The Papacy. t^, lxvi/.

it became the object of contentious rivalry, and was sought
for with all the artifice and violence which had formerly dis-
graced the competition for the consulship. On the death of
Pope liberius in '^^^, two candidates, Damasus and Ursicinus,
competed for the succession. Both of them claimed to have
been lawfully elected by the congregation of believers. The
struggle was decided by an appeal to arms, which raged hotly
throughout the city for several days. In one Christian chiuxjh,
and on a single day, as many as 160 persons were reported to
have been killed. The prefect of the city, unable to preserve
peace, retired in confusion without the wails. At length
Damasus gained the upper hand, and he has been recognised as
legitimate Pope by ecclesiastical tradition.

The episcopal chair of Rome was now indeed a prize worth
contending for by an ambitious man. By the West of Europe
Rome had ever been regarded as the very centre of the
tmiverse in things military and secular. The Church was still
a militant body, fightiug indeed with spiritual weapons, but
feeling the need of discipline, control, and guidauce. The bishop
of Rome came by degrees to be regarded as the imperator of
this spiritual host. To him priests, and monks, and learned
doctors, and simple congregations rendered implicit obedience.
The separation -of the Eastern empire, and its constitution as a
distinct government, made the pre-eminence of Rome more
markel and unquestioned throughout the West. The term
Papa or Pope, derived from the East^ was attached to the bishop
of Rome as a title of superior honour and authority. By in-
sensible degrees he assumed and enforced his jurisdiction over
the other bishops of Italy, though the claim to imiversal
dominion was still far from being asserted. The civil eminence
of the Popes of Rome may be dated from the notable election
of the ambitious Damasus.

The pagan nobility of Rome, unable as of old to repress the
Church by force, affected to regard the Christians with lofty
disdain. Rome had fallen out of the great current of political
life, and rested in a quiet backwater, but she was still as
magnificent as ever ; she still gave her name to the empire ;
and her sons stiU proudly boasted that her greatness was due to
the favour of the gods of Rome. The most conspicuous leaders
of the old Roman sentiment at this period were two senators of
learning and j-efinement—Vettius Pretextatus, a philosopher

cn. Lxvii. Gratian, 393

And a priest, who had "been ioitiated into the mysteries of Oerea,
Ojbele, Astarte, and Mithras; and Symmachus, a celebrated
orator. These two eminent men were destined to play a pro«
minent part in opposmg the advance of Christianity.

CHAPTER LXVIIL

GRITIA.N AND THBODOSnrS. THE GOTHS UNDER ALARIC
RAVAGE GREECE AND ITALY.

Valbntinian at his death left two sons. The elder, Gratian,
was in his seventeenth year; the younger, who bore his
father^s name, and was the child of a second and
favourite wife, was a mere infant. A contest for
the succession seemed not unlikely, but Gratian, who was of a
kindly disposition, obtained the support of the legions on the
Rhine and the Danube, and further secured his authority by
marrying a grand^daughter of the great Constantine. He not
only declared himself the protector of his infant brother, but
associated him with himself in the empire. Hitherto the
emperors, on assuming the office of Chief Pontiff, had allowed
themselves to be invested with the consecrated robe of honour
which pertained to it. But the Christian sentiment was too
strong in Gratian to permit him to conform to this custom.
The early teaching of the great Ambrose, bishop of Milan, had
impressed upon his mind the sacredness of his Christian pro-
fesfflon. When the pontifical robes were ofiered to him by a
deputation of the senate, he positively refused to wear them,
though he would seem to have acquiesced in the assumption of
the title. The distinction he made may have been a subtle
one, but it indicated a more pronounced adherence on the
part of the emperor to the Christian religion, and as such must
have given rise to alarm among the pagans at Rome.

This feeling of insecurity was doubtless increased when the
imperial commands arrived at Rome to remove the statue and
altar of Victory which adorned the senate house, and before
which it was customary for the senators to bum a few grains
of incense at the commencement of each sitting. The Christian
minority naturally objected to be partakers or Vven« witnesses

394 Theodositis Emperor of the East. ch. lxviii.

of this idolatrous practice, and, trustiDg to the favour of Qratian
and the support of Ambrose, they had urged the removal of
the idol. The pagan senators^ thoroughly alarmed; sent a
deputation to the emperor at Milan to plead against the enforce-^
ment of the order. Gratian refused to receive them, on the
ground that they did not represent the whole body of senators.
When the young Valentinian was associated in the
empire, the opportunity was seized by the malcon-
tents to address a second memorial on the subject to the two
rulers. Leave was given to Symmachus to transmit his plea in
writing, and to Ambrose was entrusted the duty of preparing a
reply. The imperial decision, as might be expected, was in
favour of Ambrose. The statue, which had been removed, was
ordered not to be replaced ; and this decision was supported by
the chief magistrates of the empire, some of whom took the
opportunity of declaring themselves Christians.
' Had the fortune of war been adverse, it would greatly have
strengthened the case of the pagans, who would have argued,
with some show of reason, that such reverses were the just
punishment for the slights offered to the gods of Rome.
Happily no such handle was given to the enemies of the
Christian religion. The government of Gratian was marked
throughout by successful warfare on the frontiers and by peace
and prosperity within them. He himself won a great victory
over the Germans across the Rhine. For a moment indeed
Gratian might claim the united empire for his own. Yalens,
the emperor of the East, had been defeated and slain by the
Goths at Adrianople, and his authority lapsed to
Gratian, who had collected large forces in that .
quarter to oppose the barbarians. Gratian, however, hastened
to relieve himself of the increased burden of empire, and after
a short interval placed his ablest general, Theodosius, on the
throne of Constantinople. With the help of the new emperor,
and of his Franlrish allies, he effected a settlement of affairs on
the Danube, and ceded large tracts in Maesia and Pannonia to
the Goths, where it was hoped they would settle quietly and
cease to be a standing menace to the civilisation of the South.
Nevertheless the pagan party continued to appeal both to
Gratian and to Theodosius for the restoration of their favourite
image ; and their anxiety was in some measure due to the fact
that the Christian emperor was gradually appropriating the

GH. Lxviii. Maximiis. Valentinidn IL 395

endowments of temples and priestly offices whicli were falling
into disuse or abeyance. Another measure directed against
the old religion was the prohibition of legacies to the vestal
virgins, whose assumption of the virtue of chastity seems to
have been specially obnoxious to the Christians.

During these latter years Gratian had been gradually losing
the esteem of his subjects, devoting himself too exclusively to
the idle pleasures of the chase, and associating on terms of
intimacy with the barbarian Alaiic, to whom he entrusted the
protection of his person. He had thus laid himself bare to the
attack of the first adventurous rebel. The army of Britain had
long been quartered there, and regarded itself as distinct from
the main body of the army. Taking advantage of the weakness
of the reigning prince, it revolted, and forced an officer named
Maximus to assume the purple. Gratian was at the time
residing at Paris, and when the usurper crossed the Channel
his troops refused to arm in his defence. The luckless emperor
fled southwards, hoping perhaps for aid from the forces of
Valentinian and Theodosius. But he lingered too long at
Ijyons, where he was captured and slain by his
enemy. Theodosius took no steps to avenge his
benefactor, but recognised the usurper Maximus as the ruler of
the West, stipulating only that Valentinian should retain his
sovereignty over Italy, Illyricum, and Africa. The Roman
world was thus once more divided between a triumvirate of
rulers.

Meanwhile the young Valentinian was being brought up at
Milan by his mother, Justina, in the Arian heresy ; and this
heterodoxy led to frequent and scandalous contests between the
court and the powerful bishop Ambrose, the very champion
of orthodoxy. Ambrose, indeed, had rendered good service to
his young sovereign by so conducting the negotiations with
Maximus as to deter the usurper from advancing into Italy.
But his own conduct towards the emperor was scarcely less
aggressive, and when at length Valentinian was induced to
require his departure from Milan, he arrogantly refused obe-
dience, ti*usting to the support of the popular sentiment and an
array of pretended miracles.

Four years after the death of Gratian, Maximus suddenly
crossed the Alps at the head of an army, and appeared at the
gates of Milan, Valentinian and his mother could barely escape

396 Victory of Theodosius over the Pagans, ch. Lxviit

to Aquileia, whence they set sail to the East, and threw them-
seWes upon the protection of Theodosius. Italy surrendered

without a hlow to Maximus, who paid a visit
'to Eome, and was there called upon to settle the
controversy between the Christians and the pagans. He
gained little credit and no assistance from either party, and
was obliged to rely solely upon his own armed followers.
Theodosius, who had married Galla, the sister of Valentinian,
took up the exile's cause in earnest. With him were allied the

Huns, the Goths, and the Alani, while the Gauls

and the Germans sustained the ruler of the West.
The contest was decided at Siscia, on the Save ; Theodosius
triumphed, and Maximus, hotly pursued, was taken and killed
at Aquileia.

The victor remained three years in Italy, and was for that
time at least the actual ruler of the West as well as of the
East ; but he intended no disloyalty to the young Valentinian,
whom he reinstated as emperor over all the provinces which
obeyed his father and his brother. Unfortunately Valentinian
was too feeble to obtain that mastery over his soldiers and his
officers, without which no man could hope to retain imperial
power at that critical time. He was publicly set at nought
by the Frantish general Arbogastes, whom he had reprimanded

before his courtiers, and was soon after assassinated
* by the agents of the offended barbarian. Arbogastes
might easily have seized the prize of empire which lay ready to
his hand, but he preferred to confer the sovereignty rather than
to keep it. He chose for the high but empty dignity Eugenius,
the grammarian, who had been chief secretary of the imperial
household. This man was the last imperial ruler, either in the
West or in the East, who professed himself a pagan. H's
accession was the signal for an outburst of triumph and of
fanaticism on the part of the old pagan party throughout Italy.
The statue of Victory was at last reinstated in the senate
house. The confiscated endowments of the priesthood were
given back. The bishop of Milan was horrified by the threat
that his cathedral church should be turned into a stable.

Theodosius, indignant at the murder of his protSg6 and the
revival of Paganism, made preparations for punishing the
authors of these crimes. By the time that he was ready to
take the field Eugenius and Arbogastes had fortified the

CH. Lxviii. His Death. Advance of the Goths, 397

passes of the Julian Alps^ and stood ready to defend them,
invoking the protection of Hercules and Jupiter Tonaas. Theo-
dosius trusted with. better confidence in the standard of the
Labarum, and, in spite of some reverses at the first encounter,
inspired his troops with his own enthusiasm, and
led them to a decisive victory. Eugenius was
taken and put to death. Arbogastes fell upon his own sword.
At the instance of Ambrose the pagans were spared the
horrors of a persecution, but their religion was once more
abased, and this time temples, sacrifices, endow-
inents and idols were swept away. Six months
after his victory over Eugenius Theodosius died. By the
pagans he was deified. From the Christians he received the
posthumous title of * The Great,' which he had well deserved
by the services he had rendered to their religion. Theodosius
was a brave and able general, and a generous and high-minded
man. He was noted for his clemency, and if on one occasion
he punished the rebels of Thessalonica with barbarity, he atoned
for his crime, in the eyes at least of his Christian admirers, by
the submission he made to Ambrose, when the bishop forbade
him admission to the Christian Church on account of his blood-
guiltiness. The penitence of Theodosius is celebrated, and hos
borne fruit for centuries in the Church, which it first encouraged
to dictate its laws to princes. This act may well serve to
mark the turning-point at which the old world comes to an
end, and the new world commences.

Mention has already been made of the defeat of Valens by
the Goths, and it is necessary now to recur briefly to the events
which led to it. The Gothic hordes had entered Europe two
centuries before in two divisions; the Visigoths had settled
themselves in the regions bordering on the Danube and the
Alps, while the Ostrogoths occupied the Russian steppes from
the Black Sea to the Baltic. After many conflicts the two
hordes were compacted into one great nation under the great
king Hermauaric, whose empire extended over the regions of
Hungary, Poland, and Courland. Here the Goths changed
from a nomadic to a settled and semi-civilised race, and here
they received their first instruction in Christianity from their
apostle Ulphilas, who translated the Scriptures into their
tongue. In the year 374 a new Mongolian horde, of hideous
^pect and warlike nature, known in ifei^l^^^vJ^J^^^Huns.

398 Defeat and Death of Valens. ch. lxviii.

crossed the Volga and the Bon, and began I0 pr^s the Goths
westv^aid and southward. The ktter yielded before their
fierce assailants, and those of them who were pagans retreated
to the wilds of the Carpathian mountains, while the Christian
people among them, to the number of 200,000 warriors, besides
women and children, came down to the north bank of the
Danube and begged a refuge in the plains of Msesia of the
Christians of the Roman enoipire.

Valens was far away at Antioch, busy with theological
controversies, and iU able to detach legions enough to restrain
this armed multitude from forcing the passage of the Danube.
The Roman government cajoled the Qoths with promises, and
after long delays transported the women and childi'en across
the river, proposing to hold them as hostages for the peaceable
behaviour of the men. At length the Goths, weary with long
delay and short of provisions, made their own way as best they
could across the stream, and found that the Roman soldiers had
made free with their women and sold many of their children
into slavery. Burning with rage, yet starving with famine,
they bore their wrongs in silence, and even fuliilled their
promise to be baptized into the Arian form of Christianity,
which they long retained ; but no sooner were they securely
settled in Msesia, than they determined to avenge the injuries
they had suffered. Valens heard with alarm that his lieutenant
Lupicinus had been defeated by the barbarians, and hastened
from the East to stop their onward course. He found them
already advanced as far as Adrianople, within a
hundred miles of his capital. Without waiting for
Gratian he gave battle, but suffered a complete defeat, and was
himself captured and burnt to death. The Goths had no
means of attacking a fortified place like Constantinople, but
they extended their devastations all over Thrace and Macedonia,
till their career was arrested by the vigour and genius of Theo-
dosius.

The barbarians were never able to prevail against able
captains backed by disciplined troops, but when supplied with
Roman arms and training they made admirable auxiliaries.
Theodosius subdued the Goths, and entrusted them with the
defence of the Danubian frontier ; they might have continued
to be useful dependents of the empire, had his successors been
as energetic as he was. Before his death Theodosius associated

CH. Lxviii. Arcadius and Honor hts^ 399

h?.9 eldest son, Arcadius, witli Mmself in the empire of the
East, and confided the West to his younger son, Honorius.
Arcadius, who wa-i eighteen years old, was placed under the
tutelage of Rufinus, who proved a traitor to his interests.
Honorius, who was but eleven, had for his minister the brave
and faithful Stilicho, a chief of the Vandals. This man was
himself married to Serena, a niece of his imperial patron, and
his daughter Maria was betrothed to Honorius. After securing
the loyalty and strengthening the frontiers of Gaul and Britain,
and putting down the revolt of Gildo, the faithless governor of
Carthage, Stilicho led the legions of Theodosius back ^ j, 3^5
to Constantinople, and delivered Arcadius from the
intrigues of Rufinus, whose assassination was generally con-
sidered a just punishment of his treachery. But he was not in
time to save Greece from being ravaged by the Goths. These
barbarians had quitted their settlements on the ^j, 3^
Danube, and, headed by Alaric, had already pene-
trated into the Peloponnesus, destroying in their savage zeal for
Christianity all the monuments of Paganism. Stilicho inflicted
a defeat upon them. But the jealousy of Arcadius
was now aroused, and he sent Stilicho back to
Italy with gifts and compliments, and engaged Alaric to defend
him against his brother and his brother's minister.

Alaric and his Visigoths soon wearied of a defensive attitude,
and determined to invade Italy on their own account. They
burst into Lombardy and appeared before the gates
of Milan. At the first news of danger Honorius
had been sent for safety to Kavenna, and Stilicho had rushed
into Gaul to collect all the troops he could muster. Returning
promptly, he threw himself into Milan, soon in his turn assumed
the offensive, and, after defeating Alaric in two great
battles at Pollentia and Verona, drove the barbarians
for the present fairly out of Italy. Honorius, who had been
cowering behind the walls of Ravenna, announced that he
would celebrate this victory of the Roman arms by a Roman
triumph. This was the last of the long series, not less, it is
said, than three hundred in number ; and it has been grandly
described by the pagan poet Claudian.

Rome put forth all the magnificence that remained to her.
The palace of the Csesars was furbished up f^r the emperor's
reception. If the poet may be believed, columns, statues.

/J.CO Stilicho repels the Barbarians, en. lxviii^

domes^ and pinnacles glittered with gold. He goes so far as to
represent the temples and images of the gods as radiant with
gplendour, but does not venture to assert that any victim was
offered in sacrifice by the Christian emperor. We cannot
doubt that for a long time previous Paganism had been steadily
declining before the advancing power of Christianity. If any

proof were needed, it may be found in the fact that
* in the very next year the gladiatorial shows were
finally abolished, in consideration of the offence they gave to
the Christian sentiment of the people.

The defeat of Alaric was not the last great service which
Stilicho rendered to Rome and Italy. The withdrawal of so
many legions to oppose the Qoths had left the frontier of the
Rhine without defenders. Germany was teeming with a host
of mingled tribes — Suevi, AUemanni, Vandals, Alans — all forced
into movement by the pressure of the Goths and Huns. A
vast multitude of these barbarians, reckoned at 200,000, or by
i^ome at 400,000, headed by a pagan chief named Radagsesus,
burst into Italy, and, ravaging all before them, arrived at
FaesulaB on the hill above Florence. Stilicho had spared no
effort to raise forces which might cope with this host of

invaders. He succeeded in surrounding the horde

with his troops, and defeated them in a decisive
battle. Radagsesus made terms of surrendez, which were
agreed to but not observed. The chief was put to death and
his followers sold into slavery.

The gates of the Rhine having been once thrown open, this
first invasion was quickly followed by others. Gaul and Spain
were overrun by the barbarians, and practically lost to the
empire. In this crisis the evidence both of Christian and
pagan writers points to the fact that Stilicho betrayed his
feeble master, and concerted measures with Alaric to seize

upon the empire both of the East and of the West.

Honorius, apprised of his designs, succeeded in
arresting his valiant protector. Stilicho and his son were put
to death; his estates were confiscated, and his friends and
followers proscribed.

d by Google

CH. Lxix. Advance of the Gotlis under Alaric, 401

CHAPTER LXIX.

THE SACK OF SOME BT THE &OTHS. FINAL TBimCPH OF
CHRIBTIANnT OVER PAOAiaSM.

SnLiCHO had perished in the spring of the year 408. ALiric
had already descended from the Alps and, passing by Honorius
and Kavenna, was marching direct for Home. At such a
moment as this Honorius issued a decree that every officer
who would not make a public profession of Christianity should
be dismissed from the army. Generides, the best remaining
general, retired from the service. His assistance could not be
dispensed with ; the decree was withdrawn, and he resumed
his command. But it was too late to interpose between Alaric
and Rome. The ramparts of Aurelian had been repaired, but
there were no soldiers to man them, and the citizens were
incapable of making any defence. In their terror, the magis-
trates listened to a proposal to have recourse to the ancient
rites, and to propitiate the aid of the pagan gods by a solemn
sacrifice on the Capitol. Pope Innocent was sounded on the
subject, but refused his consent to any public demonstration of
the kind. Meanwhile Alaric, at the head of his nation of
warriors, besieged the city. He was no violent or bloodthirsty
barbarian, but politic and greedy of money, greedy too of
supplies with which to feed his armed hosts. He made no
attack, but waited patiently till the city should fall by famine.
The resources of the city were soon exhausted. It became
necessary to treat; but Alaric*8 demands were so exorbitant
that the Romans threatened him with the despair of their
immense multitude. 'The thicker the hay,' he exclaimed
derisively, ' the easier to mow it ! ' When at last he named
his lowest terms, they asked in dismay, ' What then would
you leave us ? * ' Your lives I ' was the only reply he vouch-
safed them.

The ransom paid for Rome is stated in detail as 5,000 pounds
of gold, 30,000 of silver, 4,000 silken robes, 3,000 pieces of
scarlet cloth, 3,000 pounds of pepper. The payment seems to
have taxed the resources of Rome to the utmost, and in order
to meet it, not only were the images of the gods stripped of
tboir ornaments of gold and precious stones, but those of them

402 The Ransom of Rome, ch. lxix.-

whose material was gold or silver were cast bodily into the
melting pot. Among them was one of Courage, or Virtue as
the Romans call her. Those who professed to fore*
cast the future might well predict that ruin would
soon follow such a sacrifice. There is good reason to think that
the Roman people, at this terrible crisis, were haunted by mis-
givings that their humiliation might be due to their abandon-
ment of their ancient faith. Olympius, the minister, who had
favoured the Christians and robbed the heathen temples with-
out mercy, fell by a court intrigue. Honorius diverted his
persecuting zeal from the pagans, and attacked the Jews and
heretics instead.

In the following year, 409, Alaric advanced again upon
Rome, and, passing round the walls, seized Ostia. The imperial
city, deprived of all her supplies, opened her gates and awaited
her conqueror's commands. This time the Goth thought fit to
erect a rival emperor at Rome in the person of his minion
Attains, who, though he submitted to Arian baptism, openly
favoured the pagan party in the city. Three leaders of that
party, Lampadius, Marcianus, and Tertullus, were appointed
to the ofiices of captain of the praetorians, prefect of the city,
and consul. Tertullus assumed the office of Chief Pontiff in
addition to the consulship amid the general enthusiasm of the
old Roman faction. It was not long, however, before a reaction
set in against this new government. Heraclian, prefect of
Africa, stopped the export of corn to the city, and the populace
rose in its alarm, and drove away its feeble ruler with execra-
tions and insults. Alaric required Attains to renounce his
throne, but himself advanced a third time against the devoted
city.

The Romans had extorted from Honorius the futile succour
of six cohorts, which coidd hardly have amounted to more than
1,000 men. They closed their barriers and pretended to defend
them, but the Salarian gate was opened at night by treachery^
and the })arharians entered the city on August 24, a.d. 410,
exactly 800 years from its conquest by the Gauls. Alaric,
fierce a^ ho was, was no heathen barbarian bent on slaughter
and destruction, but his warriors demanded pillage, and for six
days Ro.iie was given up to be sacked by them. Doubtless
many de^ds of cruelty were done during that period of violence.
Houses and temples were burnt. Women were dishonoured.

CH. Lxix. The Sack of Rome. 403

Concealed treasures were drawn to light by threats and tortures.
The Christian churches, however, seem to have been respected ;
the believers and even the pagans who took sanctuary in them
were unharmed; and many stories are told of how the ferocious
Goths were softened to respectful kindness by the conduct of
the holy Christian women. It was well perhaps that Pope
Innocent was away at Kavenna at the time, and so the strife
was not embittered by the denunciation of the heretic Goths by
the chief of the orthodox believers. Alaric quitted Kome at
the end of twelve days, and led his plundering horde through
the centre and south of Italy, ravstging towns and villas, devas-
tating estates, and setting free the slaves. Many Roman nobles
and senators were reduced to utter destitution ; many of them
fled beyond sea. Numbers of Christians escaped to Africa, and
foimd hospitable entertainment in that flourishing province^
but their spirit of levity and worldliness is said to have caused
grave scandal in the bosom of a purer and simpler society.
Alaric continued his career of destruction to the extremity of
Italy, where it was cut short by death. Wilh his last breath
he commanded his body to be buried beneath the channel of
the river Busentinus, so as to secure his remains from insult.

The sack of Rome by the Goths was accepted by the Roman
world as the judgment of God upon Paganism, and the old
religion never again reaied its head. The laws against its
ceremonial, long held in abeyance, were now enforced. The
eemples were converted into churches ; and the Christian priest*
hood stepped into the deserted inheritance of their pagan pre-
decessors. This entire discomfiture of the party which clung
to the old Roman religion need not surprise us, when we con-
sider how completely their faith centred in the invincible might,
the inviolable sanctity, of the city of Rome herself. In their
view the glorious career of the Roman commonwealth had been
due to the protecting favour of the gods. All her defeats, all
her disasters, had redounded ultimately to her triumph, and her
triumph had been extended over three continents, and protracted
through twelve centuries. It seemed to them that her dominion
must be destined to be eternal. If Rome fell, the world would
come to an end ; and as their faith in the early mythologies
waned, they made a god of their noble city and worshipped and
trusted in the deified genius of Rome. But this faith required
an outward and visible sign, and with the fall'^fj^I^me their

D D a

404 The Fall of Rome, ch. lxix.

creed was hopelessly shattered^ amid a wail of disappointment
and dismay each as has never perhaps been heard in the world
before or since.

The Christians of an earlier age had shared the pagan
expectation of the permanence of Rome's dominion. In th^r
eyes the idolatrous imperial goyemment repi'esented and em^
bodied the spirit and the power of this world which must ever
be opposed to the Church, which had the promise of tiie world
to come. The only end of the Roman empire which they
could conceive as possible was the destruction of the world by
fire, which they had been expecting for so many generations
If such a consummation of all things should occur in his own
time, the Christian could still look with hope beyond the fall
of Rome, and find consolation in the prospect of the heavenly
city, ' not made with hands, eternal in the heavens,' which he
believed was prepared to receive the servants of God. Now,
however, to the amazement of all men, Rome was sacked, ruined,
and discrowned, yet the world did not perish. ' A great destiny
had been accomplished, a great destiny was about to commence.'
Augustine seized the opportunity, and issued his powerful
treatise entitled the ' City of God.' In it he showed the vanity
of that worship of the City of Man by which the pagan world
had been beguiled. In place of imperial Rome, he pointed to
the Church of Christ as the true city of refuge in which man^
kind might find salvation. The pagans had no reply to make.
Their long dominant superstitions shrank henceforth from the
light of day, and found an obscure refuge among the traditions
of the ignorant peasantry. *

The triumph, however, of Christianity was not unalloyed.
The masses who were left without a creed had to be swept
into the Gospel net, and the easiest way to do this was to make
concessions to their superstitious ignorance which detracted
from the purity of the Gospel. The doctrines of Christianity
were too lofty and too severe to be readily accepted by the
corrupt population of the Roman world. But when they saw
the old pagan ceremonial rivalled, if not surpassed, by a parade
of lights and incense, vestments, pictures, images, and votive
offerings, it was not difficult to submit to so slight a change in
the outer forms of devotion. The multitudinous gods were
replaced by a host of saints to whom vows and prayers might
be addressed. The statues of the ancient gods found tiieis?

cH. Lxix. Triumph of Christianity. 405

counterpart in a variety of miracle-working images of the
Virgin Mary. By such devices as these the multitude were
induced to acquiesce in the transformation of the heathen
temples into Christian churches. There were not wanting
high-souled puritans in that day who protested against this
dangerous trifling; but their voice was generally overruled.
The patrons of a corrupt reaction were honoured and magnified.
Vigilantius was denounced ; Jerome was canonised. The
Christian Church could not fail to suffer in strength and purity
by the absorption within her body of such a degraded mass of
humanity as the Greek and Roman races then presented.
On the other hand, she has conquered for herself a people of
stronger moral fibre in the barbarians from whom modem
society has sprung, and has moulded them to a higher sense of
morals and religion than any before them. Since the fall of
Rome, and of Roman superstition, the world generally has
recognised a higher standard of truth and justice, of purity
and mercy : the fall of Rome is still the greatest event in all
secular history.

CHAPTER JJCX,

FURTHER ADVAJrCB OP THE BARBARIANS. THE FALL OP THE
WESTERN EMPIRE.

The Goths had conquered Rome : the empire of the West lay
at their feet : yet, strange to say, they had the modesty and the
nobility of mind to decline an inheritance of which they felt
themselves unworthy. Alaric was dead. His successor was
Ataulphus (Adolf), who during the sack of Rome had got
possession of Placidia, a daughter of Theodosius, and had married
her. This man was no vulgar barbarian. So deeply was he
impressed with the dignity of the Roman government, and the
complexity of the institutions wherewith it maintained the
civilisation of the age, that he determined not to destroy the
empire but to protect it. He withdrew his host of Goths from
Italy, and carved out for himself a kingdom of the Visigoths
in Spain and the South of France. There he ruled as king;
but he continued to acknowledge Honorius as emperor over
both the Romans and himself. The kingdom of the Visigotlm

4o6 Progress of the Barbarialts, .cii. lxx.

foreshadowed the fiefs of the feudal vassals of a later age. It
sprang from the same Teutonic soil, and was due perhaps to
the same cast of political ideas which has so largely shaped
the polity of modem Europe. Thus the empire, after its recent
degradation, entered upon a short revival of dignity and pros-
perity. The influence of Rome over men's minds began also
to recover itself through the growing authority of her hishops.
While the Church throughout the West was suffering an eclipse
froDi the inroads of successive hordes of barbarians, some heathen
and oth?rs heretical, the Papacy was laying the foundations of
its power, as the heir to tbe imperial government which had
abdicated its responsibilities.

The Visigoths under Ataulphus were settled in the North of
Spain and the South of Gaul ; but ruder hordes of Sueves and
Alans, Vandals and Burgundians overran the greater part of
both countries, plundering the natives and fighting with one
another. The provincials, who, having adopted the speech and
manners of Rome, were now known as Romans, foimd them-r
selves abandoned by the emperor, and submitted to the rule of
their new mastei*s, which was perhaps scarcely so heavy as the
fiscal tyranny of the imperial administration. Literature
flourished in Gaul and Spain. The barbarians were not in-
sensible to the charms of poetry and eloquence ; they were
captivated by the luxuries of Roman society ; they were awed
by the strength and subtlety of Roman jurisprudence; they
embraced with peculiar readiness the forms of municipal
government established in the provinces. But they were not
yet ready for the repose of a settled life, and by purchasing
the services of one tribe, and employing them against an-
other, their nominal sovereign at Ravenna was still able to
prevent them from establishing permanent governments of
their own.

During this period various usurpers among the provincials
assumed the purple, and grasped at a little brief authority.
Gratianus was proclaimed emperor in Britain, but was speedily
supplanted by Constantinus, who crossed the Straits in a.d.
407, and after receiving some adhesions from the soldiery in
Gaul, passed rapidly into Spain. Ilonorius, however, was able
to send against him an officer named Constantius, who captured
him at Aries, and sent him to his master, by whom he was
put to death together with his son Julianus. In like maoner

CH. Lxx. Death of Honorius. 407

li pretender named Maximus maintained for some years a pre-
carious position in Spain, but ultimately fell into the hands of
Honorius, and the same fate befell Jovinus, who had
assumed the diadem at Moguntiacum on the Rhine,
but was overthrown by Ataulphus, a.d. 415. Heraclianus,
count of Africa, adds another name to the list of usurpers. He
endeavoured to assert his independence, and even attempted a
descent upon the coast of Italy with a vast armament. But he
was overpowered and driven back by the Count Marinus, and
perished by assassination soon after his return to Carthage.

The court of Ravenna had broken faith with Ataulphus in
respect of the payment of a subsidy of com or money. There-
upon the Visigoths began to ravage the Roman settlements in
the South of Gaul. Constantius was unable to defend them,
but he persuaded the barbarian to carry his arms into Spain,
where ho found the Sueves and Vandals opposed to him. The
strujrgle which then began was continued for nearly 200 years,
till at length the kingdom of the Visigoths was established
throughout Gallicia, Asturia, and the other northern provinces
of the peninsula. The Vandals had settled themselves in the
south, where they attached their name to the modem Andalusia.
From the middle of the fifth century the Roman empire was
irrecoverably lost throughout the Iberian peninsula.

On the death of Ataulphus the Goths chose for their chief
a warrior of the royal race named Wallia, who at once sent back
Placidia to the court of Ravenna. The emperor gave her to
his loyal general Constantius, and her son by this marriage
succeeded to Honorius, when still a mere stripling, with the
title of Valentinian III. The reign of Honorius had
been the longest but one of the whole imperial series.
He came to the throne as a child, and though he never seemed
to grow out of childhood, he counted thirty-seven years of
empire. His character was utterly insignificant ; he heard the
news of the loss of one province after another vnth an inane
jest; he had been found at one of the crises of his career
amusing himself with his poultry. It was this insignificance
which saved him. Honorius had adopted his sister's son, and
when his death occurred soon after, Theodosius II., the emperor
of the East, recognised the young Valentinian as heir to the
throne of Ravenna. An attempt was made by Joannes, the
late emperor's secretary, to seize upon^t&l government; but

408 The Vandals and Huns. ch. lxx.

Placidia frustrated the adventurer's plans and secured her son*s
inheritance.

That inheritance had dwindled to a narrow span. Gaul
and Spain had been lost. Britain, invaded by barbarians both:
by sea and land^ was but nominaUj retained. Illyria and
Pannonia were overrun by the Goths, Africa was about to be
wrested from the empire by a barbarian conqueror. Placidia
assumed the regency at Ravenna, supported by two illustrious
senators, the patrician Aetius, and the consul Bonifacius.
Aetius, though by birth a Sc3rthian, has been called *• the last of
the Romans.' He was the last leader of the Roman armies ; he
gained the last Roman victory. Bonifacius governed Africaloyally
till he was traduced to Placidia and recalled. Fancying that his
recall was but the prelude to his execution, he invited the
Vandals to cross over from Spain to his assistance. Genseric,
40D ^^^ ^*^ reigning in Boetica, promptly obeyed the
summons, and led his hosts across the Mediterranean
in quest of the plunder which had tempted both Alaric and
Wallia. Meanwhile Boniface, reassured as to the intentions
of the Ravenna government, resolved to defend his province
faithfully. He maintained the contest valiantly, but the bar-
barians overcame all resistance, and at the end of five years
Valentinian formally ceded to them the entire province.
Genseric, however, continued to sail the Mediterranean with
his fleet, conquered the great islands of that sea,
harassed the coasts of Greece and Italy, and raised
the Ostrogoths against the Eastern empire and the Visigoths
against the Western. Finally he allied himself to the yet more
formidable power of the Huns.

This terrible people were for the time abiding in Hungary,
and occupied the north bank of the Danube under iheir chiefs
Altila and Bleda. Attila was held in horror not by the Greeks
and Romans only, but by the Goths, and all the other northern
tribes who had preceded him into the Roman territories. His
mission seemed to be to slay, to plunder, to destroy. He con-
structed no house nor dty. Blood and fire marked his track.
He delighted to call himself the 'Scourge of God,' After
Tanquishing the troops of Theodosius and imposing a tribute on
him, he turned northwards and attacked the tribes on the
Elbe and the Baltic, and then crossed the Don and the Volga
to attack the Tartars. Finding, however, that the Byzantine

CH. Lxx. A ttilay ike * Scourge of God! 409

court had failed to pay its tribute, he rushed hack to the
Danube and ravaged Thrace and lilyria. Theodosius in vain
recalled the forces he had sent against Genseric: he lost
Africa, but did not regain the right bank of his frontier river.

The emperors of the East and West now united in negotiat-
ing with Attila to deter him from attacking the empire. He
consented, but threw himself instead upon the Visi-
goths in Gaul. When Aetius undertook to defend ^'^' ^^'
them, Franks, Burgundians, and Romans flocked to his standard.
The ravages of the Huns combined every nationality against
them. Attila crossed the Rhine at Strasburg, and devastated
the country as fax as Orleans. That city closed its gates and
determined to resist. Aetius amved to. its rescue, and the
Huns, weary of the blockade, retreated. At Chalons, on the
Mame, they were overtaken and defeated with heavy slaughter.
Attila, however, made good his retreat with a large unbroken,
force, and carried off a multitude of captives. Many
of these were probably slaughtered, but the story
of the massacre of the 11,000 virgins at Cologne is no doubt
a flgment or a blunder.

In the following year Attila invaded Italy by way of
1113^13, and sacked Aquileia, Padua, and Verona. The fugitives
from these cities took refuge in the islands of the Veneti, where
they became the founders of Venice, the Queen of the Adriatic,
the Carthage of the middle ages. The Huns lingered long in
the Cisalpine, but terrified the Romans with threats of an early
march to the southward. The court of Ravenna was paralysed
with terror. Aetius was far away. The only man who
showed courage was Leo the Great, Pope of Rome. Leo
visited the camp of Attila in company with the imperial
envoys, and threatened the barbarian with divine vengeance if
he dared to attack the sacred city. He could point to the
death of Alaric, which followed soon after his sack of Rome.
Valentinian at the same time promised Attila a heavy bribe ;
and imder this manifold pressure he consented to recross the
Alps. Soon after his return to his stockade on the Danube he
was found unaccountably dead in his bed.

Rome had had a narrow escape, but her reprieve was of
short duration. The wretched Valentinian, more contemptible
even than Honorius, conceived a lealousy of his only defender.

, , ' . , . •'Digitized by VjOV ''

Aetius, and poniarded him with his own hand. ' He wa^

410 Sack of Rome by the Vandals, ch. lxx.

himself assassinated a few montlis later by a senator named
Maxim us, who assumed the purple, and requested Eudoxia, the
widow of Valentinian and daughter of the younger
Theodosius, to accept his hand. She bowed to the
odious necessity, but at the same time sent a message to
Genseric to avenge the death of the sovereign emperor. The
Vandal chief was not slow to seize such an opportunity for
plunder : his fleet was in readiness, and the Vandals in over-
whelming force sailed up the Tiber. In spite of all that Pope
Leo could do to save the city, Rome was given up to pillage
for fourteen days. The Vandals heaped their vessels with
ornaments of gold and silver, with metal statues, with the
precious trophies suspended in the Capitol and the temple of
Peace. They carried off the golden candlestick and other
treasures of the ancient temple of Jenisalem. They stripped
the Oapitol of half its gilded tiles. Many of these treasures
were lost in a tempest, but the golden candlestick reached the
African capital, was recovered a century later and lodged in
Constantinople by Justinian, and by him replaced from super-
stitious motives in Jerusalem. From that time its history is
lost. Among the many captives carried off to Carthage were
the empress Eudoxia and the two daughters she had borne to
Valentinian. Eudoxia was surrendered to Leo, the emperor of
the East, but Genseric gave one of her children in marriage to
his own son, and was proud, perhaps, thus to connect his
dynasty with the imperiaJ blood of an illustrious Roman.

Genseric and his horde, when they had stripped Rome of
all her wealth, went on to pillage Nola, Capua, and other
southern towns. Their sole object was booty, and they did not
concern themselves to organise any imperial government. The
race of Theodosius was extinci: ; Maximus had been stoned to
death ; and the Romans now invited one Avitus, a nobleman
of Gaul, to assume the diadem. He was a man of peace, a
cultivator of arts and eloquence, a fit shadow to place upon
the shadow of a throne. The army and the officers stood aloof.
None among them seemed to covet the empty honour. The
senate, however, were soon weary of Avitus, and engaged
Ricimer, a Sueve, to expel him from the city. Avitus returned
quietly to his home and his garden in Auvergne. For ten
months the throne of the West stood vacant, till, in the spring
of 457, Ricimer condescended to bestow it upon another Sueve-

CH. Lxx. Ricimer the Sueve, 411

named Majorianus. This nominee was no man of straw. He
had served under Aetiiis^ and at once set to work to organise
the legions and appoint able captains to command them. He
led his troops with success against the Vandals, who still
troubled the coast of Italy; and even meditated an attack
upon Genseric in his own country. At the head of a mingled
host of Goths, Sueves, Huns, and Alans, which he had assem-
bled in Gaul, he marched into Spain, expecting to find his fleet
awaiting him at Oaithagena Genseric, howeyer, had antici-
pated him, and by means of treachery had succeeded in de-
stroying the armament. Majorian was bafHed and forced to
retire. Ricimer had now become jealous of his
authority, and conspii'ed against him. Majorian
was compelled to abdicate, and died a few days after doing so,
not without suspicion of poison.

The style of emperor was now confeiTed upon an insigni-
ficant person named Severus, who dangled the reins of govern-
ment for some years. During his reign a pretender named
Marcellinus, who seems to have been the tool of the pagan
party, wrested Dalmatia from the empire, and called himself
emperor. On the death of Severus, Ricimer ruled Italy for
two years with the title of patrician : he seems to have shrunk
from climbing himself into the seat of the Caesars. At the
end of that time, however, he appointed one Anthemius to be
emperor on the recommendation of Marcianus, the emperor of
the East, to whose daughter he was married. Anthemius
received the support of Marcellinus and the innovating party,
and he has been regarded, on somewhat slight grounds, as the
representative of Paganism in its last effort to recover its lost
groimd. He tried to strengthen his position by a second
marriage with Ricimer*s daughter, but to no purpose. The
jealousy of the Sueve was again aroused : he invited a fresh
horde of barbarians to cross the Alps, and in 472 Rome was
for the third time taken and pillaged. Anthemius was put to
death and replaced by Olybrius, the noble to whom Genseric
had given Eudoxia's second daughter in marriage. Genseric
died in the following month, and Olybrius followed him before
the end of the year. Glycerins was next raised to the purple
by Ricimer^s soldiers, but within two years he was
compelled to retire in favour of Julius Nepos, a man ^'^' ^'
who at least bore a genuine Roman name. Glycerins was

412 Extinction of tJte Western Empire, gh. lxx.

allowed to retire to Salona^ of which place he became bishop.
^^epo8 was constrained to abdicate in the following year, and
found repose in the same quiet spot among the gsurdens of
Diocletian.

This last revolution was effected like those which had pre«
ceded it. Orestes, a Pannonian of Roman origin, had won
wealth and reputation at the court of Attila. On the death of
Kicimer he obtained the title of patrician, which ranked next
to the imperial dignity, and was equivalent to regent of the
empire. Orestes compelled Nepos to abdicate, and conferred
the empire upon his own son, a child of six years, who by a
singular coincidence bore the names of Romulus Augustulus.
The imperial throne depended at this time for support upon
a barbarian chieftain, Odoacer, who stood at the head of a
number of German tribes. This man allowed Orestes to dis-
pose of the empire as he pleased, but demanded as the price of
his consent that one-third of the lands of Italy should be given
to his warriors. Orestes angrily refused : he made peace with
the king of the Vandals, and applied for aid to the emperor of
the East. Odoacer, however, marched into Italy with an
irresistible force ; captured Orestes and his brother Paulus at
jPatavium, and put them both to death, and extinguished the
feeble rule of Augustulus, and with it the empire of the
West This occurred in August, 476. The young Augustulus
was allowed to retire to the delicious viUa of Lucullus at
Surrentum.

Thus the empire of the West, which had long been in a
state of helpless decrepitude, expired. The successors of the
Caesars who still ruled in Constantinople, and whose rule
endured a thousand more years, affected to regard it as lapsed
to their own crown ; but they seldom attempted to secure it,
and never but for a moment held it even by the skirt. Rome
continued to be governed by her native bishops, or by a series
of barbarian kings; and more than three centuries elapsed
before her empire was nominally revived by the great German
prince who reigned at Aachen.

d by Google

INDEX.

ABO

ABOBiaiKES, ItaUan, 7
▲chsean league, 124, 128, 196

Actium, battle of. 280

Adrianople, battle of, 394, 398

^Bdiles, creation of curale, 61

Agates Insulffi, Roman victory of,
95

JEmiUus, Paulus, 155, 136, 139

.Siiniliiis, Scauros, 157, 165

iBneas, legend of, 10

.^oi, defeated by Cincinnatos, 42

Aetius, last of the Romans, 408 ;
defeats the Huns, 409 ; poniarded
by Yalentinian, 409

Africa, invaded by Regulns, 92 ; in-
vaded by Scipio, 118; campaign
of Caesar against the Pompelans,
252. See Carthage

Ager Romanus, 37, 67, 82

Agrarian laws, 38, 59 ; of the Grac-
chi, 150 sq.

Agricola, his conquests in Britain,
343

Agrigentnm, siegp of, 90

Agrippa, Caius, Lucius, and Fostu-
mus, 295, 298. 303

— Menenius, 35

— Marcus, 275, 279, 280, 292 ; mar-
ried to Julia, 295

Agrippina, 295, 306, 307, 309

— the younger, 307, 318, 319, 320,
321

Ahala, 51

Alaric, 399, 400, 401 $q.
Albinus, Clodius, 360, 361
Alexander, king of Epirus, 68, 77

— Severus, emperor, 365
Alexandria, Caesar's visit to, 249
Allia, battle of, 54

Alps, cxoased by Hannibal, 108, 109
Ambrose, bishop of Milan, 393 tg.
Anarchy, reign of, under SuUa, 177
Ancnsllartius, 14

ABM

Antioch, Hadrian's visit to, 352;

Julian's visit to, 386 sq.
AntiochuB of Syria, 128 ; defeated

by Lucius Scipio, 130
Antium, conquest of, 67
Antoninus, Marcus Aurelins, 355,

358; campaigns on the Danube,

856 ; his death, 357

— Pius, 353 sq.

Antonius, Marcus, 202, 251, 261 ;
impeached by Caesar, 191 ; com-
mands against Catiline, 205 ; ha-
rangues the people, 263 ; pro-
pounds Caesar's wiU, 262 ; his
struggle with Octavins, 268 ; his
disputes with Cicero, 266; becomes
triumvir, 269 ; defeats Brutus and
Cassius at Philippi, 272 ; capti-
vated by Cleopatra, 273 ; recon-
ciled with Octavius, 274 ; invades
Parthia,277; his orgies in Egypt,
277 ; prepares to dispute the em-
pire with Octavius, 278 ; his de-
feat at Actium, 280; his death,
281

Antonius Primus, 331

Appian Way, 74, 241, 242

Appius Claudius, 40, 45 sq,

— Caecus, 73, 74

Aquae Bextiae, battle of, 160
Aquileia, 368, 383, 396, 409
Arabia, invaded by the Romans, 29S
Arbogastes, makes Ei^^nius emper

ror, 396 ; defeated by Theodosius,

397
Arcadius, emperor of the East, 399
Ariminum, council of, 386
Arius, S85 ; his followers, 386, 388
Armenia, 194, 196, 231, 277, 293,

304
ArmiBivB, defieats Yams, 800
Army, the Boman, 28, 52, 96,

219 sq. Digitized by Vj WVJ V IC

414

Index.

ABT

Artabozes, king of Annenia. 231
Asia, dependent kingdom of, 130
Ataulpbus, sncoeesor of Alaric, 40ft
AteioB, devotes Crassos to the iu-

femal gods, 231
AthanaflioB, 390

Athens, 44, 97 ; decay of, 124 ; cap-
tured by Sulla, 178 ; at the time

of second triumvirate, 271
Attains of Fergamns, 161
— made emperor by Alaric, 402
Attila, ravages of, 408 ; defeated by

Aetins, 409 ; descends on- Italy,

409
Augustine, St., bis ' City of Ood,'

404
Augustus Caesar, his reign, 284 tq.^

291 tq, ; his progress in the East,

293 ; his visits to Gaul, 294, 298 ;

his death, 301 ; buildings by, 292.

iSfeOctavius
Aulus PostumiuB, dictator, 33
Aundian, emperor, 370 ; captures

Zenobia, 371 ; the walls of Home,

371
Aurelius, Titus, and Marcus. Set

Antoninus.
Aventine hill, 2, 3 ; occupied by the

plebeians, 44, 46
Avitus, emperor, 41Q

BAGAXJD-Si, insurrection of, 375
Baiie, 313, 321

Balbinus, emperor, 368

Barbarians, their confederations,
366; irruptions into Italy, 367,
401, 408; defeated by Stilicho,
399 ; spread of, 406. Set Goths,
Huns, Vandals, Attila, Alaric

Barcochebas, 351

Bargiora, Simon, 338

Basques, the, 6

Bassianus, 364. See Elogabalus

Batavi, revolt of, 335

Bedriacum, 329

Belgic tribes, conquered by Csesar,
214, 216

Berenice, 341, 342

Bibulns, consul with Caesar, 210

Boadicea, 334

Bona Dea, sacrilege of Clodius, 207

Bonirncius, consul, 408

Brennus, 54 tq.

Britain, invaded by Ccesar, 214;
conquered by Claudius, 316 ; pro-
gress of Boman dominion under
Vespasian, 333 ; rovolt of Iceni,
334; Agricola's CDnquests, 843;
Hadrian's advance, 351 ; Con-
»tantine saluted emperor at York,
876 ; revolt of Maximus, 395

Britannicus, 818 ; his death, 320

Biruadisium, 342, 246, 266

CAIC

Brutus, Decimus, 259, 261, 265, 268,
269

— Junius, 19 «9. ; elected consul,
21 ; his death, 21

— Marcus Junius, 260, 271 tq,
Buirhus, 319, 320, 321

C^CINA, lieutenant of ViteUius.
829, 331

Ciepio, gold of Tolosa, 156, 161

CsBsar, C Julius, spared by Sulla,
176 ; bis political aims, 189 ; im-
peaches Dolabella and Antonius,
191; sent as quaestor to Spain,
199 ; elected se^e, ib. ; condemns
Rabirius, ib. ; elected Pontifez
Maximus, 200; pleads for mercy
toward the Catiliharian conspi-
rators, 205 ; elected praetor, 206 ;
divorces his wife, 207 ; his debts,
208; takes command in Spain,
ib. ; elected consul, 210 ; his liberal
poli<7, t6. ; appointed proooneul
in Gaul, 211 ; his conquests, 214 ;
intrigues at Lucca, 215; reap-
pointed proconsul, ib. ; completes
the reduction of Gaul, 217 ; toeaks
with Pompeius, 235 ; his critical
position, 236 ; he demands the
consulship, 235 ; crosses the Ru-
bicon, 241 ; conquers Italy, 242 ;
his clemency, ib. ; enters Rome
and rifles the treasniy, 243 ; sub-
dues Spain, 244; appointed dic-
tator, ib. ; bis wise measures, 245 ;
appohited consul, ib, ; departs
with his army to Epirus, 246 ; de-
feats Fompdus at Pharsalia, 248 ;
follows him to Egypt, 249; en-
snared by Cleopatra, ib. ; conquers
Phamaces, 250 ; created dictator
a second time, ib. ; returns to
Rome, 251 ; subdues the Pom-
peians in Africa, 252; and in
Spain, 254 ; becomes autocrat,
255 ; his titles, 255 ; his trinmphp,
253 ; reconstitutes the senate, 254 ;
reforms the calendar, 256; his
buildings; 257; his private life
and character, ib. ; refuses the
diadem, 259 ; his schemes of con-
quest, 258; conspiracy Against
him, 260 ; his assassination, 361 ;
his obsequies, 263 ; Ms will, 263

Caesario, 278, 282

Caligula, becomes emperor, 311 ; his
early promise, ib. ; beoomes a
tyrant, 312 ; his extravagant fan-
cies, 313; visits Gaul, 814; his
assassinatdon, t5.

Camillas, 52, 53, 56, 58, 60, 61

Campagna, 4, 5

Index^

415

CAtf

CIB

Campaniaj 64, 66, 68, 71, 76 ; Hanni-

bars moTementB in, 114 ; outbreak

of gladiators in, 188
Cainpas Martins, 12, 251 ; place of

meeting of comitla oentoriata,

28
Cannas, battle of, 112
CapitoU building of, 15, 19 ; siege

of, by the Ganls, 66 ; burning of,

332, 342 ; rebuilt by Vespasian,

340
CapitoUne hill, 2, 3
Caprese, retreat of Tiberius, 306,

307, 310
Capua, 64, 71 ; road to, 86 ; Hanni-

bal's winter quarters, 114 ; 8i«^

and chastisement of, 115
Caracalla, 361 49.
Caractacus, 316
Carbo, consul, 174 ; defeated by Me-

teUus, 16. ; executed by Fompeius,

177. AsePapirius
Carinus, emperor, 372
Carthage, 78, 80 ; dominion of, 8'' \

expedition of Begulus against, 93 ;

defeated at sea, 92, 96 ; mercenary

troops of, 87, 91, 97 ; government

of, 88, 101; conquests in Spain,

102 «i, ; neglects Hannibal, 112 ;

expelled from Spain, 117; her

IK>wer broken at Zama, 119 »q.\

destruction of , 139. <80e Hannibal,

Scipio
Cams, emperor, 372
Casca, one of CsBsar's murderers,

261
Cassius, lieutenant of Crassus, 232

— Avidins, 367

— C, conspirator against Caesar,
260 ; proconsul in Syria, 271 ;
plunders Asia, ib. ; his death at
Philippi, 272

— Q., 239

— Spurius, 37, 38

Catilina, employei by Sullo, 176;
his character, 200 ; his influence,
201 ; Sues for the consulship, t&. ;
conspires against the state, 202 ;
challenged by Cicero in the senate,
203 ; leaves Rome, 204 ; his ac-

.. complices seized, i6. ; his defeat

i and death, 206

Caio the Elder, denounces CarUiage,
138 ; his character, 147

— the Younger, 164 ; his character,
198; his poUtical action, 209;
sent to Cyprus, 212 ; joins Pom-
peins in Epirus, 246; his march
through the African desert, 251 ;
defends Utica, 262 ; his death, ib,

Catulus, Q., 160, 185, 186, 198
Caudine Forks, 70
OensuB, instituted Iqr Serving Tnllius,
38 ; by order of Aognrtos, 801

Cethegns, 202, 204

Chseronea, battle of, 173

Chftlons, battle of, 409

Chariots, sqythed, of the Gkiuls, 75

Chosroes, king of Parthia, 347

Christianity, its progress, 322, 349,
856, 376 ; its toleration by Con-
stantine, 377, 378; its conflict
Tdth paganism, 389, 396 ; corrup-
tion of, 405; final reception of,
404 ""

Christians under Claudius, 317 ; ac-
cused of burning Rome, 323 ;
under Trajan, 349 ; under Marcus
Aurelius, }'5U, 368 ; under Alex-
ander Severus, 366; in Gaul and
Britain, under Constantius Chlo-
ms, 376 ; under Diocletian, 376 ;
under Julian, 389; persecutions
of, 322, 344, 366, 369, 375

Cicero, M. Tnllius, ferves in the
Social war, 166 ; impeaches Yerres,
191 ; rises in political importwice,
198 ; elected consul, 202 ; saves
the state from the conspiracy of
Catiline, 203 iq, ; coolness of the
nobles towards him, 206 ; im-
peached by ( lo lius, and exiled,
212 ; recalled to Home, ib. ; pro-
consul in Cilida, 236 ; denounces
Pompeius, 243 ; refuses to follow
Caesar, ib ; meets Octavius at
Cumae, 165; his philippic against
Antonius, 266 ; strives to main-
tain the republic, 267 tq. ; escapes
from Rome, 269 ; his capture and
death, 270

Cilicia, Lucullus appointed governor,
194; Cicero proconsul of, 236

Cilician pirates. See Pinu^

Cimber, conspirator against Caesar
269, 261

Cimbri, 166, 169 ; victory of Marius
over the, 16;)

Cincinnatns, 42 jrg., 61

Cineas, Pyrrhus's envoy to Rome,
79

Cinna, demagogue, 170; deprived
of consulship ib. ; returns with
Marius, 171 ; enfranchises the
Italians, 173 ; his death, 174

Civil wars. See Social war, Sulla,
Marius, Pompeius, Caesar, &c.

Claudius, consul, impiety of, 95

— Caesar, 310; his popularity, 816;
his character and policy, 316 ; in-
vades Britain, t6. ; his triumph,
ib.\ his Eastern policy, ib.\ bis
wife, 817 ; his cruelties, 818 ;
poisoned by Agrippina, 819

— Civilis, 335

— Gothicns, emperor, 870
Clemens Flavius, 344 ' ^
Cleopatra, 248 tq. ; follows Caesar to

4i6

Ifidex.

CLO

Italj, S57; captivates Antony,
273, 377 ; retreats from Actiam,
380 ; interview with Octavius,
381 ; her death, iXt,

Cloaoa Maxima, 15

Glodins, P., profones the mysteries
of the Bona Dea, 307 ; becomes
ttibone, 311 ; obtains the banish-
ment of Cicero, 313 ; his conflicts
with MQo, 313; slain \jf Milo,
334

Golline Gate, battle of, 175

Colonia Agrippinensis, 318

Colony, the Roman, 8i *q.

Colossemn, 840

Comitia Cariata, 25

Commodos, emperor, 359

CoDstans, son of Constantino, 883 ;
murdered by Ma^rnentins, ib.

Constantine the Great sainted em-
peror at York, 376 ; his liberal
views and ^vemment, 377 ; his
victory over Maxentius, 378; his
edict of Milan, ib. ; his vision of
the cross, ib.\ attacks lidnius,
ib. ; his laws, 379 ; his religious
policy, 16.; conquers Licinins,
380 ; becomes sole emperor, ib. ;
makes Constantinople his capital,
3^1 ; his domestic unhappiness,
ib.\ presides at the councils of
Aries and Nicaea, 379, 880 ; his
baptism and death, 383

— the Younger, 383
Constantdus Chloms, 374 tq.

— son of Constantino, becomes sole
emperor, 383 ; his triumphal enlnry
into Rome, 384 ; his Arian heresy,
385^.

Consuls, first election of, 21 ; poweis
of, 30; replaced by military tri-
bunes, 51 ; first plebeian, 60

Corflnium, 341

Corinth, sack of, 136

Coriolanus, 41 tq.

Com, doles of, 122, 144, 153 ; dearth
of, 51, 192 ; tribute of, from
Sicily, 99, 144; commission to
Fompeins for the supply of, 214

Cornelia, mother of the Gracchi,
149

Cornelian gens. See Bcipio, Sulla,
Funeral rites of, 180

Corsica, subdued by the Romans,
99

Cossus, C, dictator, 59

Councils, ecclesiastical, at Rome,
379 ; at Aries, ib. ; at Nicsea, 380 ;
at Ariminum, 386

Cras3us, M. L., 'the richest of the
Romans,' 176 ; opposed to 8par-
tacns, 188; becomes consul, 189;
his character, i6. ; lends money
to GKsar, 308 ; the first trium-

1BQT
Tirate, 309; his second consul-
ship, 315; obtains Syria for his
province, 331 ; invades Parthia.
833; his march, defeat, and
death, ib.
CumsB, 22, 81, 115
Curio, C. Scribonins, 287 j^., 243
Curtins, Mettus, devotion of, 61
CynoeoephalflB, battle of, 127
Gyrenaica, 159

DACIA, Trajan's conquest of,
347

Damasus, Pope, 392

Debtors, oppression of, 84, 58 ; re-
Uef of, 35, 59

I>eoemviiB, 45 sq. ; their legislation,
47

Decins, P. Mus., consul, his self-
devotion, 67 ; self-dtvotion at
Sentinum, 75

— emperor, his persecution of the
Christians, 869; his death in
battle, ib.

DentatuB, L. Sidnus, 44, 45

Dictators, 32, 33, 42, 56, 63

Diodetian, reconstitutes the empire,
373 ; divides it, 374 ; his triumph
at Rome, ib. ; abdicates, ib. ; per-
secution of the Christians under,
875 «9.

Dolabella, rapacity of, 188; im-
peached by Caesar, 191

Domitian, son of Vespasian, 333;
escapes in the assault on the
capitol, ib, ; sticoeeds Titus, 342 ;
his character, 344 ; his campaigns,
843 ; his reforms, 844 ; his perse-
cutions, ib. ; his death, 345

Domitins, lieutenant of Pompey,
241,244

— Ahenobarbus, 307
Donatists, the, 879, 388
Drepanum, defeat of Romans at, 95;

blockade of, ib.
Drnsus, M. L., tribune, 164

— Nero, birth of, 296; campaigns
of, on the Rhine, ib., 298; his
deftth, ib. See Germanicus

— son of Tiberius, 299, 803, 306 ;
poisoned by Sejanns, 806

— grandson of Germanicus, and
brother of Caligula, 807 ; forced
to starve himself in prison, ib,

Duilius, Roman admiral, 91

EDESSA, 369
Egeria, nymph, 18
Egypt, 124, 199, 214, 349 sq., 377 eq,
351 jy.

Index,

417

£L1

Bagabalns, priest of the Sun, 364 ;

becomes emperor, ib. ; bis profli-

gacy, 365; his death, t6.
Ennius, poet, 145
Etmria, Etruscans, 8, 9, 15 ; war

with the, 21, 72 ; conquest of, 76
Endoxia, empress, 410
Eugenius, the grammarian, emperor,

c96 ; champion of Paganism, ib. ;

oyerthrown by Theodosius, 397
Evander, legend of, 8, 6, 10

FABII, legend of the, 39
Fabius, Mazimus, 70 ; his

patriotism, 73
— Cunctator, 111
Fsesulee, defeat of barbarians at,

400
Felix, Arian bishop of Home, ap-
pointed by Ck>nstantius, 385
Flaccns, Valerius, colleague of

Cinna, 172, 173
Flaminian way, 86, 100
Flaminius, defeats the Gauls of the

Cisalpine, 100 ; slain by Hannibal

at Trasimenus, 110
Flamininus, Q., liberator of Greece,

127 sq.
Forum Romanum, 12, 22, 56, 61,

263
Forum Trajani, 347
Franchise, Roman, 82 tq.; demanded

by the Italians, 152, 154, 164 sq. ;

granted, 166 ; extended by Julius

Caesar, 255 ; and Augustus, 285 ;

made universal, 363 ; the Latin,

83
Fulvift, wife of Antony, 269, 270,

273

GALERIUS, Ceesar of the East,
374 ; emperor of the Bast,
376; persecutes the Christians,
375 ; his death, 377

Gallieuus, emperor, 369 sq.

Gallus, iBlins, expedition to Arabia,
293

— emperor, 369

Gaul, trayersed by Hannibal, 108 ;
conquest of 'the Province,' 156;
conquest of, by Julius Caesar, 214,
217; visit of Augustus to, 294,
298 ; overrun by barbarians, 400,
406

Gauls, 54; invade Italy and sack
Rome, 54 sq. ; frequent wars with,
63, 75, 76 ; of the Cisalpine, con-
quered byMarcellus, 100 ; subdved
by Julius Caesar, 217 ; take ser-
vice in Roman legions, ib.

Genseric, the Vandal, 408 ; plunders
Rome, 410

HIE
Germanicns, the elder. See Drusus

— the younger, commands on the
Rhine, 301 ; recovers the eagles of
Varus, 304 ;■ sent on a mission to
the East, ib. ; visits Egypt, ib. ;
dies, it is supposed, of poison, ib.

Germans, operations against, 296,
299, 304 ; defeat Varus, 300 ; de-
feated by Probus, 871

Gladiators, 106 ; insurrection of,
188

Glycerius, emperor, 4il

Golden house of Nero, 324

Gordian, 868

Goths, 367; threaten Italy, 369;
routed by Claudius, 870; on the
Danube, 397 ; cross the Danube,
898; defeat Valens, ib.; invade
Greece, 399; invaie Italy, 401; sack
Rome, 402 ; retire into Gaul, 405 ;
and Spain, 407

Gracchus, Cains, 149, 153 ; supports
the cause of the Italians, 155 ; his
popular measures, ib. ; his death,
157

— Sempronius, 183

— Tiberius, 147 sq,; becomes tri-
bune, 150 ; his agrarian law, 151

Gratian, emperor, 393 sq.

Greece, Roman commissioners sent
to, 44; invites the Romans to
Isthmian games, 97 ; liberated
from dominion of Macedon, 127
$q. ; conquered by Rome, 135 sq. ;
influence of, on Roman manners,
145

Greek colonies in Italy, 81

HADRIANTJS, P. ^ius, em-
peror, 860 ; visits the pro-
vinces, ib. ; At'.iens, Alexandria,
Antioch, 351 ; his mausoleum,
S52

Hamilcar, Barcas, 95 sq. ; 101 sq.^
132

Hannibal, 102, 103; invades Italy,
107 sq.; his victories, 109, 110,
112 ; lingers in South Italy, 114
sq. ; recalled to Africa, 118 ; de-
feated at Zoma, 119; commands
army of Antiochtt», 130 ; his
death, 133

Hanno, 89

Hasdmbal in Sicily, 93 ; in Spain,
102

— brother of Hannibal, 107; crosses
the Alps, 116 ; defeated and slain
at the Metaums, ib.

Heraclea, battle of, 79

Herculaneum, destruction of, 142

Hercules, 10

Herod Agrippa, 312, 316 nq.

Hiero, king of Syracuse, 89, 95, IJl

4i8

Index,

HIR

IfAB

Birtins, consul, 267, 268

Homer, translated by Ennius, 145

Houorins, emperor, 899 ; his tri-
nmph, ib. ; revival of his antho-
rity, 406 ; his character, 407

Horace, enlists niider Biutos, 271

Horatii and Cttriatii, 13

Horatitts Coclea, 21

Hortensius the orator, 191, 198

Huns, the, 408, 409

r BRIANS, 117, 131 fq,
locni, revolt and defeat of, 334

Illyrian pirates, war with, 97

Innocent, Pope, 403

Italians become Romanised, 84, 96 ;
demand the franchise, 154, 163

Italy, mythology of, 5 tq. ; invaded
by Ganb, 54 sq. ; by Pyrrhns, 79 ;
by Hannibal, 108 ; depopulation
of, 148 ; devastated by Sulla, 175,
177 ; invaded by the Allemanni,
367, 371 ; by the Goths, 399, 401 ;
by the Vandals, 410 ; by tlie Hans,
409

JAXICTJLUM, 2; striking the
flag on, 39
Janus, 5 ; gates of, 13. 293
Jerusalem taken by Pompey, 197;

siege of, by Titus, 338
Jesus Christ, birth of, 302
Jews, in Rome, 317 ; their conspira-
cies, 349 ; revolt under Barco-

chebns, 351
Josephus, 337
Jovian, emperor, 387, 390
Juba, 243, 252
Jndeea. 5i?« Palestine
Jugurtha usurps kingdom of Nu-

midia. 156 ; reverses and death of,

158, 159
Jnlia, wife of Pompey, 216
— daughter of Ausrustus, 295, 298
^ Pomna, 361, 364
Julian the Apostate, hi? early career,

386 ; becomes emperor, ih. ; his

effort to revive Paganism, 389 *q. ;

hlj expedition to Parthia, and

death, 387
Julian calendar, introduced by

Caesar, 256
Jnl'anus, Didius, 3C0
Jupiter Stator, 12

KNIGHTS, 26, 28 ; straggles of,
with the senators, 145, 155

LARIENUS, 241, 246
Latin?, 3, 8, 9; revolt an^l
subjugation of, 65 49.

Law, system of Roman, 47 fg. ;
twdve tables, 45 ; ut p. 62

Legion, Roman, c. zlii./)a««fm

Lentulus, 202, 204

Leo the Great, Pope, 409

Lepidus, M. JEmilius, 251, 261, 268
^., 275

Liberius, Pope, 385 *q.

Licinian rogations, 59 sq,

Lidnius, Stolo, ib.

— emperor of the East, 377 sq. j
overthrown by Constantine, 380

Lii^urea, 6

Lilybreum, 94, 95

Livia Drusilla, 295; married to
Augustus, 206 ; her influence over
Tiberius, 307

Livius, Drusus, tribune, 164

Livy, 10, 28 ; not always to be
trusted, 75 sq., 92, 117

Locnsta, 319, 320

Lucan, 323

Lucretia, story of, 20

Lucnllus, 193 ; proconpul of Cilicio,
194; defeats Tigranes, t6. ; re-
placed by Pompey, 195 ; his mag-
nificent retirement, i6.

Luxury, 146, 313, 331

MACEDON, 118, 124 ; war with,
126, 127 ; conquest of, 135
Macrinns, emperor, 362, 364
Meccnas, 274, 276, 280, 292, 299
MsBlius Spurius, 51
Magna Gnecia, cities of, 81, 114
Magnentins assumes the purple, 383 ;

routed by Constantius, ib.
Magnesia, battle of, 130
Majfo, Hannibal's brother, 109, 114,

117, 118
Majesty, law of, 305
Majorianus, emperor, 411
Mamertine, troops, 90 ; prison, 14
Manilas, Capitolinns, 56, 58
Manlius Torqnntus, G3
Maroellinus, emperor, 411
Marcellns, nephew of Angnstus, 295

— M. Claudius, conquers the Cisal-
pine, dedicates *Spolia Opima,'
101 sq. ; his death, 115

Marinus, Count, 407

Marina, C , 157 tq. ; his victories in
Africa, 159 ; his campaigns against
the Cimbri and Teutones, 160 ; hi^
sixth consulship, 101; escai«4
from Rome, 169; returns with
Clnna, 171 ; his proscriptions, ih. ;
his death, 172

— the Younger, 174 «7.
Marriage, 48, 50, 104

Judex.

419

ICAB

PAR

Marsians. ^/t Social war
Massilia, 87, 108, 244
3{assinis8a, 118 49., 156
Aiaxeutius, proclaimed emperor by

the senate, 377 ; defeated and slain

by Constantine, 378
Maximian, colleague of Diocletian,

373 ; abdicates, 374 ; hie intrigues

and death, 877
Maximin, Thracian usurper, 3C6 ;

slain in a mutiny, 3l8
Haximinus, Caesar of the Eiist, 878 ;

overthrown by Licinius, ib,
!Maximufs emperor, 368

— revolts against Gratian, 395 ;
occupies Italy, 396 ; defeated by
TheodosiuB, tY>.

Mediterranean basin, 4, 140 ; a high-
way of commerce, 87, 192, 291

Messalina, 317, 318

Me-sana occupied by the Romans,
90*9-.

Metaums, battle of the, 116

Metellus, Caecilius, defeats Hasdm-
bal at Panormus, 93

— Creticus, opposed to Catiline, 203,
205

— Pius, 170; defeats Carbo, 174;
defeated by Sertorius, 187

— Q. C, Eent against Jngurtha, 167
sq. ; sumamed Numidicus, 159

— Bcipio, 235, 236

Milo heads a faction against Clodius,
213; slays Clodius, 234; exiled,
235

Misltheus, minister of Gordian, 368

Mithridates, 167 ; his dominion, ib, ;
massacres the Romans, 169 ; de-
feated by Bulla, 173 ; rebels again,
193; defeated by Lucullus, 194;
overthrown by Pompey, 195 ; his
schemes and death, 197

Mens Sacer, 35, 46

Mucianu?, proconsul of SjTia, 330 tq.

Mnmmius sacks Corinth, 136

Mursa, battle of, 383

Mutina, battle of, 268

Mutius Scasvola, 21

MylcD, Roman victory of, 91

NABIS, tyrant of Sparta, 128
Keevius, satirist, 147
iS'aissuR, battle of, 370
Naulochus, sea-fight of, 275
^'avy, Roman, 72, 91, 94, 193, 275,

291
Nepos, Metellus, 206
— Julius, emperor, 411
Kero, 318; first five years of his
reign, 320 ; his mother's plots, ib. ;
his profligacy, ib.\ his wife
Poppeaa, 821 ; contends in the
arena, 322; accused of burning

Sb2

Rome, ib. ; persecutes the Chris-
tians, 323 ; proscribes the nobles,
ib. ; conspiracy against, t'6.; makes
a tour in Greece, ib, ; his golden
house, 324 ; his abject death,
825 47.

Nerva, Cocceius, emperor, 345

Niger, Pescennius, 360

Nola, repulse of Hannibal at, 114

Numa Pompilius, reign of, 13;
calendar of, 29

Numantia, gallant defence of, 140

Numidia, 117, 119, 156 sq.

OCTAVIA, wife of Antony, 274,
277

— wife of Nero, 818, 321

Octavius, 259; Caesar's heir, 264,
265 ; bis schema for power, 266 ;
defeats Antony, 268 ; becomes tri-
umvir, 269 ; his victo ies, 278 ;
his great popularity, 276, 283 ;
wages war with Aiitony, 279 ; his
victory at Actium, 280 ; interview
with Cleopatra, 281 ; returns to
Rome, 282; his dignities and
power, 283 »q.\ takes title of
Augustus, 284. See Augustva
Caesar

Odenathns, 370

Odoacer, 412

Olympius, 402

Ops, wife of Saturn, 6

Optimates, 162, 164, 181, 200

Orchomenus, battle of, 173

Orestes makes his son emperor, 412

Orleans, 371, 409

Orodes, king of Parthia, 232 ; de-
feats Crassus, ib.

Ostia, 14, 402

Ostrogoths, 397, 408. Ste Goths

Otho, husband of Poppeea, 321, 827 ;
made emperor, 328 ; his defeat and
suicide, 329

Ovid, banishment of, 300

PAGANISM, decline of, 389 ; re-
vival of under Eugenius, 896 ;

fall of, 403. See Julian
Palatine hill, 8, 12
Palestine, 19/, 293, 316, 336 tq,
Pallas, freedman, 318, 322
Pannonia, 296, 298, 300, 303
Panormus, 93
Pansa, consul, 267, 268
Papirius Cursor, 69, 73
— Carbo, 152, 156
Parthians, 231 ; defeat Crassus, 232;

baffle Antonius, 277 ; defeated by

Trajan, 348 ; by Avidius Cassitrs.

856 ; by Julian, 387 ; defeat and

capture Talerian, 369

420

Index.

PAT

BOX

FatricinDS, 34, 29; oppress the
plebs, 34, W ; contests with the
plebeians, 82, 36, 40, 44, 40, 59 tq.
63 ; religious status of, 60 tq,

Felai^ians, 6 tq.

Ferperna, 168, 186, 186, 187

Ferdeus of Mnoedon, 136

Fersia, revival of monarchy, 867

Fertinax, emperor, 369

Fbamaoes, 197 ; defeated by Cassar,
260

Fharsalia, battle of, 248

Fhilippi, battle of, 272

Fhilippus of Maoedon, 116, 126,127 ;
death of, 136

•— the Arabian, emperor, 368

Fhilopoemen. 134

Firacy of the Illyrians, 97 ; of the
Mediterranean suppressed. 123 ;
of the Cilicians, 192; Fompey
sent to suppress, 193

Fiso, Calpumius, acoompliee of
Catiline, 200

^- C, conspires against Nero, 828

>- Cnaens, 304

— Licinianus, colleague of 6alba,327

Flancus, M^ 267, 268 sq^ 278

Flebeians, 26 tq, ; oppression of, 34 ;
revolt of, 86 ; struggles of with
patridans, 37, 44, 46, 60, 69 ;
obtain equal rights, 62

Fliny, his treatment of the Chris-
tians, 349

FoIybiuF, historian, 88

Fompeii, destruction of, 342

Fompeius Strabo commands the
legions in Ficenum. 170 ; watches
the factions in the city, ib.\
carried off by pestilence, 171

Fompeius, * Magnus,' engaged in the
Sodal war, 166 ; executes Carbo,
176 ; his craelties, 186 ; character,
ib, ; saluted Magnus, ib, ; defeats
Sertorius, 187; his exploits in
Spain, 188; his consulship, 189;
commissioned to clear the Medi-
terranean of pirates, 192 ; super-
sedes Lucullus in the East, 196 ;
his conquest of the East, 196 sq. ;
his triumph, 208 ; his disappoint-
ment, ib.\ the first Triumvirate,
209 ; commissioned to collect com
for the city, 214 ; made proconsul
of Spain, 230; his theatre and
shows, yb, ; made sole consul, 234 ;
political measures, 236 ; sickness
of, 237 ; his vanity and bnastful-
ness, 238; retires before Caesar,
241 ; carries the government away
fttHn Italy, 242 ; his designs. 243 ;
his inactivity, 246 «?. ; follows
GflBsar into Thessalv, 247; de-
feated at Fharsalia, 248 ; his flight
and death, 249

Fompeius Bextus, 264, 263 ; his out'
landish appearance, 274 ; joins
hands with Antony, t6. ; makes
terms with Octavius, lb. ; defeated
by Agrippa, 276 ; his death, ifr.

Fontifex Maximus, 29, 67 ; election
of, transferred to the people, 16^;
Julius Caesar elected, 200

Foppeea Sabina, wife of Nero, 821

Forcia, wife of Brutus, 260

Forsena, Lars, 21, 33

Fostumius, A., dictator, 51

— consul, treachery of at the Can-
dine forks, 70 sq,

Fneneste, 66 tq,

Fraetor, 30, 60

Fnetorians, 227 »q^ 291, 327 «g., 359
sq., 366

Fraetoriom, 226 sq.

Frobus, emperor, 371

Frooonsnl, origin of office, 69 ; mle
of, 141, 182

Froscriptions, 171 sq., 176, 270, 822^
344, 361

Frovinoe, Boman, 96; administra-
tion of, 141, 182

Ftolemaeus, king of Egypt, 124, 169,
214, 248 Ml.

Funic war, first, 88 sq. ; second, 106
n. ; third, 137 sq.

Fydna, battle of, 1»5

Fyrrhus invades Italy, 79, 80

QUIRINAL HILL, 2, 12, 17
Qmrinus, 12, 29) 54

BABIRIUS accused of murder
before Caesar, 199

RadagcRsus, 400

Begillus, battle of Lake, 22, 33

B^ulus, 92 sq.

BeUgion in Rome, 9, 29, 61, 105, 145.
500 Christianity, Faganism

Remus, 10, 11

R^ublic, its foundation and consti-
tution, 21, 30 sq., 33 ; its condi*
tion at time of Caosar's revolt,
239 «9.

Rhea Sylvia, 10

Rhine, warfare with Germans on
the, 213, 296, 300 ; Roman stations
on the, 296, 298

Ricimer the Sueve, 410, 411

Roads, Roman, 74, 86

Roman empire, extent of, 4 ; over
all Italy, 80 ; over Spain, Africa,
and the islands, 97 sq., 113, 132,
189 ; over Greece and Asia Minor,
130, 136, 136 ; over Syria and the
East, 197 ; over Gaul, 217 ; over
Egypt, 3^; over Britain, 316,
3M

Index.

421

BOK

6EV

Eoman bistoiy, sonroes of, 22, 33,
76,88

» law, 47 «9. ; modified bj tho
jarists of the empire, 363

Homans, origin of, 6 «g., 24 ; aasem-
biles of, 25, 27, 28 »q, ; colonies of,
84 «9. ; schooled to war, 69, 131 ;
their loyeof Rome, 121 ; character
of, ib, ; their love of money, 142 ;
their manners and customs, 146 ;
their amusements, 105, 106

Bome, site of, 1 tq. ; foundation of,
11 ; embelliBhed by the Tarquins,
15, 19 ; walls of, built by Serving
TulliuB, 17, by AureUan, 371;
attacked by the Etruscans, 21 ;
sacked by the Gauls, 56 ; rebuilt
by Camillns, 58 ; becomes head of
. the Latins, 67 ; becomes para-
mount in Italy, 80, 81 ; brought
face to face with Carthage, 86 ;
threatenei by Hannibal, 110, 112,
114 ; resorted to by ambassadors
of dibtant powers, 135 ; becomes
queen of the Mediterranean, 140 ;
oppresses the provinces, 141 ;
alarmed by the Cimbri and
Teutones, ] 56 ; desolated by pro-
scriptions under Marios, 171 ;
under Sulla, 176 ; attacked by the
Italians, 174 ; anarchy and fac-
tions in, 234 ; quitted \is Pompey,
242 ; entered by Caesar, 243 ; ripe
for monarchical government^ 239,
240 ; congress of nations at, 254 ;
consternation of, at Ctesar's death,
265 ; great fires at, 174, 822, 342 ;
embellished by the Ceesars, 229,
S57, 292, 340, 343, 347 ; pestUenoe
in, 61, 356 ; the popes of, 385, 392,
401, 409 ; ceases to be the capital,
383, 384; becomes the head-
quarters of Paganism, 388 ;
triumph of Diodetiao, 874; of
Constantius, 384; of Honorius,
399; sacked by Ahirio, 403, by
Genseric, 410, by other barbarians,
411 ; faU of the empire of, 412

Bomulus, 10 »q.

— Augustulus, last emperor of the
West, 412

Bostra, the, 67, 270

Rubicon crossed by Csesar, 241

Boflnus, minister of Arcadius, 399

Q! ABINES, 8 tq., 11 «?., 26, 45, 47^

Sabinns, brother of Vespasian, 331
Ssecular games, 294, 354, 368
Eaguntnm, 103« 104
Salil, 13
BaUnst, 200, 240

Salona, retreat of Diocletian, 374,
412

Samnites, wars of with Bome, 64,
69 j;., 73, 75 «9., 174 aq, ; destruc-
tion of by Sulla, 177

Samos rifled by Verres, 183 '

Sapor, king of Persia, 369 ; captuses
the emperor Valerian, ib,

Sardinia, 91, 99, 102, 134

Sassanidse, dynasty of, 367

Saturn, 5

Saturnalia, 5

Satuminns, tribune, 162

Satnrninus, L. A., revolt of, 343

Sceevola. See Mutius

Scaurus. ^ae JEmilius

Sdpio, ^milianus, 141, 152

— Africanns, expels the Car-
thaginians from Spain, 113, 115,
117; invades Africa, 118; his
victory at Zama, 119 ; his triumj*,
120 ; invades Asia, 132 ; reduces
the BoU, 134 ; his death, 135

Scipio, C, opposed to Hannibal, 110

— Lucius, defeats Antiochus at
Magnesia, 132 ; accused of mal-
versation, 135 tq.

— Metellus, commands the Pom*
peians in Africa, 252

Bejanus, iElius, 306, 308
Sempronius commands against Han-
nibal, 109 «?.

— Longus, 114
— . See Gracchus

Senate, Boman, 25 tq. ; massacred
by the Ganis, 56 ; excites admira-
tion of Cineas, 79; monopolises
the provinces and the tribunals,
144; reorganised by Sulla, 179;
judges the Catilinarian conspi-
rators, 205 ; resists the usurpation
of Caesar, 239 ; quits Bome with
Pompey, 242 ; heaps honours upon
Caesar, 253 ; reorganised by
Augustus, 283 ; selects -Nerva to
be emperor, 345; chooses Aure-
lian's successor, 371 ; degraded by
Gollienus, and avoided by Diocle-
tian, 375 ; becomes the strorigho^d
of Paganism, 388 ; demands the
restoration of the statue of Vic-
toiy, 394, 396

Seneca, 319 4^., 323

Senones, 76

Sertorius, 171 ; flies to Spain, 174 ;
his career and death in Spain, 187

Servilius Isauricus chastises the
aiician pirates, 132

ServiuB Tullius, 16 «?. ; his consittt-
tion, 24. 27, 33

Severas, Alexander, 365

— Septimius, 360 ; his severity to
the senate, 361 ; his campaigns ia
Parthia and Britain, ib.

42i

Index.

8IB

TAL

Bibyllfne books, 19, 294 ; burned in
the Capitol, 174

Sicily, 80, 87 sq, ; invaded by the
Bomans, 89; battle-ground of
Rome and Carthage, 90, 93, 94, 95 ;
the first Roman province, 96 ;
productive of com, 149 ; plon-
dered Iqr Verres, 184

SicuU, the, 6

Silo, Pompe9diu8, 164

Slaves, 5 ; employment of In Italy,
123, 148 ; revolt of, 161, 188

Social war, 165 j^.

Spain,??; conquered by Carthage,
10^ ¥1. ; conquered by Rome, 113,
117, 134 ; revolt of Sertorius in,
187; reconstituted by Pompey,
189; subdued by Cegsar, 244;
revolt of Oalbe in, 325 sq. ; the
Latin franchise made general in,
341; kingdom of the A'isigoths,
405, 407 ; the Vandals in. ib , 408

Spartacus, rebellion of, 188 $q.

Spurius Lartins, 33

Stilicho, minister of Honorius, 399 ;
defeats the Goths, <»., Alaric, i6.,
and RadagSBSus, 400 ; his fall, ib.

Strabo. See Pompeius

Snevi, 213, 400

Sulla, P. C, 159, ICO, 169 ; his cha-
racter, 167, 181 ; suppresses the
Marian faction, 169 ; subdue s
Mithridates and plunders the
East, 173; conquers Italy, 174;
proscribes his enemies, 176; de-
vastates Itidy, 177 ; becomes dic-
tator, 178 ; his policy of reaction,
179; his abdication and death,
180, 181

Surena, Partnian geMfal^ 232

Symmachua, 393, 394

Syphax, 116, 118, 119

Syracuse, 89 ; allied to Rome, 90, 96 ;
revolt and siege of, 114

TACITUS the historian, 328
— emperor, 871
Tanaquil, wife of Tarquin, 15, 16
Tarentum, 77 m., 81. 84; capture

of, 115
Tarpeia, 11, 12
Tarquinius Prisons, 15 tq.^ 26, 27

— Snperbns, 17 «9. ; his expulsion,
20 ; his efforts to recover his king-
dom, 21, 22

— Sextus, 18, 20

Taxation, 27, 34 ; evaded by patri-
cians, 37 ; immunity of citizens
from arbitrary, 83 : land tax in
Italy remitted, 14o ; imposed by
Sulla, 177 ; of provinces farme.l
by oontractOTB, 154, 182; system

of, nnder Augustus, 291 ; roihons
system of, in Gaul, 375, 406

Telesinns, Pontius, 70, 76

the Yomiger, 174

Teutones, 156, 160

Theodosius, emperor of the East,
894; defeats Maximus, 396; re-
stores Yalentinian, ib. ; defeats
Arbogastes and Kngeuius, 397 ;
rules the whole empire, 396 ; his
penitence, 397 ; his repression of
the Goths, 398 ; his two sons, 399

Thnrium, relief of, 76

Tiber, the, 2, 3, 21, 56

Tiberius, 416 ; marries Julia, 298 ;
retires to RhoJes, 299 ; is adopted
by Augustus, ib. ; his campaigns
in Germany, f6., and in Paimonia,
300 ; becomes emperor, 303 ; en-
courages Informers, 305; retires
to Capi i, 307 ; overthrows Sejanus,
308 ; his visit to Rome, 309 ; his
heirs, 310 ; his character, 306, 309,
310 ; his death, 310

Tigranes, king of Armenia, 194

Tigranocerta, battle of, 194

Titus, son of Vespasian, 337 ; be-
sieges and takes Jerusalem, 338 ;
associated in the empire, 341 ; his
reign, 342; his character and
death, ib. ; arch of, 343

Trajanus, M. Ulpius, 345 ; succeeds
Nerva, 346 ; his popularity, ib. ;
- oampidgns in Dacia, 347 ; his
buildings and public works, ib, ;
expedition against Parthia, M8;
his death, ib.

TrasimenDS, battle of, 110

Treves, Treviri, capital of Western
Caesars, 374, 381, 391

Tribes, Roman, 17, 24, 27, 82 «g.

Tribunes of the plebs, institution of,
35 «9., 40, 46 ; powers of, 150 :
disparaged by Sulla, 179 ; restored
by Pompey, 191 ; military, 51

Triumvirate, first, 209 ; second, 269

Tullia, wife of Tarquin, 17, 18

TuUuB Uostilius, reign of, 18, 14

USURY laws, 84, 49
Utica attacked bySdpio, 119;
defended by Guto, 252

VAIiENa Uentenantof Yitellius,
3J9, 331

— emperor of the ISast, 391 ; de-
feated and cOa'n by the Goths,
394, 398

Yalentinian £., 301 ^.

— IT., 394-396

— lU., 407-410

Index.

423

VAL

Yalerian, emperor, 869 ; captnied by

Sapor, ib.
Yalerins Corvns, 64, 6&

— Poplioola, 33

— Volesus, 36

Vandals, 400 ; settled in Spain, 407 ;

conquer Africa, 408; plunder

Rome, 410
Vano Terentins, commander at

Canns, 111 49.

— chronology of, 33

Yarns, A., proconsul of Africa, 252

— Q., defeated by the Germans, 300
Yeii, 12, 39 ; conquest of, 52 sq.
Yeneti conquered by Ceeaeur, 214
Yercella;, battle of, 160
Yercingetorix, 217 ; defeated and

captured, ib.

Yerres, C, his rapacity in the pro-
vinces, 183 9q.\ impeached by
Cicero, 191

Yespasian employed in Britain, 3)3 ;
in Syria, 830, 887 ; becomes em-
peror, 333 ; his reigrn, HS9 »q. ; his
finances, 341 ; his buildings, 340 ;
his character and death, 341

Yestal virgins, 13, 29, 64

Yetranio usurps Western empire,
383

Yettins Prsetextatos, 893

ZEN

Yia Sacra, 63

Yictoinus converted to Christi.
anity, 388

Virginia, tragedy of, 45, 46

Yirginius, 46

— associated with Yitellius, 830

Ylriathus, 141

Yisigoths, 397 ; invade Italy under
Alaric, 899, 401 ; kingdom of, 406,
407

Yitellius, revolt of, 829; his cha-
racter, i.b,\ assumes the purple,
ib. ; hlB entry into Rome, 830 ;
his extravagant gluttony, t6., 331 ;
his overthrow, 332

Yulso, M., 92

TXTALLIA, successor of Alaric,

XANTHIPPTJS, Spartan general,
defeatu the Romans, 92

ZAMA, battle of, 119
Zenobia, queen of Palmyra,
370 ; taken prisoner by Aurelian,
371

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THE NORMANS IN EUROPE.
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THE CRUSAPES. By the Rev-
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THE ERA OF THE PROTESTANT

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FREDERICK THE GREAT AND
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THE EARLY ROMAN EMPIRE.
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THE ROMAN EMPIRE OF THE
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Capes, M A.

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SIANS. By the Rev. Sir G. W. Cox,
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NIAN EMPIRE. By Arthur M.

CURTEIS, M.A.

THE ATHENIAN EMPIRE, from
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AthPPS. By the Rev. Sir G. W. Cox,
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ROME TO ITS CAPTURE BY
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THE ROMAN TRIUMVIRATES.
By the Very Rev. Charles Mbrivale
D.D. Dean of Ely.

THE SPARTAN AND THEBAN
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ROVE AND CARTHAGE, THE
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